A parent's dilemma: When your child is gay
A UMNS Report By Robin Russell*

Kathy and Dave England, parents of a gay son, work with the Parents Reconciling Network to help educate other parents of gay children. A UMNS photo by Robin Russell, United Methodist Reporter

Kathy and Dave England recall how stunned they were when their son announced he was gay. They were sitting around and talking on the last night of Christmas break, during his freshman year of college.

"So, what do you guys think about homosexuality?" Scott asked them.

"Well, I've never given it much thought," Mrs. England replied.

"Well, I am," Scott said.

"Boy, he caught me off guard - totally," his mother recalled.

Mrs. England didn't understand her son's "choice and his lifestyle." Her husband, then on active duty with the U.S. Air Force, responded by delivering his "speech" to Scott, who had a full ROTC scholarship.

"My advice was that he should probably consider a different career," Mr. England said. "But he was my son. He was still my son. Nothing was going to change that."

The Englands, of Bellevue, Neb., shared their story during an interview at the ninth convocation of the Reconciling Ministries Network, an unofficial, pro-gay caucus of United Methodists working for full inclusion in the church. The event was held Aug. 2-6 in Nashville, Tenn.

They are among the thousand-plus members of the Parents Reconciling Network, a parents' advocacy and education group working on behalf of gay children. The network was founded by the Revs. Virginia and Bruce Hilton, former civil rights workers who became gay-rights activists after learning one of their sons was gay. The Hiltons, of Sacramento, Calif., are also United Methodists.

It often takes awhile for parents to accept that a son or daughter is gay, even as they work through their own theological understanding of whether homosexuality is a sin.

The United Methodist Book of Discipline affirms the sacred worth of every person, while teaching that homosexual practice is incompatible with Christian teaching. It affirms that "God's grace is available to all" as "we seek to live together in Christian community."

The Book of Discipline also implores families and churches "not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends," adding that "we commit ourselves to be in ministry for and with all persons."

Parents who accept their children's homosexual orientation say that advocating for gay rights is an often frustrating task in a denomination that excludes gays from ordination and its clergy from performing same-sex unions.

In recent years, the denomination's top court has upheld a pastor's right to prevent an openly practicing gay man from becoming a church member. The Judicial Council also will review in October the case of a United Methodist transgender clergy.

Denial and shame
The Englands say they worked through denial about Scott's sexual orientation, even though his twin sister, Laurie, who is straight, already had "put two and two together."

Finding a book at the library written by a member of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians And Gays helped Mrs. England realize "I'm not the only parent in Nebraska with a gay son." And it helped that a Methodist minister's wife led a support group meeting she attended.

But as is typical of many parents, the Englands kept Scott's news to themselves, close friends and family. For awhile, they were closeted in their own United Methodist congregation.

"It's not something you just walk up to someone and say," England said.

They took another look at the "clobber verses" in Scripture used against homosexuality - including one in Romans in which Paul condemns "men (who) committed shameless acts with men" - to see if they were referring to what is today known as same-sex orientation.

Eventually, through study and prayer, they came to believe that God made their son just as he was. The Englands even visited Scott when his college hosted a gay pride festival. His buddies couldn't believe his parents had come.

Brokenness and sin
Not every United Methodist parent of a homosexual child agrees with the Englands' conclusions.
Larry and Betty Baker of Madison, Va., believe homosexuality is a sin resulting from broken relationships. Both have served on the board of Transforming Congregations, an organization that states Jesus Christ has the power "to change those who face such temptations" as homosexuality, pornography and sexual addiction.

And they believe The United Methodist Church has taken the correct stance. "We have done a lot of reading of Scriptures," Mrs. Baker said. "Both of us feel we would be unfaithful to the Lord if we took a different stand."

They also have worked hard to maintain a relationship with their gay son, now 36, whom they adopted from South Korea when he was an infant. They asked that his name not be used.
When their son was 7, the Bakers moved to a rural, conservative area. They believe his homosexuality may be the result of feeling rejected and experiencing racial prejudice as the only Asian child in his school.

By his junior year of college, their son was hanging out with only male friends. During a weekend visit home, Mr. Baker overheard his son tell a male friend "I love you" over the phone. A few months later, Mrs. Baker asked her son if he was gay. She told him it would make no difference in their relationship, that he was still their son. They also offered to help him find counseling if he wanted to change his orientation. So far, he hasn't taken them up on the offer.

"I believe that the Lord can change them, but I also know it's a long and painful struggle," Mrs. Baker said.

The family's rockiest moment came when the Bakers forbid their son to sleep with his partner at their home. "We came very near to a clean break at that point," Mrs. Baker recalls. "He called and was in tears. He said, 'This is not right. You're making this very difficult for us'."

She had a change of heart at a Christian conference, where she felt God telling her: "I didn't throw you out of my house when you were in sexual sin. Why are you throwing your son out?"
Mrs. Baker apologized to her son, then invited them to come and stay at their home. It was "awkward" the first time, but they have been back many times since.

Their son now lives in northern Virginia with his partner of 11 years. One of the Bakers' daughters is supportive and would like to see her own United Methodist congregation perform same-sex blessing ceremonies. The other has theological questions about homosexuality, but wants to make sure her brother feels loved and accepted.

"We have the best relationship possible now," Mrs. Baker said. "He knows we pray for him every day. But we don't hit him over the head with that."

Mr. Baker talks by phone each week with his son and shares a meal with the couple at least once a month. He disagrees with some parents he knows who have written off their homosexual son or daughter. "We believe that scripturally, it's wrong. But we are at odds with (those) who try to single it out as a hot-button issue," he said.

Mrs. Baker added: "Jesus did not abandon sinners, and I don't feel that we can either. I think that every one of us are sinners. This is no different a sin than gluttony."

Love the sinner
Joy Watts, a member of Parents Reconciling Network from Uniontown, Ohio, said her attempts to "love the sinner and hate the sin" didn't help her connect with her daughter Andrea, who is a lesbian.

"That doesn't feel very much like love," she said.

In a convocation workshop, Mrs. Watts said her journey from being "homophobic" to becoming a gay-rights activist was a heel-dragging process.

She and her husband, Bill, were devastated at first when their middle child told them she was a lesbian. "I never felt so alone. I didn't think I could discuss it with anyone," Mrs. Watts said.

