The Traditional Plan

Synopsis:

The Traditional Plan localizes a very current topic - the split in the United Methodist Church. In 2019, a general conference was held where the Traditional Plan was upheld, reinforcing the Methodist stance that same-sex marriage is between a man and a woman, and asserting that gay leadership is not acceptable. This was intended to address disagreements over LGBTQ issues in the church.
The UMC allowed churches to disaffiliate, if they disagreed with the policy. When liberal leadership and churches chose to remain but refused to enforce the Traditional Plan, conservative church leadership decided to disaffiliate in reaction. The UMC is hemorrhaging both liberal and conservative congregations, Leaving The United Methodist Church divided, with an uncertain future.
Since 2019, over six thousand congregations have disaffiliated in the United States.
It is my goal to attend the 2024 General Conference, the last conference where churches can disaffiliate. I will conduct interviews there and add that to the end of this film.
This is a personal film to me, as a transman from a small town in Louisiana who’s family attended the UMC church.

Sam, a lesbian in her 30s travels home to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for her obligatory holiday visit with family. When she arrives she’s confronted with the new reality that her childhood crush, Jill, is now the head minister at the hometown Methodist church. Jill is following in the footsteps of her father. Sam doesn’t understand Jill’s choice. As a kid she experienced a good deal of ridicule at the hands of church members including Laura Inglewood who’s still vying to be queen bee at the church.

After Lloyd, a closeted member of Jill’s church dies Sam and Jill are forced to think about the role the Methodist Church’s stance on homophobia played in his life and in their own life. Lloyd ran a dance class with Agnes, Sam’s grandmother. Agnes is beside herself and without a dance partner. In an attempt to help her grandmother and the church Sam finds a young gay man named Joe from the gay bar to fill in as Agnes’ dance partner.

Jill confides in Sam that she’s stressed, lonely and not sure she can fill her father’s shoes. Sam and Jill's childhood crush turns into a full blown love affair. The two try to keep it a secret as they and their quark-ey and less than accepting community celebrate advent.

Things get complicated when Lucy, a minister in training, comes to live with Jill. Lucy is studying advent tradition in the south. An odd friendship is also being formed between Joe and Sam’s mom.

Everything seems to be awkwardly coming together until Jill is notified that the deacon of the church wants to speak to after someone complained that she is a practicing homosexual. Jill is at a loss as to what to do. Sam feels she is to blame and goes missing right before Christmas Day.

Jill and Sam’s family spend Christmas day looking for Sam. They find her just in time for Jill’s meeting with the Deacon.

Despite her arguments and pleads Jill is defrocked.

Jill with the help of Sam and Joe starts a new job at a homeless center for LGBTQ teens and her church members are left asking themselves whether she should have been defrocked.

The film ends with real life interviews from LGBTQ members who have been defrocked or left the church because of the UMC churches decision to support the Traditional Plan.