UMAction Briefing. Fall United Methodists Affirm Biblical Marriage Teaching A. Inside:

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1 A newsletter for United Methodists working for Scripture-based reform in our denomination. UMAction Briefing United Methodists Affirm Biblical Marriage Teaching A t United Methodism s governing General Conference April 24 May 4 in Tampa, delegates voted 61 to 39 percent to reaffirm the church s teaching that homosexual practice is incompatible with Christian teaching. The nearly 1000 delegates represented more than 12 million United Methodists globally. In a separate, earlier vote, delegates rejected a motion from Kansas minister Adam Hamilton to acknowledge that United Methodists disagree on homosexuality. The motion, co-originated with Ohio minister Mike Slaughter, was defeated by about 53 percent to 47 percent. Without precedent, all the other major issues involving human sexuality were then effectively tabled after General Conference leaders privately agreed that such votes would be needlessly anguishing to both sides. United Methodist prohibitions against actively homosexual clergy, same sex unions, and funding for pro-homosexuality advocacy were retained without debate. The votes leave United Methodism one of the few historically liberal-led Mainline Protestant denominations that have not compromised their teaching about marriage and sexual ethics. The Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and United Church of Christ have all abandoned their official expectation of chastity by their clergy. The more than 12 million member United Methodist Church is different from the others because it is a growing, global church, nearly 40 percent of whose members now are outside the U.S., mostly in Africa. African delegates at this General Conference were 30 percent of the total, up from 20 percent 4 years ago. They uniformly rejected any liberalized stance on marriage. As is a tradition at every General Conference, pro-lgbt demonstrators clad in rainbow stoles repeatedly interrupted the proceedings. The demonstrators and other allies operated as the Common Witness Coalition and were headquartered across the street from the Tampa Convention Center in a tent. At times, some bishops seemed to negotiate with pro-lgbt demonstrators, prominently including Wisconsin minister Amy DeLong, who was briefly suspended from ministry last year after conducting a same sex union. German Bishop Rosemarie Wenner, president of the Council of Bishops, after conferring with DeLong, told the Conference: Dear sisters and brothers who are gay and lesbian, transgender and bisexual people, you have been hurt by actions of the General Conference, and by the polity of The United Methodist Church. I feel your pain. We see your pain. The General Conference has debated homosexuality every four years since Fall 2012 Inside: Defiant Retired Bishops Urge Homosexual Ordination Liberal Young People Target General Conference United Methodist Transsexuals Rally Quotes at General Conference Anti-Israel Divestment Rejected Rally Against Israel Campolo Praises UM Lobby African Empowerment Political Resolutions Lobbying for Open U.S. Borders Apologizing for America s Sins Abortion Coalition Almost Rejected Bishops Judith Craig (left) and Rosemarie Wenner (center) negotiate with the Rev. Amy DeLong, after dozens of homosexual activists took over the floor of a May 3 session of the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Fla. The two bishops talked with DeLong in an attempt to resolve the situation without resorting to arrests. (Photo: John Goodwin/UMNS)

2 Defiant Retired Bishops Urge Homosexual Ordination United Methodist Transsexuals Rally Liberal United Methodists bishops, mostly retired, convened a press conference during General Conference urging overthrow of the church s teaching about marriage and sexual ethics. I look forward to being able to attend a General Conference where an act of repentance for this is made, predicted retired Bishop Don Ott, implicitly comparing the church s current teaching against homosexual practices to injustices perpetuated against Native Americans, a focus of this General Conference. Ott was among 15 bishops who declared their public support for homosexual practice just before the 1996 General Conference. In Tampa, Ott pronounced that existing language in the church s Book of Discipline calling homosexual practice incompatible with Christian teaching never should have been inserted. He also charged that the church is in denial. The language in the Book of Discipline is double talk, Ott insisted, claiming that United Methodist bishops were drained by simultaneously upholding rules in which many of them don t believe. He called for more active bishops to publically refute the church s existing teaching. Ott shared that he holds a portion of the communion chalice shattered by a homosexual activist at the 2004 General Conference in angry protest. He hopes to present that fragment at a future General Conference where active homosexual persons are affirmed. Retired Bishop Sharon Rader, who serves