Speakers Warn Against “Entrenched” Positions of “Conservative White Men” at Evangelical Conference

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David Gushee, Evangelicals, Evangelicals for Social Action, IRD Blog, Kristin Rudolph, Lisa Sharon Harper, Paul Alexander, Ron Sider, Shane Claiborne, Soong-Chan Rah

(Dr. Ron Sider, founder and president of ESA retired this year. Photo Credit: Surrender.org.au)

Kristin Rudolph (@Kristin_Rudolph)

Evangelicals for Social Action (ESA) gathered July 12 – 14 to celebrate the retirement of their founder and president, Dr. Ron Sider, the installation of two new co-presidents, and the organization’s 40 year anniversary at Eastern University near Philadelphia, PA. The conference, called “Follow. Jesus.” drew a few hundred attendees. Through plenary sessions and small group “conversations,” the conference explored Christian participation in social and political activist causes like economic inequality, immigration, climate change, abortion and racial division, among others. The focus of the main sessions was the history of evangelical activism and what the future may hold for American evangelicalism.

Dr. Michael Lindsay, president of Gordon College, reviewed the 40 year history of ESA, pointing to the 1973 Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern as a turning point for evangelicalism, and remarking the organization made Micah chapter 6 verse 8 “become embraced by a much wider constituency” of evangelicals. The verse, “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God,” is indeed an oft cited one among Christian social activists.

ESA, Lindsay said, became a voice for what evangelicals were for, rather than what they were against after the social upheaval of the 1960s. Although evangelical organizations have long been involved in mercy ministries, justice work “really started 40 years ago. Sure justice has been around for a lot longer than that but … there hasn’t been organizational focus,” he claimed. But, Lindsay continued: “If you really want to make a difference you’ve got to think about institutions because those are the things that last.”

In a panel discussion on the future challenges for evangelicals, Dr. David Gushee, professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University complained “the culture wars will remain with us, but in a sense they should be over.” He observed “40 years of arguing over mainly sex related moral issues in public … continues long past when one might have hoped that those arguments would be so central … and the polarization doesn’t seem to me to be changing.” Gushee predicted “as conservative white men … feel increasingly threatened by pluralistic post-white America, the heels are gonna get dug in and the positions are going to remain entrenched.”

He continued: “America’s religion and politics in the next generation will be defined as a contest between those who fully integrate the emerging racial ethnic and national background diversity of our country and those who seek to resist it.” Gushee asserted “the future of Evangelical Christianity hinges on getting past the ‘White Male Club’ as the people in charge of everything.”

Similarly, Lisa Sharon Harper, Director of Mobilizing for Sojourners said evangelicals have become “divorced from people who are not like ourselves.” She also pointed out a “deep [scriptural] illiteracy in the church,” which renders believers vulnerable to “politicking people … [who] twist the Scripture and make it mean something it doesn’t mean.”

This illiteracy “bears itself out in everything,” most recently the immigration reform debate, Harper said. “If we don’t know the Scripture, then we don’t know that 92 times in the Old Testament the word ger [the Hebrew word for immigrant] is mentioned … We don’t know or understand the fact that Jesus himself was an immigrant,” she lamented. Harper concluded the “lack of Scripture and a lack of compassion, lack of relationship” with those different from ourselves, makes evangelicals “ripe to be used, to be wielded like a sword in the public square in the hands of people who are politicking in the name of evangelicalism.”

In the same panel, Rev. Dr. Soong-Chan Rah, professor of church growth and evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary pointed out the “multi-cultural, multi-ethnic reality of society and Christianity,” and that “declining American Christianity is not rooted in these minority communities it’s actually rooted in the decline of White Evangelicalism.” With this shift, he warned of “the danger of framing [justice and social action] in an American exceptionalism and triumphalism that doesn’t make sense anymore.”

Yet evangelicals should not abandon that label and claim a new name, because evangelicalism has “a history that needs to be confessed” over things like slavery and racism, and evangelicals should not “[excuse themselves] from that history,” Rah said. Instead, he suggested God may be “calling us to engage in a lament rather than in the triumphalistic, exceptionalistic approach to justice,” instead of the long standing “absence of lament in the liturgical traditions in America.”

In an evening plenary session, Dr. Mimi Haddad, president of Christians for Biblical Equality called for a “renewed commitment to gender justice in the Church and around the world.” She described how “ideas have consequences,” and theologies and philosophies that teach the inferiority of women result in tragedies like sex slavery, sex-selective abortion, and other abuses.

