Iowa Reform Agenda

This Reform Agenda of METHODIST LAITY REFORM MOVEMENT focuses on our Iowa UMC: the Iowa Annual Conference (IAC). We also work for reform of the UMC General Church (national and world). We will continue to update and strengthen this Reform Agenda, learning from our members and from our experience in working for reform.

1. Above all, return The United Methodist Church to Christian faithfulness. All UMC clergy, officials, seminaries, ministries, publications, and programs should affirm and be consistent with the basic Christian faith passed on to us for 2,000 years. That saving, liberating faith is clearly stated in the Articles of Religion in our UMC Book of Discipline—but is often denied or ignored by high Church officials. Many of them dilute the Christian faith to conform to modern culture. Faithfulness must be restored. (See Our Principles, pars. 1 and 2.)

2. Help the UMC become again an alive, growing, evangelical Church and reverse its disastrous decline. Our Iowa UMC has had a net loss of more than one-third of its members—down 37%, from 318,739 members in 1968 to 202,11 0 in 1998.

3. Inform all Iowa UMC members, especially the laity. Tell them the truth; give them the facts. We will do this person-to-person and through speakers, mail, newsletters, Website, and the public news media. We will build our newsletter mailing list, asking our members to send in names—but initially, the news media are the only way we can reach most Iowa UMC laity.

4. Help the laity to be effective workers for reform—to learn how to make a difference. Help laity to learn the nomination process and work together to get pro-reform laity elected by their Local Church's Charge Conference as Lay Members of the Iowa Annual Conference (IAC).

5. Apply this test to every proposed UMC program and expenditure: Is it fully consistent with the UMC's Mission "to make disciples of Jesus Christ" (Book of Discipline, page 114) and the UMC's Ongoing Priority "to proclaim the good news that salvation comes through Jesus Christ" (Book of Discipline, par. 703.9)? If so, work to support and strengthen it. If not, work to defeat and eliminate it.

6. Terminate the Iowa UMC paid lobbyist position and the Legislative Advocacy Committee. The church should not have a lobbyist promoting the views of any political faction—left-wing, right-wing, or any other. Until we win this reform, we will regularly inform Legislators and the public when the IAC lobbyist or Legislative Advocacy Committee takes a position that we believe is not clearly supported by a large majority of Iowa UMC members. We encourage all UMC members to express their own opinions to Legislators.

7. Create a new Iowa Grass-Roots Social Witness Process that will allow time for study and consensus-building before the IAC takes a position on any public policy issue (political, economic, or social). The decision on each position must be made by the Local Churches: approval by a majority of the Iowa UMC Local Churches, that together have a majority of all Iowa United Methodist members. Until we win this reform, we ask the Iowa Annual Conference members to vote against every resolution on public policy issues, unless they genuinely believe the resolution states a clear Christian position which is supported by a large majority of Iowa UMC members.

8. Cut UMC spending for political activity, bureaucracy, central offices and staff, and top-down control. Move these dollars into effective evangelism, discipleship, mission, ministry, and helping people in need. Reduce total spending at the Iowa Annual Conference (state) and General Church (national and world) levels and reduce the financial burden on our Local Churches. Give a higher priority to our Local Churches and their needs. The UMC's mission and ministry must be done primarily through Local Churches.

9. Abolish mandatory apportionments: church taxes imposed from the top down on Local Churches. Replace them with askings: allow each Local Church to choose which programs to support, and in what amount. The UMC wisely used the askings concept for nearly 200 years and should return to it, except for mandatory payments for ministerial support (pensions, etc.).

We ask all UMC members to continue giving to their Local Church.  We respect and support all persons and Local Churches who believe Christian stewardship now requires withholding money from unfaithful UMC programs and officials and redirecting it to faithful Christian ministries, but we do not yet advocate withholding and redirecting. We believe it should be a last resort. We will give Iowa laity accurate information on UMC agencies, programs, and money requests—so all UMC members can make their own stewardship decisions, carefully and prayerfully.

10. Make the UMC more fairly representative of its members. The IAC's unfair representation now allows one vote for each clergy person and one vote for each 225 Iowa UMC laity. Increase laity representation to at least two-thirds of the votes in the IAC and the UMC General Conference and Jurisdictional Conference. Encourage our Local Churches to elect lay members to the IAC who will truly represent the majority of our members.

11. Work for similar reforms of the General Church (national and world level). We support the Reform Agenda for United Methodists, proposed by United Methodist Action (the United Methodist Committee of the ecumenical Institute on Religion and Democracy).