NIC Voice January 2004 Newletter

NICEA launches web site

NICEA, is the Northern Illinois Conference Evangelical Association. They generally meet on the first Saturday morning of each month from 9:30 to noon at Wheatland Salem UMC in Naperville. For more information, visit their web site at: http://www.umnicea.org/

NIC VOICE Watershed Moment January 1, 2004 Updated Presentation is AVAILABLE on-line!

This presentation includes several updates to the notes, as well as the following new or updated sections:

· Update to NIC VOICE Bishop’s Letter, Slide 97

· New slide 98 – Response by Bishop Minor, President of the Council of Bishops

· New slide 99 – Current State of Affairs, continued writing and speaking by Bishop Sprague

· Minor updates to notes on Slides 131, NICEA to include new web site information

NIC VOICE Response to Bishop Minor's response to NIC VOICE letter to all active bishops

Background:

CURRENT STATUS: Response from Council of Bishops President but no announced action on Response Team Recommendations 1&2 – Read More\

NIC (Northern Illinois Conference) VOICE reached out to all active bishops requesting a response regarding the implementation of recommendations made by the response team in the dismissal of the complaint against Bishop Sprague.

The letters were mailed to each bishop on September 5, 2003 and included 51 authorized signatures by both laity and clergy within the Northern Illinois Conference and other conferences throughout the United States. Click here to read the full text of the letter: NIC VOICE Letter of Concern to all Active Bishops.

Click here to read three bishops responses: Response to NIC VOICE September 5, 2003 Letter to All Active Bishops, including Bishops Keaton, Weaver and President of the Council of Bishops, Bishop Ruediger R. Minor.

NIC VOICE Response to Bishop Minor's response to NIC VOICE letter to all active bishops

Bishop Ruediger Minor
Global Ministries Box 257
C/O IPS POB 572
New York, NY 10103-0001

Dear Bishop Minor,

On behalf of NIC VOICE, I want to thank you for your response of November 15, 2003 to our earlier inquiry concerning two recommendations made by the Supervisory Team in dismissing the complaint filed just over a year ago against Bishop Sprague.

NIC VOICE intentionally invited all active bishops to comment on two recommendations made by the Team, particularly the one asking that, "The Council of Bishops take immediate steps to enter into serious theological reflection on issues of Christology, Biblical authority and the mission of the Church. Further, we recommend this process be open to the public and bring to the table persons to represent the wide range of theological thought present in our denomination."

We also invited comment about the Supervisory Response Team’s assertion: "Further, we recommend the Council develop means to invite the entire Church into similar study and reflection. In effect, this process was begun when several bishops made public responses to Bishop Sprague’s lecture at Iliff."

Your reply indicates concern that NIC VOICE has built its request on assumptions “that are not completely corresponding with the situation given." We regret it appeared we were making assumptions; we simply inquire of the bishops and their council as to whether or not they, as individuals, or the council in concert, have taken any concrete measures to respond to the Supervisory Team's request.

According to the words of the Supervisory Teams recommendations, they have called on "The Council of Bishops take immediate steps…" In light of this recommendation, NIC VOICE requested a status report on what the response of the Council is to be, especially in light of the Response Team’s further recommendation that "this process be open to the public".

We at NIC VOICE are as anxious as are you for the North Central Jurisdiction to address these recommendations. We are concerned, however, that nearly a year after the Supervisory Response Team reported its findings, we see no evidence of action begin taken on the recommendations which were made directly to the Council of Bishops.

We are especially encouraged to know that the Council of Bishops' Standing Committee on Teaching Concerns is "working on a proposal, how the intent of this recommendation could best be fulfilled,” and that "persons from that Committee as well as the wider Council have come forward with personal contributions to themes around Christology and the mission of the Church."

We urge the Council of Bishops to make its plans known through various channels of communication as soon as possible in light of the length of time since the original recommendations were made (almost a year). Bishop Sprague’s comments at Illiff and what he has written in “Affirmations of a Dissenter” call into question basic tenets of the Christian faith and create, for lay members of the UMC, a sense of urgency. We would want our bishops to share that sense of urgency.

Bishop Minor, we believe that you can help to reconcile this situation by ensuring that immediate and public action is taken to implement both Recommendations 1 and 2. Read More

Summary:

To date, even after the Council met earlier this month, there has been no action on Response Team Recommendations 1 & 2 that has been communicated to the church.

In Bishop Minor’s response, he notes that, “It seems to me that you see the Council of Bishops ‘in charge’ of the further process of the Response Team's recommendations.

