From Carol Blowers, Chair of the Board of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Dear General Conference Delegates and Interested Persons,
Greetings! Thank you for taking the time to read these reflections, prepared
by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. I hope it will be useful
to you in your deliberations at General Conference.
You may be asked to consider resolutions to withdraw our church from RCRC,
a coalition founded 35 years ago by United Methodists. RCRC is a unique social
justice organization – both prophetic and pastoral. As a woman firmly
grounded in the United Methodist tradition, I feel strongly that we should
remain in this coalition.
I urge you to vote against:
Petition #80033-C2-NonDis, Withdrawal from RCRC
Petition #80179-C2-R114, Deletion of Support of RCRC Resolution
Petition #81453-C2-R9999, United Methodism and the RCRC
Please vote for:
Petition #80727-C2-R114, Retain 2004 Resolution in Support of RCRC
I am a member of the Saratoga Springs United Methodist Church, which both
my great-great grandfathers helped to build. I am the widow of a Methodist
minister. I have served on the Troy Conference Commissions on the Status and
Role of Women and Religion and Race, and now I am the Chair of the RCRC Board.
I believe that RCRC is an avenue to put our faith and Social Principles
into action for the good of the world and the glory of God. Our Social Principles
on abortion, responsible parenthood, health care and sexuality education are
consistent with RCRC’s views and actions.
My mother died in childbirth at the age of 33. She had had two children –
myself and my brother – and was advised for medical reasons not to have
another. However, she was Catholic and her doctor also was Catholic and did
not believe in birth control, and she became pregnant. I was 10 years old
when she died. Our Methodist congregation provided my family with love, comfort
and support but losing my mother was devastating.
Throughout my teens, I was very active in the MYF. It was during these years
that I began to truly think about what I believed about God and faith and
my responsibility as a person of faith to help those in need. It was my religious
faith and remembering the loss of my mother that led me to my work with Planned
Parenthood to ensure that all women, regardless of their status in life, have
access to information and the care they need to make personal decisions about
whether and when to have a child.
I feel blessed to be able to express my faith every day in my work with Family Planning Advocates of New York State. I am an advocate for family planning services for those who are poor, lack healthcare, and are vulnerable, often because they do not have family support. My service with RCRC is a similar expression of my faith.
RCRC is a community of caring individuals from diverse religious traditions. We come together to discuss issues related to family, health, sexuality, and reproduction from religious and moral perspectives and to support policies and legislative priorities on a case-by-case basis. We share a broad vision of a world in which children are wanted and cared for, parents fulfill their responsibilities with love, families have the necessary resources to raise children with dignity, and religious beliefs are respected. We work to make that vision a reality through the moral authority of our faith communities.
When United Methodist clergy and laity began RCRC in 1973, the purpose was for religious people to have an organization through which to protect the new right to privacy in decisions about childbearing and abortion. Many clergy and laity of all faiths had known women who had suffered and even died from an illegal abortion. They believed it was a religious responsibility and moral duty to safeguard women’s lives, health and ability to make decisions that reflected their own beliefs and conscience.
Over the past 35 years, RCRC has evolved to meet new needs and now has pioneering
programs in faith-based sexuality education, HIV/AIDS prevention, and clergy
counseling. Our educational programs with African American churches are respected
nationally and internationally. While we work with secular women’s health
organizations, we differ from them because our understanding of abortion,
“choice,” and sexuality comes from our religious traditions and
our mission is for social justice. We know that, for most women and men, reproductive
decisions are grounded in religious faith and conscience and we want them
to know that their faith offers support, guidance and love.
For so long, the discussion about abortion and choice has been polarizing. RCRC believes that decisions involving family, children, sex, and reproduction are morally complex. To RCRC, “choice” does not mean abortion – it does mean the difficult process of moral discernment. RCRC's education and counseling programs equip religious communities to aid women and families in this discernment process and to be a place of spiritual refuge in a difficult time.
RCRC is a quiet presence. We work without fanfare to raise awareness of the complex moral issues involved in reproductive decisions. We teach that reproductive choice means that women and families have the resources they need, such as healthcare and childcare, so they are able to make the choice to raise children with love and dignity.
