'Debaters' movie resonates with United Methodists

Denzel Washington, Jurnee Smollett, Nate Parker and Denzel Whitaker star in "The Great Debaters," the story of the 1935 debate team at Wiley College, a small United Methodist-related school in Marshall, Texas. A UMNS photo by David Lee, The Weinstein Co.

By Susan Passi-Klaus*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) -- There was no hushing or shushing when a United Methodist theater audience reacted exuberantly to "The Great Debaters," a sermon on film told Hollywood-style.

Trading pews for theater recliners, a specially invited audience of 275 members from Nashville area United Methodist churches watched a sneak preview Dec. 20 of the movie starring and directed by Denzel Washington and co-produced by Oprah Winfrey.

Opening Dec. 25 in theaters across the United States, "The Great Debaters" is inspired by the true story of the 1935 debate team at Wiley College, a historically black, United Methodist-related school in Marshall Texas.

At the Nashville preview, the theater took on the atmosphere of an African-American worship service as an ethnically diverse crowd watched the inspiring story of four black students shaped into a championship debate team in the Jim Crow South. The audience was animated and engaged in the story, offering their own acclamations of approval and encouragement as Washington's character used the power of words to nurture his underdog students.

"This movie is phenomenal," said the Rev. Renee Franklin, pastor of Key-Stewart United Methodist Church in Gallatin, Tenn., after viewing the film. "It reminds us of the rich gifts, God-given intelligence and great strength we have as African-American people of faith."

Other private United Methodist screenings were held during the week in Houston and Atlanta, and a Dec. 13 premiere was held in Marshall in honor of Wiley College.

The Rev. James H. Salley called the film "one of the most invigorating movies I've ever seen."

"It was more than I actually dreamed of. I think it should be mandatory for young people to see this movie," said Salley, associate vice chancellor for institutional advancement at Africa University, a United Methodist school in Zimbabwe.

Jack Tenzel, a member of Blakemore United Methodist Church, said the movie was a "beautiful story" that was well told. "I think it should appeal to everyone, no matter what race, color or creed," he said.

Message of hope
Washington stars as Melvin B. Tolson, a brilliant but volatile professor and poet who transforms the four students into an elite debate team. While the screenplay is largely fiction (the Wiley 1935 team did not defeat Harvard for a national championship, though it did defeat the University of Southern California), its message is based on Tolson's belief that a solid education transcends race, religion and class.

Moviegoers in Nashville generally praised the film as gritty and inspiring.

"The hope this movie gives us is just incredible," said the Rev. Sonny Dickson, Hobson United Methodist Church. "It was a great Christmas present to myself."

"I hope it wins an Oscar!" exclaimed 19-year-old Kristen Dunlap-Berg, West Nashville United Methodist Church.

For Wiley College alumnus Dick Stewart of the Class of 1954, the film captured his alma mater's character and his own experience as a student there.

"Tolson entrusted his students to represent the college and, in so doing, to represent themselves and an entire race," said Stewart. "Professor Tolson's impact on that little school was so great that by the time I got there 15 years later, he was still spoken of as a legend."

Historically black colleges
Wiley is one of 11 historically black colleges supported by the United Methodist Black College Fund.

Cynthia Bond Hopson, an executive with the fund, echoed Washington's description of the movie as a "David and Goliath" story that made her want to "stand up and cheer." She spoke with pride about the United Methodist connection to Wiley College "because again we have done what God has called us to do. We have moved mountains simply by educating people and giving them a sense of 'I can do this for myself.'"

To learn more about Wiley College, visit http://www.wileyc.edu/. Information about the Black College Fund can be found at http://www.umcgiving.org/content/BCF/.

*Passi-Klaus works with the Connectional Giving team of United Methodist Communications in Nashville, TN

Church preserves Nativity built by German POWs
German prisoners of war during World War II created a 60-piece Nativity from concrete and plaster during their captivity at Camp Algona in Iowa. UMNS photos by John Gordon.

by John Gordon

ALGONA, Iowa (UMNS) - A symbol of peace-and a piece of history-is being preserved by members of Algona First United Methodist Church.

A concrete-and-plaster Nativity, built by German prisoners of war housed in a World War II camp at Algona, draws more than 2,000 visitors each year. The scene stretches 40 feet wide and includes 60 figures.

"It's a labor of love for many of us," said Marvin Chickering, chairman of a United Methodist Men committee that oversees the display. "There's a history here which is very unique. You'll find no other one like it in the world."

The Nativity first went on display at the edge of Camp Algona in 1945 and was left behind as a gift to the town after the end of the war. Six POWs were involved in the construction, which took nearly a year. The effort was headed by Edward Kaib, an architect and noncommissioned officer in the German Army.