as the Ecumenical Officer of the Council of Bishops, thanked the gathered activists for naming the hurt our church has visited upon LGBT persons. That language must be gone, Rader declared of the Book of Discipline, adding that Jesus Christ wants us mostly to love God and others. She declared: I want to join Jesus in praying that doors are open and rules and prohibitions are cast away. Retired Bishop Donald Ott joined with homosexual activists at United Methodist General Conference to advocate changing Book of Discipline language (Photo: Sam Hodges/ UMNS) 2 Rader and Ott were joined by theologians from United Methodist seminaries. What we hate is the hurt when the Bible is used against others, complained Cheryl Anderson of Garrett Evangelical Seminary outside Chicago. Boston School of Theology Dean Pamela Lightsey echoed her. I am the reality that the church seeks to deny in the discriminatory language in the Book of Discipline, announced Lightsey, who identified herself as a black lesbian United Methodist and asserted she had walked the path of discrimination her whole life. Walk in the Journey. Be yourself. Love who you are, Lightsey advised. Liberal Young People Target General Conference Claiming to speak for young United Methodists, many liberal activists were prominent at General Conference on Twitter and rallying in the Common Witness tent with pro-lgbt activists. According to Rocky Mountain clergy delegate Brad Laurvick, who addressed a tent rally, many young people declare: I m spiritual but I m not into dogma, institutional BS, and excluding people. So he believes: Religion needs to be culturally redefined. And he warned: Simply discussing human sexuality won t revitalize the life of the church... Inclusion is the true work of the church. Laurvick was followed by Tyler Sit, an LGBT activist and seminarian at United Methodist Candler School of Theology in Atlanta. Right now I m not seeing a lot of young adults getting grace from the church, he complained, But we are being spoken to by God. He argued, The church is inviting young people to a building with walls but no roof... Our church needs to be a building with a roof but no walls. He added, Young people don t like being put into boxes. Oregon United Methodist minister David Weekley, who had a sex change operation in the 1970s, is currently the only publicly announced transsexual pastor actively appointed to a United Methodist congregation. He spoke at a rally during General Conference alongside Giselle Lawn, a transsexual United Methodist layperson from Atlanta. The United Methodist Church has put up barriers to transgender people, charged Lawn, a former Baptist man who was asked to leave a Baptist congregation after announcing plans to live as a woman. They [transsexuals] need to be embraced with love in the United Methodist Church, Lawn implored. Lawn insisted: No one is incompatible with God s love. And Lawn insisted marriage is between two consenting adults of whatever gender. After Lawn, Weekley recalled having been ordained as Quotes at General Conference We do live in a world of gray, but Christians are called to holiness. I know that holiness without love is not God s kind of holiness. But love without holiness is not God s kind of love. Our present position in the Discipline includes both holiness with love and love with holiness.... Maxie Dunnam of Kentucky I am a lesbian and a child of God and I strongly urge the body to support this compromise language so that gay youth... will recognize that the church loves them and God loves them and the violence and pain and suicide will stop.... Jen Ihlo of Baltimore Washington We have said for a long time we do not condone homosexuality. But they are here, they are in our delegations, they are serving in our churches. They keep coming back to a church that says no to them. There is a kind of miracle in that.... James Howell of Western North Carolina If you look at our largest congregations and crunch the numbers, they are all reaching young adults successfully, and overwhelmingly they teach and proclaim God s truth without compromise with passion and with love.... Steve Wende of Texas One thing essential to good leadership is clarity. We say to people, We love you! We love everybody; we love you just like United Methodist Layperson Giselle Lawn and Pastor David Weekley spoke about their experience as transsexual persons. (Photo: Jeff Walton/IRD) 3 a closeted transsexual man who hid a female past. Even in seminary, at that time, it wasn t safe to reveal that part of who I am, Weekley claimed. Having trusted in Kairos God s time, Weekley eventually disclosed this sex change history with his church Some people at this General Conference question my suitability, not just for ordination but simply for being alive, Weekley fretted. As petitions at this General Conference demonstrate, there are still those who want to deny the call of transgender people of faith into the ordained ministry of our church. Proclaiming I am your neighbor, Weekley concluded by leading the gathered activists in reciting the theme to Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. Amid enthusiastic applause, Weekley implored: Won t you be my neighbor? you are. But we also love you enough to tell you what the Scriptures say.... James Cowart, Jr. of South Georgia Sexual orientation is just one of the varieties of differences in God s good creation, and laws and social norms are rapidly being adjusted to reflect this view on God s understanding.... Ralph Williams of Baltimore Washington The Book of Discipline has said what we have to say and I believe we as United Methodists have to profess the Gospel and preach the Word of God so that when we reach out to people they will know clearly as much as we love them, they are our brothers and sisters, but we have to say what the Gospels say.... Rudolph Merab of Liberia I stand to say that the grace of God is to all people and for all people, but the grace of God does not allow us to sin.... Ngwej Tshoz, South-West Katanga (Democratic Republic of the Congo) I m concerned that we re allowing society to inform the church instead of the church to inform society. It s scary to me when we re part of a church that isn t willing to talk about sin any longer. Sin is real; it s the reason Jesus came. It s the reason he died. It s the reason his death, resurrection, and his blood have power for us to have a possibility for redemption.... Phillip Connolly

3 Anti-Israel Divestment Rejected Despite fierce targeting by the international anti-israel lobby, the General Conference rejected anti-israel divestment by a 2 1 vote. African delegates, who comprised 30 percent of the total, were key, as were U.S. evangelical delegates, joined by numerous moderate and liberal U.S. delegates. But the debate showcased strong anti-israel sentiments by some delegates. Margaret Mary Novak of Montana, while urging anti-israel divestment, suggested: I would just ask us all to imagine that we were United Methodists in the 1930s and 40s, that our Board of Pensions held stock in the very successful manufacturing firms in Germany that bid and received the bids to manufacture the ovens for the concentration camps. At what point would we decide it was time to divest? How much evidence would we ask for before it was time to stop the wholesale destruction of people? Presiding Bishop Warren Brown of Sacramento did not object to Novak s Israel Nazi comparison. But later he did object to an anti-divestment argument. Of course we care about the Palestinians and what they have gone through the loss of land, the loss of homes, the wall, the Rev. Earl Long of Oklahoma said. But we also care for the people of Israel and what they Rallying Against Israel Before General Conference votes rejecting anti-israel divestment, pro-divestment activists rallied in the Common Witness tent in alliance with pro-lgbt demonstrators. Tomorrow, if you vote to divest, there will be celebration all over Jerusalem, Palestine and even Israel, predicted General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) missionary Alex Awad. Awad was joined Monday by Dalit Baum, a corporate researcher and activist. While the GBGM missionary touted his evangelical Christianity, Baum was introduced to the more liberal audience as a gay rights activist. The luncheon was sponsored by the Common Witness Coalition, an umbrella group of left-leaning unofficial United Methodist caucuses including the Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA) and the Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN). I am a very conservative evangelical Christian, probably more conservative than Billy Graham, asserted Awad, who has sought out evangelicals to cushion expected support from liberal delegates at General Conference. too have gone through. He cited a small, radical, fringe, terrorist Palestinian group who is set on their destruction and resorts to suicide bombing. Before even naming Hamas, Long was interrupted by Bishop Brown, who chided: Just [to] remind the speaker that the body has adopted a rule to avoid personal attacks of persons. A Texas delegate cited Israel s security concerns. The small state of Israel, which we support politically, is surrounded by enemies who wish it to be destroyed and will not have peace until it is destroyed, said Henry Lessner. We are only adding fuel to the fire and giving more people more reasons to think they have more support to get rid of Israel. Virginia delegate Alex Joyner noted: Israel is not solely culpable in continuing the occupation and it s not solely capable of ending it. In reaction to heated anti-israel rhetoric, North Carolina delegate Ken Carter, who since has been elected bishop, said he was concerned about implications that Christianity is detached from the Jews. We also as Christians have a relationship to Judaism and Israel, Carter said, since the Scriptures say they are the root system and we are the branches. Methodist Missionary Alex Awad was one of several Palestinian Christians at General Conference advocating for a divestment policy against Israel. (Photo: Anna Baltzer/UMKR) 4 Insisting that he was not coming to General Conference as a United Methodist