Bishop, WCA Exec Exchange Responses

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Editor's note: Rev. Greenway's reply is published as submitted, with only the addition of a link to the online document of his Memphis remarks for readers' covenience. Bishop Lewis' response was edited with his cooperation and approval. 

Read Bishop William Lewis' original article.

Rev. Jeff Greenway Replies to Bishop Lewis

Dear Bishop Lewis,

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

I am in receipt of your “open letter,” forwarded as an attachment to your email of August 4, 2017 which addresses your perception of the remarks I delivered to the Wesleyan Covenant Association Gathering at Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis, TN on April 28, 2017. My remarks have been available for many months as an audio file athttps://wesleyancovenant.org/memphis-audio/. They remain available for download.

I believe you have mischaracterized the tone and content of my remarks, and misrepresented what transpired in the venue during the delivery of the address. So that you, and those to whom you have sent your letter, can know precisely what I said, I have attached a PDF file with the text of my message to this email.

The tone of your letter does not invite dialogue, and is representative of some of the reasons why we find ourselves in the place that we do as a denomination. If you would like to have a reasoned, face-to-face conversation about my remarks, I would be glad to sit and talk with you in the presence of my Bishop, Gregory V. Palmer.

I continue to pray for The United Methodist Church, the Council of Bishops, and the Commission on a Way Forward during this important season in our denomination’s life. I am confident that you are praying as well.

In Christ,

Jeff Greenway, Chairperson, Wesleyan Covenant Association Council

Bishop Lewis Responds

Dear Dr. Greenway:

In your response to my Open Letter to you, declining your invitation to join the Wesley Covenant Association you say:

"I believe you have mischaracterized the tone and content of my remarks and misrepresented what transpired in the venue during the delivery of my address."

Then you directed me to a version of your address and an audio recording of it that had been available "for months" since the event. I read very carefully the published version of your address and listened to the audio. I was astounded to discover that both have been altered in very significant ways.

Both you and Dr. Billy Abraham (in his address) used the phrase, "Seek an honorable exit," as an admonishment to those of us who do not agree with your point of view. (Sounded to me like asking or telling us to leave the denomination). That phrase and part of its context have been "erased from the tapes," i.e., deleted from the audio by your sound technologists. The phrase has also been deleted from the text you provided, which the WCA website says are "notes" from your talk. Since those phrases have been reported elsewhere by credible witnesses, I can only deduce that the changes were intentional.

It was precisely this phrase that prompted me to write my "open letter" and share it widely.  It seems that you are the one who has misrepresented your remarks and mischaracterized events that occurred during its presentation.

You also deleted from your text the very negative remarks about "inclusivism" and "progressives."  This was in the same sequence with what you said about "pluralism," which you left in. Incidentally, that seems a strange differentiation to me.

The most dramatic and personally repugnant moment for me at your Memphis gathering, which I remind you I attended in person, was the point at which you were denigrating "progressives" and the fellow in the audience yelled out, "Democrats." At that moment I felt like I was at a Trump rally. That shout would have been clearly audible had you left it on the recordings. I'm guessing that was the part, about "what transpired in the venue" as your original remarks were delivered, that you think I "misrepresented." You have misrepresented and mischaracterized what happened by erasing this and editing your most abrasive passages from the text.

You say you didn't like the "tone" of my remarks. If I understand what that means, then I don't like your "tone" either. Your invitation to talk about this "face-to-face" in the presence of your bishop sounds like a summons to the principal's office. Been there, done that. 

Bishop Palmer is a good friend of yours and also of mine. We ought not to put this on his plate.

Yours truly,

Bishop Bill Lewis (retired)