Consultation addresses chasm between rich and poor
(From left) Andrew Park, Amós Nascimento, the Rev. Philip Wogaman and Bishop David Yemba participate in a United Methodist consultation to explore the implications of a global church and the widening gap between the rich and poor.UMNS photos by Linda Green.

By Linda Green*
Oct. 30, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)

While the world is increasingly interconnected through advances in communication, transportation and financial systems, its poorest citizens are being left out of the benefits of globalization, say United Methodist leaders monitoring the trend.

"The haves are going to have more, and the have-nots are going to have less," said Andrew Park, a faculty member at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He said the poor simply don't have the resources to compete in a global economy.

Park was among representatives from Korean, African, Filipino, Brazilian and U.S. perspectives who met in Nashville Oct. 18-19 for a consultation on "The Poor in a Global Church: Implications for The United Methodist Church."

The purpose was to explore the theological, institutional and practical implications of the widening global gap between the rich and the poor and to develop a United Methodist resource of theological perspectives on globalization.

The U.S.-centric denomination is continuing its own discussions about proposed structural changes toward a more global church. Consultation participants urged the United Methodist Council of Bishops to make growing economic disparity a vital part of their conversation.

The language of globalization
"As the church, at this time, continues to talk about its global nature, it cannot do so without paying attention to the global disparity between the rich and the poor around the world," said Henk Pieterse, consultation facilitator and director of scholarly research for the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, which sponsored the gathering.

The language of globalization is not religious, he said, but is rather a complex language with political, economic and social dimensions.

"It is crucial that when the church uses language that comes out of a different domain, that we be clear how we use the language because language always bring a certain set of assumptions or worldviews. When we use language like globalization, the church should understand why it uses it and how it uses it so that it can do so with theological integrity," Pieterse said.

Discussions centered on five dimensions of poverty that the church should include in its conversations: economic, political, cultural, spiritual and body or natural health.

The consultation grappled with questions about the language of being a global church and how the language of globalization intersects with forces shaping the world. It addressed how the widening gap between rich and poor is impacting the church's commitment to being a "connectional people," along with the disparity's effect on denominational structure and governance.

'We live it'
For billions of people across the world who live on $1 to $2 a day, globalization has not meant a better life but greater unemployment, insecurity and poverty, according to participants in the consultation.

Bishop David Yemba of the Central Congo Area said he and his people are living examples of economic disparity. He described how many people in the central African nation struggle to acquire salt while there is abundant food wasted elsewhere. "It is not something we know in theory, but we live it," he said.

Yemba said that, while United Methodists are mission-minded, the church exists in and for a world that is ever-changing. He asked participants if the denomination's structure and governance are consistent with the global or worldwide nature it claims.

"In its present structures and governance, The United Methodist Church is rooted in American culture and style of leadership," he said. But, if it is to be true to its mission-minded, historical character, it should "risk losing something dear for the sake of the Gospel."

Yemba called on the denomination to gradually decentralize its structures and style of governance in terms of personnel and location of some general agencies. He said that central conferences — which are United Methodist conferences outside of the United States — should no longer be seen only as mission fields but as full participants in the church's mission. The church's governance, he said, should reflect its worldwide claim.

Levels of poverty
Quoting economist Jeffrey Sachs, the Rev. Ken Carter of Charlotte, N.C., noted that nations such as Bolivia, Haiti and much of sub-Saharan Africa struggle with extreme poverty while others such as South Africa, Paraguay and Armenia are experiencing moderate poverty.

According to Sachs, extreme poverty is "when households cannot meet the basic needs for survival," and moderate poverty refers "to conditions of life in which basic needs are met, just barely." There are many other levels between the poorest parts of the world and the richest.

Carter said that Sachs and others are "warning us of a great chasm in the life separating the rich and the poor."

The Rev. M. Douglas Meeks, a professor at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, said the church must guard against conforming to the world's priorities and power structures. "(The) church loses its ability to resist the global market when it no longer contests the counter-gospels of the market society with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and when it allows itself to be shaped by the market logic," he said.

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

Evangelical event focuses on church’s critical issues

By Kathy L. Gilbert*
Oct. 30, 2007 MEMPHIS, Tenn. (UMNS)

Six conservative evangelical United Methodist renewal organizations asked delegates elected to the 2008 churchwide and jurisdictional conferences to pray and plan for a "renewed and dynamic United Methodist church."

The Renewal and Reform Coalition sponsored the conference Oct. 26-27 at Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis. The coalition includes the Confessing Movement, Good News, RENEW, LifeWatch, Transforming Congregations and UMAction.

The meeting's purpose was to address what the groups consider the six most critical issues coming before the church's top lawmaking body: General Conference in the context of a global church; advocacy for women and children; the role of the Judicial Council; doctrine, accountability, leadership and the Council of Bishops; membership standards; and empowering the central conferences.

The 2008 General Conference will meet April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas. The 1,000 delegates elected by annual (regional) conferences will decide policy and approve a denominational budget for the next four years. Jurisdictional conferences will meet in July to elect new bishops for the five geographic conferences in the United States. Ninety-eight delegates, including alternates, registered for the Memphis event, said Patricia L. Miller, executive director of the Confessing Movement.

"You don't have to have a sense of direction as bad as mine to know The United Methodist Church is going the wrong way," said the Rev. Rob Renfroe in opening the first session called "General Conference in the Context of a Global Church."

"In terms of membership, we are going the wrong way; in terms of attendance, we are going the wrong way; in terms of being able to raise up young men and young women who want to give their hearts and their passion and their lives to the cause of Christ in ministry of The United Methodist Church, we are going the wrong way," said Renfroe, a pastor at the Woodlands (Texas) United Methodist Church.

Praising the central conferences
Renfroe said United Methodist evangelicals are indebted "to our brothers and sisters in the central conferences" — which are in Africa, Europe and Asia — because of their commitment to the poor and to Scripture.

The Rev. Eddie Fox, world director of evangelism for the World Methodist Council, praised the central conferences and cautioned delegates about a proposal that may go to General Conference to make the United States a central or regional conference as well.

The proposal comes from the United Methodist Council of Bishops and would change the constitution of The United Methodist Church.

"It is not the time to talk about dividing the church," said Fox. One-third of the General Conference comes from outside the United States. The church is global and has been from the beginning, he said.

"Why change the constitution without knowing what the consequences are? Can you imagine the amount of time and debate we will spend trying to decide what belongs in a national conference and what belongs in a regional conference? Becoming a national entity sets us on a track to be more divisive than it is to create unity for us in our church."

Judicial Council
Judge Ron Enns, Northwest Texas Annual (regional) Conference, told participants the most important votes that will be cast at General Conference will be for spots on the Judicial Council, the top court of the denomination.

"Five people on the Judicial Council can change church law," he said. "It is imperative we elect evangelicals to the council." The Rev. Maxie Dunnam held a session on "Doctrine, Accountability, Leadership, and The Council of Bishops."

"Am I misreading the signs?" asked Dunnam, an author and speaker who will serve as a General Conference delegate from the Kentucky Annual Conference. "I am not hearing words like dynamic or life-changing to describe The United Methodist Church in the U.S. and Europe. People are asking for bread and too often are given a stone."

Dunnam said the church's media campaign of "Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors." would be "genius" if presented with orthodox and Wesleyan integrity.

"Open hearts, open minds, open doors to whom and to what purpose?" he asked.

"I join Mr. Wesley," said Dunnam, quoting Methodism founder John Wesley. "I am not afraid that the people called Methodist should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this will undoubtedly be the case unless they hold fast to the doctrine, spirit and discipline with which they first set out."

Renewal and transformation
The Rev. Jerry P. Kulah, superintendent in Monrovia, Liberia, of the Africa Annual Conference, presented a plan for renewal and transforming the church.

"I am delighted to inform you that United Methodists all over Africa strongly hold the conviction that there is hope and a future for global Methodism through our Wesleyan heritage," he said.

"But the fulfillment of this hope and realization of the anticipated future critically depend upon the quality leadership that provides direction for the future, and the choices we make as a church regarding biblical doctrine, Christian discipline, our devotion to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, our submission to the control and empowerment by the Holy Spirit and our commitment to the fulfillment of the Great commission (Matthew 28:19-20)."

Kulah said when Jesus was threatened by King Herod, the holy family fled to Africa. "Today the church in Africa offers itself as a sanctuary for God's Word for the renewing of his church around the world," he said.

Other sessions included a presentation on legislation aimed at advocacy for women's and children's issues and membership standards.

The coalition also offered an orientation to its six organizations and invited delegates to join them during General Conference, where daily briefing breakfasts will provide highlights of the previous day's activities and offer delegates a "spiritual lift," according to organizers.

