wfn.org | Board members propose revising baptism guidelines

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

March 23, 1999 News media contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville,
Tenn.     10-71B{151}

NASHILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) -- The governing members of the United Methodist
Board of Discipleship have approved preliminary petitions to the 2000
General Conference revising membership and baptism legislation to bring the
church's lawbook in line with a recent Judicial Council ruling.

Approving the petitions to change the denomination's Book of Discipline was
one of several actions taken by the board's governing members at their March
9-13 semi-annual meeting. The General Conference, the church's top lawmaking
body, will meet May 2-12, 2000, in Cleveland.

Last November, the Judicial Council noted that the 1996 General Conference
approved "By Water and the Spirit" as the church's official statement on
baptism and membership. The council, which serves as the church's supreme
court, also approved legislation to implement the concepts contained in that
document. At a subsequent session, however, the court ruled that the
legislation violated the church's constitution and was therefore null and
void.

The problem was discovered when the Wisconsin Annual Conference asked the
Judicial Council for a declaratory decision on 15 questions related to
baptism and membership legislation, said the Rev. Dan Benedict, a staff
member of the Board of Discipleship and one of the writers of the General
Conference legislation.

Benedict told board members that the council ruled on the basis of Paragraph
4, Article 4 of the church's Constitution and found that any form of
membership in the church that did not require vows was unconstitutional and
invalid. Therefore, Benedict said, "the membership provisions of the 1992
Discipline are in effect until such time as the Discipline is changed."

The council ruled that certain paragraphs of the 1996 Book of Discipline
"were to be suppressed" and "identified specific paragraphs to be in effect
until the Discipline changes," he said.

An advisory team on membership and baptism is preparing legislation for the
board to take to General Conference to bring the Discipline into compliance
with the Judicial Council ruling.

The 57-member board voted to send a petition to the 2000 General Conference
requesting an amendment to the church's constitution to pave the way for
bringing legislation to the 2004 General Conference that will be in line
with the theology of "By Water and the Spirit," the denomination's official
statement on baptism. The petition deals with Paragraph 4, but the language
has not yet been written by the agency.

Currently, constitutional amendments must be ratified by the church's annual
conferences before the General Conference can pass enabling legislation.

The Board of Discipleship will revisit the proposed constitutional
amendments this fall.

In another matter related to the 1996 General Conference, board members
received an updated copy of the resource "Services for the Ordering of
Ministry in the United Methodist Church" (Provisional Texts). The 1996
General Conference made changes in the denomination's ordering of ministry
that required adapting the official services published in the United
Methodist Book of Worship and referred the revising task to the Board of
Discipleship.

The agency, in collaboration with the United Methodist Board of Higher
Education and Ministry and the Council of Bishops, has prepared revisions to
the book. It will receive feedback and suggestions from board members in the
fall before sending the book to the 2000 General Conference. 

In other business, Board of Discipleship members expressed concerns about
the recently released first draft of the report from the Connectional
Process Team (CPT). The 38-member group was created by the 1996 General
Conference to "manage, guide, and promote a transformational direction" for
the denomination. Among its tasks, the team was asked to propose
organizational forms for the church and to consider its global nature.

In a section on church structure, a United Methodist Global Conference of
about 500 members is being proposed. It would meet every four years and
would consist of four members (half lay, half clergy) from every annual
conference and two members from every provisional conference.  

To achieve balance in global representation, the CPT is recommending that no
single continental region (North America, Europe, Africa or Asia) have more
than 50 percent of the total number of delegates. 

A Covenant Council for Global  Ministry and Mission is being proposed to
guide the church in its global work of nurture, outreach, witness and
leadership development. The council would  assume responsibility for all
work done beyond the geographical borders of the United States. This
includes the international work being managed currently by several of the
church's 14 agencies. For the first four years, 2001-2004, the council would
be directly accountable to the bishops.

