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Northern Illinois Conference (NIC).
NOTE:
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Q. Methodism is a very
open-minded faith and our church is filled with a whole
spectrum of believers who fellowship with us who hold
many diverse views, from the “radical progressive” to
the “neo-literalist”. Why can't we just allow Bishop
Sprague his right to teach and believe what ever he
feels God has laid on his heart?
I don’t agree with the bishop, but
we should be accepting of him as Christians.
We must remember that we are a
people of diversity, and no one has a corner on right
and wrong -- everything is relative, so why can't we be
big enough to make room for the views and opinions of
progressives, liberals and conservatives alike?
A. It is true that we do
not have members of the UMC sign a statement of faith
when they join the church. There is room to, as John
Wesley put it, “think and let think”. However, In
Wesley’s sermon on Catholic Spirit (which has nothing to
do with the Roman Catholic Church, but with the
universal church), he is very clear that we think and
let think except on matters that strike at the root of
our faith.
In these essential
doctrines, he said, we are “as fixed as the sun.” We
may not be a creedal church in a technical sense, but we
very definitely have doctrinal standards and these
standards are protected by the restrictive Rules or the
Constitution of the UMC so that they cannot be changed
except in a very unusual situation.
In fact, the Model Deed of
1763, prepared by Wesley in anticipation of his death to
determine who could and who could not preach in
Methodist preaching houses, states specifically that no
one would be allowed to preach who did not subscribe to
the Methodist Doctrinal Standards.
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Thought to Ponder |
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Wesley on the Scriptures
"Nay,
if there be any mistakes in the Bible, there may as well
be a thousand. If there be one falsehood in that book,
it did not come from the God of truth"
—(John Wesley, Journal, 24 July 1776)
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Scripture to Ponder |
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"This
witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that
they may be sound in the faith; . . ."
--
Titus
1:13
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WATERSHED MOMENT
It
is important that we not allow the passing of what Bishop Ough’s
Supervisory Team has characterized as a “Watershed Moment”
without examining their dismissal of recent charges brought
against Bishop Sprague. More importantly, presentations and
discussions such as this forum will allow United Methodists
throughout the Northern Illinois Conference and beyond an
opportunity to decide for themselves what they believe to be the
Biblical Truth about the doctrines that are at the root
of this controversy.
The charges in the complaint against Bishop Sprague state that
his positions are contrary to the Statement of Faith in the
United Methodist Book of Discipline. This controversy became
public when a transcript of Bishop Sprague’s speech at Iliff
Seminary was released in the summer of 2002. Subsequent to
that, Chapter 4 of his book, “Affirmations of a Dissenter” was
released by Bishop Sprague on the NIC web site.
In the fall of 2002, the UMReporter published a series of
articles contrasting excerpts from Chapter 4 of Bishop Sprague’s
book with the published response of Bishop Whitaker.
In addition, various renewal groups officially within the UMC,
as well as other groups not officially connected, have covered
various aspects of this controversy on their web sites. They
have published information and opinions about the complaint that
was made by a group of laity and clergy late in 2002, and the
subsequent dismissal in February of 2003. These groups provide
a forum for this and other issues of concern within the UMC.
MISSION
NIC
VOICE is
a growing network of concerned laity whose purpose is to provide
balanced information and dialog within the Northern Illinois
Conference of the UMC about Doctrinal Issues raised by the
Bishop Sprague Complaint & Dismissal.
This is in harmony with the recommendations by the Supervisory
Response Team's dismissal of charges. They urged that the laity
become involved in the process of "serious theological
reflection on issues of Biblical Authority, Christology and the
Mission of the Church".
Questions or comments about NIC
VOICE
may be directed to:
nicvoice@nicvoice.org.
NIC VOICE
offers
the laity within NIC churches an opportunity to become more
INFORMED:
Upon invitation from a NIC church or group,
NIC VOICE
will provide a speaker to conduct a presentation entitled
"Discussion of Theological and Doctrinal Issues in the UMC
Raised by the Bishop Sprague Complaint & Dismissal", or
You may choose to conduct the presentation 'in-house', using
the NIC
VOICE
Watershed Moment Presentation, at a single meeting or in
a series of studies on these key doctrinal issues of:
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Christology (Trinity, Virgin Birth, Deity of Jesus)
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Resurrection of Jesus Christ
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Salvation through Jesus Christ Alone
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The Atonement of Jesus Christ
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NIC VOICE
Newsletter
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February 2004 Volume 1 Issue 11 |
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 One
Year Anniversary of the Dismissal of the
Complaint Against Bishop Sprague
February 18, 2004 - One
Year Anniversary:
SUPERVISORY RESPONSE TO COMPLAINTS
AGAINST BISHOP C. JOSEPH SPRAGUE
The one year anniversary
of the Supervisory Response to the
Complaints Against Bishop C. Joseph
Sprague has come and gone. Since
February 18, 2003, the Council of Bishops
has met twice. To date, there has been
no action on Response Team
Recommendations 1 & 2 that has been
communicated to the church, even with
the effort of concerned laity of
NIC VOICE
to
inquire of the Council regarding their
plans.
