Posted on 03/30/2002 12:55:54 PM PST by madprof98
The Rev. Monica Corsaro doesn't look like a stereotypical minister. With her choppy blond hair, thick-rimmed hipster glasses and chunky black shoes, the Methodist minister won't even cop to her actual age ("30-something" is all she'll admit) because, she says, she constantly has to fight for respect.
Now this unconventional-looking minister has become a chaplain in what seems, at first blush, to be one of the most unlikeliest of places: Planned Parenthood.
Corsaro was recently appointed Planned Parenthood's chaplain for the state, making her the first full-time, statewide chaplain in the national organization.
As such, she will provide pastoral counseling to patients and staff, act as liaison with the religious community and lobby on issues of reproductive rights. Perhaps more importantly, she will play a pivotal role in the organization's public-relations battle against what its leaders say is a false perception that most religious organizations are opposed to Planned Parenthood.
In fact, despite significant religious opposition by the Catholic Church, for instance, Planned Parenthood has a long history of working with religious organizations, its directors say.
The portrayal of religion's position on women's reproductive health, family planning and the abortion issue has been "distorted because of the heated and very vocal nature of the real extreme anti-choice members of the clergy," said Robert Harkins, executive director of the state organization's network of regional affiliates.
Corsaro's appointment comes at a time when Planned Parenthood leaders say the Bush administration is trying to chip away at women's reproductive rights.
For example, Harkins said, the administration attempted to take away insurance coverage of contraceptives for federal employees, a move blocked by Congress.
The outspoken Corsaro seems suited to such a controversial position. Raised in a liberal Methodist household in Geneseo, Ill., her pivotal moment came while attending Illinois State University. A friend asked her to attend an anti-abortion rally with a conservative Christian group. Meanwhile, other friends were protesting the rally.
Feeling like she didn't fully belong in either group, Corsaro asked herself: "Why can't I be pro-choice and pro-faith?"
"Why am I here with my political friends who can't stand Christianity, and why are my Christian friends on the other side?" [Duh???]
After receiving a master's degree in divinity from the Iliff School of Theology at the University of Denver, she served as associate minister at Audubon Park United Methodist Church in Spokane, where she also chaired the local Planned Parenthood's clergy advisory committee. Most recently, she served as minister of community outreach at University Temple United Methodist Church in Seattle's University District.
In January, Methodist Bishop Elias Galvan appointed Corsaro to the Planned Parenthood chaplaincy. The church is generally considered friendly to the pro-choice position.
Corsaro said she was raised with the belief that God believes in each person's ability to make choices — including choices about one's body.
Most women who have a spiritual crisis at Planned Parenthood have "already made the decision to have an abortion but believe God will send them to hell," Corsaro said. "I try to focus on telling them 'God loves you, too.' " In her counseling, she tries to lead the women to make decisions on their own, without badgering them.
But some abortion opponents say there's no way a Planned Parenthood chaplain can be objective.
"This is a minister who, from the get-go, agrees with Planned Parenthood's philosophy," said Genevieve Wood of the Family Research Council, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit foundation.
"We would encourage women to seek counsel from their own ministers, not just take Planned Parenthood's word for it."
The Family Research Council also takes issue with Planned Parenthood's characterization of having broad-based religious support.
"The Catholic church, the largest Christian denomination in the country, and the Southern Baptist Convention, one of the largest mainline Protestant denominations in the country, are against abortion," Wood said.
But while Corsaro's appointment is the first time Planned Parenthood has established a full-time chaplaincy, it stresses longtime support from religious groups for family planning.
In the 1940s, mainline churches and synagogues played a crucial role in popularizing family planning, said the Rev. Tom Davis, chair of the clergy advisory board for Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
In the 1960s, before abortion became legal, more than 1,000 ministers and rabbis formed an underground railroad of sorts, helping women find safe abortions.
Today, Planned Parenthood has clergy serving on its boards and clergy advisory boards — both nationally and locally. Most affiliates have clergy members who volunteer as chaplains.
"It's important to have someone (on staff) who can speak as a person of faith, speaking from her faith, for people of faith," Corsaro said. "And it's important to have a religious voice for choice."
Religious views on family planning
Dan Maguire, professor of moral theological ethics at Marquette University, will discuss the views of major religions on family planning at 7:30 p.m. April 9 at University of Washington's Kane Hall, Room 220. The talk, which is free, is sponsored by Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, among others. For information: 206-328-7707.
There's a preacher and wife who are very, very, poor. They already have 14 kids. Now she finds out she's pregnant with 15th. They're living in tremendous poverty. Considering their poverty and the excessive world population, would you consider recommending she get an abortion?
In the first case, you have just killed John Wesley. One of the great evangelists in the 19th century.
