It's not rocket science

"Prior to the UMW Assembly, an e-mail from controversial speaker Barbara Lundblad was posted to the UMW web site. In this e-mail, Ms. Lundblad denied the meaning attributed to her words spoken at the 1993 Re-Imagining conference, “We did not last night name the name of Jesus. Nor have we done anything in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (laughter and cheers). She claimed her statement set the context of what had occurred the night before in contrast to her intention to teach about Jesus in that morning’s session, and did not demean the Trinity.

However, Ms. Lundblad’s remarks in 1993 that immediately followed this quote convey a view of Jesus and His atoning death that greatly contrasts with the Christian perspective. Speaking of the “gasp” from women when they hear of the sacrificial death of Christ, Ms. Lundblad said, “feminists and womanists have really dared to hear that collective gasping of women who cannot bear the easy explanation that Jesus had to die for our salvation…” Rather than gasping, Christians should be humbled and grateful for the salvation provided for them through the sacrificial death of God’s Son, Jesus.

Ms. Lundblad also quoted heavily from Elizabeth Johnson who says of Jesus, “in his brief ministry, Jesus appears as the prophet and child of Sophia sent to announce that God is the God of all inclusive love who wills the wholeness and humanity of everyone, especially the poor and heavy burdened. Jesus is sent to gather all the outcasts under the wings of their gracious Sophia-god and bring them to shalom.” Christian women do not find affinity with this “Sophia-god,” but rather with the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ms. Lundblad’s e-mail and 1993 and 1998 Re-Imagining remarks acknowledge her commitment to the homosexual cause. The invitation by the Women’s Division for Ms. Lundblad to speak at the Assembly was in blatant disregard of the current position in the Discipline.

In light of Barbara Lundblad’s statements at two different Re-Imagining gatherings, her e-mail explanation rings hollow. Regardless of the content of her UMW Assembly presentation in April, Ms. Lundblad’s position on radical feminism and homosexual activity is clear."

The controversy Lunblad created in Methodist circles in 2002.