We can only gather that
it is not a matter of importance to the
Council of Bishops that the United
Methodist Church "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.
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.” (Response Team
Recommendation #2).
As we enter into the
Lenten season and look towards General
Conference 2004, we encourage concerned
laity and clergy to meditate on the
following:
Jeremiah 23 (NIV) The
Righteous Branch
1 "Woe to the shepherds
who are destroying and scattering the
sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD
. 2 Therefore this is what
the LORD , the God of Israel, says to
the shepherds who tend my people:
"Because you have scattered my flock and
driven them away and have not bestowed
care on them, I will bestow punishment
on you for the evil you have done,"
declares the LORD . 3 "I
myself will gather the remnant of my
flock out of all the countries where I
have driven them and will bring them
back to their pasture, where they will
be fruitful and increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over them
who will tend them, and they will no
longer be afraid or terrified, nor will
any be missing," declares the LORD .
5 "The days are coming,"
declares the LORD ,
"when I will raise up to David
[1]
a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the
land.
6 In his days Judah will be
saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be
called:
The LORD Our Righteousness.
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PRESS
Release - IRD: February 20, 2004
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Click Here
to View the Winter 2003-2004
Issue of UMAction
Briefing
Contents
...So what
is the big deal
about doctrine?
“You
evangelicals just
keep insisting on
doctrine, doctrine,
doctrine. Don’t you
know you’re just
being divisive?
Since when do you
think you have the
market cornered on
divine truth? When
will you stop trying
to hold the General
Conference hostage
on doctrinal issues
and let us get on to
real ministry?”
Of course that is
not an exact quote
from any particular
individual, but it
is an accurate
summary of some
perspectives others
have shared with me.
It’s an important
question for General
and Jurisdictional
Conference
delegates, too.
-
Just what is so
important about
doctrine?
-
What does it
matter if we
believe that
Jesus of
Nazareth was
both fully God
and fully human?
Can’t the church
let people carve
out their own
spiritual path
and beliefs?
-
Do we believe
that Jesus’
death by
crucifixion on a
Friday afternoon
outside the
walls of
Jerusalem is
somehow
essential to the
salvation of all
peoples of the
world at all
times in all
places, or is
that an
expression of
narrow-minded
religious
provincialism?
And what’s the
difference if we
believe that
this Jesus of
Nazareth rose
from the dead or
if we think
resurrection is
a symbolic and
metaphorical way
to speak about
human yearnings
for immortality
that doesn’t
need to be
historically
true in order to
be real?
-
I believe Jesus
Christ is the
Sovereign of the
universe and the
Hope of the
world, that all
things were
created by him,
through him, for
him, and in him
all things hold
together. You
believe Jesus is
a tribal deity
of religionists
called
Christians and a
metaphor like
Mohammed or
Buddha or
Zoroaster. So
what? Isn’t the
important thing
that we can
embrace,
include, and
welcome one
another?
Pardon my
underscoring what
has been obvious to
the vast majority of
Christ-followers
throughout the world
for over two
millennia: what we
believe is
foundational for
understanding who we
are and what we are
to do ...
In seeking the
reversal of our
continuing trend
toward irrelevance,
the United Methodist
General Conference
must reaffirm at
every opportunity
the doctrinal
standards that are
foundational to our
identity, our
training and
development of
leaders, and our
effectiveness in
mission.
Read More
Scott N. Field is the
senior pastor of
Wheatland Salem United
Methodist church in
Naperville, Illinois. He
is also the chairperson
of the Good News Board
of Directors.
Let
us bring good news to poor, release to captives ,
February 13 Commentary, Bishop C. Joseph Sprague
In his pithy book, Credo,
which is a compilation of selected quotations from across his
lifetime of ministry, William Sloane Coffin says: “It is not
Scripture that creates hostility to homosexuality, but rather
hostility to homosexuals that prompts some Christians to recite a
few sentences from Paul and retain passages from an otherwise
discarded Old Testament law code. In abolishing slavery and in
ordaining women we have gone beyond biblical literalism. It’s time
we did the same with gays and lesbians. The problem is not how to
reconcile homosexuality with scriptural passages that condemn it,
but rather how to reconcile the rejection and punishment of
homosexuals with the love of Christ.”
Read More
|
Sinking Sand -- Ruin Looms for a
Church that Forsakes God's Word,
Feature by Ed Vitagliano,
February 11, 2004,
AgapePress
 The
Scriptures have always suffered the
attacks of the kingdom of darkness,
even as far back as the garden of
Eden, when the serpent slyly asked
the woman, "Indeed, has God said
...?"
The Evil One
knows that if he can undermine the
Bible, he can undermine the
Christian. For Jesus said His words
are like a rock upon which a house
is built (Matthew 7:24), serving as
a firm foundation for His followers
...