Later, explaining his work toward renewal in impoverished Philadelphia neighborhoods, activist Shane Claiborne said “It’s hard to believe you have a beautiful creator if everything you look at is ugly.” Pointing out the bad reputation Christians in America have, he joked “You can believe in the bodily resurrection and still be really mean to people.” Being a Christian is not just about “right believing” but “right living,” Claiborne said.

He continued: “Poverty is every person’s responsibility … things like good health care and good education are not just privileges for the few that can afford it but they should be available to everybody. That’s what it means to love our neighbor as ourselves.” He urged attendees to follow the advice Ron Sider had given to him years before during the founding of the Simple Way, and keep Jesus at the center of their justice work.

In a concluding worship service Sunday morning, Dr. Al Tizon and Dr. Paul Alexander were installed as the new co-presidents of ESA.
[Note: A report on Tizon’s and Alexander’s remarks is forthcoming]

Joel Hunter: A Political Pastor

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Barack Obama, Joel Hunter, Kristin Rudolph, Politics

(Rev. Joel Hunter shares a laugh in the White House with President Obama and Joshua DuBois. Credit: Washington Post)

Kristin Rudolph (@Kristin_Rudolph)

A recent Religion News Service (RNS) article by Mark Pinsky profiled Orlando mega-church pastor Joel Hunter, lamenting the pastor’s efforts to “[become] the voice of moderate conservatism and coalition politics have resulted in a ten percent drop in membership.” The article reports membership at Northland Church has dropped from 15,000 to 13,500 because of Hunter’s refusal “to march in lockstep with the Republican Party.” RNS reports the drop in membership has resulted in financial difficulties and staff cutbacks.

Hunter served on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith Based and Neighborhood partnerships from 2009 to 2010 and remains a “spiritual counselor” for the president. Although Hunter denies wading into political discussions during his talks with President Obama, he is vocally political most other times.

Despite Pinsky’s assertion that Hunter represents “moderate conservatism” and is a “strong opponent of abortion and gay marriage,” the mega-church pastor seems to minimize these views behind his enthusiasm for environmentalism, welfare programs, and interfaith cooperation.

In a 2008 Fox News interview about Senator Obama’s answer “that’s above my pay grade” to Reverend Rick Warren’s question, “When does life begin,” Hunter stated that though he personally believes life begins at conception, “Senator Obama was correct technically, the Bible doesn’t specifically tell us when life begins, it’s rather imprecise.”

Hunter is visibly politically active, and this activity pervades his ministry. In 2006 Northland Church reportedly made voter registration forms available in its lobby. Earlier this year Hunter released a documentary called Our Father’s World about the importance of “creation care” in the Christian life. In the film, Hunter says “God has given us problems so big, that not one faith community can solve on its own. Therefore, we need to work together, and we need to find common ground, both with believers of other religions and with those who believe in no religion … Biblical justice is social justice, and it calls for interfaith cooperation.”

Similarly, in a talk called “The Government is Not the Enemy” at the 2012 Q Conference, Hunter discussed the impossibility of the Church providing for the poor and hungry on its own without government assistance. He asserted that “government isn’t the enemy, and government isn’t the answer. But government is the potential partner that we look for, that we might need.”

In addition, Hunter received criticism this year for alleged Islamist sympathies while protesting “anti-Sharia” legislation in Florida. Hunter said he feared the legislation would cause “animosity” between Muslims and Christians.

Further, in February 2012 Northland Church hosted First Lady Michelle Obama to speak about her “Let’s Move” initiative.

Northland’s dwindling congregation is possibly not a direct reflection of its pastor’s shift from “lockstep Republican” politics to more “moderate conservative views”(which he does not appear to hold). If the decline is related to Hunter’s political involvement, it is more likely a result of the centrality of politics in the pastor’s public ministry and his pessimistic view of Christian charitable work and witness in the world.

Surely there are some partisan Christians who follow the Republican Party “lockstep,” but pro-life and pro-marriage convictions are not primarily political. One reason Christians are labelled with a blind commitment to the Right is because traditional Christian faith speaks more clearly to the sanctity of life and the design of marriage and sexuality than it does about environmental or welfare policy. And for now at least, the “Right” side of the political spectrum is somewhat sympathetic to pro-life and marriage convictions.

Although some would like to paint Northland Church as a story of what happens when an evangelical pastor abandons the “religious right,” it seems more a cautionary tale of making the political sphere the focus of a church and conflating the things of God and Caesar.

