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As a relief from the week’s big story on climate change – or “climate chaos” as one report called it – this “Crisis Watch” focuses on other major issues of interest to United Methodists.
Stop assigning sex at birth
Here’s interesting news regarding human sexuality: The Lily.com, a Washington Post sub-site focused on gender issues, reports that the American Medical Association is recommending physicians stop assigning gender at birth:
“In a June report, the AMA’s LGBTQ advisory committee advised the organization to push for removing sex labels from the public part of the birth certificate. … Assigning either a ‘male’ or ‘female’ sex at birth, the authors wrote, ‘fails to recognize the medical spectrum of gender identity.’”
The Lily goes on that the AMA report went unnoticed for two months until picked up by right-wing organizations and individuals who denounced it. Nonetheless, the recommendation is a encouraging for LGBTQIA+ persons and their allies, since as The Lily notes:
“For LGBTQ advocates, the AMA recommendation is a significant step in acknowledging people whose identities don’t fit squarely into gender and sex binaries. But some cautioned against celebrating the news too soon.
“’People are still really committed to a binary sex model,’ said V. Varun Chaudhry, an assistant professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Brandeis University, whose pronouns are he/they.”
Young evangelicals back LGBTQ friends
Meanwhile, Public Religion Research Institute reports that the church’s attitudes toward LGBTQ people are turning away young evangelicals. Sayings PRRI’s newsletter:
“In a recent piece for Religion News Service, reprinted in The Washington Post, Yonat Shimron posits that opinions on LGBTQ issues could be pulling young evangelicals from the church. ‘Amid widespread acceptance of LGBTQ people, evangelical church attitudes toward the group have not budged, and the consequences have been dire,’ Shimron writes. Shimron cites PRRI data which shows a decreased number of overall evangelicals in the U.S. The number of Americans who identify as white evangelicals has dropped to 14.5%, down from 23% in 2006. Differences between young and old evangelicals, including differences on LGBTQ issues, could be driving this decrease. ‘While only one-third (34%) of white evangelicals age 50 and over favor same-sex marriage, 51% of younger white evangelicals ages 18-49 now favor it — a majority, another PRRI study found,’ Shimron writes.”
‘Get Religion’ doesn’t get it
Terry Mattingly, founder and head honcho of the website “Get Religion,” seems determined to incite United Methodists to renew bloody war over human sexuality (as if we hadn’t been battling over this issue for the past half century).
His latest column, “Ticking United Methodist clock: Will the church's establishment Zoom to the left?” cites a few individual opinions – one of which doesn’t even have clear UMC connections – as evidence that the big, bad liberals of the UMC will take the church down the path of sexual immorality once the Protocol is approved next year by General Conference. Unfortunately, the column has been picked up by several publications beyond Get Religion, probably because of the fear it incites, so its adverse influence has spread.
For what it’s worth, like most of today’s crises, the UMC’s situation is far more nuanced than Mr. Mattingly implies in his column. For starters, approval of the Protocol at the 2022 General Conference is by no means a done deal, despite what the Wesleyan Covenant Association would have us believe. Mr. Mattingly doesn’t even mention the Christmas Covenant, an alternative proposal for UMC governance and unity, by name. We think this omission is a grave oversight given that our sources across the church say Christmas Covenant support continues to strengthen as more thoughtful United Methodists weigh the pros and cons of dividing the denomination.
What Mr. Mattingly’s column doesn’t take into account is that while human sexuality is the presenting issue, the true nature of the UMC’s conflict is control: who gets to define the church’s beliefs and their application. If you don’t believe me, then take a detailed read of the Global Methodist Church’s Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline.
Ergo, we caution not to take Mr. Mattingly’s approach as the only signpost on the journey toward the UMC’s future. We simply don’t know yet what the UMC’s future will be, and our speculation likely lands nowhere near what God really has in mind. Patient waiting irks us, as we want resolution to the conflict, but the discernment of many whom we respect is that God is walking us through our exile in much the same way the Hebrews went through their exodus from Egypt.
Whatever is up ahead, we will experience more soul transformation before we get to our destination. Dealing with the urgency of the coronavirus pandemic and climate change are more than enough to cope with for now. We have a year to get ready for the 2022 General Conference that may – emphasis on “may” – decide whether to split up the UMC. Let’s not waste it on idle speculation but continue to do what our mission statement calls us to do: make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Church eliminates educational debt
Here’s a story that’s right out of our Methodist tradition: First United Methodist Church of Austin eliminates debt for HBCU Huston-Tillotson students.
Not only is Huston-Tillotson one of the 11 historically Black colleges and universities supported by the UMC’s Black College Fund, but First-Austin has tackled one of the biggest obstacles to improving quality of life for Black students: educational debt. First-Austin’s action ranks in the highest tradition of United Methodist service, and we commend the congregation for its outreach.
Attaboy, Clay Jenkins!
We also want to give a big shout-out to Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, who has defied Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to mandate masks in schools and businesses. A member of Highland Park UMC in Dallas, Mr. Jenkins has shown himself to be a compassionate leader and remains true to the Wesleyan rule of “Do no harm.” He and other like-minded officials deserve our prayerful support for seeking to protect our children from the Delta variant of coronavirus that is infecting them.
‘The Lorax’ turns 50
I and my population cohort (Boomer alert!) had just entered high school when Dr. Seuss’ eco-fable “The Lorax” was first published. This week the venerated book marks its 50th anniversary, ironically in the same week when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its sixth assessment saying time has run out for us to halt greenhouse gases if we’re to avoid catastrophic global scorching.
Fortunately, as other articles on Insight attest, United Methodists are at the forefront of faith-based responses to the threat of climate change, so why not join them? Read or listen to NPR’s story on how “The Lorax” came about and its significance to the environmental movement, and then read the book to your children. To quote the Lorax, who speaks for the trees: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s going to get better. It’s not.”
For another encouraging view, read Why we shouldn’t give in to climate despair by Sarah Kaplan on the Washington Post website. Sorry, it’s behind a paywall, but it’s worth the price.
Media Mentions as of Aug. 12, 2021
Vandals replaced rainbow flags with Confederate ones at Virginia Tech campus ministry – CNN
Delaware's Groome Church Disaffiliates from UMC – Yahoo Finance
Methodist ministers in Rowan County urge community to get COVID-19 vaccination – WBTV
Protestors at Dayspring United Methodist seek referendum on bills that harm school funding – Wrangler News
In sermon, Stacey Abrams supports Texas Democrats 'in exile,' preaches on voting rights – The Washington Post*
Are United Methodist liberals still afraid to act? – Brookings Register
Munsey Memorial UMC plans to open doors in afternoon for local homeless; seeks volunteers – Johnson City Press
Local pastor calls for state, local government response to rising COVID-19 cases – WJHL-TV News Channel 11
More than 100-year-old Guilford County church destroyed in fire caused by A/C unit malfunction – WFMYNews2.com
The Religious Activism Behind U.S. Refugee Policy – Religion and Politics
‘Apocalyptic’ scenes hit Greece as Athens besieged by fire – The Guardian