The semi-annual meeting of the United Methodist Council of Bishops featured a resolution demanding a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. The bishops also elected new leaders, discussed the controversial plan to divide the U.S. jurisdictions from the overseas portions of the denomination, and responded to an open letter by prominent Muslim clerics. The council, which consists of all active and retired bishops, met November 4 – 9 at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina.
“Support the Troops” Too Controversial
After extended discussion, the bishops adopted a resolution that calls on the United States and other coalition nations to “begin immediately a safe and full withdrawal of all military personnel from Iraq, with no additional troops deployed.” The resolution selectively quotes the denomination’s position on war so as to convey an effectively pacifist position. It says nothing directly about the terrorist and sectarian extremist groups against which the U.S. troops are fighting in Iraq.
Bishop Minerva Carcaño (Desert-Southwest) countered that she would “rather take the heat” for not “supporting the troops” than stay silent in the face of “a growing nationalism” in America. (Photo courtesy UMNS) |
One bishop privately remarked that he would have had security concerns were it not for the inclusion of the word “safe” in the previously quoted statement. Much of the public discussion, however, was devoted to less substantive issues. For example, “our troops” was changed to “the troops,” in view of the international character of the United Methodist Church.
Bishop Patrick Streiff of Switzerland strongly objected to the first part of a phrase calling for people to “support the troops of the Coalition Forces by honoring the dead, healing the wounded and calling for the end of the war.” Streiff said that since he was “from a neutral country,” he could not “support” the coalition forces.
Bishops Gregory Palmer (Iowa), Michael Watson (South Georgia), and Lindsey Davis (North Georgia) argued against removing the word “support.” Davis worried that such a change could lead to the headline, “United Methodist Bishops Do Not Support the Troops.” Bishop Minerva Carcaño (Desert-Southwest) countered that she would “rather take the heat” for not “supporting the troops” than stay silent in the face of “a growing nationalism” in America. The bishops voted to replace the call to “support the troops” with one to “care for all impacted by the war.” Dissenting votes on this amendment were cast by Bishops Sally Dyck (Minnesota) and Davis.
At one point Bishop Joseph Humper of Sierra Leone rose to note several concerns “from a moral perspective.” While agreeing that the continued presence of coalition troops in Iraq was problematic, Humper pointed out that since “you are in the middle of a war,” it would also be problematic for them “to move out completely.” He noted that other entities, such as Iran, “are ready to step in.”
Bishop Humper asked if the Iraqi government had become “strong enough to maintain order and decorum.” He also urged his colleagues to consider “what will happen to the Iraqi people,” who could be in greater danger if coalition forces immediately and completely withdrew, as demanded by the resolution. The African bishop’s questions were ignored. The resolution was ultimately passed with at least one dissenting vote.
Bishop Watson subsequently rose to announce that he was greatly troubled by the practice of spending significant amounts of time “addressing complex issues with resolutions.” Such resolutions often go on to be spun and misinterpreted, according to Watson, making it “very difficult to care for the church, pastorally.” He declared that he did not believe that “the old style of speaking” through such resolutions was effective for “winning the world to the love of Jesus Christ.”
New Leaders Elected
The bishops also named new officers. They unanimously elected as the new council president Bishop Gregory Palmer of Iowa, who had been nominated two years ago to take the position at this time. A decision on naming Palmer’s successor was postponed. Suggestions for the post included Bishops Hans Växby (Eurasia), Edward Paup (Seattle), and Hope Morgan Ward (Mississippi). The bishops unanimously elected Bishop Robert Hayes (Oklahoma) as secretary and retired Bishop Don Ott as executive secretary.
In a relatively rare contested election for ecumenical officer, retired Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader was elected over retired Bishop William Morris. The latter was nominated from the floor by Bishop Lindsey Davis (North Georgia) while the former was nominated by both Bishop Scott Jones (Kansas) and Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar (New Jersey) of behalf of their respective jurisdictions. Bishop Morris is theologically orthodox and supports biblical and United Methodist teachings on sexual morality. Bishop Rader, on the other hand, is an outspoken champion of the pro-homosexuality agenda and was even a key speaker at the syncretistic “Kairos CoMotion” conference.
Plan for Global Restructuring
Bishops Ann Sherer of Nebraska and Scott Jones of Kansas addressed the council about their task group’s plan to dramatically restructure the denomination to create a distinct U.S. regional conference in which overseas delegates would not participate. They also showed a brief video that will be sent to all English-speaking General Conference delegates to lobby for support of the 24 pieces of legislation to advance the plan.
