From
Living Theology in the Metropolitan Chicago Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
Volume 3, Number 2
Pentecost 1998
Confessional Renewal Movements
W.
Richard Stegner
In recent months more and more voices are calling for
the United Methodist Church to split into two churches. So serious has this
issue become that our General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious
Concerns has published a booklet entitled, In Search of Unity. Note how
the first paragraph states the problem:
In
recent years there has been growing tension within The United Methodist Church.
Controversies over social issues have led to the realization that a deeper
layer of tension exists concerning the role and authority of scripture and
divine revelation. Today, some persons suggest that a split could occur in The
United Methodist Church because of the depth of the conflict and the disturbing
choices people feel compelled to make.
What has
brought us to this point? For a long time the Church has included a broad range
of liberal and conservative voices within its membership. However, in recent
years a growing number of faculty members in our theological seminaries and of
the leaders in key church agencies have turned sharply to what might be called
the liberal-left. Process theology, liberation theology and radical feminism
have become dominant voices. These voices have tended to irritate the average
churchgoer mostly through applying persistent pressure in two ways: to overturn
the legislation passed by the General Conference (the supreme law-making body
of the Church) on homosexuality, and to replace traditional “God-talk” (Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit) with inclusive language about God.
The
statement in In Search of Unity about “the role and authority of
scripture” masks the more explosive issue of Christology. Is Christ the final
revelation of God or one revelation among many? Is Jesus Lord and Savior of
all? Or is he just a model for the godly life? Indeed, these are divisive
issues!
These
divisive issues--both social and doctrinal--have been exacerbated by our almost
catastrophic loss of membership since the 1960s. Certainly, sociological
factors, such as the decline in population in rural and small-town America,
where most United Methodist congregations are located, have played a role.
Nevertheless, many United Methodists have simply voted with their feet. Indeed,
membership losses are higher in the more liberal Conferences (which are like
the ELCA’s Synods).
This
background is necessary to understand the reason for the emergence of renewal
movements in the UMC. They represent a growing reaction to this turn to the
liberal-left in the UMC. The spiritual center of this growing reaction is
Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. While not an official
seminary of the UMC, Asbury teaches more United Methodist ministerial students
than any of the official seminaries of the Church. Also, the vast majority of
Asbury’s some eleven hundred students is predominantly male, while the majority
of ministerial students in the more liberal seminaries is predominantly female.
Asbury
stresses the authority of Scripture, the Articles of Religion (which John
Wesley adapted from the Church of England’s Thirty-Nine Articles), and Wesley’s
sermons. Asbury also places emphasis on prayer, evangelism, and holy living.
Not
surprisingly, the Good News Movement, the first center of organized resistance
to the drift of the UMC away from its theological and evangelistic moorings, is
also located in Wilmore, Kentucky. The Good News Movement was founded
thirty-one years ago to recall the UMC to its Wesleyan heritage. This strong
movement is organized at the Conference level and publishes a magazine also
called Good News. In recent years Good News has elected many delegates
to the General Conference. The movement
also initiated the publication of church school literature as an alternative to
that put out by the official United Methodist Publishing House.
In 1984 The Mission Society for United Methodists was
organized as a voluntary association of pastors and laity seeking to expand the
number of United Methodist missionaries overseas. In recent years the official
Board of Missions has seemed more interested in institutional maintenance
(schools and hospitals overseas) and issues of social justice than in world
evangelism.
Also in
recent years a Confessing Movement has been organized “to contend for the
apostolic faith with the UMC and seek to reclaim and reaffirm the church’s
faith in Wesleyan terms.”
Similar
to the Confessing Movement is the Ed Robb Evangelistic Association, one of
whose projects is sending committed conservative students through Ph.D.
programs in order to secure positions in colleges and seminaries and to spread
the faith there.
nother
organization associated with the renewal movements in the UMC, and other
Churches as well, is the Institute on Religion and Democracy, headquartered in
Washington, D.C. The IRD is the closest equivalent to a “think-tank” within the
renewal movement.
Perhaps the
greatest influence upon local churches has been the Walk to Emmaus Movement and
Promises Keepers. While the Promises Keepers focus on married men, both of
these organizations focus on the more experiential aspects of religion. Both
are biblically-oriented.
In
actuality the renewal movements (frequently there is overlapping membership)
have been functioning as a church within the UMC for years. Accordingly, the
calls for a split within the denomination are not idle chatter. Basic
institutions, as the above survey indicated, are already in place should the
schism occur.
W. Richard Stegner
Senior Scholar in New Testament,
Garrett-Evangelical
Theological Seminary