For many of us in the church, abortion is an issue that comes to mind every election cycle, a political problem that either daunts or entangles us. What can the Church do in the face of such a tragedy?
Pastor Bryan Chapell has a great idea:
To answer this question I am not going to focus on political strategies or picketing life-chains or the debates of the public square. I do not mean to minimize the importance of such measures or to say that the Church has no role in them. Rather, my intention when answering what the Church should do about abortion is to call the Church to what the Church does best. I want to challenge you to consider the unique contribution that the Church can make, to recognize that some of our tensions and frustrations with each other may result from trying to force the Church into patterns and practices that are outside her divine design.
In a recent op-ed directed at faith leaders in The Washington Post’s “On Faith” blog, Sarah Brown, CEO of The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, writes:
“And here is where faith leaders have a major role to play. Many faiths actively oppose abortion, but far fewer oppose contraception, including the Mormon Church and many Evangelical communities as well. For example, in a 2009 Gallup of 1,000 evangelicals, 65% said that increasing access to contraception would help to reduce the number of abortions, and 90% said that the pill and condoms are ‘personally acceptable’ methods of birth control. Yet very few faith leaders openly express support for modern contraception, even though that is one of the most powerful ways to reduce abortion.”
How should evangelical leaders respond to Ms. Brown’s points? There are certainly different views and cases to be made here. However, whether we’re disposed to agree or disagree, could this overture be a step in the direction of an open and engaging conversation on how to really reduce the number of abortions in our nation? What do you think?
Christianity Today recently featured the keynote address of Dr. Stanton Jones, Provost of Wheaton College, at the NAE Generaton Forum's event in Wheaton last spring. This article, titled "How to Teach Sex," recounts the significant points raised by Dr. Jones, which was an excellent prelude to the panel discussion that followed (listen to the full event here).
In the introductory paragraph for this article Christianity Today specifically highlights this NAE Generation Forum event at Wheaton College that "addressed the goal of reducing the abortion rate both inside and outside the church as it also released its helpful study document Theology of Sex."
The full article by Dr. Stanton Jones, who is a member of the NAE Generation Forum Advisory Team, is available on Christianity Today's website here. Also, please contact us to obtain your copy of the "Theology of Sex."
We recently posted a brief summary video from our Los Angeles gathering of pastors and ministry leaders under the "Resources" section of the www.naegeneration.com. It captures highlights from the conversation there, as well as a number of interesting interviews with those in attendance.
Check it out:
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Pentecostal Evangel, the Assemblies of God denomination's weekly magazine, took the opportunity of Sanctity of Life Sunday to highlight adoption, as well as other services they provide for children and pregnant women in need. Significantly, the articles in this edition note thoughts from both birth mothers with unplanned pregnancies and adoptive parents. You can read more here.
On Tuesday evening, the NAE Generation Forum held a panel discussion on "Generating New Ideas to Decrease Abortion" as part of the NAE's annual Christian Student Leadership Conference (CSLC).
After a brief introduction from me about the Generation Forum and some of our data and other resources, the panel (Andrea Kane of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, Jennifer Marshall of the Heritage Foundation, and David Schmidgall of National Communty Church) stirred a great conversation about sex, unplanned pregnancy, and abortion in our congregations and communities. The 75 college students, who come from Christian colleges and universities around the country, then enthusiastically engaged with follow-up questions about practical steps for respecting sex and reducing abortions. There were so many hands going up that we actually ran out of time for all of them!
The NAE took an informal survey of these students before they came to Washington, DC for the week, and we found that about 90% of them wanted the nation to work together in a practical way to bring down the number of abortions. This fits well with our formal polling data that 9 our of 10 evangelicals want practical and productive work to reduce the abortion rate. That and the active engagement of the students are encouraging signs that we are on the right track here. We need to build this conversation and find some real ways to face the everyday challenge of abortion in all our communities.