Bishop Scott Jones of Kansas proposed creating a distinct U.S. regional conference that would not include overseas delegates. (Photo courtesy UMNS) |
A significant part of the rationale offered for the restructuring proposal is that the denomination’s Book of Resolutions is mainly focused on U.S. political issues. The task group’s plan would ultimately move the Book of Resolutions from the jurisdiction of the General Conference to that of each separate regional conference. Thus the U.S. conference would be able to adopt position statements on political and social issues independently, without the involvement of the growing numbers of more orthodox United Methodists from Africa, the Philippines, and elsewhere. The Social Principles would remain under General Conference jurisdiction
Bishop Jones told his colleagues of having received several complaints about the plan by persons who had not actually read the document. He asserted that discussion of the plan in the United States was dominated by “knee-jerk reaction” to “innuendo and conspiracy theories that are easily debunked.”
Jones told UMAction in an interview that, other than the Book of Resolutions, matters that would be delegated to the regional conferences include ones that “var[y] from one region of the world to another,” such as the language of hymnals and the “the requirements for how much education a United Methodist minister needs.” He said that the plan would also provide opportunities for “missional strategy sessions,” noting that currently “there’s no place where Americans can talk about” planting new churches “as a single national entity.” While the plan is intended to better differentiate when church leadership is best exercised at the global or national level, Bishop Jones stressed that “at the world level, we have to do the things that unify us as a church: doctrine, discipline, and mission.”
Another structural change that has been proposed, but is not a part of the current restructuring plan, is to elect and assign U.S. bishops on a national rather than regional basis. Retired Bishop Richard Looney, who led the South Georgia Annual Conference until 2000, told UMAction in an interview that he “personally would favor” such a plan. If it were adopted, Looney predicted, “we couldn’t emphasize our regional differences as much; we would have to find … more bridging leaders.” However, he admitted that such a move faced high political hurdles.
Accountability
The bishops decided to continue consideration of a plan to revise the council’s bylaws for the sake of “best align[ing] the Council of Bishops’ leadership structure to effectively fulfill our responsibilities.” One proposed amendment would “provide for accountability groups” for the bishops in addition to their already-existent “covenant groups.” Any action on the plan was delayed until a later date.
In his interview with UMAction, Bishop Jones was asked about the obligation of denominational leaders to uphold the Book of Discipline. How could that obligation be honored when UMAction has documented numerous cases of church officials refusing to uphold provisions of the Discipline with which they disagree?
Bishop Jones replied that “we need leaders who are committed to our basic, core beliefs.” He was confident that such commitment was “the case in most of our leaders.” But Jones continued that “we also need to find ways of holding each other accountable with love and trust and mutual respect.” He indicated that “the Council of Bishops is working on increasing accountability in many, many ways.”
The Kansas bishop admitted that the denomination had, like “every human institution,” fallen “short of its stated ideals.” But still “we work toward integrity” and “100 percent alignment.” And “point[ing] out somebody who’s not living out the way of the United Methodist faith” is “just part of being brothers and sisters in Christ together.” The New Testament church also had discussions “about difficult issues” related to accountability, Jones recalled.
Plans for Moving Forward
There was continued discussion of the council’s seven “vision pathways”:
- Developing new congregations;
- Transforming existing congregations;
- Strengthening clergy and lay leadership;
- Teaching the Wesleyan model of reaching and forming disciples of Jesus Christ;
- Reaching and transforming the lives of new generations of children;
- Eliminating poverty in community with the poor; and
- Ending racism as we authentically expand racial/ethnic ministries.
Bishop Jones told UMAction that these pathways were constructively addressing the denomination’s “unwillingness to start new churches” and “lack of emphasis on evangelism.”
The Rev. Tom Butcher, the head staffer for the first pathway, stressed that this goal was fundamentally concerned with “introducing Jesus to people.” It was “not about, necessarily,” such things as increasing numbers, “building big buildings,” or abandoning existing churches. Butcher shared this pathway’s ambitious goal of recruiting and equipping 1,000 church planters by 2012 to start 650 new congregations that will have an average worship attendance of 300 after five years.
At one point the council was addressed by the Rev. Lovett Weems, Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary. Weems encouraged the bishops to consider a series of “provocative questions” in response to the recent “State of the Church” survey. The questions related to issues such as the denomination’s aging and mostly white U.S. membership, its difficulties in recruiting younger clergy, and the vitality of some larger congregations.