My own faith has been strengthened by my service with RCRC. I have become
a more caring and compassionate individual. I hope more United Methodists
will come to know and respect the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
as I do. It is an organization that brings out the best in people - and that
is doing the work of the Lord.
Faithfully,
Carol Blowers
Chair of the Board, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Reverend Dr. Youtha Hardman-Cromwell: RCRC’s “Breaking the Silence” Helps Congregations and Seminarians
Reverend Dr. Youtha Hardman-Cromwell, Director of Practice in Ministry and Mission at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, is a pioneer in bringing social justice issues to parish ministry. A member of Trinity United Methodist Church in the Alexandria District, she is a prophetic voice for gender justice, racial justice, and inclusiveness for persons of all sexual orientations.
Teens "Keeping It Real" at the National Black Religious Summit
on Sexuality
Reverend Hardman-Cromwell attended RCRC’s National Black Religious Summit on Sexuality in its first year and joined the RCRC Black Church Initiative Advisory Committee in its second year. She found that “the Black Church Initiative is very valuable in helping congregations assist their constituencies, including young people, to address and sort out their spiritual/sexual lives. It has been a failing of the church not to do this. RCRC’s program ‘Breaking the Silence’ about sex and sexuality is one of the most helpful things that can happen to enable people to integrate themselves as whole persons.”
Reverend Hardman-Cromwell teaches seminarians at both Wesley and Howard University School of Divinity, from which she received her M.Div. degree She particularly appreciates that the Black Church Initiative addresses congregations directly, which complements her work with seminarians. She encourages seminarians to break the silence about sexuality issues as they move into church leadership.
“But this is not for every student,” she says. “Some are not ready for the openness and frankness. They are from religious situations that have not prepared them for this. I expect young people who have been through ‘Breaking the Silence’ and come to seminary will bring with them a deeper understanding of how to talk about sexuality issues in faith communities.” Reverend Cromwell-Hardman recalls one student who went to the National Black Religious Summit on Sexuality before taking her course at Wesley. The student was from a conservative background and was confused about some issues, especially homosexuality, but after the Summit and the course, he went on to serve as associate pastor to a Reconciling Ministries congregation.
Dr.
Fred Campbell: Methodist Healthcare Ministries Introduces “Abstinence-Plus”
at RCRC’s Urging
San Antonio has the highest teen pregnancy rate in Texas. When physician and United Methodist Fred Campbell learned that teen parents in San Antonio were being given lessons in abstinence in a Methodist Healthcare Ministries (MHM) teen parenting program, he was concerned. Fred is chair of the Texas affiliate of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and a board member of MHM, a large healthcare system that provides over $25 million in services and grants in South Texas each year. As both a physician and person of faith, Fred feared the program would fail to help these young mothers and fathers make responsible decisions and prevent more unintended pregnancies.
Fred, Mary Tom Hefte—a United Methodist layperson, RCRC leader and member of the MHM board—and other Texas physicians who are members of RCRC decided to discuss their concerns directly with MHM. Due to their hard work and church and community ties, MHM has instituted a more balanced “abstinence-plus” program for teen parents. Also, its parish nursing program—offered by scores of United Methodist churches—now offers training in comprehensive sexuality education so more staff can help teens avoid unintended pregnancy.
Another connection between RCRC and MHM is also helping teens in the area. A sexuality educator who is active with the RCRC affiliate group in Indiana provided training in comprehensive sexuality education to the entire MHM staff at every facility in the San Antonio area. Fred Campbell says that RCRC and United Methodists together are helping young people in San Antonio to have a brighter future.
Sarah E. Gillespie: Grateful for RCRC’s Presence in the World
“I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap, then you grow wings.” –William Sloane Coffin
I remember a time when I was in disbelief about the mission of RCRC. I didn’t believe a place like this could exist. A place where public health, spiritual development, advocacy, and women’s empowerment were all top priorities seemed too good to be true. But after interning there on and off over my last two years of college, I realized how grateful I was for their presence in today’s world. I compiled legislation for the UM Student Forum on comprehensive sex education and HIV/AIDS, receiving everything from whole-hearted support to eternal damnation from my Methodist peers. It was a risk I was willing to take because the experiences I had at RCRC encouraged me to challenge myself and others. Many of my experiences were risky, but as one of my favorite quotes confirms, that’s the best part about faith.
As a United Methodist, I have always treasured John Wesley’s quip about
doing all the good you can in all the places you can as long as you ever can.
That is why I cherish my church’s connection to a group that fights
day in and day out to make the world more just and livable for what the Gospel
of Matthew refers to as “the least of these,” in this case, women
confronting life-changing decisions. To me, the real mission of RCRC is not
about being pro-choice or pro-life, it’s about trusting women of all
faiths to seek counsel with their God and prayerfully discern how to move
forward.
About Sarah: I grew up in New Jersey and graduated from The George Washington University with my bachelor's in International Affairs, minor in Religion. After graduation I worked for Constella Futures, an international health company, where I provided administrative support for the company's offices in southern Africa, focusing on issues of HIV/AIDS and Gender. I transitioned from Futures to the American Association for the Advancement of Science where I currently provide project support for AAAS' Program of Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion.
Reverend Gloria Roach Thomas: “Keeping It Real!” Empowers Youth
RCRC’s faith-based sexuality education program for African American youth—“Keeping It Real!”—has been a ministry of the Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Paul, Minnesota for 5 years. “Our sexuality is a gift from God,” says the church’s pastor, Reverend Gloria Roach Thomas. “We must take care of our body – it is our temple. This program is empowering and liberating people – and to me, that is what the Gospel is about. Knowledge liberates us and helps us to live our lives more effectively and successfully.”
The ministry has reached out to more than 600 young people to help them become more responsible and to grow in their faith. Reverend Thomas reports that no young women in the program have become pregnant in that time and no young men have impregnated a woman. Related to this, parents of teens in the program have become more comfortable in talking to their teen children. The church also offers recreational programs for teens that include discussions about self-esteem, job skills, and school success.
Reverend Thomas says that church leaders of the program coordinate with parents and speak to them one-to-one if there are concerns. While abstinence is stressed with the youth, the reality is that many teens are already sexually active. Information is presented about contraception as well as abstinence so that they will protect themselves from pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. The recent government report that 1 in 4 teenage girls has a sexually transmitted infection underscores the importance of honest and accurate information so teens can make responsible decisions to keep themselves healthy, says Reverend Thomas.
Jessica
Arteaga: Finding Purpose and Meaning as An RCRC Intern
In the winter of my freshman year of college, my former youth pastor Jeff
Lowery suggested that I apply for the General Board of Church and Society’s
Ethnic Young Adult internship.
I initially thought that I was unprepared to work within the non-profit/social
justice sector because I was an engineering major at a small university in
Cleveland, Ohio. After much prayerful consideration I applied, not knowing
if I was even qualified.
Four months later I was given an acceptance letter. I was shocked, excited
and hopeful all at the same time.
I remember getting off the plane and looking around, amazed by my accomplishment
of going from growing up in the state of Washington to being an intern in
Washington, D.C. For ten weeks I was a part of the vital religious activist
movement in the District of Columbia. My internship was to work with the Religious
Coalition for Reproductive Choice, an organization, name, and concept that
I was unfamiliar with.
I was amazed to find out that members of the United Methodist Church helped
begin the Coalition in 1973. I was empowered and honored to work with the
issue and cause that my mother fought for in her youth. Not only was the UMC
a major contributor in starting the Coalition, the church also affirms a women’s
right to choose within the Social Principles.
Being a part of EYA made me feel as if I was making a difference, living
with nine other interns who were challenged and educated to advocate on number
of social justice issues which the church affirms. I wasn’t sure if
it was the environment, political climate or state of mind that I was in,
but I was determined to contribute more than a summer of working in the non-profit
community. I wanted to spend the rest of my life fighting for peace and justice.
