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Several responses to the recent Judicial Council rulings

What follows is information about Judicial Council ruling #1032, from Northaven Church and beyond.

Responses from Northaven Church's pastor:

A Pastoral Response:
Our pastor writes to our members about these decisions.

Facts about the Rulings:
Some of the facts of the case, drawing on the decisions themselves

An essay on "Pastoral Discretion"
One of the key issues in the most troubling case, and Eric's thoughts about them.

An Open Letter to United Methodists from our pastor
A challenge to the general church to reconsider this Judicial Council ruling.

A Resolution passed by Northaven UMC's Charge Conference
By unanimous vote, the Conference went on record to request a reconsideration of Decision #1032

A Sermon responding to Judicial Council Decision #1031
Listen to an mp3 by clicking above

Other Resources and Responses to this Ruling

The Dissenting Opinion of Judge John Gray
Judge Gray is one of three Judicial Council members who dissented from the majority opinion in Decision #1032. Read his full dissent here.

A Pastoral Letter from the Council of Bishops
The 164-member council unanimously condemns the Judicial Council ruling, and speaks clearly about their view of United Methodist Church law.

"Why Judicial Council Decision 1032 Must Be Reversed or Overturned: An Open Letter to the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church"
by Rex D. Matthews, Th.D., Candler School of Theology, Emory University. (November 8, 2005; posted with permission.) (70K MS Word document)

Posted: Friday - November 04, 2005 at 05:20 PM           |

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