United Methodist
Methodists Defrock Lesbian Minister
By LUCAS L. JOHNSON II, Associated Press Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Oct 31/05 - AP - A lesbian minister was defrocked Monday by the highest court within the United Methodist Church, which found that she violated the denomination's ban on "self-avowed, practicing homosexual" clergy.
The decision is a victory for traditionalists in one of several mainline Protestant denominations split over the role of gays and lesbians in the church.
The UMC's nine-member Judicial Council — seven of whom heard the case Thursday in Houston — issued the ruling through its Web site. The denomination's communications office is based in Nashville.
A church panel decided in December that the Rev. "Beth" Stroud, 35, by being in a lesbian partnership, engaged in practices that are incompatible with Christian teachings. The panel's decision was overturned by an appeals committee, but the Judicial Council has now backed the original ruling.
Stroud's representatives had argued that taking away her clergy credentials because she's a lesbian amounts to discrimination.
The Judicial Council ruling says the church does not discriminate based on sexual orientation: Gays and lesbians are allowed to become Methodist ministers, but they must remain celibate.
Stroud "could be welcomed back with both arms," United Methodist Church counsel Thomas Hall said. "But she'd have to be celibate." Stroud had acknowledged that the relationship between herself and her female partner was sexual.
Stroud, who became an associate pastor at Philadelphia's First United Methodist Church of Germantown in 1999, has said she never revealed her sexual orientation in documents related to her ordination but didn't keep it a secret, either.
She said she decided to come out in 2003 because she felt she was being held back in her faith by not sharing the complete truth about her life. A complaint was filed against her last year.
"I thought I was prepared for anything, but still the news came as a blow," Stroud said in a phone interview Monday. "It's a sad day for me and for my family and for my congregation and, I think, a sad day for the United Methodist Church."
Eight council members voted to defrock Stroud; one council member was absent. Two members — Beth Capen and Susan T. Henry-Crowe — wrote a separate statement saying they felt badly about the result.
Full
Story Here
United Methodist leaders endorse sexual liberation
A declaration from religious leaders endorsing homosexuality and other forms of sexual liberation continues to claim new signatories, including a number of United Methodist leaders. At least four United Methodist bishops and 26 United Methodist seminary faculty have so far endorsed it.
"The Religious Declaration on Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing," first released to the public a year ago, endorses same-sex unions, abortion rights, and an "end to sexual and social injustice." It was organized by the New York-based Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), which advocates more permissive attitudes towards sexuality.
Although over a year old, the Declaration’s list of endorsers is still growing and, as of this month, includes over 2,000 religious leaders. According to a denominational analysis by Lee Penn, Unitarians are the largest group represented by the signatories. United Church of Christ members rank second, followed by Episcopalians, Reformed Jews, and
Methodists. At least 156 United Methodists, mostly
clergy, have signed the document.
United Methodist endorsers include Bishop William Dew of Phoenix, Bishop Susan Morrison of Albany, New York, retired bishops Roy Sano and Leontine Kelly, retired ecumenical officer Jeanne Audrey Powers, Jesus Seminar leader Hal Taussig, Reconciling activists Greg Dell, Jimmy Creech, and Ignacio Castuerra, social activist James Lawson, Kathryn Johnson of the Methodist Federation for Social Action,
Re-Imagining activist Patricia Farris, and Harvard Pluralism Project director Diana Eck.
Signatories also included the following faculty from United Methodist seminaries: Ann Taves, Lois Sprague, Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki, Rod Parrott, John Cobb, Don Locher and Howard Clinebell of
Claremont School of Theology in California; Delwin Brown, William Dean, Charles Milligan, Don Messer, Jane Vennard and Larry Graham of
Iliff School of Theology in Denver; Carroll Saussy and Youtha Hardman Cromwell of
Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C., Elizabeth Bounds of
Candler School of Theology in Atlanta; Evlyn Parker, Marjorie Proctor-Smith, Victor Paul Furnish, Schubert Ogden and Roy Leslie Heller of
Perkins School of Theology in Dallas; James Poling and Phyllis Bird of
Garret Evangelical Seminary in Chicago; Robert Corrington and Karen McCarthy Brown of
Drew Theological School in New Jersey; and Robert Martin of
St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City.
Feminist proponents of Wicca, or modern-day witchcraft, now can be found within the clergy promoting the cult of the Goddess in many mainline Christian denominations.
