First UMC Baton Rouge
First United Methodist Church, Baton Rouge, La.
Nobody said that being a Christian is easy, especially when social justice and the mission of making disciples conflict. That's what happened recently to First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge, La.
The church made local news Jan. 29 when it announced it has withdrawn from a civic organization embroiled in a public debate over a property tax exemption program that appears to benefit mainly large corporations. In recent years, United Methodist congregations across the country have joined similar faith-based organizations to bring their values to bear on local, state, and national issues.
First UMC-Baton Rouge officials confirmed Jan. 29 that the congregation had withdrawn its member from Together Baton Rouge, a civic organization comprised primarily of faith-related groups and individuals, according to Greater Baton Rouge Business Insider.com. The business journal characterized First UMC's move as a blow to the community group.
Business Insider reported that the church wants to “focus fully” on its mission, according to a prepared statement from the Rev. Brady Whitton, senior pastor. Rev. Whitton provided United Methodist Insight with a copy of the church's announcement:
"The mission of the United Methodist Church is to 'Make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.' As part of our effort to focus fully on that mission, the Church Council of First United Methodist Church of Baton Rouge voted on January 28, 2019 to discontinue the church’s membership in Together Baton Rouge (TBR). The Church Council's decision was not based on TBR’s merits or whether we agree or disagree with TBR’s position on issues in our community, but on our desire to remain focused on our mission. We support much of the work TBR has done in our community and encourage individual congregants who are so led to continue their support of and work with TBR.”
The most recent issue facing Together Baton Rouge is what's known as the Industrial Tax Exemption Program, or ITEP. Like other states, Louisiana struggles with the benefits industry brings compared to its impact on communities. This has been especially true for Louisiana's petroleum industry.
Rev. Whitton responded to Insight's questions about the situation via email:
"The church council’s decision to disaffiliate with Together Baton Rouge was only indirectly related to TBR’s recent ITEP activism. Our membership in TBR has been a source of contention for a vocal minority in our congregation for years. As you would expect, when TBR would do something that garnered media attention, those who opposed our TBR membership would get louder. But this was nothing new."
Together Baton Rouge recently issued a report, based on property tax records, showing that ITEP apparently benefits major corporations such as ExxonMobil far more than it benefits average businesses in Baton Rouge. TBR's report cited ExxonMobil's tax assessment as about $7 per $1,000 of taxable property, compared to an assessment of roughly $17 per $1,000 of taxable property for an average business in East Baton Rouge.
In response to Insight's questions, Rev. Whitton said he doesn't know how many First UMC members are employed by ExxonMobil or other ITEP companies, noting that Exxon is one of the largest employers in Baton Rouge. He also said he didn't know if any ExxonMobil or other ITEP-company employees were members of First UMC's 50-member Church Council.
"The decision the Church Council made to disaffiliate with TBR was not due to a particular issue that TBR was addressing in the community," Rev. Whitton said in his email. "It was not based on a particular view regarding ITEP. TBR’s recent ITEP activism did bring our membership in TBR back to the Council’s attention, but we did not discuss ITEP or the merits of TBR at the Church Council meeting."
Other members of Together Baton Rouge indicated that they believe ITEP's inequities to be an issue of biblical justice, not merely a political or economic issue, according to the Greater Baton Rouge Business Insider.
Commenting on First UMC's departure from Together Baton Rouge, the Rev. Lee T. Wesley, pastor of Community Baptist Bible Church and a TBR executive committee member, compared First UMC's departure to an excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr.’s "Letter from Birmingham Jail." In the book, Dr. King describes the difference between “a negative peace, which is the absence of tension, and a positive peace, which is the presence of justice.”
“'A few congregations in our city will feel the tension of this moment in history more than others,” Rev. Wesley said in his statement on TBR's behalf. “'My colleagues and I are praying for their clergy, as they struggle to discern which peace is the peace of Christ.'”
The question over whether Louisiana's Industrial Tax Exemption Program continues is headed for its state legislature, where two Baton Rouge lawmakers have introduced bills to return full control of the ITEP to the state, rather than having local administration. Both Together Baton Rouge and Louisiana's Gov. John Bel Edwards are opposed to state control.
United Methodist Insight Editor Cynthia B. Astle contributed to this report.