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RENEW:
a woman's voice for renewal

By Ruth Burgner

On Saturday morning April 27, 2002, a quiet revolution was in progress in downtown Philadelphia. A team of 12 women positioned themselves like sentinels on the sidewalks in front of the city block sized convention center. In the next few minutes, as thousands of women would begin pouring onto the walkways from buses and nearby hotels, they would be greeted by one of these team members with a smile, an offer of a brochure, and a quick: "Good morning! May I give you some material about Renew?"

This was the 2002 Quadrennial United Methodist Women's Assembly. Among the United Methodist women streaming into the convention center that day would be many who had given hundreds of hours to raise money for missions because they believe in sharing the message and love of Jesus Christ with others. They would have looked forward to this three-day UMW Assembly, anticipating that it would be a time of worship and celebration of Christ's work in the world.

"These are the 'grassroots' of the church, the mainstream Methodists who stand in the solid center, where the great Christian truths that transform lives are joyfully embraced and shared," observed Faye Short, president of the Renew Network.

It was in support of the theology of these mainstream Methodist women that this small band of Renew team members took to the city sidewalks on that spring morning.

To any onlooker, their being there, distributing literature, would seem hardly worth noticing. But if you knew what was really going on, this sight might strike you as the stuff short stories and classic tales are made of-the story of a smaller opponent squaring off toe-to-toe with a bigger (and apparently more powerful) one, engaging bravely on behalf of an entire unsuspecting community. If you asked Faye Short, a former UMW conference and district officer, she would tell you it was a battle to give voice to women who often have no voice, a battle into which the Renew Network was called 15 years ago.

The Renew Network is the women's program arm of Good News. Now celebrating 15 years in ministry, its purpose, among other things, is to be a voice for United Methodist women on the local level, seeking to monitor the activities of the denomination's Women's Division. The Women's Division, the only official UM women's organization with an enormous staff and an investment portfolio of more than 100 million dollars, has a long-reaching influence in national and global affairs, and its worldview would mark the massive Philadelphia event. For this reason, Renew showed up there. 

"When it comes to the accountability ministry of Renew, one of the greatest concerns we deal with is the vast difference between the worldview of the Women's Division and the worldview of the majority of the women at the local level," says Faye Short. "The Women's Division's theology, philosophy, and ideology differs so greatly from the grassroots women of the church on political, social, and theological issues, because the Women's Division has evidently accepted the worldview of the United Nations, the World Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches, and many non-Christian, non-governmental organizations (NGOs)." This worldview distinction has been documented in "Our Basis for Concern," a white paper issued by Renew (found at www.renewnetwork.org).

"That means the Women's Division's concept of mission is social justice, not the Great Commission," says Short. "But for evangelical-or even moderate-Christian women, the gospel of Jesus Christ has to be foundational to everything we do. That's a belief evidently not held by the Women's Division."

When pronouncements are made by church leaders that are contrary to the orthodox Christian faith, this is particularly heartbreaking to Faye. She vividly recalls the Women's Division's November 2000 issue of Response magazine. "In that issue, for example, the Women's Division has propagated that all faiths are acceptable ways to God. As Christian women, we cannot accept this. We believe the gospel of Jesus Christ is God's answer to the human race and that everyone should hear this good news. The Women's Division seems to believe that women need to be about a social justice gospel, not a Great Commission gospel."

From its street-front office in the small town of Cornelia, Georgia, Renew tracks the goings-on of the New York City-based Women's Division and seeks to encourage the ministries and witness of the women at the grassroots. And from all over the country, the Renew staff of three (Faye Short, Mary Holsomback, and Ellen Mooneyham) receive phone calls. "Sometimes," says Faye, "calls come from those who have read or heard something about something the Women's Division has done, and they contact us to verify that what they think is true, or to get some documentation. They call because they feel like they need to connect with someone who understands the deeper feelings of their heart, who understands how some of these things are offensive to their faith."