Bill Watts told his daughter homosexuality was a sin. Mrs. Watts told Andrea she'd have to "fight those urges." Through reading about sexual orientation - Mrs. Watts now boasts a veritable "gay library" of material - and talking with other parents of gays, she came to believe her daughter's orientation is God-given.

And she began speaking up at church. "If you are ready to approach this issue," she told her pastor, "I'm ready to talk." He gave her an hour in Sunday school to share her story.

The Watts disagree with the United Methodist stance toward homosexuality and say it frustrates them from time to time. "We'd been in this church for 30 years, and my son could be married in the sanctuary, but my daughter can't? It made me furious," she said.
But for now, they're staying put.

"Even if we all leave, straight parents will still have gay children," she said. "I feel like I'm in it not just for my generation and my daughter's, but for the future."

*Russell is managing editor of United Methodist Reporter, an independent weekly newspaper for United Methodists and others, produced by UMR Communications in Dallas. This story originally appeared in longer form in that publication.

College of Bishops takes part in immersion experience along US Mexico Boarder

During the last week of July, 2007, we the College of Bishops of the Western Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church gathered along the Arizona and Sonora, Mexico border. We traveled to this area to immerse ourselves in the experience of the immigrant journeying from the South into the U.S. What we saw was both disturbing and hopeful.

We walked in the 60 mile area between the southern border of Arizona and the city of Tucson, a beautiful yet unforgiving desert area where between January 1 through July 25 of this year 152 undocumented immigrants have died in their effort to come to the U.S. These deaths reflect a 16% increase in the deaths of undocumented immigrants in this desert in 2005 and a 25% increase for the same period in 2006. In spite of about 70 water stations that have been placed in the desert by Humane Borders an organization committed to saving lives in the desert and reforming U.S. immigration policy, men, women and children continue to die in the desert. While there are definitely drug runners and criminals who cross the border through the desert, the majority of those who travel this way are the poor who continue to risk possible death in order to live.

The undocumented immigrants who are entering the U.S. through our southern border are coming for very basic reasons. They are seeking work in order to feed, cloth, house their families and educate their children. Some among them are coming so that they can be reunited with family members who are already in the U.S.

Traveling to Altar we saw how immigration has impacted communities south of the border. Only a few years ago Altar was a small Mexican town of 1,500 inhabitants. Today it has a population closer to 16,000. This growth has been brought about by the movement of peoples to the border. Persons seeking to immigrate into the U.S. gather in Altar to await guides who will transport them to the border. Houses of hospitality have gone up in this community to provide lodging for these immigrants. For about $7 dollars a day an immigrant can receive a bed and a bit of food as they wait patiently for their guide.

The local Roman Catholic Church has demonstrated great compassion toward the immigrants who arrive daily in Altar. Located in the heart of the town’s central plaza, the immigrants literally arrive at the doorsteps of the church. It is estimated that during the months of January to May, the peak season for immigration, as many as 4,000 immigrants arrive in the plaza every day. The church has also built a house of hospitality for immigrants, but does not charge for its services. It considers serving the immigrants to be a fundamental part of the ministry that God calls them to be about. When we visited this church’s house of hospitality we were pleased to see the bundles of UMCOR blankets that we United Methodists have contributed to this ministry

One day we carried blankets across the border at the Nogales, Arizona border crossing. The blankets were for the humanitarian work being done at the border to assist undocumented immigrants who have been repatriated to Mexico after having been detained in the U.S. There we saw Mexican and U.S. volunteers collaborating in bringing much needed relief to immigrants, many of whom had spent as many as three to four days in the desert before being detained by the U.S. Border Patrol. One young immigrant was being attended to by two women who were treating his badly blistered feet. He looked exhausted, his skin showed the signs of severe sunburn and dehydration and he seemed to be in shock. When we asked him what he was going to do he said that he needed to call home but had no means to do so. We gathered round him and prayed for him assuring him that the volunteers caring for him would help him, and confirming what he himself expressed – that God was with him.

At another center that also serves repatriated immigrants who have been detained in the U.S. and returned to Mexico, we were able to see more immigrants. They were from all over Mexico and Central America. They were primarily young men between the ages of 13 and 22, but we also saw older men, women, and children. When we were taken to see the food pantry of this center we saw the typical food supplies of such a center; beans, rice, cookies and crackers. What surprised us was to see cases of baby food. When we asked if the center received many babies we were told that on the average 30 immigrant babies and toddlers arrived at the center every day. Our hearts broke as we realized that fragile, tender babies are also making the arduous trip across the desert.

During our immersion experience we were able to spend time with our sisters and brothers from the Methodist Church of Mexico. We joined them in worship at the Methodist Church of Magdalena, a Mexican town about a two hour drive south of the border. We worshipped together, shared a meal and then entered into conversation with Bishop Jaime Vasquez of the Methodist Church of Mexico and his two district superintendents. Our conversation was about how we can work together. National borders cannot separate us for we are together the people of God whose greatest allegiance is to the reign of God that stands sovereign above al nation states.

We left that table of fellowship and conversation having committed to work cooperatively and collaboratively in service to God’s people who live on both sides of the border. As United Methodists we committed to persevering in the work of comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S. Our colleagues from the Methodist Church of Mexico pledged to share pastoral leaders with us to fill the growing need for leadership in our Hispanic/Latino churches.

Finally, we visited El Mesias United Methodist Church in Nogales, Arizona. They were celebrating their vacation bible school. The laughter and songs of children and young people filled the air just as surely as did the delicious aroma of tamales, menudo, rice and tortillas. We met the oldest living member of the church, a woman in her late 90s. She had come wanting to be part of this historic visit. Never had so many bishops visited her church, she said to us with obvious joy. We also met the newest member, a woman who had just joined the church but who was already serving at table. The newest member lives in Mexico while the oldest member is a native Arizonan.

El Mesias UMC is an international church with members from both sides of the border. It has been a faithful church from the time when there was no border to limit our Methodist work.

Today young people from Mexico lead El Mesias’ praise band. Many of the children of this church live and study in Mexico, but worship and are being discipled in Arizona. This congregation reminded us of the many Hispanic/Latino congregations in United Methodism all across the U.S. that are made up of immigrant children, young people, and families. They are congregations where the Spirit of God is experienced through the eyes of the immigrant experience, an experience not unlike that of the Christ Child who was taken to Egypt to protect his life that he might bless us all.

