Tag Archives: Methodist

ELCA and United Methodists in full communion: ELCA Convention #CWA09 & #Goodsoil09

Not all important decisions at this biennial convention are controversial.

The ELCA Churchwide Assembly voted today to enter into a full communion agreement with the United Methodist Church. In a parade of bishops, many of the 65 synodical leaders marched to the microphones to sing the praises of their relationships with the United Methodist congregations in their region. Then, the assembly formally authorized the agreement by a vote of 958 to 51 and informally demonstrated their appreciation of this new relationship with a warm, standing ovation.

As a prelude to the discussion and vote, Methodist Bishop Charles Palmer delivered the sermon during the worship service earlier in the day. Here is a link to the story of the agreement from the perspective of the UMC website. The UMC had 11 million members as of 1968, according to the website, so it is larger than the ELCA.

On a figurative level, such full communion agreements recognize that we have a great deal in common with other mainline Protestant churches, a visible sign of the unity of the church catholic. These agreements are positive fruits of the ecumenical impulse. On a more practical level, such agreements allow for sharing of clergy. An ordained ELCA pastor could be called by a Methodist congregation and vice versa. As the ELCA bishop of Montana suggested, this is very important in sparsely populated regions, and the opportunity for two parish calls, one Methodist and one Lutheran is very real.

The ELCA already has full communion agreements in place with the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ (UCC), the Presbyterian Church, USA, the Moravian Church, and the Reformed Church of America (RCA).

Here is the description of full communion partnership from the ELCA website:

For the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the characteristics of full communion are theological and missiological implications of the Gospel that allow variety and flexibility. These characteristics stress that the church act ecumenically for the sake of the world, not for itself alone. They will include at least the following, some of which exist at earlier stages:

a common confessing of the Christian faith;

a mutual recognition of Baptism and a sharing of the Lord’s Supper, allowing for joint worship and an exchangeability of members;

a mutual recognition and availability of ordained ministers to the service of all members of churches in full communion, subject only but always to the disciplinary regulations of other churches;

a common commitment to evangelism, witness, and service;

a means of common decision making on critical common issues of faith and life;

a mutual lifting of any condemnations that exist between churches

United Methodist Church LGBT Issues

It was recently reported that amendments that would have advanced the status of gays within the United Methodist Church were defeated. Based on a July 30th news release from Bishop Gregory V. Palmer, President of the Council of Bishops, that information is incorrect and premature. The entire situation is murky.

Here is the situation, as I understand it.

Present Methodist policy is conservative regarding LGBT issues. For instance, the Judicial Council upheld prohibitions against gay marriage in a decision in April of this year, according to an article in the Christian Post.

The United Methodist Church’s top court recently ruled that clergy, both active and retired, cannot perform same-sex marriages or civil unions.

Performing such services is "a chargeable offense," Bishop Beverly J. Shamana ruled last Friday. UMC’s Judicial Council affirmed her decision.

The council further ruled that an annual conference, or regional body within the UMC, "may not negate, ignore, or violate provisions of the Discipline with which they disagree, even when the disagreements are based on conscientious objections to the provisions."

The council’s ruling was on a resolution passed by the California-Nevada Annual Conference last year, months after the California Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. Along with providing pastoral ministry to same gender couples, the resolution would allow retired clergy to perform marriage ceremonies for gay and lesbian couples.

The decision restricted individual regional bodies from adopting policies contrary to the overall denominational policy. This is key because the United Methodist Church is organized and governed globally with significant representation from European, African, and Asian conferences. The non-US conferences tend to be less LGBT friendly than US conferences.

This brings us back to the pending constitutional amendments. The amendments do not generally address LGBT issues per se but instead address governance issues that would allow individual conferences or regions greater autonomy. Thus, US conferences could conceivably adopt gay friendly policies while foreign conferences would not. These amendments are presently under consideration by the numerous worldwide conferences. The United Methodist Reporter offers an article with a good overview of the global governance issues.

News reports erroneously indicated that vote tallies from early reporting conferences suggested the amendments would fail, but Bishop Palmer’s news release points out that the amendments require a 2/3 aggregate majority of all votes cast instead of counting up which conferences were for and which were against the amendments. The conference by conference voting will continue into the spring of 2010, and the final outcome will not be known until then, according to Palmer.

Recovery Church

Communion at Recovery Church

Today’s Mpls Star Tribune reports on a pair of downtown twin cities Methodist churches that have become “The Recovery Church.” It started one Sunday in 1999 when the Rev Jo Campe offered an addiction recovery service at Central Park United Methodist Church in downtown St. Paul, and now recovery has become the spirit of regular Sunday services there and also at a sister church in downtown Minneapolis.

“You look at the socioeconomic diversity — the doctors and the lawyers sitting next to people who are coming in off the street,” Campe says, ” — and you realize that one thing that ties us all together is that we understand brokenness. We’ve all been through major issues in our lives in which, in some way, shape or form, we lost control.”

This blog offers my favorite quotations that randomly appear along the sidebar. One of them is my paraphrase of the first AA twelve steps: I am powerless, and my life is unmanageable, but a power greater than myself can restore me if I only let go. An ELCA pastor and addiction counselor that I know tells the story of his first visit to an AA meeting in which the presence of the Spirit was palpable and powerful. As an occasional public speaker, I have borrowed an idea from the recently popular book (All I needed to know I learned in Kindergarten), by suggesting that all I needed to know about God I learned in AA. I say that as one who has studied theology voraciously, both formally in graduate school and informally. In the trite one-liners of AA lies great wisdom (“One day at a time”, “let go and let God”, “there but for the grace of God go I”, etc.).