When Kathleen Ward Atchason left Wicca, or witchcraft, to join the Roman Catholic Church she never dreamed she would encounter witchcraft within the walls of Christendom. Atchason lives in Salem, Mass., and still encounters practicing Wiccans in the community and on the street -- but in the church?
In fact, Atchason positively identified for Insight a Wiccan practice gaining currency in many churches. It is documented in two articles in Wellsprings, a defunct journal for Methodist clergywomen. The articles, "A Croning Ritual" and "Reflections from a New Crone," were written by the Rev. Nancy Webb, minister of education and children's education at Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington -- which the Clintons attend -- and by the Rev. Mary Kraus of Dumbarton United Methodist Church in Washington. Webb and Kraus provide details of the Wiccan croning ritual in the articles from their own eyewitness accounts.
"I am surprised that they are doing that," Atchason tells Insight. "A croning ritual is a Wiccan rite of passage." According to Atchason, "the Goddess" worshipped by Wiccans takes on three forms: maiden, representing sexual ripeness; mother, representing birth; and crone, representing old age.
As recently noted by Insight, Wicca is becoming increasingly popular in the culture (see "Wicca Casts Spell on Teen-Age Girls," Oct. 25). Although Wiccans differ over semantics, most agree that Wicca is a pagan, nature-focused mystery religion. Most Wiccans worship a feminine deity called "the Goddess" and her consort, "the horned God." According to Wiccan high priestess Phyllis Currott, the goddess takes on many forms such as the mythological Greek deities Artemis, Gaia and Sophia as well as Roman, Celtic and Norse goddesses. Some Wiccans meet in groups called covens or circles, while others prefer to practice Wiccan rituals and cast spells alone.
As the millennium approaches and Christians around the world prepare to celebrate 2,000 years since Christ's birth, some in the church are concerned that the Christmas message is being distorted by pagan influences. As Wicca and goddess worship grow in popularity in the culture, elements of the practice also are appearing in Christian churches.
Full
Story Here
Goddess Worship in the United Methodist Church
Re-Imagining: UM Churches Worship The Goddess
Another Church Departs Over ECUSA's Non-Biblical
Teachings
August 26, 2004
(AgapePress) - Yet another conservative Southern California parish has left the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) over its disregard for scripture. The move by St. David's Episcopal Church in North Hollywood comes just a week after congregations in Long Beach and Newport Beach took similar action.
The breakaway parishes in California have become the center of an international clerical dispute between an Anglican archbishop in Africa and Episcopal Bishop J. Jon Bruno of Los Angeles. Bruno has ordered the priests at St. James Church in Newport Beach and All Saints Church in Long Beach to cease all ministry.
But Uganda's Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi says he supports these clergy and congregations that uphold biblical orthodoxy, despite the objections of an Episcopal Church that has lost its jurisdiction over them.
According to Associated Press reports, leaders of the Long Beach and Newport congregations say decades of drift have culminated in the denomination's acceptance of homosexual clergy, including consecration of a bishop living with a homosexual partner. And last May, Bishop Bruno led a church blessing ceremony for a same-sex couple, further demonstrating the ECUSA leadership's disdain for biblical orthodoxy. In a letter read to churches throughout his diocese, Bruno stated that he will not let the Bible "be compromised by those who seek to make their literalist and simplistic interpretation the only legitimate one."
Jose Posh, rector of St. David's, calls the ECUSA's "corruption of scriptures" an abomination. "We finally came to the conclusion that there could be no reconciliation and there would be no repentance over on their side," he says. "We are not willing to be dragged down any more into a theology that is clearly not Christian, and we just decided that we had had enough."
Posh insists he had no choice but to part ways with Los Angeles Bishop John Bruno. "Recently our bishop made a statement in the Los Angeles Times that Jesus is not the only way to the Father," he says. He notes that he confronted Bruno, as others have done, but that the bishop "seems to waver back and forth" in his responses.
UNITED METHODIST KAIROS COMOTION PRESENTS LESBIAN PROGRESSIVE AGENDA
An event called “Kairos CoMotion” attracted over 300 mostly United Methodist people to Madison, Wisconsin, in February 2002. The stated objective was to combat “a growing exclusiveness in the United Methodist Church.” The conference was organized primarily by clergy in United Methodism’s Wisconsin Conference. Conference organizers said their aim “was and is to bring together a visible, active community of progressive Christians…to [bring] us together and move us from isolation and invisibility to community and celebration.” The event was a rally for the new
“Progressive Christianity” movement, which replaces the old designation of “liberal.” This movement crosses denominational lines and is designed to form
a new version of the Christian faith more “relevant” to the modern world.