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

Commentary: A hidden problem in Mozambique

A UMNS Commentary
By Maria Helena Feluane*

Domestic violence is an issue that affects me, my family and society in general, particularly women and children in Mozambique.

Recently a friend called me at my office crying for help. I could not even understand what she was saying. I let her cry until she calmed down.

She said, "I want to die; I have suffered enough in this world. It would be better to leave to another place where I will be in peace and justice. I am tired of being beaten all the time with no reason. I try all my best to make my husband happy, but nothing I do pleases him. I can't stand it anymore."

I tried to calm her down and rushed to her house to give her my shoulder and to listen. As soon as I arrived, she started telling me her story.

"I was beaten just because he did not find me at home," she said. "He says that I must not work outside home, but at the same time he does not give me enough money to feed the family. When I ask money for the home expenses, he insults me saying, I'm a beetle that lives by sucking someone's blood.

"He keeps reminding me that I am not educated, so even if I think of asking for a divorce, I will suffer more because I will not be able to find a job to survive, and I will lose the right of staying with my children.

"He likes sex when I do not feel like it. He forces me. He says that he had paid my lobolo (a bride price, paid to the father of the bride), and I might be seeing someone else."

I could see she was wounded. She did not want to show me her wound in her left arm. She had tried to bandage it and put on a long-sleeved blouse before I arrived, but the wound was fresh. She was bleeding.

I asked her to go to the hospital for treatment. But she said, "If I go to the hospital, they will ask me why I am injured. I am afraid to tell them that I was injured by my husband. They may arrest him. His family will accuse me of sending their relative to jail, and my children will suffer more than they are now. Besides all this, I love my husband. I don't want to see him in jail."

A hidden problem
Domestic violence is a serious and hidden social problem. Violence and abuse within families has major ramifications for all those affected.

All use of violence is unacceptable and prohibited under Mozambican law and represents a violation of fundamental human rights. Every effort must be made to prevent and combat such actions.

In Mozambique, for example, there are many causes of domestic violence starting from lack of respect of people, particularly of men for women. Abuse also stems from alcohol abuse and infidelity, lack of civic education, few opportunities for girls' education, economic disadvantages for men and women and cultural realities.

The story reported above is one of many. The effects are so dramatic and sometimes lead to death. Although many people are concerned with this malicious trend, we are still far from overcoming this issue.

Many women believe their spouses have the right to beat them, and cultural pressures discourage women from taking action. Most of them fear reprisals from their men and family. Others fear embarrassment. Other reasons for not reporting are poverty, ignorance of the law and not knowing where to report and what to do.

The church's role
The Women's Coalition (government, civic society and churches) is working in establishing domestic violence as grounds for divorce. And we are advocating for new legislation to criminalize spousal abuse as well as pushing for additional legislation to be added to the family law with domestic violence at the forefront of its agenda.

The United Methodist Church, the Women's Division in particular, and the social action committee are actively participating with non-governmental organizations seeking to sponsor educational campaigns on domestic violence for women in vulnerable communities.

One of our plans in The United Methodist Church is to provide training in advocacy and community building to increase awareness of domestic violence and prevention through changes in attitudes, helped by the other church organizations (men and young adults).

In order to break the spiral of violence, a project to strengthen treatment programs for perpetrators must be designed and implemented in near future.

*Feluane works in the Mozambique Annual (regional) Conference of The United Methodist Church.

Commentary: Ending the silence about domestic violence

A UMNS Commentary
By Linda Bales*

One in three women in the world will experience violence in her lifetime, with rates reaching 70 percent in some countries, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report.

Domestic violence is a plague that cuts across economic lines, social groups, ethnicities and religions and impacts not only the victim - usually women - but also their children and extended family. It can result in women becoming homeless, without economic resources and at risk of losing their own lives.

Most women who are murdered are murdered by their husbands or significant partners. According to the United Nations Secretary-General's 2006 report on violence against women, 102 member states have no specific laws on domestic violence. Such state inaction encourages further violence through its impunity and hinders women by keeping in place discriminatory laws and policies. Sadly, the church has been too silent on this issue and, thereby, complicit in its prevalence.

Believing we can make a difference, the United Methodist Board of Church and Society is giving domestic violence high priority by addressing it through legislative advocacy and educational forums.

Model seminars are being designed for annual conferences and/or local churches with the goal of preparing lay and clergy to be able to appropriately intervene when a victim or perpetrator seeks help.

Compassionate preaching about the topic can begin to provide a safe environment for women living with this reality but too afraid to tell anyone.

Until the church begins to address domestic violence, women, children and men will sit quietly in the pews suffering untold pain with little to no relief in sight.

Legislative advocacy
Legislatively, the board celebrated the passage of the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women's Act (VAWA) last year - an act providing local communities with funding for shelters and transitional housing, enhanced police services, children's services and education for the prevention of violence.

An international Violence Against Women's Act in the U.S. Congress is in the offing - an act that has the strong support of the board, which is working collaboratively with other nongovernmental organizations to promote this to-be-introduced act.

The act expands the capacity of the U.S. government to raise the issue of violence against women and girls with foreign governments as part of U.S. diplomatic relations and supports and builds capacity and effectiveness of overseas, locally based nongovernmental organizations working to end violence against women and girls.

Additionally, a coordinator of U.S. Government Activities to Combat Violence Against Women Internationally would be identified along with an advisory commission. This is being proposed with the goal of preventing and responding to violence through a coordinated approach at all levels of community.

Important questions
When we confront the issue of domestic violence educationally and legislative, we find ourselves asking several questions:

.How can we, as the church, be a faithful witness to those who are victims?
.How can we bring respite and relief to those who are broken and share the good news that they, too, are loved and can come "home' to "God's home" - one where all are welcomed and comforted?
.How can we view domestic violence survivors as assets in our congregations and communities?

According to Henri Nouwen, "The deep truth is that our human suffering need not be an obstacle to the joy and peace we so desire, but can become, instead, the means to it. Real care means the willingness to help each other in making our brokenness into the gateway to joy."

The promises found in the prophets, such as Jeremiah, give to God's people knowledge of an all-present God, one who walks with them through trying and scary times. Jesus Christ calls us to do no less for the sake of millions who face violence daily.

We hope this special issue sheds more light on a very troubling subject and will answer some of these questions. It is our prayer that this issue also will propel us, as United Methodists, forward to action for the welfare of all God's children.

If you're interested in receiving action alerts and educational resource information on domestic violence, sign up for the Women and Children's Network at the United Methodist Board of Church and Society by writing to Donna Brandyberry at dbrandyberry@umc-gbcs.org or Linda Bales at lbales@umc-gbcs.org.

*Bales is director of the Louise and Hugh Moore Population Project for the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, Washington. This column was part of a series produced by the board on domestic violence.

Clergywoman shares domestic violence story

A UMNS Report
By Annette Spence*

She is attractive. Some say she's aloof. Others say she is strong and confident.

She is a United Methodist clergywoman who tells her story with relatively little emotion - except when she speaks of her children, which makes her cry, or when she remembers the clock.

The sound of a chiming clock triggers frightening memories.

"I'm OK today, but if I hear a clock chime, it can bring it all back," she says.
The clock was in the house where she lived for six months. It was the house she left in the middle of the night, in fear for her life, never to return or to speak to her husband again.

The clock chimed the hours of her abuse.

She wants to share her story so that others can be saved from domestic violence. But she requests anonymity because of the nature of the details, so we'll call her Elaine.

Charismatic and charming
Elaine was in her early 40s, recently divorced, when she met the man she would date for years before marrying him. He was charismatic and charming. "He could talk the birds out of the trees. He could get you to like him in two minutes," she recalls.

He was also a preacher, whose skills greatly impressed a woman who had just left a long marriage with low self-esteem. "He was a powerful preacher, good on his feet," Elaine remembers. "He was a master at pulling people in."

During their engagement, she saw disturbing patterns of behavior, "but I was in love," she says. "I had seen his anger, and I knew he drank some, but I had never experienced alcoholism in my life."

Elaine sold all that she had, married the preacher and she and her children moved with him to a parsonage in a new town. "I gave up a great job at another church, so obviously I loved him dearly."

Within a few weeks, the newlyweds were attending an out-of-town conference when Elaine saw a horrifying side of her new husband. He woke her in the middle of the night, throwing objects at the bed, accusing her of infidelity, screaming obscenities and threatening her life.

The incident was "completely out of the blue," Elaine says. The next day, the preacher was fine, but his wife was not. She was "devastated," thinking that she had made a colossal mistake.

