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Recommended non-concurrence regarding: ·Asking the Women’s Division to hold high before United Methodist Women the vision of a world redeemed for Jesus Christ because the division already does this. ·Asking the Women’s Division to be subject to the Book of Discipline because it already operates under the Book of Discipline. ·Adding a paragraph to the Book of Discipline encouraging the United Methodist Women in efforts to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to communities because making disciples for Jesus Christ is already a purpose of the United Methodist Women. (Italics mine.) A casual reader would assume that the petitions which called for accountability in these areas were surely invalid. However, we know better. Documentation shows that the mission focus of the Women’s Division is social justice—not proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and making disciples. And, if the Women’s Division does operate under the Book of Discipline, why would it be a bad thing to simply have that requirement clearly stated in the Book of Discipline? In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Joyce Sohl, Deputy General Secretary of the Women’s Division, alluded to her “evangelical” roots in the Evangelical United Brethren and said she felt the evangelical presence was still present within the denomination. Her claim was that one can be evangelical and be an activist. Faye Short, RENEW president, responded in the same article that it’s not activism, but some of the causes the Women’s Division has embraced, that trouble RENEW members. “We have found over and over again a very left-leaning political advocacy and a very anti-capitalism, anti-free market philosophy,” Short said of the Women’s Division. The article went on to state that the major complaint of the evangelical women is theological. “The Women’s Division,” Short said, “has abandoned the mission of bringing non-Christians to faith in Jesus. Social work should be in addition to, not instead of, evangelism,” she said. The article concluded by saying, “Representatives of the Women’s Division are proud of their interreligious outlook, and say it is consistent with church teaching.” This statement affirms the content of a previous issue of Response magazine advocating interfaith pluralism, and the acceptance of other religions as valid roads to God. All of this somehow seems to tie in with a statement by the newly-elected Deputy General Secretary, Jan Love, when she responded to the pre-hiring interview question, “What do you consider the biggest challenge facing women/women’s organizations today: In society at large? In the church?” The heart of Ms. Love’s response: “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…. The era in which we live affects many religious groups, including Christian churches, making them, too, more conservative. Some, the ‘fundamentalists,’ even strive to impose their particular religious vision on the whole of society, believing that God commands them to do so. This threatens basic commitment to secularism and religious pluralism at home and abroad. Again, women and children suffer first and most when hard line dogmatic religious groups take hold.” Strange indeed! Ms. Love perceives Christian fundamentalism, which would likely include those who hold to an evangelical, orthodox, Bible-based Christian faith, as the biggest challenge facing women and women’s organizations today. Amazing—given the multitude of oppressive challenges faced by women around the world! |
