Division among NC Methodists
Welcome to the 12th edition of North Carolina Religion Roundup: United Methodist Church, reproductive legislation, Stranger Things, and more.
Happy Saturday! Thanks for reading the 12th edition of North Carolina Religion Roundup, a newsletter that highlights major religion news and trends in the Triangle and greater NC. I’m a reporter covering community colleges, postsecondary access, and faith at EducationNC, and a M.Div. student at Duke Divinity School. (If you’re interested, you can read more about the newsletter and why I started it here.)
Also from me: I report on faith for EdNC. Here’s why
This newsletter is coming to you a little behind schedule. After two and a half years of avoiding Covid, I sadly tested positive last month. Though my symptoms were mild, I’ve been slowly recovering from post-Covid fatigue while also finishing my summer semester and starting back at EdNC after a month off. All that to say, I am thankful that you read my newsletter and that you tolerate its biweeklyish schedule. As always, I’d love any thoughts or feedback regarding parts of the roundup you particularly like, and/or anything you’d like to see in the future. Plus, I’d (really) love it if you’d share this newsletter with a friend or on social media.
Thanks for following along. Happy reading!
This week:
In Deep Dive, I take a look at the Assembly’s important reporting on how the United Methodist Church’s debate on LGBTQ issues is playing out in one North Carolina Church.
In Story to Follow, I examine NC Republican efforts to restrict abortion and contraception, often with conservative Christian support.
And In a Nutshell, I highlight some NC religion stories to keep an eye on.
In What I’m Reading, I include two recent reads that stuck with me, about Beyoncé’s theology and Stranger Thing’s lessons on satanic panic.
Deep Dive: the UMC and LGBTQ members
In 2019, worldwide delegates from the United Methodist Church voted to uphold its ban on the ordination and marriage of LGBTQ people. A sizable number of clergy and laypeople, an Assembly article from earlier this month points out, rejected the position as harmful and un-Christlike. In May, conservative Methodists quietly split from United Methodist Church and formed a new denomination called the Global Methodist Church — following two-plus years of delays due to Covid by the UMC’s General Conference to discuss the split. Now, 31 UMC churches in western North Carolina are demanding they be allowed to leave the United Methodist Church and have hired a Florida legal firm to do so. This is an example of a new legal strategy among churches that want to immediately join the new Global Methodist Church, instead of paying two years of apportionments and pension liabilities.
5.3 million LGBTQ adults are religious, according to an October 2020 report from UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, with religious LGBTQ adults found across ages, in every racial-ethnic group, among married and single people and in rural and urban areas. Public acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex marriage has dramatically increased in the last two decades, Pew Research data shows. Still, as I wrote in a previous Roundup, the survey questions themselves don’t often account for the difference between people who think same-sex marriage should be allowed and those who still believe the Bible (and by extension, God) considers it as sinful. This sort of data seems difficult to capture for many reasons, but Barry Yeoman explores the perspectives of North Carolinians divided on the issue for the Assembly in an intimate, thoughtful, and nuanced read. The piece focuses on Wesley Memorial in Iredell County. I recommend taking time to read the piece in its entirety if you haven’t. Here’s an excerpt:
Congregations like Fitzgerald’s now need to pick a side. Or they can choose not to decide, and remain in the UMC by default. For theologically homogenous churches, the direction might be clear. But Wesley Memorial’s 400 members span the gamut, the minister said, “from almost flaming progressive to dang near fundamentalist.”
They are, in other words, a cross-section of Methodists, bracing for a high-stakes conversation that they managed to avoid until 2022. “I’ve got those who are adamant about, ‘I don’t want to be a part of an apostate church, and right now I feel like I am,’” Fitzgerald said. “And I’ve got those that are just as determined, saying, ‘I will not be a part of a traditional orthodox congregation. And if we do not stay United Methodist, then I will be leaving.’”
and, about Donna England, a 56-year-old lesbian and member of Monticello United Methodist Church:
Before we left, England took me into a small chapel built from material salvaged from Monticello’s old building. There were the wooden pews her forebears had sat in. The stained glass they’d looked at during services. England has not married her partner, because a church wedding matters to her, and she’s waiting for the denomination to come around.