"It was the first time I had ever considered suicide," she says of her experience a decade earlier. "I honestly think, if I hadn't had my kids, I would have found a way to kill myself."

Elaine stumbled through her depression until two weeks later, her husband exhibited his violent temper during a cookout with clergy friends. Her friends expressed fear and concern, while Elaine tried to rationalize that her husband was under stress in his new appointment.

More time went by, with her husband waking her in terror almost every night. He threw things at her and "ranted and raved," but he didn't hit her … until the night that her young son had a friend stay over.

Drunk and abusive
On that night, her husband lined up five glasses of scotch and announced that he was going to get drunk.

Her husband became drunk and abusive, so she steered him to the outdoor deck to keep the children from hearing. When he threw a glass of scotch and ice cubes in her face, she tried to make her way to the bedroom.

The preacher followed her to the bedroom, his fury escalating. He slammed the closet door on Elaine's hand, leaving a gouge and a scar that exists today.

When he slapped and punched her in the face and head, the children heard it all. "He could have hit me all day without doing that," Elaine says tearfully.

Weeks later, Elaine discovered empty bottles of liquor and prescription medications. She came to accept that her husband had substance abuse and mental issues. She panicked and searched for a way out. She worried that no one would believe her because her husband was a pastor.

Although he constantly accused her of infidelity, Elaine didn't understand why.

All she wanted was to be happily married to him. She drove by a mental hospital one day and fantasized about checking herself in so she could get a good night's sleep.

One night, her husband cornered her in the bathroom and spat in her face 15 times. "I remember, because all I could do to keep from killing him was to count the number of times."

The clock chimed.

Her last night
On her last night in the parsonage, the couple had watched a movie together and Elaine was on her way to bed when her husband suddenly blocked her way.

"You're shaking like a yellow dog," he said, before punching her in the face.

Elaine barricaded herself in the guest bedroom while her husband angrily went to get an ax to chop open the door.

Then he did something that made Elaine leave him forever. He opened the door to her elementary age-daughter's bedroom. When Elaine heard him scream at her daughter, she flew out of the bedroom and pushed past him. She swept up her terrified child and ran to the car.

They fled to the home of church friends where they lived and recuperated for several weeks.

Elaine returned to her old job, where she was embraced by the church community. Money showed up unexpectedly in envelopes. Furniture was bought. At church one day, a friend said, "I have a pink twin-sized bed frame for your daughter, but I don't have a mattress." Within five minutes, another friend said, "I don't have a bed frame for it, but I have a twin mattress that you can have."

Elaine and her children still suffered, of course. Besides losing 40 pounds from stress-related ailments, Elaine continued to live in "paralyzing fear."

"I was forever looking over my shoulder, afraid that one day my husband would find me and hurt me or hurt my children," she says. "I read myself to sleep at night so I wouldn't have to think. I always had to face the door in a restaurant so I could see who came and went."

The bishop and Elaine's clergy friends were very supportive. Her husband also received support and counseling, although the couple eventually divorced and he lost his ministerial credentials.

A healing moment
Elaine believes that she was healed one day during a reflective time as she sat on a bench outside her church. She sensed God saying to her, "At the end of your life, it's only going to be you and me. This is the only relationship that you're going to be involved in."

Suddenly, "it didn't matter where I was, who I was with, or what happened to me," Elaine says. "Even if I'm out on the street, I'll be OK. It was a moment of total surrender, and my fear left me."

In the years since her marriage, Elaine's experience and compassion have quietly led to ministries that help many people in crisis.

"This is definitely a time when I can see that everything in my life was pointing to where I am today," she says, on a busy weekday morning in her church office.

"My story has a happy ending. My church helped me get back on my feet with furniture and household goods to help me with a new start. … They had not only read Matthew 25:35-36, but were living it."

*Spence is the editor of The Call, the newspaper of the Holston Annual Conference.

Movie to feature Wiley College historic debate team

Melvin B. Tolson (center) led the Wiley College debate team to a U.S. championship in 1935 with a win over Harvard University. The story is depicted in the movie "The Great Debaters," scheduled for release Dec. 25. UMNS photos courtesy of Wiley College

A UMNS Report by Linda Green*

It is not every day that Denzel Washington and Oprah Winfrey do a movie together about a historically black college with fewer than 1,000 students.

But that's what happened when the pair learned about a David and Goliath matchup in which Wiley College's 1935 debate team won a national championship against Harvard University and also beat other perennial oratorical powerhouses.

In 2004, the United Methodist-related college in Marshall, Texas, began to receive inquiries from Hollywood about Melvin B. Tolson, leader of Wiley's first debate team.

"We started getting calls and researching ourselves for them," said Veronica Clark, Wiley's director of public relations.

The Wiley staff learned that over a 15-year period, Tolson's teams lost only one of 75 debates.

The Wiley Forensic Society competed against historically black colleges, but earned national attention with its debates against the University of Southern California and Harvard University.

The winning team was composed of four men (including Tolson) and one woman.

"After we did our research, it was submitted to Mr. Washington and the production company, and from there a script was developed," said Clark.

The Great Debaters
Scheduled for release Dec. 25, "The Great Debaters" is being produced by Winfrey's Harpo Productions. Washington is both director and star. Filming began in early 2006 and wrapped over the summer. Most of the scenes were filmed in Louisiana with brief scenes on the Wiley campus and at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.

"Everyone is extremely excited," Clark said. "It is not everyday that Denzel Washington and Oprah Winfrey want to do a movie about a college, especially one about a college our size." The liberal arts college has 926 students enrolled.

"As soon as we learned of the movie at Wiley, the alumni have just been bombarding the college with telephone calls," Clark said. "This is exciting. It just doesn't get any better than this. Not to mention that a great story is being told about newbies coming onto the debate scene and doing so well."

The Marshall community also was excited about Washington's arrival. "He came to campus in sweatpants and a baseball cap," said Clark. "He was here to work (and) he was very approachable."

Since racial diversity was needed in the film, students and community members came out in droves. Other actors in the film include Forest Whitaker, Columbus Short, Jermaine Williams, J.D. Evermore, John Heard, Kimberly Elise, Nate Parker, Justice Leak, Jurnee Smollett and Denzel Whitaker.

The story of Melvin Tolson
Tolson was born in 1898 in Moberly, Mo., to a Methodist Episcopal pastor and his wife. His father served churches in Missouri and Iowa.

A graduate of historically black Lincoln (Pa.) University, Tolson was hired by Wiley College in 1924 to teach English and speech. He also coached junior varsity football, directed the theater club and organized the Wiley Forensic Society.

Tolson was a mentor and teacher to civil rights activist James Farmer Jr. and Herman Sweat, an African American who was refused admission into the University of Texas Law School. Action by the law school resulted in a Supreme Court decision that challenged the "separate but equal" doctrine of racial segregation, a policy established by the 1896 case of Plessey vs. Ferguson.

He left Wiley in 1947 to teach at historically black Langston (Okla.) University. That same year, Liberia declared him its poet laureate. Beginning in 1952, he served two terms as mayor of all-black Langston. He died in 1966.

Resurrecting a legacy
The movie has instilled a sense of pride in the students and the Marshall community. The debate team, defunct after Tolson left the school in 1947, was resurrected in the last academic year and won a debate against Morehouse University. Clark called the win "icing on the cake."

In an interview with the Marshall (Texas) News Messenger, Washington said he thought the Wiley debaters "would be just a really wonderful story to tell. It's about the spoken word -- something you don't see much in film -- and about education and about debating."

Washington said this part of the story of blacks in America needs to be told -- that there is a huge gap between the end of the Civil War and the climax of the civil rights struggle in 1964. He called the movie a "David and Goliath" story.

He also said the spoken word is an important part of current hip-hop culture, and the debating film shows the roots of that tradition. "Our oral history is rich and deep, and debating is a big part of it, a part I didn't know about. It's something I want to share on the film with others," he told the newspaper.

Wiley College is the first historically black college west of the Mississippi River. It was founded in 1873 by Bishop Issac Wiley of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Freedman's Aid Society to prepare the newly emancipated people for the future. The college is one of 11 historically black United Methodist-related institutions of higher education and is financially supported by the denomination's Black College Fund.

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

New Malaria Vaccine Offers Promise for Future

New York/Nashville, Oct. 19, 2007—The chief executives of two United Methodist agencies have welcomed with cautious optimism report of the safe use of a vaccine that reduced malaria infection among infants in Mozambique.

Bishop Felton E. May, interim general secretary of the General Board of Global Ministries, and the Rev. Larry Hollon, general secretary of United Methodist Communications, issued a joint statement in response to news reports that the vaccine had passed another stage in the long process of testing.

