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Last week, as the U.S. House of Representatives approached a vote on H.R. 3962, legislation that would vastly expand the federal government’s role over the U.S. health-care system, the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) asked Methodists to “contact your member of the U.S. House of Representatives this week and urge them to support H.R. 3962.”

gbcs-hr3962

A GBCS ad urging support of the House health bill

In pushing for passage of H.R. 3692, as well as for approval of health-care legislation in U.S. Senate, GBCS has made a point of quoting a portion of ¶162V of the Book of Discipline: “Health care is a basic human right.”

UM pastor and blogger Donald Sensing has argued (here and here) that the concept of health care as a “human right” is difficult to sustain logically, unless one alters the traditional definition of what is meant by “rights.” Even so, the assertion of a “right” to health care is part of the United Methodist Discipline.

How did it come to be there?

Language asserting that health care is a right was first added to the Book of Discipline by the 1996 General Conference. That language was reaffirmed (and expanded) by the General Conference in 2008. However, in neither instance (1996 nor 2008) was the matter was actually discussed on the floor of the conference.

1996: Two years after the Clinton Administration’s health-care plan failed to achieve congressional passage, the General Board of Church and Society submitted a petition asserting a “right to health care” to the 1996 General Conference. (In other words, GBCS authored the assertion it now quotes in support of its lobbying on the health care issue.)

GC96-denverThe GBCS petition was approved by the 1996 Church and Society legislative committee and sent to the full General Conference with a recommendation for “concurrence.”

The committee-approved petition did not come to the floor as a separate item, however. Instead, it was bundled with several unrelated items as part of a “consent calendar,” a parliamentary vehicle aimed at speeding the business of a legislative assembly by packaging several “noncontroversial” items as one and having them adopted in a single vote.

The GBCS language describing health care as a right was included as part of Consent Calendar A02, which was moved on the floor of the conference and approved with no discussion (or verbal description of the included items) on April 22, 1996.

At that point, or at least when the language was subsequently included in the 1996 Book of Discipline, the United Methodist Church officially endorsed the concept of a right to health care.

2008: Last year, the General Conference reaffirmed the “right” to health care, again without any floor debate. In a manner somewhat similar to 1996, the legislative petition was bundled with other items, although this time the bundled items — three in all — related to the same topic: health care.

In addition to the petition (again authored by GBCS) reasserting a right to health care (and further expanding the language in that section of the Discipline), the bundled items included  a petition, from GBCS General Secretary Jim Winkler, strongly advocating a “single-payer” (i.e. government-managed) system for health care in the U.S.

A third item — a petition from the Norway Annual Conference’s Board of Discipleship/Church and Society — declared: “We believe it is a governmental responsibility to provide all citizens with health care.”

All three of these health-care-related petitions came to the floor of the General Conference after 9 p.m. on the conference’s final night — May 2, 2008. Rushing to conclude legislative business (approximately 50 items were on the legislative calendar for that evening), the conference dealt with all three health-care items as one, following the recommendation of presenter Frederick Brewington, who represented the Church and Society 2 legislative committee.

The conference quickly approved the items — with no debate — by a vote of 690-114.

Indeed, floor debate was generally in short supply as adjournment deadline drew nearer.

Delegates had apparently taken to heart the advice of Bishop William Hutchinson (Louisiana Conference), who was serving as chair on that final night. Reminding delegates of the “significant amount of work” yet to be done, urged them to “keep moving in the voting process.”

Use the audio player to listen to Bishop William Hutchinson warn that time is of the essence during proceedings on Friday evening, May 2, 2008. You’ll also hear the successful motion to limit debate.

About an hour into the evening session, with 40 calendar items still remaining and the deadline for adjournment drawing closer, a delegate from Oklahoma moved to “suspend the rules and limit debate” so that items could dealt with even more quickly. With delegates keenly aware of the press of time, the motion to limit debate raised only minimal objection and was passed handily.

Use the player to listen to the proceedings.

The presentation of the health-care items, which began at approximately 9:10 p.m., is transcribed below.

The the right-to-health-care legislation is Calendar No. 738; the “single-payer” petition is No. 737; the petition from the Norway Conference is No. 1198.

Bishop William Hutchinson: We’re ready to move now to Church and Society 2. Frederick Brewington.

Frederick K. Brewington (New York Conference, chair, Church and Society 2 legislative committee): Thank you, Bishop.

Bishop, the next three petitions we’re going to bring as a group in an attempt to bundle them, if they are so allowed to be bundled by the body.

go08-frederick-brewington

Frederick Brewington, chair,
Church and Society 2 Cmte.

Bishop Hutchinson: All right.

Brewington: They deal with the issue of quality health care. They are found at the following DCA (Daily Christian Advocate) pages — 2175 — excuse me, 2174 and 2268.

They are Calendar Numbers 738, 737, and 1900, excuse me, 1198, found in the Advanced DCA 347, 348, and 379. The petition numbers are: Petition Number 80642, 80568, and 81011.

These three petitions, Bishop, deal with strong statements dealing with the need for quality health care and the right of all people to that as a basic human right. It sets out — they all set out, as strong statements rooted in a positive way that discuss the responsibility of government to partner and be involved and making sure that health care is made available to all.

Two deal with paragraph 162T of the Book of Discipline [now ¶162V] — and the other deals with resolutions 108 and 113 of the Book of Resolutions and seek to combine the intent of those resolutions into a single resolution. If further information is needed, Bishop, I would provide that — but the committee has recommended that each of these petitions be adopted.

gc08-bishop-hutchinson

Bishop William Hutchinson

Bishop Hutchinson: All right. The request is that these be bundled into one vote and you would be adopting all three at the same time. Do I see any, uh, heartburn with us doing it that way? I don’t think I do.

Yes, do you have a question? Back here in section C, to microphone 8.

Timothy J. Riss (New York Conference): I heard that we’re adopting all three of these. Is one of them on a consent calendar — I’m sorry — is one of them something that you wanted to reject?

Bishop Hutchinson: That is not the recommendation of the committee.

Brewington: They are “to adopt” as to all three.

Riss: I’m sorry.

Bishop Hutchinson: I think we’re ready to vote on this. If you will vote for the adoption of all three petitions you will do so by pressing “1.” If you will reject all three petitions you will do so by pressing “2.” Vote when the timer appears. [A pause as the delegates vote.] All right, we have adopted all three petitions.

As noted above, the 1996 petition asserting a right to heath care was submitted by the General Board of Church and Society, as were two of three health-care items passed in 2008.

Once such items are approved by the General Conference, GBCS is empowered to promote them as official church policy, even to the point of lobbying for specific congressional legislation that would seem to advance those policy aims.

