Archive: 25 Years of Vision

By James V. Heidinger II

Twenty-five years ago this month, Good News magazine was born.

Charles W. Keysor, a Methodist pastor in Elgin, Illinois, published the first issue of the digest-size magazine for Methodist evangelicals out of the basement of his parsonage. At the suggestion of his wife, Marge, he called it Good News.

It had all begun a year earlier when James Wall, then editor of the Methodist minister’s magazine, New Christian Advocate, asked Chuck, “Why don’t you write an article for us describing the central beliefs and convictions of this part (evangelical wing) of our church?”

Chuck’s article, “Methodism’s Silent Minority” was published in the July 14, 1966 issue of the Christian Advocate, where he identified the major evangelical convictions.

To his amazement, Keysor received over 200 letters and phone calls in response to his article, most of them coming from Methodist pastors! Two themes surfaced in the responses: first, “I thought I was the only one left in the church who believes these things;” and second, “I feel so alone—so cut off from the leadership of my church.”

As he prayed about the letters and phone calls, Chuck felt he must do something. Having been a journalist, Chuck started a magazine which affirmed the evangelistic thrust of the Wesleys and Francis Asbury, Good News.

Responses to the first issue were much like today. One disgruntled Methodist in Alabama wrote, “Your magazine is JUNK!” But Carl F.H. Henry, then editor of Christianity Today, wrote, “A mighty fine beginning—congratulations!”

Rallying Renewal Groups

Seeing the immediate surge of interest in his magazine, Keysor chose 12 Methodists to serve as board members, and Good News became incorporated as “A Forum for Scriptural Christianity.” The board’s first meeting was in May of 1967, only two months after the appearance of the first issue of the magazine.

Good News was a breath of fresh air for Methodists seeking spiritual renewal, quickly becoming their rallying point. Pastors and laity began organizing clusters of like-minded Methodists who came out of a felt need for fellowship, support, encouragement and prayer; and to map strategies for increasing evangelicalism within their annual conferences.

Today renewal groups exist in some 60 percent of our UM annual conferences forming an extensive grass-roots network for evangelical advocacy and support.

Convo Fellowship

The Good News board soon felt a need to sponsor some kind of national gathering to help unify Methodist evangelicals. Texas pastor Mike Walker, the youngest member of the fledgling board, headed up plans for the first national convocation in August of 1970. To everyone’s amazement, a whopping 1,600 United Methodists came from all across the country! The Holy Spirit drew people together in a remarkable way.

Emotion and excitement like that of a class reunion filled the air as participants discovered other like-minded Methodists. Tears streamed down the faces of worshippers as they saw nearly 3,000 persons jammed into the Adolphus Hotel ballroom for the evening sessions.

Lives were changed at Dallas! United Methodism was marked for renewal. Discouraged UMs received hope that they weren’t alone in their evangelical concerns. And most importantly, they began to dream of a new day of revival and renewal in their church.

Nearly every summer since 1970, Good News has sponsored national convocations for fellowship, inspiration and instruction. One couple said to me at our Washington, D.C. convo last summer, “Jim, when we came here we were so discouraged we were considering leaving the church. But our hearts have been renewed, and we’re going back to our home church with new hope.” And return they have, by the hundreds, with programs and ideas for their local churches like Marriage Enrichment, Trinity Bible Studies, and the Faith Promise program for second-mile mission giving.

Dismal Church School Literature

One of the earliest Good News concerns was the dismal denominational church school literature. Evangelicals were frustrated but had no recourse.

In 1968 Good News carried a stinging evaluation of Methodism’s new adult curriculum. One reviewer wrote, “What is missing here … is a particular and sustained biblical theology.” This reviewer looked in vain for any word about “salvation, any good news about the atonement of Jesus Christ, or any hint about the possibility of spiritual new birth. … ”

The next year a Good News team met for the first of many dialogues with the church’s curriculum editors and officials. The denominational leaders responded with obvious impatience and condescension toward evangelical concerns. One bishop informed the Good News delegation that they must realize that all contemporary scholars support the Bultmannian notion that much of the Bible is myth.

Whew! Nevertheless, dialogue had begun. The UM Publishing House even began to realize that it existed to serve the whole church, including the evangelicals. In 1975, Good News published its first edition of We Believe, a confirmation series for junior high youth. Pastors dissatisfied with UM materials received it enthusiastically.

A 1985 evaluation of denominational curriculum revealed improvement in our church school literature. More recently, the Disciple Bible Study program has found a warm welcome in the church. The problem with church school curriculum remains one of consistency. One quarter’s materials might be sound while the next quarter’s will be appallingly weak. This inconsistency, among other things, finally led Good News to begin publishing the evangelical and Wesleyan Bristol Bible Curriculum.

Doctrinal Doldrums

From the start, Good News’ central concern has been theological. Born in an era when church radicals were demanding “Let the world set the agenda for the church,” we were convinced that the biblical agenda was languishing from neglect.

Adding to United Methodism’s theological malaise, the 1972 General Conference adopted a new doctrinal statement of “theological pluralism.” While pluralism may have been included to express the variety of theological views found within historic Christianity, it led to a Heinz 57 variety of views, many of which far exceeded the boundaries of orthodoxy. I remember the distress of a young pastor because a UM seminary professor had denied the bodily resurrection of our Lord. His district superintendent admonished him, saying, “Ed, you must remember that you are in a church that embraces theological pluralism.”