Both May and Hollon took part October 16-18 in the Bill and Melinda Gates Malaria Forum , a high level meeting involving a broad cross-section of leaders and scientists involved in the fight against malaria. During the forum, Bill and Melinda Gates issued a global challenge to eradicate malaria.

The General Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Communications, General Board of Church and Society, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, and other church agencies are partners in a new Global Health Initiative that has marked for eradication malaria, AIDS, and other preventable diseases. Malaria kills a million people per year, mostly young children. “This is a long-term vision, not a sprint, and it will require the best efforts of all us working together,” said the joint May-Hollon statement.

The study done in Mozambique, reported in The Lancet, a British medical journal, showed that a vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline PLC and the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative was safe for use in infants. It reduced incidents of malaria infection by 65 percent in a group of 214 infants, some of whom received the anti-malaria vaccine and the others a vaccine for hepatitis B.

Bishop May and Rev. Hollon noted that while the test group was small and the study’s objective limited to safety question the vaccine’s “possibilities are encouraging.”

In reflecting on the Gates Forum, Bishop May said: “Science can make major contributions to the eradication of malaria, but education is also essential and, in many cases, so is the building of strong spiritual and economic communities that can overcome the poverty that breeds diseases. The General Board of Global Ministries will be expanding its mission in community development and training more community-based health practitioners. We are recruiting new global health missionaries as well as promoting individual and team health volunteers. We also anticipate more microenterprise programs to improve family economic conditions.”

Hollon said of The Lancet article, “This news makes clear we need a multi-pronged attack on this disease because no single approach will prevent the suffering and death it causes. Families in malaria-prone regions need bed nets, effective medications to treat the disease, stronger national health systems to provide services, community-based health workers to provide care, and education about preventive measures to reduce breeding areas for mosquitoes. People of good will in the world who can provide resources need information and opportunities to respond and get actively engaged. We need to advocate for continued funding for research, education, treatment and distribution of nets and medications.”

The United Methodist Church is deeply involved in fighting malaria around the world:
Making Malaria History, the United Methodist malaria initiative, incorporates prevention through the effective use of mosquito nets and other means, as well as community-based anti-malaria measures, including the training of health practitioners and education on ways to clean up mosquito-breeding areas. The Community-based Malaria Prevention Programs currently operates in seven African countries.
Nothing But Nets , a collaborative effort with the United Nations Foundation, Sports Illustrated, NBA Cares and others has so far raised more than $16 million for the purchase of insecticide treated mosquito nets in Africa.

To learn more about these programs or how to contribute to these efforts, visit www.umc.org/nets and http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/work/health/malaria .

The full text of the joint statement follows:

We welcome with cautious optimism reports of the safe use of a vaccine that reduced malaria infection among infants in Mozambique. While the test group was small and the objective limited to verification of the vaccine’s safety among very young children, the possibilities for the future are encouraging as we combat a major and preventable health scourge. The mosquito-borne disease kills one million people annually, the majority of them children and a large percentage in Africa. Incidents of malaria were reduced by 65 percent in the closely controlled study involving 214 Mozambican infants. The vaccine tested was developed by GlaxoSmithKline PLC and the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative.

It is perhaps not coincidental that the study’s outcome were published in The Lancet, a respected British medical journal, during the course of a major global summit on malaria being held in Seattle under the sponsorship of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Both of us were honored to take part in the event. Invitations to participate recognized the commitment of The United Methodist Church to the eradication of malaria and other preventable diseases. Our respective agencies, the General Board of Global Ministries and United Methodist Communications, are partners in an emerging United Methodist global health initiative that includes a strong emphasis on a multi-faceted counterattack on malaria and other preventable diseases.

The Forum made clear that no single agency, no matter how large, can defeat this disease along. Malaria, as one of the diseases of poverty, will require the collaborative efforts of many different organizations. The people of The United Methodist Church can play a significant role in partnership with others to end suffering and death globally.

The elimination of malaria and its preventable partners—AIDS and tuberculosis—is not altogether a matter of nets, medicine, and community health awareness. We must address the interconnection of this disease with poverty, HIV/AIDS, the need to strengthen national health systems, provide training for community-based health workers, put in place communications infrastructure to get information to people so they can use it to improve the quality of their lives and protect themselves and their children from the deadly effects of poverty and disease. It will require sustained education and advocacy for resources and policies to end poverty.

This is a long-term vision, not a sprint, and it will require the best efforts of all us working together. But, in the end, we must remember one child dies every thirty seconds and more than 300 million people are sickened by this disease every year, all of it preventable. This is a global movement toward life.

We urge all United Methodists to join in “making malaria history” through contributions to the church anti-malaria program, prayer for continuing progress toward a broadly effective vaccine, and by working in the spirit of our Methodist founder, John Wesley, in the larger cause of eliminating poverty.

Kentucky Conference wins lawsuit with foundation

The Kentucky Annual (regional) Conference has won control of proceeds from the 1995 sale of Good Samaritan Hospital in Lexington, Ky., following a legal battle with Good Samaritan Foundation. A UMNS photo courtesy of Good Samaritan Hospital.

A UMNS Report By Linda Green*

A seven-year legal battle between the United Methodist Kentucky Annual (regional) Conference and an affiliated foundation has ended in favor of the conference.

The outcome also upholds the United Methodist "trust clause" pertaining to local church property.

The conference and the board of trustees of the Good Samaritan Foundation were battling for control of $20 million in assets resulting from the 1995 sale of Good Samaritan Hospital in Lexington, Ky.

Good Samaritan was one of dozens of hospitals built by the Methodist church in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to provide care for the poor and indigent.

When the hospital sold to a for-profit company, the foundation -- described as "a philanthropic organization dedicated to serving the healthcare needs of Kentucky's poor and disadvantaged" -- placed those assets in an endowment fund providing $1 million a year in health-related grants.

In 2000, the foundation's board of trustees stopped reporting to the conference and said it was no longer affiliated with The United Methodist Church. The conference countered with a $20 million lawsuit, claiming ownership of the hospital at the time of its sale.

Last December, Fayette Circuit Judge Gary Payne ruled that the church rightfully owned the hospital and the money from its sale and ordered that the church appoint a new foundation board. The board appealed, and the appeals court sent the case back to Payne, who reaffirmed his earlier decision.

Last spring, the conference entered into discussions with the foundation board. Under a plan announced in June, the conference and the former trustees of the foundation have named 15 members to a transitional board with the conference naming all members to the board by 2012.

The foundation will continue its mission to provide healthcare, health education and research ministries for the people of Kentucky.

"We look forward to working with the former board," said Michael Watts, treasurer of the Kentucky conference. "We are looking forward to being able to continue with the mission of working to improve the health and healthcare situation of Kentuckians."

Sally Manning, vice chairperson of the Good Samaritan Foundation, said the board is happy the disagreement is settled. "We are a unified board, united in carrying out the mission of the Good Samaritan Foundation and the work of the Lord," she said.

Trust clause
Watts said the legal battle involved control by the foundation's board of trustees, which handled the former hospital's assets and refused to give the conference an accounting of the proceeds.
"While conference did not object to the foundation's use of the money from the sale of the hospital for healthcare needs," Watts said, "the suit was filed because of the trust clause" that established the foundation's relationship with the conference.

The United Methodist Church's trust clause, which dates back to the days of Methodism founder John Wesley, declares that the local church holds its property in trust for the denomination. The clause, which has been upheld in U.S. courts throughout the 200-plus history of the denomination in the United States, has faced challenges in recent years.

According to Watts, the foundation's position "was that the trust clause was not in the documentation for the articles of incorporation, so they said they were not Methodists and the hospital was not Methodist."

In Kentucky, a trust clause does not have to be in writing, "so we maintained that we had established that trust relationship in 1925," Watts said.

"We felt we were in the right all the time as far as maintaining the trust clause is concerned."

Watts said the legal wrangling over the foundation and its assets, while difficult at times, has helped all entities understand that "the trust clause still is a vital part of our polity as United Methodists, and we certainly want to uphold the polity of the church."

Holsinger connection
The legal battle took some interesting twists and turns over the years.

The appeal of the Payne's ruling was led by James Holsinger, president of the United Methodist Church's Judicial Council, the denomination's highest court. Holsinger also served as chairman of the Good Samaritan Foundation's board.

Holsinger, who was nominated by President George W. Bush last spring as U.S. surgeon general, was quoted by Media Transparency as saying the church is "only interested in the foundation's money, not its cause."

Holsinger, who awaits confirmation as the country's top doctor, has declined interviews on all matters, including the legal battle with the Kentucky conference. His confirmation has stalled because the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is awaiting answers to follow up questions it posed to him. Last August, the committee questioned him about his views on homosexuality, an issue that has drawn opposition to his nomination from health groups and gay rights groups, among others.