Other times the office receives calls from women distressed because people are leaving their church or won't participate in their UMW group. "These women call to say, 'Can you help us?' Others call because they're angry and we try to help them realize they can express what they feel in a Christ-like way," reports Faye. "I've even had calls from some district and conference UMW officers who simply cannot go along with what they are seeing and hearing from the Women's Division at that level."

It is the frequent phone calls, notes, and letters that help the small staff know their efforts are making a difference. "The success of Renew is our strong and viable relationships with the women at the grassroots level and our team of volunteers," says Faye. In addition, "God has given us a committee of volunteers who are just incredible."

Among mainline denominations, there is no other ministry like Renew, or at least no other renewal ministry for women as advanced. Faye attributes this to its unique structure from the beginning. When it launched in 1989, Renew (then called "the Evangelical Coalition for United Methodist Women") was a joint ministry of the Good News Women's Task Force, The Mission Society for United Methodists, and the Institute on Religion and Democracy.

"We had a running start," says Faye. "The Lord gave us a full-blown structure, approval of three boards, and connections with women right from the beginning, which is something other ministries have not had."

Today, the combined number of women who serve on Renew's steering committee and support team is about 50, most of whom serve in leadership in some capacity in their local churches. Each of Renew's mailings reaches a minimum of 10,000 women, who benefit not only from its efforts to monitor the Women's Division, but by its efforts for renewal, which is the other prong of Renew's purpose.

Of its numerous publications, many are produced to encourage and inspire women's groups in their discipleship and witness. Among them is "Inspiring Models for Effective Women's Ministries," a 64-page booklet and corresponding resource notebook released in January 2004. "I'm proud of everything we do," says Faye, "but I think I'm especially proud of this piece. If women are struggling in their UMWs or want to start or help revitalize a women's ministry, I feel certain this material will help them build a ministry that is effective, because it is packed full of practical information and ideas gleaned from successful UMWs and women's ministries. I think it's anointed of the Holy Spirit."

Among the other efforts with which Faye is most pleased is that Renew is "getting important information into the hands of many people" through its Call for Reform, launched in 2001.

"Success for Renew," says Faye, "would be, for one thing, the total reform of the Women's Division, so that its worldview and concept of missions would match that of the women of the church." Although a change in worldview may be hard to track, Faye presents statistics showing that the Women's Division is losing both membership and funding. "We're sorry that this has to happen," says Faye, "but we hope that this sends an alarm to the Women's Division that people are understanding what is going on and that they want to see change."

As for her personal success in the leadership of Renew, Faye measures it simply by her faithfulness to God's call on her, which she expresses as "a concern for the women of the church that will not go away." This is a concern she feels so deeply that she often leaves events like the UMW Assembly-and even phone calls-in tears.

Now 15 years old, fueled by this calling, the Renew Network is established as a voice for evangelical women within the church. As such, Faye is often asked to speak at churches and conferences, and, recently, on a radio program aired by a National Public Radio Georgia affiliate. She receives these invitations gratefully-and apprehensively, too, because she suffers from a rare condition that affects her vocal chords. As a result, she can sometimes only whisper. The rooms in which she speaks are often hushed; her audience listens hard to hear her words as she struggles to speak them. In those moments, her life speaks as clear and loud as any word. The unsayable God who suffers and grieves for his people is incarnated through her witness.

"We are really so limited," says Faye. "All we can do is to do our part, to be faithful, to pray, and to get out information. And I hope people will spread the word, to help us reach many other women who might need this kind of information and support system.

But unless God opens eyes and hearts, unless he raises up others who will come alongside, all our efforts will not amount to anything. But if God is moving and working through this organization, our trying will bear much fruit."

Learn more about Renew by visiting it online at www.renewnetwork.org or by calling 706-778-4812. The women's program arm of Good News, the Renew Network is funded entirely by contributions from individuals and churches. Contributions for RENEW should be mailed to P.O. Box 150, Wilmore, KY 40390.

Ruth A. Burgner is the communications director for The Mission Society for United Methodists and a member of Antioch UM Church in Gainesville, Georgia, where her husband, Greg, is the pastor.



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