Through this both rich and disturbing life experience we were moved by the witness of immigrants; their love of family, their deep religious faith, and their trust in God who journeys with them. We were inspired by the many volunteers who are giving of their lives through ministries of care and compassion to our immigrant brothers and sisters. Immigrants and volunteers both gave us hope that if we confront this situation with courage and love we can bring resolution to a deadly and dehumanizing situation.

Our experience in the desert led us to write to Governor Janet Naplitano of the State of Arizona asking her to open up Arizona state land trusts so that volunteer organizations can place water stations in the desert and thus help save lives in the desert. We asked her to intervene in the deportation of women and children during the night, a time when they are most susceptible to assault and abuse. More importantly we implored her to be a moral voice in the immigration discussion.

We left the border convicted of the need to speak a prophetic and urgent call to The United Methodist Church to live its commitment to justice. Now more than ever The United Methodist Church needs to work for comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S. that will bring justice, God’s own justice.


Written by Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño on behalf of the Western Jurisdiction of the College of Bishops of The United Methodist Church

Two United Methodist agencies seek help from Tennesseans in effort to get tobacco controlled by FDA

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)––Two general agencies of the United Methodist Church have joined 24 other religious groups in an effort to get the U.S. Congress to authorize the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate tobacco products.

The General Board of Church and Society and the General Commission on United Methodist Men sponsored a press conference in Nashville to urge two Tennessee congressional members of the 33-member Subcommittee on Health of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, to back HR 1108, “The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.”

United Methodists living in the congressional districts of Rep. Bart Gordon (D) and Marsha Blackburn (R) are urged to seek their support of HR 1108.

“This is the fifth regional meeting designed to bring grass-roots support for the legislation,” said Vinny DeMarco, national coordinator of Faith United against Tobacco. He told United Methodist News Service that similar gatherings were held in Bloomington, Ind., Columbus, Ohio, and two in Houston, Texas. The interfaith effort is supported by religious groups ranging from the Islamic Society of North America to the Southern Baptists. A letter from leaders of 25 faith groups was sent to all members of Congress urging them to support the FDA regulation of tobacco legislation.

Unregulated product causes 400,000 deaths every year

“Four hundred thousand Americans die annually from diseases related to smoking and 1,000 children become addicted to tobacco products every day,” said Dr. Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. “We have a moral imperative to safeguard men, women and children from falling victim to tobacco addiction. Dog food is more regulated than tobacco, and products designed to help people stop smoking are regulated by the FDA, while tobacco is not.”

The Rev. David Adams, top staff executive of the Nashville-based Commission on United Methodist Men, said he and a friend sneaked Winston cigarettes from his mother in the fourth grade; the boys ate dill pickles after smoking to disguise the tobacco smell from his parents. Adams underscored the importance of FDA regulation of tobacco by noting that his mother died of cancer at age 46 and other relatives that smoked also died of cancer at relatively young ages.

Ninety percent of smokers addicted before age 19

Courtney Wilson, a high school youth and a youth advocate for the Disciples of Christ denomination, said students at her high school in a Nashville suburb don’t even wait until they leave school grounds before they light up. “Tobacco companies spend $406 million just in Tennessee to market products such as candy-flavored cigarettes. If the FDA regulated the product, the agency would outlaw such products.” Wilson noted that 90 percent of smokers were addicted before they reached age 19.

“Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S.,” said Bishop Marsha Thomas, the episcopal leader of the House of God Church in Tennessee. She expressed particular concern for members of her African American denomination because members of that ethnic group die at a higher rate than Anglo Americans. She said, “Forty-two percent of African American adults prefer Newport cigarettes and 80 percent of African American youth prefer that brand.”

Dr. Chuck Womack, a physician and a member of the American Heart Association, said that if the FDA regulated tobacco, the agency would prohibit cigarette companies from using such terms as “light” or “low tar.” The FDA would also require tobacco companies to list their toxic contents and health effects.

One hundred and ninety six U.S. Representatives have cosponsored HR 1108. The bill is now in the Health Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. A similar Senate bill (S625) is cosponsored by 53 senators. That bill passed the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on August 1.

Academy prepares Hispanic/Latino youth for leadership

By Amanda M. Bachus*

NEWARK, N.J. (UMNS) - A United Methodist training program is reaching young people such as Erica Granados-De La Rosa and preparing them to lead in the church.

The Hispanic/Latino Youth Leadership Academy is the only United Methodist program specifically preparing Hispanic/Latino young people for leadership in The United Methodist Church.

Granados-De La Rosa, a 16-year-old high school graduate from the Rio Grande Annual (regional) Conference, is a 2006 graduate of the youth leadership academy.

"The academy is truly a program that molds lives and is a vital asset to the UMC," Granados-De La Rosa said.

"As a young Christian Latina, I felt empowered and more confident in where I stand as a youth leader in The United Methodist Church, in the community, (among) my people, and within this country. The academy offered me something I couldn't have found in any other area (of the denomination): a place and time dedicated to nurture and walk with United Methodist Latino youth as we begin our journey to empower future leaders."

A relationship with God
The national, three-year Hispanic/Latino Youth Leadership Academy is committed to helping youth discover and embrace their relationship with God and encouraging them as they complete their education. The academy is at the United Methodist-related Perkins School of Theology in Dallas.

Building strong leadership is one of the four mission initiatives identified by United Methodist leaders as a priority for the future. Hispanic/Latino church leaders have said that an urgent need exists in The United Methodist Church and among the Hispanic/Latino church for young leadership.

"HYLA seemed to give Latino youth a sense of leadership but also a sense of cultural and spiritual identity," Granados-De La Rosa said.

Only 49 percent of the Hispanic population graduates from high school, and only 9 percent from university, according to data provided by the academy. The Mexican American Program of Perkins School of Theology, in partnership with the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, developed the Hispanic/Latino Youth Leadership Academy for high school youth and college young adults to help them explore their call to ministry.

Youth involved in the academy gather on the campus of Southern Methodist University each summer to participate in Christian discipleship, vocational development, leadership training, college prep assistance, and a variety of other activities. The academy puts Hispanic/Latino high school and college students together with pastors, seminarians and other Hispanic/Latino leaders who serve as mentors.