The Algona church's United Methodist Men group adopted the display in 1958 and led efforts to build a permanent home on the county fairgrounds. Church members volunteer to show the Nativity during the Christmas season. Some area residents bring their families every year.

"It's really cool," said Emma Schmidt, 10, a member of a Girl Scout troop who came to see the prisoners' artwork. "I liked it because there were lots of sheep," said Brittany Fisher, 9.

Camp Algona housed more than 3,000 German prisoners during World War II. The prisoners used their own money, earning 10 cents an hour toiling in Iowa farm fields and working other jobs to buy the materials.

In interviews following the war, Kaib said the scene was never intended to be a work of art, though Algona residents who care for it disagree.

"They were artists in every sense of the word," said Chickering. "The thing that has struck me over the years is their ability to capture facial expressions with the various human figures."

While the prisoners came to the camp as enemies, friendships developed with some Iowa residents who kept in touch after the war's end.

Ellen Platt, whose father worked as a carpenter at the camp, recalls attending Christmas services there when she was 11. In a collection of memories compiled by Wes Bartlett, Platt writes, "There was no feeling of fear or real understanding of the meaning of war or the prisoners. Those German prisoners who were isolated and confined shared with us the true meaning of Christmas."

World War II veteran and Algona resident Max Bartholomew is glad the Nativity is preserved for future generations. "I appreciate the fact that the German soldiers thought enough that they made that type of display," he said.

Makenzie Pesicka, 11, is amazed by the Nativity and the story behind it. "They said that it was our enemies. You'd think that they wouldn't do anything but like hurt people," she said. "Then when they leave, they're your friends."

There is no admission charge to see the Nativity-one stipulation of the German prisoners when they turned it over to the town.

Chickering believes the scene offers a lasting message and a hope for peace in a sometimes violent world. "… Governments make war, people don't," he said.

"We just need to work hard as individuals to try to treat others as we would want to be treated, the golden rule. And if we all do that, …peace is attainable."
*Gordon is a freelance writer and producer in Marshall, Texas.

Hispanic group decries hostile climate for immigrants

Thousands of immigrants and supporters rally on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol in March 2006. A UMNS file photo by Rick Reinhard.

By United Methodist News Service

In an open letter to United Methodists, a church-related organization is declaring that a hostile U.S. climate toward immigrants has resulted in "millions of Latinos and Latinas living in fear, threat and intimidation."

The letter from Methodists Associated Representing the Cause of Hispanic Americans-- known as MARCHA--calls upon United Methodists to remember the plight of immigrants this Christmas and beyond.

"During this Christmas season, when we remember the Christ child born to parents journeying in a foreign land for the sake of their survival, we invite The United Methodist Church to join MARCHA in standing against the negative and anti-Latino forces and voices around us," the letter says. "Let us be truly The United Methodist Church."

The letter is signed by retired Bishop Elias Galvan, MARCHA's interim chief executive, and the Rev. David Maldonado Jr., president. They cite several challenges that Latinos are facing in U.S. society-challenges that are exacerbated by the national debate over immigration.

"Latinos face daily suspicion of their citizenship and rights as residents of our communities," the letter says. "They are subjected to racial profiling and suspicion as they seek employment, housing, or simply driving down the street."

Requiring Latino families "to prove their citizenship in order to rent a house, to be employed or enroll their children in school" is nothing less than "legalized racism," in MARCHA's opinion.

"Latino immigrants are receiving the harshest treatment in recent history in the long procession of ethnic immigration," the letter charges. "The issue of undocumentation has released a flood of racial negativity, harsh treatment, and, more alarming, a marked increase of hate crimes against Hispanic/ Latino people."

MARCHA is urging United Methodists to oppose this treatment, as well as anti-immigrant and anti-Latino laws enacted by cities and states, and to support those subjected to such treatment.

The United Methodist Church, in its Book of Resolutions, advocates for fair and sensitive treatment of immigrants. A resolution titled "Immigrants and Refugees: To Love the Sojourner" notes that since 1996, U.S. immigration law and policies "have been moving toward greater restriction on immigration and less protection of immigrants' and refugees' rights. Immigrants are singled out for harsh punishment under immigration law for minor and even very old criminal violations. … Immigrants' rights to due process of the law are increasingly being circumscribed by nearly all the branches of government, using tactics ranging from judicial review to detention without bond."

The resolution, readopted in 2004 by the denomination's legislative assembly, notes also that "people of faith and good will are needed to encourage leadership at home and abroad and, especially, in our churches; and to have the courage to speak up for the newly vulnerable people put at risk in the rush to provide for our own safety. We must remember that God's household is bigger than our own."

Another resolution calls upon United Methodists to practice hospitality and express commitment to an inclusive church and society through all the church's ministries.

