United Methodists among those requesting meeting with Bush
1/31/2003 News media contact: Linda Bloom · (646) 369-3759 · New York United Methodist News Service A group of 46 religious leaders, including 24 United Methodists, has asked President Bush for a face-to-face meeting on Iraq.
In
a Jan. 30 letter to the White House, the leaders of 11 denominations
and four religious organizations told President Bush they want to "bring
to you the insights and perspective of one of the largest segments of
the Christian community of our country" regarding any military action
against Iraq. The president is a United Methodist.
"Because you
are weighing the prospect of war on Iraq and all the terrible
consequences that war involves, you will have faced firsthand the truth
that war is not only - or even primarily - a military matter," the
letter said. "It is a moral and ethical matter of the highest order, one
that we have made a priority for many months as the possibility of war
has loomed on our national horizon."
As representatives of tens
of millions of Protestant and Orthodox Christians, the leaders said they
have been in touch not only with their own church members on the
matter, but also with counterparts in Europe and around the world, even
with people of faith in Iraq. "We draw on the tenets of our Christian
faith in all these encounters, seeking a way toward peace that is both
prophetic and practical," the letter stated.
"It is with the
utmost urgency that we seek a meeting with you to convey face to face
the message of the religious community that we represent on the moral
choices that confront this nation and your administration," the leaders
wrote to Bush.
"You are no doubt well aware of our activities to
slow the rush to war and our continuing uneasiness about the moral
justification for war on Iraq. What we ask now, as fellow believers and
as the spiritual leaders of Americans in congregations in every
community of our great nation, is a pastoral opportunity to bring this
message to you in person."
The signers included 20 United
Methodist bishops, some serving as current leaders of particular regions
and some retired. They include Bishop Kenneth Carder of Jackson, Miss.;
Bishop R. Sheldon Duecker, Fort Wayne, Ind.; Bishop William Boyd Grove,
Charleston, Va.; Bishop Kenneth Hicks, Little Rock, Ark.; Bishop
William Hutchinson, Baton Rouge, La.; Bishop S. Clifton Ives,
Charleston, W. Va.; Bishop Rueben P. Job, Goodlettsville, Tenn.; Bishop
Charles Wesley Jordan, Upland, Calif.; Bishop Leontine T.C. Kelly, San
Mateo, Calif.; and Bishop James Lloyd Knox, St. Petersburg, Fla.
Also,
Bishop Felton Edwin May, Washington; Bishop Marshall L. Meadors,
Atlanta; Bishop Fredrick Mutti, Topeka, Kan.; Bishop Don Ott, Pewaukee,
Wis.; Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader, Sun Prairie, Wis.; Bishop Roy Sano,
Washington; Bishop Jack Tuell, Des Moines, Wash.; Bishop Timothy W.
Whitaker, Lakeland, Fla.; Bishop Richard P. Wilke, Winfield, Kan.; and
Bishop Joseph H. Yeakel, Smithsburg, Md.
The other United
Methodist signers were the Rev. Robert Edgar, chief executive, National
Council of Churches; the Rev. Bruce Robbins, chief executive, United
Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns;
James Winkler, chief executive, United Methodist Board of Church and
Society; and Ray Buchanan, director and founder of Stop Hunger Now.
The
remaining signers included the Rt. Rev. John Chane, Episcopal bishop of
Washington; His Grace Bishop Dimitrios (Couchell) of Xanthos, Greek
Orthodox Diocese of America; the Rev. Mark Hanson, presiding bishop,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; and Elenie K. Huszagh, NCC
president.
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