The Church is built on faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. As such, the truth of the Gospel should be the central message of all Christians, especially those in pastoral ministry. As the Christian faith has implications for our interaction with the world and its renewal, politics can play some role in the Christian life. But Hunter has made a political agenda central to his public witness. Perhaps that reality, more than merely bidding farewell to Republican Party loyalty is why people are leaving his church.

 

Update on the Sovereign Grace Ministries Lawsuit

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Church, Evangelicals, IRD Blog, Kristin Rudolph, Lawsuit, sex abuse, Sovereign Grace Ministries

(Credit: pastormattblog.com)

Kristin Rudolph (@Kristin_Rudolph)

Since my last report on the Sovereign Grace Ministries lawsuit in May, more developments have unfolded in this horrific ordeal. For an in-depth overview of the situation, see my last article on the topic. To sum up the events though, back in October 2012 three women represented by attorney Susan Burke filed a civil lawsuit in Montgomery County, MD accusing SGM and various of its leaders and churches of covering up and failing to report child sex abuse crimes through the 1980s and 90s.

In May 2013 eleven plaintiffs signed onto the second amendment of the lawsuit and Burke stated there were even more. The civil suit was largely dismissed for the expired statute of limitations, but criminal investigations are in the works and the plaintiffs have filed an appeal.

SGM is a network of about 80 “evangelical, Reformed, and charismatic” churches led, until a few months, ago by C.J. Mahaney. SGM was headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD until their recent relocation to Louisville, KY.

A major concern in this situation was the silence of well-known pastors and leaders close to Mahaney and SGM. Very little was said concerning the lawsuit outside the rumblings of lesser known bloggers. Shortly after the lawsuit was dismissed, two major evangelical organizations with close ties to SGM and its leader C.J. Mahaney (who is among the defendants in the lawsuit) commented. Within hours of each other, Together for the Gospel (T4G) and members of The Gospel Coalition (TGC) issued statements explaining their silence resulted from hesitation due to the complex nature of the lawsuit and their close friendship with Mahaney.

TGC’s letter was signed by Don Carson, Kevin DeYoung, and Justin Taylor. It specifies that the letter does not represent the views of all associated with TGC. Neither statement calls for Mahaney to step back from public ministry until the allegations and lawsuit are resolved. The three members who make up T4G with Mahaney – Al Mohler, Mark Dever, and Ligon Duncan – received criticism for stating that Mahaney was merely accused of “founding a ministry and for teaching doctrines and principles that are held to be true by vast millions of American evangelicals. For this reason, we, along with many others, refused to step away from C. J. in any way.”

The statement was recently removed from T4G’s website and replaced with a letter from Mahaney explaining why he will not be speaking at the group’s 2014 conference. In the letter dated July 1 Mahaney writes: “Unfortunately, the civil lawsuit filed against Sovereign Grace Ministries, two former SGM churches and pastors (including myself), continues to generate the type of attention that could subject my friends to unfair and unwarranted criticism. Though dismissed in May (and now on appeal), the lawsuit could prove a distraction from the purpose of this important conference. My withdrawal is not intended to communicate anything about the merits of the suit.”

Others in the evangelical community have used this circumstance as an opportunity to address how churches should prevent, and if necessary, deal with child sexual abuse. The Southern Baptist Convention, at its recent annual meeting in Houston passed a resolution titled “On Sexual Abuse of Children” urging churches to vigilantly screen prospective staff members – particularly those working with children – and comply with legal obligations by reporting abuse to the authorities, among other things.

In addition, the resolution encourages “all denominational leaders and employees of the Southern Baptist Convention to utilize the highest sense of discernment in affiliating with groups and or individuals that possess questionable policies and practices in protecting our children from criminal abuse.”

Further, Boz Tchividjian founder and Executive director of GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment) has been critical of how evangelical leaders have publicly handled this tragic situation. Tchividjian, grandson of Billy Graham and brother of TGC member Tullian Tchividjian, stated in a post on the GRACE website that “the heart of this lawsuit is about a systematic church effort to discourage and eventually prevent the families of children who were allegedly (and repeatedly) sexually victimized by church officials from speaking out and reporting to law enforcement.”

He continues: “A Gospel-centered response to child sexual abuse begins with our understanding that silence is not an option. We must be willing to openly confront abuse and its surrounding silence and give of ourselves so that those impacted can experience the healing and transformative power of Jesus.”

As the appeal goes to trial and the criminal investigations proceed, we can only pray justice prevails and that moving forward, churches and ministries will do all in their power to protect children from violation.