In "popcorn" style, jumping up and sitting back down, discipleship board
members presented their concerns to the Rev. James King and Anna Workman,
two CPT members. While there was affirmation about the CPT's task and its
proposals, members raised a wide range of issues. Concerns about the report
included readability; whether the team wanted to do too much too soon;
whether passage of the document would create chaos rather than unity; the
cost of implementing the changes; the need for a more clear description of
the partnership between clergy and laity; the impression of creating
structure on top of structure; the incongruity of the document's narrative
to the recommendations; inclusiveness among all ethnic groups; missing
voices; and the need for a clear theological and biblical foundation.

"There are some very challenging, and insightful visions about this CPT
report," said Melvin Bowdan Jr. of Nicholasville, Ky. "But I haven't had
this much difficulty reading since reading some philosophical studies. For
most people who don't have the advance academic knowledge, how will they
interpret it? 

"Beyond tweaking the church, is this too much too soon?" he asked. "I feel
that this document will produce chaos rather than unity in the 8.5
million-member United Methodist Church in the United States."

Language was also a concern for board member Saul Trinidad of Chicago
Heights, Ill. He said that "while I agree that the church needs radical
transformation, the language is hard to follow." From a theological point of
view, Trinidad said, there is a great effort in the document to transform
the church and to polish a theological vision, but there is "Christological
incongruity."  In the document, the transformation focus in on the church,
he said, but "when you compare a Christological vision, the focus is on
humanity." 

Another issue centers around multiculturalism, he said. "When asked if the
document, concerns inclusiveness, I find weak answers. All proposed
structures should include all ethnic groups."

"Today we are in a time of globalization," Trinidad said, "and all-powerful
economic systems are in their highest expression of world domination." The
domination affects the division between the impoverished nations and the
rich nations, he said. "The impoverished become more impoverished.

"Are we as a church also going this route of globalization?" he added. "When
I read this document, I see religious domination on an impoverished world."

Marva Mitchell of New Orleans said that sometimes non-ordained people are
"considered to be second class." She expressed appreciation for the report's
recognition "of the wealth of non-ordained people because many annual
conferences are filling pulpits with local pastors."

A concern for Wayne C. Reece of Mason, Mich., was the absence of the
Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) from the historical reflection in
the document.

"I live in an area and so do many of you, where the EUB church is still
alive in the memories of many people," he said. "There are references to
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, but let there be images from other
parts of our heritage."

Christian Alsted of Denmark said the Global Conference piece in the document
"causes me great concern around areas of representation." Although some
aspects of the report are "very generous to the central conferences," he
said, "is it really fair?" 

Look at the relationship of the central conferences to the Global
Conference, he said. "Does it pull bishops away from people they are to
serve? I don't think a central conference would want the bishop consecrated
in any part of the world away from the people who elected him."

Representation was also a concern for Elizabeth Norris of Raleigh, N.C. The
document calls for the creation of a covenant council of spiritual and
prophetic leaders. "Who is to identify these spiritual leaders for us?"
Norris asked. "There are many who think they already are."

"My central problem is that the average United Methodist will have less
representation and less voice if the document is implemented," said Herbert
Sadler of Gulf Breeze, Fla. "This is most true for annual conferences with
large numbers."

After the popcorn session, King said the document is "not only a work in
process but the best that we could provide at this time."

At their meeting, board members also: 
*	voted to discontinue certifying couples to hold marriage enrichment
workshops through the  "Celebrating Marriage" program and to quit
distributing materials for it;
*	instructed the Discipleship Ministries unit to draft General
Conference legislation that would amend Paragraph 906.13 of the 1996 Book of
Discipline to include the Board of Discipleship as one of the agencies
responsible for planning training events for district superintendents;
*	learned that the Upper Room Spiritual Formation Bible will be
published in May, and will be available in both the NIV and NSRV
translations; and
*	approved, through the ethnic local church concerns committee, the
awarding of 22 grants totaling $169,150 to United Methodist-sponsored
projects and organizations serving various racial-ethnic groups.

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