wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Coalition speaker limns renewal 'phenomenon'

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Note #7764 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Coalition speaker limns renewal 'phenomenon'
GA03075

Coalition speaker limns renewal 'phenomenon'

By Evan Silverstein

DENVER, May 27 - The growth of renewal groups has been a growing "phenomenon"
in mainline denominations for three decades, as pastors and laity alike have
hungered for Biblical and theological clarity.

That was the message of the Rev. James Heidinger, a United Methodist minister
who spoke at the Presbyterian Coalition General Assembly breakfast Tuesday
morning.

"This is one of the phenomena that have developed in the last 30 years or so
 of renewal movements in the mainline," Heidinger said, "and all of the
mainline churches have such renewal movements. You folks probably have more
than any of the denominations, United Methodists probably almost as many."

Since 1981, Heidinger has been president of a United Methodist Church renewal
group based in Wilmore, KY, and publisher of Good News, a renewal magazine.
He also is chairman of the Association of Church Renewal, a network of
renewal ministries in mainline denominations. 

Heidinger, a graduate of Asbury College and Asbury Theological Seminary, both
in Wilmore, earned his doctorate in ministry at Wesley Theological Seminary
in Washington, DC.

Renewal movements have arisen "as a result of membership loss, a decline in
spiritual vitality and theological confusion," he said. " And out of all
that, a cry among the laity and pastors across the church: 'Something needs
to change. We've got to address this problem.'"

Heidinger said the UMC has lost nearly 3 million members in the past 30
years, adding: "That's as if you closed a church of 250 members every day,
365 days a year, for 28 years." 

He called the downward membership trend a "catastrophic loss that I sense
that we are more embarrassed about than we are repentant for."
 
It is out of such problems, Heidinger said, that emerge "renewal movements
with slightly different nuances and looks and emphasizes, that are all
concerned about re-establishing Biblical faith in the lives of our churches."

Heidinger, who was a pastor of several congregations in Ohio over 12 years,
has written two books: United Methodist Renewal: What Will It Take? (1998),
and Theological Malpractice (2000). He and his wife, Joanne, have three sons
and live in Nicholasville, KY, near Wilmore. 

Also during the breakfast, the Coalition recognized the Rev. Harold E. Kurtz,
an honorably retired minister and a former executive director of the
Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship. Kurtz, who finished second in the race for
General Assembly moderator last Sunday, attended the breakfast, where the
participants heard from the candidate who prevailed in the race, the Rev.
Susan R. Andrews.

Andrews, who said she sees the moderator's post as "an embodiment of the
whole church of Jesus Christ," said:  "I understand that many of you in this
room do not agree with me, particularly on the issue of G-6.0106b. I hope
there will be ways in which we can engage in dialogue where I can truly
listen to your deepest convictions  and we can at least honor one another as
Christians who do trust and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior."

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