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

Women’s Division, General Board of Global Ministries, endorses non-racist dialog on immigration

Washington, D.C., Oct. 17--Women’s Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries endorsed a new faith-based campaign promoting non-racist dialogs on immigration in a press conference today on Capitol Hill. Division directors voted to join the Campaign for a United America during their annual meeting Oct. 4-8 in Stamford, Conn.

The campaign initiated by the Chicago-based Center for New Community will promote a national dialogue on immigration, civil rights and citizenship that’s free of the intolerance and xenophobia that dominate current debates.

“As a part of the campaign, the Women’s Division will work to uncover the racist underpinnings of many anti-immigrant organizations that help to shape media messages and current debates,” said Carol Barton, the division’s co-executive secretary for racial justice. “We will partner with the campaign to engage United Methodist Women members in local efforts to understand and challenge these hate groups.”

Ms. Barton said extreme anti-immigrant organizations with roots in white supremacist hate groups have infiltrated the mainstream and helped shape the national debate on immigration. She cited the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) as an extremist group afforded mainstream status and respect whose rhetoric goes unchallenged.

“The campaign will focus on reaffirming our national values of opportunity, hospitality and equality,” Ms. Barton said. “This will involve helping the public to understand who FAIR and other groups are and the nature of their anti-immigrant agenda.”

Endorsing the campaign is another step in United Methodist Women’s ongoing advocacy for immigrants and just immigration policy in response to the biblical mandate to love neighbors and to welcome the sojourner. Women’s Division actions on immigration cite Leviticus 19:33-34: “When strangers sojourn with you in your land, you shall not do them wrong. The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt…”

The Women’s Division of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church is the national arm of United Methodist Women, an organization of approximately 800,000 members within the United Methodist Church in the United States. Its purpose is to foster spiritual growth, develop leaders and advocate for justice. United Methodist Women members give more than $20 million a year for program and projects related women, children and youth in the United States and around the world.

Women’s Division, General Board of Global Ministries, endorses non-racist dialog on immigration

Washington, D.C., Oct. 17--Women’s Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries endorsed a new faith-based campaign promoting non-racist dialogs on immigration in a press conference today on Capitol Hill. Division directors voted to join the Campaign for a United America during their annual meeting Oct. 4-8 in Stamford, Conn.

The campaign initiated by the Chicago-based Center for New Community will promote a national dialogue on immigration, civil rights and citizenship that’s free of the intolerance and xenophobia that dominate current debates.

“As a part of the campaign, the Women’s Division will work to uncover the racist underpinnings of many anti-immigrant organizations that help to shape media messages and current debates,” said Carol Barton, the division’s co-executive secretary for racial justice. “We will partner with the campaign to engage United Methodist Women members in local efforts to understand and challenge these hate groups.”

Ms. Barton said extreme anti-immigrant organizations with roots in white supremacist hate groups have infiltrated the mainstream and helped shape the national debate on immigration. She cited the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) as an extremist group afforded mainstream status and respect whose rhetoric goes unchallenged.

“The campaign will focus on reaffirming our national values of opportunity, hospitality and equality,” Ms. Barton said. “This will involve helping the public to understand who FAIR and other groups are and the nature of their anti-immigrant agenda.”

Endorsing the campaign is another step in United Methodist Women’s ongoing advocacy for immigrants and just immigration policy in response to the biblical mandate to love neighbors and to welcome the sojourner. Women’s Division actions on immigration cite Leviticus 19:33-34: “When strangers sojourn with you in your land, you shall not do them wrong. The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt…”

The Women’s Division of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church is the national arm of United Methodist Women, an organization of approximately 800,000 members within the United Methodist Church in the United States. Its purpose is to foster spiritual growth, develop leaders and advocate for justice. United Methodist Women members give more than $20 million a year for program and projects related women, children and youth in the United States and around the world.

Filipino church ministers to destitute families

Bishop Solito K. Toquero (far right) visits with some of the young girls living at the Gilead Center, a residential shelter for street children supported by The United Methodist Church. UMNS photos by Kathy L. Gilbert.

Second in a Series

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

MANILA, Philippines (UMNS) -- Kent and Vince, both age 12, were born in a cemetery in Manila, and until recently lived among the tombs with no hope of a future beyond the mausoleum walls.

They were no different than thousands of street children wandering around the 11 million residents of Manila until a United Methodist pastor saw their potential.

The boys now live at the Gilead Center, a residential shelter for street children supported by the Women's Division of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

The children are grateful for small things: a roof over their heads when it rains, food on the table when they are hungry and a warm bed inside a safe room at night.

"I was not afraid there because it was where I was born," Kent said of his life in the cemetery. "I like being clean now; you could never be clean there."

The Rev. R. Randy Day, then top executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, and Rebecca Asdellio, also a board staff member and a native of the Philippines, traveled to Manila in July to visit several ministries that care for street children and the poor.

Life in the cemetery
Manila North Cemetery is the city's largest cemetery. It is also where many of the poorest residents live.

Everywhere in the cemetery are signs of life. Scraps of wood and tin become walls and roofs, resting on and between the tombs.

Clotheslines heavy with wet jeans, shirts and children's clothes are strung from trees. A basket lined with rags and shaded by a torn umbrella contains a worn child's toy. Dogs and cats weave their way around the tombs sniffing for overlooked bits of food. Men, women and children walk dispassionately among graves.

Joseph Saneigo was washing a few clothes when leaders from the Board of Global Ministries, Bishop Solito K. Toquero of the Manila Area and others from the Philippines Annual (regional) Conference came to see where Kent and Vince's life began.

"I make 30 pesos a year to take care of a few of the tombs," Saneigo explained. He was buying water from his neighbors who have built homes on top of the graves. It costs 4 pesos for a bucket of water.

Saneigo said he lays a mattress on top of a tomb at night but that "the mosquitoes are very bad."

Ministry among the tombs
The Rev. Allan D. Casuco started Sta. Mesa Heights United Methodist Church outside the walls of the cemetery and has built a congregation among the people of North Manila Cemetery.

"We are a very mission-minded congregation," he said. The 200-plus members sponsor children like Kent and Vince so they can climb out of poverty.

One woman who has six children said one of her children is sponsored by the church, which means he gets fed, clothed and can attend school.

"The pastor came here to visit and he was so happy he made us want to join him," she said.

"This is truly a story of resurrection," said Day. "You have raised up a church out of the ashes."
After seeing where and how the people lived, Asedillo said she was touched by the pastor's devotion to the people living among the tombs.

"Clearly he cared for them; he wanted them to know Christ and experience his grace," said Asedillo. "Besides their spiritual needs, he was eager to provide the people access to resources that the church is able to provide -- like making it possible for some of the children to attend the church's day care/nursery/kindergarten school."

A balm for children
The Gilead Center is a calm, clean green space outside the city. Children play on swing sets and eat at long tables inside a warm, tasty-smelling dining room. The center is surrounded by mango and citrus trees.

Priscilla R. Atuel, a United Methodist deaconess and director of the center, explains the name Gilead comes from Jeremiah 8:22: "Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?"

The Gilead Center is a place for healing for children living in especially difficult circumstances, said Atuel.

"The pastor [Casuco] asked if he could bring us some children from the cemetery," said Atuel. "Can you imagine children living in a cemetery?"

Most of the children in the center came from North Manila Cemetery or from Rizal Park, a large public park inhabited by many homeless people.

Local United Methodist churches and the Board of Global Ministries send money to support the children.

Currently, 11 girls and 16 boys live in two dormitories. Bright pink walls, bunk beds and bed coverings make the Ethel Lou D. Talbert Shelter for girls a cheerful place to live. The shelter is named for the former wife of retired Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, who wanted to establish a safe haven for girls living on the streets.

The blue walls and bunk beds of the Kapatiran Shelter are just as inviting to boys.

Atuel proudly talks about Jennifer Gamutia, a former shelter resident who received a nursing assistant certificate from Asian College for Science and Technology last March. "It's a dream come true for me," Gamutia said. "Now I can look forward to a better future for me and my mother."

"Jennifer stayed in Gilead Center for Children and Youth Welfare for three years where she finished her secondary education," Atuel said. "It is truly wonderful when we are given glimpses into the fruits of our labor after these years."

The center takes in children ages 7 to 13 until they are ready to be transferred to high schools. Parents visit their children as often as possible, and the church also helps parents develop skills that can provide sustainable incomes.

Atuel said graduates of the center are working toward high school diplomas, higher education degrees or certifications. "Isn't it wonderful what the church can do?" she asks.