Featured speakers at the event included United Methodist Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader of Wisconsin, retired United Methodist Bishop Judy Craig, and retired Episcopalian
Bishop John Shelby Spong. Other notable presenters included Rev. Larry Pickens of United Methodism’s Judicial Council (the church’s highest court), Susan Laurie,
a self-identified lesbian and staff member of the Reconciling Ministries
Network, and Rev. Greg Dell, a Chicago United Methodist pastor and prominent pro-homosexuality advocate.
Most controversial among the Kairos CoMotion speakers was Bishop John Spong. His opening presentation was entitled “God without theism.”
Although Spong rejected belief in a transcendent God as a myth, he insisted, “I am not an outsider, I am a deeply believing Christian.” He claimed to hold a version of Christian faith that had been adjusted to modern science and tailored to modern sensibilities.
Bishop Spong dismissed any doctrine of biblical authority as “a form of human idolatry.” He reduced Jesus to
merely “a first-century Jewish experience of God.” Indeed, personal experience was the only religious reality that Spong recognized. He warned against trusting “anybody’s explanation of that experience, which is always warped and twisted by the time in which we live and by the way we perceive reality.”
Bishop Craig spoke on orthodoxy and tradition. She implored the audience to live “a faith appropriate to our time,” setting aside the ancient creeds. “Contending with heresy is what helps keep orthodoxy alive,” Bishop Craig asserted. “We are saying of the tradition and orthodoxy that IT IS the heresy.”
Denying the common Christian belief that God is permanent and
unchanging, she said she prefers to live in “a tradition that is new every day.”
The bishop explained her own personal creed. “I do believe Scripture reveals essential knowledge of the God of the universe, and I do believe the work of Jesus is critical to the work of my life,” she Craig said. “Now let’s see
what particular words have I left out? Salvation, propitiation, atonement. I’m working on those words …
maybe someday. I didn’t talk about final authority…”
Gay Ordination: A Theological Response - Valuable point by PCUSA
U.M.C. TRADITIONALISTS DISAGREE WITH LESBIAN PASTOR'S TRIAL VERDICT
The president of a women's movement in the United Methodist Church says the acquittal of lesbian pastor Karen Dammann could very well split the denomination. The decision of a UMC panel to exonerate the pastor on charges of "practices incompatible with Christian teaching" is already drawing opposition from several denomination members. More details: http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/252004d.asp
June 2003
Pro-homosexuality Bishop Sprague's Annual Conference To Teach Homosexuality
And Other Perversions To Sunday School Children's Sunday School
Warning! Confessing Movement Petition On Abortion May Be Hazardous To Children
General
Board of Church & Society
The United Methodist Church
Promotes
Abortion
View Events
Putting Faith into Action for
Reproductive Rights Student Summit
STUDENT SUMMIT
June 7-9, 2004
Washington, DC
Putting Faith into Action for Reproductive Rights
A Summit to:
Reflect, Connect, Inspire & Act!
WHAT: A student summit hosted by Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom
(SYRF), a program of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (www.rcrc.org).
The summit will:
* Explore the theologies of reproductive choice
* Help you articulate your faith values for choice
* Give you the tools to counter the Religious Right on your campus, and
* Help you put your faith into action for choice!
WHO: 100 college students will be selected to participate.
HOW: Housing and meals are free.
Limited scholarship money for travel will be available on an as-needed basis.
CONTACT: Please contact Amy *** for more information 202-628-****
***@rcrc.org
Visit: http:/www.syrf.org/syrf/StudentSummit.htm for more information, online registration, and downloadable flyers.
Program Overview:
Featured Speakers
Dr. Mary Hunt, Feminist theologian and Co-director of the Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and
Ritual (WATER)
http:/www.his.com/~mhunt/ marye.htm
Dr. Daniel Maguire, Author of Sacred Choices and President of Religious Consultation on Population, Reproductive Health, and Ethics http:/www.sacredchoices.org/About_the_author_of_SacredChoices.htm
The Rev. Dr. Katherine H. Ragsdale, Vicar of St. David's Episcopal Church and former chair of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Rev. Meg Riley, Director of Advocacy and Witness Programs for the Unitarian Universalist Association
Rabbi David Saperstein, Director and Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
http:/www.rac.org/aboutrac/rds.html
Rev. Carlton Veazey, President and CEO of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
http:/www.rcrc.org/press/bio_veazy.htm
Workshop Highlights
Workshops include denominational breakout sessions on the connections between spirituality and sexuality and communicating our faith values for choice,
how to build effective coalitions, how to challenge the Religious Right on
campus, how to organize a pro-faith pro-choice presence on campus, exploring the history of the movement and finding our place in it, an update on legislation, Advocacy 101, and pro-choice communication 101.