Back on my own college campus I began joining groups that advocated to the
community at large. Shortly afterwards I started a chapter of Spiritual Youth
for Reproductive Freedom (SYRF), RCRC’s program for youth and young
adults. My continued involvement with the Coalition allowed me to travel to
New York City and back to D.C. several times. I gained a number of necessary
skills to put my faith into action and deal with opposition to carrying out
my dreams of working for justice.
Recently, on a trip back to Washington, D.C. for the Religious Coalition
for Reproductive Choice bi-annual conference, I returned to the General Board
of Church and Society. Walking in the halls of the building I lived out of
for a summer was strange because everything seemed the same. The same Micah
6:8 passage was carved into the entry way, the same people were still employed
but I was different. Somewhere in those two years since my internship, I found
comfort within my own faith, beliefs, and skin. I think there was something
in that single unexpected summer that allowed me to carry out God’s
will: the work of peace and justice.
Date: 6/24/2006
Reproduced with permission
Postscript: Jessica was an engineering major at a small university in Cleveland, Ohio, when she came to RCRC s an intern. Now she is now doing a year of service in Baltimore, working on homelessness and housing issues with the Lutheran Volunteer Corp, although she is still a proud United Methodist. “My time at RCRC and my experiences with SYRF were extremely helpful in making me the person that I am,” she says.
Mary Gates: Working Tirelessly With UMC and RCRC for Women’s Lives
Mary Gates, a Minnesota Annual Conference delegate and long-time member of the Minnesota Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, has devoted her life to working for women and children. Her faith and her quest for social justice come together in her support for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.
Mary came to know about the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice through a workshop at a United Methodist Women’s annual meeting in the mid-1990s. She was interested, and when the opportunity arose, she became the United Methodist Women’s representative on the Minnesota RCRC board.
She is concerned about lack of adequate funding for family planning services
for low-income women in the United States and for reproductive healthcare
for women in developing countries, where more than 500,000 women die each
year from pregnancy-related causes. “I believe in the work we do,”
she says. “Women with economic resources have always been able to have
the healthcare they need. Women who do not have resources often don’t
have access to care they might need, and they should. We are really in the
business of preventing abortions, but abortion should remain a medical option
for women,” whether they are wealthy or poor. She refers to the Resolution
on Responsible Parenthood, which advises churches and society at large to
“…make abortions available to women without regard to economic
status…”
Mary and her husband, Clyde, are the proud parents of three sons and a daughter
and grandparents of 11. She was president of the Girl Scout Council in Greater
Minneapolis and currently is chair of Emma Norton Services, a residence for
women in transition plus 13 townhouses for single parents with large families.
Now retired, she worked in non-traditional higher education for 21 years,
bringing opportunities to students—many of them women—who might
otherwise never even know about them.
Similarly, “RCRC does so much work people don’t know about—the “Keeping It Real!” faith-based sexuality education program, for example. When Minnesota RCRC’s representative went out in the African American community and spoke with leaders of churches, the leaders said they know they should be doing this work but they don’t have a curriculum. Then RCRC stepped forward with a curriculum. There’s a need for what RCRC has to offer—that’s one of the things I’ve been proud of.”
Mary is a member of Simpson United Methodist Church in Minneapolis. She has
been a director on the boards of the Women’s Division and Global Ministries.
She has also held various positions with United Methodist Women and served
on committees for the United Methodist Church. She has been elected a delegate
to General Conference three times--including to this General Conference--and
a jurisdictional delegate four times.
“In my years of working on the RCRC board, I really enjoyed the diversity. A number of women on the board represented different groups within Jewish faith traditions. RCRC is broader than ecumenical, it is interfaith,” and enables United Methodists to connect with persons from diverse communities, she says.
Reverend Gilbert Schroerlucke: Setting An Example of Family Values
Reverend Gilbert Schroerlucke is a leader of the Kentucky Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, a United Methodist minister, and, in his mid-80s, a life-long advocate for peace, equality, reproductive rights, and social justice. Many people talk about family values but Gil and his family—wife Bettye, four daughters, one of whom is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, and a son, Keith, a United Methodist minister in Madison, Wisconsin—live those values in their daily lives.