The text of the Book of Discipline’s ¶162V (“Right to Health Care”), as approved by the 2008 General Conference late on Friday evening, May 2, is here.

The resolution, “Heath Care for All,” submitted by GBCS General Secretary Jim Winkler and approved as part of that same Friday night vote, is now included in the UM Book of Resolutions. Read it here.

(Thanks to MethodistThinker reader, Mark Smith, M.D.,
for suggesting a post on this topic.)


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Board of Church and Society sex-ed writer: Sex outside of marriage can be ‘moral, ethical’
‘Church and Society’ urges repeal of ‘conscience’ rule for healthcare workers
Update on the ‘Church and Society’ court case
Former member of Board of Church and Society speaks out
‘Church and Society’ withdraws support for Freedom of Choice Act
‘Church and Society’ to Obama: End protections for unborn
Bill Bouknight: The good news from General Conference ‘08

The United Methodist Judicial Council, reversing a decision by Bishop John Schol, has ruled that a resolution passed this earlier this year by the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference is at odds with the United Methodist Book of Discipline’s official teaching on human sexuality.

bishop-john-schol

Bishop John Schol
(UMNS photo)

The resolution, which mirrored legislation rejected by the 2008 General Conference, said that United Methodists “have been and remain divided regarding homosexual expressions of human sexuality.”

However, the official church teaching of the United Methodist Church, approved by the General Conference and included in ¶161F of the 2008 Book of Discipline, clearly states that the UMC “does not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider[s] this practice incompatible with Christian teaching.”

Further, the Discipline language notes that “sexual relations are affirmed only within the covenant of monogamous, heterosexual marriage.”

In its ruling (Decision 1120), the Judicial Council, the denomination’s highest court, wrote that the “effect of the Baltimore-Washington resolution is to negate the church’s clearly stated position.” Moreover, “the Baltimore–Washington resolution attempts to articulate a new and different standard of church belief using language that has been specifically rejected by the General Conference.”

The Council ruled that an annual conference “may not negate, ignore or violate” the Book of Discipline, “even when the disagreements are based upon conscientious objections.”

A report from the United Methodist News Service offers additional background:

In previous decisions, the council had determined [that] statements of beliefs on sexuality from the Desert Southwest [Decision 913] and Pacific Northwest [Decision 1021] conferences — and even an earlier Baltimore-Washington resolution calling for inclusive behavior in the acceptance of congregational members [Memorandum 1044] — were permissible because they did not negate, ignore or violate the Discipline.

But a California-Nevada resolution directing the conference to distribute a list of retired clergy willing to perform same-sex union ceremonies was considered an endorsement of actions prohibited by the Discipline [Decision 1111].

Applying guiding principles from such previous decisions, the Judicial Council found that the Baltimore-Washington statement’s claim to communicate a “more authentic and truthful representation” of the church implies the denomination’s position is less than authentic.

The Baltimore-Washington resolution voided by the Judicial Council was sponsored by seven churches — three in Maryland and four in Washington, D.C. — aligned with Baltimore-Washington Area Reconciling United Methodists.

bwarmThe group “seek[s] to affirm lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and ensure the full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the ministry and life of the United Methodist Church, particularly in the Baltimore-Washington Conference.”

The Maryland churches are Emmanuel UMC in Laurel, Christ UMC in Columbia, and St. John’s UMC in Baltimore. The D.C. congregations are Capitol Hill UMC, Wesley UMC, Dumbarton UMC, and Foundry UMC.

In 2008, one of the seven churches, D.C.’s Foundry UMC, began “recogniz[ing] same-sex unions in special ceremonies that fall just short of an official wedding,” according to a account from the United Methodist News Service.

In other rulings, the Judicial Council affirmed a decision by Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster that a five-year-old Western North Carolina Conference plan that gave local churches leeway in choosing which conference and general church funding requests to pay is in violation of ¶247.14 of the Book of Discipline.

Quoting the Discipline, the Council noted that payment in full of “apportioned” items is “the first benevolent responsibility of the church” (Decision 1121).

In a matter arising from the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, the Judicial Council agreed that a retired elder is allowed serve as chair of a local church Finance Committee (Decision 1126).

In a case from the California-Nevada Conference, the Judicial Council upheld Bishop Warner H. Brown’s ruling that an annual conference is allowed to set the retirement-pay rate for retired clergy as long as it does not reduce compensation. The case stemmed from a conference decision to forestall an “automatic” 2 percent annual increase for retired pastors (Decision 1141).

Below is a United Methodist News Service summary of several additional rulings.

The Judicial Council:

  • Ruled the secretary of the General Conference has the authority to determine the number of delegates that each annual and missionary conference will elect to the General Conference within the provisions of the Constitution and the legislative enactments of the General Conference.
  • Affirmed the ruling of Bishop Jonathan Keaton that a request for a decision of law in the Detroit Annual Conference regarding identifying local church membership in the Reconciling Ministries Network was “moot, hypothetical and improper.”
  • Found that the Louisiana Annual Conference did not violate the Discipline by establishing clergy compensation before knowing the cost of health insurance premiums because such a cost is a benefit, not compensation.
  • Upheld a decision by Bishop Mary Ann Swenson regarding implementation of the California-Pacific Conference’s Annual Conference’s Clergy Benefit Charge to cover the costs of the health premiums for retired and incapacitated clergy.

The nine-member Judicial Council met last week in Durham, North Carolina. Current members and alternates are listed in this post.

Members of the Council are elected by the United Methodist General Conference.


Related posts
UM Judicial Council to rule on sexuality resolution, apportionments
Sexuality resolution not at variance with Discipline, bishop rules
In Mississippi Conference, testimony from lesbian couple stirs controversy
Bill Bouknight: The good news from General Conference ‘08
Joe Whittemore: ‘Enough is enough’
UM Judicial Council says no to same-sex marriage
Maxie Dunnam, Eddie Fox release videos on proposed amendments

