Dean Bryan Stone Receives Ordination Credential Transfer to The United Methodist Church
Learn how Dean Bryan Stone transferred his ordination credentials to the United Methodist Church, marking a milestone in inclusive Wesleyan leadership
The clergy session of the New England Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church on the weekend of June 19–21 voted to transfer Dean Bryan P. Stone’s elder’s orders from the Church of the Nazarene to the United Methodist Church.
According to Dean Stone, “this is the culmination of a nearly three-decade process of working closely with The UMC in New England in church planting, congregational development, and the training of its clergy at Boston University School of Theology.”
He began the process in 2018 but paused it after the disappointing 2019 General Conference. “Last summer, the moment The UMC General Conference voted to be welcoming of all persons and removed its exclusion of LGBTQ+ persons,” he said, “I eagerly restarted the transfer process given my passionate commitment to full inclusion of all persons and the belief in their intrinsic sacred worth.”
The ceremony took place on Saturday, June 21, when the Annual Conference formally recognized the order transfer.
Reflecting on his Nazarene roots, Dean Stone said: “I was born, dedicated, and raised in the Church of the Nazarene. I was trained in a Nazarene college and seminary. And I have pastored and was ordained 37 years ago by the Church of the Nazarene in West Texas. I will always cherish its influence on my life, its historic legacy of ministry to the urban poor, and those moments and places where I experienced a vibrant commitment to Wesleyan theology and convictions. I do not change membership lightly, and I welcome Nazarenes to study at Perkins School of Theology, where they will find an outstanding place to study in the Wesleyan tradition. I count it a privilege and a joy that United Methodists have welcomed me into sacred connection. The truth of the matter is that spiritually, I have been a Methodist for a long, long time now. Very glad to have made that connection official this past week, even while so much of the Church of the Nazarene lives on in my heart and in my formation.”
Perkins celebrates this moment of affirmation and looks forward to the continued leadership of Dean Stone, whose ministry and scholarship continue to shape communities of learning, belonging and faithful service.