So, Rev Campe, keep up the good work. One of these Sundays, I’m going to hop on I-35E and drive up to St. Paul and soak in some of that spirit.

United Methodists respond to hate group report

An African-American U.S. president is bringing out the best and the worst in the nation, say United Methodists who advocate against racism.

A recent report published by the Southern Poverty Law Center states there are more suspected hate groups in the United States now than ever in recorded history. The annual survey revealed 926 active hate groups in 2008, a 4 percent increase from the year before and a 54 percent increase since 2000, when there were 602 such groups.

“Sadly, it does not surprise me,” said the Rev. Andy Oren, a Milwaukee pastor, commenting on the report. “While the election of President Obama has been hailed by many … it has fueled the flames of racism within many as well.”

The Rev. Taka Ishii, a Japanese-American pastor of Golden Hill United Methodist Church in Bridgeport, Conn., sees a reactionary fear of the unknown at work among many who join hate groups. “We see this African-American president in the media every day, and although a majority of us celebrate his election, some are afraid of his presidential power and believe something awful might happen to them. It is fear of the unknown because he is not white.”

In addition to the first African-American president, two other key factors seen as contributing to a growing number of hate groups are the failing U.S. economy and vocal opposition to the growing presence of undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic/Latino. The immigration controversy has been an ongoing source of hate-group recruitment, but the election outcome and the worsening economy, including fear over loss of jobs and homes, bolstered those numbers in 2008, some analysts said.

Uncertain times

“This is a time of extreme anxiety for many,” said the Rev. Jerry DeVine, a West Michigan Annual Conference superintendent. “In such times people often look for quick blame and easy answers rather than working at creating a community of new alternatives. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. long ago contended that economics is a core part of systemic racism, and thus we can see a linkage to racist groups during unsettling and uncertain economic times.”

Dee Weaver, of Dallas, Texas, sees a backlash against President Obama, immigrants and the economy in the rise of hate groups.

“There is a racial component to the immigration issue. I believe it; I have lived it,” said Weaver, who is Mexican American and a member of the North Texas Conference. She feels that “misinformation and lack of truth” about immigrants and the economy contribute to widespread ignorance and hatred. She also fears for, and prays for, Obama’s safety from racists who would seek to harm him.

“Our society is getting better at covering racism. Today we call it everything except racism,” said the Rev. Bescye P. Burnett, a local pastor who chairs the Minnesota Conference Commission on Religion and Race. “Since we are not true to ourselves as a nation in regards to being inclusive, we keep the same hatreds in our hearts. Since we fail to get serious about who is our neighbor, we tend to treat others as strangers.”

Signs of hope

The Rev. Sharon White, director of advocacy ministries in the Indiana Conference, suggests that even if hate groups are growing, the number of groups working for racial equality and reconciliation might be growing as well—another research project worth undertaking perhaps.

“I do think things are getting better simply because of the greater number of young people who do not harbor the same attitudes as some of their parents and many of their grandparents and great grandparents,” said Curtis DeVance, who chairs the Iowa Conference Commission on Religion and Race. Questioning if overall membership in hate groups has actually increased, he reports that the Ku Klux Klan and other groups “are alive and well here in Iowa, but they are having little or no impact so far.

“I think the real issue is how long will the silent majority remain silent?” asked DeVance. “What can we do to provoke more of a response by that silent majority?”

The Rev. Greg Johnson, of York, Pa., believes things are getting both better and worse.

“There are inroads among many of us who are building bridges and being in true committed relationships across national, ethnic, cultural, social, economic and, most importantly, spiritual barriers,” he said. “But there are also those who are separating themselves from fellow human beings, and seeking to do harm that may lead to death as the final separation.”

Wisdom of love

The Rev. Eliezer Valentín-Castañón, executive for advocacy with the commission, laments the rhetoric of hate that “has created an environment of hostility and distrust perpetrated against all immigrants, not just the undocumented.

“In fact, many Latinos who have been victims of hate crimes in the U.S. have been either citizens or documented residents,” he reports. “Hate cannot distinguish between documented and undocumented, between U.S. citizens and immigrants.”

Migrant workers harvest tomatoes at a farm in Immokalee, Fla. A UMNS file photo by Scott Robertson.

Valentín-Castañón said the death of racism, asserted by some after Obama’s landslide election, has been greatly exaggerated. “This is like saying that after the Emancipation Proclamation black people were instantly made free. Or that after the passage of the 14th Amendment black Americans were treated with equality and dignity. Or that after the 1965 Civil Rights Act black, Latino, Asian and Native Americans, suddenly gained acceptance and equality.

“It is precisely when we see progress in America, especially in these movements toward equality and justice,” he explained, “that the forces of evil rise up and draw misguided new converts to their perverse cause. They traffic in fear, false pride, confusion, misdirected anger and destructive hatred. As people of faith we must be vigilant in opposing and speaking up against these activities. We must educate our people to resist the ignorance of hate and choose instead the wisdom of love.”

By John Coleman who is communications director for the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race. GCORR has launched a new blog site, where this article is featured, along with additional comments about this concern.