wfn.org | Crisis in the church resolution

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3204 notes).

Note 3203 modified by UMNS on Oct. 2, 1996 at 15:48 Eastern (5116 characters).

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CONTACT: Linda Green                          489(10-21-71B){3203}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470              Oct. 2, 1996

Good News board of directors adopt
 resolution on 'church in crisis'

                 by United Methodist News Service
     
     A belief that the United Methodist Church is embroiled in a
state of confusion about its identity and mission has led the
board of directors of Good News, an evangelical group within the
denomination, to issue and adopt "A Resolution to a Church in
Crisis."
     The resolution, which calls the church "to repentance and
recommitment to our Lord's commission to make disciples," was
adopted during a meeting of the 40-member board Sept. 25-27 in
Wilmore, Ky., the headquarters for the caucus.    
     Good News is also the name of a the caucus's magazine that is
a "forum for Scriptural Christianity within the United Methodist
Church."
     The resolution calls on the United Methodist Council of
Bishops, "to adhere to, in practice as well as in teaching, the
doctrinal standards and moral principals of the church." The
resolution requests that any bishops not willing to uphold United
Methodist principles "step down from their episcopal office."
     Meeting for the first time since the 1996 General Conference,
the board adopted the call to the church and its leadership to
show "a deep concern" about the church related to the issue of
homosexuality. In the resolution, board members said that some
leaders in the denomination have views and beliefs "contrary to
Wesleyan theology and the Articles of Religion."
     According to outgoing board Chairman Donald Shell of Lake
Junaluska, N.C., the entire meeting "was dominated by an intense,
prayerful concern for the unity of the denomination."   
     He recalled that in 1976, the Good News organization was
accused of being divisive by making homosexuality an issue for the
church. "Today, the leadership of our church is keeping this
divisive issue before the church," he accused.
     During the meeting, Good News, through its board of
directors, went on record, "officially" challenging the
Reconciling Congregation program and "its theological validity."
The Reconciling program is a movement of churches and
congregations working for the full inclusion of homosexuals into
the church. 
     The directors took the approach in response to those annual
conferences that have embraced the Reconciling program and are
designated as reconciling conferences,
     According to the board, the Reconciling program is
"contradictory to church law; but more importantly, it promotes a
counterfeit gospel of grace without repentance, and salvation
without transformation." 
     According to the Rev. James V. Heidinger II, Good News
president and publisher, the Reconciling program "ignores the
actions of the last seven general conferences and reflects
irreconcilable difference in the church in this issue."     
     While displeased with the reconciling movement, the board
unanimously voted to become a "Transforming Congregations Board"
in support of the ministry of Transforming Congregations.
     The board said that it favors the transforming movement
because the program "offers a warm and welcoming place for those
struggling with homosexuality, including friends and family
members of strugglers" and "proclaims the biblical understanding
that homosexual behavior is sin, and that hope and healing are
available to all persons through the transforming power of God
through Jesus Christ."
     Board members also went on record saying that they will
organize to support any entities who desire to withhold their
giving from those things "they deem inconsistent with the Gospel."
     "This action does not make them unfaithful to their calling
in Christ or disloyal to the church," the board said. "Coercion to
support actions or causes inconsistent with one's Christian
conscience display an authoritarian spirit unbecoming of the
Gospel."
     In other actions, the Good News board:
     *elected the Rev. William A. Hines, pastor of St. Marks
United Methodist Church, Findlay, Ohio, as chairman;
     * announced plans for a national convocation next summer,
sponsored jointly by Good News and the Northeastern Jurisdiction
Evangelical Connection, to be held June 23-26 in Lancaster, Pa.
     *expressed disappointment in the U.S. Senate's failure to
override the President's veto of the "partial-birth abortion
bill";
     * accused five United Methodist leaders of taking an
"unconscionable position" in their support of the President's veto
to ban partial-birth abortions; and
     * affirmed 1996 General Conference action prohibiting United
Methodist clergy from performing same-sex marriages.
                               # # #
     Information for the article was taken from a news release
from Good News.

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