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CLAIMS & COUNTERCLAIMS
“One
would think issues could be dealt with honestly and openly
without these ad hominem (attacking of one’s opponent rather than
dealing with the subject under discussion) attacks.”
Faye Short, President
RENEW Network
Women within the United
Methodist Church have questioned the programs and policies of the Women’s
Division for years. Most of the time, their letters or telephone calls
were either unanswered, or they received a response that was like a slap
on the back of the hand indicating a lack of knowledge on their part. The
tone of the response to their specific concerns seemed to be, “If you
really understood the issues as we do, you would not ask such
questions.”
The Good News Women’s
Taskforce existed early within the 36-year-old Good News movement.
Discerning evangelical women were a part of this taskforce. They saw in
the literature and actions of the Women’s Division a departure from
orthodox theology, a left-leaning social and political advocacy, a
tendency to follow the trend of secular culture and to embrace the
ideology of institutions and groups holding a similar worldview. The
taskforce addressed these issues in responsible ways, and many evangelical
United Methodist women appreciated their work.
In 1989, the Good News
Women’s Taskforce held a workshop for women at a Good News Convocation.
There were about 55 women in attendance. They were given 10 minutes to
gripe, and then the workshop proceeded to ask and answer the question,
“How can we make a difference.” After the workshop, the women crowded
around the presenters and asked, “How can we accomplish these things
without connection and purposeful action?” Out of this gathering, the
Evangelical Coalition for United Methodist Women (ECUMW, later renamed the
RENEW Network) was formed.
Since that time, thousands
of women have voluntarily “connected” with RENEW. The collective voices
of these women are being heard—but not heeded. Unfortunately, as in the
past, the Women’s Division rejects these voices and continues forward with
an agenda that is basically unchanged from the radical turn taken in the
1960s and 1970s. But more than rejecting the voices, there is an attempt
to discredit them with an inaccurate portrayal of who is speaking, and a
misrepresentation of what they are saying. Rather than dealing with the
well-documented and clearly stated claims of these women, they are being
portrayed as trouble makers and those who want to destroy the organization
of United Methodist Women. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The purpose of this paper
is to share a sampling of the reports we are receiving from United
Methodist Women across the country about the discrediting of RENEW and the
women who are a part of this network, and to respond to those accusations.
Because the Women’s
Division has a direct communications link with the women of the
conference, district and local United Methodist Women’s groups, we believe
the misinformation begins with the Women’s Division and is passed down.
The purpose of this response is to assure the women of the church that our
intentions are noble, not self-serving, and that our information is
totally accurate and well-documented. We invite all to study what we are
sharing, and to consider joining the Call for Reform of the Women’s
Division.
CLAIMS & COUNTERCLAIMS
IT IS REPORTED…
One handout prepared by a district UMW president
referenced a letter to the RENEW Network in which supplemental resources
were recommended to our network members. The paper was critical of
the fact that these were not all “United Methodist” resources.
The most amazing thing was a reference to a
memorandum to all Conference UMW Presidents from Joyce Sohl, Deputy
General Secretary of the Women’s Division who said of RENEW’s
recommendations to its own network members, “It is also interesting to
note that they recommended the use of resources of the women’s
organization of the Assemblies of God denomination. That denomination is
not historically a part of the Wesleyan tradition nor related to the
United Methodist Church or any of the predecessor denominations that
formed the United Methodist Church.”
RENEW RESPONDS…
This is an incredible response on the part of Joyce
Sohl. Ms. Sohl’s comments indicate both lack of knowledge of church
history and a narrow provincialism not evident in any other statements of
the Women’s Division. The Assemblies of God, and quite a few other
denominations and institutions (such as Asbury College, the Salvation Army
and the Church of the Nazarine), came out of a recognized movement in the
latter part of the 19th century known as the “holiness
revivals.” This movement had its roots in the camp meetings of the
previous century, particularly influenced by Methodism.
An article on the Assemblies of God history found on
their website makes the following claim: “It is important that we
recognize we belong in the mainstream of Christian orthodoxy. It is
arrogant to assume that God did a totally new thing in the modern
Pentecostal outpouring. The immediate context of the Pentecostal revival
is the 19th century holiness revival that grew out of the
Wesleyan movement.”