Worship
We will start each day with student-led interfaith worship with music by our very own SYRF string quartet.
Lobby Day
After a briefing on how to become an effective lobbyist by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi's Chief of Staff, Ms. Terri McCullough, we will visit Members of Congress to advocate for pro-faith, pro-choice policies.
Social Activities
This will definitely not be an all work and no play conference! We are hosting a welcoming reception on the evening before the summit; offering an evening of music, poetry, and fun; and Washington, DC sightseeing.
Don't Delay! Register Today!
Beginning Date of the Event: Jun 07, 2004
Ending Date of the Event: Jun 09, 2004
Location: Washington, DC
The Goddess in the United Methodist Church
Liturgy for Early Communion Service
North Texas Annual Conference
June 9, 1999
THE LORD'S PRAYER
United by our baptism, through God's Holy Spirit, in God's universal Church, let us pray as God's children:
Our Mother, who art within us, many are your names. Your wisdom come, your will be done, unfolding from the depths of us. Each day you give us all that we need. You remind us of our limits, and we let go. You support us in our power, and we act with courage. For you are the dwelling place within us, the empowerment around us, and the celebration among us. As it was in the beginning, so shall it be now. Amen. (Miriam Therese Winter)
THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD AND SHARING THE CUP
THE 23RD PSALM (New Feminist Version)
adapted by Bobby McFerrin
The Lord is my Shepherd,
I have all I need.
She makes me lie down in green meadows,
beside the still water She will lead.
She restores my soul;
She rights my wrongs.
She leads me in a path of good things,
and fills my heart with songs.
Even though I walk through a dark and dreary land,
there is nothing that can shake me;
She has said She won't forsake me,
I'm in Her hand.
She sets a table before me
in the presence of my foes.
She anoints my head with oil,
and my cup overflows.
Surely, surely goodness and kindness will follow me
all the days of my life.
And I will live in Her house forever,
Forever and ever.
Glory be to our Mother and Daughter,
and to the Holy of Holies.
As it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be,
World without end, Amen.
Verdict sets stage for homosexuality debate at assembly
A United Methodist Report
By Amy Green*
April 8/04
The recent decision of a group of United Methodist clergy to acquit a
lesbian pastor of charges related to her relationship with another woman
did little to resolve the struggle over homosexuality that has gripped
the denomination since 1972.
The March 20 acquittal of the Rev. Karen Dammann came a month before
General Conference, the 10 million-member church's largest legislative
assembly. Nearly 1,000 delegates gather every four years to make laws for
the denomination and conduct other business. When the delegates arrive
in Pittsburgh for their April 27-May 7 meeting, they can expect an
emotional backlash from all sides over the outcome of the Dammann trial.
Dammann, a Seattle-area pastor, faced a single charge of "practices
declared by the United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian
teachings." A jury of 13 of her peers found her innocent, a
controversial verdict in a church that forbids the ordination of "self-avowed
practicing homosexuals" in its law book.
The United Methodist Church, the second-largest U.S. Protestant
denomination, has historically welcomed diversity, and the theme of its media
campaign is "Open hearts, open minds, open doors." However, the church
has struggled with homosexuality for decades. During its 2000 General
Conference, more than 200 protesters, including two bishops, were
arrested over the issue.
The upcoming General Conference will process an estimated 70 petitions
related to homosexuality, out of a total of more than 1,600 pieces of
legislation. In addition, the Dammann verdict is expected to spur a
passionate effort by critics to fill what they consider a loophole in
church law.
"If there's any action taken, it will likely be an action that is more
restrictive or punitive toward gay and lesbian people than is currently
in the (Book of) Discipline," said the Rev. David F. McAllister-Wilson,
president of United Methodist-related Wesley Theological Seminary in
Washington.
The denomination is sending too many mixed signals, said the Rev. James
V. Heidinger II, president and publisher of Good News, an unofficial
evangelical caucus within the church.
"We tend to be waffling on this, and I find that to be an embarrassment
to our church," said Heidinger, whose organization will send 50 members
to General Conference to lobby delegates. "It's clear our General
Conference has got to do something because what we have here is an egregious
ignoring of the Book of Discipline."