Catholics, Evangelicals, Others Join Forces for Religious Liberty

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abortion, Catholic, Christianity, Contraception, HHS Mandate, Institute on Religion and Democracy, Kristin Rudolph, religious freedom

(Credit: Diocese of Scranton)

Kristin Rudolph (@Kristin_Rudolph)

Yesterday (July 2) a group of inter-religious leaders released a letter responding to the Obama Administration’s Health and Human Services (HHS) final version of its contraceptive insurance coverage mandate. In a press conference at Washington D.C.’s National Press Club, four signatories gave statements explaining how the HHS contraceptive and abortifacient mandate violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment guarantee of religious freedom.

Dr. Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Convention expressed frustration at Obama Administration’s response to religious liberty pleas, stating: “the government has given us word games and accounting tricks that amount to the same mandate, over and over again.”

“Our religious convictions inform the way we live,” Moore said. “We support freedom of conscience not only for ourselves, but for all,” he continued. Even those who do not profess religious belief “have an interest in the protection of these liberties … If the federal government can force organizations and businesses to pave over their own consciences … what will stop the government from imposing its will on your conscience next?”

Archbishop William Lori of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore pointed out the HHS mandate “divides our Church into three separate camp: houses of worship v. ‘accommodated’ religious institutions v. for-profit entities run by religious leaders.” He explained “the faith by which we worship on Sunday is the very same faith by which we act in the world the other six days of the week.” He noted the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) “is still analyzing the specifics of the ‘accommodation’ … [but is] ‘very similar’ to its February 2013 proposal.”

Dr. Anne Hendershott, a self-described “pro-life Catholic” and sociologist at Franciscan University of Steubenville said she has “been happy to teach in schools where I would not be asked to contribute to causes that are contrary to what my Church teaches.” But now, the HHS mandate “will require me – as a faithful Catholic – to purchase insurance that my Church teaches is seriously immoral,” she explained.

“There are now over 60 total lawsuits against the mandate,” she said, and although lawsuits brought by religious non-profits like Franciscan University have been dismissed on grounds that they have not yet been injured by the mandate, Hendershott said “We have already been injured by this unjust mandate because our constitutional right to religious freedom has already been compromised … There is every indication that this will escalate.”

Dr. Yuri Mantilla, a professor of law at Liberty University School of Law emphasized the international recognition of religious freedom rights found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and promoted by the US around the world. “Violations of religious freedom in the United States and abroad are unacceptable. This is especially the case when they involve the protection of innocent human life … It is time to restore the great American tradition of respect for religious freedom as a fundamental civil right,” he stated.

“We think the issue here is the principle of conscience and free exercise of religion,” Moore stated in the Q&A time. He pointed out Americans already have broad freedom to use whatever contraception they choose, but it is an affront to religious liberty to expect those with moral objections to provide birth control, sterilization procedures, or abortifacients.

Archbishop Lori added that business and institutions have a particular “ethos” and prospective employees can turn down a job if they disagree with a potential employer’s view on contraceptives.

Moore said the next step is to “not back down,” continue petitioning the Obama Administration to reconsider, and “work with members of Congress toward a legislative solution.”

The letter’s signatories come from a wide variety of Christian denominations, including evangelical, mainline, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic traditions. IRD President Mark Tooley signed the letter and his account of the press conference can be found here.

The text of the letter is below.

Standing Together for Religious Freedom

We write as an informal and diverse group of religious leaders, theologians, lay practitioners and community servants. We believe the doctrines of our respective faiths require something of us beyond the walls of our churches, synagogues, temples, and other places of worship. Those faith convictions manifest themselves through our daily interactions among family, neighbors, strangers and institutions.

Further, we recognize the United States, at its best, is unique among the nations of the world when it defends the self-evident freedom of all people to exercise their faith according to the dictates of their consciences. This freedom contributes to the vibrancy of our nation. Unfortunately, this delicate liberty of conscience is under threat.

Through its contraceptive coverage mandate, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) continues to breach universal principles affirmed and protected by the U.S. Constitution and other federal laws. While the mandate is a specific offense, it represents a greater fundamental breach of conscience by the federal government. Very simply, HHS is forcing Citizen A, against his or her moral convictions, to purchase a product for Citizen B. The HHS policy is coercive and puts the administration in the position of defining–or casting aside–religious doctrine. This should trouble every American.

Many of the signatories on this letter do not hold doctrinal objections to the use of contraception. Yet we stand united in protest to this mandate, recognizing the encroachment on the conscience of our fellow citizens. Whether or not we agree with the particular conscientious objection is beside the point. HHS continues to deny many Americans the freedom to manifest their beliefs through practice and observance in their daily lives.

