Thursday, April 24, 2008

Will Africa Save United Methodism?

That is the question asked by Mark Tooley. As American Methodism has lurched far to the left and lost more than a quarter of its membership in the last 44 years, delegates from Africa have come to comprise an increasing percentage of those attending the General Conference, and they are pushing the denomination in a more conservative direction. Now that nearly a third of delegates are coming from overseas, the direction of this mainstream denomination, at least in the long term, can be expected to change considerably.

Mr. Tooley's column focuses primarily on how this will impact General Convention actions on matters of social and political concern. The Oracle is more interested in the implications for theological renewal. Can the majority of American Methodism rediscover the historic faith of Wesley?

2 Comments:

Blogger gavin richardson said...

i don't know why mark is talking about africa now being some mark of conservatism that is going to do anything different than they did in 2004 and 2000 where they were saying the same things.. in regard to homosexuality only.

it is my hope the church focuses on other ideals that are more pressing than who is sleeping with who.

tooley and his ird has barked enough where people don't see or hear him so much. i'd look for different news writers that are not so slanted as well.

8:14 PM  
Blogger MCO said...

Gavin, thanks for the comment. Feel free to recommend other news writers that could add to the conversation.

I would agree with you that homosexuality is not a foundational issue, though I would argue that it is symptomatic of the Church's rejection of scriptural authority.

8:23 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home