by Steve | Mar 8, 1992 | Archive - 1992
Archive: Vision for Renewal
Our Theological Witness
By Mack B. Stokes
My father and mother, Dr. and Mrs. Marion B. Stokes, were missionaries in Korea for 35 years. Early in his ministry my father said, “With God’s help, I am going to make it my main business to save souls.” As a missionary, his primary passion was evangelistic preaching, teaching, earnest prayer, and bringing people together into local churches. To do this he first mastered the Korean language, in which he preached far more freely than in English.
During those 35 years, my father was instrumental in establishing almost 200 local churches. He started a city mission in the heart of Seoul, where people were invited to come off the streets to hear the gospel. Many were converted there, and those converts often became central figures in establishing local churches. But the strongest sources of church growth came from prayer, revival meetings, one-on-one encounters, and the consecrated efforts of Korean men and women who were imbued with the spirit of evangelism.
My three brothers and I entered the ministry of the Methodist Church largely because of this emphasis on vital Christianity and evangelism in our home. The greatest honor I ever received was when, as a high school boy, God called me to preach the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ.
As a theological professor at Candler School of Theology for 31 years, and later as a bishop, I determined to do three things which I felt were essential to evangelism and world missions.
The first was to recover, in a secular age, the reality of the supernatural realm of God’s grace. This requires defending the faith on a highly intellectual level without neglecting the realities of prayer, grace, faith and love.
The second essential for evangelism was that of recovering the authority and finality of the Bible. I did not feel that this should drive me or my students into the pitfalls of obscurantism. Though I had plunged deeply into philosophical studies under the Boston personalists, Knudson and Brightman, and under Hocking and Whitehead at Harvard, I knew that our preaching had to be based on, informed by, and proclaimed under the authority of the Word of God. No human discoveries would do. No mere good advice or neat little stories would suffice.
The third essential for evangelism is the passion for souls. When I accepted the invitation to join the theological faculty at Candler, God spoke to me in an unmistakable inner voice, “Always see the students and the congregations they will be called to serve.” Without losing sight of the fact that systematic theology is an intellectual discipline of supreme importance and integrity, I wanted my students to see that a major outcome of Christian doctrine is to help us win people to Christ and to build them up in the fellowship of believers.
The passion for souls begins with intercessory prayer. It consists in seeing with Jesus the incalculable preciousness of every human being. Human rights and human dignity are basic. But also the passion for souls means seeing with Jesus that all people are sinners in need of prayer and of God’s redeeming grace in Christ. Once more, this passion for souls means, receiving, through the Holy Spirit, the burning desire to lead people to Christ so they might join other believers in serving, pleasing, and glorifying God forever.
Mack B. Stokes is a retired United Methodist bishop living in Atlanta, Georgia. He held several reaching and administrative positions at Candler School of Theology. He is the author of The Bible in The Wesleyan Heritage, Questions asked by United Methodists, The Holy Spirit In The Wesleyan Heritage, Major United Methodist Beliefs, and Talking With God: A Guide To Prayer.
by Steve | Mar 6, 1992 | Archive - 1992
Archive: Vision for Renewal
Time For a New Coalition
By Joe Harris
As Good News celebrates its 25th year of service to the United Methodist Church it marks a time of reflection and forward-thinking about its relationship to the African-American community.
Good News has at times been viewed by some in cautious and suspicious terms. It has been perceived that Good News has advocated policies that were counter-productive to African-American concerns. Because of this perceived lack of awareness, many people of color have taken a hands-off approach toward Good News. Conversely, too many have not taken the time to look beneath the rhetoric, the stereotyping, the labeling, to discover the Good News attitude toward black Americans and other people of color in United Methodism.
Too often we have dismissed this group as being just a bunch of non-thinking, right-wing southern white males who have little or no concern regarding the poor, racism, sexism or the environment.
As one who has taken the time to look beyond the labels and stereotypes, I have found that there have been those in Good News who lacked sensitivity and promoted policies and pronouncements that were at times counter-productive. But I also found that like most organizations, Good News is composed of a wide variety of people: Democrats, Republicans, clergy and laity, from north, south, east and west, male and females, African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, social liberals, social conservatives. In reality, Good News looks much like most United Methodist committees.
The one difference may be in its concern when United Methodism strays from scriptural Christianity and its historic Wesleyan roots. Yet all these different kinds of United Methodists want to see the church respond to the issues of contemporary society without compromising the church’s historic mission. At the same time, they are calling United Methodists to an evangelical faith that is characterized by faithfulness, service, mission and ministry to one another and the world.
That is why people of color, if they will take the time to look beyond the stereotypes, labeling and the rhetoric, will find that they might have more in common with Good News than difference. Like many of our great black churches, Good News emphasizes strong biblical preaching, a solid commitment to personal conversion to Jesus Christ, concern and active participation in programs to reach the poor, and involvement in drug and alcohol ministries of prevention and intervention. In fact, Good News probably has more in common with the goals, aspirations and historic mission of the black church, than differences we could note.
