Questioning the Sermon...When Politics in the Pulpit is Offensive

My wife and I are trying hard to get used to Connecticut. We have found many new challenges to overcome. One of which (and the one I find most shocking) is joining a church.

My wife and I are both lifelong United Methodists, both growing up in small town conservatives United Methodist Churches in Arkansas. We are used to strong Sunday Schools and no (or at least very little) politics from the pulpit.

Upon moving to CT we were disappointed to discover that local area UMC's do not have Sunday School during the summer...several had no adult classes at all. Having moved from the Dallas metro area we left a church of 3,500 members to find CT UMC's averaging less than 200 at their weekly services.

The size and low key Sunday School are tolerable. However the one area that I am struggling with is the extreme liberal ideology of the New England (or at least CT) UMC.

Today I was subjected to a sermon from the local UMC "DS" or district superintendent. All was going well...He was discussing the story of God turning Mose's staff into a snake, and the faith required to pick up the snake before it turned back into a staff. He proceded to lecture on how Christians should "pick up the snake" (i.e. have faith to make scary or hard decisions). So Far So Good...You Say...

At this point the "DS" began to discuss "positive" examples of people "picking up the snake". He began to discuss the "brave young mother" whose son was killed in Iraq, a "questionable war"...who was bold enough to try and hold the administration accountable. YIKES!!

Yes...I almost choked in the pew...the District Superintendent was comparing Cindy Sheehan to Mose picking up the snake. Had this been my first Sunday at the church I would have walked out then and there. This is politics in the pulpit at its worst. As a lifelong United Methodist, I am hurt that this kind of comparison can be made from the pulpit with a straight face.

As a person very new to New England (CT specifically) is this what the United Methodist Church has come to? Is this a common attitude? I am not (yet) ready to leave the church...and I certainly don't want to withholding my financial support to the UMC...but it is really hard to support this type of ideology.

If anyone reading this has had similar situations in New England (or elswhere) I would be interested in hearing about them, and how you dealt with it.