The Weight

The Weight welcomes Bishop Ken Carter, the President of the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church to discuss the ongoing debate of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the United Methodist Church. Carter has been an active participant in many efforts to bring about a resolution to the impasse that the church is in, including being one of the leaders who developed and proposed the Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation that has a chance to be adopted at the upcoming General Conference of the United Methodist Church. To engage the issue, we discussed topics involving theological pluralism, the essentials of Church practice, centrism, as well as what’s important to consider for potential church restructuring. Bishop Carter emphasizes the importance of having a pastoral heart when discerning how the church should be in ministry with LGBT persons as well as his passion for ensuring the vibrancy of the United Methodist Church for future leaders and congregants. Resources:Embracing the Wideness: The Shared Convictions of The United Methodist ChurchThis book is Bishop Carter’s attempt to chart a vision of “generous orthodoxy” for the future of the UMC.Narrow is the WayThis is an essay by a young Wesleyan scholar named Justus Hunter, in which he critiques Bishop Carter's vision for the future of Methodism.A Beginner's Guide to Practicing Scriptural ImaginationIn this short book, Bishop Carter models an engagement with scripture that doesn’t simply emphasize “thinking” about the Bible or “applying” the Bible in practical ways as if the Scriptures were a guidebook. “Scriptural imagination” is the result of a person who has been so immersed in the biblical story that it transforms what they see and how they hope. Here, he focuses on four scripture passages to give readers an easy entry into the practice of scriptural imagination.