Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 19, 1995 TAG: 9506210037
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Delegates from the largest United Methodist body in the nation wrapped up business with the last in a series of ballots for lay and clergy delegates to regional and national church conferences.
Bishop Thomas B. Stockton led the assembly in a prayer seeking forgiveness for sins against each other and God after one delegate reiterated that some ethnic minority members of the council have felt a "mean-spiritedness" during the session, particularly in relation to elections.
Samuel NeSmith, who will become pastor of River Road church in Richmond next week, removed his name from the balloting for General Conference delegates Saturday while accusing others of attaching a "mean-spirited mood" to the election process.
NeSmith said Saturday that he and other black members of the clergy delegation were offended by charges that he had been politicking for election in a way some others considered unseemly. Another black clergyman raised the issue again Sunday morning, prompting Stockton's prayer.
The politics of election "may have reached a new and unfortunate proportion" at this year's meeting, said Irene Carr, a longtime lay leader in the Roanoke District.
Heated exchanges about the problem of alcohol use on the state's United Methodist college campuses also led to pleas for apology and reconciliation.
In their final business session - held between a Sunday school lesson and a worship service - the delegates approved three resolutions aimed at countering criticism that the national church, in particular, has forsaken traditional Christian doctrine on the Trinity and the "centrality of Christ."
The issue came to a head after a November 1993 ecumenical women's conference in Minnesota called "Re-Imagining." Participants were accused of worshipping a goddess called Sophia - the Greek word used in some biblical passages as a feminine personification of the attribute of wisdom.
Concerns about the conference have surfaced each year since, particularly among United Methodists who were outraged that church funds helped finance the project and paid for participation by key national staff members.
About 2,500 lay and clergy delegates attended the conference in Roanoke this year, which began Wednesday evening. The Virginia Conference of United Methodists claims 349,000 members in 857 congregations or "charges." It operates on an annual budget of almost $18 million.
by CNB