When that day arrives, this is where she plans to say her vows.
“I really believe that the things that we touch—physically, mentally, and spiritually—we leave parts of ourselves with,” she told me. “And I feel like there’s parts of my family in that chapel.”
How congregations and people of faith like those in this story respond to the UMC divide will continue to impact the state’s faith landscape. Here’s some more context:
A Q&A with Barry Yeoman about his reporting process, predictions on UMC departures, and ideologically diverse congregations.
Ongoing Controversy at Pioneers Church Takes a Turn When the Organization Disaffiliates with Its Denomination, from INDY Week. A previous Roundup looked at the (formerly) UMC church/business in downtown Durham that garnered criticism for its gentrification messaging and lack of LGBTQ+ affirmation.
Story to Follow: Reproductive legislation
North Carolina’s new state budget includes over $3 million for pregnancy centers which critics claim dissuade women from having abortions, the N&O reported in July. Crisis pregnancy centers typically oppose abortion. At those facilities, staff often counsel their clients about alternatives to abortion when navigating unplanned pregnancies. Many of the facilities describe themselves as Christian ministries.
The budget provides funding for 11 such centers across the state, with allocations ranging from $100,000 to $500,000. Such centers have received wide-Republican support over the last two decades. Supporters say the funding allows centers to offer free pregnancy support to more women. Critics of government-funding of the centers claim tax dollars go toward limited or misleading reproductive health care.
A 2012 academic study on crisis pregnancy centers in North Carolina found that 86% of the centers studied provided false or misleading information about abortion. Five center directors told the N&O the sole purpose of their organizations is not to dissuade women from abortion, though they don’t support it. Dem. Gov. Roy Cooper, who signed the budget (including the funds) and an executive order aiming to protect abortion access in NC, told the N&O he was concerned about the funding for the centers. Here is the list of pregnancy centers included in the budget:
Davie Pregnancy Care Center, Inc.: $260,000. The center’s website doesn’t say its a Christian ministry, but a private Facebook group for the center linked on its website says its “for those who love life, love the men and women with unplanned pregnancy decisions, and who love the work God is doing through Davie Pregnancy Care Center.”
Heartbeats – A Pregnancy Care Center, Inc.: $325,000. A Facebook page for the center linked on its website includes events hosted at church, Easter photos, and Bible verses.
Open Arms Pregnancy Support Services, Inc.: $500,000. The website for the center says the purpose of “Open Arms’ ministry is love; the aim is to support and guide, the purpose is to serve God and preserve life.”
Salem Pregnancy Support Center, Inc.: $100,000. The nonprofit says it is “a safe refuge for hurting women who find themselves in an unplanned pregnancy.” The website doesn’t mention God or faith in its services or resources.
H.E.L.P. Center, Inc.: $150,000
Cabarrus Women’s Center, Inc.: $250,000
Coastal Pregnancy Care Center, Inc.: $250,000. The site says “Clients are served without regard to age, race, income, nationality, religious affiliation, disability or other arbitrary circumstances” and “We do not offer, recommend, or refer for abortions or abortifacients. However, we are committed to offering accurate information about abortion procedures and risks. All of our advertising and communications are truthful and honest and accurately describe the services we offer.”
Havelock Pregnancy Resource Center: $250,000
Eastern Pregnancy Information Clinic: $250,000
International Athletes’ Abolition Mission to support 1st Choice Pregnancy Resources of Pamlico County: $250,000
Mountain Area Pregnancy Services: $500,000. Its website says its mission is “To be a relevant Christ-centered outreach ministry partnering with the churches of WNC by caring for, counseling and educating women and men regarding, or impacted by, an at-risk pregnancy.”