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn. She compiled this report based on her trip to the Philippines in July.

Gay Seattle clergywoman ’comes out’ during worship
By Lynne Bevan DeMichele*

Oct. 10, 2007 SEATTLE (UMNS) An associate pastor says she disclosed her homosexuality during a recent Sunday morning worship service "to share with the congregation part of my faith journey and how I've experienced God's grace."

The Rev. Kathleen Weber shared her story during the Sept. 30 service at Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church, where she has been on staff the past four years. She is a commissioned candidate for ministry in The United Methodist Church and is on track to be ordained next year.

Members of Blaine Memorial, a 700-member Asian-American church in downtown Seattle, listened silently as Weber described how she came to realize she was homosexual. Her testimony was a personal illustration for senior pastor the Rev. David Nieda's sermon series called "Into the Ring," an exploration of how the Holy Spirit leads in the midst of controversy.

"Every time we get around these (contentious) issues, we feel we have to take sides and put on the gloves, looking at those on the other side as opponents. I wanted to say there is room for dialogue, for stretching and growing," Nieda told United Methodist News Service later.

After the service, members of the congregation surrounded Weber, filling the chancel and aisles in a traditional "laying on of hands" ritual as they prayed for her and the church.

"Sunday, they shared their love and support and care for me," Weber said in an interview with United Methodist News Service. "They're a great faith community."

Discussion and disclosure
The Rev. Elaine Stanovsky, Seattle District superintendent, said Weber's comments to the congregation culminated weeks of dialogue in "concentric circles" of the church that included herself, the church administrative board and other key church leaders. Stanovsky also notified Bishop Edward W. Paup of the planned disclosure.

"I worked with her to help her clarify her intention and to ensure her own health and well-being and the health and well-being of the congregation," Stanovsky said.

The United Methodist Church, while affirming that both homosexuals and heterosexuals are people of "sacred worth," does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers the practice "incompatible with Christian teaching," according to the Book of Discipline, the denomination's book of law. Church law specifically prohibits the appointment of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" as clergy.

“I'm not aware of anything that could be considered chargeable. There is no church law against same-gender orientation or disclosing same-gender orientation.”–The Rev. Elaine Stanovsky, district superintendent

Stanovsky attended the Sept. 30 service and said "what happened was profound, courageous and an intimate sharing of faith experience and Gospel teaching by both Rev. Nieda and Rev. Weber. It was not a discussion of church law or sexual practice."

The district superintendent said no complaints or charges have been filed against Weber and that she has no plans to launch a disciplinary process. "I'm not aware of anything that could be considered chargeable," she said. "There is no church law against same-gender orientation or disclosing same-gender orientation."

Asked if she had questioned whether Weber is in a homosexual relationship, Stanovsky answered that her conversations with pastors in her district fall into pastor-parishioner privilege and that she treats them with "utmost confidentiality."

She affirmed Weber's pastoral work. "I have no concerns about Kathleen's ministry. I have no reason to look for trouble in her ministry. She's consistently affirmed by her local church. She hasn't broken a church law," Stanovsky said.

"Kathleen Weber told a story about God's gracious action in her life, a new awareness of God's call and grace that occurred. … Part of that story included her awareness of same-gender orientation."

Hot button issue
In recent years, the Seattle District has been a hub of emotional discussion and often divisive debate about homosexuality and the church, including gays in the clergy.

In 2001, the Rev. Karen Dammann notified Bishop Elias Galvan, now retired, that she was a lesbian in a covenant relationship with another woman. That same year, the Rev. Mark Williams, who replaced Dammann as pastor at Seattle's Woodland Park United Methodist Church, announced that he was a practicing gay man. Both were accused of breaking church law but, in 2002, the church dismissed the case against Williams for insufficient evidence and, in 2004, Dammann was acquitted in a church trial.

Weber, 34, is a 2003 graduate of United Methodist-related Candler School of Theology in Atlanta. She came to Seattle as a student missionary and joined the staff at historic Blaine Memorial, where she serves as associate pastor of children and youth. She was commissioned in 2005.

“I want folks to know I'm committed to The United Methodist Church and to my congregation, and that I'm continuing to try to be faithful to my own calling and who God created me to be.”–The Rev. Kathleen Weber

Nieda, who has led Blaine Memorial for the past nine years, said the congregation is "overwhelmingly supportive" of Weber and that the members' reaction following Weber's disclosure "affirmed what I'd hoped was the essential character of the congregation … that this idea that we're one body under the banner of Christ will rise to the surface."

Church member Barbara Nagaoka called it "a very moving service." She said church leaders were braced for possible negative reactions and held a forum following the worship service, but that "members of the church continued to be supportive."

Shig Nishida, chairperson of Blaine's administrative board, acknowledged the issue of homosexuality has been a contentious one throughout the denomination but said it has not been at Blaine Memorial. "I think our church is stable and strong enough to handle adversity. We're not straying from Methodist doctrine. … Everybody knows (Weber) and the work she's done here. She's been very good for our church."

In her interview with United Methodist News Service, Weber declined to answer questions about whether she is a practicing homosexual, but instead affirmed her passion for mission and outreach and her commitment to the ministry.

"I want folks to know I'm committed to The United Methodist Church and to my congregation, and that I'm continuing to try to be faithful to my own calling and who God created me to be," Weber said.

*DeMichele is a freelance writer for United Methodist News Service and resides in Gig Harbor, Wash.

Kiowa United Methodists share culture with commission

The United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race visited a Kiowa Black Leggings Society Dance held in honor of those who are serving or have served inthe military. UMNS photos by Kathy L. Gilbert.

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

OKLAHOMA CITY (UMNS) - Caroline Botone Willis interrupted a luncheon of Indian fry bread tacos at Wares Chapel United Methodist Church to teach the hungry group a Native American word.

"We are going to do it in four parts, just like I teach my classes," she said. "Repeat after me: Ok-la-hom-a."

Laughing sheepishly, board members of the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race repeated after Willis. Smiling, she said, "That's just what happens when I teach that in my class." The Choctaw word means "people red."

Willis, a 78-year-old member of the Kiowa tribe, teaches her native language at the University of Oklahoma. Her husband, Henry Joseph Willis, also 78 and a member of the Mississippi and Oklahoma Choctaws, taught his native tongue at the university for five years before becoming a consultant to the Choctaw tribe in its language department. He is working on a dictionary and just finished his third grammar book.

Their daughter, the Rev. Julianne Judd, pastor of the Lawrence Indian Charge in the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference and a member of the commission, helped coordinate a day of immersion in the Kiowa tradition for board members during their meeting Oct. 3-7 in Oklahoma City.

Judd, the first Kiowa woman elder in her tribe, was given the name Tap-pah-tah Gohn-mak, which means "She speaks of Him woman."

Rare native speaker
Renee Grounds, a commission member, is working with her father to preserve the Euchee (Yu-chi) language. During the commission's meeting, she introduced her father in her native language.

He told commission members his daughter was rare.

"Of the 25 indigenous languages spoken, only four are being learned by children. All the rest are only spoken by elders," he said.

Richard Grounds is project director for the Euchee Language Project based in Sapulpa, Okla., working with the five remaining fluent Euchee speakers.

A Kiowa welcome
The Rev. Rev. Mike Svitak and several members of Mount Scott United Methodist Church in Lawton, Okla., welcomed the board members to their church, which is more than 100 years old.

Tiffany Quetone, wearing a traditional Kiowa dress made from seven hides, performed the Lord's Prayer in sign language. Her grandparents, the Rev. Charles and Sandra Quetone, shared stories from their tradition.

Bernadine Toyebo Rhodes, a member of the congregation, sang a hymn in Kiowa, and Svitak talked about being pastor of the 129-member church today.

"Since our last charge conference we have a total of eight baptisms - five children, one adult and two youth," he said. "We have had two professions of faith and five new members. At one time it was looking pretty bleak because our elders were dying."

Rev. Quetone said at one time the church had more than 600 members.

The next stop was Wares Chapel United Methodist Church, Anadarko, Okla., where the women of the church had been working for days on a traditional meal of Indian fry bread tacos and grape dumplings.

Sand Creek Massacre
In addition to hearing from Caroline and Henry Willis and Richard and Renee Grounds, commission members heard from Homer Flute, director of the Sand Creek Massacre Descendants Trust.

The 1862 Sand Creek Massacre was led by Col. John Chivington, a Methodist layman, who launched a pre-dawn attack on the Black Kettle village, killing and mutilating the Cheyenne and Arapahos at the banks of Sand Creek in the Colorado territory. In the attack, more than 200 Native Americans, mostly women and children were killed. Chivington was hailed as a hero.