A creative coalition of African-Americans and Good News leaders could only help in creating greater understanding and perhaps a model for what can happen when people of different races, experiences and backgrounds come together for the good of the kingdom of God. A skeptical world is waiting to see the people of God live out reconciliation, mutuality and mission together, rather than hold it up as an ideal.
The question remains, will we run toward or away from one another. God has given Good News a unique role to play in the church. It has no desire to be exclusive in that role, but wants to be inclusive. My prayer is that in the next 25 years African-Americans and others will join together with Good News in seeking God’s best for the people called Methodists.
Joe Harris is the district superintendent of the Ardmore district in Ardmore, Oklahoma. He is also on the executive committee of the Good News board of directors.
by Steve | Mar 5, 1992 | Archive - 1992
Archive: Vision for Renewal
Renewal In Evangelism
by Barbara Brokhoff
I believe that the best word to describe the future of evangelism within the United Methodist Church is promising. I love the church, and in a secular world, and an almost amoral society, she has never been more needed than today. The church is called to be far more than a holy Masonic order, a heavenly social club, or even a sanctified service center. Rather, she is called to condemn sin, proclaim and offer Christ, provide a place for confession and repentance, and ever point persons to the Redeemer. Evangelism, therefore, is not optional, but critical. A Christian who is not an evangelist is like a fire that isn’t burning.
We do have some great things happening that could make a life or death difference to our Christless world. United Methodists are good at program. We have no peer in this area, and some of our programs are working marvelously well. Vision 2000 is proving fruitful in every conference and church which uses it. Growth Plus is showing positive results. Our Disciple Bible study is one of the best. Prayer groups are being born. Creative kinds of visitation are being carried out. Social ministries to people of varied needs and interests are being extended, and relational evangelism is working. May Christ be praised for every good program!
And we are learning anew that prayer has lasting consequences, that it is a powerful means of changing situations, persons and churches.
United Methodists are experiencing again the joy of praise. People are tired of reading litanies and liturgical responses that become mere rote. People want to sing—not chant, but sing! They want to sing the great hymns of the church, the new gospel songs, the old gospel songs, and choruses. They want to express in singing what is in their hearts. Our new hymnal offers many such options.
And, of course, preaching is always at the heart of all renewal. People are still asking us, as they asked Jeremiah, “Is there any Word from the Lord?” Now, as then, there is a Word from him! Preaching the gospel is far more than psycho-babble, opinions on current events, pep talks of self-acceptance, self-esteem, and self-improvement. Preaching is love, but it is also proclaiming justice. It is not the true gospel if we preach less than the indispensable Christ. “Ye must be born again” cannot be replaced by, “Let’s all try a little harder.” We are either slaves to sin or slaves to Christ.
The only freedom from one’s sinful self is the liberty found in Christ. The only ground for our forgiveness is in the work of the Cross. To put forgiveness on any other level is blasphemy. Forgiveness is so easy for us to accept, for we need it so badly, but let us never forget that it cost the agony of Calvary. So, unabashedly, unashamedly, and unremittingly, our message is “Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Therein is hope, renewal, and growth. Yes, indeed, the future of evangelism is promising!
Barbara Brokhoff is an approved United Methodist evangelist in the Florida Conference.
by Steve | Mar 4, 1992 | Archive - 1992
Archive: Vision For Renewal
Steps to the Future
By Earl G. Hunt Jr.
In spite of the fact that United Methodism is doing many things right, I believe, as one who loves his church deeply and sincerely, that certain changes in its present life and structure are critical to its future survival.
First of all, there must be an intentional acceptance of the historic doctrines of Wesleyan theology as they are delineated in the new Theological Statement in the 1988 Book of Discipline which was overwhelmingly adopted by the General Conference.
Secondly, there must be a thorough rethinking by United Methodist ministers of what is actually involved in total Christian commitment, including such matters as a cultivated sensibility to the presence in one’s own heart of Jesus Christ, a fresh dependence upon the Holy Spirit, a fuller, richer prayer life, and the willing assumption of a far more austere and morally sensitive lifestyle.
Thirdly, there must be a conscious, unapologetic adoption of a high doctrine of the Bible. This does not mean belief in Biblical inerrancy, and it surely can include grateful acceptance of data provided by reverent scholarship. But it does require restoration in the mind of the church and its leadership of the authentic authority of the Scriptures.
Fourthly, we must deliberately develop priorities of valid, holistic evangelism as a primary missional thrust of United Methodism, based always on the Great Commission, and love and concern for people.
Fifthly, since bureaucracy exists for the church, and not the church for bureaucracy, the time has come to examine our official structure critically and to undertake its reorganization for purposes of economy and more helpful ministry to local congregations.
Lastly, I do not envision United Methodism remaining united into the next century unless our leaders and people are willing to exert a deliberate effort to find agreement on basic principles and to practice respectful tolerance of each other on matters of marginal differences. Put another way, I pray for a new integrity in our intra-church relationships and a new outpouring of Christian love and kindness upon us all.
Earl G. Hunt Jr., a retired bishop, currently serves as president of the Foundation for Evangelism in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. The Foundation is an affiliate of the General Board of Discipleship.
by Steve | Mar 3, 1992 | Archive - 1992
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.