AN OPEN LETTER FROM MARCHA
(Methodists Associated Representing the Cause of Hispanic Americans)

TO ALL UNITED METHODISTS
Dear Sisters and Brothers,

We greet you in the name of our Savior, the Resurrected Christ.

We write to you on behalf of millions of Latinos and Latinas living in fear, threat, and intimidation due to the hostile climate generated by the political and social attitudes towards immigrants and Latinos in particular. Latinos face daily suspicion of their citizenship and rights as residents of our communities. They are subjected to racial profiling and suspicion as they seek employment, housing, or simply driving down the street. Latinos are forced to prove their citizenship and prove that they have a right to live in their communities like any other citizen or resident.

Communities and states across the country are enacting laws and practices that are having a severe impact on the daily lives of our families and neighbors. Children born in this country are increasingly treated as persons without rights. Latino families have to prove their citizenship in order to rent a house, to be employed, or enroll their children in school. These are harsh practices that are not applied to the general population. Because of our color, culture, and language Latinos are singled out for suspicion and unfair treatment. This is legalized racism.

Latino immigrants are receiving the harshest treatment in recent history in the long procession of ethnic immigration. The issue of undocumentation has released a flood of racial negativity, harsh treatment and, more alarming, a marked increase of hate crimes against Hispanic/ Latino people. Undocumented immigrants are treated as criminals and public enemies. They are defined as a threat to our nation when, in fact, they simply come with an urgent desire to work in order for their families to survive. They are the vulnerable sojourners in our midst. Yet, for political benefit and other agendas, Latino immigrants are denied their humanity.

The United Methodist Church has a proud and faithful history of standing with those who are oppressed and subject to such racist practices and attitudes. MARCHA calls upon The United Methodist Church to challenge and oppose the current wave of anti-Latino demagoguery, treatment, and public ordinances intended to suppress a people. We invite you to stand with those who are subjected to such senseless and unjust treatment. The United Methodist Church needs to oppose city ordinances and state laws that are grounded on anti-immigrant and anti-Latino attitudes intended to frighten and intimidate Latinos and force them to live in fear or leave these communities.

During this Christmas season when we remember the Christ child born to parents journeying in a foreign land for the sake of their survival, we invite the United Methodist Church to join MARCHA in standing against the negative and anti-Latino forces and voices around us. Let us be truly The United Methodist Church.

Bishop Elias Galvan, Interim Executive Director

Dr. David Maldonado, Jr.
President

Churches remember murder victims, pledge shalom

Family members of murder victims light candles during a service of remembrance at John Wesley United Methodist Church in Baltimore. A UMNS photo by Christine Kumar

By Melissa Lauber

BALTIMORE (UMNS) -- Three days after Ty'wonde Jones, 13, was stabbed to death last month, his blood still stained the grass and dirt in northwest Baltimore.

Police identified Ty'wonde as the 268th of 269 homicides in the city this year, the 28th under the age of 18. Family remembered Ty'wonde as a boy who loved to read Harry Potter books. They said he had begun to hang out with a different group of friends this year in the seventh grade.

For the more than 300 United Methodists who gathered Dec. 7 at John Wesley United Methodist Church in Baltimore, Ty'wonde was a name read and honored by Bishop John R. Schol. He was a child of God.

He is among the reasons United Methodists have committed to moving outside of the church doors and into the streets of Baltimore.

"What worth are we as a church if all we can do is sing and pray?" asked the bishop, who challenged those present to practice authentic discipleship. "God doesn't want us coming to him crying, 'Lord, Lord.' God wants to see us in the marketplace, in the streets and with the children of God."

Offering hope
Historically, Baltimore is the birthplace of American Methodism, but today it has the second highest murder rate in the nation and is "struggling to keep its head above the water," said the Rev. Patricia Johnson of Ames United Methodist Church, who offered the opening prayer.

The city's 61 United Methodist churches exist to give people hope, Johnson said.

The Rev. Alfreda Wiggins prays for victims and their families at the site of a recent murder. A UMNS photo by Melissa Lauber.

That task isn't always easy, said the Rev. Wanda Duckett, pastor of Monroe Street United Methodist Church, located in a neighborhood with the highest rates of HIV/AIDS and heroin addiction in the United States.

At summer camp this year, Duckett heard children pour out their sorrow, fascination and fear about a 15-year-old friend whose throat was slit July 10.

"Violence is a symptom of spiritual disease," Duckett said. "I'm excited about the people of faith coming together with this common focus."

Several community and civic leaders spoke out at the worship service about the importance of the church partnering with others to bring about meaningful change.

"You know where the answers come from. You're looking up to the right place," said City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, calling churches "the rock on which the city stands."