The 1996 United Methodist General Conference, the top lawmaking body of the denomination, expressed regret and issued an apology for the "actions of a prominent Methodist."

Flute said the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns is sending a resolution to the 2008 General Conference asking for the church to contribute $50,000 to the development of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Research and Learning Center.

Dorothy Amauty asked the commission members to help support efforts to get retribution for the victims and their families and to get the government to honor the treaty signed after the massacre.

Open hearts
The commissioners ended the day by visiting a Kiowa Black Leggings Society Dance held in honor of those who are serving or have served in the military. The ceremony included the presentation of colors, singing and Native American dancing.

"The love and support and willingness on the part of the congregations to share their stories in open and honest ways with commission members was amazing," said Suanne Ware-Diaz, a staff member of the commission. Ware-Diaz is also a member of the Kiowa tribe.

"Commission members were tired after a week of work, but they had open hearts to hear what was being shared with them," she said. "I was very proud of the respect, humility and concern they expressed. Both sides learned from each other."

Native American concerns
The Native American Concerns work group of the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race addresses various challenges and concerns - especially related to racial justice, visibility and inclusion - among Native Americans throughout The United Methodist Church, said Ware-Diaz.

Those concerns include increased awareness of and respect for sacred sites and traditions, indigenous languages, sovereign rights and other aspects of Native American life.

The work group has an ongoing emphasis on efforts to stop the use of demeaning Native American mascots, names and imagery by professional, collegiate and amateur sports teams.

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

Native American urges steps to save languages

Renee and Richard Grounds share a passion to save their native Euchee language.A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert.

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

ANADARKO, Okla. (UMNS) - Native American languages have been under "extreme and direct attack" for generations and many are in danger of extinction, said the director of a project working to save the Euchee language.

Richard Grounds, project director of the Euchee (Yu-chee) Language Project in Sapulpa, Okla., works with the five remaining fluent Euchee speakers left in the United States. His daughter, Renee, a board member of the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race, has dedicated her life to helping him keep the language alive.

Speaking in Euchee, Renee introduced her father to members of the commission at Ware Chapel United Methodist Church before his presentation on the project.

Commission members were taking a day during their Oct. 3-7 board meeting in Oklahoma City to visit Kiowa Native American United Methodist churches and to hear from Native American United Methodists.

Caroline Botone and Henry Joseph Willis greeted the group in their native languages of Kiowa and Choctaw.

"This is really a pretty special event," Grounds said. "We are hearing from our elders at this meeting in their own languages. This is what their mother spoke to them, and that's why they speak it to you."

Under attack
Grounds said the World War II generation still speaks their native languages, and most of that generation is slowly dying, taking the languages with them.

"In this state where 25 indigenous languages are still spoken, only four of those are being learned by children; all the rest are only spoken by elders," he said. "The words you heard from my daughter, Renee, speaking the language of my grandmother are extremely unusual."

The commission funded Grounds' Euchee project from 2000-2004 through the Minority Group Self-Determination Fund. The fund was established by The United Methodist Church to empower racial and ethnic minority people within and outside the church.

The tradition of passing down native languages was "crushed through a very ugly, sorted, intentional process" that took young people out of the tribes and put them in boarding schools where they were forced to speak English.

"I would guess billions of dollars were spent destroying our languages, breaking down our ceremonial ways, assaulting our traditions," he said.

Misguided faith
Churches have been complicit in the dispossession of Native Americans, he said. He told the group that Methodism founder John Wesley came to Georgia in 1835 and met the Creeks, Muskogee, Chickasaws and Euchee. Wesley wrote "really ugly things about these native nations," Grounds said.

"But he really saved his most cruel remarks for the Euchees, saying that the Euchees killed their own children - things that were not really true and things he didn't really have a basis for making the claims," Grounds said.

"Colonialism is taking other people's resources to service your own interest. It's taking the richness of others in order to build your own wealth. It was a fairly ugly process. In the context of the United States, it was done under the name of U.S. expansion, a lot of patriotic fanfare, often with a Christian veneer over it."

The use of Native American mascots and names points to the same thinking today that says "if it's Indian, it's ours. It's no longer just the resources. It's no longer just the land. It's literally the name. It's literally the identity," he said.

"We want our young people to be proud of their languages."

Globally, Grounds said, the next 20 years likely will see the loss of half of the world's languages and, in the United States, about 70 percent of indigenous languages are projected to die out.

"This is the core, the heart, of who our peoples are. This is the diversity, the alternative that is unique about people. It is all coded in those languages."

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

A worker at the Asuncion A. Perez Memorial Center hands out vitamins to children attending the Pag-aruga program. The program, run by The United Methodist Church in the Philippines, provides meals to families living on the streets of the capital city. UMNS photos by Kathy L. Gilbert.

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

MANILA, Philippines (UMNS)-It's nearly noon. More than 100 hungry children struggle to stay still in their small, green plastic chairs.

When someone walks within range, they pop up and race for a hug, grab a hand and press it to their foreheads or do elaborate jigs to gain attention.

It is safe here. Everyone who walks in is a friend. For an afternoon, the harsh realities of life on the streets are forgotten as the children eat, sing, draw, play and learn about Jesus Christ.

Pag-aruga (which means "to care" in the Filipino language of Tagalog) is a ministry for street families run by The United Methodist Church in the Philippines. The ministry takes place in the back parking lot of the church's conference office. Bishop Solito Toquero can hear the children laughing from his upstairs office.

Representatives from the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries and United Methodist Communications traveled to Manila last July to visit ministries that care for street children and the poor.

Lunch and skill training
On Wednesdays, Thursday and Fridays, Pag-aruga serves lunch to street families. Most of the diners are children. However, parents who attend can learn skills to help them obtain a sustainable livelihood. A micro-lending program also allows them to borrow money to start or expand a small business such as selling candy or other small items.

All the families involved in Pag-aruga are homeless. They make their living by begging. Some make a few pesos by coaxing pedestrians to hop on a jeepney, the Philippines' cheapest taxi service, or by scavenging for recyclable items. At night they sleep under trees, in doorways or any available space.

Angelito B. Meneses gets an especially warm welcome when the children see him. In a matter of seconds he is surrounded by laughing, squirming children. They know love when they see it.

Meneses is the director of the Asuncion A. Perez Memorial Center, the social service arm of The United Methodist Church in the Philippines, which includes Pag-uaruga.

"I am here because personally this is my passion-a passion to serve the least of my brothers and sisters," he explains. "So I am here actually not here for work. I am here for responsibility and accountability serving these people-these marginalized people."

Begun by United Methodist Women
The Asuncion A. Perez Memorial Center was started in 1969 by United Methodist Women. It was formally organized as a center in 1970 and was incorporated as a nonprofit charitable organization in 1972. The center was named after a renowned United Methodist social worker.

Asuncion A. Perez was the first social service worker to be appointed to the Philippines cabinet in 1948 under President Elpidio Quirino. Perez went on to serve four Filipino presidents. She was known for her unselfish devotion to others.

In addition to the program for street families, the center offers disaster response training; a comprehensive health project; women, youth and children's ministry; women's empowerment; and KaBahagika, a youth ministry.

Each of the programs is designed to teach participants that they are children who are loved by God, according to Meneses. He says his Christian faith challenged him to do something for the families living on the streets.

"It took spiritual courage to identify myself with the kind of misery they are experiencing," he adds. "It took a righteous courage to accept them without prejudiced judgment and distrust."

Children are able to attend both formal and informal classes. Most of the more than 100 street children learn basic skills such as cooking, hygiene and grooming, as well as study the Bible. The 53 children attending formal classes are taught skills that will help them get into a school.

Seven children from the program have been referred to the Gilead Center, another United Methodist ministry that houses children from 7 to 13 years of age. The center also pays for their primary education in area schools.

"They want to finish schooling and someday they want to get their family out of the streets," Meneses says.

"They have taught me to love life, to live love and to celebrate hope."

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn. She compiled this series based on her visit to the Philippines in July.

Healthy churches need healthy leaders, speakers say


Participants take a 10-minute exercise break at the health ministries conference. A UMNS photo by Deborah White.

By Deborah White*

WICHITA, Kan. (UMNS) - "If you're really serious about serving the Lord, you'd better start taking care of yourself," Bishop Scott Jones told health ministry leaders at a national conference.
"Empowering Ministries of Health: Starting, Implementing and Advancing" was the theme of the third annual National Congregational Health Ministries Conference, held Sept. 23-26 at the Spiritual Life Center in Wichita. The event was sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Pension and Health Benefits and the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

The conference continued a growing emphasis on health ministries in The United Methodist Church. It attracted 165 United Methodists from 54 annual (regional) conferences, more than double the attendance at the 2006 National Congregational Health Ministries Conference in Memphis, Tenn. A fourth annual conference is planned for Sept. 21-24, 2008, at Lake Junaluska, N.C.

