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An Appeal to Leadership: Listen & Lead Rob Renfroe calls on the United Methodist bishops to direct the church.
Ministering in the jaws of hell Janice Shaw Crouse profiles Jeannine Brabon’s prison ministry.
Carving out new life Carlos Velasquez testifies to finding Christ after working for a drug lord.
Why the Sermon on the Mount demands a cross Riley Case examines Jesus’ thoughts on repentance.
The failure of feminism on campus Terry Mattingly writes on the challenges of young women in college.
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Next Generation The relationship between pastor and youth pastor
RENEW Women’s Network Changes at the Women’s Division
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News AnalysisSince when is a Planned Parenthood staffer considered a missionary?
In its 2004-2005 Biennial Report, the missions board of the United Methodist Church reported a total of 904 "mission personnel" affiliated with the board. However, it would be a mistake to assume that all those individuals are engaged in traditional Christian missions work.
According to the website of the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM), for example, one of the mission personnel is commissioned by the GBGM's deaconess program is to be an administrative assistant at a Northern California affiliate of Planned Parenthood.
Of course, few United Methodists would agree that secretarial work for America's largest abortion provider qualifies as Christian missionary service.
Even aside from moral qualms about abortion, there is much about Planned Parenthood that most United Methodists would find quite objectionable.
Like its parent body, Planned Parenthood-Shasta Diablo (where the UM deaconess works) is very involved in far-left political activism. Last year, it lobbied in favor of a bill to "legalize same-sex marriage," in blatant opposition to historic United Methodist Church teachings on marriage. It also seeks to defend the legality of "aborting" infants who are already partially born, a practice condemned by the United Methodist Social Principles. Other political activities of this Planned Parenthood office include maintaining an "Action Fund" to help elect politicians who oppose any restriction on abortion and generating opposition to a proposed ballot initiative that would require its clinics to notify the parents of minor girls before performing abortion surgery on her.
As reported in Christianity Today, CNS News, and World Net Daily, a geographically adjacent Planned Parenthood affiliate, with which Planned Parenthood-Shasta Diablo works closely in its lobbying efforts, recently featured a video on its website that shows "A Superhero for Choice," named Dianisis (presumably after the Greek god associated with drunken debauchery) who drowns a man in a garbage can for advocating teenage sexual abstinence and then goes on to murder peaceful pro-life protestors.
Planned Parenthood's founder, Margaret Sanger, was a very devoted eugenicist who advocated forced sterilization of people that she considered genetically inferior and made publicly clear that her work was largely driven by a desire to curb the birthrates of such "unfit" classes. Nevertheless, Planned Parenthood honors its founder to this day. (Interestingly, Methodist leader Harry Ward, a contemporary of Sanger's and founder of the Methodist Federation for Social Action, was also an outspoken advocate of eugenics as a solution to social ills.)
Some GBGM staffers have expressed a striking lack of concern about how average church members might react to many controversial GBGM political and theological stances. For instance, last year GBGM official Sam Dixon strongly defended GBGM's annual grants to secular left-wing political groups.
At recent meetings of the GBGM Board of Directors, several directors and staffers have lamented the trend of decreasing numbers of GBGM missionaries while expressing their desire for greater support from United Methodist congregations. Their ability to raise more funds and support may hinge on their willingness to restore trust between local United Methodists and the often out of touch GBGM.
John Lomperis is research assistant for UMAction in Washington D.C.
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