We intend to remain involved, making certain that the response team’s recommendations are acted upon in a timely manner. The laity and clergy are watching to see if these matters are a priority to the Council of Bishops.

If we really believe that faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who is God Incarnate and died to atone for our sins, determines whether a person spends eternity in heaven or hell, then we must be compelled to boldly proclaim this truth in love, and to call our Conference and the UMC to uphold our doctrinal standards. God will hold us accountable for the gospel He has entrusted to us.

Current News – NIC VOICE Home Page

Bishop C. Joseph Sprague of the Northern Illinois Conference, will be the guest of University Temple UMC in Seattle the weekend of January 16-18, 2004. He will be speaking on his recent work, Affirmations of a Dissenter. Bishop Sprague will also be preaching on Sunday, January 18.

Christmas affirms Who and Why of revelation of Christ, by Bishop C. Joseph Sprague in the December 26, 2003 issue of the Northern Illinois Conference Edition of the United Methodist Reporter.

"...Long ago, to make sense of the Who and Why, it became necessary for me to set aside the notion of a God who would and did occasionally intervene supernaturally into the affairs of humankind. I came to believe, in part because of the reality of evil in the world and the unfairness of life itself for some people, e.g., racism, war, the holocaust, pogroms, slavery, oppression, abuse, addiction, the deaths of children and the reality that some children are born with golden spoons while most have no spoons at all, etc., that, if God could and did literally intervene sometimes, as in a virginal conception, but not at other times in situations of dire need and unjust circumstances, such a god would have far more for which to atone than you or I. Impregnate a virgin, but not feed a starving child? Makes no sense to me. I cannot accept that the gracious God revealed supremely in Jesus behaves this way ..." Read More

FIRST PERSON: Can a Christian deny the virgin birth?, December 24, 2003, By R. Albert Mohler Jr. Baptist Press

"...Bishop Joseph Sprague of the United Methodist Church offers further evidence of modern heresy. In an address he presented on June 25, 2002, at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, this bishop denied the faith wholesale. Sprague, who serves as presiding bishop of the United Methodist Church in northern Illinois, has been called "the most vocally prominent active liberal bishop in Protestantism today." Sprague is proud of this designation and takes it as a compliment: "I really make no apology for that. I don't consider myself a liberal. I consider myself a radical." Sprague lives up to his self-designation.

In his Iliff address, Bishop Sprague claimed that the "myth" of the virgin birth "was not intended as historical fact, but was employed by Matthew and Luke in different ways to appoint poetically the truth about Jesus as experienced in the emerging church." Sprague defined a theological myth as "not false presentation but a valid and quite persuasive literary device employed to point to ultimate truth that can only be insinuated symbolically and never depicted exhaustively."

Jesus, Sprague insists, was born to human parents and did not possess "trans-human, supernatural powers." Thus, Sprague dismisses the miracles, the exclusivity of Christ and the bodily resurrection as well as the virgin birth. His Christology is explicitly heretical: "Jesus was not born the Christ, rather by the confluence of grace with faith, he became the Christ, God's beloved in whom God was well pleased."

Bishop Sprague was charged with heresy but has twice been cleared of the charge -- a clear sign that the mainline Protestant denominations are unwilling to identify as heretics even those who openly teach heresy. The presence of theologians and pastors who deny the virgin birth in the theological seminaries and pulpits of the land is evidence of the sweeping tide of unbelief that marks so many institutions and churches in our time.

Can a true Christian deny the virgin birth? The answer to that question must be a decisive "No." Those who deny the virgin birth reject the authority of Scripture, deny the supernatural birth of the Savior, undermine the very foundations of the Gospel, and have no way of explaining the deity of Christ. Can a true Christian deny the virgin birth? The answer to that question must be a decisive "No." Those who deny the virgin birth reject the authority of Scripture, deny the supernatural birth of the Savior, undermine the very foundations of the Gospel, and have no way of explaining the deity of Christ.

Anyone who claims that the virgin birth can be discarded even as the deity of Christ is affirmed is either intellectually dishonest or theological incompetent..." Read More

Agape Press: Top Stories of 2003: Methodist Committee Tosses Out Charges Against Chicago Bishop, December 22, 2003 (originally published February 19, 2003) (AgapePress)

A committee of United Methodist Church (UMC) bishops has dismissed charges against a fellow bishop who denies the basic biblical teachings about Jesus Christ.

Many United Methodist members have expressed outrage over statements made by Bishop Joseph Sprague of Chicago. They say he has denied the virgin birth, the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. Read More

Bishop Sprague Plans for New Position on Capitol Hill, Mark Tooley, Institute for Religion and Democracy (IRD), December 10, 2003

United Methodist Bishop Joseph Sprague of Chicago has said he is planning to come to Washington, D.C. after he retires next year to serve as a chaplain in the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill.