One of the first faculty to support the academy was the Rev. Alejandro F. Botta, then professor of Hebrew Bible at Perkins School of Theology and originally from Argentina, according to the Rev. Cristian De La Rosa, youth academy coordinator. Botta was also Granados-De La Rosa's mentor throughout her three years in the Academy.

Exploring vocations
During the Aug. 9-12 meeting of Methodists Associated Representing the Cause of Hispanic Americans in Newark, academy youth participated in a leadership training sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry and the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. They also participated in workshops on advocacy and immigration.

Although Granados-De La Rosa expects to earn a degree in sociology and a doctorate degree in education after beginning studies at Loyola University Chicago this fall, she will continue to support the academy as a youth mentor and facilitator.

She is serving on the academy's advisory board and is assisting the transition of the academy from an entity of the South Central Jurisdiction to a national organization.

In 2007, academy participants were from five U.S. jurisdictions and Puerto Rico, including a guest youth from Mexico. Forty youth were accepted out of 65 registered for the summer program, and 11 youth completed the three-year-curriculum and graduated from the academy Aug. 2.

All students are expected to be in ministry, and during each academy, they talk about their ministry settings and explore their vocations as disciples of Christ and their leadership in The United Methodist Church.

"HYLA is one of those programs that I hope becomes embedded in the permanent structure of The United Methodist Church, " Granados-De La Rosa said, "because it is profoundly needed within our church and more so in our Hispanic community."

*Bachus is the director of Spanish language resources at United Methodist Communications.

Hispanic caucus urges immigration reform

Members of MARCHA - Methodists Associated Representing the Cause of Hispanic Americans - hold hands in prayer following a communications training session at their Aug. 9-12 meeting in Newark, N.J. A UMNS photo by Corey Daniel Godbey.

By Amanda M. Bachus*

NEWARK, N.J. (UMNS) - The Hispanic caucus of The United Methodist Church will ask the denomination's top assembly to urge the U.S. Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform that emphasizes family unity, affordable education, fair treatment of laborers and a path toward citizenship.

About 150 members of Methodists Associated Representing the Cause of Hispanic Americans, meeting Aug. 9-12, chided Congress for passing the 1996 Immigration Reform Act. In a resolution, they said the act "severely restricted the opportunity for immigrants in this country to be reunited with their families and obtain permission to work legally and avoid being exploited by unscrupulous employers and employment practices."

MARCHA, one of five ethnic caucuses in The United Methodist Church, said the United States benefits from the work of immigrants but denies those same individuals such basic rights as fair wages, health benefits, social services and the opportunity to be with their families. "The law has not worked. The current immigration system is broken," the resolution said.

Fear, ignorance and debate over immigration have generated "dangerous racial dynamics" that have led to racial profiling, intolerance, racism and abuse of Hispanic/Latinos, according to Bishop Elias Galván, executive director of MARCHA.

The lack of comprehensive immigration reform has opened the door to hate groups, some of which have proposed ordinances that seek to deprive undocumented people of protection under the law, access to adequate housing and other basic human needs, he said.

"The United Methodist Church has historically stood against racism, cultural prejudice, and other forms of intolerance," he said. " … We as a church have affirmed and celebrated God's diverse human creation.

"It is the duty of the church to proclaim the good news of the Gospel, to oppose injustice and to speak for those who have no voice because they have been marginalized and made invisible: the poor, the stranger, the widow."

Caucus members also decided to ask the church's Council of Bishops to establish an advocacy plan of action to enable annual conferences to immediately respond to the needs and challenges of all immigrants. The programs would create service opportunities and equip local churches to respond effectively in their ministries.

The MARCHA theme was "Mañana, a Future with Hope," and participants included 40 students ages 15-24 who gathered for a four-day pre-assembly leadership training event.

Resolutions to General Conference
Other resolutions passed for the 2008 General Conference reflected MARCHA's commitment to Hispanic/Latino churches and ministries in the United States and abroad.

One resolution called upon The United Methodist Church to pay close attention to the critical needs in the Latin America/Caribbean region and to respond to opportunities for mission. The caucus called for the implementation of a coordinated Holistic Strategy on Latin America and the Caribbean as a Special Program, as outlined in Paragraph 703.10 of The Book of the Discipline.

The 2004 General Conference mandated a study on the relationship of The United Methodist Church with the churches in that area.

MARCHA also called for continued support of the Encounter with Christ Permanent Fund on behalf of a mission partnership with the Methodist Churches of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Methodist Church of the Caribbean and the Americas, and other emerging Methodist churches and ecumenical organization in the region.

The caucus agreed to support three resolutions related to the autonomous Methodist Church of Puerto Rico: one on the island of Vieques, where the U.S. military's use of the island for test-bombing for many years was a concern; another on Puerto Rican political prisoners; and a third on the political status of Puerto Rico.

It also endorsed three people for bishop: Rev. Aida I. Fernandez, a district superintendent in the New England Annual (regional) Conference; the Rev. Roberto Gómez, a district superintendent in the Rio Grande Conference; and the Rev. Jorge Luis Mayorga, a district superintendent in the Wisconsin Conference. United Methodists in the five U.S. jurisdictions will elect and assign bishops during jurisdictional conferences in summer 2008.

The beginning
In a state of the caucus address, Galván exhorted meeting participants to not forget the beginnings and purpose of MARCHA. He reminisced about how the 36-year old caucus began, praised its founders and spoke about the organization's future.

Quoting theologian Justo González, he said, "Our dearest friend, professor and historian wrote in one of his books something like this: 'We study the past so we can understand today in order to be able to plan for the future,'" he said.

"It would be nice if we had a written account of MARCHA's history," he added. "This could help newer generations to value the efforts of the past, serve as a model (for) the future, which could serve them in their own struggles towards the creation of a more inclusive and multicultural church that is in close relationship with the needs and aspirations of the Hispanic/Latino people."

Galván remembered past decades when the caucus was the lead institution that brought the attention of the church to important matters facing Hispanic/Latino people, and he praised the group's founders.

"We shouldn't forget their effort and hard work that made possible this institution of today," he said. "... We should keep them in our memory but be able to visualize towards the future onto what God is calling us to do as the Hispanic/Latino United Methodists."

González, who is also a Methodist historian, highlighted the event as the keynote speaker and received awards from MARCHA, the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry and the United Methodist Publishing House for his achievements.

