United Methodist Advocates Will Miss Senator Wellstone

October 29, 2002

WASHINGTON – United Methodists involved in social advocacy on behalf of the denomination are mourning the death of a U.S. senator who, they said, shared their passion for justice.

"Paul Wellstone was a passionate advocate for peace and justice and worked with us on many of the projects related to the Social Principles of the United Methodist Church," said Jaydee Hanson, an executive with the United Methodist Church's international agency for advocacy and social action.

Wellstone, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, never left anyone in doubt about what he believed but "at the same time he worked well with even some of the most conservative members of the Senate, who, I believe, respected him for his fidelity to his beliefs," Hanson observed.

The Democratic senator from Minnesota was one of eight people who died Oct. 25 in a plane crash.

"I always called him ‘Right On Senator' because he didn't bob and weave like so many did," remarked Mark Harrison, also a staff executive with the United Methodist Board of Church and Society. "He was faithful to what he believed in."

Also mourning Wellstone's death are members of the National Council of Churches (NCC). "We have more than once been grateful for his leadership on behalf of programs to assist the least, the last and the lost," said the Rev. Robert Edgar, a United Methodist clergyman, former U.S. congressman and head of the NCC staff.

Causes on which Edgar and Wellstone worked together included children's issues, health care, the environment and poverty, he added.

"Even in what turned out to be the last days of his life, Sen. Wellstone, despite a close political race for re-election, preserved his integrity in voting against the ‘Use of Force' resolution to enable U.S. action against Iraq," Edgar said. "At the time we cited his courage and selflessness in placing conscience above self-interest."

Wellstone had been concerned with availability of employment and was supportive of job training programs, Hanson said. The senator was also a leader in fighting for affordable health care, and had recently led efforts opposing the extension of drug patents that increases costs and decreases availability to consumers, Hanson explained.

The Minnesota senator worked with the staff of the Board of Church and Society on farm issues, women's issues, peace issues, environmental issues and campaign finance reform.

"Making life better for poor people was one of his main goals," Hanson added. "He was also forthright in ways a lot of politicians aren't."

Wellstone was not cynical about people, democracy or the political process, Hanson said. He believed that a politician should stand for what he or she believes and teach constituents why he thinks that way.

Among the many tributes were memorial services held at United Methodist-related Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., and at the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill in Washington.

United Methodist News Service