The Renewal and Reform Coalition is a coalition of renewal groups that all have the purpose of seeing the UMC become all that God wants it to be. In the 1970’s Billy Graham made the statement that God might use the UMC to spark revival across the U.S. – that is our dream and our vision as well, the reason we volunteer our time and devote our energy to these groups.
Let me introduce you to the members of the coalition.
The Confessing Movement evolved out of a conference called in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1994 by Bishop William R. Cannon, Dr. Maxie Dunnam, and Professor Tom Oden. This meeting was a natural follow-up to The Houston Declaration issued in the fall of 1987 and The Memphis Declaration, which was issued in January 1992. Signed by tens of thousands of laity, along with key clergy leaders and 10 current or future Bishops of the Church, these declarations were issued to uphold the Apostolic faith, the Authority of Scripture, and the sanctity of the marriage covenant between a man and a woman.
The Atlanta meeting in 1994 led to a national conference held in Atlanta the following year. This national meeting formed The Confessing Movement Within The United Methodist Church. The Confessing Movement affirms Jesus Christ as Son, Savior, and Lord. The Confessing Movement affirms the authority of Holy Scripture in matters of faith, doctrine, and practice. It also affirms the sanctity of marriage as between a man and a woman. It exists to uphold and advocate the Apostolic Faith as witnessed to in Holy Scripture and the great creeds of the Church.
Since 1997, Sen. Patricia Miller of Indianapolis , Indiana, has been Executive Director of The Confessing Movement. The present chair of the board is Rev. Robert Renfroe of Houston, Texas. At the present time, there are 30 board members from various areas across the country. The Confessing Movement is supported by 1,532 congregations, 5,298 pastors, and 679,750 individuals.
The RENEW Network is a network for evangelical, theologically orthodox women within The United Methodist Church. RENEW is the women’s program arm of the Good News Movement, coming under its board of directors and oversight committee.
Since 1989, RENEW has pursued a two-pronged ministry focus: renewal of women’s ministry at the local level; and accountability on the part of the Women’s Division at the national level. To that end, RENEW connects United Methodist women from many locations into a strong network through calls, letters, e-mail and our web site. The RENEW Network brings together many voices into a concert for renewal and accountability within the Women’s Division through research and reports on Division programs, policies and spending.
The RENEW Network will have representatives on the Coalition team at General Conference to monitor committees assigned Women’s Division legislation and legislation recommended by RENEW.
RENEW has been guided since its beginning by Mrs. Faye Short, currently of Cornelia, Georgia, who has been a local, district, and conference officer of United Methodist Women and has a heart for the women of our church and how to minister to them.
Faye Short and Katy Kiser of RENEW have written a book, Reclaiming the Wesleyan Social Witness: Offering Christ. This book will be sent to all U.S. delegates to General Conference and to a select number of Central Conference delegates. RENEW challenges you to read this book prior to General Conference with the confidence that it will deepen your thinking about the social ministry of our church from a Biblical and Wesleyan perspective, as you vote on the many proposals being brought forward.
Even before the 1973 Roe v. Wade United States Supreme Court decision, there were some members of the United Methodist Church who were concerned about the direction the denomination was moving as it related to sanctity-of-life issues. In August 1987, nine pastors and lay people met in Washington, DC and formed the Taskforce of United Methodists on Abortion and Sexuality – or TUMAS for short. Our mission statement reads,
‘Out of obedience to Jesus Christ, the Taskforce of United Methodists on Abortion and Sexuality works to create – in church and society – esteem for human life at its most vulnerable, specifically for the unborn child and for the woman who contemplates abortion. Therefore, TUMAS’ goal is to win the hearts and minds of United Methodists, and to engage in abortion-prevention through theological, pastoral, and social emphases that support human life.’
TUMAS publishes a quarterly newsletter called Lifewatch. The newsletter is mailed to over 4,000 United Methodists throughout the United States , and also a few international readers. The free quarterly newsletter is also posted on our website, so it’s impossible to know exactly how many people read it.