Bishop Janice Huie, President of the Council of Bishops, encouraged partnerships with secular foundations to “improve global health.” (File photo) |
In her President’s Address, Bishop Janice Huie of Texas focused on one area of opportunity for the denomination. Partnerships with such entities as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.N. Foundation (founded by media mogul Ted Turner) are allowing United Methodists to tackle the major challenges of improving global health, according to Huie.
Michael Madnick, Senior Vice President of the U.N. Foundation, later addressed the bishops. Madnick celebrated how his foundation’s partnership with the United Methodist Church and others has raised some $18 million in the “Nothing But Nets” campaign to provide Africans with mosquito nets for their beds. “It seemed to make little sense to try and reinvent … a constituency,” he explained, when his foundation could partner with already established grassroots networks such as those of the denomination.
Madnick stressed that “faith belongs at the table” of global efforts to combat “the diseases of poverty” (malaria, tuberculosis, and AIDS). He expressed his hope that “Nothing But Nets” would establish a legacy of connecting the denomination to major foundations to be better equipped to address such human suffering. Madnick agreed when Bishop Gaspar João Domingos of Angola pointed out the importance of other anti-malaria measures, such as insecticide spraying, since “sometimes people are bit by mosquitoes before they get under the nets.”
Bishops also learned that the denominational budget proposal to be considered at the next General Conference would increase apportionments by 1.2 percent each year, which is below the rate of inflation. The largest area of increase is the Episcopal Fund (13 percent), due to the growing number of retired bishops supported.
Mixed Ecumenical Picture
The council also received the report of its outgoing ecumenical officer, retired Bishop William Oden. He noted that while “[t]he goal for maximum funding” of the National Council of Churches (NCC) “by any one denomination is 25 percent of the annual budget,” United Methodists “currently fund about 40 percent,” making the denomination “the largest funder” of the NCC. Furthermore, Oden reported, the NCC’s “budget for the year ’08 came in at a $1.2 million deficit,” driving the council’s leadership to cut 14 staff positions this fall.
Another ecumenical body, Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC), “is quite vulnerable,” according to Bishop Oden. Two predominantly African-American Methodist denominations have “dropped out,” and a third may possibly do likewise. Such a development would leave that coalition without a single predominantly African-American member denomination. Their reason appears to be frustration that CUIC devotes too much attention to issues of ecclesiology at the expense of fighting racism.
Oden’s report also called on the Council of Bishops to “intensify its leadership of the church” to win approval of full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) at the 2008 General Conference. The bishop also urged his colleagues to “deepen and expand Interim Shared Eucharist with the Episcopal Church USA.”
The Council of Bishops adopted “A Common Word between Us and You,” a statement affirming “common ground between Islam and Christianity” in “the love of the One God and the love of the neighbor.” (Click image to enlarge) |
The council adopted a statement drafted by the Bishop Oden, along with Bishop Watson and Bishop Timothy Whitaker (Florida), in response to a statement recently released by 138 Muslim clerics and scholars. The Muslim scholars, writing under the title “A Common Word between Us and You,” had affirmed “common ground between Islam and Christianity” in “the love of the One God and the love of the neighbor.”
The United Methodist bishops’ reply affirms the value of “seek[ing] common ground with people of other faiths.” It praises the Common Word’s “proclamation that the primary purpose of human life is to love God and love our neighbors.” It agrees with the Common Word’s declaration that “[i]f Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace.” The bishops’ statement identifies Muslims, Christians, and others as equally “God’s children.” It did not directly take issue with the Muslim statement at any point.
At the urging of retired Bishop Walter Klaiber of Germany, the United Methodist statement was amended to express the hope that people of all faiths would enjoy religious freedom around the world. While affirming this addition, Bishop Jones pointed out that the council’s response to the Islamic scholars was not intended to be a comprehensive statement on Christian-Muslim relations, but a starting point of common ground for conversation. Jones acknowledged that other serious issues remained, such as evangelism and the “ability of people to convert from one religion to another.”
During one of the breaks in the meeting, a prominent retired liberal bishop made a point of confronting me over his displeasure with UMAction’s “tactics.” Interestingly, however, when asked for clarification on which “tactics” he disliked, he specified only UMAction’s role in “making an issue of homosexuality.” By this phrase, the bishop apparently meant UMAction’s reporting the fact that various entities, such as the general agency whose board this bishop chaired or the unofficial caucus group of which he is now co-president, are openly seeking to undermine the denomination’s official position on the matter. But this bishop also admitted that he and other bishops “have problems with the tactics of Andrew Weaver,” an anti-IRD conspiracy theorist.
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