wfn.org | MFSA urges test ban treaty ratification, opposes Boy Scout ban

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

Oct. 14, 1999 News media contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
10-28-71B{539}

By United Methodist News Service

The Methodist Federation For Social Action (MFSA) is urging the ratification
of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and calling on church groups to
oppose discrimination against gay men and boys by the Boy Scouts of America.
The board of directors of the unofficial group took the action during a
meeting in Seattle Oct. 7-10.

The board addressed issues expected to come before the General Conference,
the denomination's highest legislative body that meets May 2-12 in
Cleveland, Ohio.  It also chartered five new chapters and added seven new
ethnic/racial minority at-large members.

On the Boy Scout issue, the directors expressed particular concern that the
Commission on United Methodist Men is supporting what they consider to be
discriminatory practices. "We believe this is a clear violation of the
commitment to nondiscrimination as articulated in the Social Principles of
the United Methodist Church," said Kathryn Johnson, MFSA executive director.

A recent statement by the United Methodist Board of Church and Society (UMNS
story No. 525) also called upon the Boy Scouts to change its policy of
excluding gays from participation. The New Jersey Supreme Court already has
ruled the organization is discriminating against homosexuals. 

Directors sent a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott in support
of the nuclear test ban treaty which was rejected by a 51-48 vote in the
Senate Oct. 13. They also called upon the United Nations General Assembly to
call for a worldwide moratorium on executions.

In General Conference-related actions, MFSA directors:

·	Supported the Act of Repentance for Reconciliation initiative of the
United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns,
addressing historical acts of racism within the church; 
·	Called upon General Conference to "recognize white privilege as an
underlying cause of injustice in our society, including our church, and to
commit the church to its elimination in church and society."
·	Endorsed several petitions from Church and Society on restorative
justice and offered their own petition calling for a renewed focus on
repealing the death penalty and opposing the privatization of prisons; 
·	Supported the worldwide Jubilee 2000 Campaign on debt issues.
·	Called upon the church to "renounce the politics of greed" and find
personal, local, national and global paths to economic justice;
·	Affirmed the extension of the Episcopal Initiative on Children and
Poverty and asked that it more aggressively address the systemic causes of
poverty.

Individual MFSA members will submit the petitions to the General Conference
since the unofficial organization cannot do so. 

To strengthen the organization's commitment to racial and economic justice,
seven new at-large members  were added for racial inclusiveness. Total board
membership is now 46. The new members are the Rev. Delano McIntosh of Coral
Gables, Fla.; the Rev. A Clark Jenkins, Spartanburg, S.C.; the Rev. Victoria
Adams, Petersburg, Va.; the Rev. Eleazar Rivera-Garcia, Woodburn, Ore.; the
Rev. Ruby D. Hill, Zanesville, Ohio; the Rev. Lisa Gay Santiago, Norwalk,
Calif.; and Harry Johnson, Brookline, Mass.

It was reported that new MFSA chapters have been chartered in the Holston,
North Alabama, West Michigan, Western Pennsylvania and Pacific Northwest
annual conferences. The total number of active chapters is now 36.

MFSA presented four persons with its 1999 Lee and Mae Ball awards for
excellence in social justice ministry during an Oct. 9 banquet. Recipients
were the Rev. Paul Beeman, director of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends
of Lesbians and Gays), the Rev. Herman and Rita Will and Jerry Sommerseth,
long-time peace and justice advocates. 
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United Methodist News Service
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