The problem,
Howe said, is that church history
demonstrates that once a
denomination "begins to drift into
liberalism, it's almost impossible
to change it and bring it back to
the Bible."
... Howe said
that an important principle can help
Christians in all churches. "It saps
all my energy to be 'on the mission
field' in my own denomination," he
said. "Church is supposed to nourish
me, but if all of my energy is being
eroded fighting this battle [for
orthodoxy], then I can't survive
spiritually."
"Separation
[between conservatives and liberals]
is taking place even now, and this
is a great tragedy," Humphrey told
the Journal, adding that
there "comes a point when Christians
must heed Paul's call not to be
'unequally yoked' -- that is even
true in the holiest of unions, when
a marriage partner will no longer be
faithful."
If that point
has indeed come, it is a truly sad
day; not many Christians have lived
to see the ruinous fall of an entire
denomination. But no Episcopalian
can say that they weren't warned.
All they had to do was read the
Bible.
Read More
The Right Frame of Mind:
The Coming Judgment,
By Rev. Mark H. Creech, February
9, 2004 (Agape
Press)
The
likeness of our day to Noah's age is
very evident. We have our own "giants in
the earth" -- "men of renown" (Gen. 6:4)
-- who fashion wicked philosophies,
produce obscene expressions of art,
eagerly champion the causes of smut,
make fashionable the vilest of sins, and
pour society into their mold. Iniquity
accelerates at their hands. They exist
because of the Church's apostasy and
marriage to worldliness. ... Listen
carefully and you can hear the distant
sound of the thundering hoof beats of
the horsemen of judgment. They are
swiftly riding in our direction and
their swords are raised to strike. The
only hope is God's people working as His
allies in the salvation of the lost and
social justice. It is not easy to work
against evil that judgment might be
postponed, but it is the task to which
every believer is called. We must keep
our testimony unspotted from the world.
We must take our stand for righteousness
-- even unto death.
Read More
This is
the dilemma we face in the United
Methodist Church today. Leadership
has learned that, if carefully,
prudently, we go along to get along,
praise, even adulation, will follow.
But, if the Spirit emboldens us to
pick up the biblical scroll and
apply the Word to the hard realities
of the here and now, fat checkbooks
close, some feet walk, virulent
attacks are made, even zany charges
filed.
Read More
UM Controversies Discussed at General
Conference Briefing,
Institute for
Religion and Democracy,
Mark
Tooley, February 5, 2004
Speaking
at a pre-General Conference media
briefing, evangelical United Methodist
theologian Billy Abraham warned against
disruptive protests at church
gatherings. He was clearly referring to
the methods of pro-homosexuality
advocates at recent United Methodist
General Conferences ...“Pluralism is not
true to our heritage in Wesley,” Abraham
said in his opening remarks. “It is
incoherent; it is a stopgap experiment
with a precarious shelf life, and it is
unworkable in practice.”
Abraham offered his
own critique of United Methodism: “In
reality we have become a soft
confessional denomination committed to a
non-threatening form of liberation
theology where children have become the
point of entry to bring us into
commitment to the liberation of the poor
and the oppressed.” The benefit of
children is a chief theme among United
Methodist agencies advocating more
government programs for the poor.
Read More
The Inadequacy of "Yes" Theology,
If saying
"no" makes me narrow, so be it,
by Ben Patterson, contributing
editor,
Leadership Journal
January 20, 2004
Few issues
portend so much for the future of the
church, because none carries so much
potential to fly in the face of the
spirit of the age. I speak of the
infatuation with pluralism and
inclusivism and certain brands of
multiculturalism; the belief in the
egalitarianism of opinions and
feelings—that it is not only wrong, but
rude and bigoted to this that some
people's ideas and feelings may not be
as good or as valid as others. It's the
"Who's to Say?" syndrome: Who's to say
what is right? The answer is everyone,
or no one, or both. Whatever. It's cool.
...Without declaring the no, we become
the church that Machen observed in his
day: "conservative in an ignorant,
non-polemic, sweetness-and-light kind of
way, which is just meat for the
wolves."
Read More
Petitions pile up for 2004
General Conference,
UMNS,
February 3, 2004
When
United Methodists meet this
spring for their quadrennial
legislative session, they will
have to sort through
approximately 1,500 to 1,600
petitions submitted by church
agencies, regional conferences
and other groups and
individuals. The total
number of petitions for the 2004
General Conference - which cover
everything from topics like
homosexuality and abortion to
concerns over church structure
and pension plans to procedural
issues such as selection of
future General Conference
delegates - will be down
slightly from the 2000 meeting,
according to the Rev. Gary
Graves, General Conference
petitions secretary.
Read More
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Eight Points by which we define
Progressive Christianity,
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Reporter tabloid format will
make its debut on Jan. 9
Dec. 26) The
Northern Illinois Conference
(NIC) is changing the look,
contents and name of its
weekly newspaper, beginning
Friday, Jan. 9.
This issue of the Northern
Illinois Conference edition of
the United Methodist Reporter
will be the last. There will be
no newspaper next week.
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