News In Brief – November 6, 2009

Brief items for use in local church newsletters
Prepared by United Methodist News Service

There is an official position in The United Methodist Church on gay and lesbian sexuality, and that states the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. The Judicial Council, the denomination’s highest court, in a ruling released Nov. 2 said that the Baltimore-Washington Annual (regional) Conference went too far in adopting its own statement declaring “a more authentic and truthful representation of The United Methodist Church” is that “we disagree” on gay and lesbian issues.

Local United Methodist churches cannot arbitrarily choose which general church programs to support financially, according to the church’s top court. The Judicial Council upheld the decision by Bishop Larry Goodpaster that the Western North Carolina Annual (regional) Conference’s “Choice Empowerment” plan is a violation of the United Methodist Book of Discipline. That case was one of 21 docket items considered by the nine-member council when it met Oct. 27-31.

Soul matters. As the United Methodist Council of Bishops gathered for its fall meeting, church officials were reminded to pay attention to the “soulful” qualities of Christian leadership. “Never forget we traffic in hope,” Bishop Gregory Palmer said in his presidential address. “Our mission doesn’t depend completely on us. God is relentless in God’s purpose.”

Ten years ago, the Rev. Greg Dell was put on trial by The United Methodist Church for performing a same-sex union ceremony. Since then, a few states have legalized gay marriage and some mainline Protestant denominations, including the Episcopal Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, now accept non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy. The United Methodist Church, however, has remained firm in upholding its traditional stance that homosexual practice “is incompatible with Christian teaching.”

Pandemic poverty and disease, environmental degradation and a world full of weapons and violence are the wages of our sins against God’s creation. But there is hope if we change our ways, the 69 active United Methodist bishops said in a pastoral letter that will be read in churches during Advent. The bishops at their fall meeting unanimously approved “God’s Renewed Creation: Call to Hope and Action.” More than 5,400 United Methodists around the world had input into the final document.

Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster of the Western North Carolina Annual Conference will be the next president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops. The council at its fall meeting Nov. 4 elected Goodpaster president and Bishop Rosemarie Wenner of Germany president-elect by a “staggering” majority, announced Bishop Gregory Palmer, current council president. Goodpaster will take over leadership of the worldwide council May 6, 2010. Wenner will serve as president in 2012. The bishops serve for two-year terms.

United Methodist leaders are seeking to lower the average age of church members by a decade in a decade. At its fall meeting, the Council of Bishops approved a plan that emphasizes mission work and leadership development among young people to help reverse declines in the U.S. church, which is aging and shrinking in membership. The average age of United Methodists in the pews is 57.

Singing and applause from Congolese students greeted the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo during a visit to Africa University in Zimbabwe. In return, President Joseph Kabila paid tribute to the United Methodist-related institution for its confidence and belief in the future of his country. “I am thankful for the high interest this academic institution is demonstrating towards my country.”

The long lines for public tours of the USS New York, berthed on the West Side of Manhattan, are the first clue that this is no ordinary Navy vessel. Many touched by the tragedy of 9/11 – from first responders to family members of those killed in the terrorist attacks to average New Yorkers – have been drawn to the Navy's newest amphibious warship, which has seven and a half tons of Twin Towers steel welded into her bow. Command Chaplain Laura Bender, a United Methodist pastor, realizes the ship is a symbol of healing. “All week long, the whole crew has been hearing these stories,” she says. “Everybody who comes on board has a story to tell.”

First United Methodist Church in Killeen, Texas, immediately opened its chapels for prayer after a gunman opened fire at nearby Fort Hood Nov. 5, killing more than a dozen people. Throughout the region, United Methodists were offering prayers and counseling and raising funds in the aftermath of the shooting at the military post, home to some 70,000 soldiers and their families.

Some claim that The United Methodist Church has no theology or has fuzzy theology. “Not so,” says the Rev. Russell Richey, former dean of Candler School of Theology in Atlanta. “From the beginning we have had a vibrant, practiced theology that, while not systematic or confessional, works for us.” Richey is part of the denomination’s Committee on Faith and Order, which is working to articulate United Methodist theology. The committee met Oct. 30-31 for the second time. The next meeting is March 15-17 in Nashville.

Sales were lower than expected, but the United Methodist Publishing House ended the August-July fiscal year with net operating revenue of $704,000. Neil Alexander, president and publisher, reported that cuts in expenses allowed the house to absorb a 5.2 percent sales shortfall. “We never lose sight of our primary calling to help more people in more places come to know God through Jesus Christ, learn to love God and choose to serve God and neighbor,” Alexander said.