Over time, the organization became more closely associated with the name ‘Lifewatch’ than with TUMAS, though both names refer to the same organization.
From the beginning, Lifewatch has worked within annual conferences to educate people about the realities of abortion and to bring about change that both protects the life of the unborn child and honors the lifelong health and welfare of the woman facing an unintended pregnancy. Over the past decade or so, as sanctity of life issues have expanded to include stem cell research, euthanasia, and abortion recovery, our efforts have also expanded to include those areas.
Lifewatch receives no funds and little publicity from the denomination. We depend entirely on God and like-minded individuals for all we do. The work of TUMAS is guided by an advisory board and administered by Mrs. Cindy Evans, a layperson from Missouri. The Lifewatch newsletter is edited by Rev. Paul Stallsworth, a clergy member of the North Carolina Conference.
The Institute on Religion and Democracy was founded in 1982 by United Methodist evangelist Ed Robb (a political conservative) and United Methodist layperson David Jessup (a political liberal). It came about in response to Jessup’s report about United Methodist Church grants to radical, anti-democratic groups, which he took to the 1980 General Conference.
IRD’s purpose is to reform America’s mainline churches, with particular attention to their social witness. IRD gives special attention to affirming democracy and human rights, religious liberty (especially in other parts of the world), and believes strong churches faithful to their teachings are the best contributors to a just political order. IRD has program divisions for United Methodists, Presbyterians, and Anglicans. James Tonkowich became the IRD’s president a year ago, and Mark Tooley has been the head of UMAction for 13 years.
Transforming Congregations’ mission is to “equip the Church to model and minister sanctified sexuality” (1 Thessalonians 4:1-7) through Biblical instruction, compassionate outreach and personal and public witness. Started in 1978 by a group of pastors in the Cal-Nevada Annual Conference, the ministry has broadened from an exclusive focus on homosexuality to offering the transforming grace of Jesus Christ to any that are sexually confused, broken or sinful. We review, recommend and develop theologically orthodox teaching resources, do onsite training with local church leaders (using our six-step “starting ministry” workshop format), and network with other Christian individuals and groups in support of traditional teaching on human sexuality.
Transforming Congregations is led by a board of clergy and laity from around the church. The Executive Director since 2003 is Rev. Karen Booth, a clergy member of the Peninsula-Delaware Conference.
Good News is the oldest of the mainline renewal groups. It began as a result of an article entitled “Methodism’s Silent Minority,” published in 1966 in the magazine New Christian Advocate, which is the equivalent of today’s Circuit Rider clergy magazine. Rev. Charles Keysor, a Methodist pastor in Elgin, Illinois, wrote the article and received an overwhelming response.
In 1967, Good News magazine began, published by Chuck Keysor and his wife in their parsonage basement. The organization was incorporated with a board of directors just 2 months after the inaugural issue of the magazine.
Over the years, Good News has espoused renewal and reform in the areas of Sunday School literature, world missions, seminary education, and opposition to doctrinal pluralism. Since 1970, periodic national convocations have gathered up to 2,000 United Methodists for evangelical worship, fellowship, encouragement, and transformational presentations by outstanding leaders of the church. Good News has helped in the formation of other renewal groups and organizations over the years, including Bristol House publishing, A Foundation for Theological Education, and The Mission Society. Since 1972, Good News has been present at General Conference, offering an evangelical voice on the issues facing the church. Over the last two or three quadrennia, Good News has increased the size and sophistication of our General Conference effort in partnership with the other renewal groups that now form the Renewal and Reform Coalition. Good News has a board of 37 clergy and lay leaders from across the church, and an additional 9 lifetime board members who have offered many years of dedicated volunteer service. Our president and publisher, James V. Heidinger II, a clergy member of the East Ohio Conference, just celebrated 25 years as the head of Good News