By James V. Heidinger II,
President and Publisher
GOOD NEWS PERSPECTIVE – No. 21, April 29, 2008
Welcome to this special General Conference issue of Perspective sent from Fort Worth, Texas. We hope you find it helpful and informative. Please feel free to forward it to family, friends, or persons in your local church who might be interested in receiving General Conference updates. To subscribe, send your e-mail address to: perspective@goodnewsmag.org. E-mail addresses will not be sold or shared.
“For Christ's love compels us because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
Today, we ask that you pray for persecuted Christians around the world, as Faith McDonnell shared at our human rights luncheon, sponsored by the Institute on Religion and Democracy. It was a well attended lunch and very informative about the struggle of men and women and children who suffer for their faith. Pray that they sense God’s presence, experience his joy, and are granted his freedom.
Today, the General Conference was able to welcome Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the President of the Republic of Liberia. It was a remarkable presentation. We praise God for the growth and stability beginning to appear in Liberia, and ask that God continues to spread peace and health to our African sisters and brothers.
Please remember Phil Granger, President of the Mission Society, while he is recovering from surgery and although there have been complications, he is continuing to improve.
Good News and the Renewal and Reform Coalition thank you for your fervent prayers on our behalf and on behalf of all others joining together here at conference in service to our church. Continue to pray for wisdom, energy and discernment for our church delegates and leadership as they make crucial decisions for the direction of our church for the next four years and beyond.
Building a worldwide church
We have another study! In action on Monday, the General Conference approved another four-year study on the global nature of the church. Accompanying the study are binding guidelines that define in greater specificity what we have in mind in terms of creating regional church entities under a global General Conference.
The Renewal and Reform Coalition is happy with the direction this study is taking. It is good to have binding parameters on the proposal to be put together, rather than allowing a free-for-all without shape or form. We are also glad to see that all regions of the church will be intentionally represented. We hope that the Task Force will make every effort to solicit widespread input from all the regions of the church, as well. Adequate time to carefully examine the results of the study before the next General Conference will be important, as well.
Now that we have the study, what shall we do with the constitutional amendments? Some 23 petitions yet to come before the Conference would make changes in the church constitution to allow for a United States regional conference. Should we go ahead and make these changes?
We believe that the Conference should table these petitions until 2012, when we can act upon them in light of the results of the study. After all, having the study does not require the creation of a U.S. regional conference. We might go to all the trouble to make the constitutional changes and thendiscover we don’t need them in light of the study results. We gain no benefit from having these constitutional changes in place. Implementation of the regional conference idea will require massive reorganization of the Book of Discipline, which the next General Conference would have to accomplish. Necessary constitutional changes can be passed at the same time as the enabling legislation.
The bottom line is that neither the U.S. church nor the central conferences want to separate from each other. We simply want to find a way to live more effectively in community. We do not want to be in a situation where we have little influence on each other, but go our own way instead. (The proposed amendment from the floor that we explore having regional Social Principles betrays the direction some want to take our church. Even here, our divisions over homosexuality distort the discussion.) All the church’s regions need to share with each other and learn from each other. We can benefit from working together in the cause of Christ. To enact the constitutional changes prematurely would skew the study and predispose us to walking down a path that could lead to greater separation, rather than greater community.
A
prayer for hope
By Richard Allen (1760-1830)
O, my God, in all my dangers, temporal and spiritual, I will hope in thee who art Almighty power, and therefore able to relieve me; who are infinite goodness, and therefore ready and willing to assist me.
O, precious blood of my dear Redeemer! O, gaping wounds of my crucified Saviour! Who can contemplate the sufferings of God incarnate, and not raise his hope, and not put his trust in Him? What, though my body be crumbled into dust, and that dust blown over the face of the earth, yet I undoubtedly know my Redeemer lives, and shall raise me up at the last day; whether I am comforted or left desolate; whether I enjoy peace or am afflicted with temptations; whether I am healthful or sickly, succored or abandoned by the good things of this life, I will always hope in thee, O, my chiefest, infinite good.
