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Away from the conference floor, influential leaders from both sides held conversations about the church's future. One night around 10 P.M., representatives from the left and right sat down to talk informally. For nearly two hours, 20 top leaders shared their perspectives and experiences. The results of the meeting were quite the opposite of what they initially intended. Instead of discovering common ground, evangelicals said, they realized how far apart the two sides are.

"I think if we're honest, we know that we're not going to sit down after another decade of dialogue and come to a mutually acceptable understanding," James V. Heidinger, president and publisher of Good News, told CT. "They know where we are coming from. We know where they are coming from. There is not agreement."

He said, "Perhaps it's time that the church at least consider: is a better way amicable, loving division, where each side has the opportunity to minister with a sense of integrity—according to their own convictions?"

Hinson, who also attended the dialogue session, said he feels the denominational divide goes much deeper than the issue of homosexuality. "Our whole perspectives are different. For them, keeping pace with the culture is very important. They say the church is behind the culture," he said. "We don't give a fig about keeping up with culture. Many times we're over against the culture. Our concern is being faithful to the biblical message. So, we don't even speak the same language."

Hinson believes that many pro-gay Methodists feel disenfranchised and are "begging for space to do their own thing." He said, "They would like to be autonomous and ordain homosexuals and go for their dream. Nobody likes stepping on somebody else's dream."

As word began to spread of Hinson's public call for separation, a nervous energy gripped conference delegates. A confidential working draft of a resolution leaked out, stirring some on both sides to react negatively. A press conference was called. Five bishops expressed shock and dismay that a split-up resolution might be brought to the floor.

Top evangelicals reworked the resolution but it never made it to the floor. It would have called for an official task force to evaluate the creation of two successor denominations that would allow clergy to keep their pensions and churches to keep their properties. Evangelicals asked Eddie Fox, director of evangelism for the World Methodist Council, to bring the resolution to the floor, but Fox balked. "I love this church," he said. "I have not left this church, and this church has not left me. It is a very serious matter for me to break that covenant."

Conference delegate Maxie Dunnam, chancellor of Asbury Theological Seminary—an independent school with Methodist roots—said his name was also discussed as a potential candidate to bring the resolution officially to the General Conference. But in the end, evangelical leaders decided the timing was not right.

During the conference's final session, delegates expressed a new commitment to unity. Nearly 1,000 delegates stood, held hands, and sang, "Blest be the Tie that Binds." Scott Field, board chair of Good News, said the reaction was understandable. "When the institution is threatened, everyone dives to the middle."

Field believes conversations about separation will continue. "I think there is tremendous resonance [for separation talks] among folks in local churches." As senior pastor of Wheatland Salem United Methodist Church in suburban Chicago, Field said he has received calls from across the country from constituents who believe the General Conference did not deal effectively with the Dammann case. They fear another four years of church lawsuits.

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July 2004, Vol. 48, No. 7