Mending the Methodist Fray

Same-sex debates have recently disturbed the unity of many denominations, including those of the Evangelical Lutherans, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians; and now the still larger United Methodist Church is undergoing a similar battle. This book was written to bring a once-and-for-all conclusion to such disruptive debates within the United Methodist Church and other Christian institutions. It clearly defines the type of resolution necessary to bring closure, no matter what one's position is on the propriety of homosexual practices. It then meticulously applies those lessons to the United Methodist Church's current unraveling situation, culminating with a traditional, Scripture-based recommendation for ending the dispute in a definitive manner, avoiding half-way recommendations currently being circulated. Along the way, the author uses logic to defeat any claim to knowing God's mind short of God himself revealing it to us through an authoritative and commonly accessible means: e.g., the Bible. All Christians will find his thorough, Scripture-affirming analysis useful for formulating their own viewpoints on the thorny ethical matters that increasingly arise in our secular age. Rev. Gary E. Crum, Ph.D., is a licensed local pastor in the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. He has five earned degrees in science, health administration, and/or philosophy, having studied at the College of William and Mary, the University of Kentucky, Columbia University, and the George Washington University. He and his wife, Millicent, live in Russell County, Virginia.