United Methodist Agency Official Denounces UMAction, Good News

on January 15, 2008

At a local leadership training conference for United Methodist clergy and laity, Neal Christie, a staffer of the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society (GBCS), used his workshop as an opportunity to denounce IRD’s UMAction program and our sister United Methodist renewal group, Good News.  

The annual “Leadership Training Day” was sponsored by two northern Virginia districts of the UnitedMethodist Church. The purpose of Christie’s workshop was to preview the denomination’s upcoming General Conference.

 


Rev. Neal Christie (left, pictured with actor and activist Martin Sheen at a recent anti-nuclear protest) accused IRD of “trying to manipulate the fears of our brothers and sisters in Africa and the Philippines. (Photo courtesy UMNS)

At one point, Christie digressed to warn his audience about IRD/UMAction, which he described as “supported by secular organizations.” The church official went on to denounce both IRD/UMAction and Good News as “political groups” that are “not accountable to the UnitedMethodistChurch” and promote a “divisive agenda.” He also alleged that these groups were “trying to manipulate the fears of our brothers and sisters in Africa and the Philippines.” This last remark was an apparent reference to UMAction and Good News working with United Methodist leaders in those regions to uphold historic Christian teaching and oppose the efforts of pro-homosexuality activists (such as the GBCS leadership).

Christie’s remark echoed a 2004 speech in which his boss, GBCS General Secretary Jim Winkler, lashed out at “Central Conference delegates, particularly those from Africa” for being “shamelessly used by right wing leaders.” Winkler’s grievance was that the African and other delegates had voted against GBCS proposals at that year’s General Conference to weaken the denomination’s opposition to homosexual practice. Neither Winkler nor his subordinate appears to have considered the possibility that African United Methodists may have sufficient reasons of their own for opposing theological and sexual revisionism in the church.

Christie likely did not expect that an IRD/UMAction staffer would have joined his pastor in attending this workshop. After the GBCS official had finished his remarks, I asked for and was granted the opportunity to respond briefly. I told those present that I did not think that Christie’s account was at all a fair portrayal of IRD/UMAction’s ministry. We are hardly unique in receiving some support from foundations, or in our concern for how the church addresses social and political issues. I added that I did not see how our working to “restore our denomination to its evangelical, Wesleyan heritage is any more ‘divisive’ than when your agency uses the offering plate money from our churches to promote such causes as divestment from Israel and a liberal position on homosexuality.”  

If I had been given more time, I might have pointed out other ways in which Christie’s barbs were disingenuous. Although he and other GBCS officials have strongly criticized IRD/UMAction for accepting foundation support (in addition to our support from thousands of United Methodist individuals and congregations), a consistent standard is not applied. Both the pro-homosexuality Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) within the denomination and the leftist National Council of Churches (supported by the denomination) also enjoy significant foundation support; however, GBCS officials do not criticize that funding.

It is highly ironic for the GBCS to attack any other entity as a “political group.” Surely that same label would apply to the board itself. GBCS has weighed in on almost every recent U.S. political issue, from tax cuts (against) to unrestricted abortion (for) to the embargo of Cuba (against) to immediate and unilateral U.S. withdrawal from Iraq (for). The board also works closely with another unofficial caucus group, the Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA), which seeks to focus United Methodist energies on leftist political causes and undermine the denomination’s commitment to historic Christian doctrine. In contrast, it is quite rare for IRD or Good News to take positions on civil legislation, as our focus is on reforming the church.

Christie also raised the issue of accountability. UMAction and Good News are accountable, respectively, to their steering committee and board, which are composed entirely of United Methodist clergy and laity, who are in turn as individually accountable to the United Methodist Church as any other members of the denomination. While both governing boards are independent of formal denominational control, this is no less true for the other United Methodist caucus groups listed in the official United Methodist Directory and Index of Resources. But apparently for Christie, it is only the independence of Good News and UMAction that is problematic.

The GBCS staffer admitted elsewhere in his workshop to having helped other such independent caucus groups (more to his political taste) with their General Conference efforts. It seems that the current mechanisms to make the GBCS “accountable to The United Methodist Church” have been quite lacking in recent years. While the Book of Discipline requires that all elected and management staffers of general agencies uphold the “ethical standards of The United Methodist Church as set forth in the Social Principles,” such officials at the GBCS have with impunity repeatedly used their positions to promote their more liberal views on such matters as homosexuality, abortion, and war/peace issues—even when those views diverge dramatically from the Social Principles.

In his quick response to me, Christie observed that “we’re not going to agree,” briefly plugged an anti-IRD video, “Renewal or Ruin?” and then quickly changed the subject. The video, promoted on the websites of the GBCS and United Methodist Communications, focuses on ad hominem attacks on the character and alleged motives of IRD. It even likens our church renewal group to the racist Ku Klux Klan. The video’s maker, Steven Martin, has recently compared an IRD staffer to Osama Bin Laden. One of the featured commentators on the film, Andrew Weaver, recently targeted the mother of a renewal group staffer, and over a dozen of that mother’s co-workers, for illegal harassment. What is notably missing from the film is any attention to the substance of the concerns raised by UMAction and other United Methodist renewal groups.

An advertisement in 2000 for the then-open position of GBCS general secretary said that candidates “must be willing to engage in effective dialogue with church members who may disagree with United Methodist positions and the board’s views.” But in my four years of closely observing the work of Jim Winkler and his staff, I have sadly observed no such commitment to respectful dialogue. Instead, when I cover his public speeches, I have come to expect his false and inflammatory cheap shots at the character of myself and other United Methodists seeking the renewal of our church. The clear implication of these remarks is that I have no legitimate right to question any of the positions taken by the GBCS, even when these positions contradict those of the United Methodist Church. Christie seems to have learned from the example of his boss.

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