Issues related to homosexuality have dominated headlines since last
fall, with the Episcopal Church's consecration of a gay bishop, the
performance of gay marriages in San Francisco and elsewhere, and President
Bush's endorsement of a constitutional ban on gay marriage. Bush, a
United Methodist, has been invited with first lady Laura Bush to address
General Conference. The White House has not officially responded to the
invitation.
General Conference action on issues related to homosexuality will be
watched, said the Rev. William B. Lawrence, dean of United
Methodist-related Perkins School of Theology in Dallas. "I'm sure that wise
politicians will take note of actions at General Conference."
Those who celebrate the Dammann verdict consider it a breakthrough
worth rallying around. Laura Montgomery Rutt, a United Methodist and
spokesperson for Soulforce, an ecumenical organization targeting religious
persecution of homosexuals, said she hopes the decision will become "a
beacon that is a light for the rest of the church to follow." As it did
in 2000, the group plans protests at General Conference that include
civil disobedience should delegates take a more conservative stance, she
said.
In 2000, delegates in Cleveland retained the denomination's policies by
2-to-1 margins. They kept the statement that the practice of
homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching; the proscription against
self-avowed practicing homosexuals being ordained or appointed as
clergy; and the prohibition of same-sex union ceremonies by United Methodist
ministers and in the church's sanctuaries.
At the same gathering, delegates also affirmed that homosexuals are
people of sacred worth, and they ordered the church's General Commission
on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns to launch a series of
dialogues on homosexuality. The talks turned up passionate but mixed
feelings among church members across the United States.
"There is no consensus," said the Rev. Mary Ann Moman, staff executive
at the church's Board of Higher Education and Ministry, which offers
pastoral training. "We have historically over the last several General
Conferences maintained the language that we are to be in ministry (with
homosexuals), but there is the prohibition against in terms of
ordination."
A petition submitted by the denomination's social justice arm, the
Board of Church and Society, is meant to reflect this diversity, said Linda
Bales, a program director on the board. The petition calls for more
moderate language in the church's Social Principles, which are considered
guidelines but not law by the church, with the addition of a phrase
noting that "faithful Christians disagree on the compatibility of
homosexual practice with Christian teaching."
Some consider the ongoing debates over homosexuality a distraction from
other General Conference business that could advance the church.
Pointing to the church's lagging membership, McAllister-Wilson worries that
contention over homosexuality is yet another symptom of the
denomination's lack of focus and leadership. Even if delegates could agree on the
issue, he said, that would not give the denomination the direction it
needs to move forward.
"The majority of delegates feel this issue is a distraction especially
because there's not going to be a solution," he said. "I'm afraid the
most forward-thinking decision will be the decision to adjourn."
*Green is a freelance journalist based in Nashville, Tenn.
United Methodist News Service
Hi, I am the author and
performer of "Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House -- How I Survived
the Ex-Gay Movement!" I am always interested in thoughtful discussion about
my experiences in the ex-gay movement. I spent over 17 years seeking to find
change from my same sex attractions. I sought the Lord diligently and did more
than most anyone I know, to have God work a change in my life.
In addition to visiting my site, I invite you to attend the performance that I
will give in Ellensburg. I would love you to hear my story. You cannot get the
full picture by just looking at the web site. For instance, I never even
imagined that Jesus and Lazarus were lovers. When you see the show for yourself,
you will find that I give a careful presentation of John 11 with the account of
Lazarus' resurrection.
I realize that the issues surrounding homosexuality
and the church create tension between us believers. I welcome opportunities for
thoughtful discussion about these issues that mean so much to all of us.
When I am in Ellensburg, I would like to meet with anyone from your organization
who would like to talk.
The Cokesbury e-mail announcing this resource begins this way:
Dear Partner in Ministry,
Available free this week from Circuit Rider magazine and Abingdon Press: two sermon briefs, a call to prayer based on passages from the Koran, a pastoral prayer, and a litany for use in your planning for Sunday, November 11...
Each week, Cokesbury makes available a free online resource for pastors, featuring sermon and liturgy ideas. This week's resource includes a call to worship based on the Koran.
Here it is:
----
A Call to Worship
by Sandra Herrmann
Leader: In the name of God, the merciful, let us pray:
People: Praise be to God, the Lord of all being, the merciful Lord of mercy, Master of the day of judgment.
Leader: You alone we serve; to You alone we come for aid.
