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Forgetting How to Blush

10th April 2014

Forgetting How to Blush: United Methodism's Compromise with the Sexual Revolution 

(Bristol House, Fort Valley GA, 2012)

Karen Booth's book is a fascinating account of a major US denomination's journey in tandem with the sexual revolution within the wider society. The title is excellent and one that we could well use in parts of our society as well. It comes from Jeremiah (in several references but one will suffice: Jeremiah 6: 15 "Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them," says the LORD."
Karen is presently the director of Transforming Congregations, an organisation that aims to "help train and empower local church leaders so they can reach out with faithfulness and compassion to the sexually confused, broken and sinful in their midst." , based on 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7: "Equipping the Church to model and minister sanctified sexuality."
Transforming Congregations is now an official Program of Good News, the largest and oldest renewal and reform ministry within the United Methodist Church (UMC).
This is a very helpful and detailed book as church events are related to the influence of societal and educational changes, especially through certain key leaders such as the now quite discredited so called sex ‘researcher' Kinsey. It was also illuminating to learn that for the UMC, one church figure in particular was clearly very influential - Rev. Dr Ted Mcllvenna, who has become a celebrated gay rights figure (though not homosexual himself). I even found an article on him entitled The Porn-Again Minister highlighting his extensive collection of pornography and involvement in liberal sexual education movements. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4710272/The-porn-again-minister.html).
The book follows the major studies and programmes initiated by the UMC and shows how the liberal direction was started and developed. It provides helpful background to a denomination not dissimilar to the Uniting Church, though more complex due to its size and number of ministers, specialised ministries and range of congregations. There are simply many more people able to be involved in liberal and sexual experimentation and to press for change. It was sobering to read a more detailed analysis of the protests by various liberal groups and their supporters that have been conducted at the four yearly General Methodist Conferences since the early 1970s. UCA members would probably be amazed to learn about these quite strident protests about the UMC position on sexual practice for Christians, and the general lack of respect for the operation and arrangements of the Conference. Despite the protests, the General Conference of the UMC has continually affirmed a normative Christian sexual ethic, though this seems to engage libertarian activism among some UMC ministers and members even more, and as the website Juicy Ecumenism has pointed out, even over the last 12 months there have been a variety of practices and activities within the liberal leaning lobby organisations that need to be highlighted so people can be aware of the extent of the issues involved.(see: http://juicyecumenism.com/2013/10/04/19488/)
There is an important section at the end in the context of ‘remembering how to blush' that discusses the issues associated with the idea of the ‘third way' that I found very insightful. There is promoted in some quarters the idea that a third way will be found that will allow everyone to live in harmony and peace (my paraphrasing). This is a difficult area for all of us in the institutional church. I can appreciate the ideal of this if the person is sincere and genuinely though perhaps naively wanting to maintain denominational unity, but for those of us who have seen this debate over too many years in the wider church, you would understand that the third way often simply means that those who hold traditional and biblical understandings of sexual practice are helped to compromise even further by ‘well-meaning' liberals who are simply manipulating the arrangements to suit their own desired outcomes. I think Rod James's discussion of the two ways in relation to the UCA is illuminative of the issues here: Why' Gay Marriage' is not good for Australia (ACCatalyst September 2013).
Rod outlines that the slant road the UCA is on simply contains an increasing number of bridges to be crossed. The present dominant group wants to imply once you cross this bridge it will be all be okay again, but across the bridge there is another bridge. The narrow way has been far removed and the broad way with many bridges waits.
Other helpful features in the book are a timeline of events and developments; outlines of various organisations and detailed appendices. Though there is a tremendous amount of information, I found this book to be quite a pastoral journey as well, as it interweaves Karen's own story and her pastor's heart, with that of people called Methodist and the call to be holy among the broken and deluded world.
Peter Bentley
National Director of the ACC

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