Our Jewish neighbours have demonstrated some truly New Testament principles of forgiveness in agreeing to further dialogue following the disgraceful anti-Jewish/Israel report to the 2010 Methodist Conference and subsequent resolution.
Delegations from the British Methodist Church and the British Board of Deputies met last Friday following an exchange of letters in December between Alison Tomlin, President of the Methodist Conference and Vivian Wineman, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews .
This followed various unofficial contacts that were thankfully maintained in the aftermath of the disastrous conference. It may also reflect the reaction of many Methodists, some of whom are from Jewish families and communities, who felt the report to be both offensive and discriminatory in law.
On Wednesday morning a joint statement was finally agreed and placed on the websites of the Board of Deputies and the Methodist Church.
One major issue were the references to "Zionism" in the original report. The enemies of Israel are now seeking to turn the words "Zionist" and "Zionism" into words of abuse. The sections of the Methodist report on Zionism (see paragraphs 3.15 and section 4.2) could have been copied and pasted from any number of anti-Jewish diatribes, which, they probably were.
In her letter to Vivien Wineman, our President Alison Tomlin, went beyond the conference report and resolution by attempting to clarify the situation:
[The Methodist Church] Has agreed to explore the meaning and scope of "Christian Zionism.‟ This term refers to a theological belief held by some Christians that links events in the Middle East to the Second Coming of Christ as foretold in the New Testament. We reiterate that its meaning is different and separate from the concept of Zionism. We acknowledged our own need to understand these two terms better.
Our President also gave assurances that the Jewish Community, including the Board of Deputies, will be consulted throughout the process. I hope that those undertakings are honoured on this occasion.
Many Methodists deeply regret that our good name has effectively been hi-jacked by an unrepresentative internal pressure group. Their external allies have notched this up as a significant victory. They refer to people like myself as "Zionist cuckoos" and ask how long we "will be allowed to foul the Methodist Church's nest." I do fear that the outcome of the study of Christian Zionism may be an internal campaign that will place many of us outside of the Church. This is not the sort of atmosphere that will build our churches.
The reality is that since the resolution was passed the Methodist Church at Connexional level has done little to promote it. The hot link to the report which was on the front of the official website has now been quietly taken down. The joint statement with the Board of Deputies has not been issued as a press release, although I gather copies have been supplied to the Methodist Recorder.
The last Methodist Council instructed "the Connexional Team, to consider and develop
further ways in which the Methodist Church can work for an end to the Occupation [sic]." The Connexional team is to report in 2012 because it was seen as "Work which at present we do not envisage having the capacity to do this year". The reality is that outside of that pressure group there is little appetite for any further discriminatory or anti-Semitic campaigning against Israel.
Let us hope that in future weeks we will see our denomination distance ourselves from the shameful and discriminatory 2010 conference resolution. The meeting with the Board of Deputies is a good start. There will soon be an opportunity to complete this process in a court of law.![]()
Delegations from the British Methodist Church and the British Board of Deputies met last Friday following an exchange of letters in December between Alison Tomlin, President of the Methodist Conference and Vivian Wineman, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews .
This followed various unofficial contacts that were thankfully maintained in the aftermath of the disastrous conference. It may also reflect the reaction of many Methodists, some of whom are from Jewish families and communities, who felt the report to be both offensive and discriminatory in law.
On Wednesday morning a joint statement was finally agreed and placed on the websites of the Board of Deputies and the Methodist Church.
One major issue were the references to "Zionism" in the original report. The enemies of Israel are now seeking to turn the words "Zionist" and "Zionism" into words of abuse. The sections of the Methodist report on Zionism (see paragraphs 3.15 and section 4.2) could have been copied and pasted from any number of anti-Jewish diatribes, which, they probably were.
In her letter to Vivien Wineman, our President Alison Tomlin, went beyond the conference report and resolution by attempting to clarify the situation:
[The Methodist Church] Has agreed to explore the meaning and scope of "Christian Zionism.‟ This term refers to a theological belief held by some Christians that links events in the Middle East to the Second Coming of Christ as foretold in the New Testament. We reiterate that its meaning is different and separate from the concept of Zionism. We acknowledged our own need to understand these two terms better.
Our President also gave assurances that the Jewish Community, including the Board of Deputies, will be consulted throughout the process. I hope that those undertakings are honoured on this occasion.
Many Methodists deeply regret that our good name has effectively been hi-jacked by an unrepresentative internal pressure group. Their external allies have notched this up as a significant victory. They refer to people like myself as "Zionist cuckoos" and ask how long we "will be allowed to foul the Methodist Church's nest." I do fear that the outcome of the study of Christian Zionism may be an internal campaign that will place many of us outside of the Church. This is not the sort of atmosphere that will build our churches.
The reality is that since the resolution was passed the Methodist Church at Connexional level has done little to promote it. The hot link to the report which was on the front of the official website has now been quietly taken down. The joint statement with the Board of Deputies has not been issued as a press release, although I gather copies have been supplied to the Methodist Recorder.
The last Methodist Council instructed "the Connexional Team, to consider and develop
further ways in which the Methodist Church can work for an end to the Occupation [sic]." The Connexional team is to report in 2012 because it was seen as "Work which at present we do not envisage having the capacity to do this year". The reality is that outside of that pressure group there is little appetite for any further discriminatory or anti-Semitic campaigning against Israel.
Let us hope that in future weeks we will see our denomination distance ourselves from the shameful and discriminatory 2010 conference resolution. The meeting with the Board of Deputies is a good start. There will soon be an opportunity to complete this process in a court of law.