People: Guide us in the straight path, the path of those whom You have blessed, not of those against whom there is displeasure, nor of those who go astray.
Leader: Our Lord, we have wronged our own souls. If You forgive us not and withhold Your mercy from us, we are altogether lost.
People: O my Lord, let security and truth precede and follow me wherever You lead me. Let authority and succor from Your presence be with me.
(Based on S7:23 and S17:80 in the Koran)
(Sandra Herrmann is the pastor of Memorial United Methodist Church in Greeenfield, Wisconsin)
The Real Face of RENEW: WITCHCRAFT
The quadrennial Women's Division
Assembly began yesterday in Philadelphia. As Jim mentions in his update, Faye
Short and a team from Renew are there. Please keep them in
your prayers--these will be difficult days for them. Someone said to me not long
ago that they didn't envy Faye and the team--that the Assembly was the only
place she had ever attended where people would take the handout she was giving
out and tear it up and throw the pieces in her face. One of the plenary speakers
at this assembly will be the same woman (Barbara Lundblad) who boasted, to a
cheering, laughing audience at the first Re-Imagining Conference in 1993: "We did not last night name the name of Jesus. Nor
have we done anything in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit." She went on to
advocate for the acceptance of lesbian practice, and referred to Jesus as the
"child of Sophia" and to God as "Sophia." UMW pledge dollars
at work.....!
Blessings!
Helen Rhea Stumbo
Greetings to you from
here at Good News. I trust this finds you well.
I write to urge you to join us in praying for the upcoming United Methodist
Women's Assembly that begins this evening (Thursday, April 25th) in
Philadelphia. If previous such assemblies are an indicator, there will be some
10,000 women in attendance. These are just held once in a quadrennium.
Please pray often and specifically for our RENEW President, Faye Short and the
team of women that she has going to the Assembly. Joining Faye will be Diane
Knippers, Ruth Burgner, Katie Keyser, Lauren Keyser, Robin Lawson, Kim
Turkington, Andrea Yates, Ruth Velasquez, Karen Booth, and Donna Hailson. Also,
there will be some 15 women from the Philadelphia area there to help in a
variety of supportive roles.
Faye told me Tuesday that the RENEW Hospitality Room will be at the Hilton
Garden Inn adjacent to the Convention Center. Please pray for the many contacts
that the team will make with United Methodist Women who will be gathering from
across the nation and from other countries. They will have presentations given
Friday and Saturday afternoons from 3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., which is free time
for the delegates.
This event is timely in that RENEW and Good News' Call for Reform of the Women's
Division has been getting more and more attention. UMW unit presidents are
beginning to ask questions and have not been satisfied with the non-answers
coming from the New York leadership. So, this will be a time for conversation
and the sharing of information and materials.
Please pray for Faye and the team. Whatever materials they distribute will have
to be done outside the convention center most likely. They have never been
permitted to distribute materials inside. The atmosphere can sometimes be less
than pleasant, so please pray for the team that the Lord will give them a cover
of spiritual protection. Also, pray for UMW members and officers who will be
there. Pray they will have discernment about what they hear and see. Pray that
they will have the courage to speak up and voice their concerns about Women's
Division policies and positions.
God bless you richly.
Yours in Christ,
James V. Heidinger II
New METHODIST HYMNAL: strong mother God !! - New hymnal hits
sour note for some
A new 284-song supplement to the official United Methodist Hymnal is striking a
sour note with some church leaders for lyrics that refer to God in feminine
terms including "Mothering Christ," "Womb of Life," and
"strong mother
God."
The five songs in The Faith We Sing that describe God as female are being
decried as "radical feminist theology," both inaccurate and
unacceptable.
"Unfortunately, this publication, with its questionable theology, will be
purchased by thousands of unsuspecting United Methodist churches," said
Mark Tooley, director of the United Methodist committee of the Institute on
Religion and Democracy in Washington.
James V. Heidinger, president and publisher of Good News, a United Methodist
newsletter based in Wilmore, Ky., also expressed concern over lyrics in the
hymnal that "appear to depart from the historic understanding of God that
we have."
Mr. Heidinger and Mr. Tooley both questioned the way the book was published,
bypassing the public discussion that shaped the official United Methodist Hymnal
before it was published in 1989.
"It almost seems a little bit futile to be debating whether we like the
songs or not because the thing is in print," Mr. Heidinger said.
Hoyt Hickman, editor of The Faith We Sing, emphasized that the supplement is not
an official denominational publication but is "simply a trade publication
of Abingdon Press."