A chaplaincy at the United Methodist Building would be a new position for which staffers at the United Methodist Board of Church and Society are reportedly trying to raise an endowment.

Sprague likely is his denomination’s most controversial bishop, having publicly denied the eternal deity, virgin birth, atoning death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Sprague is also a prominent proponent of homosexuality within the church, having been arrested twice in demonstrations at the 2000 United Methodist General Conference while performing acts of civil disobedience in protest against the church’s policies disapproving of homosexual practice.

The U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have also aroused Sprague’s ire. Earlier this year he was arrested while performing civil disobedience at an anti-war demonstration outside the White House.

Sprague’s liberal theological and political views will fit comfortably with the United Methodist Board of Church and Society’s staff, who want to hire him as a chaplain to serve in the United Methodist Building where it is headquartered. Read More

Good News at General Conference. faithful disciples—a renewed church, by Scott N. Field, Nov/Dec 2003 Good News Magazine

Since 1968, the population of the United States has grown by 91,470,321, or about 45 percent. During the same period the United Methodist Church has declined by about 3 million members, or approximately 27 percent. Though we regularly vote to affirm our mission to “make disciples of Jesus Christ,” set a denominational quadrennial budget of $186 million, and claim more than 35,000 congregations, last year (2002) 40 percent of the United Methodist congregations in the U.S. failed to attract even one new person to the Christian way!

All of the money collected and spent, the widespread presence of our congregations and institutions, and the time given to the church in thousands of ways has sadly produced these pitiful outcomes. The simple arithmetic should arrest our attention. Something is foundationally wrong with any organization that performs so poorly. Of course not one United Methodist wants the church to continue in this downward spiral. But wanting something to change does not make it change. Action is required ...

Certainly, General Conference cannot bring renewal and revival by majority vote. What it can do is discern and act upon ways to remove the obstacles. And most importantly, it can give a mandate to the denomination that it is high time we re-center ourselves in the Apostolic faith and our Wesleyan doctrinal standards. Read More

By what authority, By George Mitrovich, Nov/Dec 2003 Good News Magazine

In a poll of more than 7,000 mainline Protestant clergy, 60 percent of United Methodist ministers asked, said they reject the validity of the Virgin Birth (the highest of any mainline denomination). If that figure even approximates the truth, we have a massive crisis of intellectual deceit.

How?

If the men and women who stand in UM pulpits on Sundays do not believe the church’s great doctrines, and fail to disclose their beliefs, by that failure they engage in deception. Read More

The affectation of unity, by James V. Heidinger, Nov/Dec 2003 Good News Magazine

What is an “affectation of unity?” An affectation is a “pretending, a pretense, an artificial behavior meant to impress others.” So an affectation of unity is a pretending to be united, a pretense of unity, or a claim to unity that is really artificial, made simply for the sake of others watching. So, the scandal greater than division in the church, says George, is a false unity between “those who do and those who do not affirm the core doctrines of Christian faith.” Read More

Progressive Christians, Commentary by Rev. Wesley Putnam, "We Confess", Vol. 9, Issue 6, Nov/Dec 2003, The Confessing Movement newsletter (scroll down to see article)

They call themselves progressive Christians. Mostly members of "mainline" denominations, they declare they have found new truth. Seminary professors, bishops, members of boards and agencies, pastors and more enlightened laity . . . they are an impressive group.

What they declare is amazing! For centuries, truth has lain undiscovered and unknown. But now, we can all breathe easier. After over 2000 years of Christendom, THEY have discovered the truth. Just take a look at some of what they are teaching.

. . . Man’s knowledge and mastery of the world have advanced to such an extent through science and technology that it is no longer possible for anyone seriously to hold the New Testament view of the world.
-- R. Bultmann

. . . I do not see Jesus as seeing himself in Messianic terms, and I do not think he saw his death as central to a Messianic vocation or as in some sense the purpose of his life . . .

. . . I don’t think the gospels are "completely factual." For me, metaphorical narratives (such as the stories of Jesus’ birth, walking on water, multiplying loaves, the wedding at Cana and changing water into wine) can be powerfully true, even though I don’t think they are historically factual.
-- Marcus Borg

I must dissent from Christocentric exclusives, which hold that Jesus is the only way to God’s gift of salvation. Such an arrogant claim stands over and against the inclusive Jesus of the synoptics and limits God in ways that humans cannot and must not.

