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Location:
6425 Jefferson Rd. For
directions, click here.
THE
METHODIST
CONNECTION From I
believe, however, that the lay
leadership of the church doesn't have
to be protected from controversial
issues of our day. We can be counted on
to handle the tough matters. Today,
one of the toughest areas of
theological debate revolves around
several issues raised in Bishop Joseph
Sprague's 2002 address
at Iliff School of Theology. Bishop
Sprague oversees the Northern Illinois
area of the United Methodist
Church. In
his address, and in a subsequent
book
released late last year, Bishop
Sprague, a duly elected leader of our
denomination, argued against some of
the very doctrines he has sworn to
uphold, even going so far as to dismiss
the bodily resurrection of Jesus
Christ. If
you haven't read Bishop Sprague's
address and the critical responses
issued by some of our Southeastern
Jurisdiction bishops, let me encourage
you to do so (click the links in this
article). No
one likes controversy, so our first
reaction is to all this is to try to
shove it under the table and ignore it.
That would be a huge
mistake. Indeed,
our North Georgia Bishop, Lindsey
Davis, believes the public discussion
of these issues ultimately will be good
for our denomination, because it will
serve to clarify what we really
believe. Two
of the bishops who have publicly
challenged Bishop's Sprague's views are
Florida
Bishop Timothy
Whitaker
and North
Carolina Bishop Marion
Edwards. Recently,
your North Georgia Conference Board of
Laity passed a resolution
supporting these two men for
demonstrating leadership in this
matter. In
addition, the Conference Lay Leaders of
the Southeastern Jurisdiction have
issued a joint "Statement
of Support and
Concern"
about this controversy, which reads as
follows: We
believe this discussion is critical
to the future of the UMC. We also
believe it is within the authority
and responsibility of our bishops to
address such issues and to give
their advice and understanding to
the church. We
also believe our general church has
serious and dramatic internal
disagreements regarding Christian
doctrine that are tearing at the
very fabric of our denomination.
This
wide divergence in interpretation of
doctrine has become detrimental to
our working in covenant with one
another as the United Methodist
Church. Mutual understanding of our
core theological doctrine is
essential to our ability to commit
to one another in Christian
fellowship and to make disciples of
Jesus Christ. We
support the historic theological
beliefs and Wesleyan heritage of the
United Methodist Church. The
continued affirmation of our
historic theological doctrine and
Wesleyan heritage needs to be among
the most significant work of our
[bishops] and clergy
leadership, as well as among our
laity.
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens,
Georgia.
Ministry
of the
Word:
Recent
sermons
Our quarterly e-magazine
Gateway
Today
For the Gateway family
The
Gateway
Blog
(online
newsletter)
Gateway
Today
The
e-magazine of
Gateway Church
WINTER
2003
Contending
for the faith:
Lay people are letting
their voices be heard
North Georgia Conference Lay
Leader
Throughout the history of the Church
most tough theological issues have been
handled by clergy. The laity have been
left out of the debate.
Clear
responsesWe
express our appreciation to our
[bishops] who have offered
clarification and dialogue to laity
and clergy regarding the recent
address by Bishop Sprague concerning
the nature, personhood, divinity,
humanity, incarnation and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Joe
Whittemore, a member of Hartwell First
UMC, was elected North Georgia
Conference lay leader in
2000.