December 23, 2024
By Rev. Dr. Scott Field
UMAF: Unhinged Methodist Africa Forum?
A response to the latest reckless allegations against the WCA.
The United Methodist Africa Forum, a progressive advocacy group aligned with United Methodist Church institutionalists, alleged in a December 18 press release that the Wesleyan Covenant Association is funding the purchase of guns to kill United Methodists in Africa.
This is a reckless response to a deeply serious situation.
Here is a portion of the United Methodist Africa Forum Press Release:
“We are also aware of significant financial efforts by the WCA to fund disaffiliation and promote autonomous candidates across Africa as a precursor to aligning with the GMC. Some of these funds are being used to purchase guns to kill United Methodist (sic). This has already happened in Nigeria where the GMC members invaded a UMC congregation during worship and killed two members. UMAF unequivocally condemns these actions and reaffirms that Africa belongs to The United Methodist Church…”
(You can read the entire Africa Forum Press Release here.)
Here’s the obvious:
Does the Wesleyan Covenant Association fund the purchase of guns to kill United Methodists in Africa? Absolutely not.
Does the Wesleyan Covenant Association advocate violence against anybody? Absolutely not.
And this is also obvious:
Does “Africa belong to the United Methodist Church” (as UM Africa Forum believes)? Absolutely not.
Pardon my pointing out the obvious, but Africa belongs to Africa.
And what is the language about “promoting autonomous candidates” in the UM Africa Forum press release?
I don’t have absolute certainty here, but it seems that this relates to Africans being promoted for election to the position of bishop who are not in line with the official UMC leadership. That is, we are being called out for informing United Methodists what the UMC decided at the General Conference last spring and how that might impact the church going forward. The UMC bishops insinuate that the information we are providing to United Methodists in Africa about the decisions of the UMC General Conference is causing concern among laity and pastors. They call it “misinformation”; we call it “full disclosure.” And the suggestion that some not-officially-authorized United Methodist clergy should be considered for election as a bishop, they contend, falls into the category of “misinformation”.
Is the Wesleyan Covenant Association transferring funds to African United Methodists?
Absolutely.
In fact, depending upon your perspective, it is much worse than that. We partnered with Good News to fund and support a team of African United Methodists to come to the UM General Conference in Charlotte, NC last spring to see for themselves the agenda, decisions, and outcomes of that legislative assembly. Why? So they could report back directly to their congregations, districts, and annual conferences without the “official communications” filter of UMNews. And indeed they did report what they saw and heard to the United Methodists “back home”. As a result, yes, quite a stir among United Methodists in Africa has developed.
Subsequently, Wesleyan Covenant Association members and contacts in Africa last summer asked for help in getting the word out. So, we have responded…not by sending people from the USA to tell Africans what to do, but by sending funds to assist Africans becoming informed. The WCA constituency has responded generously to assist in fifteen countries already with efforts in five more countries planned for the first quarter of 2025.
The WCA’s AfricaNOW funding initiative is narrowly focused on publication of materials, awareness meetings, and networking efforts initiated and led by African United Methodists, many of whom are being quashed, silenced, cancelled, and otherwise maligned by UM Bishops and other UM administrative leaders. United Methodist institutionalists are understandably reluctant for Africans to learn the reality of United Methodism’s approval of same-sex marriage, its charade of “regionalization”, and its egregious and unfounded allegations against dissenters.
Christian violence in Nigeria is not a political cudgel. It is a real, heartbreaking tragedy.
The UM Africa Forum press release turns the tragedy of violence and death in Munga Dossa, Nigeria into a political cudgel for attacking the WCA and advancing their self-promotion. This is beyond shameful.
Was there violence among Methodists in Munga Dossa during the weekend of December 15? Yes, gun violence and the burning of houses. Did people die? Yes, including two children in a housefire. This is shocking and heartbreaking. But simplistic allegations only stoke the fires of conflict even more.
Sadly, the United Methodist Council of Bishops has also used the violence to press a self-promoting narrative. It is tempting without clarity on this specific tragedy, particularly within a backdrop of ongoing civil and religious unrest in portions of Nigeria, to summarize the situation by declaring simplistically, “we are good; those who disagree with us are bad.” The situation on the ground is much more nuanced and complicated. United Methodist bishops should recognize as much. Making ready accusations seems again to be motivated not by compassion, but by animus against Methodists who have chosen to align with the Global Methodist Church.
We welcome efforts, by civil authorities, Global Methodists, United Methodists, and others not only to determine what actually happened in Munga Dossa, but to bring perpetrators to justice. We also support efforts to provide relief and resources to those most affected by the tragic events there. And we encourage all to pray for the victims, families, congregations, bishops, and congregational leaders involved.
We will not, however, be silenced by reckless allegations. And we will not withhold our support from African sisters and brothers who want to know and prayerfully discern whether they can, after the recent decisions of the United Methodist General Conference, remain United Methodists or not. As always in this season of denominational fragmentation, the goal of the Wesleyan Covenant Association is to inform and assist all Methodists so we can all end up in the denominational family where we most desire to be.
When I first read the UM Africa Forum press release, I wondered if their rash attack on the WCA seemed like an easy way to promote themselves. After all, we have announced that the Wesleyan Covenant Association will conclude “active operations” next week. That’s true. Maybe the UMFA leaders would be able to make an unanswered hit on the WCA. Yes, we are indeed winding up active operations.
But we have also said we will continue the AfricaNOW initiative into 2025 as needed. We will not flag or falter in that commitment.
This “Breaking News Special Edition” of the WCA Outlook is not a fundraising appeal for the WCA. It is a response to an outrageous allegation implicating not only the WCA but also the African United Methodist brothers and sisters who have increasingly come to suspect that they are being “handled” rather than supported by the UMC.
If you are part of our constituency, you may also recognize the suppression and silencing of dissenting voices seeking to be heard among African United Methodists. If you would like to “do something about it”, first of all, pray. Seriously. And if in praying you are led to do something more, you are welcome to provide a financial gift, so we have adequate AfricaNOW resources into 2025. And pass the word along, too, if you choose to do so.
Africa belongs to Africa, not to the United Methodist Church.
GIVE NOW
Thank you.
Yours in the Matchless Name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer!