Extending hospitality
Grace and peace to you, and to all our sisters and brothers in Christ who share the Good News!

As faithful United Methodists baptized into the Body of Christ, we take seriously our sacred charge in Romans 12:13 to "practice hospitality." Through our involvement in the Reconciling Ministries Clergy, we seek to extend that hospitality to all, assured by Jesus in Matthew 10:40 that, "whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the One who sent me."

It is out of this understanding of the gospel that we would like to respond to your letter of June 16th about the "Hearts On Fire" conference that will be held at Lake Junaluska over the Labor Day weekend.

First, we would like to thank you for directing the readers of the letter to the Reconciling Ministries Network web site (www.rmnetwork.org) to get full information about the conference and its sponsoring organizations. In situations such as this, where people disagree with one another, it is so important to convey accurate information and to refrain from characterizing (and mischaracterizing) the positions of others. So again, we appreciate the fact that you gave your readers the RMN web site reference.

As you might guess, however, we strongly disagree with your conclusion that the "Hearts On Fire" conference should not be held at Lake Junaluska.

Your major objection to having this conference at Lake Junaluska is that it is being sponsored by a group of United Methodists that disagrees with a policy of the United Methodist Church and seeks to change that policy. "At this Labor Day event, [they] will join others to teach, support, encourage, and strategize how to further the acceptance of a practice the church has determined to be 'incompatible with Christian teaching" (Good News, July/August 2005).

Advocacy for changing the church's position or teaching on any number of issues has never been understood in United Methodism as grounds for withdrawing hospitality or breaking community. Indeed, the Good News movement exists in large part in order to reform, or change, the denomination. Your message on the Good News web site reads in part: "We are committed to being a voice for repentance, an agent for reform, and a catalyst for renewal within our denomination."

The legislation proposed by Good News at the 2004 General Conference is evidence that, like us, you are working vigorously to change portions of the United Methodist Discipline. We think you would agree that it would be irresponsible for any of us to remain silent if we believe that the policies of the church are misguided and do harm to the Body of Christ.

You express dismay that "Hearts On Fire" speakers will include three United Methodist bishops. We know that bishops of many theological persuasions are faithfully struggling to reconcile their responsibility to "guard the faith, order, liturgy, doctrine, and discipline of the Church" with their call to be "prophetic voices and courageous leaders in the cause of justice for all people" (Par. 404.1, The Book of Discipline). We are certain that you support those bishops who join you in dissenting from the majority of the church on issues that are important to you, just as we do.

We hope that all United Methodists are diligent and disciplined in praying for the prophetic discernment of UM bishops as they seek to serve the whole church. We thank God for those among us who courageously proclaim a gospel of radical hospitality for the transformation of our church and our world in the face of criticism and rejection by fellow servants in the church.

In response to the concern expressed in your letter that bringing "Hearts On Fire" into the headquarters of the Southeast Jurisdiction will jeopardize the "fragile unity of our church," we acknowledge that the unity of the church is of tremendous consequence. As heirs of John Wesley, together we must heed his dire warning against "inward disunion" in the church with "members ceasing to have a reciprocal love for one another" (Wesley's A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, page 102).

There are many in the Southeast Jurisdiction, just as in other jurisdictions, who are suffering intensely due to the current policies of the church on homosexuality. We believe that "Hearts On Fire" will be a time and space of healing the brokenness, both in the individual lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and heterosexual persons, and in the United Methodist Church as a whole.

We acknowledge that as long as faithful members of the UM Church differ strongly in their understanding about issues related to sexual orientation, we will continue to engage in a difficult struggle to discern God's will in this area. We see no reason, however, why this needs to threaten the unity of the church. The groups sponsoring this conference are in no way promoting schism within the UM Church. The proposal for schism in the UM Church that found its way around the last General Conference originated in a very public speech at a Good News breakfast, not from the members of the Reconciling Movement.

We of the Reconciling Clergy trust deeply that God is the guardian of the unity of the United Methodist Church. In prayerful preparation for "Hearts On Fire," we have experienced the Holy Spirit moving among us, convicting us that the conference will have a profoundly unifying effect on us as vital members of our beloved church. We are confident that our witness will spread like ripples to the wider United Methodist family.