But since when did John Wesley count for anything in the United Methodist Church? For that matter, since when did Christ?
(Happy Easter, Father! Four of my fellow catechumens baptized this evening. Very exciting. I'll be back in the loft for Easter Sunday tomorrow.)
I hear she's working on her doctorate in nougatology.
Oh-oh.
I think this thread should be pulled immediately. It refers to "Religion" and it's not in the Religion Forum; it's in the News Forum.
Please, people, let's keep these topics straight. No coloring outside the lines.
Oh-oh.
I think this thread should be pulled immediately. It refers to "Religion" and it's not in the Religion Forum; it's in the News Forum.
Please, people, let's keep these topics straight. No coloring outside the lines.
Come on, don't be picky. It was written in Hebrew. You're supposed to read it back to front.
I'm so disgusted with the new format I don't intend to be around too much. This isn't an opus, but this format is like fingernails on a chalkboard.
It was fun while it lasted.
You're absolutely right! Why didn't I realize she is a Hebrew scholar?
Methodists, is this true?
BTW, dollars to donuts this so-called minister is a homosexual.
But seriously, what don't you like about the new format? I find it easier to muddle through the the threads and find what I'm looking for. Have you tried the "beta" version yet?
the Methodisit Church (of which I am a member) was one of the founding organizations of RCAR ("Religious Coalition of Abortion Rights"), now called the "Religious Coalition of Reproductive Choice" (RCRC); and
there is a pro-life organization within the Methodist denomination called "Lifewatch" (Lifewatch.org), of which I am a board member. Lifewatch gets no recognition, money, or support from the denomination, but we exist "to win the hearts and minds of United Methodists, and to engage in abortion-prevention through theological, pastoral, and social emphases that support human life."
In short, though this woman is a Methodist and works for Planned Parenthood, please know that not all Methodists share her opinion!!!
It is true that the UMC has been anti-life for some time. During that period, the evangelical movement in the church has made STEADY headway. See Evangelical opposition page for United Methodist Church; click here
First, one must understand that decisions in the church can ONLY be made once every 4 years at the "General Conference." Anyone pretending to speak for "the Methodists" in the interim is simply speaking their own opinion....even if it's a bishop, an agency, a group, or a church.
The evangelicals have STEADILY hacked away at the anti-lifers until the official position of the church is now almost equivalent to "abortion only in the cases of 'rape, incest, and life of the mother.'" While this isn't satisfactory to many, it is steady progress for those who have waged the battle.
In the area of homosexuality, the General Conference has from the beginning opposed homosexual clergy and is on record saying that homosexuality isn't behavior a Christian would engage in..."incompatible with Christian behavior." In this area the GAINS are what should impress. The number in opposition has steadily increased.
As always, our problem is a hierarchy that is liberal and insensitive to the people. They became entrenched in power in the sixties and have used all legal means to keep their hold on the denomination. They are, many of them, mere political activists in sheep's clothing. Many are universalist, wiccan, closet gay, anti-resurrectionist, anti-christian, or just plain power hungry.
They will in one breath argue that the scriptures are corrupt and irrelevant, and in the next argue 'til blue in the face that "rebaptisms" shouldn't occur due to x, y, or z scripture (that they don't believe in.)
In other words, they are ALL FORM and zero substance.
But we have a lot of friends involved in the Good News movement. We also have a lot of college friends who Pastor in the UM Church. There is hope for the UM Church, but that's just not what you'll see in the mainstream media.
Other major forces in the denomination are the Confessing Movement, and the Unofficial Confessing Movement (whose web page is listed above.).
I've no doubt that this denomination can be recaptured. It will require, however, every little church in every geographic region (annual conference) sending their delegates to each annual conference. So many do NOT send their delegates forward. If they would do so, especially in the years when "General Conference" delegates are chosen, I believe that the voting would be even more lopsided in the direction of pro-life, pro-morality.
Incidentally, I did a quick google search on the west coast Rev mentioned above, Monica Corsaro. I turned up one with a tie to the Democratic Party, another to Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights in her area, and other ties to gay rights and "earth religions" groups.
Her anti-bishop, Galvan, is among the denomination's most heretical.
Scary isn't it? Weren't there ministers around during the holocaust too?
I attended that seminary for 2 years and I had to get out. I never heard such uncontrollable liberal inane blathering in my whole life as in that place. It was much worse than state university. There were many of us who did stand up for principle, but we were constantly on the firing line.
I remember one day somebody making the comment that the school seemed to be missing the whole point of spirituality. The exact response to him was, "if you want spirituality then you need to be going somewhere else."
D**n! I didn't even know there WERE DemonRats Democrats back then!
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