Scandalize My Name
I met my brother the other day
And gave him my right hand
As soon as ever my back was turned
He scandalized my name
Now do you call that a brother? (No, no)
You call that a brother? (No, no)
You call that a brother (No, no)
Scandalize my name.
I met my sister the other day
And gave her my right hand
As soon as ever my back was turned
She too scandalized my name
Now do you call that a sister? (No, no)
You call that a sister? (No, no)
You call that a sister? (No, no)
Scandalize my name.
I met my preacher the other day
And gave him my right hand
As soon as ever my back was turned
He too scandalized my name
Now do you call that religion? (No, no)
You call that religion? (No, no)
You call that religion? (No, no)
Scandalize my name.
The United Methodist Pooh-bahs are in full cry against those seeking to disaffiliate from their denomination. They accuse us Global Methodists of all sorts of unethical behavior and icky beliefs. Well, consider the source.
They say we’re all just a bunch of angry White people. Well, if you want to see some angry White people, take a look at the current pale eminences of The UMC. The typical progressive is a college-educated White person justifying one’s holding a cushy job by talking about how good an “ally” he or she is to other sorts of people who would love to have that job, but don’t seem to get a shot at it.
Now, we are pretty white here in the Midwest. But the ugly little truth is that The UMC is getting ever whiter, too. We used to say that if all the White people in The UMC were taken out of consideration, The UMC would be one of the largest African-American denominations in the country. I don’t know if that’s still so, but last year before I transferred I asked for a list of African-American congregations in the Indiana Annual Conference for a research project I was doing for my Scout Council. I was shocked to see the pitiful number remaining. I looked in vain for several Black churches I remembered from over my career in one District after another. Nope. Small, marginal Black churches closing is as much a feature of United Methodism as small, marginal White churches closing – and there were fewer Black churches to start with. So, sure, many UM Conferences have lots of African-Americans in the big offices, but they are usually hired in from somewhere else; things are pretty anemic in the ranks of actual African-American UM congregations.
Looking over the GMC folks I know for myself, I see two Asian-American members on our TCAT, the team putting together the new GMC Conference in the Midwest. I spoke extensively with an African-American clergyperson at our recent Breathe event about how A-A pastors in urban areas feel about the current situation; it was a helpful discussion. We are in conversation with a number of other ethnic congregations seeking to disaffiliate in our region. And I get a fair number of requests from Africans I know (from Africa) about how to join the GMC; if you think the news is hard to find out here, it’s positively smothered overseas. We Globers also talk a fair bit among ourselves about reaching unreached groups, like, say, the working class. That can be a bit of a stretch for those of us with the fancy edjumacations. White collar (or, I suppose nowadays, khaki-and-polo-corporate) congregations are an over-ploughed mission field. The people who need Jesus that nobody’s talking to are White and Hispanic and immigrants at the lower end of the SES/education ladder. What’s The UMC got for them, eh?
I’ve also heard that the GMC won’t give women pastors a fair shake. Perhaps someone ought to talk to the women pastors in the GMC. There sure seem to be plenty of them, and they seem excited to be here. And I see women, both clergy and laity, in many leadership slots. Nobody on the GMC side seems to think there is anything unusual about that. Remember, the people who led the way on ordaining women were the conservative denominations within the larger Wesleyan/Arminian family.
Other people say we’re obsessed with sexuality issues. Oh, come on. The people obsessed with sexuality issues are the progressives. They can talk of little else, and they are willing to destroy their denomination in order to promote an ideology that celebrates ever-more-bizarre behaviors. Me, I’ve talked more about Christology than sexuality since joining the GMC last year, especially as regards clergy standards. Given that the vast majority of upper-echelon UM leaders are Unitarians and whatnot, the more pressing need is to clarify what we actually expect preachers to believe and preach. Doctrinal standards don’t mean anything if they’re just words on a page in a book nobody reads. Meanwhile, I spoke with a friend who is staying UM last weekend. He disagrees with me about sexuality issues, but volunteered that many of the little churches he sees heading for the exits aren’t even thinking of sexuality. They’re tired of the incompetence, neglect, and abuse by their pampered prelates; they have years of reasons for leaving before they get around to talking about sex.
No doubt it hurts to see so many people you thought you were leading scrambling to get out of your denomination. The slow-motion schism turns out to be a repeated rebuke to UM leadership, whose smiles are looking pretty glacial and whose grumblings about the new denomination in town grow ever more dyspeptic. I feel sorry for them sometimes. But I feel sorrier for the people who are whistling past the graveyard, hoping against hope that there is a future for congregations of orthodox believers in the post-separation UMC.