In 1974, Good News authorized a “Theology and Doctrine Task Force,” headed by Paul Mickey, associate professor of pastoral theology at Duke University’s Divinity School. The task force was charged with preparing a clear statement of “Scriptural Christianity” which would remain faithful to the Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren traditions.

In 1975, the Good News board adopted that statement at its summer meeting at Lake Junaluska, and the document became known as “The Junaluska Affirmation.” The late Albert Outler praised Good News for being perhaps the only group within the church to respond to his charge for UMs to “do theology.”

Our frequent criticism of theological pluralism played a major role in the 1984 General Conference decision to develop a new doctrinal statement for the church. The theological commission, chaired by Bishop Earl G. Hunt Jr., brought a new and much improved theological statement which cited “the primacy of Scripture” as the guiding principle for doing theology. The term “theological pluralism,” was purposefully omitted from the new statement.

The Seminary Challenge

Good News has long been troubled over the liberal domination of theological education. Evangelicals at our UM seminaries have consistently reported unfair caricaturing, ridicule and intolerance toward their orthodox beliefs.

In 1975, UM evangelist Ed Robb Jr. called for a return of Wesleyan doctrine back into our seminaries in a blistering address at Good News’ convo. Institutional leaders fumed and seminary professors fussed about the challenge. One could hear the murmurs echoing from their hallowed halls: “How dare he be so critical!”

Robb’s hard-hitting address led to a new friendship with Albert C. Outler, United Methodism’s eminent Wesleyan scholar. Together, with help from others, they formed A Foundation for Theological Education (AFTE). To date, more than 60 evangelical scholars, called John Wesley Fellows, have participated in the Ph.D. scholarship program, which aims at placing these evangelical scholars on the faculties of our UM seminaries and colleges.

In 1976, Good News also began publishing the newsletter for seminarians, Catalyst, which was sent free of cost to all UM seminarians with the goal of providing them with scholarly, evangelical resources. (It continues today under the auspices of AFTE.)

In 1977, Good News sent teams to all of our UM-related seminaries, urging them toward greater openness to evangelical faculty and resources.

Missions Derailed

In 1974, UM evangelicals from 23 states gathered in Dallas to discuss the church’s world missions program. Those gathered criticized the declining number of overseas missionaries, the mission board’s preoccupation with social and political matters, and its lack of concern for matters of faith—including conversion and the planting of new churches.

The group voted to establish the Evangelical Missions Council (EMC) which became an arm of Good News. David A. Seamands, our board member and former missionary to India, was named EMC’s first chairman. After 22 “dialogues” over an 11-year period between Good News and the General Board of Global Ministries, Seamands learned that “the unfortunate gulf separating us from the GBGM policy-makers was wide and deep.”

For eight years, Virgil Maybray served as full-time executive secretary of EMC, spending most of his time speaking and consulting with local churches about expanding their missions programs. During that time, Virgil ministered in more than 350 UM churches in 35 states, raising millions of dollars for missions, with more than $1 million channeled directly through GBGM’s Advance Special Programs.

In 1983, when evangelical discontent peaked, 29 large-church pastors and 4 missions professors met in St. Louis to form a “supplemental” missions sending agency. It was to be called The Mission Society for United Methodists. With headquarters in Decatur, Georgia, the Society now has 81 persons in service on some 21 foreign fields.

The Legislative Landmarks

UM traditionalists struggled with how to respond to the church’s liberal programs. They could ignore them, find another church, or use their influence for positive change. Good News opted for the latter.

At the 1972 General Conference in Atlanta, Good News launched its first involvement in the legislative process. Board members Bob Sprinkle and Helen Rhea Stumbo prepared and distributed ten petitions and four resolutions. They also cranked out occasional newsletters. Although the ’72 conference was a disaster, approving abortion and adopting the statement on theological pluralism, Good News had taken its first step.

The 1976 General Conference brought a stronger Good News effort with the additional help of Robert Snyder and John Grenfell. By 1980, Good News had launched a full-orbed effort led by Don and Virginia Shell, who continue to be our legislative leaders.

Whether Indianapolis in 1980, Baltimore in 1984 or St. Louis in 1988, the Good News effort has worked behind the scenes in annual conferences to get evangelical and traditional delegates elected, petitions channeled, and a series of position papers published which articulate our stand on major issues.

Good News will field a team of 25 this year at General Conference, again under the experienced leadership of the Shells. Those two weeks on site will be the culmination of more than two years of careful preparation. As a result of Good News’ past legislative efforts, more UMs are getting involved in the legislative process.

United Methodists should take heart at the recent meeting in Tennessee where some 80 UM clergy and laity gathered to sign the “Memphis Declaration.” This gathering, while not a Good News effort as such, reflects the growing awareness that evangelicals must get involved in the legislative process and make their voices heard.

The Challenge Ahead

We face serious issues as we move toward the 1992 General Conference. The push for the acceptance of homosexuality, the continued push for unacceptable new God-language, the increasing presence of radical feminist theology and “goddess” worship, a proposed Book of Worship with controversial terms for God, and a questionable baptism study paper all point to serious challenges for the church.

At the same time, a ground-swell of grass-roots protest is calling the church back to renewed doctrinal fidelity. Might the Lord have a surprise for United Methodists in the weeks and months ahead? We believe so. The same Lord who brought change and reform to Eastern bloc nations can also bring renewal and reform to unresponsive mainline church hierarchies.