The Schroerluckes developed their values early in life. “Although I honed my theological understandings in divinity school, the core of my theology was developed in an open caring community (church and home) where we struggled with our values, our analysis and our faith. Gilbert Schroerlucke was our example,” daughter Kathy says.
“My father has shown me that issues of choice disproportionately affect
women who are poor,” says another daughter, Kim. “He has taught
me, by example, that it is the responsibility of the privileged to help fight
to protect the rights of those without a voice. These issues do not contradict
faith but were born out of faith.
“He has also shown me that EVERY action or statement that I make in my life can have a ripple effect and that we must never give up and keep constantly working toward the goal of helping women to keep control over their bodies.”
Mary Knightwright: Faith in Action
Reverend Mary Knightwright, Deacon, works for reproductive health and justice because of her United Methodist faith—and, also because of her faith, she respects people who have different views. She believes that United Methodists can discuss controversial issues together respectfully and is concerned about outside political groups trying to cause division among United Methodists.
"I was baptized a Methodist and raised in the United Methodist family. As I understand my Call to Ordained Ministry, we are each called to ministries of love and justice. We as Christians cannot let a political movement's agenda stop us from doing what the Gospel calls us to do—caring for all people. In my community, that care includes speaking out for safe, affordable health care and means helping to keep access to a comprehensive reproductive health care clinic open," she says.
Mary is a Minister for Children, Youth and Families at Euclid Avenue United Methodist Church in Oak Park, Illinois, and she and Jim Knightwright live with their two teenage sons in Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois. In 2007, demonstrators blocked a new Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora, which was built to serve women in a four-county area, including many Latinas and low-income women who have no other source for reproductive health services such as contraception, screening for cancer and sexually transmitted diseases, and routine care.
Mary and other clergy and lay members of the Illinois Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice spoke out publicly in support of the clinic. She commended the interfaith partners who prayerfully acted for women and their families to be served safely. She felt that, as a person of faith, she had a responsibility to stand up for women who would obtain services at the clinic. Clergy and laity together published an ad in the local press titled, "People of Faith Support Planned Parenthood," signed by more than 100 clergy.
Mary first learned about RCRC in the mid-1980s while serving as a young campus minister in Michigan. She felt there was a need for a faith organization that would support women and their partners who were making a difficult decision about whether or not to have an abortion. She has been active in RCRC ever since as a prayerfully pro-choice United Methodist.
"The coalition brings together diverse faith traditions' views around moral justice and we work in coalition, promoting dialogue. There is diversity in our church, and we cannot let other voices silence that diversity. We are all sisters and brothers in Christ and children of God."
"If this is our faith commitment—that woman is created with God's love—then women must be trusted and respected for their decisions," she says.
Greta and Charles Hedberg: ‘People Who Believe in God Also Believe in Freedom of Choice’
The Social Principles of the United Methodist Church are central to the faith of Greta and Charles Hedberg, members of Beach United Methodist Church in Westhampton Beach, New York, and the reason they support the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. As representatives of the Long Island East District of the United Methodist Church for many years, they spoke to a number of congregations about the Social Principles, including freedom of reproductive choice. Charles explains, “It is essential that the world know that people who believe in God also believe in freedom of choice. We cannot let the Christian Right usurp our voices, because choice—in religion and in one’s own reproductive decisions—is one of the basic tenets of our nation.”
Greta and Charles both cite the experience of helping a widowed mother of two find the resources to have an abortion as a critical point in their many years of activism. Greta recalls: “There is not much that compares with the feeling of satisfaction in helping an individual who was so desperate. She told us, ‘You saved me, you saved my life. I wish I could buy you a present, but all I can give you is my whole heart.’ I will never forget that moment.”
Greta adds: “People should support the Religious Coalition for Reproductive
Choice. We need to get the respectability of the religious community behind
freedom of choice and show that it means many things, not just abortion.”
(originally written in 2000 and updated 2008, with appreciation to Charles Hedberg)