"While we dream for a better tomorrow and wait for the celebration of that dream, we should look at it as if the dreaming of tomorrow could be made into a reality today," González said.

"Let's celebrate a fiesta when we all will eat of the same table of the Lord and will drink of the wine of life," he said. "Let's all share and celebrate in God's great fiesta!"

*Bachus is the director of Spanish language resources at United Methodist Communications.

Author: Faith should lead, politics follow

By Linda Bloom*

Charlene Floyd has had a lifelong interest in the interaction of religion and politics. A UMNS photo by John Goodwin.

NEW YORK (UMNS) - After studying the effects of religion on politics in places as diverse as Chiapas, Mexico, and Charlotte, N.C., author Charlene Floyd has reached the conclusion "that faith should lead and politics should follow."

A member of the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist in New York, Floyd says religious groups most often get into trouble "when politics are setting the agenda for people of faith."

In her book Christian Voices: Journeys through Faith and Politics in Contemporary American Protestantism, she explores how "seasoned believers" - not theologians or politicians - integrate their faith into their political perceptions. The book was published in May by Greenwood Publishing Group.

"Regardless of when or where, each of these Christians has been transformed by his or her faith and has sought to be in a community with others who share the same convictions and experiences," she writes in the book's introduction.

Their stories are relevant "because each of the individuals profiled … participates, on some level, in the American political system. And, without exception, each of them unequivocally claims that his or her faith is the most important factor shaping his or her political decisions."

Floyd, 45, who has a doctoral degree in political society from the Graduate School of the City University of New York, is an adjunct professor at New York Theological Seminary and adjunct assistant professor at Baruch College in New York.

She is married to the Rev. James "K" Karpen, pastor of St. Paul and St. Andrew, and they have two children, Jessie, 9 and Harry, 6. At the church, she has taken on a variety of roles beyond that of clergy spouse, including coordinating the Homework Help tutoring program.

Life-long interest
The interaction of religion and politics has been part of her life since childhood. Her father, the Rev. Roger Floyd, now a retired United Methodist pastor, took an active role in politics through his position with the area's council of churches and even ran for mayor of Bridgeport, Conn.

When she attended Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, she designed her own interdisciplinary major in religion and politics, focusing on the base communities and liberation theology of Latin America. In 1985, a year after graduation, she went to Mexico for a year, where she lived in a Christian base community and learned Spanish.

Researching the political impact of Catholic laity in Mexico seemed like a natural topic for her doctoral dissertation when she entered graduate school, but Floyd said she encountered resistance to its religious theme at a time when political scientists seemed bent on secularization.
"They finally approved my proposal and I had no money to go (back to Mexico)," she added. "I had to take out a loan."

Soon, events in Mexico bolstered her proposal. In January 1994, news of the uprising in Chiapas, led by the rebel Zapatista National Liberation Army, caught the attention of the political science community and she received a grant allowing her to continue the research and pay off her loan.

Floyd completed her dissertation on the Catholic Church and democratization in southern Mexico in 1998. She also studied the interaction of religion and politics in the United States - an interest heightened by her observations during the 2004 presidential race between President Bush and Sen. John Kerry. "Religious groups on both sides played a part in the election," she said.

Faith journeys
When Greenwood Publishing approached her about doing a book, the idea for Christian Voices was born. In the book, Floyd personalizes the issue of religion and politics by focusing on individual and congregational stories.

The 16 individual faith journeys recounted in the book are set within various religious communities - two United Methodist congregations, in Charlotte, N.C., and Brooklyn, N.Y.; a newly formed Presbyterian church in Delaware, Ohio, and a Southern Baptist congregation in Houston. The communities were culled from a list of about 100 that basically were chosen by word of mouth, "not a very scientific method," she acknowledged.

Floyd found a variety of political viewpoints, both among the congregations and within each congregation. The conservative Southern Baptist congregation, for example, "provides a really nice counterpoint" to the socially liberal Park Slope church in Brooklyn. "It was amazing to see their (Southern Baptist) passion and commitment," she said.

But even at Park Slope, she added, "They're talking about their prayer life."

So, at one end of the spectrum, Dorothee Benz - a Park Slope member who identifies herself as a lesbian and hard-core socialist - says she is not looking for "some kind of flashy miracle" through her prayer life but seeks "an active piece of God constantly flowing through me."

At the other end, Fred Williams, the president of a Houston-based trust company and third-generation Baptist, uses prayer as a tool to help make family decisions, such as deciding that their children should attend the local public school rather than a private Christian school based at their church. "We pray for one child at a time and take one year at a time," Williams explains in the book.

The focus on prayer was a constant in all the congregations. "People were just passionate about that," Floyd said. "Politics made no difference."

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

Immigration activist arrested after year in refuge

A UMNS Report by Kathy L. Gilbert*

Elvira Arellano took sanctuary in Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago from Aug. 15, 2006, to Aug. 16, 2007. After traveling to California to campaign for immigration reform, she was arrested and deported on Aug. 19 in Los Angeles. A UMNS file photo by Paul Jeffrey.

Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant and member of Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago, was arrested in California and deported to Mexico on Aug. 19 - four days after she left the Chicago church where she had received sanctuary for a year.

Arellano, 32, and her 8-year-old son, Saul, a U.S. citizen, had lived in Adalberto United Methodist Church from Aug. 15, 2006, to Aug. 16, 2007.

On the one-year anniversary of her life inside the church walls, she announced plans to leave the church and begin a nationwide campaign for immigration reform.

One day later, she slipped out of the Chicago church unnoticed and traveled to California. There, she was arrested after leaving a Los Angeles Catholic church where she urged people to lobby Congress to take up immigration reform after the summer recess.

Chicago immigration activist Emma Lozano, wife of the Rev. Walter Coleman, pastor of Adalberto, was with Arellano and her son when she was arrested, according to news reports.

Coleman told The Chicago Tribune that Arellano was deported to Tijuana, Mexico, but was in good spirits and ready to continue the struggle against separation of families due to the exportation of illegal immigrants. Her son remained in the United States and was under the care of Coleman and Lozano, according to news reports.

Seeking refuge
Adalberto is a storefront church on the west side of Chicago and served as the site of an Aug. 15 news conference for Arellano and an immigration rights rally that brought supporters from within the church, immigrant rights organizations, labor unions and Latino and African-American community organizations.