Related articles and information
Archive of rulings by the United Methodist Judicial Council | UMC.org
Despite strong pressure to approve same-sex pairings, UMC has held firm: homosexual activity is ‘incompatible with Christian teaching’ | Linda Bloom, United Methodist News Service (Nov. 4, 2009)
Judicial Council voids sexuality statement | Linda Bloom, United Methodist News Service (Nov. 2, 2009)
Top court rules on financial, clergy issues | Linda Bloom, United Methodist News Service (Nov. 2, 2009)
United Methodists uphold homosexuality stance | United Methodist News Service; Good News Information Service, Good News magazine (May/June 2008)
Slavery, homosexuality, and not being of one mind | Riley B. Case, via The Sundry Times (July 1, 2008)
D.C. Foundry church will honor same-sex unions | Robin Russell, United Methodist News Service (March 11, 2008)
What the evidence really says about Scripture and homosexual practice: Five issues (PDF) | Robert A. J. Gagnon (March 2009)
How churches can refine message on homosexuality | Robin Russell, United Methodist Reporter (May 19, 2008)
Resources list: Ministry for and with homosexual persons (requested by the UMC’s 2004 General Conference (PDF) | United Methodist Publishing House
Book: Staying the Course: Supporting the [United Methodist] Church’s Position on Homosexuality | Abingdon Press (2003)
Homosexuality and the Great Commandment (an address to the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh) | Peter C. Moore (November 2002)

November 5, 1414: The Council of Constance opens to end the Great Schism. It deposed all three rival popes, but it also executed Bohemian reformers John Huss (Jan Hus) and Jerome of Prague, and anathematized the teachings of John Wycliffe.

billy-sundayNovember 6, 1935: American revivalist Billy Sunday (right), a professional baseball player who became one of America’s most famous evangelists, dies at age 73. More than 100 million people heard him speak at his evangelistic crusades.

November 7, 1918: Evangelist William (“Billy”) Franklin Graham, Jr., is born in Charlotte, North Carolina

November 12, 1660: John Bunyan is arrested for unlicensed preaching and sentenced to prison. While incarcerated, he writes Pilgrim’s Progress, which continues to be the second-bestselling book of all time (after the Bible).

oswald-chambersNovember 15, 1917: Oswald Chambers (left) dies while serving as chaplain to British troops in Egypt during World War I. His widow, Gertrude, spends the rest of her life compiling his notes, lectures, and sermons into books, including the best-selling, My Utmost for His Highest.

November 18, 1874: The Women’s Christian Temperance Union is founded in Cleveland, Ohio. Claiming the power of the Holy Spirit, Protestant members would march into saloons and demand they be closed.

The WCTU was the largest temperance organization and the largest women’s organization in the U.S. before 1900.

November 21, 1964: The third session of Vatican II closes with the approval of three documents. One of these, the “Decree on Ecumenism,” declared both Catholics and Protestants to blame for past divisions and called for dialogue, not derision, in the future.

November 22, 1873: The French ship, Ville du Havre, sinks in the north Atlantic, killing all four daughters of Chicago lawyer Horatio G. Spafford. His wife survived, and Spafford immediately books passage to join her in England.

While passing over the spot where his daughters died, he begins writing what would become the famous hymn, It is Well with My Soul.

cs-lewisNovember 22, 1963: British scholar, C.S. Lewis (right), author of Mere Christianity, dies (on the same day that an assassin kills Pres. John F. Kennedy).

November 24, 1771: Methodist Francis Asbury begins preaching in America. For the next 45 years, he was the main figure in establishing the Methodist church here.

November 28, 1863: The first annual national Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the midst of the Civil War. Several weeks earlier, President Abraham Lincoln had proclaimed the fourth Thursday of November as a national day of thanks.

martin-boehmNovember 30, 1725: Martin Boehm (left) is born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He became a Mennonite bishop, but later was excluded from the Mennonite communion because of his “experimental” (i.e. emotional and evangelistic) preaching, as well as his association with persons of other sects.

Boehm joined with Philip W. Otterbein and others to form the United Brethren in Christ, a predecessor denomination to the United Methodist Church.

Adapted with permission from ChristianHistory.net.

A statement on sexuality approved by the Baltimore-Washington Conference and a Western North Carolina Conference plan allowing flexibility in the payment of apportionments will go before the United Methodist Judicial Council this week. The two cases are among 21 items the denomination’s highest court will consider when it meets for its fall session starting Wednesday.

judicial_councilThe sexuality case stems from a resolution passed by the 2009 session of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference that mirrors a resolution rejected last year by the United Methodist General Conference. The Baltimore-Washington resolution also uses language from ¶161G of the 2004 United Methodist Book of Discipline, language that was superseded by action of the last year’s General Conference.

Delegates to 2008 General Conference rejected proposed language suggesting that the church has no clear teaching on homosexual relations. Further, the delegates strengthened language on sexual activity outside the bond of marriage, noting that ”sexual relations are affirmed only within the covenant of monogamous, heterosexual marriage” (now in ¶161F of the United Methodist Book of Discipline, 2008). The UM General Conference, which meets once every four years, is only body empowered to speak for the entire denomination.

The Baltimore-Washington resolution, similar in language to the legislation rejected by 2008 General Conference, noted that the “we have been and remain divided regarding homosexual expressions of human sexuality.” The Rev. Charles Harrell, pastor of Trinity UMC in Prince Frederick, Md., asked Bishop John Schol to determine whether the resolution “establishes a new and different standard on sexuality from the Discipline.”

Bishop Schol, who was elected to the episcopacy in 2004 and has served the Baltimore-Washington Conference since then, ruled (PDF) that the resolution neither “contradicts the Discipline [n]or establishes a new and different standard on sexuality from the Discipline.”

Under United Methodist legal procedure, a bishop’s “decision of law” is automatically appealed to the Judicial Council.

The apportionments case involves a 2004 vote by the Western North Carolina Conference to institute “Choice Empowerment,” a plan that allowed local churches to have greater leeway in responding to conference and general church funding requests.

Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster

Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster

A 2006 “Stewardship of Managing Report” (PDF) presented to the Western North Carolina Conference noted that Choice Empowerment had “begun to assist local congregations in prioritizing their giving. While giving for apportionments remains flat, much more money has been given through Advance Specials and local missions given directly by local congregations…. [M]ore congregations are providing more total money for missions than ever before.”

Still, questions lingered about the “validity” of the Choice Empowerment program, leading to a request from the conference’s Council on Finance and Administration for a bishop’s ruling on the matter.

Bishop Larry Goodpaster, who assumed leadership of the Western North Carolina Conference in September 2008, ruled that the five-year-old “choice” plan violates the Book of Discipline.

“For an annual conference to adopt a policy that gives permission to local churches to choose not to pay, or to choose to shift payments from one item to another, is a violation of the letter and spirit of our church law,” Bishop Goodpaster wrote. He noted that ¶247.14 states that “[p]ayment in full of these apportionments by local churches is the first benevolent responsibility of the church.”

As with the case mentioned above, a bishop’s “decision of law” is automatically appealed to the Judicial Council.

Below is a roundup of other items on the Judicial Council’s current docket, as summarized by the United Methodist News Service.

