I read with interest a front-page story in the Times Observer (Sept. 3) covering the recent information meeting at First United Methodist Church, a meeting led by the United Methodist officials to provide information regarding the process of “disaffiliating” from the denomination. As the article stated, the “presenting” issue is how the United Methodist Church addresses “homosexuality,” or more broadly, the LGBTQ community.

I was quite discouraged to see that the Church Council of First United Methodist Church voted almost unanimously to explore disaffiliation. First United Methodist Church of Warren is one of our proudest and most historic churches in the Western Pennsylvania Conference of Methodism, having had a great number of its pastors go on to be elected or appointed to important leadership positions in the denomination, including one of our most famous bishops, Bishop James M. Thoburn. It is a church of impeccable commitment to missions, both local and global, and down through the years has forged an incredible heritage in the City of Warren, with some of its most outstanding citizens as members, including the Crary family. The church has also had a number of members of the LGBTQ community in its history, persons who have made remarkable contributions to church life. That as few as two-thirds of current members who attend a “Church Conference” could potentially vote to throw this all away over a singular issue just doesn’t seem right or just.

First United Methodist Church has as its neighbors, First Lutheran Church and First Presbyterian Church, both members of denominations that have fully opened their doors to welcome LGBTQ persons, as has the Episcopal Church. These acts of inclusion were spurred by interpretation of scripture illuminated by experience and reason, and nurtured by updated knowledge of human sexuality from science and psychology. While the United Methodist Church currently views LGBTQ persons as “second-class citizens,” according to its doctrine, there is a growing movement to make our denomination more inclusive. This is what is at the heart of the “disaffiliation” controversy.

There is another factor afoot, however. Throughout my lifetime, there have been those in the denomination who sought a form of doctrinal “purity” and authority of church discipline that far exceeded the practice of a church guided by a representative government (known as the “General Conference”) and a Council of Bishops that has been quite diverse in its approach to social justice and theology. Many of the leaders of the “disaffiliation” movement, and its major proponents mentioned in the Times-Observer article, the Wesleyan Covenant Association and the newly-founded Global Methodist Church, have long been adherents to this more authoritarian view of scripture and church polity. “Homosexuality” may be a smokescreen for them, masking the conflict over “who’s in charge.” As Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi said in her comments, these groups have spread much disinformation, hallmarked by heavily-edited and misleading videos spread through social media, and even shown in some churches.

As a former pastor of First United Methodist Church, and one who came to love both that congregation and the city of Warren during my tenure there, I urge the members of First United Methodist Church to seek the facts, reread your rich history, and reject leaving behind a wonderful heritage by leaving the United Methodist Church.

The Rev. Dr. Jeffrey D. Sterling was the senior pastor of First United Methodist Church of Warren from 2009 until 2014.