Abingdon Press is a Nashville-based publishing house owned and operated by the
United Methodist Church, and one of the covers for the new book features a cross
and flame like the one the denomination uses as its symbol.
Many church officials will mistakenly think the new book is an official
publication, Mr. Heidinger predicted.
The United Methodist Church In Bondage
Timeline of the Sophia/"goddess" Theologies
Rick Branch
The headline read "Nauvoo United Methodist Church Dedicates Peace Pole," (Nauvoo Grapevine, May 24, 1989 p. 1). On May 21st of 1989 the United Methodist Church of Nauvoo, Illinois, erected a "Peace Pole next to the front steps of the church," (Ibid, May 17, 1989, p. 2).
The "Peace Pole" is an obelisk with the message "May peace prevail on earth" written in the four languages of English, Chinese, Russian and Spanish. It is the purpose of the "Peace Pole" to be provide a focal point around which the people are to meditate and visualize world peace.
The New Ageteaches that should enough people achieve the consciousness of world peace that their peaceful vibration will permeate the consciousness of those who are still practicing violence. While the thought of world peace is a worthwhile concept, it will not be brought to fruition by the meditation and visualization on a "Peace Pole" by sinful man.
United Methodists look to Africa for Principled Leadership
The explosive growth of the United Methodist Church (UMC) in Africa may significantly change Methodism in the United States, which is currently torn by issues related to homosexuality (see p. 50).
"The church is becoming more and more international," said Mark Tooley, director of the UM Action renewal group. "[I hope] that trend will help us overcome and eventually set aside many of the current debates, including homosexuality."
There are now United Methodist churches in 13 African countries—with approximately 2.6 million members across the continent. That number is up 1.5 million from just five years ago.
During May's General Conference (the highest legislative meeting of global Methodism), conference delegates voted to receive the Côte d'Ivoire mission into full membership. That act alone added 1 million African Methodists to the global roster.
The growth of Methodism overseas has helped offset decades of decline within the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination. The UMC is currently losing 40,000 members each year in the United States, according to the denomination's General Council on Finance and Administration. Since 1965 the denomination has lost more than 3 million members. In the last five years, however, African Methodist churches have added roughly 100,000 new members each year.
Full Story
Here
June 11, 2004
The Rev. Diana Facemyer, pastor of St. Thomas UMC in Glen Ellyn [Illinois], participated in the dedication this spring of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community's mosque recently completed across the street from St. Thomas UMC on Route 53.
Members of St. Thomas UMC were among the first to support construction of the mosque when it was being considered in 1993 by the DuPage County zoning board.
After Sept. 11, 2001, the two congregations held a joint worship service and picnic, and the Muslim community began holding its Friday prayer services at St. Thomas UMC pending completion of the mosque.
Facemyer called the relationship begun after 9/11 "a miracle of sorts" saying it was "a witness of unity overcoming fear and separation."
The St. Thomas congregation presented the Muslim community with a peace tree to be planted near the mosque like the peace tree planted on the St. Thomas property.
God doing a New Thing ????
A UMNS Commentary
By the Rev. Jeanne G. Knepper*
"Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am
about to do a new thing; now it is springing forth, do you not perceive
it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the
desert."-Isaiah 43:18-19.
On March 20, 2004, a trial court of 13 clergy of the Pacific Northwest
Annual Conference voted to acquit the Rev. Karen Dammann of charges
springing from her own admission that she was a lesbian in a committed
relationship.
The Rev. Chuck Cooper, observing the trial for the Reconciling
Ministries Clergy, wrote, "The Spirit of God was present without a doubt."
On the other hand, Patricia Miller, executive director of the
Confessing Movement, said, "I believe the vast majority of United Methodists are
in grief and shock today. ... I think the issue is, a part of the
jurisdiction has broken covenant with the rest of the church and has decided
to go the way of the world, as opposed to being faithful to and abiding
by church law."
These two statements mark a growing chasm in United Methodism, of which
the Dammann trial and acquittal is both the most recent and the most
vivid illustration. If this chasm is not bridged, the denomination will
not avoid schism.
What was once a situation of differences of deeply felt opinions has
become one in which schism is increasingly possible, precisely for the
reason that Miller observed: The division is increasingly geographical
and jurisdictional in nature.
Although United Methodism has a high regard for law and structure,
clergy credentials rest in the care of the annual conferences. When the
clergy of an annual conference are unable to find convincing reason to
convict an admitted lesbian pastor of "practices declared by the United
Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teachings," that
decision is final.
