RESOLUTION:
BECOMING A CONFESSING CONFERENCE
Preamble: We confess we have not loved God with our whole heart and have failed to be
an obedient Church. We have not done God's will, we have broken God's law, we have
rebelled against God's love, we have not loved our neighbors, we have not heard the cry of
the needy and we have not spoken the truth in love. We are broken, sinful and in need of
God's forgiveness and the grace to live in obedience to Jesus Christ. Those who have
composed and ascribe to this resolution confess our sinfulness and complicity in the
brokenness and division experienced within The United Methodist Church today. We offer
this resolution as an act of repentance.
Whereas the North Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church is
constitutionally committed to doctrinal boundaries including the Articles of Religion, the
Confession of Faith, Wesley's Sermons and Notes on the New Testament, and the General
Rules of Our United Societies and to their preservation as the standard for doctrinal
reinvigoration and renewal (The Constitution, The Book of Discipline, ¶16-19); and
Whereas The Book of Discipline recognizes an insoluble link between the content of
doctrinal beliefs and the practice of Christian living and definitively states that,
"Wesley insisted...that evangelical faith should manifest itself in evangelical
living." (Doctrine and Discipline in the Christian Life, The Book of Discipline,
¶60); and
Whereas, The Confessing Movement within The United Methodist Church is a witness by
United Methodist laity and clergy who pledge unequivocal and confident allegiance to Jesus
Christ as Son of God, Savior and Lord [see attachment]; and
Whereas, The Confessing Movement within The United Methodist Church was founded
"in order to enact the Discipline's call to ‘doctrinal reinvigoration' and to
avoid schism and prevent mass exodus" from The United Methodist Church (An Invitation
to the Church, 1994); and
Whereas, The Confessing Movement within The United Methodist Church attempts "to
contend for the apostolic faith within the United Methodist Church and seeks to reclaim
and reaffirm the Church's faith in Wesleyan terms," and to center the Church's faith
and life "on Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man; and on His life, death,
resurrection, ascension, and promised return as attested in Holy Scripture" (An
Invitation to the Church, 1994); and
Whereas, The Confessing Movement within The United Methodist Church is not asking for a
new definition of faith, but for a new level of integrity in applying our historic
doctrinal standards in a thoughtful, serious, and principled way; and
Whereas, recent developments within the life of The United Methodist Church demonstrate
that certain bishops, pastors and laity have refused to be guided by the authority of the
Scriptures and by the authority of the Church as expressed in The Book of Discipline; and
Whereas, the North Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church finds
itself in agreement with the Confessing Movement within the United Methodist Church as
stated above and in the "Confessional Statement" [see attachment];
Therefore Be It Resolved that the North Carolina Annual Conference of the United
Methodist Church declares itself to be a "Confessing Annual Conference" by
affirming "A Confessional Statement of the Confessing Movement within The United
Methodist Church" (attached) and by committing itself to be guided by this
Confessional Statement and;
Be It Further Resolved that this North Carolina Annual Conference commends this
Confessional Statement to the pastors, laity, and local churches to read, to consider, and
for their individual and corporate signatures.
(Signatories as of this date)
Presented by: The Rev. Tom Holtsclaw; Jarvis Memorial, Greenville The Rev. David A.
Banks; St Peter's, Morehead City The Rev. Gregory K. Jenks; Christ Community, Clayton The
Rev. E. Powell Osteen Jr.; Garber, New Bern The Rev. Benjamin S. Sharpe Jr.; Cornerstone,
Fayetteville The Rev. Paul T. Stallsworth; Rose Hill, Rose Hill The Rev. Brian Sexton;
Bailey-Middlesex, Bailey The Rev. Janet Buffaloe; Pee Dee, Rockingham The Rev. Leon D.
Fowler; Northhampton Charge, Jackson The Rev. Branson Sheets; Bailey, Bailey
Endorsed by: John Wesley Jones, Fayetteville Lucy H. Jones, Fayetteville Elsie C.
Taylor, Fayetteville Mary G. Moody, Fayetteville Ronald W. Durham, Burlington Mary B.
Southerland, Wilmington Randy J. Gebbie, Whiteville R. W. Sanders, Fayetteville Jeff
McGee; Clayton Beth Jenks; Clayton Jeanne L. Ray, Harrells Lisa C. Sharpe, Fayetteville
Bobby C. Hutson, Fayetteville Marilyn B. Hutson, Fayetteville Gary D. Taylor, Fayetteville
Kathy R. Wood, Fayetteville John M. Wood, Fayetteville Frank Storino, Fayetteville
Christine Storino, Fayetteville William E. Holland, Fayetteville Sandra D. Holland,
Fayetteville Donald L. Kurtz, Jr., Fayetteville Linda M. Kurtz, Fayetteville Robert E.
Semrad, Fayetteville Joy Semrad, Fayetteville
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