Last month, the U.S. House voted 228-195, mostly on party lines, to pass the Right to Contraception Act. Eight Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the bill, but none were from North Carolina, the N&O reported. NC’s Rep. Kathy Manning introduced the bill after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said in a June opinion that the court should review landmark decisions like the 1965 case that ensures Americans’ access to contraception. The opinion was part of the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. (Read more on religion and abortion in the last Roundup.)
Republicans largely opposed the bill. Some viewed it as a way to somehow protect abortions, others said it would give more federal funds to Planned Parenthood. While Republican arguments against abortion and/or contraceptive are not usually explicitly religious in nature, it’s difficult to separate the debate from religious viewpoints opposed to abortion. Just this week, a federal judge ruled that NC’s general ban on abortions after 20 weeks is no longer unconstitutional and the ban can be enforced.
“I think it’s ironic that the people are pro-life and therefore want to prevent abortion, but are against the means of people who don’t want to get pregnant, preventing pregnancy,” Jonas Swartz, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Duke Health, told the N&O.
“H.R. 8373 is a Trojan horse for more abortions,” said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington state. “It should be called the Payout for Planned Parenthood Act. It would send more tax dollars to Planned Parenthood, freeing up more funds for them to provide abortions and end valuable lives.”
NC representatives who voted in favor of the bill: Democrats Alma Adams, G.K. Butterfield, Kathy Manning, David Price, Deborah Ross.
NC representatives who voted against it: Republicans Dan Bishop, Ted Budd, Madison Cawthorn, Virginia Foxx, Richard Hudson, Patrick McHenry, Greg Murphy and David Rouzer.
As midterm season gets closer, abortion and reproduction are certain to remain in the political campaign cycle. Keep an eye out for if and how politicians invoke religion in their political messaging and decisions.
In a Nutshell:
Eli Evans, chronicler of Southern Jewish life, laid to rest, from Religion News Service. Evans was buried July 29 in Durham. He died July 26 at 85 years old at a hospital in New York City due to complications from COVID-19. Evans was born to a prominent Jewish family in Durham and wrote about his family’s minority status in the Christian-majority South in his book, “The Provincials: A Personal History of Jews in the South.” He graduated from UNC Chapel Hill, where he was elected as president of the student body and was founding chair of the advisory board for the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies. He had kept his membership at Beth El Synagogue.
Most Us Higher Education Institutions Lack Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu & Jewish Students Groups, Erudera found. The data from nearly 2,000 colleges showed there are Muslim student groups at 28% of US universities, Jewish student groups at 25%, and Buddhist and Hindu student groups at only 5%. 66% of US higher education institutions lack any religious student group, the report said. 58% of Muslim students in the fourth-year survey said their campus was at least “somewhat” welcoming, according to research from North Carolina State University, The Ohio State University, and the nonprofit program Interfaith Youth Core. One-fifth reported they often felt pressured to limit when or how they expressed their world views.
Mission Schools Sexual Abuse Suit Dismissed by North Carolina Judge on Technicality, from Christianity Today. The suit against NC-based organization SIM — formerly known as Soudan Interior Mission, Sudan Interior Mission, and Society for International Ministries — claims that seven employees at two schools in Jos and Miango, Nigeria, sexually abused children as young as five from 1962 to 1981. The missionary organization says the schools were not under its supervision. The judge says the Nigerian statute of limitations prevents the case from going forward.
Southern Baptist Convention under federal investigation for sexual abuse scandal, from the Houston Chronicle. The Department of Justice is investigating the Southern Baptist Convention over its handling of sex abuses, months after the publication of a third-party report naming 703 accused abusers, including 30 people from NC churches.
Assemblies of God Ordains Record Number of Women, from CT (by yours truly). The Assemblies of God has a record number of ordained women in the denomination at 10,383 women, or 27.6% of its ministers. The Pentecostal denomination, with more than 270 churches in N.C., is working to ensure more women view ministry as a viable option.
