How would bishops answer
these questions about UMC?

As a retired minister, I’m curious about how our bishops would respond to the following questions:
1. John Wesley, founder of Meth-odism, emphasized preaching a simple, clear message to unbelievers: Jesus was born of a virgin, died on a cross for everyone’s sins and arose on the third day. Do you think the message coming from all United Methodist pulpits today still abides by these essential biblical tenets, or has it been abandoned in too many pulpits to a more social, liberal message?
2. It’s no secret that more than 2 million United Methodists left our denomination over the past three decades. Do you feel all United Methodists would benefit from learning reasons for this exodus from a general survey? Where did they go? Did they become members of more theologically conservative Christian churches?
3. What would be revealed if ordained ministers were required to place themselves on a 10-point conservative-liberal theological belief scale and submit their sermon manuscripts for evangelical content? Surely, bishops must have an interest in what is being said from their ministers’ pulpits.
4. In the United Methodist seminaries located in your conferences, what’s the ratio of conservative to liberal professors? My educated guess would be preponderance on the liberal side. Would you consider sharing such information with your laypeople?
5. Would you support a motion that all professors at United Methodist seminaries sign an annual pledge to uphold the biblical tenets of the Christian faith as proffered by Jesus Christ? Surely, a loyal oath to the Word is not an unreasonable request. Would you request the same of your district superintendent and pastors?
6. What action would you take if a pastor in your charge didn’t believe in the virgin birth of Christ or in his physical resurrection?
7. The Book of Discipline doesn’t approve the ordination of active gay or lesbian people. What’s your position on ordination of homosexuals? How have you expressed yourself?
8. Our denomination has periodically discussed granting more authority to laypeople. What’s your view on granting more power and authority (not mere tokenism) in these two areas: assignment of pastors to churches and decisions on where apportionment money is distributed and/or denied? This latter point would be a truer display of taxation with representation.
9. Are you personally satisfied that your district superintendents are emphasizing to pastors the work of the Holy Spirit in relation to the Christian life? What teaching is occurring that emphasizes their dependence on the Holy Spirit?
10. How important to you is the emphasis your pastors place in sermon content on the second coming of Christ? This concept was at one time a primary motivation to one’s righteousness and godliness but has been lost to a social and philosophical gospel in too many of our pulpits (from In Touch, October 2005).
11. What level of commitment do your district superintendents have to the gospel of Christ vis-à-vis their allegiance to our denomination?
12. Were you to ask your district superintendents and pastors what they would say to unbelievers inquiring into tenets of the Christian faith, which of the following three responses would be predominant: “All roads lead to God,” “Being a good person is what really matters” or “Christ died for our sins and rose again on the third day so that all might one day reside with him”? Such a choice would probably confuse and/or embarrass many contemporary United Methodist clergy members.
Until these questions and others regarding the status of The United Methodist Church in the United States are given an honest review through the application of prayer and appeal for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, the exodus will likely continue.