An item from the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference raises the issue of whether retired pastors should [be allowed to] serve in local church positions usually allocated to lay people. A retired pastor who had been chairperson of a local church finance committee since 2002 was told in the fall of 2008 that his occupying that position violated the Discipline….

The UM Judicial Council, meeting in April 2009

The UM Judicial Council — April 2009

When the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference met in 2009, the members adopted a resolution requesting that the Judicial Council make a declaratory decision on the matter because there are retired clergy serving as chairpersons of local church finance committees across the connection….

In another sexuality matter, the council will review a Detroit Conference decision concerning the Reconciling Ministries Network, an unofficial organization promoting the full participation of people of all sexual orientations in The United Methodist Church.

During the conference session, an individual asked a question about local churches identifying themselves as reconciling congregations. Bishop Jonathan Keaton ruled that he was not going to address the question because the matter did not deal with conference business….

Other docket items include a question about the legality of the Northwest Texas Conference’s vote on constitutional amendments; a ruling regarding adjustments in the number of delegates to the denomination’s General Conference and a decision about pension rates for retired clergy in the California-Nevada Conference.

The nine-member Judicial Council will meet Wednesday through Saturday in Durham, North Carolina. Current members and alternates are listed in this post.

Members of the Council are elected by the United Methodist General Conference.

All 21 docket items for the fall 2009 session are listed below.

Automatic review of decisions by bishops
  • Review of a decision of law by Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster of the Western North Carolina Conference as to whether the “Choice Empowerment” apportionment paradigm adopted in 2004 and still in effect in the annual conference is in violation of ¶247.14.
  • Review of a decision of law by Bishop John R. Schol of the Baltimore-Washington Conference as to whether a resolution on human sexuality was properly before the conference in light of ¶161F.
  • Review of a decision of law by Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton of the Detroit Conference regarding the Reconciling Ministries Network.
  • Review of a decision of law by Bishop Mary Ann Swenson of the California-Pacific Conference related to conference clergy benefit charge.
  • Review of a decision of law by Bishop John R. Schol of the Baltimore-Washington Conference regarding the authority of “adventure guides” who are not elders to conduct local church or charge conferences in light of ¶246.5.
  • Review of a decision of law by Bishop Janice Riggle Huie of the Texas Conference regarding retirement incentives utilizing pension reserve in light of ¶613.1.
  • Review of a decision of law of Bishop Jeremiah J. Park of the New York Conference related to a request for a decision on legality of a resolution supporting persons who dissent from the Discipline.
  • Review of a decision of law by Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton of the West Michigan Conference regarding adoption of a master group program for insuring all churches in the conference.
  • Review of a decision of law by Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr. of the California-Nevada Annual Conference as to whether or not ¶1506.7 permits the annual conference to adopt a past-service annuity rate that remains the same from one year to the next.
  • Review of a decision of law by Bishop William W. Hutchinson of the Louisiana Conference as to whether ¶247.13 is violated by the practice of the setting of clergy compensation by the Charge Conference prior to knowing the exact amount of the annual health insurance program.
  • Review of a decision of law by Bishop Susan Hassinger of the Wyoming Conference related to provisions for voluntary retirement.
  • Review of decisions of law by Bishop Elaine J. Stanovsky of the Rocky Mountain Conference related to return to conference membership after resignation from the episcopacy.
  • Review of decisions of law by Bishop Elaine J. Stanovsky of the Yellowstone Conference regarding clergy withdrawal between sessions of annual conference.
  • Review of decision of Bishop D. Max Whitfield of the Northwest Texas Conference regarding the legality of the Annual Conference’s vote on constitutional amendments.
Requested decisions
  • Request for a declaratory decision from the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference as to whether a retired elder in full connection can serve as chairperson of a local church committee on finance.
  • Request for a declaratory decision from the Commission on the General Conference on the meaning, effect and application of ¶13 of the Constitution as it relates to ¶502.3E in determining any restrictions on the degree of adjustment in number of delegates to be made by the secretary of the General Conference.
  • Request for a declaratory decision from the Minnesota Conference related to meaning, effect and application of Section II, Article IV.2 and Section VI, Article I of the Constitution as they apply to ¶316.6 and ¶327.2 and the prohibition of local pastors and provisional members voting on constitutional amendments.
  • Request for a declaratory decision from the Baltimore-Washington Conference on the meaning, effect and application of ¶354 and ¶355 in determining if the bishop, cabinet, conference relations committee or board of ordained ministry can put requirements on an individual who is granted voluntary leave of absence.
  • Request for a declaratory decision from the Virginia Conference as to the meaning, application and effect of ¶639, ¶1505 and ¶1506 with respect to sponsorship and administration of the Ministerial Pension Plan.
  • Request for a declaratory decision from the Wyoming Conference regarding the complaint process with reference to ¶361, ¶362 and ¶2701.2D.
  • Request from the Western North Carolina Conference to determine the legality of a clergy couple housing policy adopted by the Annual Conference.

Related posts
Sexuality resolution not at variance with Discipline, bishop rules
Judicial Council says no to same-sex marriage, OKs Bush Center at SMU
Judicial Council sends controversial cases back to conferences
Bill Bouknight: The good news from General Conference ‘08
Bill Bouknight: The bad news from General Conference ‘08

Related articles and information
Church court to address apportionments, sexuality | Linda Bloom, United Methodist News Service (Oct. 23, 2009)
Apportionment payment choice on lengthy Judicial Council docket | Kathy Noble, Interpreter magazine (September/October 2009)
Rules of Practice and Procedure | The United Methodist Judicial Council (Revised October 2004)
Ruling of Law — 2009 (PDF) | Bishop John R. Schol, Baltimore-Washington Conference
Decision rendered on ‘Choice Empowerment’ | Bishop Larry Goodpaster, Western North Carolina Conference (July 22, 2009)
Bishop Huie submits Rule of Law decision to Judicial Council | Eleanor Colvin, Communications Director, Texas Annual Conference
Bishop’s Ruling of Law concerning ¶613.1 and the Texas Annual Conference Early Retirement Incentive Program (PDF—65 pages) | Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, Texas Annual Conference (June 24, 2009)
A brief filed in response to Bishop Huie’s decision that a request for a ruling of law on the policy of offering retirement incentives using funds from the Texas Annual Conference’s Pension Reserve was ‘not germane to the business of the Annual Conference’ (PDF) | James W. Foster, Elder, Texas Annual Conference
Response to the brief of Rev. James W. Foster (PDF) | Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, Texas Annual Conference (Aug. 20, 2009)

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Foundation for Evangelism, founded in 1949 by the featured speaker on this week’s MethodistThinker Podcast, Dr. Harry Denman.

