by Lloyd T. Nyarota,
December 9, 2020
"Special to United Methodist Insight" -- used by permission.
American exceptionalism plays a crucial role for United Methodist traditionalists in defining their worldview and reaction to situations in the global church. They have difficulty admitting failure with humility; instead, they have a tendency to blame and break the institution, burn the house and point to everyone else but themselves as the problem. Sadly, this evil persists today in our denomination.
At this time when the world is faced with a pandemic and we are united in our efforts to overcome the coronavirus, some within the denomination still choose the evil path of neocolonialism in church politics. Recently Good News magazine and the Wesleyan Covenant Association published articles purporting to interpret the significance of the Christmas Covenant and the statement by the African bishops. Yet the articles display the neocolonial and imperialistic characteristics of some members of the so-called Reform and Renewal Coalition. They attempt to position themselves as spokespersons of United Methodists in Africa, an attitude devoid of respect that undermines the humanity of African people.
The first thing that struck me about these articles was how the writers look at The United Methodist Church as purely an American Church. As reflected by these writings, everything United Methodist must be interpreted from an American perspective and must fit the American version of what they have called the orthodox church, whatever that means. The two writers seem to claim that whatever happens in the USA represents the global church.
As the writers are people prone to cause and promote conflict, through the Good News and WCA articles they decided to go straight into the divisions they have helped create in the church in the USA. They began by labeling everything they do not understand or like as being the other side of the division they have created over the years. Thomas Lambrecht of Good News quickly labeled the Christmas Covenant a “centrist and progressive promoted proposal.” Walter Fenton of the Wesleyan Covenant Association termed the African bishops’ statement as not sharing a united position of all African bishops and lacking substance. We need to remind our friends in Christ that they do not have the monopoly of knowledge and a tendency to act as if they do falls short of the gospel invitation for equal consideration of the humanity of all people, created in the image of God.
In the history of The United Methodist Church, it is without doubt that major proposals and conversations related to the life of the church have been written by U. S. United Methodists. Most of these proposals have followed lines of division that have been intentionally created by some who had it in their strategic plans to create chaos. It is in this view that our friends from Good News and WCA have taken to describe anything not fitting their narrative as coming from the other side of the division they have thrived on over the years.
In a world filled with fake news and propaganda for the sake of advancing partisan interests, it is imperative to remind our friends of the need to speak the truth, even when it is not favorable to their cause. To intentionally engage in misinformation campaigns with the ultimate purpose of sowing division and distrust in Central Conferences is regrettable. When African bishops are clear that they are not going to let U. S. United Methodists make decisions and force them down everyone else’s throats, that statement should be an awakening call to friends with neocolonial tendencies to repent of their sin.
The Christmas Covenant
The Christmas Covenant was written by people in the Central Conferences, that is, Africa, Philippines and Europe. Instead of continuing to be divided, Central Conferences decided to come together, working with their bishops and wrote the Christmas Covenant before the Protocol of Grace & Reconciliation Through Separation was released. The Christmas Covenant was released on December 19, 2019 and continued to be perfected until it was passed in the Cavite Conference, Philippines, in February 2020.
Many of us from Africa are working together with other Central Conferences’ like-minded people to come up with ways The United Methodist Church can function under one Book of Discipline and one General Conference without anyone imposing their practices and beliefs on the rest of the church, recognizing that each region is in ministry in their distinctive contexts and cultures. We are not going to form another denomination or be autonomous or fight with anyone. Our understanding of Christianity is hospitality, love, peace, and justice.
To the fallacious claims circulated by the Good News article on the Christmas Covenant, it is helpful to establish some facts. The Christmas Covenant seeks to bring about regional equity and allow United Methodists to engage in ministry, respecting the contextual differences without some imposing their views on others. No regional conference, annual conference, local church or clergy will be forced to undertake actions they consider contrary to their conscience. The Christmas Covenant empowers United Methodist conferences and churches across the world to focus on their ministry priorities than politically motivated agendas set by caucuses such as Good News and the WCA.
