We are busy people, however if you want to have an impact in the future of this denomination that so many love then GET INVOLVED!
As members of The United Methodist Church you have a say in what shapes us as a denomination but your voice can only be heard if you speak up.
Ronnie
You can find this article @ http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/civil-religion/uncategorized/2008/07/united-methodist-church-becomes-more-pro-life/all-comments/
National Right to Life News, June, 2008 reports that the United Methodist Church iscontinuing to move in the pro-life direction.
Back in 1972 the church, America’s second-largest Protestant denomination, officially endorsed legalized abortion, going so far at one point to state that legalized abortion was “in continuity with past Christian teaching.”
What a difference 36 years makes. While the church is still affiliated with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), the recent vote to maintain this alliance was by a margin of only 32 votes out of 800 cast. This was a closer vote than at any previous conference.
Meanwhile, the April 23-May 2 General Conference of the policymaking body decided to:
“Affirm and encourage the Church to assist the ministry of crisis pregnancy centers and pregnancy resource centers that compassionately help women find feasible alternatives to abortion.”
Delete from a previously adopted statement the assertion that supporting legalized abortion was somehow “[i]n continuity with past Christian teaching.”
Replace “pro-choice” language in that same statement about “unacceptable pregnanc[ies]” with the pro-life assertion that “we are equally bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother and the unborn child.”
Decry the international problem of gender-selective abortions, while describing abortion as something that is “violent” and to be opposed when chosen for “trivial reasons.”
Support adult “notification and consent” for minors seeking abortions.
“Reject euthanasia and pressure upon the dying to end their lives.”
These changes are due in large part to Methodists who have stayed within their denomination to witness to the sanctity of vulnerable human life. LifeWatch, a United Methodist taskforce, has a contact number in the St. Louis area: 636-294-2344.