Arellano announced that, after several weeks of fasting and praying, she had decided to leave the church and speak out for immigration reform. She added that she was fully aware of the risks of possible arrest, jail time or deportation.

"When I entered sanctuary, I promised God that I would stay here and raise my son in his country, no matter what the consequences," Arellano said.

"I accept whatever God gives me to accept, but I ask my community to join me as we walk together for our dignity."

Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, episcopal leader of the United Methodist Northern Illinois Annual (regional) Conference, said the conference has supported Arellano and the church for the past year.

"We have supported this church in prayer as it offered Elvira the chance to practice the centuries-old tradition of sanctuary, which draws upon a tradition of non-violent protest and civil disobedience," he said.

Noting that immigration is an issue that divides the nation, Jung said that "the church will continue to raise a voice for justice for all of God's people. The church will continue its commitment to families and laws that unite rather than separate families."

Crossing borders
Arellano began her journey in Michoacán, Mexico, where she was the youngest of five children. Her father was an agricultural laborer who lost the land that he had farmed. Arellano moved to a bigger city in Mexico, hoping to find work as a secretary to help support her family.

"I had a very beautiful life there," she said, "but tough economic decisions."

She walked across the border into the United States in 1997 with hopes of earning enough money to support her family in Mexico. She gave birth to Saul and was working cleaning airplanes at O'Hare International Airport when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested her and ordered her deportation in 2002.

"This country says that I broke the law by crossing the border and working without proper papers. I did that," Arellano acknowledges. "Yet, I am a worker, and you offered me work. I am a consumer, and you accepted my hard-won earnings. I am a taxpayer, and you took my taxes."

Arellano said receiving hate mail was the most difficult part of the past year while in sanctuary. "I don't hate the people who have sent these letters to me, I pray for God to forgive them," she said.

"I am not challenging anyone. When God created the world, he did not create borders between countries. He created people to love and help each other. I am just bringing to light what those who are in power don't want to see."

Jung said, "While people of faith may disagree on the best ways to fix this nation's unworkable and outdated immigration laws, we affirm that the Bible directs Christians to care for foreigners in our midst (Exodus 23:9) and reminds us that we too are sojourners (Leviticus 25:23)."

Jung said Jesus' most pointed description of how human beings should act toward each other is in Luke 10:33-34, the story of the Good Samaritan.

"The story of the Good Samaritan reveals the radical love of God as expressed by Jesus Christ. This love transcends race, nationality and religion. It is a love that cries for justice and peace; it is a love that is sorely needed in the world today. I call on all people of faith to pray for wisdom, courage and compromise over a complex issue that deeply divides the civil discourse of this country and affects millions of lives."

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn. Susan Dal Porto, Northern Illinois Conference communicator, contributed to this report.

The Temple Scroll Sparks Panel Discussion at Emory

Biblical temples -- both real and imagined, earthly and heavenly -- will be the focus of a panel talk at Emory University by three renowned religion scholars at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9 in the Michael C. Carlos Museum Reception Hall. The event is free and open to the public, in conjunction with the museum exhibit "Cradle of Christianity: Jewish and Christian Treasures from the Holy Land," continuing through Oct. 14.

The panel discussion, titled "The Temple Scroll in Context: Early Judaism and the Conflict over Sacred Space," will center on one of the extraordinary artifacts included in the exhibit -- a fragment of a Dead Sea Scroll.

The writing in the 2,000-year-old Temple Scroll remains relevant today, says Carol Newsom, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Old Testament at Emory's Candler School of Theology. "Today, so many of our conflicts have to do with holy places," she says. "We need to understand the power they exercise over us."

Joining Newsom on the panel will be Lawrence Schiffmann, Ethel and Irvin A. Edelman Professor in Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University; and James VanderKam, James O'Brien Professor of Hebrew Scriptures at the University of Notre Dame. Each scholar will make a 30-minute presentation, followed by a discussion.

The Temple Scroll reads as a critique of temple practices at the time, and purports to be the directions God gave Moses on Mount Sinai for rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem.

The directions call for a stairway made of solid gold, 12 gates named for the 12 tribes of Israel, and dimensions that align with numerical symbolism, including those for a massive outer courtyard that would not have fit inside the mountainous area. The Temple Scroll also outlines rules for purity in the temple city of Jerusalem, such as no one can defecate within the city limits. "The directions place the latrines outside of Jerusalem, at a distance further than one is allowed to walk on the Sabbath," Newsom says.

So why would God instruct direct Moses to build a temple that could never be fully realized?

"One interpretation is, if you could perfect the notion of holiness, then this is what the temple and Jerusalem would be like," Newsom says. "It serves as a kind of perpetual criticism that what we actually can create can never express holy perfection."

From antiquity to today, sacred spaces have both brought people together in worship and sparked contention over details such as who could enter the spaces and how they should be designed and used. No matter how magnificent, "these spaces come with a sense of dissatisfaction, that they will always fall short of the divine," Newsom says.

Emory University is one of the nation's leading private research universities and a member of the Association of American Universities. Known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities, Emory is ranked as one of the country's top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

Commentary by the Rev. Glenn Tyndall: Reflections on the Virginia Tech tragedy

The Rev. Glenn Tyndall stands in front of the Wesley Foundation Center at Virginia Tech, where he has served as the United Methodist campus minister for 33 years. A new school year begins Aug. 20. A UMNS photo by Travis Church.

BLACKSBURG, Va. (UMNS) - "Cut it down, it grows back stronger." Translated from the Latin phrase "succisa virescit," this mantra became a unifying slogan this past year for the embattled lacrosse team at my alma mater, Duke University. But before the events of April 16 at Virginia Tech, where I have served as campus minister of the Wesley Foundation for 33 years, I didn't realize how appropriate this message would become for our own university and our students, our town, this campus ministry, and even for me personally.

As classes at Virginia Tech resume Aug. 20 - more than four months after a campus tragedy that left 33 people dead - evidence of this renewed strength is everywhere.

"Cut it down, it grows back stronger."

Hours of terror
We were cut down on a gray April Monday when a student went on a deadly shooting rampage, forever changing my life, along with the lives of everyone else who ever heard the word "Hokie." When news of this awful tragedy arrived via e-mail, I locked the doors of our Wesley center, which is adjacent to campus, since the shooter or shooters had not yet been caught. We knew classes would be canceled; we wondered if the rest of the semester would be canceled as well.

