Re: uniting church minister meets us president

[Ann Wansbrough]

I am extremely disturbed (a) that the President of the UCA declined the invitation and (b) that some of my social justice colleagues agree with him. Part of our role as a church is to be a voice for the voiceless in the "presence of the powers that be". During George Bush's visit, almost every Australian was rendered voiceless. Apparently those invited to the meeting that Gordon Moyes attended, and the UCA President declined to attend, were allowed to voice the issues that they considered important.  In my view, if the President of the UCA was invited to speak to the US President, then the President of the UCA should have accepted the invitation. Even the leaders of his own church, the United Methodist Church of the USA, have not been able to meet with Bush about the war in Iraq. Some of them went to gaol after being arrested in demonstrations. The Methodist and other church leaders in the US resorted to a full page advertisement calling on him to repent, because they could not address him directly.  I want to weep. I feel betrayed. I am angry.  I think the whole church has been betrayed. So often in the past twelve months I longed for a church leader to have the opportunity to tell Bush face to face about the church opposition to the war on Iraq and the way he is conducting the so-called war on terrorism, and to object to his assumption that God is guiding him. The UCA President had the chance, and he turned it down. I'm sorry, but meeting with people in WA could be done on other days. Talking to the US President could not. For a church leader, being prepared for the Kingdom of God, being spiritually alert, is about being ready and able to take this sort of opportunity when it offers. Not accepting the invitation is an utter distortion of the solidarity model - a betrayal, a refusal to use the representative role and power that the church has given him and the government acknowledged by this invitation. Dean could have made his agenda to mention: church and community opposition to the war on Iraq, our concern about the US doctrine of pre-emptive strikes and the way they have undermined the UN, our concern about US not understanding the way developing nations view the WTO and the free trade agenda, our concerns about the USA-Australia FTA, our concern about the US reneging on nuclear disarmament agreements and re-igniting the arms race.  And so on.  He might not have got through all these, but he could have tried. Why do we bother doing all our research, listening, reflection, writing and advocacy on global issues, when our UCA President fails to take the opportunity to meet with the single most powerful individual in the world, who has so much power over so many aspects of global violence and injustice? How can we expect President Bush to respond to our views if we refuse to meet him to put our views to him? I feel betrayed and disillusioned. The Methodist Church in the US might well feel betrayed as well. According to the God of Ezekiel, by failing to be a prophetic voice when we had the chance, we share the responsibility for the harm that Bush and the US continue to do and God will hold us accountable. By failing to speak to him, blood on his hands becomes blood on our hands. Ann (Rev. Dr.) Ann Wansbrough UnitingCare NSW.ACT PO Box A 2178 Sydney South 1235 Phone (61) (02) 8267 4280 Fax (61) (02) 9267 4842 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: Stephen Webb To: Stephen Webb Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2003 12:38 PM Subject: Re: uniting church minister meets us president Rosemary says: I was with Revd Dr Dean Drayton last week when the US president was here in Australia. We were in Port Hedland visiting with the congregations both in the detention centre and in out. The detention centre congregation were thrilled to hear Dean say he had been invited to hear the speech in parliament, but he had another, more important engagement and that he chose to visit this congregation rather than meet with Mr Bush.   cheers Rosemary Rosemary Miller (Social Justice) Stephen Webb wrote: Quote from Wesley Mission Church Bulletin - 26 October, 2003 THE SUPERINTENDENT WRITES: The "Great South Land of the Holy Spirit" this week became the meeting place for the President of the most powerful nation on earth at the beginning of the twenty-first century, and the President of the nation which will be the most powerful nation on earth at the end of the twenty-first century. President George W Bush and President Hu Jintao flew into Canberra to address both houses of Parliament in joint sittings. I was there. I sat in a reserved section for twelve people who had been requested by Mr Howard to meet Mr Bush personally and to discuss issues on their minds. The twelve were an impressive group of Australian leaders. I was honoured to go to the Cabinet room and to meet and discuss issues I thought were important with the President. Issues like Iraq, free trade, international relations, Australian prisoners in American prisons were on the agenda. When President Bush heard I was from Wesley Mission, he offered that he was a Methodist and attended a Methodist Church. I encouraged the President to push through his reforms involving "faith based initiatives". He replied that the legislation on faith based initiatives was the most important on his domestic agenda and he was determined to use state funds to help churches and synagogues run social programs meeting community needs. I told him I had been reading a publishers preview copy of a new book "The Faith of George W. Bush" (Pan/Charisma) by Stephen Mansfield. He asked me how it had treated his faith and I told him and Laura that the author and his team of researchers had uncovered some fascinating and little-known information about Bush's conversion, his sense of divine calling and how faith helped him overcome his drinking habit. People are interested in the President's faith, but they also have a lot of questions that need to be answered. He knew about the book. I told him this book, due to be released on Nov. 11 includes the fact that Bush first heard the call to run for president during a sermon by the Rev. Mark Craig at Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas. Craig described Moses' reluctance to lead God's people, and Bush's mother, Barbara, turned to him and said, "He was talking to you." Laura Bush immediately told me that was true. I mentioned that before Bush announced his candidacy, he invited Texas evangelist James Robison to meet with him for prayer. That was also true. Bush is a close friend of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, also a committed Christian. The two have shared Scripture and prayed together. George W. Bush has attempted to apply faith to presidential leadership. He asked me what I felt the book would do to his standing among Christians and I replied, much to his and Laura's delight, that it would help him get re-elected next year. I stressed the need for more openness in his commitment to Christ.