To view the Christmas Covenant through the obsessed lens of dichotomy on same-sex relations in The United Methodist Church is to misread the legislation. The legislation recognizes our current situation where Central Conferences have the possibility to adapt certain sections of the discipline and have done so, except the United States of America which then imposes regional conversations to the global church. That is why we end up with the USA using General Conference as the only place to discuss their regional issues that do not affect the rest of the connection. We already have some major regional differences as a denomination, such as standards for ordination. Therefore, to claim that regional conferences would impose different standards is simply propaganda; different standards already exist.
Africans don’t belong to labels
As to the claim that the Christmas Covenant is a “centrist-progressive” document, as an African I would like to make the point clear that in Africa we don’t categorize United Methodists into labeled groups. We see ourselves simply as people of The United Methodist Church. There are no centrists, no progressives or traditionalists. Our bishops were clear that we in Africa do not identify with the so-called U. S. traditionalists. We are not part of them, we are not part of any U. S. divisions. In fact, the word “traditionalist” in most parts of Africa refers to something quite different and unchristian. Most Christians in Africa would never refer to themselves as “traditionalists” unless they are parroting something they have been told by neocolonialists like the writers of the Good News and WCA articles.
Given that the Christmas Covenant was written by people from Central Conferences, reading an article published by Good News magazine seeking to spread misinterpretations and demean the document was not much of a surprise. Also, the WCA article trying to demean the statement of the African bishops was not a surprise, as they have always been using their representatives to undermine our bishops and divide the church in Africa.
Most of us know that Good News was founded on the principles of demeaning, undermining and contempt of anything African and of third-world theology. The founder of Good News, the Rev. Charles Keysor, labeled liberation theology and Black theology as theologies not founded on God. This was a white supremacist statement based on white supremacist theology that always seeks to undermine anything from Africa and the Two-Thirds World. Liberation and Black theologies were developed in Latin America, Africa, and other regions that fought against colonialism. It is apparent through the writings and practices of Good News that they are living up to their legacy of upholding colonial and white supremacist views as truth to demonize anything contrary to their views. It is unfortunate that the WCA has joined this narrative approach of spreading white supremacist and neocolonial ideas. The articles by Good News and WCA simply demonstrate that the two institutions despise anything originating from Africa and the Philippines.
Some may wonder why the emphasis on the history of Good News and denouncing such practices openly. It is because of our commitment and baptismal vow to reject evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms it presents itself and one must recognize that neocolonialism and supremacist practices are evil. As colonialists the writers decided to read the Christmas Covenant and the statement of the African Bishops through their U.S. colonial eyes. They ignored the emphasis on the anti-colonial position in the proposal and the bishops’ statement. They decided to engage in the manipulation of information, something they have done well in the past few years to undermine our bishops and the unity of the church in Africa.
Attack on African bishops
A June article in a new publication, “Firebrand,” was an attack on African bishops labeling them as lacking vision for the church because they have been resisting control by the Reform and Renewal Coalition. The “Firebrand” article was a precursor to two articles that were later published by Good News also undermining and attacking African Bishops, especially in the Congo Central Conference and in the North Katanga Annual Conference. It is worth knowing that these articles were a follow-up of letters directly written to the African bishops by the WCA president of trying to direct them on how to lead and administer their episcopal areas. Both WCA and Good News have been undermining African bishops through three representatives they have planted in each of the three African Central Conferences. Such an approach has been rebuked by United Methodists in Africa who, despite these three persons being supported by the WCA, failed in their previous bids to be elected bishop.
It is no secret that Good News and the WCA are bidding for their new denomination, which has been rejected by the Africans who’ve said publicly that they intend to stay with the UMC. Unfortunately, Good News and the WCA still want to talk for The United Methodist Church as they feel the need to control everything in the world. This “scorched earth” policy sows seeds of division before their final exit. They have adopted the attitude we are witnessing in U.S. President Donald Trump and the Republican Party: when you lose support, blame everyone and destroy the confidence of the people in the institution.