The first task was to account for all of our active students at Wesley. Students I knew and some I had never met began arriving at our building seeking safety, warmth and comfort. We hugged, cried, offered food, shelter and counseling. We served as broker with parents and pastors seeking news of their loved ones and members. We did our best to keep our hundreds of Wesley alumni in the loop. The Virginia Tech Web site was overloaded, many cell phones wouldn't work and there was a sense of terror and disbelief as groups huddled together to watch the local CBS affiliate and CNN. The news grew grimmer as authorities expanded their list of fatalities.

In the early evening hours, we fed all who came. We hosted a debriefing session and prayer vigil, then continued to watch the news. Though none of our Wesley students were killed or wounded, some were in or near Norris Hall at the time of the shooting. By the end of the day, as victims' names were released, many of our students realized they knew one or more students or a professor killed. More than 20 students stayed overnight in our center, afraid to return to their dorms.

By this time, the media had invaded our quiet, hurting town. They tried to turn students into news stories, prodding them to blame the university for this tragedy. Known for their Hokie pride, the students would have none of it. The entire community pulled together as one, buoyed by the compassion and love extended to all of us by friends, families, colleagues and other students across the globe. You probably saw the cartoon with all the mascots around our state crying with our Hokie bird and saying, "Today we are all Hokies."

The outpouring of prayer that we experienced from throughout the United States and across the United Methodist connection was extraordinary. I cannot begin to express how much it meant to have campus ministers or other clergy from somewhere faraway call and say: "Tonight, we have a prayer service, and we will pray for you personally, and for your campus ministry, and for your university." The outpouring of support was received gratefully and became an incredible part of our experience during those trying days, and it happened over and over again. It was an awesome witness to the power of the United Methodist connection and the Christian community.

God will prevail
For me personally, I am moved and honored to have been associated with this generation of Hokie students at the Wesley Foundation. They gave new meaning to the biblical admonition to "bear one another's burdens." They were strong and mature, even in the face of the loss of friends and faculty whom they knew. Together with me and my wife, they had helped create a Christian community on campus that served as a rock in the midst of a terrible storm. Had I been a parent back home wondering about my United Methodist student, I would have been happy to know that my church had a presence on this campus, just as it does on campuses throughout the nation. It has made me grow stronger as I prepare to help students for another school year.

"We are Virginia Tech. We WILL prevail."

This mantra now defines our community's faith and response to tragedy. That spirit is reflected throughout Blacksburg, even as we attempt to return to some semblance of normalcy. It is a message that we needed to hear and to proclaim during the week of April 16. But as people of faith, we must remind ourselves that ultimately it is not WE who prevail, but God. God cried along with us in this horrific event and its aftermath. And God is the One who has enabled us to be strong, and to grow back stronger than ever.

That Monday morning, it was cold - 45 degrees with snow flurries and wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour. It was a day of hurt, and despair, and questioning. By the end of the week, spring had arrived. The sun shone brightly on our campus, a symbol of hope, of resurrection, if you will.

Reflecting on this experience of moving from darkness into light, II Corinthians 4:8-9 takes on new meaning. "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed." And later, Paul says in verse 12: "So death is at work in us, but life in you."

Looking back at the darkness that marked April 16, just a week after Easter, we know the meaning of hope and resurrection. "We are Virginia Tech. We will prevail." But more importantly, "We are Virginia Tech. God will prevail."

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

*Tyndall is beginning his 34th year as campus minister of the Wesley Foundation at Virginia Tech.

Bishop: Media contributes to substance abuse
By John Makokha*

NAIROBI, Kenya (UMNS) - Movies and the media have been instrumental in encouraging the spread of substance and drug abuse in East Africa, says a United Methodist bishop serving on a task force on the problem.

"The users are portrayed as stars in both social and economic fields and this encourages our youth to desire and be associated with this kind of group," said East Africa Area Bishop Daniel Wandabula.

Bishop Daniel Wandabula

"Substance abuse is spreading like bushfire in East Africa," Wandabula said, citing other factors. "A lot of substance abuse in the region is attributed to war where combatants are encouraged to take drugs as a way of getting courage to fight and carry out atrocities."

Wandabula and other members of the African Task Force on Substance Abuse and Related Violence discussed the challenges during its July 10-12 meeting.

The task force is part of the Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence (SPSARV), a ministry of The United Methodist Church that addresses alcohol and other drug concerns. The Nairobi gathering was attended by representatives from the East Africa Area and staff members from SPSARV and the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

Growing problem in an expansive area
Task force members said the vastness of the East Africa Annual Conference adversely impacts efforts against substance abuse.

"The conference is so big and therefore makes coordination of programs and projects difficult. The legal, political and policy differences in each of these countries have affected the smooth working of our programs as a conference," said Wandabula.

The geographic size and the diverse concerns of the church in East Africa was addressed during the recent annual conference meeting at which members agreed to divide into four administrative units: Uganda/Sudan annual conference, Burundi annual conference, Rwanda provisional conference and Kenya provisional conference. The action has to be ratified and approved by the African Central Conference and 2008 General Conference.

"The East Africa Annual Conference is striving to reduce substance and drug abuse to protect the health and quality of life for all regardless of age, sex, ethnicity and denomination with a major focus on youth," said Wandabula. "It is cheaper to run programs that prevent the youth from taking on these substances rather than trying to rehabilitate them."

Tolerated violence
Elizabeth Lwanga, resident representative of the United Nations Development Program, said there is a grave correlation between substance abuse and gender-based violence and worsening HIV and AIDS.

Lwanga reported that nearly 50 percent of Kenyan women experience different forms of violence - physical, sexual, verbal and emotional - from childhood to adulthood. "In most African traditional patriarchal societies, violence against women is ignored, tolerated and even condoned," she said.

Women who are abused or live with the threat of violence do not have the privilege of choosing abstinence, being faithful and using a condom.

The traditional acceptance of violence has devastating implications today in Africa. The AIDS rate for women and girls is two to six times higher than those of men and boys. "Beyond the already unacceptable neglect of women's basic human rights, violence against women in today's world of HIV and AIDS has fatal socio-economic and psychological implications," Lwanga said.