The most telling part of the Dammann verdict is that not one member of
the trial court was willing to vote to convict. All of the jurors were
clergy members of the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference who had
agreed that they would be willing to set aside any personal convictions in
order to apply relevant portions of the denomination's Book of
Discipline. Yet, 11 voted to acquit, and two declared themselves undecided; none
was convinced that the law of United Methodism required them to convict
Karen Dammann.
The trial court's decision is a harbinger of change to come, whether it
occurs through the actions of United Methodism's quadrennial General
Conference or through the actions of United Methodists who are simply
unwilling to ignore God's new thing.
Change will come because the majority of clergy members in the Western
Jurisdiction's annual conferences have been unwilling to remove pastors
who officiated at a lesbian covenant service in the California-Nevada
Annual Conference, have been unwilling to remove the Rev. Mark Williams,
an admittedly gay man, from ministry, and are now unconvinced that they
are required to remove the Rev. Karen Dammann from ministry.
The same jurisdiction that has sent petitions asking the last four
General Conferences to amend or delete disciplinary language about
homosexuality is increasingly unwilling to shape its practices by that
discriminatory language.
In little more than a month, the General Conference will meet and
determine the rules of United Methodism for the next four years. Following
this trial, it is clear that delegates have momentous choices to make.
On the issues of homosexuality and justice, they can decide to adopt
petitions asking the church to become more specific in its prohibitory
language, more forceful in its legislation, more narrow in its
determination of appropriate United Methodist beliefs and practices - a choice
that will be followed by widespread dissension and probable schism.
They can decide to uphold the status quo, knowing that annual
conferences in the West, and perhaps in the North as well, will increasingly
interpret the Book of Discipline through eyes that see God longing for
greater inclusion in the church. That status quo would lead to an
unacknowledged but de facto situation where church law is enforced differently
in different regions, and much energy is spent in trying and decrying
those differences.
Or the delegates could finally recognize and acknowledge that people of
unabashedly Methodist and Christian convictions do not, cannot, and
will not agree on the subject of homosexuality. They could set aside the
wrangling and allow annual conferences to determine the worthiness of
clergy as they always have, by evaluating call, gifts, graces and fruits
of ministry.
Only by such action can the church acknowledge God's new rivers of
grace flowing in the desert, join hands as one people of God and bridge the
chasm that will otherwise tear the church apart.
# # #
*Knepper is the pastor at University Park United Methodist Church in
Portland, Ore., and a former co-spokesperson of Affirmation, a caucus
dealing with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.
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“Yesterday’s heresies are becoming
tomorrow’s Book of Order”
...The Great Falling Away...
Sophia (Goddess) upstages Jesus at
Feminist Theology Examined
Sophia and the Bible
The recent proceedings at the "Re-Imagining" Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, have been a cause of great concern throughout the mainline denominations. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the gathering was the worship and adoration paid to Sophia. In their desire to educate the attendees the propagators of this form of worship have put forward several theologically unsound concepts. At their roots, these propositions are a reflection of feminist theology, and as such, deserve our critical investigation.
Unfortunately, the feminist theological view cannot be called a valid interpretation of biblical intent, because it refuses at the outset to let the Bible say what it will from within its own self-understanding. The feminist interpretation focuses not so much on what the biblical text says, but upon what it might have said if certain things included in the text were not in the text, and if certain things which are not in the text were in it.
The new teachings about Sophia are not the result of scholarly and objective look at Christian doctrine. They are an attempt by persons who have rejected the biblical teachings about Christ to remain within the "Christian" Church. Susan Cady, a UM minister and co-author of Wisdom's Feast: Sophia in Study and Celebration, asked herself a very interesting question as she celebrated communion one day. She asked: "What am I doing? Celebrating the experience of some man? What does He have to do with me?" Later that same week Cady wrote about a vision of Sophia, peering through the window of a door and calling to her, "What are you afraid of anyway? Do you think I care about your old theology? Do you think I care what name you name me?" When you are dealing with this kind of rationale, argumentation is of little use.
The feminist outlook makes a very selective use of biblical evidence to support its case that there is a warrant for the Christian worship of a goddess called "Sophia." Furthermore, a good deal of the argumentation consists of conjectures about what the Bible might have said about the goddess if certain conjectured developments had taken place. In other words, we very frequently find a conjecture resting upon conjectures which rest upon still others.
Dr. John Oswalt is the chair of the Biblical Studies Division and Beeson Professor of Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary
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