It is with joyful anticipation that we invite those who feel drawn to "Hearts On Fire" to join us in celebrating the unity that is our inheritance as children of God. We are ambassadors for Christ and God is making an appeal through us! God has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:20, 18).We are firmly and faithfully committed to extending hospitality to all, including each and every one in the Good News community.

David W. Meredith
Reconciling Ministries Clergy, Convener
David Aslesen
Reconciling Ministries Clergy, Board Representative

No spectator Christians
"Shock and awe" are the best words to describe my response to Mark Nysewander's July/August 2005 article "The Jump of Faith." Since when are spectators considered players? In the game of life, we are either "running the race" (Hebrews 12:1) or we are spectators. Jesus doesn't say "sit and be supportive" or "observe others making disciples." Rather he orders, commands, and demands: "Go, therefore, and make disciples" (Matthew 28:19). Further, what are we to make of Matthew 10:32-33: "Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven."

Further, Romans 10:17: "So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ."

To suggest that one is a Christian if one is a spectator is, quite frankly, to lead people astray-to lead them down the wide road that leads to destruction. I am reminded that in the first five centuries of the church we have those who were martyred because they wouldn't be quiet. Why are the pews empty today? It is because the church has wrongly taught people in the pews that Christianity demands nothing but attendance.

I totally agree that witnessing to our faith leads to a joy that is otherwise unavailable to us. And God certainly intends this for all his children. However, his children are the ones who experience this joy and not the ones who merely observe this joy in others. What are the fruits of the Spirit? What are the external and internal manifestations of the presence of the Holy Spirit's residence within the "believer?"

Galatians 5:22-23 says: "By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (also see John Wesley's "The First Fruits of the Spirit").

These "internal" manifestations have external consequences. When we read the Pentecost account is there any indication that some chose to keep quiet instead of speaking?

Nysewander's article flies in the face of John Wesley's sermon "The Almost Christian," one of our doctrinal sermons. To have a spectator religion is to fall far short of "true" religion. It is to have the outward "form of godliness" but to deny "its power." And as Paul warns Timothy "Avoid them!" (2 Timothy 3:5).

 How does one love one's "neighbor" as oneself if not through the active sharing of the gospel? Is that not loving from afar with well meant wishes that have no real substance? For too long our church has falsely given pew sitters the impression that they are safe from the fires of hell through their presence in the building-fire insurance and nothing more.

I realize the intent of the article was to encourage people to move to what some today call "deeper discipleship." However, that is a continuation of lies we've told ourselves for years and years that have the effect of "quenching the Spirit."

W. T. (Bo) Setliff Jr.
Mt. Pleasant-South Covington
Covington, Virginia

Obscenities and profanities
Thank you for continuing to hold up a standard for the church. I appreciate what Good News stands for. However, one item in your July/August issue 2005 is very troubling. I was astounded that your glowing review of Cinderella Man carried no warning or disclaimer regarding the movie's 85 obscenities and profanities. That's one offense about every 100 seconds. And 32 of those were the use of the names of God or Jesus in vain-including 13 uses of G-d****. (Numbers are taken from www.screenit.com.)

It just doesn't seem honoring to God to use his holy name in vain to try to edify, entertain, or challenge believers. Two AFA staffers saw Cinderella Man at the Evangelical Press Association and were appalled by the language. Ted Baher's MovieGuide, a Christian review service, gives the movie high marks for its Christian worldview, as you do. But at least Ted warns us about the obscenities and profanities.

If your review were the only thing I knew about Cinderella Man, I would want to see it, and I would encourage Christian parents to take young kids to see it. You do your constituents a great disservice by withholding information such as this movie's deluge of profanity. I am confident that many evangelicals-I pray most evangelicals-would find it personally offensive and quite relevant to their entertainment choices. I expect better from Good News. Please tell the whole story in future reviews of secular entertainment.

Randall Murphree
Editor, AFA Journal
American Family Association
Tupelo, Mississippi

We apologize for not alerting readers of the language issues in Cinderella Man. -The Editors