Spokesperson slams ‘dangerous campaign’ set to roll out at over a dozen UMC churches statewide
A United Methodist Church official is pushing back against a controversial “geofencing” plan to target churchgoers in Texas and other states with messaging from an organization acting as an agent of the state of Israel.
A Foreign Agents Registration Act filing in September that The Christian Post reported on earlier this year shows more than 200 churches in Texas are listed in a plan by California-based nonprofit Show Faith by Works to use geolocation technology to send targeted messages to churchgoers’ mobile devices.
In all, 465 churches were identified in the FARA filing by Show Faith by Works, which identified itself as an agent of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of a deal to launch a $4.1 million marketing campaign targeting Christian communities in the western United States.
In response to the campaign, Colleen Moore, the director of Peace With Justice at the UMC General Board of Church and Society, told CP the outreach is part of a “dangerous campaign that undermines efforts to educate United Methodists about the situation in the Holy Land.”
Moore also warned that “targeting United Methodist churches with anti-Palestinian ads explicitly goes against our Social Principles that encourage dialogue and responsible political action.”
“These ads would obscure the real situation on the ground, the continued Israeli bombardment of Gaza and the ensuing humanitarian crisis, as well as the displacement and continued settler violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem,” Moore said.
While Moore declined to comment specifically on how UMC churches would engage their congregations on the topic, she said they are recommending any churches that are geo-targeted by the campaign to “consider the Social Principles and resolutions of the Church which encourage United Methodists to read about the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis, study the conflict from all perspectives, and engage in interfaith and ecumenical dialogue on nonviolent ways to promote justice and peace in the Holy Land.”
Show Faith by Works’ messaging will include talking points to “combat low American Evangelical Christian approval of the Nation of Israel” and “increase awareness of Palestinian ties to Hamas and support for terrorism,” according to the September filing.
In addition to targeted geofencing, the outreach initiative includes plans to “create a mobile museum to display at churches, Christian colleges, and Christian events,” as well as equip pastors and social media influencers to “increase positive associations with the Nation of Israel while linking the Palestinian population with extremist factions,” the filing stated.
While the churches are concentrated in three states — Colorado, Nevada and Texas — the FARA filing shows 250 targeted locations in Texas, far outpacing Colorado (24) and Nevada (14).
As expected, most of the Texas targets are located in major metropolitan areas like Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin and others, and include a number of prominent Evangelical, Baptist, Methodist, non-denominational and megachurches in the state, such as Lakewood Church in Houston, The Potter’s House in Dallas, Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano and Gateway Church in Southlake.
In addition to some of Texas’ most well-known churches, more than a dozen United Methodist Church congregations are named in the filing as well, including The Woodlands UMC, Highland Park UMC, University UMC in San Antonio, Grace Fellowship UMC in Katy and Chapelwood United Methodist Church in Houston.
CP reached out to several Dallas-area UMC churches for further comment Thursday. This story will be updated if a response is received.
Despite its multi-million-dollar price tag, the Show Faith by Works campaign is just one of several foreign-agent registrations in recent weeks linked to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
Among them is Brad Parscale, former campaign manager for President Trump, who registered Clocktower X LLC as a foreign agent hired by the state of Israel on Sept. 18 to create digital outreach campaigns targeting antisemitism as part of a $6 million contract.