NC Rural Center receives $3.2M grant from The Duke Endowment for Faith in Rural Communities program. Since 2017, the Rural Center has partnered with the Duke Endowment to provide training, coaching, and grants to more than 40 rural United Methodist Churches. The new grant will allow work to continue for five more years with an additional 50 churches. Participating churches have created community programs like middle school suicide prevention programs, bilingual community meals, and community-based English as a Second Language classes.
What the reversal of Roe v. Wade means for Jews like me, News & Observer opinion piece by a member at Temple Beth El in Charlotte. Author Amy Lefkof writes that: “For American Jews like me and those of many other faiths, the Dobbs decision is a restriction on our religious freedom. It allows the state’s use of criminal law to compel conformity.”
‘A multifaceted win’: Sanford faith leaders host back-to-school event with Central Carolina Community College, from Education NC (also by me). Local Black faith leaders organized the “Let’s Do It Together” event with Central Carolina Community College to connect adult learners to the manufacturing jobs coming to Chatham County. They also distributed free Covid tests/vaccines, book bags, & dental care kits.
Embattled former NC NAACP president the Rev. Anthony Spearman found dead, from the N&O. The longtime activist was an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion and a former president of the North Carolina Council of Churches. He was elected president in October 2017 and served one four-year term, and was known for his advocacy for the LGBTQ community and voting rights. His death came five months after he was suspended from the NAACP by its national leadership due to allegedly refusing to turn over NC NAACP property like meeting minutes and financial records.
3 scholars gather for a female-led interfaith conference in the NC mountains, from RNS. Wildacres held its Interfaith Institute, a 40-year-old summer tradition, for a three days at the beginning of August, led by female scholars — a Christian, a Jew and a Muslim — to talk about breath. “The idea was to hit reset after the stressors of the pandemic and to think about that in a bodily way,” said Anathea Portier-Young, professor of Old Testament at Duke Divinity School and one of the three featured speakers. “What does it mean to reconnect with self, with community, with God? The breath is a kind of metaphoric, metonymic focal point.”
~What I’m reading ~
Satanic Panic Drives A Small Town To Unjust Violence In ‘Stranger Things 4,’ by Jillian Cheney for Religion Unplugged
Like many people, I recently binge-watched Season 4 of hit-show Stranger Things, which follows teenagers in 1980s Indiana as they navigate the supernatural. Unlike most people, I also recently watched the previous three seasons while isolating with Covid. There’s a lot to be said about the show, and the new season, but I liked this piece for the context it adds to the satanic panic which serves as the historical backdrop for the most reason season. From the piece:
In “Stranger Things” and in the real world, these large-scale threats of safety that rely on little facts and lots of fear are just that: reactions based on fear. They aren’t smart, and they especially aren’t in pursuit of actual righteousness. Hopefully seeing that from the outside serves as a warning of sorts not to fall prey to that sort of fearmongering, no matter who it’s coming from.
Beyoncé invites church girls to celebrate their freedom, by Candice Marie Benbow for RNS.
Benbow is a multi-genre theologian who focuses her work on Black women’s experiences. She graduated from North Carolina Central University and Duke Divinity School. This piece, talking, of course, about Beyoncé’s hit “Church Girl,” off her new hit album Renaissance, is a lyrical exploration of the song’s theological offerings, which Benbow notes will likely bring heavy criticism from some. From the piece:
Something is happening. Everywhere, Black women of faith are refusing to accept the lie that we cannot live into what we know to be true about who we are — and it be counted as sacred. We are sexual, sensual and spiritual. We are religious, ratchet and righteous. We are human and we are holy. And as we continue to own these truths for ourselves, it will be the starting point for the generations of church girls coming behind us.
That's it for this week's edition of North Carolina Religion Roundup. Thanks for reading. Until next time. And in the meantime, I gladly welcome any tips, feedback or news you think I haven’t included but should in future editions. — Hannah
Another dope roundup! I didn't know about the most recent happenings within the Methodist church. IT was helpful to get that update. I also appreciate the way you weave in culture and its many intersections with faith through including the pieces on Beyonce and Stranger things. :)