Prominent UMC Leaders Preach a Prophetic Vision for Social Justice at Drew Theological School Conference
Joshua Calo
July 25, 2008

For many speakers at the July 2008 conference on "Prophetic Leadership" at the Ocean Grove Campground in New Jersey, primary visions of the role of the church did not revolve around the Gospel, or even the spread of Christianity, but instead centered around a call for social activism.

The Ocean Grove Campground in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, served as host to a conference on "prophetic leadership," sponsored by the Drew University Theological School.  The campground drew national attention in 2007 when it refused to allow its beachfront pavillion (above) to be used for same-sex union ceremonies.

The July 6-11 event was organized by Drew University Theological School, an official United Methodist seminary in New Jersey.  Ironically, while the Drew event hosted liberal speakers, many of whom have openly advocated for the repeal of existing sexual standards in the church, the hosting Ocean Grove Campground is a Methodist resort that refuses to allow same-sex ceremonies.  New Jersey officials have targetted the campground for ostensibly violating the state's prohibition against "discrimination" based on sexual orientation.

Promotion of the Communities of Shalom Initiative, a UMC community and action program that recently relocated its headquarters to the Drew Theological School, was a key part of the week's activities. According to its website, Communities of Shalom strives to equip prophetic leaders and congregations for community transformation “toward systemic change and social transformation.” Shalom Initiative National Director Michael Christensen explained, “Shalom is about that kind of radical inclusivity of witnessing in the world to God’s universal love, and unconditional acceptance for all.”

Bishop John Schol, who created controversy last year by re-appointing a transsexual minister, implied that his vision of God’s shalom dealt primarily with social justice, and the repair of issues rooted inequality and injustice. “Poverty is rooted in an entangled web of poor education, racism, a lack of safety, and a lack of business development,” said Schol. “It’s not just one of those, it’s that web and even more. Each is connected to the other and non can be seen in isolation.”

While explaining what he thinks is necessary to address these problems, Schol insisted that Christians often “think too small” when seeking God’s shalom, and must look at the broader picture. “If you’re going to think about shalom work, you’ve got to think about a much larger place and space,” said Schol. “You’ve got to think about the bigness of God and the bigness of what God wants us to do, even in a small geographical area.”

Schol asserted that the work done by current church volunteer programs is not sufficient, saying that they may actually hurt the community in question more by looking at its problems out of context. “We do this in the church all the time. We start a little program, we feel really good about it . . . but what happens when we start our little program? . . . If we only focus on a program, an activity, don’t we often find the volunteers talking about the participants in disparaging ways?,” he asked. “We create this atmosphere for volunteers, in which they only see the very surface of the issue and the problem. They haven’t gone deeper to really understand it.”

Bishop John Schol claimed that Christians often “think too small” when seeking God’s shalom, and must look at the broader picture. (Photo courtesy UMNS)

“We never fully understand what people are battling . . . to just get up and go to work each day,” said Scholl. He claimed that those of us “who have worked all of our life . . . have no concept” of what it’s like to come home to “not just a household, but to a whole community” that believes that you can not escape the cycle.  In response, Scholl stressed the importance of asset-based community development.

Maxine Clarke Beach, Dean of the Drew University Theological School, also spoke in depth on this subject in her workshop entitled, “Organizing for Social Justice.”  Beach emphasized that the “mapping of the assets” is an important aspect of rebuilding a community, and addressing the problems it faces. She said that one must inquire, “what institutions are still thriving,” and gave the example, if there are gangs, one must ask “what’s good and what’s bad about what the gangs are doing.” Beach described a "Shalom Zone" project working with gang issues in Newark, NJ. She said that it is necessary to work “with” the gangs, because “many of them are the ones that are making sure the kids get home safe from school.”

During her two apperarences at the conference, the Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto advocated for political activism from the pulpit and engaging in conflict to challenge the status quo. Oliveto proclaimed, “I believe that when we fail to give our opinion on controversial issues, we’re not only failing to offer prophetic witness, but also we fail to offer our parishioners insight on how to wrestle theologically with the issues of our day."

“One cannot possess a prophetic voice without a willingness not only to create, but stand in the midst of controversy," said Oliveto.  "Leading people into conflict is not only inevitable, it is necessary. Challenging the status quo, holding up an alternative vision, threaten those whose power depends on the maintenance of the status quo.”

Oliveto has certainly not been reserved on controversial issues or in challenging the status quo. She made headlines in 2004 for performing a same-sex union in San Francisco. Oliveto also allowed her San Francisco church to become a distribution site for medicinal marijuana. Commenting upon her congregation in the context of these two issues, she claimed, “[These] were probably the two most faithful acts of the church community, and the ones that went deepest spiritually and transformed the congregation.”

Following these controversies, Oliveto left church ministry to join the faculty at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California.  Oliveto served as associate dean for academic affairs at the school, before returning to the pulpit as pastor at the theologically liberal Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco.

In 2004, United Methodist minister Karen Oliveto made headlines by performing a same-sex union ceremony, a violation of church policy.

Oliveto unapologetically pointed to a “glaringly evident” political divide growing between the pulpit and pew. She pointed to an increasingly corrective shift that has been occurring among mainline clergy in recent decades. She went on to critique comments by the former president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, the late Diane Knippers. She cited Knippers for saying, while it is “commendable” for churches to seek peace and justice, liberal church elites are “destroying the Gospel” by focusing solely on social change. Oliveto responded, “Commendable isn’t a word I would use for ushering in God’s shalom.” She went on to proclaim, “We, clergy and laity alike, need to have common understanding in the role and mission of the church.”

These sentiments echo comments made during the controversy surrounding Oliveto’s performance of same sex unions in 2004. On February 19, 2004, the San Francisco Chronicle quoted Oliveto as saying, “We are in a whole new world, and the church better catch up.”

In her Wednesday morning workshop, "Speaking Truth to Power," Oliveto posed several provocative, discussion provoking scenarios and asked the participants to re-locate to a respective side of the room based on whether they found the situation to be violent and unjust, or non-violent and just. When questioned, Oliveto explained that she was using the terms violent and unjust interchangeably. “I really see injustice as violent,” she said. “Injustice harms people, and so it is violent. . . . We are given an imperative in using that kind of language, especially when you are talking to marginalized people.” The scenarios put forth ranged from a city constructing rental property in lieu of housing for the homeless to a denomination that would not allow its pastors to marry their homosexual parishioners.