Politically correct, evangelistically impotent.
On May 7 the United Methodist Church’s Council of Bishops will visit the Mexican border to advertise their political support for “immigration reform.”
The United Methodist church favours open borders and the guarantee of all government benefits to all immigrants immediately.
Yet less than 1 percent of United Methodists in the U.S. are Hispanic. Not quite 1 percent are Asian. Despite all the political rhetoric from bishops and other church bureaucrats, the church, like other declining old-line Protestant denominations, remains over 90 percent white Anglo, unable to reach new ethnic constituencies.
Juicy Ecumenism asks,
What if United Methodist bishops and agencies, instead of staging political statements on immigration, actually focused on welcoming immigrants to United Methodist churches? And what if they kept in mind that growing Hispanic churches are evangelical, Christ-focused, Bible believing, and usually charismatic or Pentecostal?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if United Methodism were better known for evangelistic success among immigrants instead of ineffective, empty political rhetoric?
