United Methodists who advocate traditional, scriptural Christianity will hold their inaugural meeting of a chapter of the Wesleyan Covenant Association Saturday, Aug. 25.
The Holston WCA will be the regional chapter for orthodox United Methodists, both laity and clergy, living within the bounds of what the United Methodist Church calls the Holston Conference. The Holston Conference covers southwest Virginia, East Tennessee and a portion of northern Georgia.
The group will gather at Glen Alpine United Methodist Church, located at 3200 Glen Alpine Road in Kingsport. Registration begins at noon. The group will then worship together at 1 p.m., with a question-and-answer time and a business meeting to follow.
The Rev. Keith Boyette, president of the national WCA, will preach during the worship service. Boyette and the Rev. Walter Fenton, WCA vice-president for strategic engagement, will speak during the Q&A and business portions of the event, focusing on how the United Methodist Church has reached its current crisis regarding its stance on homosexuality and scriptural authority.
The global United Methodist Church will hold a called General Conference in St. Louis Feb. 23-26 in an attempt to settle the doctrinal dispute.
Boyette and Fenton also will make themselves available to United Methodists on days before and after the inaugural meeting. One or the other is scheduled to appear in the following places:
• 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24: East Stone Gap UMC, East Stone Gap, Va.
• 10 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 26: Fenton preaches at Trenton UMC, Trenton, Ga.
• 8:30 a.m., 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 26: Boyette preaches at Signal Crest UMC, Signal Mountain, Tenn.
More information about the WCA can be found at wesleyancovenant.org or holstonwca.org.