Dear RENEW Network Friend, 

As we begin  a new quadrennium for the United Methodist Church and United Methodist Women, we find ourselves evaluating the outcomes of General Conference—and surmising where they will take us. 

United Methodist Women are able to discern what’s ahead by examining communications that come from the Women’s Division and by studying resources produced for the local UMW.  After all, the Women’s Division is authorized to interpret the Purpose of United Methodist Women, to recommend program and provide resources, to serve as the national official policy-making body of the organization and to appropriate funds received through UMW. 

Nowhere is this better spelled out than the Focus on Local and District Units Handbook: United Methodist Women 2005-2008.  A careful read of this handbook shows a tight knit, tightly controlled organization highly influenced by the worldview of the Women’s Division.   

The RENEW Network’s purpose is to encourage renewal and revitalization at the grassroots level of United Methodist Women and to equip the women of the church to call for accountability on the part of the Women’s Division in its role as the head of United Methodist Women.  Evaluation of Women’s Division programs, policies and spending is one means of accomplishing this goal.  From our vantage point, we offer the following observations. 

Three issues of Response magazine following General Conference did not bode well.  The June issue painted a rosy picture of the United Nations, tying the mission of The United Methodist Church to an institution that is riddled with scandal and unethical practices, and whose treaties claim advocacy for women and children while undermining the family, promoting unrestricted abortion and failing to address many real needs of women.  The July issue on the media showcased an opinionated “expertise” that harangued against FOX News as a source of “misinformation.” Shades of Re-Imagining along with New Age mysticism and radical feminism surfaced in the August issue of Response magazine through individuals cited and books referenced.  Rather than lifting up worthy mystics for us to study, this issue of Response showcased bogus teachings and dangerous theologies.   

Then came the fall meeting of the Women’s Division Board of Directors where the Women’s Division’s participation in the controversial pro-abortion “March for Women’s Lives” was staunchly defended, where partisan political views were expressed regarding the upcoming election and where incoming Deputy General Secretary, Dr. Janice Love, painted a “portrait of our future.”   

Dr. Love’s challenging speech mentioned both personal and social holiness, yet clearly reinforced the exclusivity of the Women’s Division’s commitment to social holiness. Her statements, “some conservative political and religious extremists hope fervently for our demise”…and, “some extremists see us as a threat to dominant trends in our society and some churches,” hearkened back to her responses to interview questions for the position of Deputy General Secretary.   

When asked, “What do you consider the biggest challenge facing women/women’s organizations today in society at large?”  Dr. Love began, “We live in an era of deeply embedded conservatism in the United States and across the world…a reality that undermines any notion that history inevitably progresses to improve life for all.”  When asked the same question regarding the biggest challenge facing women/women’s organizations today in the church? She opened her response, “The era in which we live affects many religious groups, including Christian churches, making them, too, more conservative.  Some ‘fundamentalists’ even strive to impose their particular religious vision on the whole society, believing that God commands them to do so.  This threatens basic commitments to secularism and religious pluralism at home and abroad.” 

If Dr. Love indeed sees conservatism in the nation and in the church as the greatest challenge facing women and women’s organizations today, one can’t help but wonder just who she places in these categories.  Surely, evangelical Christians within United Methodism, and genuine Christians across other denominations, would not be mislabeled and marginalized into this category. 

Dr. Janice Love is an adept communicator and one hopes her talk of finding answers for conflicts in the church are genuine.  The issues that divide us are deep and serious.  It will take more than embracing our diversity, communicating more conscientiously and finding consensus to resolve our differences.   

Our final analysis for this initial “new quadrennium” comes from a look at the 2005 Reading Program for United Methodist Women.  While numerous titles sent up red flags for us (we will be reviewing some of these books), two blew us away.  After all the conflict within the church about Bishop Joseph Sprague’s deviate theology, there was his book Affirmations of a Dissenter under the Spiritual Growth section!  And, if you really want to know about the evils of capitalism, you could read War, Racism and Economic Injustice: The Global Ravages of Capitalism by Fidel Castro himself!  Walking through a minefield to find a good book is dangerous for the women of the church.   

What is our “take” at this early point in the quadrennium?  We believe there is continuing cause for concern about the leadership provided by the Women’s Division.  We encourage you to let your concerns be known.  Above all, we encourage you to move forward toward renewal and revitalization at the local level.  RENEW stands ready to assist you in any way we can.  Check out the resources available to you through RENEW at our web site, www.renewnetwork.org.   

At the recent Good News Board of Directors meeting, and the RENEW Steering Committee meeting, we outlined some bold initiatives for the new quadrennium which we will be sharing with you in detail in the days to come.  We anticipate an expansion of this ministry into new areas and in closer networking, enabling us to service our network members more effectively.  We count on you to stand with us in prayer and, as you are able, in financial support to accomplish our ministry vision. 

May God bless our work together.

In  Christ,

L. Faye Short
President