political activist, Awad instead portrayed himself as an eye witness to discrimination. Nigerian delegate John Simon Jatutu, like many African delegates, was more direct: We all know that Israel is surrounded by its enemies. It is a small country but all the Arabs are looking at it to destroy and even eliminate it from the face of the earth. Without standing firm to protect itself from all these attacks from outside, one day we will wake up to discover that Israel is no more. He also noted that undermining Israel would only hurt the Palestinian Christians whom Israel s critics like to Tony Campolo Praises United Methodist Lobby Liberal Baptist evangelist Tony Campolo praised United Methodism s controversial General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) at a GBCS banquet at General Conference. A former counselor to President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky crisis, Campolo was introduced by GBCS General Secretary Jim Winkler, who joked: This is the time when we rally around social justice as a church and listen to a Baptist preacher. Campolo announced he s big on having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. But he warned against thinking the primary reason for that was for preparing us to die. Campolo insisted the primary reason Christ came was to raise up a kingdom in this world. He clarified, When Christ Because of where I am working, I see violence and injustice every day, claimed Awad, who commutes from his home in Jerusalem to Bethlehem Bible College where he serves as academic dean. Advising that United Methodists do justice in the land, Awad suggested that adopting divestment would replicate biblical heroes. Quoting Proverbs 14:31, the Palestinian Seminary Professor read: Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God. Following Awad, Baum insisted a strategy of divestment was not about being pro-israel or pro-palestinian; it was about being pro-israel and pro-palestinian. As an Israeli Jew I am complicit in all of these crimes, but as an American, so are you, Baum charged. Where before in our lifetime did we have a chance to effect change in the Holy Land in our lifetime? Baum asked. Never. After the votes, Awad angrily compared divestment s rejection to Christ s crucifixion. Once again shouts of injustice prevailed over the shouts of those who yearned to see actions promoting justice in Palestine, Awad lamented of the votes against divestment. And I watched with pain my people being crucified again. He accused The United Methodist Church of defying God: A Church that is not ready or willing to hear the voice of the oppressed and stand with justice is out of sync with the will of her Head and Maker. 5 cite. The Muslims in the Arab countries are looking for a way to make sure that it takes over the Holy Land completely. He accused anti-israel activists of using Palestinian Christians. In the end, 73 percent of delegates supported positive investment to help Palestinians. Earlier, only 33 percent had directly supported anti-israel divestment. After the votes, dozens of angry demonstrators interrupted the General Conference to protest the overwhelming result against them. was preaching, He was doing it in the context of a Jewish people where the kingdom was here and now. Campolo believed that the Gospel needed to be more full-orbed, envisioning a world in which even the least will live in healthy well-being. God s kingdom will include houses built by Palestinian Christians, Campolo said. And he cited the biblical prophecy of everyone will work in the vineyards to contend for a just wage. He denounced sweatshops, condemning especially Tony Campolo, author and professor of sociology at Eastern University, addresses the Church and Society Banquet on May 1. (Photo: John C. Goodwin/UMNS). Nike. Neither shall they hurt the earth anymore, he instructed. Campolo promised that in God s Kingdom everyone will have a job and a good house. Campolo told GBCS: You re going to have to stand up against those injustices in the world... oppose those structures of oppression. He recalled: In many ways, the Mainline churches lost members for their principled stands. Campolo cited the civil rights era, this women s thing (feminism), and then of course this gay thing came up. He recounted, I remember when supposed Christians were spitting on MLK. Commenting on homosexuality, Campolo said: Love the sinner and hate the sin. Kind of makes you puke, doesn t it?... Love the sinner and hate your own sin. He warned: Just to discuss it drives people out of your churches into fundamental independent churches perhaps independent of God. Also, he suggested: There s some advantage on not being on the payroll of those to whom we prophesy. The audience excitedly erupted into loud applause. Campolo carefully challenged GBCS: You might condemn the Religious Right, but you know what? They got their ideas and strategies from the Mainline denominations. He complained that thousands of gays and lesbians [are] hating the church... and the Bible, thinking that it was used to beat them over the head into nothingness.