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; although the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields yield no meat; although the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
From Conversations With God: Two Centuries of Prayers By African Americans (HarperCollins). Richard Allen (1760-1830) was a founder and first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
The Ethics Committee
Several days ago, delegates called (ring, ring) for the establishment of an ethics committee for the Commission on General Conference. We think it sounds like a wonderful idea. Everyone longs for a level playing field as we gather together. We were thrilled to hear that there was discussion regarding the boards, agencies, and commissions providing cell phones for all the central conference delegates so that fairness and justice in the democratic process would not be compromised.
While “cellphonegate” captured the imagination of some here at General Conference last week, it seems as if everyone’s attention is now drawn to the tomfoolery behind the wide distribution of the unsigned slate for Judicial Council candidates by the supposed “politically unaffiliated group of fifty jurisdictional and central conference delegates.” Although we can’t help but smile when the politically savvy among us refer to themselves as “unaffiliated,” we were relieved to get the advance tip to look for the special winning slate from the MFSA newsletter. (Five out of five! Not bad.)
We know that some were deeply troubled by the unauthorized distribution of this material to certain delegates in what may have been an attempt to improperly influence the democratic process. Some might even say that it crossed the boundary of what is appropriate or even violates the very essence of what it means to be a Christian community.
That is especially true of the distribution of the crass unsigned literature lampooning “biblical literalism” prior to the discussion regarding reorganizing our global denomination. We are relieved to know that the Rules Committee is looking into the breech of trust. Thankfully, General Conference will have an ethics committee in place four years from now so that these shenanigans won’t have such an annoying ring.
Prayer Request
We have received word that the Rev. Dr. Phil Granger (Northern Indiana Conference), remains in critical condition following surgery several days ago. Granger is President of The Mission Society. We urge delegates and visitors here to pray for Phil and his wife, Sue.
The Resurrection and World Missions
United Methodists may validly question what has happened to our once great missionary force that numbered some 1,500 full-support, career missionaries 40 years ago compared to just 214 today. Lutheran theologian Carl E. Braaten links the mainline church’s flagging mission passion to its diminished confidence in the critical doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Braaten writes, “We have said there can be no authentic Christianity without belief in the resurrection of Jesus. There can be no greater heresy in the modern church than the outright denial of this article of faith.
“The most telling effect of the loss of resurrection faith in the mainline churches is the collapse of the world missionary movement. All the resurrection narratives are a summons to mission and bestow authority on the apostolic office. The missionary nature of the church from the beginning until now is grounded in the resurrection of the crucified Jesus. In the encounter with the risen Christ, the apostles were authorized and empowered to continue what Jesus began in his earthly ministry. The content of the church’s missionary proclamation can be none other than Jesus Christ crucified and risen. If we don’t believe in the reality of the risen Lord, there is no compelling commission and no mission. We are off the hook. Missionaries can stay home, and that is exactly what is going on.” (“The Reality of the Resurrection,” Nicene Christianity, edited by Christopher R. Seitz, Brazos Press, 2001).
Religious Liberty Lunch
Tuesday, April 29, Religious Liberty Lunch – 12:45-2:15 p.m. Faith McDonnell will address the persecution of Christians around the world. She is an author, activist, and IRD’s Director of Religious Liberty.
Today, millions of followers of Christ suffer brutal persecution, but much of the Western church has been unaware of or apathetic toward the plight of their fellow believers around the world. We encourage your support of “Affirming Solidarity” (81248-C2-R999), page 425, which reaffirms United Methodist support for the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church; and “Rights of Religious Minorities” (81335-C2-162.B) page 343, which urges prayer and advocacy for persecuted Christians around the world; and for “The Church and Ethnic Tensions” (81257-C2-R999) page 427, which affirms the equality of all persons and opposes tribalism, racism, and ethnic prejudice.
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