Dr. Harry Denman

Dr. Harry Denman

As young man in the 1920s, Harry Denman showed exceptional gifts in evangelism and administration, both in his service at the First Methodist Church of Birmingham, Alabama, and as a lay leader in the North Alabama Conference.

When The Methodist Church was formed in 1939 (through the merger of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Protestant Church, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South), Harry Denman was elected to lead the new denomination’s evangelism program.

A decade later, he launched the Foundation for Evangelism as a means of supporting the evangelism ministries of The Methodist Church. (Today, the Foundation’s work includes supporting professors of evangelism at United Methodist-related institutions, sponsoring the biennial Harry Denman Lectures at the UM Congress on Evangelism, and honoring outstanding efforts in local church evangelism through presentation of the Harry Denman Evangelism Award.)

Dr. Denman retired from the Foundation for Evangelism in 1965, but continued his ministry of lay preaching and personal witness. Billy Graham once said that he “never knew a man who encouraged more people in the field of evangelism than Harry Denman.”

Harry Denman’s “body” died (that is how he always described physical death) in 1976. He was 83.

This podcast features a sermon by Harry Denman that probably was recorded in the late 1960s. Listen using the audio player below (17:30) — or download an mp3 file (8.3 MB; on a PC, right click and choose “save as”).

For previous MethodistThinker Podcasts, click the Podcasts tab at the top of this page.

To subscribe via iTunes or other Podcast software, use this link to set up your feed: http://methodistthinker.com/category/podcasts/feed.


Related posts
Dr. Billy Abraham on United Methodism: ‘There is no common faith among us’ | Harry Denman Lecture at the 2009 Congress on Evangelism
Sir Alan Walker: ‘Christianity at the Crossroads’ | Harry Denman Lecture at the 1980 Congress on Evangelism

Related information
History and timeline of the Foundation for Evangelism | Foundation for Evangelism
‘I Delight to Do Thy Will, O My God’ | A sermon by Harry Denman (audio), recorded at Lake Junaluska, N.C. (early 1960s) (posted on the Foundation for Evangelism web site)
‘Living and Believing’ | A sermon by Harry Denman (audio), recorded at Lake Junaluska, N.C. (August 1965) (posted on the Foundation for Evangelism web site)
‘A Lonely Place for Prayer’ | A sermon by Harry Denman (audio), recorded at Lake Junaluska, N.C. (August 1965) (posted on the Foundation for Evangelism web site)
Prophetic evangelist: Harry Denman | Ronnie G. Collins, ImageBearer’s Weblog (May 27, 2009)

Books about Harry Denman
Libraries that have Harry Denman: A Biography by Harold Rogers (Upper Room, 1977) | Where to buy a used copy
Libraries that have Prophetic Evangelist: The Living Legacy of Harry Denman (Upper Room, 1993) | Where to buy a used copy

As United Methodists await the official outcome of annual-conference voting on 32 proposed amendments to the UM Constitution, the apparent victory of Amendment XIX (19) has received relatively little attention. Instead, the focus has been on the now all-but-certain defeat of Amendment I (which would have altered membership requirements) and the poor showing of the controversial restructuring amendments (which would have separated the denomination into “regional” conferences).

Dr. Riley B. Case

Dr. Riley B. Case

But annual-conference approval of Amendment XIX is significant. Passage of the the amendment would mean that “local pastors” who meet certain educational and appointment requirements will be allowed to vote for delegates to future General Conferences, perhaps shaping the ultimate legislative outcomes of those Conferences.

In an Oct. 14 column released by the Confessing Movement Within the United Methodist Church, Methodist historian Riley B. Case (who is also a retired district superintendent and pastor), wrote that passage of the amendment is likely to result in a stronger evangelical presence among General Conference delegates.

[The success of Amendment XIX is a] positive development for those in the evangelical renewal movements. When the Good News movement was founded in 1967, one of its very first causes was that of full voting rights for local pastors….

[For decades,] Good News’s petitions to the General Conference that called for [such] voting rights…were overwhelmingly defeated.

But at the 2008 General Conference, Amendment XIX passed overwhelmingly — and judging from results already released by many annual conferences, it appears that final passage of the amendment is assured. Current totals show Amendment XIX garnering 78% of the vote, well in excess of the 67% required for a constitutional change.

In his column, Dr. Case noted that the history of “local pastors” (or their equivalent) goes back to the earliest days of the Methodist movement.

Ever since the days of Wesley’s lay preachers, ministers with less than full ordination have done a herculean task in the church. They have ministered to people that full elders were unwilling or unable to minister to, and filled spots that full elders were unable or unwilling to fill.

And before the days when unrealistic educational expectations and institutional obfuscating requirements made the process to full ordination so difficult, they moved easily into full membership in the conferences.

But many in the church were unhappy with the idea of local pastors.

A few years ago, for example, the North Illinois Conference insisted that only full elders were to receive appointments. They sent elders into rural areas, or difficult city areas, where they did not want to be, and subsidized their salaries. The results were disastrous in a number of situations. Neither the churches nor the pastors were satisfied. Highly trained and institutionally-minded individuals and churches with different pastoral expectations do not always make the best fit.

But now by necessity, if not by design, the church, at least in many areas, is relying more and more on local pastors. From 1970 to 2003 the number of full-time local pastors has doubled, from 1,220 to 2,563. The number of part-time local pastors has increased from 2,706 to 3,976. Presently 24% of all appointments in the U.S. are filled by local pastors….

It is not insignificant that areas and conferences where the church is growing, or at least maintaining its strength, are the conferences most accepting of local pastors.

One-fourth of all pastors in the Southeast[ern] and South Central Jurisdictions are local pastors. On the other hand, in the Western Jurisdiction only 14% of the ministers are local pastors. 39% of the pastors in West Virginia and 38% of the pastors in Louisiana are local pastors. Conversely, Alaska has only 7% local pastors, New York 8%, Pacific Northwest 8% and Minnesota 10%. These are not known as the areas where United Methodism is thriving.

Dr. Case concluded his column noting that, with the passage of Amendment XIX, “2,563 more persons, many of them evangelical in theology…will be voting for General Conference delegates.”

evangelical-and-methodistRiley B. Case is a retired clergy member of the Indiana Conference, associate executive director of the Confessing Movement, and a member of the Good News board of directors. He also serves as president of the board of the Kokomo (Ind.) Rescue Mission.

Dr. Case’s books include Evangelical and Methodist: A Popular History (Abingdon) and Understanding Our New United Methodist Hymnal (Wipf and Stock).