But more amazing than this rejection of the
Assemblies of God as a viable source for program material (the material
recommended was particularly prepared by the Assemblies of God as an
ecumenical resource for use in evangelistic outreach to women) is the
hypocrisy of Ms. Sohl’s statement.
Ms. Sohl rejects the use of a sister denomination,
but spoke in one of her reports of her participation in the Pluralism
Project headed by Diana Eck, the foremost advocate for religious
syncretism in the nation. Ms. Eck and her female companion (who teaches
at Drew University) are the first lesbian dorm parents at Harvard
University, where she teaches comparative religion. The Women’s Division
continues to use controversial Re-Imagining speakers at UMW events and to
sanction a UMW District unit, whose stated purpose was to study
Re-Imagining material. Yet, she is uncomfortable with Assemblies of God
resources? At the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing China,
the Women’s Division networked with radical feminist organizations such as
WEDO (Women’s Environment and Development Organization). A Women’s
Division staff member spoke at the WEDO “Daughters of the Earth” seminar.
Each day’s session was dedicated to an ancient Chinese goddess. Yet, Ms.
Sohl has reservations about RENEW’s recommendation of mainstream Christian
resources to its own network members?
IT IS REPORTED…
It has been said that RENEW wants to remove the word
“Christ” from the statement in the Discipline that reads, “The Women’s
Division shall be actively engaged in fulfilling the mission of Christ and
the Church and shall interpret the purpose of United Methodist Women.”
Added to this claim is the accusation that RENEW wants to remove the name
of Jesus from the Purpose Statement of United Methodist Women.
RENEW RESPONDS…
RENEW actually appreciates part of this report. It
relates to one of the legislative petitions RENEW has recommended to our
network members for General Conference 2004. Because several hands were
involved in handling these petitions, the word “Christ” was inadvertently
left out of one of the petitions. Since we have asked the Women’s
Division to be faithful to this mandate more than once, and since we are
evangelical women who desire a Christ-centered, Biblically-based
leadership, we would hardly intentionally leave out Christ. We have
corrected this error. As for the claim that RENEW desires to remove Jesus
from the Purpose Statement of UMW, we have never recommended a change to
the Purpose Statement, but instead have said it is a good statement, but
often misinterpreted by the Women’s Division for the fulfillment of its
own agenda.
IT IS REPORTED…
Numerous reports indicate that the RENEW Network and
the women who are a part of it are being portrayed as “mean-spirited” and
“out to destroy United Methodist Women.”
RENEW RESPONDS…
The women who are a part of the RENEW Network are
mainstream, faithful United Methodist women who serve in leadership
capacities at the local, district and conference levels of United
Methodist Women, and within the general church. Many are elected
delegates to General and Jurisdictional Conference, showing the confidence
the men and women of their conferences place in them. They love the
organization of United Methodist Women that was their mother’s and
grandmother’s organization. Their heartfelt beliefs center in the basic,
historic doctrines of Christian faith held by most United Methodists.
These women, however, are not afraid to question the
leadership of the Women’s Division when they observe program materials,
policy statements, associations and political and social advocacy with
which they strongly disagree. They believe members of United Methodist
Women who comprise the membership and fund the organization have the right
to question staff and directors regarding documented grievances.
IT IS REPORTED…
Allegations have been made in reports we have
received that the questions raised by RENEW Network members are
“completely baseless, or based on contorted information.” One district
president stated, “they are unwilling to back up any of their allegations
with proof.”
RENEW RESPONDS…
It is interesting to note that most of these
loosely-hurled allegations do not mention specific things where RENEW or
its members were in error, but just state that the claims are baseless or
unsubstantiated. Since its inception, as with its predecessor group, all
claims have been fully documented with information and resources directly
from the Women’s Division. Earlier letters written by individuals to the
Women’s Division lifted up specific, researched items of concern.
When the RENEW Network and the Good News
organization issued the Call for Reform of the Women’s Division in the
fall of 2001, a support document of specific grievances was prepared and
distributed with the initial press release announcing the Call for
Reform. Our Basis for Concern is a 28-page, well-researched
booklet covering a twenty-year history of misdirection on the part of the
Women’s Division in six key areas of concern.
All subsequent information we have distributed is
based on first-hand observation through press representatives or through
the review of resources produced by the Women’s Division or statements
made by leadership officials.