The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Free exercise includes the freedom to order one’s life, liberties and pursuits in accordance with his or her convictions. HHS breaches the free exercise clause and federal statutes (passed with broad bipartisan support) by selectively denying some Americans this constitutionally protected right.

Americans afford each other broad liberties with respect to lifestyle choices. However, the federal government has neither a compelling interest nor the appropriate authority to coerce one citizen to fund or facilitate specific lifestyle choices of another. If the federal government can force morally opposed individuals to purchase contraception or abortion-causing drugs and devices for a third party, what prevents this or future administrations from forcing other Americans to betray their deeply held convictions?

Therefore, we call upon HHS to, at a minimum, expand conscience protections under the mandate to cover any organization or individual that has religious or moral objections to covering, providing or enabling access to the mandated drugs and services. Further, because HHS claims to be acting on authority granted it by Congress, we ask Congress to consider how it might prevent such offenses from occurring in the future. Any policy that falls short of affirming full religious freedom protection for all Americans is unacceptable.

Signatories and the original letter can be found here.

A Southern Baptist Response to Same-Sex Marriage

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Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, evangelical, Institute on Religion and Democracy, Kristin Rudolph, marriage, Russell Moore, Southern Baptist Convention

(Credit: OneWed.com)

Kristin Rudolph (@Kristin_Rudolph)

Two weeks before the Supreme Court announced its decision on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the Southern Baptist Convention hosted discussions on the topic of marriage at its annual meeting on June 11 – 12 in Houston, TX. Dr. Russell Moore, the new president of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) directed conversations considering the implications of redefining marriage, and the broader challenges Evangelical Christians face in a culture that devalues marriage.

Moore said in a panel discussion that evangelicals “Have been slow train sexual revolutionaries. We adapt to whatever the last generation already accommodated to when it comes to marriage and sexuality,” which is why “homosexuality seems as normal to a 15 year old right now in our culture as divorce seems to a 45 year old in this culture.”

David Platt, a pastor and author emphasized the importance of consistency regarding all aspects of marriage, including divorce, within the church. “If we are not willing to do church discipline when necessary … then it’s going to ring very hollow,” he warned. To single out homosexuality and ignore other areas of sin amounts to “selective moral outrage.”

Moore urged pastors to get serious about wedding ceremonies in their churches, and recognize from a Christian perspective they are not intended to be a “celebration of the love of the couple … [instead] the marriage ceremony is about the people of God gathered as witnesses saying we are holding this couple accountable for the vows that are being made.”

Pastor J.D. Greear pointed out “We’re in a unique moment for the Gospel” with the differences between Christians and the culture growing increasingly stark. In response to holding to convictions concerning marriage, Greear said “We know we’re going to be spoken about as evil doers.”

In another session addressing questions from the “next generation” of SBC leaders, Moore criticized evangelical attempts to mold cultural mores to appear more Christian. In this process, he lamented “Evangelicalism was watered down.” He explained how “the last generation of evangelical Christianity wanted to remove the freakishness of Christianity in order to say ‘we’re really just good old Americans just like you are and if you add a little bit of Jesus to this you’re going to have an even better life than you have right now.’”

But this “freakishness” is the very thing that gives Christians a voice. Moore said “the influence that we have is not going to be because we are so big, it is not going to be because we have so much power, it is going to be because we are so strange.”

Further, instead of extreme sexual practices such as polygamy becoming mainstream as a result of redefining marriage, Moore predicted it is more likely that marriage will simply “become relatively meaningless in the way that it is in some more secularized societies right now.” As less people marry into lifelong, life producing unions, and cohabitate, marry multiple times, or are generally sexually permissive, Christians who live chaste lives in singleness or marriage will indeed look “freakish.”

Rather than focus narrowly on raising money for political campaigns and agendas, Moore said evangelicals should “love the people around us enough to have conversations with them. Not just have conversations about them.”

He pointed out that “we’re going to say things that are so strange that they are going to prompt further conversation. They’re going to shut down some conversation, but they’re going to prompt conversation.” Moore continued: “I honestly think the things that are going on right now in American culture, as sad as they are in the short term, in the long term, enable a very good recovery of evangelical Christianity.”

Following the Supreme Court’s rulings, the ERLC released a document outlining the changes resulting from the decision and the faithful Christian response. The brief document urges churches to love their gay and lesbian neighbors, remain calm in the face of shifting cultural morals, and strengthen their own commitment to preaching and practicing Christian marriage with integrity.