4 African Empowerment Totaling about 30 percent of the General Conference, delegates from Africa were more legislatively assertive than ever before. Previously Africans rarely were elected legislative committee officers. But this time, 25 percent of all committee officers were African. With support from U.S. evangelicals, two Africans a Liberian and a Congolese were elected to the Judicial Council. A New Jersey pastor who supports church law on homosexuality and marriage was also reelected to the church s top court, thanks to African and U.S. evangelical votes. A Congolese college president was elected to the University Senate, The Rev. J. Kabamba Kiboko was one of two Africans newly elected to United Methodism s highest court. (Photo: David Valera/Pacific Northwest Annual Conference) which oversees the church s seminaries. With support from African and U.S. evangelical delegates, strongly orthodox seminary professors William Abraham of Perkins School of Theology in Dallas and Bill Arnold of Asbury Seminary in Kentucky were also elected. The General Conference approved granting internationals 30 percent proportional representation on a new oversight board for church agencies, compared to the current 10 percent that is divided evenly among Africans, Europeans and Filipinos, even though there are over 4 million African United Methodists and fewer than 70,000 Europeans. But the Judicial Council ruled the entire restructuring plan unconstitutional. Leading delegates from almost every African conference convened several months ahead of General Conference in Liberia to strategize and plan. More than 100 African delegates also met in Atlanta immediately before General Conference for further planning. And more than 200 African delegates met for worship and planning on the Sunday during General Conference, with a special focus on Judicial Council elections. A network of communication among the African delegation chairs was maintained throughout the General Conference. African delegates were outspoken in legislative committees and on the floor of General Conference. Expect them to be even more assertive and effective at the next General Conference, when they likely will number about 40 percent of total delegates. Political Resolutions The General Conference overwhelmingly backed a number of political resolutions with little to no debate. They included: Supporting the proposed U.S. Dream Act legalizing many illegal immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as minors. Calling upon world leaders to decrease military spending by at least 25% without harming veterans and their families. Urged saving energy without regard to cost; prioritizing renewable energies; faulting oil and gas for global warming; and declaring nuclear power is no solution. Adopt strong global commitments to emission reductions within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Urging United Methodist medical facilities around the world to provide a full range of reproductive health and family planning information and services. Urging complete withdrawal of U.S./NATO forces from Afghanistan and ending all drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Endorsed the Children s Defense Fund, a lobby group for a larger social welfare state, and its annual Children s Sabbath. Urging an end to all U.S. nuclear weapons production. Repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery about European exploration and settlement of the Western Hemisphere. Supporting public financing of political campaigns at the national level. Supporting self-determination and independence for East Turkistan inside China. Urged a boycott of products made by companies in Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Apologizing for America s Sins The General Conference opened with an Act of Repentance toward Healing Relationships with Indigenous Peoples It was led by the Rev. George Tinker of United Methodism s Iliff School of Theology in Denver. There is a lot of history that has been concealed; you have to go and dig it up, he warned. A bishop introducing Tinker recalled a violent history of discovering and destroying. Another introducer lamented the Europeans brought to America disease and weapons of mass destruction. Methodists need to repent of their sins and wickedness for their collaboration with the political forces that repressed native peoples. Still another grim introducer more broadly cited the injustices to indigenous peoples that persist around the world today. Tinker lamented that America s native peoples had lost their land in exchange for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which he declared a bad trade. He added, I m sorry, we d rather have our land over Christ. American Christians have a vested interest in not knowing [their] history because it puts the lie to what Christians say about themselves, he announced. We want to say we are good guys, Tinker complained, citing Fox News s purported espousal of American exceptionalism as a sordid example. Tinker chastised the Pilgrims who stole Indian corn. And he condemned Virginia s earlier settlers for having slaughtered local tribesmen. Tinker also condemned the U.S. occupation of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War, claiming Lobbying for Open U.S. Borders At a rally outside General Conference, a United Methodist minister from the Rio Grande Annual Conference urged loosened U.S. immigration policies. The Rev. Lorenza Andrade-Smith spoke about her most recent pastoral assignment: beginning two years purposefully living on the streets, seeking to identify with immigrants and those in