The role of alcohol
Alcohol plays a significant role in promoting risky sexual behavior. Alcohol use is particularly problematic among groups with an increased risk of HIV infection including mobile populations, commercial sex workers and youth.

Alcohol consumption is highest in poor communities where alcohol is home-brewed. Though some local government authorities regulate production of home-brewed alcohol as well as the drinking age, the regulations often are not enforced.

Gender roles regarding drinking are changing in urban environments such as Nairobi, where both men and women consume alcohol regularly. Rape and forced sex is often linked closely with alcohol.

According to Lwanga, it is common for an intoxicated husband to return home and forcefully demand sex from his wife. Wives are unable to negotiate condom use with HIV-positive intoxicated husbands who often engage in unprotected sex under the influence of alcohol, she said.

Older single women are often in desperate economic situations in which their only option is to make traditional alcohol or home-brews. When this occurs in their homes, male customers may engage in trans-generational sex with their daughters. These informal drinking venues also are areas where households trade sex for money.

Jerald McKie of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries said that one of the agency's objectives is to prevent the physical and sexual abuse of children.

"Pastors in the U.S.A. are being trained and encouraged to prepare sermons on drug addiction so as to address the congregational needs," said Melissa Davis, executive director of SPSARV.

The Rev. Vienna Mutezo, president of the African Task Force on Substance Abuse and Related Violence, said "substance and drug abuse are serious illnesses which have been paralyzing whole families and which constitute a major barrier to the development of our respective countries."

Dr. Richard Kagacu from the Movement Against Substance Abuse in Africa (MASA) added that smoking has increased cases of chronic diseases in Africa including heart ailments, stroke, cancer and respiratory complications, especially among young people.

Regarding the challenges of substance and drug abuse in East Africa, "a faith-based initiative is the only solution to get us out, and the church should be the sanctuary for restoration and healing," said Jennifer Kimani, director of the quasi government anti-drug campaign in Kenya (Nacada).

*Makokha is the communications consultant for the East Africa Annual Conference.

United Methodist ministry responds to substance abuse

Members of a congregational team attend a leadership training event sponsored by the United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence. The April training was held at Pulaski United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Ark. UMNS photos by Melissa Davis.

A UMNS Report
By Linda Green*

Hoping to help churches provide more than meeting space for Alcoholics Anonymous and other support groups, a United Methodist ministry is harnessing the church to address issues of alcohol and substance abuse through prevention, intervention, treatment and advocacy.

The Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence was enacted in 1992 as a response to the 1990 Council of Bishops Initiative on Drugs and Drug Violence. Known as SPSARV, the program seeks to prepare United Methodist church leaders and their faith partners "to accompany individuals, families and communities in their journeys to hope, healing and wholeness," said Melissa Davis, the program's executive director.

To accomplish this, SPSARV develops networks and resources that raise awareness about the problem and equips church leaders on ways to help. It also provides training, financial assistance and encouragement for The United Methodist Church to respond globally in the struggle with alcohol and drugs.

SPSARV is housed at the Board of Global Ministries and works in collaboration with Board of Church and Society.

Because alcohol and other drug issues are viewed as diseases of the mind and body, "it is the spiritual disease that we feel that the church is equipped to respond to," said Davis.

The program's primary role is equipping clergy and laity to assist those in the congregation and the community in dealing with the brokenness of addiction.

Bridging the gap
SPSARV seeks to "bridge the gap between the basement and the sanctuary" by encouraging Alcoholics Anonymous and similar groups to meet in church sanctuaries or at least meet the people of the church. "We have many churches that host support groups, but those groups meet in the basement, and the basement and sanctuary do not meet," Davis said. "This ministry bridges the gap and brings the ministries around addiction, healing and hope, deliverance and wholeness throughout the church. It links it together."

Davis said it is rare to find someone who has "not been affected by or afflicted with some kind of addiction issue in their family."

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control found that 45 percent of teens have tried alcohol in the last month and 64 percent engaged in binge drinking (having five or more alcoholic drinks consecutively). The study also found that 40 percent of people who begin drinking before age 15 become dependent on alcohol at some point in their lives.

"… The church must and can play a role because, if we don't, we'll just end up with a community of broken souls," Davis said.

The ministry has developed a special relationship with a consortium of historically black United Methodist-related colleges and universities to assist them in responding to substance abuse issues on their campuses.

Under the direction of the Harry R. Kendall Science and Health Mission Center at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark., college administrators and students come together to address common problems that exist despite zero tolerance policies on their campuses.

"We are trying to work these campuses to make sure students know what the resources are, find out where the gaps are, and partner with them to fill those gaps through the consortium," Davis said.

Domestic efforts, global efforts
Through a General Conference-mandated interagency task force, churchwide agencies coordinate the response of The United Methodist Church to issues of alcohol and other drugs, and SPSARV provides support and resources.

SPSARV also is partnering with the Faith Leadership and Advisory Team, a new ad-hoc group providing leadership to the Rush Center of the Johnson Institute of Austin, Texas. This faith-based organization has experience in models of prevention, intervention and recovery. Together, they are offering one training program for clergy and another for laity to provide church ministry teams with a three-step process toward recovery. Each of the five U.S. United Methodist jurisdictions is scheduled to have a two-day training by the end of 2008.

"Addiction to something is the norm," Davis said. "We are trying to be a ministry of hope, healing, deliverance and wholeness to the church and people."
SPSARV also has a global component.

The United Methodist European Board on Drug and Alcohol Concerns was established in 1993, bringing together church representatives of 10 countries in the four central conferences in Europe. With support from SPSARV, the board provides local churches and partnering organizations with education, training and technical assistance resources.

An African Task Force on Substance Abuse and Related Violence was formed in 2005, based on a peer-counseling model created in 1996 by Bishop Joseph Kow Ghunney, episcopal leader of the Winneba District within the independent Methodist Church of Ghana.

His model equips peers to help colleagues either to abstain from or intervene in their alcohol or drug use. The bishop also wrote a manual that was translated by SPSARV into French and Portuguese.

Peer-counseling programs have expanded across Africa and into 12 African United Methodist episcopal areas. "The basic premise of the model is to equip young people to make healthy lifestyle decisions with the support of school administrators and church leaders," Davis said, adding that the model is expanding to Zimbabwe, Liberia, South Congo, Central Congo, West Angola and Sierra Leone.

*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.