It is a real shame and disgrace that the United Methodist Church thinks that Mothers and Fathers who gave birth to LGBT people gave birth to fads. Little wonder people have left and continue to.

As a former Methodist, this is for me sad news. I’d like to see some liberals in the UMC. Oh well.

In the interest of power these guys do a lot of harm. It would be great if the Methodists would wise up and repudiate them and their organizations.

I have to admit, a little sheepishly, that I am unfamiliar with these groups. I am active in our General Board of Church and Society, which is a major power in the UMC and one of the “increasingly liberal” agencies that these two seem opposed to.

I would be a little concerned having a former CIA employee heading up a conservative church group. The original “black ops” were the black shirted Jesuits, recruited in 1541 as protection for the papacy against the encroaching reformists from Germany and elsewhere. It does make me wonder what strategies and tactics they might use to undermine any opponenets to their program and agenda. I am no fan of the IRD, and this only makes the whole thing more itchy.

After doing some research I can report back that the IRD is definitely not affiliated with the UMC, it describes itself as an ecumenical organization.
I have found the Good News group’s web site. They describe themselves as a movement within the UMC, but I cannot find anything on the UMC site that defines them as a bona fide part of the church.

Interesting. So they are parasites trying to insinuate themselves into the Methodist body and the RNS reporter took it all at face value. Kevin needs a good course in fact checking. But then a lot of reporters do; imagine if reporters had known how to do that while we were being goaded into the Iraq debacle.

If the IRD are ifluencing the UMC, it doesn’t matter if they aren’t a part of the Church.

Good News, also known as a Forum for Scriptural Christianity in the UMC, has been around for decades. Good News is one of several organizations which promote evangelical renewal in the UMC. It is based in Wilmore, Kentucky which is also home to Asbury Theological Seminary, and independent seminary which graduates more UMC ministers than any of the official UMC seminaries. Although Good News is not part of the seminary, it shares many ties through trustees and alumni. Good News continues to lead the opposition to gay ordination and gay marriage in the UMC. The new head, Rev. Renfro is associated with the Woodlands UMC in Texas. The pastor of Woodlands UMC is Ed Robb, III who is also on the Board of Asbury Seminary. Rev. Robb’s father, Ed Robb Jr., was also on the board of Asbury prior to his death. Ed Robb Jr. is listed as an emeritus board member of IRD in which he was very active. Dr. Ira Gallaway, also an emeritus board member of IRD, serves on the Asbury Seminary Board.
Ed Robb Jr., and evangelist from Texas, helped to establish a scholarship to fund doctoral studies for evangelical UMs in hopes of impacting denominational seminaries. The Good News movement played a role in the establishment of the Confessing Movement in the UMC. This program brought together some UM pastors of large congregations to oppose liberal social policies at the national church level.
The IRD was led by Catholic, Rev. Richard J. Neuhaus who died recently. The IRD focuses on opposing liberal social policies. During the Reagan administration, IRD gained notoriety for speaking out against Liberation Theologians and denominational and missionary support for what they considered to be leftist groups in Latin America. There are subgroups in IRD that focus on particular denominations. Tooley’s focus was on the United Methodist Church. The person who used to be a leader in the Episcopal subgroup was a former Good News employee.
Although I do not share their viewpoint, I know many of these individuals and they are not parasites. Many UM bishops have cordial relationships with some of the leaders and many of the leaders pastor large congregations. They represent a substantial minority of Methodists who feel disenfranchised by the actions of the national bureaucracy. These people have a right to be heard. Good News is frequently condemnatory of the church and its leadership. But I am not going to be hypocritical and pretend they do not have a substantial following and impact on church policy. I will oppose much of what they seek to do while recognizing their right to be vocal in advocating for their viewpoint.
In general, I find Tooley and IRD more propagandistic and unwilling to honor the integrity of the people they oppose.
Self disclosure – I am a former UM pastor and a graduate of Asbury Seminary.

Thank you RB. That was very informative.

parasites?
nnmns why in the world do you resort to name calling if someone or some group does not share your views? It does not help your cause.

“parasites?”
Well we were told “the IRD is definitely not affiliated with the UMC, it describes itself as an ecumenical organization.” and “They [Good News} describe themselves as a movement within the UMC, but I cannot find anything on the UMC site that defines them as a bona fide part of the church.” so it seemed they were trying to live off the members of the UMC or people interested in it. That seems sort of parasitical to me.

There are many unofficial organizations affilitated with the United Methodist Church, both liberal and conservative. One only has to go to General Conference to see all the pro-gay groups with their very public displays that continue to disrupt and hinder the work taking place at the conference, for example the Methodist Federation for Social Action. Let’s also not forget the new “Church within A Church” movement where gay clergy are being “ordained” by liberal retired UMC bishops, a clear violation of the Book of Discipline.
The evangelical groups within Methodism are a life-line for millions of United Methodists. Their views are clearly more in line with those of our African brothers and sisters, where the church is growing and vibrant. Most Methodists are appalled when they see leaders of our liberal boards and agencies lobbying Congress and the United Nations in “the name of the United Methodist Church”. The liberals have positioned themselves in places of leadership in the church from bishops to boards/agencies to jurisdictional, conference,….all the way down the line.
For people that claim to be so tolerant and inclusive, nothing irritates a liberal, “progressive” more than for someone to have a different viewpoint than their own. It has been my experience that the evangelical groups display a much more Christ-like attitude towards their fellow Methodists than the other way around. Just go to General Conference and see that first hand.

Your Name, your description of the inner workings of the United Methodists Church sounds like a free-for-all at the General Conference. Actually I saw a video from the last one, forgot about it until I read your post. You keep putting down the liberal thinking members. What makes them liberal? because they want the LGBT to be accepted with all the rights of the unliberal? You should split like the Episcopalians are doing, then we would all be happy and be able to worship in peace.

H22, actually many folk outside of the church get it wrong and talk about rights, (wrong!) it is more about faithfulness and obedience. I can’t imagine anyone going up to God and saying, “I have a right to serve You Lord as I see fit.” That is the kind of the mistaken beliefs and thinking that has invaded church as a result of lack of faith. The more it becomes a job and not a calling the more worldly understanding is applied. It is a cancer that will have divisive and harmful affects. Of course this means little to the unfaithful, and those who have leaned on their own understanding and think they are spiritual and in the same pool you will also find the non-believer. If they are a full fledged atheist God hater then they are cheering and only want to heap on more division. And other human religions with these types find themselves growing closer together in purposes.
All of this is of course prophecies of the Bible and can be found in the book of Revelation and other books.

Good Grief! Whatever would we do without the book of REVELATIONS!!!
Guess the whole world would collapse. )

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