Related posts
Maxie Dunnam: Amendments outcome reflects ’sense of the faithful’
After feedback from Bishop Palmer, UMNS revises amendments story
Good News projects defeat of controversial amendments
Bill Bouknight: Methodists are saying ‘No’ to their leaders
North Georgia overwhelmingly disapproves restructuring amendments
Ed Tomlinson: Proposed amendments would ‘decimate connectionalism’
Maxie Dunnam, Eddie Fox release videos on proposed amendments
African UM leader on amendments: ‘We should have been consulted’
A ‘procedural’ argument against Amendment I

Related articles and information
Excerpt from Chapter 1 of Evangelical and Methodist: A Popular History: “Methodism’s Populist Wing, Part I” (via ChristianBook.com — includes the book’s table of contents) | Riley B. Case
Excerpt from Chapter 7 of Evangelical and Methodist: A Popular History: “Vital Piety and the Mind” | Riley B. Case, Good News (September/October 2004)
Full text of all 32 amendments, showing how each would alter the current language of the United Methodist Book of Discipline — material stricken through would be deleted; material in bold/blue would be added (PDF)
Voting rights to local pastors | Vicki Brown, Good News (July/August 2008)
No room at the table: A case for Local Pastor rights | John Montgomery, Good News (March/April 2008)
Worldwide decision: United Methodists to vote on amending constitution | Bill Fentum, UM Reporter (April 10, 2009)
Which way to a Worldwide Church? (PDF) | Andrew Thompson, Gen-X Rising blog (May 31, 2009)
Amending away our global church? | Riley B. Case, Good News (March/April 2009)
Constitutional Amendments | John Ed Mathison Leadership Ministries blog (May 21, 2009)
The worldwide Methodist movement | Eddie Fox, Interpreter Magazine (Web-only article—March 31, 2009)
Conferences to consider church structure | Linda Green, United Methodist News Service (March 10, 2009)
Amendment I (without the baggage) (PDF) | Andrew Thompson, Gen-X Rising blog (May 18, 2009)
Constitutional Amendments 2009 | William J. Abraham, Outler Professor of Wesley Studies, Perkins School of Theology (Southern Methodist University)

At the 11th annual Leadership Institute, held last week at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, host pastor Adam Hamilton urged pastors and lay preachers to focus on improving the quality of their preaching. “We are in desperate need today of excellent preaching,” he said during the conference’s Oct. 9 morning session.

The Rev. Adam Hamilton

The Rev. Adam Hamilton

Hamilton, who founded the now-megachurch 19 years ago with only a handful of people, noted that the Methodist movement began and prospered as “a movement of preachers.”

“[People] went to the Anglican church for the sacraments on Sunday. But if [they] wanted preaching, [they] went to the Methodist ‘preaching house,’” he said. “And we had lay people and clergy — mostly lay people — who were trained to preach the gospel.”

Hamilton buttressed his point about Methodist preaching by quoting 19th-century Presbyterian revivalist, Charles Finney. Finney decried much of the preaching of his time, but had great admiration for preaching by Methodists.

It is evident that we must have more exciting preaching, to meet the character and wants of the age…. The character of the age is changed, and [most preachers] have not conformed to it, but retain the same stiff, dry, prosing style of preaching that answered half a century ago.

[But l]ook at the Methodists. Many of their ministers are unlearned, in the common sense of the term, many of them taken right from the shop or the farm, and yet they have gathered congregations, and pushed their way, and won souls everywhere. Wherever the Methodists have gone, their plain, pointed and simple, but warm and animated mode of preaching has always gathered congregations….

We must have exciting, powerful preaching, or the devil will have the people, except what the Methodists can save.

(From Finney’s 1835 Lectures on Revival of Religion,
Lecture XIV, “Methods to Promote Revivals.”)

In the past, Methodist preachers were known for “connect[ing] the gospel with daily life,” Hamilton noted. Their preaching was filled with passion, but not at the expense of intellect. “It was well-informed preaching but preaching that stirred the heart.”

leadership-institute09That same approach can work today — and it connects especially well with young adults, Hamilton said.

He mentioned an informal Facebook-based survey in which respondents ages 16-to-35 listed “preaching” as the number one reason they attend Church of the Resurrection.

“Preaching is something that can touch them and connect with them — if the preaching is thoughtful, if it’s helpful, if it’s inspiring.”

Adam Hamilton reminded his audience that the ability to excel in preaching isn’t something people are born with, but “we can learn,” he said. Hamilton called on pastors and lay preachers to work on improving their preaching by devoting sufficient time to learning, study, reflection, and prayer.

“The enemy of great preaching is busyness — when we don’t have enough time to devote to preparing a meal that’s satisfying to people,” he said. “And sometimes [the problem is that we're not] clear what that meal might look like.”

Hamilton then laid out five goals for every sermon. “If you do these five things, the chances of somebody wanting to some back next week, the chances of somebody wanting to invite a friend, go up exponentially.”

He said an effective sermon will:

  • Inform — teach at least one thing people didn’t know before;
  • Inspire and motivate — use illustrations that move people;
  • Invite — ask for a response;
  • Be practical and relevant — relate to daily life;
  • Be biblical — reinforce that the text, not the preacher, is the authority.

Adam Hamilton again reminded his hearers that an effective sermon must be “passionate.” He quoted a ministry colleague who said, “People come to see our convictions. They come to see what we really, really believe.”

Use the audio players below to listen to excerpts from Adam Hamilton’s teaching on preaching and worship at the 2009 Leadership Institute.

Excerpt 1: ‘We are in desperate need of excellent preaching’ (5 min.)


Excerpt 2: ‘Five goals for every sermon’ (12 min.)

The annual Church of the Resurrection (COR) Leadership Institute, launched in 1999, is designed to teach “practical, translatable principles” that have helped COR grow from four people in 1990 to 16,000 today.

DVDs of this year’s general sessions are available through The Well, the Church of the Resurrection bookstore.


