Female Face-Off a Good Thing for United Methodists, Says Participant
by Bill Fancher
September 30, 2005
(AgapePress) - Two groups of women within the United Methodist Church faced off last week in Washington. Their objective? To air their differences. The two women's groups -- the conservative RENEW Network, and the UMC's Women's Division -- debated their differences on social and theological issues in an open forum in the nation's capital. Dr. Janice Crouse of the Beverly LaHaye Institute, who was one of the participants from RENEW, says it was a "cat fight" which was needed.
"There are very distinct differences between the people who run the Women's Division of the United Methodist Church and the women who are actually doing the work in the local churches," Crouse explains. At the local level, she says, Methodist women are Bible-centered evangelicals. But such is not the case with the denomination's national leaders, she says, where there is promotion of campaigns she describes as both "anti-American" and "anti-biblical."
She adds that the actions of the Women's Division have been damaging to the denomination. "All across America women are leaving the [Methodist] Church because the Women's Division is just completely out of touch with the beliefs of the people at the local level," Crouse says.
According to Crouse, the Women's Division leaders attempted to defend their positions during the debate. "They talked about the fact that throughout history, the Bible has had to be interpreted according to the culture at the time," she says, "and [that] interpretation is something that is very flexible."
The fact that the meeting occurred at all, say Crouse, is a good indication that reform may be coming to the Women's Division. According to RENEW, it was the first time the two groups' different perspectives had been aired publicly face-to-face.
Bill Fancher, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