poverty situations. Proclaiming that she has traveled the migrant trails from Central America and been arrested for sleeping at a San Antonio park in front of the Alamo, the Texas clergywoman considers it all a part of identifying with migrants. Migration, Andrade-Smith pronounced, was a God event. Migration is physical and spiritual. She spoke in the Common Witness tent hosted by pro-lgbt activists. From Genesis to Revelation we speak of immigration and migration, she sermonized. We are created to migrate towards God. The Rev. George Tinker officiates at an Act of Repentance toward Healing Relationships with Indigenous Peoples at the 2012 United Methodist General Conference in Tampa. (Photo: Mike DuBose/UMNS) America then slaughtered 1 million Filipinos, which he called hard stuff for modern Methodists to hear. Historians estimate 30,000 40,000 Filipino insurgents died across several years, while several hundred thousand civilians may have died during this time mostly from cholera. Way too early to be thinking about reconciliation, Tinker warned. Native peoples are not reconciled to conquest. It would be like asking abused spouse to live with abuser without change. And apologies don t do anything. But Tinker vaguely suggested a good start would be to guarantee equal access to the riches of the world. He denounced the political system that continues to find new excuses to invade other people s lands. He urged a return to harmony and balance, citing tribal reconciliation rites after killing an elk or even eating corn, which is seen as like a mother. There has to be a ceremony to create relationship between you and the elk, he helpfully explained. Prior to Tinker, another tribesman speaking for the original native peoples of Florida told delegates they were welcome to what is now known as the colonial state of Florida. Explaining that his people had first emerged from the birthing canal from the female earth, he warned the Methodist visitors, We have rules. Those rules include not taking 30 minute showers, he shared, since even the water is sacred. Citing such verbiage, some international Methodist delegates complained about pagan themes at the repentance service. In 2010 Andrade-Smith was arrested for an act of civil disobedience in support of liberalized immigration law. This legislation affects the humanitarian issue of the children of God across the globe, the minister complained about Arizona s illegal immigration law. We are being known throughout the globe for the precedent established by this law. All of us fit into marginalized groups, because the common shared place is that we all suffer, Andrade-Smith assessed. The Rev. Lorenza Andrade Smith speaks to a gathering at the 2012 United Methodist General Conference. Her appearance was sponsored by United Methodist Women and other denominational groups. (Photo: Paul Jeffrey/ UMNS) 6 7

5 Abortion Coalition Almost Rejected For the first time since United Methodism helped to found the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) in 1973, a General Conference legislative committee voted by to withdraw from the controversial abortion rights group in which the Board of Church and Society and United Methodist Women s Division are members. Likely the full General Conference would have ratified the committee vote. But a legislative logjam on the final night of General Conference prevented any vote, delaying withdrawal by another four years. But delegates did reject abortion as a means of eugenics, and declared: We mourn and are committed to promoting the diminishment of high abortion rates. During General Conference, RCRC announced that its new president will be the former head of the Integrity LGBT caucus within the Episcopal Church. The Rev. Harry Knox is a former United Methodist minister who later served in the predominantly homosexual Metropolitan Community Church. He has called RCRC s abortion rights advocacy holy work. The staff of RCRC counter-protest in front of the U.S. Supreme Court during the annual March for Life. (Photo: Jeff Walton/IRD) UMAction Briefing The Institute on Religion & Democracy th Street NW, Suite 601, Washington, DC umaction@theird.org IRD PRESIDENT/ UMACTION EDITOR AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Mark Tooley STEERING COMMITTEE Sara Anderson Jane Bonner William Bonner Dixie Brewster Janice Crouse Betsy Kersey Gerald Kersey J. Robert Ladd Charles Miller Jim Otjes Martin Nicholas Leo Scholl William Smallwood David Stanley Jean Leu Stanley Helen Rhea Stumbo John Stumbo ADVISORY COMMITTEE George Anderson Karl Baumgardner Karen Booth Riley Case Walter Fenton Ira Gallaway H. T. Maclin Thomas Oden Bob Parrott Edmund Robb T. Terrell Sessums Faye Short Glen Spann Donald Wildmon UMACTION STAFF Bart Gingerich Do you receive Mark Tooley s UMAction E-Newsletter? If not, just sign on to and register to receive this timely and informative on the latest happenings affecting the United Methodist Church. Mark and his team constantly travel the country to report the latest developments within the UMC. Stay in the know! Register today at Be sure to visit to sign up for updates! Yes, I (we) want to help UMAction inform United Methodists and their families about the urgent need for church reform and faithfulness Address: Enclosed is my tax-deductible gift of: $50 $75 $100 Other $ My Name: Address: Please send UMAction Briefing to the United Methodists on the enclosed list of names and addresses. City, State, Zip: Please send UMAction Briefing to the names I have marked in the enclosed church directory. Clip and mail to: UMAction c/o IRD, th Street NW, Suite 601, Washington, DC