IT IS REPORTED…
From several sources it has been reported that RENEW
does not make its financial records available while expecting the Women’s
Division to do so.
RENEW RESPONDS…
The Women’s Division, and all other boards and
agencies, are mandated by General Conference to make their financial
records available to those who request them.
As the women’s program arm of the Good News
organization, RENEW’s finances come under the general accounting of the
organization. As a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial
Accountability (ECFA), our annual financial audited reports are available
on line at
www.ECFA.org. We will send a hard copy of the latest audited report
to those who request it.
IT IS REPORTED…
RENEW has been informed that the book United
Methodism @ Risk: A Wake Up Call has been circulating at district and
conference UMW meetings and is being used to discredit RENEW and the other
renewal groups within the UMC.
RENEW RESPONDS…
This book was commissioned and released by The
Information Project for United Methodists, and was written by Leon
Howell. An examination of the Information Project membership shows a
readily-recognized group of United Methodists who are well known for their
liberal minded views on political, social and theological issues. The
book is filled with misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the renewal
groups. RENEW is offering three separate analyses of United Methodism
@ Risk and invites individuals to send for them.
IT IS REPORTED…
We were informed that at one district officer
training event the small group comprised of local UMW presidents spent the
entire time discussing how the Good News magazine is full of
untruths and should not be read or acknowledged.
RENEW RESPONDS…
Given the fact that the Women’s Division had little
concern that a district UMW group in the California-Nevada Conference was
using the radical feminist Re-Imagining literature as a major study
resource, it is blatantly discriminatory and totally absurd to castigate
the mainstream, evangelical Good News magazine, and warn against
reading it. This reminds one of the Women’s Division policy, which is
still on the books, identifying “official” and “unofficial” resources for
United Methodist Women to either use or to avoid. (In addition to the
renewal groups, the Reader’s Digest and the UM Reporter are
among those listed because they dared to print articles questioning
actions of some of the boards and agencies of the church.)
In this information age, restricting access to
varying viewpoints is virtually impossible. But, of greater concern is
the demeaning implication that the women of the church are unable to read
Good News magazine and discern for themselves whether or not they
agree with its content.
IT IS REPORTED…
Several sources have reported that the eight
legislative petitions RENEW has recommended to our network for submission
to General Conference 2004 have created quite a stir. Claims have been
made that the purpose of these petitions is to destroy United Methodist
Women; to give the vote for directors to the general church, who will
‘vote the wrong way’; to take away the autonomy of the Women’s
Division--putting the organization under men; to take the funds raised by
United Methodist Women and use those funds for local church projects
rather than for missions to the poor and needy.
RENEW RESPONDS…
The eight petitions RENEW has recommended are to aid
in the Call for Reform of the Women’s Division, particularly since all
other actions to date have not resulted in any substantive response from
the Women’s Division. The legislative agenda represented by the eight
petitions includes the following goals: (1) Lift up Jesus Christ and
follow the mission of the UMC to make disciples of Him; (2) Change the way
directors are elected to the Women’s Division in order to open up the
process for a broader representation; (3) Assure that the Women’s Division
is accountable to the Discipline, financially and otherwise; (4)
Make the UMW optional in the local church, allowing for other women’s
ministries (which is happening already); (5) Integrate the organization of
United Methodist Women into the local church structure as are all other
program ministries.
Each of these eight petitions has a very clear and
reasonable rationale behind it. You may contact RENEW for a copy of these
petitions and their supporting rationale. We encourage United Methodist
Women who concur with the petitions to submit them in their current form
or to modify them for submission prior to November 29, which is the
deadline date for General Conference petition submission. After that
date, we would encourage you to contact General Conference delegates and
alert them to these petitions.
No word came to us about the 17 legislative pieces
submitted to General Conference 2004 by the Women’s Division. The content
of these petitions was not approved by local women, and they are likely
totally unaware that they have been submitted. Many of these resolutions
or petitions are highly controversial. RENEW is in the process of having
experts in the various fields of the petitions review them and prepare a
brief analysis of them. We will be sending this information to General
Conference delegates, and to all who request it. Longer papers will be
prepared on some of the more egregious petitions in order to provide
delegates with answering points to them.
“Dear friends, although I was very
eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to
write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all
entrusted to the saints.”
Jude, Verse 3
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