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The ties that bind
by James V. Heidinger II

When the Supervisory Response Team announced it was dismissing the charges against Bishop Joe Sprague, the statement acknowledged there was room for both dissent and reform in the Church. It went on to plead that the various groups conduct this discourse “without personal attack.”

That is, for sure, an appropriate statement. That’s why a paid advertisement that ran in the UMConnection (4/02/03), the official paper of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, caught our attention. A group of sixteen retired clergy and laity in that area (including well-known names such as Dr. Phil Wogaman, Bishop Forrest Stith, the Rev. William Holmes, and Mr. Harry Kiely) used the ad to make an unusually severe and unsettling attack on Good News.

The ad noted that General Conferences in the past had shown hospitality to “diverse caucuses and special interests to promote their points of view.” However, there is one caucus that concerns them and that is Good News. They feel we have worn out our welcome, as if they were the gatekeepers of UM hospitality. While admitting the denomination can profit from hearing “genuinely committed voices pressing us on what constitutes biblical, Wesleyan, and evangelical imperatives,” they charge: “But when any group claims for itself the exclusive custody of ‘Scriptural Christianity,’ sole guardianship of Wesleyan theology, and infallible interpretation of what constitutes ‘Good News,’ that group not only violates Wesley’s own collegial spirit toward other Christians, but also exploits the hospitality upon which its very presence depends.”

What is not presented is a single notation or quote as to where Good News has ever claimed exclusive custody, sole guardianship, or infallible interpretation of anything. Since the beginning, Good News has been “A Forum for Scriptural Christianity,” not “The Forum.” We have called ourselves “a voice for renewal,” not “the voice.”

Surprisingly, the group drags out once again a 15-year old accusation that Good News is somehow plotting to create an “alternative denomination.” Good News, of course, has said from the start that it is a movement for renewal within the UM Church. The fact is that many United Methodist evangelicals have elected to remain within the denomination because of hope they find from Good News’ ministry. 

The specific charges levied against Good News in the advertisement ought to be an embarrassment for those whose names are attached. Consider the following:

• Good News allegedly “has repudiated our Board of Global Ministries by funding and sending forth its own missionaries through a ‘shadow’ organization they call ‘The Mission Society for United Methodists.’” The Mission Society is not a “shadow” anything, of course. It is a supplemental sending agency for United Methodists that has been in existence for 19 years. It has 140 missionaries on the field in more than 30 countries. It has its own board and staff, with headquarters in Norcross, Georgia. 

• “Bristol Brooks [surely this spelling is an oversight] is their alternative to our Abingdon Press,” they charge. Good News started Bristol Books back in 1989 and sold it in 1991, when it became Bristol House, Ltd., a for-profit corporation. Bristol House has worked hand-in-hand with the United Methodist Publishing House (including Abingdon) on several projects within the last few years. This includes Faith Files, a children’s mid-week program, as well as a joint adult study program. 

• “Light and Life Press offers church school literature in direct competition with our General Board of Discipleship,” the critics charge. This is almost funny. Light and Life Press is the publishing house for the Free Methodist Church.

• “Good News has its own literature for confirmation classes, youth groups, and United Methodist Women,” the ad says. The popular We Believe confirmation curriculum for youth and adults was first published by Good News in 1976 and is now owned and marketed by Bristol House. It and other of Bristol House’s publications can be purchased through the UM Publishing House.

For more than 35 years, Good News has been openly at work within the UM Church as a catalyst for theological and spiritual renewal. You may not agree with every stand that we take, but it is sad to see the not-so-subtle hint that we should be silent in the back of the bus lest we get kicked off.

There is a new ecumenism around the globe that appreciates authentic Christian diversity. This is very different from the passing parochialism represented in the ad—the new fundamentalism of the left. It whiffs of an old-guard, authoritarian liberalism that once was dominant across the church. Its sad legacy was to give United Methodism 30 consecutive years of membership decline and demoralization. Thankfully, a new era is emerging with the next generation of United Methodists.



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