wfn.org | Bush, other speakers give convention a Methodist presence

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Aug. 4, 2000 News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-71B{361}
 
By United Methodist News Service

^From the opening invocation to George W. Bush's acceptance speech as
presidential nominee, United Methodists shared center stage during the
climactic final night of the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.

Texas Gov. Bush emphasized the importance of his faith several times during
his acceptance speech July 3. His candidacy marks the first time since
Democrat George McGovern ran in 1972 that a United Methodist has been
nominated for the presidency by one of the major political parties. Bush's
running mate, Dick Cheney, is also a Methodist.

"I believe in tolerance, not in spite of my faith, but because of it," Bush
said during his speech. "I believe in a God who calls us not to judge our
neighbors, but to love them. I believe in grace because I have seen it, in
peace because I have felt it, in forgiveness because I needed it."

The fourth and final evening of the Republican convention began with an
invocation by the Rev. Mark Craig, pastor of Highland Park United Methodist
Church in Dallas. Bush and his family have their membership at Highland
Park, and attend Tarrytown United Methodist Church in Austin, the state
capital.

A few hours later, the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell took the podium. Caldwell, a
friend of Bush's, is pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in
Houston, one of the fastest-growing congregations in the denomination. The
pastor's remarks preceded a video on Bush, which ended as the nominee
himself strode onto the stage.

As Bush laid out his vision, he mentioned the role that religious
organizations must play in bettering society. "Synagogues, churches and
mosques are responsible not only to worship but to serve," he said at one
point.

He described the areas of responsibility that individuals, corporations and
leaders have, and said that the "president himself must be responsible. And
so, when I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to not only uphold the
laws of our land, I will swear to uphold the honor and dignity of the office
to which I have been elected, so help me God." The statement was one of many
in which Bush underscored the importance of character, which Republicans are
emphasizing in their attacks on the Clinton-Gore administration.
 
At another point, Bush said that Americans must tear down the wall that
separates wealth, technology, education and ambition from poverty and
prison, addiction and despair. "Big government is not the answer. But the
alternative to bureaucracy is not indifference."

Conservative values and ideas must be placed "into the thick of the fight
for justice and opportunity," he said. "This is what I mean by compassionate
conservatism. And it is on this ground that we will govern our nation."

He wants to give low-income Americans tax credits so they can buy health
insurance, help low-income families acquire homes of their own, and "support
the heroic work of homeless shelters and hospices, food pantries and crisis
pregnancy centers."

He cited Mary Jo Copeland of Minneapolis, whose Sharing and Caring Hands
ministry serves meals to the needy. Copeland provides new socks and shoes to
the homeless. Then she tells them to look after their feet, saying, "They
must carry you a long way in this world, and then all the way to God."

"Government cannot do this work," Bush told the convention. "It can feed the
body, but it cannot reach the soul. Yet government can take the side of
these groups, helping the helper, encouraging the inspired."

Bush hit on issues that would have resonated with United Methodists at last
May's meeting of General Conference, the church's top legislative body. He
voiced support for education and enforcement of gun control laws, and said
the nation's racial progress has been steady but too slow. He condemned the
practice of late-term abortions - a procedure that General Conference also
rejected in one of its resolutions. "When Congress sends me a bill against
partial-birth abortions, I will sign it into law," he vowed.

Bush's speech, slowed by countless bursts of applause, lasted more than 50
minutes.

Preparing the crowd for Bush, Caldwell began his remarks by describing
himself as an independent. "Frankly, I'm more interested in content than
labels." He said he was addressing the convention because "I believe in the
effective and visionary leadership of Gov. George W. Bush."

He praised Bush's leadership as governor, noting that government, business
and faith-based groups are working together to transform communities in
Texas; "schools are safer" and children's reading and math skills have
improved; and minority- and women-owned companies are getting more of the
state's business. "And over half of Gov. Bush's highly qualified appointees
are minorities and women," he said. "Ladies and gentlemen, that's not
rhetoric, that's results."

Bush's leadership would "help bring an end to the partisan foolishness
infecting our nation's capital," he said.

"As president, the governor's plan will help insure that this God-given
rising economic tide will lift more boats and repair the leaking boats as
well," Caldwell said. "The governor's plan for America will ignite a social
and economic revival among the working poor of America. Let the revival
begin."

Texas first lady Laura Bush, a teacher and lifelong United Methodist, spoke
on the convention's opening night, July 31. If her husband is elected
president in November, she would succeed another United Methodist - Hillary
Rodham Clinton - as first lady in the White House. President Clinton, who
attends a United Methodist Church in Washington, is a Southern Baptist, as
is Vice President Al Gore.

While United Methodists clearly had a presence during the convention, other
faith traditions were also represented. During the four days, delegates
heard speeches and prayers from clergy members representing the Jewish,
Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Protestant traditions.

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United Methodist News Service
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