And gave him my right hand
As soon as ever my back was turned
He scandalized my name
Now do you call that a brother? (No, no)
You call that a brother? (No, no)
You call that a brother (No, no)
Scandalize my name.
I met my sister the other day
And gave her my right hand
As soon as ever my back was turned
She too scandalized my name
Now do you call that a sister? (No, no)
You call that a sister? (No, no)
You call that a sister? (No, no)
Scandalize my name.
I met my preacher the other day
And gave him my right hand
As soon as ever my back was turned
He too scandalized my name
Now do you call that religion? (No, no)
You call that religion? (No, no)
You call that religion? (No, no)
Scandalize my name.
The United Methodist Pooh-bahs are in full cry against those seeking to disaffiliate from their denomination. They accuse us Global Methodists of all sorts of unethical behavior and icky beliefs. Well, consider the source.
They say we’re all just a bunch of angry White people. Well, if you want to see some angry White people, take a look at the current pale eminences of The UMC. The typical progressive is a college-educated White person justifying one’s holding a cushy job by talking about how good an “ally” he or she is to other sorts of people who would love to have that job, but don’t seem to get a shot at it.
Now, we are pretty white here in the Midwest. But the ugly little truth is that The UMC is getting ever whiter, too. We used to say that if all the White people in The UMC were taken out of consideration, The UMC would be one of the largest African-American denominations in the country. I don’t know if that’s still so, but last year before I transferred I asked for a list of African-American congregations in the Indiana Annual Conference for a research project I was doing for my Scout Council. I was shocked to see the pitiful number remaining. I looked in vain for several Black churches I remembered from over my career in one District after another. Nope. Small, marginal Black churches closing is as much a feature of United Methodism as small, marginal White churches closing – and there were fewer Black churches to start with. So, sure, many UM Conferences have lots of African-Americans in the big offices, but they are usually hired in from somewhere else; things are pretty anemic in the ranks of actual African-American UM congregations.
Looking over the GMC folks I know for myself, I see two Asian-American members on our TCAT, the team putting together the new GMC Conference in the Midwest. I spoke extensively with an African-American clergyperson at our recent Breathe event about how A-A pastors in urban areas feel about the current situation; it was a helpful discussion. We are in conversation with a number of other ethnic congregations seeking to disaffiliate in our region. And I get a fair number of requests from Africans I know (from Africa) about how to join the GMC; if you think the news is hard to find out here, it’s positively smothered overseas. We Globers also talk a fair bit among ourselves about reaching unreached groups, like, say, the working class. That can be a bit of a stretch for those of us with the fancy edjumacations. White collar (or, I suppose nowadays, khaki-and-polo-corporate) congregations are an over-ploughed mission field. The people who need Jesus that nobody’s talking to are White and Hispanic and immigrants at the lower end of the SES/education ladder. What’s The UMC got for them, eh?
I’ve also heard that the GMC won’t give women pastors a fair shake. Perhaps someone ought to talk to the women pastors in the GMC. There sure seem to be plenty of them, and they seem excited to be here. And I see women, both clergy and laity, in many leadership slots. Nobody on the GMC side seems to think there is anything unusual about that. Remember, the people who led the way on ordaining women were the conservative denominations within the larger Wesleyan/Arminian family.
Other people say we’re obsessed with sexuality issues. Oh, come on. The people obsessed with sexuality issues are the progressives. They can talk of little else, and they are willing to destroy their denomination in order to promote an ideology that celebrates ever-more-bizarre behaviors. Me, I’ve talked more about Christology than sexuality since joining the GMC last year, especially as regards clergy standards. Given that the vast majority of upper-echelon UM leaders are Unitarians and whatnot, the more pressing need is to clarify what we actually expect preachers to believe and preach. Doctrinal standards don’t mean anything if they’re just words on a page in a book nobody reads. Meanwhile, I spoke with a friend who is staying UM last weekend. He disagrees with me about sexuality issues, but volunteered that many of the little churches he sees heading for the exits aren’t even thinking of sexuality. They’re tired of the incompetence, neglect, and abuse by their pampered prelates; they have years of reasons for leaving before they get around to talking about sex.
No doubt it hurts to see so many people you thought you were leading scrambling to get out of your denomination. The slow-motion schism turns out to be a repeated rebuke to UM leadership, whose smiles are looking pretty glacial and whose grumblings about the new denomination in town grow ever more dyspeptic. I feel sorry for them sometimes. But I feel sorrier for the people who are whistling past the graveyard, hoping against hope that there is a future for congregations of orthodox believers in the post-separation UMC.