"We have got to figure out how our churches become centers of healing - spiritual and physical," said Jones, who leads the denomination's Kansas Area. His opening keynote address laid a holistic foundation for the conference.

After reaching a point of exhaustion, Jones said he started paying more attention to his health. Now he wears a pedometer to count his steps, brings carrots to cabinet meetings and limits his caffeine intake.

Building healthy churches
Weaving scriptures and personal experiences, several other speakers joined Jones in emphasizing that self-care for leaders is an important step in building healthy congregations.

Participants also toured two health ministries in Wichita and broke into four workshop tracks to study aspects of health ministries including planning, evaluation, teamwork, communications, coping with stress and making self-care covenants.

"The challenge is to get healthy ourselves, to pull back from the table," said the Rev. Embra Jackson, assistant to Bishop Hope Morgan Ward of Mississippi. Jackson, Ward and 600 clergy members in Mississippi wear pedometers and walk several miles a day as part of the Amazing Pace health ministry.

In the 1950s, pastors were at the top of the health charts, Jackson pointed out. "Now we're at the bottom," he said. "We need to get well. If leaders get healthy and well, the church gets healthy and well."

Kim Moore, president of the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund in Hutchinson, Kan., shared his personal struggles to stay in shape - such as lifting weights before a physically demanding mission trip and walking at 6 a.m. instead of sleeping while out of town on business.

"We increasingly know the behaviors that matter, but we struggle to incorporate them into our lives," Moore said.

The literature of health ministries says "get a team," Moore said. "Too many people believe they are essential. I thought I was essential. I took a sabbatical and found that my colleagues could run the Health Ministry Fund without me.

"We've got to get this attitude into the church: I am valuable but not essential."

Time for fitness
During his presentation, Moore used an exercise DVD to lead 10 minutes of simple exercises. The DVD, "Fuel Up and Lift Off LA," was produced by the California Department of Health Services to demonstrate how to fit fitness into meetings.

Bishop Mary Ann Swenson of the church's Los Angeles Area remarked about the growing participation in the health ministries conference. "To see how it has grown over the last three years is truly amazing," she said.

She told stories about long-distance tandem bicycle riding adventures with her husband to illustrate the principles of good teamwork: trusting each other, handling conflict in a healthy manner, building commitment, offering accountability and prioritizing results.

"Jesus sends disciples two by two," Swenson said. "It models the partnership God offers us through Christ. We are not alone. ... The one next to you is ready to go with you into the land of health, wholeness and holiness."

Bishop Ward said the health conference is an invitation to go forward with a rule of life. "Our rule of life is what we practically do," she explained.

For example, Ward exercises early in the morning. But it took her quite a while to put this practice into place in 1995. After exercising - somewhat reluctantly - for two months with her husband, she finally woke up and wanted to go. Her headaches disappeared. "I don't feel well if I don't exercise," she said.

"As we move forward in health ministries, we will engage with people who want to be well. It's important that we be rooted and grounded - and with strength that comes with humility," Ward said.

'Causes of life'
"This room is filled with people who embody faith and health," said Gary Gunderson, senior vice president for Health and Welfare Ministries at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis.
Gunderson, internationally known for his work in faith and health, outlined the "leading causes of life." He stressed that this "language of life" is a better way to communicate about congregational health ministries than the language of death.

"Public health looks for unexpected pathology. We are looking for unexpected vitality and how you get more of it," he explained.

He defined the "leading causes of life" as:

Connection. "A small congregation is the size of the connection that causes life."

Coherence. "Congregations can't help but make coherent the love of God by showing up. That's the health power that is in congregations. It makes life coherent when you are falling apart."

Agency - the capacity "to do"; making choices that matter for those who matter.

Blessing - a sense of connection that ties one generation to the next.

Hope. "Hope chains us together toward life. We live out of our expectations, our hopes."
Gunderson said using the "leading causes of life" as a framework helped pastors in Memphis set up a Congregational Health Network that connects church members with the five hospitals in the Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare system.

In this network, a "navigator" representing each hospital and a liaison with each church work together to help church members when they need hospital care. The goal is to have 400 congregations in the network.

"The whole structure is to make sure a person is held in a web of intentional compassion," Gunderson said.

Setting priorities
At the closing worship, the Rev. Fred Douglas Smith Jr. of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. said Jesus came to "trouble the water," referring to the story of Christ healing the man who waited years by a pool to be healed.

"Jesus asked, 'Do you want to be healed?' The question is really why do you want to be well?" Smith said. "Do you have a reason to live? Why do you want to be healed? What is it that gives your life meaning? What is the hope you have welling up inside of you?"

Smith said people served by health ministries often do not comply with guidelines for taking care of themselves. "They have no reason to comply," he suggested. "You need to ask the question, 'Is there something more important to you - than fried chicken or drugs?' ... Jesus entered the scene full of life and full of grace, saying, 'I have a reason.'

"Life is contagious. It spreads from smile to smile, from tender touch to tender touch. If you want to live, you need to be around folks who are alive."

*White is associate editor of Interpreter magazine and served on the leadership team for the National Congregational Health Ministries Conference. Both Interpreter and United Methodist News Service are ministries of United Methodist Communications.

Women's Division wants more action on Jena crisis

The Women's Division is joining the call for equal justice for six black teenagers in Jena, La. A UMNS file photo by John Coleman.

By Linda Bloom*

STAMFORD, Conn. (UMNS) - United Methodist Women have called for renewed action on racial justice and reconciliation in Jena, La., and respect for human rights in Myanmar.

"The Women's Division adds its voice to a nationwide call for equal justice in Jena, Louisiana, where six black teenagers face criminal charges in the wake of a series of racial incidents in the town's high school," the division said in a resolution approved during its Oct. 5-8 annual meeting.

The division is the administrative arm of UMW, a denominational organization of approximately 800,000 members in the United States. The annual meeting was the first for Harriett Olson, the division's new chief executive, who was elected by directors last August.

Following up on a Sept. 20 statement about the tension in Jena, the division said it would "explore opportunities to support mutual understanding and bridge-building within the high school, churches and the community" and, while continuing to denounce acts of hate, use such incidents as "teachable moments."

On Sept. 27 - a week after an estimated 15,000-plus demonstrators marched through the small town to protest the handling of the case against the black teenagers - Mychal Bell, the last of the Jena 6 defendants still in jail, was released on bail.

The Women's Division pledged to continue "to call on state and federal officials as needed to investigate and monitor the criminal cases against the youth known as the Jena 6." UMW members are asked to pray for justice, healing and reconciliation in Jena and Louisiana, send similar letters to officials and "deepen work for racial justice in their own communities."

Speaking on Myanmar
Directors noted the "deteriorating conditions in Myanmar, extreme violations of the human rights of its citizens and danger to the safety and security of its women and children" and condemned the latest repression by the military government in that Asian nation.

They joined with the United Nations and human rights organizations in calling on the government of Myanmar to halt immediately all violent attacks on peaceful demonstrations; respect the right of peaceful assembly; release all peaceful demonstrators being held; and stop blocking Internet communications in and out of the country.

The division urged companies doing business with Myanmar to protest recent government actions and at least temporarily suspend any further business. It urged China, India and other trade partners to use those relationships as leverage "to encourage peaceful reform and full respect for human rights in Myanmar."

A focus on immigration issues was expanded as the directors agreed that the Women's Division should become a founding endorser of "Campaign for a United America." The goal of the campaign, led by the faith-based Center for New Community, is to promote a balanced national dialogue on immigration.

"The Women's Division will publicly be associated with the campaign's efforts to uncover the racist underpinnings of many anti-immigrant organizations that help to shape media messages and current debates," the adopted resolution said.

In her speech to directors, Olson spoke of both the "storied past" of United Methodist Women and the need to position the organization for the future. "We need the support of United Methodist Women in local units to stay on task … to help keep us focused on what makes a difference in their communities," she said.

In other business, the Women's Division directors:
-Approved a budget of $19,342,043 for 2008;
-Learned Andrea Hatcher, treasurer, had resigned, effective Oct. 10, and that the search for a new treasurer is under way;
-Agreed to participate in a one-day monitoring of news coverage of peace issues in the media on March 4, organized by the North American Regional Association of the World Association of Christian Communication;
-Decided to send a director and one staff member to attend the World Conference of Peace, also sponsored by the World Association of Christian Communication, Oct. 5-10, 2008, in Cape Town, South Africa.

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