I believe in the resurrection of Jesus, but I cannot believe that his resurrection involved the resuscitation of his physical body.
-- UMC Bishop Joseph Sprague

...How has God’s Kingdom been advanced by their "new" teachings? Every denomination that has embraced these progressive doctrines has seen radical decline. The United Methodist Church has lost the equivalent of a 250-member church every day for the last 30 years. It seems a lost world isn’t buying what the progressives are trying to sell in the name of our churches. The shallow, relative truth of the progressive movement has no power to transform lives, so searching souls look elsewhere. The old hymn says it well, "On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand."

Scripture tells us we’re supposed to be guardians of the "faith once delivered to the saints." (Jude 1:3). I believe it’s time for the Church to stand and declare the timeless truth of God’s Word. We must not be intimidated into silence. God’s call to "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel" has never been taken back. The methods of going may change, but the message never will.

One word of warning. When you decide to stand for truth, you will be labeled as "intolerant." This is the only sin left in a world where all beliefs and all religions are considered equal. Don’t let the label worry you. Wear it proudly ... Read More

Tangling with Wolves: Why we still need heresy trials, Christianity Today, Week of July 28, by Chris Armstrong

United Methodist Bishop Joseph Sprague publicly denies that Jesus rose bodily, that he is eternally divine, and that he is the only way to salvation. He has been charged four times with teaching heresies, and four times denominational representatives have acquitted him.

This is not a lone incident. For decades before his retirement, Episcopal bishop Jack Spong publicly repudiated nearly every line in the Nicene Creed and yet was never disciplined by his denomination. Examples could be pulled from Congregational, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches. Mainline leaders seem to perceive heresy as somehow an outmoded concept. Or, at least, they see the heresy trial as an inappropriate venue for addressing such teachings. Read More

Have you visited the NIC VOICE Comments Section lately? More Comments have been added.

I am puzzled how and why Bishop Sprague celebrates Christmas? His "low Christology" and his "radical act of faith" criteria for Jesus to be the God's Anointed One make any Christmas celebration totally irrelevant. What is special about this very human birth? Nothing, really. It is the same with Easter. With no "bodily Resurrection," then any celebration of Easter Sunday is also made totally irrelevant.

It is also the same with every Sunday worship. Why do with gather together on the first day of the week, except to observe and remember a Resurrection that in Bishop Sprague's way of thinking did not take place in any way that is worth observing or even celebrating? Sunday worship is a vanity of vanities.

How sad a world Bishop Sprague has bequeathed United Methodism -- a calendar of irrelevancies. No wonder many more people are leaving the pews to look for something else! Only our great traditions have kept the rest coming, and but even now Bishop Sprague has shown these our great traditions to also be worthless and irrelevant!

I really think every pastor in Northern Illinois who is informed should be gravely concerned when the rest of our people awake from slumber.

—Bob Matson, Bristol, Wisconsin

Letters to the Editor - Good News Magazine, Nov/Dec 2003

Listen to the laity
I find it disturbing that the leadership of the UM Church has swept Bishop Joseph Sprague’s doctrinal belief under the carpet, and has applied pressure in wrongful ways to suppress complaints or charges against him. It certainly appears that way from the actions of the Supervisory Response Team to the group who had undertaken to complain against his beliefs. Who are these Team people? Are they not listening to the laity? Are they part of the “placement” of liberals into UM leadership as discussed in “Turning the Mainline Around” found in Christianity Today, July 25, 2003?

I judge no man, but feel compelled to question the beliefs Bishop Sprague, and others like him, espouses within our Body of Christ.

It amazes me that the common, ordinary folks of the church are allowing liberalism to gradually invade our churches and push God and the Word to the anteroom. Given enough time, parishioners will be told that if we want to learn more about God, or the Trinity, we can pick up a brochure in that same anteroom, next to the Upper Room subscriptions. Else, the sermon today will be on some political issue that has little resemblance to knowing God. Excuse me!

It’s sad that liberal leadership in our denomination, and others, is running rampant and using the current Episcopal homosexuality issue as a flashpoint to advance their cause. United Methodist pastors in my area are writing letters to the local newspaper editor saying that we should love our neighbor, no matter their belief or practice, and questioning the Word of God as authority for guiding our lives. I don’t buy that argument. We should love the person, but certainly not a practice that clearly contradicts God’s Word.

When, and how, do evangelical UM congregations stand up and profess that we have had enough of the “whatever-makes-you-feel-good” mentality of our leadership—national and local? Where is God, and the yearning of our members to learn more of the Bible, and Christ, in all of this debate? The liberals say love your neighbor, no matter. I say, love God, and teach his Word. Read More

—Jim Burgess, San Antonio, Texas