Related posts
Podcast: John Wesley on ‘The New Birth
Podcast: Bill Hinson on ‘The Making of a Minister’
Podcast: Sir Alan Walker on ‘Christianity at the Crossroads’
Podcast: Dr. James Heidinger on ‘United Methodist Renewal’
For the pastor on your Christmas list: Preaching for a Response by Lathem and Dunn
Astonishing preaching

Related articles and information
The church offers ‘what’s desperately needed’: A conversation with Adam Hamilton (video) | Faith & Leadership (Duke Divinity School) (March 31, 2009)
Institute gives UM churches renewed hope | Robin Russell, UM Reporter (Aug. 22, 2008)
How to grow a church: Kansas pastor offers tips at Methodist gathering | David Yonke, The (Toledo) Blade (via Google Newspapers) (June 16, 2007)
Fewer whiffs: Too many sermons are ’swing-and-a-miss’ strike outs | Adam Hamilton, Leadership Journal (Fall 2007)
4-H sermons: Connecting with your audience | Adam Hamilton, Leadership Journal (Summer 2007)
Reaching the unchurched | Adam Hamilton, Leadership Journal (Spring 2007)
‘Should we fret the back door?’ Why the departure of church members hurts me so | Adam Hamilton, Leadership Journal (Spring 2006)
Opening closed minds | Adam Hamilton, Leadership Journal (Spring 2004)
Large Leawood church getting even bigger | KMBC-TV (March 31, 2004)
Adam Hamilton and his bright vision for United Methodism | Kathleen K. Rutledge, Good News (July/August 2003)
Christmas Eve at Adam’s house: Adam Hamilton’s Church of the Resurrection enjoys the fruit of the season | Kendrick Blackwood, The Pitch (Dec. 19, 2002)
Purpose, passion drive church growth, pastor says | Michael Wacht, United Methodist News Service (Feb. 26, 2002)
Everyone gets ‘mugged’ at booming Kansas City church | John A. Lovelace, United Methodist News Service (April 20, 2000)

This week’s MethodistThinker Podcast features a presentation by Dr. James V. Heidinger II, recently retired as the president and publisher of Good News, United Methodism’s flagship renewal ministry.

Dr. James V. Heidinger

Dr. James V. Heidinger II

Born into a political family in Illinois (his grandfather was a three-term U.S. Congressman and his father a state officeholder), Jim Heidinger decided his calling was in Christian ministry. He attended Asbury College and Asbury Seminary in Kentucky, and then earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.

For 12 years, he served churches in the East Ohio Annual Conference, then was named the leader of Good News in 1981.

In that role, Dr. Heidinger held forth for nearly three decades as a calm and steady voice for United Methodist renewal, through his writings (in Good News magazine and in book form), speaking engagements, and as a media spokesman for evangelical concerns in the UMC.

Jim Heidinger retired from Good News on July 1, 2009, after 28 years of service.

This podcast features a presentation by Dr. James Heidinger recorded earlier this year at a gathering of the Arkansas Conference Confessing Movement. Listen using the audio player below (23 min.) — or download an mp3 file (10.7 MB; on a PC, right click and choose “save as”).

For previous podcasts, click the “Podcasts” tab at the top of this page.

To subscribe to the MethodistThinker Podcast via iTunes or other Podcast software, use this link to set up your feed: http://methodistthinker.com/category/podcasts/feed.


Related post
A salute to James Heidinger of Good News

Related articles and information
Methodism’s SILENT minority | Charles W. Keysor (July 1966)
Much has changed since Jim Heidinger became a leader of UM evangelicals | Terry Mattingly, Scripps Howard News Service (July 9, 2009)
Reflections on passing the torch | James V. Heidinger II, Good News (May/June 2009)
Heidinger reflects on Good News leadership | Linda Bloom, United Methodist News Service (April 2, 2009)
Good News announces new leadership upon Heidinger retirement | Good News (March 12, 2009)
United Methodism in crisis: Scriptural renewal through the Good News Movement | Chapter 4 of Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life by Steven M. Tipton (University of Chicago Press, 2008 — via Google Books)
An address to the Faithful and Welcoming Churches national meeting (PDF) | James V. Heidinger II (July 2008)
40 years of vision for United Methodist reformation and renewal | James V. Heidinger II, Good News (November/December 2007)
Lessons from United Methodist Renewal (PDF—see pp. 4-8) | An address by James V. Heidinger II to the Presbyterian Coalition Gathering (November 2005)
An interview with the Rev. Dr. James V. Heidinger II | Katherine T. Phan, The Christian Post (Nov. 6, 2004)
Turning the Mainline around | Michael S. Hamilton and Jennifer McKinney, Christianity Today (Aug. 1, 2003)
Good News board honors Heidinger | Tim Tanton, United Methodist News Service (Feb. 13, 2003)
Coalition speaker Heidinger describes renewal ‘phenomenon’ | Evan Silverstein, PCUSA News (May 27, 2003)
Good News’ response to Cal/Nevada’s dismissal of complaints against 68 clergy involved in same-sex covenant | James V. Heidinger II on behalf of the Good News Board of Directors (Feb. 14, 2000)
Good News board urges bishops to preserve unity of church | United Methodist News Service (Feb. 2, 1999)
Good News celebration emphasizes revival and renewal | United Methodist News Service (July 1, 1997)
‘Good News’ says push to accept homosexual practice threatens to split United Methodist Church | United Methodist News Service (May 6, 1997)
Evangelical leaders from mainline denominations form new association; Heidinger named chairman | United Methodist News Service (Oct. 24, 1996)
‘Re-Imagining’ rejects historic Christianity | James V. Heidinger II, Good News (January/February 1994)
Mainline conservatives protest women’s ‘Re-Imagining’ conference | Carlton Elliott Smith, Religious News Service (Jan. 15, 1994—reprinted in the Feb. 16, 1994 issue of The Christian Century)
‘Durham Declaration’ asks for ‘Scriptural approach’ to abortion | United Methodist News Service (March 12, 1991)

October 1, 1509: Birth of John Calvin (below right), French Protestant reformer, in Noyon, France.

john-calvinIn 1536 he published his first edition of his classic Institutes of the Christian Religion (Google Books preview), which became the most systematic Protestant doctrinal statement of the Reformation.

October 6, 1536: English reformer William Tyndale, who translated and published the first mechanically-printed New Testament in the English language (against the law at the time) is strangled to death. His body is then burned at the stake.

October 10, 1821: Law student Charles Finney, 29, goes into the woods near his home to settle the question of his soul’s salvation. He experienced a dramatic conversion, full of what seemed “waves of liquid love” throughout his body.

Finney later became American history’s greatest revivalist. Some 500,000 people were converted during his revival services.

October 14, 1735: John and Charles Wesley, cofounders of Methodism, set sail for ministry in America.

October 15, 1900: Former Methodist Charles Fox Parham opens Bethel Bible Institute in Topeka, Kansas, where Agnes Ozman and other students would speak in tongues on New Year’s Eve and begin the 20th-century Pentecostal movement.

October 19, 1609: Dutch theologian Jacob Arminius, founder of an anti-Calvinist Reformed theology, dies at age 49 in Leiden, Netherlands.

