wfn.org | British Methodists discuss poverty with leaders of Parliament

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

July 1, 1998        Contact: Linda Bloom*(212)870-3803*New York
10-71B{390}

By Kathleen LaCamera*

SCARBOROUGH, England (UMNS) -- Leading members of Parliament praised
churches for their effective grassroots work against poverty during the
1998 British Methodist Annual Conference June 20-27.  

"The churches are doing far more to alleviate poverty than they are
generally given credit for," said Alan Beith, a member of Parliament and
local Methodist preacher. He added, however, that the church's good work
is no substitute for what the government should be doing as well.    

Beith, deputy leader for the Liberal Democratic Party, and Peter Lilley,
deputy leader for the Conservative Party and former Minister for Social
Security, addressed the conference at the invitation of Methodist
officials. Representatives of Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party
declined the invitation, citing scheduling conflicts.  

In terms of U.S. politics, this was roughly equivalent to the United
Methodist General Conference inviting leading Congressional
representatives to take part in a public policy discussion on poverty
and having only moderate and right-wing Republicans show up.    

Lilley, a former Thatcher supporter, stressed that all political parties
in Britain see decent provision for the poor as a priority, but he
emphasized that each party approaches this goal differently. He labeled
claims by political opponents that the Conservative Party worships greed
as "fundamentally absurd" and "unhelpful."

He explained the Conservative Party's belief in the power of the free
market to release creativity and generate wealth, enabling people to
increase their well-being.  He said his party's policies also provide
for those who do not have access to that free market. 

Beith challenged Thatcherite views on wealth creation, calling the
"trickle down" approach a vicious policy that reinforces inequality by a
tax system that favors the rich.  He cited statistics showing that, in
1997, one in four British lived in poverty, compared with one in 10 in
1979. 

Invoking the story of the Good Samaritan as a model for public policy on
poverty, Beith noted that "the political implications are rather more
complex, but we cannot pass by on the other side."  
 
Methodist delegates from both rural and urban areas expressed alarm
about the growing gap between rich and poor in all parts of Britain.  

Richard Porter, a physician and delegate from Sheffield, challenged the
politicians to address poverty at the earliest moments of life, pointing
to a study linking nutrition levels in utero with health problems later
in adult life.

The Rev. Stephen Dawes, district chairman, called for government to help
relieve the suffering of the unemployed and poor in his rural "picture
postcard" area of Cornwall. "We can't live on the view," he said.

Harriet Olson, a voting United Methodist delegate to the British
Methodist Conference, said she was surprised that two high-ranking
politicians would openly admit that the churches are closer than the
government to the disenfranchised.  

"This might be true in the U.S., but I doubt politicians would be
willing to concede it publicly," she added.

Olson, a vice president at United Methodist Publishing House, also
expressed admiration for the process by which British Methodists voted
to accept their new 600-page worship book at this year's conference.  

The book was reviewed and discussed in advance throughout the church
before a final version was accepted.

"Everyone who made a comment or suggestion for change was responded to,
which ...gives them the rationale for the decision about their
suggestion," Olson explained.  

During the worship book debate, the conference voted to re-insert a
reference to God as both "Father and Mother" into one of the family
communion services. The language originally had been omitted because of
several hundred letters against its inclusion. 

"This is a real process of the church 'doing theology,' " Olson
reflected. "I really get excited about this kind of discussion because I
think people are formed and shaped by both hymns and liturgy in ways we
can't quite put into words.  That's why it's worth taking time over
this."  

In other business, delegates almost unanimously supported a move to
enter into further talks with the Anglican Church over greater unity
between the two denominations. Anglicans voted "yes" to talks with the
Methodists earlier this year.  

In practical terms, this approval gives Anglicans and Methodist churches
already cooperating at the local level greater flexibility and authority
to develop shared ministries and resources.  

However, delegates continued to raise concerns about problems faced by
ordained women in the Anglican Church and the denomination's refusal to
accept women as bishops.  

"Women don't have the same access to ministry in the Anglican Church,"
observed Bishop William Boyd Grove, United Methodist delegate and
ecumenical officer for the United Methodist Council of Bishops. "The
Church of England has made provisions for bishops that won't ordain
women and has allowed bishops to refuse oversight over women. Clearly
this is a concern."

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*LaCamera is a UMNS correspondent living in England.

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