The WCA continues to try and save the Protocol and defend the $25 million financial gift it contains for a new denomination. Africans have been clear that the Protocol has been an American conflict settlement. This was an agreement by the Americans for the Americans negotiated in America. From the day it was published Africa rejected it because we were never involved in those negotiations where the Reform and Renewal Coalition claimed they were representing African views behind closed doors. When even the WCA’s African allies objected to the Protocol negotiations, the Reform and Renewal Coalition organized a clandestine meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa. WCA president Rev. Keith Boyette is on record that he went to Africa with a delegation, gathered their usual group of allies without the knowledge of African bishops and created a statement signed by those same WCA allies to pursue division of the church.
I have seen a letter written by Rev. Boyette to some African bishops in which he admitted that he organized and led the Johannesburg gathering. Rev. Boyette’s letter was an attempt to follow up on a prior letter written by the Rev. Jerry Kulah of Liberia, coordinator of another unofficial group with ties to Good News and the WCA, the UMC Africa Initiative. Both the Boyette and Kulah letters attempted to tell bishops how they should provide leadership in their areas. When those letters failed to achieve the intended results, they were followed up by the “Firebrand” article demeaning all African Bishops and the two articles from Good News which targeted specific African bishops. I would like to urge the WCA to please have some respect for our African bishops. If you don’t have the authority to tell U. S. bishops how to lead, what gives you power to direct African bishops on how to lead in their areas?
Call out neocolonial, white supremacist practices
Friends, it is time to call out Good News and WCA and let them know they cannot speak for Africa. Neocolonialism and white supremacist practices in The United Methodist Church, through these caucuses, cannot remain unchallenged. It is time to undo this evil that seeks to derail us from the mission of making disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world. As Africans, we will not allow some neocolonialists to impose themselves as masters of the destiny of the global church simply because of their nationality or fallacious claims of affinity. Allocating fictitious positions on the WCA Council to their African surrogates simply tries to mask the hypocrisy, as their actions speak louder than words. We will not tolerate this evil, not today and certainly not tomorrow.
It is important for Good News and WCA to understand that the church in Africa will keep the historic United Methodist name and logo focusing on our commitments to Wesley’s teachings on personal piety and social holiness. The United Methodist Church in Africa will remain part of the global denomination where we will respect our contextual differences whilst respectfully being in mission together.
The United Methodist Church in the United States will have to value geographic distance without feeling the need to overcome the differences entailed therein by imposing some sort of American-derived sameness. The sooner the better for our U. S. brothers and sisters that they come to terms with the fact that The United Methodist Church in Africa can no longer be ignored or treated as sideshow. It is critical to understand that we have reached a tipping point as a denomination where we need to embrace the global nature of the church and reform the structure, as being proposed by the Christmas Covenant. As U. S. membership declines while it increases in Africa and the Philippines, the percentage of delegates from these regions will continue to grow, and we will respectfully walk together. All we need to do is walk with each other and listen.
My call to The United Methodist Church is to adopt the Christmas Covenant because it will give our great church a more equal model that encourages all regions to create culturally appropriate ecclesial structures, while remaining connectional, for the greater mission to “Make disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
I conclude by saying to all United Methodists in the connection across the globe: remember “God is not only over us and for us but also at work in us.”
The Rev Lloyd T. Nyarota, an ordained Elder in the Zimbabwe East Conference, currently serves as a pastor at St John's United-Anglican Church in Manning, Alberta, Canada.
More perspectives on "Imperialism" from David Scott, of UM & Global:
- Imperialism and Decline
- American Christian Imperialism
- Ways Out of American Christian Imperialism
- Theological Rationales for Leaving American Christian Imperialism