October 26, 1950: Mother Teresa founds the first Mission of Charity in Calcutta, India.

francis-asburyOctober 27, 1771: Francis Asbury (left), sent from England by John Wesley to oversee America’s 600 Methodists, lands in Philadelphia.

During his 45-year ministry in America, he traveled on horseback (or in carriage) an estimated 300,000 miles, delivering some 16,500 sermons. By his death, there were 200,000 Methodists in America.

October 27, 1978: The complete New International Version (NIV) of the Bible is published. It became the most popular English Bible translation of late 20th and early 21st centuries.

October 28, 1949: Jim Elliot, missionary to Ecuador’s Auca Indians (Huaorani people), writes in his journal the most famous of his sayings: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

martin-lutherElliot and four fellow missionaries were murdered while trying to evangelize a violent tribe. A group of 10 warriors killed them in a brutal attack on January 8, 1956. Later, many of the Huaorani came to faith in Christ.

October 31, 1517: A monk named Martin Luther (right) posts a list of 95 complaints and concerns about the Roman Catholic Church on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, sparking what became known as the Protestant Reformation.

Adapted with permission from ChristianHistory.net.

The Oct. 10 issue of WORLD, the Christian-based newsmagazine, offers a profile of one of the United Methodist Church’s most influential and controversial figures, Mark Tooley of the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD).

Mark Tooley

Mark Tooley

For years, Tooley has been a thorn in the side of UM leaders who have sought to move the church away from orthodox positions on theology and mission. His major weapon: the written word.

As head of UMAction, an IRD sub-group, Tooley began reporting on various United Methodist and ecumenical gatherings in the mid-1990s. His written reports about non-orthodox pronouncements uttered at these conferences and meetings made Tooley a lightning rod for criticism.

In 2008, he recounted his many run-ins with “progressive” leaders in Taking Back the United Methodist Church (Bristol House).

taking-back-umcEarlier this year, Mark Tooley was named president of IRD, which describes itself as “an ecumenical alliance of U.S. Christians working to reform their churches’ social witness, in accord with biblical and historic Christian teachings, thereby contributing to the renewal of democratic society at home and abroad.”

The group was founded in 1981 by United Methodists Ed Robb and David Jessup. Current United Methodist board members include retired pastor Ira Gallaway, Helen Rhea Stumbo of the Bristol House publishing firm, and theologian Thomas C. Oden, author of Turning Around the Mainline: How Renewal Movements Are Changing the Church.

From the WORLD profile of Mark Tooley, authored by Marvin Olasky, the magazine’s editor-in-chief.

Tooley, 44, grew up in what for decades was the Main Street of American Protestantism, a United Methodist church (UM). He went to Georgetown University, known in the 1980s and now as a prep school for the State Department, but that career seemed tame compared to what the CIA had to offer. For eight years he worked as an analyst of data first from Pacific islands such as Fiji (but he didn’t get to go there) and then from Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

But the steady movement to the left of some U.S. clergy kept bugging him, so he left the CIA and in 1994 became head of UMAction with the goal of fighting the church hierarchy’s support of Marxist guerrillas in Central America, violent revolutionaries in southern Africa, and abortionists in the United States….

Now his office at IRD displays prints, paintings, and drawings of George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Winston Churchill: He sees them as exemplars of the moral character and tenacity that are needed in his battle to reclaim a Methodist denomination with 8 million members in the United States (most of them are not in church on a typical Sunday) and 3 million abroad (most of them are). Tooley’s office also sports a bust and painting of John Wesley and a print of Francis Asbury, the circuit-riding founder of American Methodism….

He hopes to keep Methodists and Presbyterians from following the Episcopal and Evangelical Lutheran denominations into support of ordination for actively homosexual clergy, but the IRD is not a one-note player: It wants churches to “uphold theological orthodoxy, espouse a responsible political witness, and plead for persecuted religious believers around the world.”

In 2007, several of Tooley’s critics appeared in a DVD release titled, Renewal or Ruin: The Institute on Religion and Democracy’s Attack on the United Methodist Church.

Retired UM Bishop Kenneth Carder accused the IRD of engaging in the practice of intimidation. “Many are afraid to speak out because they don’t want their name to appear in one of the [IRD] articles or websites,” he said. “[N]ot permitting people to express their views…and to take positions on…controversial issues — that is un-American and that is radical, and it’s…also un-Christian.” (It could be argued, of course, that IRD doesn’t suppress views with which it does not agree; rather, through its reporting, IRD gives such views a wider audience.)

united-methodism-at-riskA darkly themed trailer for Renewal or Ruin? is here.

The IRD also was heavily criticized in a 2003 book, United Methodism at Risk: A Wake-up Call, published by an ad-hoc group called the Information Project for United Methodists. The group was headed by retired UM Bishop C. Dale White, and attorney Beth Capen, now a member of the United Methodist Judicial Council.

United Methodism at Risk was written by the late Leon Howell, a member of the United Church of Christ and the final editor of the now-defunct Christianity and Crisis magazine, which ceased publication in 1993. The book was funded by Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis.


Related articles and information
Review of Taking Back the United Methodist Church | Ray Nothstine, Acton Institute Power Blog (April 10, 2008)
United Methodist renaissance? A review of Taking Back the United Methodist Church | Matthew May, Good News (September/October 2008)
Faith and Freedom: The Institute on Religion and Democracy | Chapter 5 of Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life by Steven M. Tipton (University of Chicago Press, 2008 — via Google Books)
Methodist philosopher Billy Abraham examines United Methodism’s decline | Mark Tooley, UMAction (Jan. 8, 2009)
African Power: How 192 delegates saved Methodists from madness & other stories from the General Conference | Mark Tooley, Touchstone (November 2008)
Use the audio player below to listen to a radio interview with Mark Tooley about the above-listed article | Issues, Etc. radio program (Nov. 4, 2008)

‘Renewal or Ruin?’ DVD Attacks IRD | Mark Tooley and John Lomperis, IRD (March 7, 2008)
Jim Winkler of the General Board of Church and Society demands Bush impeachment | Mark Tooley, The American Spectator (May 30, 2006)
Who profits from the Methodist Building? | Mark Tooley, Good News (March/April 2004)
Decision to close meeting draws fire for Women’s Division; decision follows request from Mark Tooley to attend as press | United Methodist News Service (Nov. 1, 2000)
The demise of the world’s greatest mission agency | Mark Tooley, Touchstone magazine (November/December 1998)
General Board of Church and Society responds to allegations by IRD | United Methodist News Service (Oct. 5, 1998)
Liberal Methodism of Clintons may explain political positions (a column based on research by Mark Tooley) | Cal Thomas (April 22, 1995)

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