Forging a partnership
Schol and other church leaders already have begun to forge this partnership. "The United Methodist Church commits to a long legacy as partners with the residents, businesses, social institutions, government and other denominations in bringing an end to violence and creating zones of shalom where hope emerges out of the ashes of violence and the destruction of property," he said.

To illustrate the urgency, nine churches met with national instructors to receive training for the creation of six Shalom Zones in Baltimore. The zones will address issues of community development one neighborhood at a time.

In addition, the Board of Child Care and the conference's camping program announced they would provide free camping experiences to children who have lost family members to violence.

Pastoral counseling for those affected by violence will be offered, efforts to encourage people to turn in their guns are under way, and prayer is being sought in all United Methodist churches to undergird these ministries.

The measures are part of a comprehensive 10-point action plan that conference leaders announced in November called "Hope for the City: Adventure Pathways towards Transformation." Its long-term initiatives include creating seven new churches in Baltimore, partnering with local schools and creating a $15 million fund to invest in Baltimore's future.

Seeking shalom
Schol said the foundation for all of these new ministries is the passage from Jeremiah 29:7: "Seek the shalom of the city where I have sent you, for in its shalom, you will find your shalom."

"God's shalom is the life-changing work of the spirit, transforming people and neighborhoods into prosperous, healing, safe communities in which all become one and one becomes all," the bishop said. In God's shalom, when one is hungry, all are hungry; when one is homeless, all are homeless; and when one is murdered, all lose life.

"We are all interconnected. We have the power to join together with God to cast out the darkness," said the Rev. Joan Carter-Rimbach of First United Methodist Church in Hyattsville, whose nephew Jamelle Carter, 18, was murdered in Baltimore in 2006.

Jamelle was remembered during the worship service and later that night as Schol and a handful of others traveled to the site of his and other murders.

"I hope we're moving beyond words now," said Carter-Rimbach. "My prayer is that we will make a difference. Each of us needs to do whatever we can to be the light."

*Lauber is the editor of the UMConnection, the newspaper of the Baltimore-Washington Conference

Workshop teaches churches to be servants, not suckers

Individuals and churches often are conflicted about how to help panhandlers or others seeking assistance. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.

By Kathy L. Gilbert

The woman looks lost and helpless. Tears run down her face.

There she stands as you look up from your desk in the church's front office. She asks for money to buy food for her children.

Or, a man approaches as you return to your car at the mall loaded with Christmas packages. "I lost my job, my car broke down. I need some money to get home," he says. "Any little bit you can spare would help."

What do you do? Hand over a few dollars? If so, do you walk away feeling like you have just been "taken"?

You are not alone, according to Beth Templeton, who has spent 25 years working with homeless and poor people. She offers a plan to help you be a servant instead of a sucker.

Templeton works with United Ministries in Greenville, S.C., a faith-based organization of about 100 congregations that aids local people who are homeless, experiencing financial crisis or lacking education or employment skills. The ministry began in 1970 by the South Carolina United Methodist Annual (regional) Conference and today involves many faith groups.

"I'm very fortunate in that I get to work both with people who have needs as well as with people who want to help address those needs," Templeton said.

She teaches a workshop called "Servant or Sucker" that grew out of questions from ministers and church staff asking, "What do we do when people just show up? We feel like we are being taken, but we have no idea what to do."

She also started and directs "Our Eyes Were Opened," an outreach program of United Ministries targeting people with resources who want to reach out to those without resources.

"So many times through the years I've seen some people really want to help, but they end up making a bad situation worse. Or they get angry at the very people they want to help," she said.

It's OK to say 'no'
"It's harder to say 'no' in a compassionate way and then help find other resources for somebody," Templeton said. "But sometimes when you're giving money, you're helping people to get drugs or to buy alcohol or to do things that are not healthy at all, that could actually end up in death."

In her Servant or Sucker workshop, Templeton offers these mantras:

• Never do something for somebody that the person can and should do for themselves;
• Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine;
• Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. (Matthew 10)
  
  She gives practical advice on the dos and don'ts of helping someone directly:
• Give money to vendors instead of the person;
• Verify the story before you pay a bill or help with a financial problem;
• Use a voucher system for food or gas.
  
  Her ABCs of helping are to:
• Acknowledge the person has a problem;
• Don't believe everything you hear;
• Remember that Christianity is not judged by giving people exactly what they want.
  
  She wants people to L.E.A.R.N.:
• Learn available resources in your area;
• Explain the reason behind your answer, and do not apologize;
• Acknowledge the problem;
• Referrals, make good ones;
• Never explain what other agencies' policies are unless you are absolutely sure. For example, don't send someone to an agency with the promise of a job, housing, food, etc., unless you know for sure they can provide those things.
  

Levels of involvement
When working in the midst of poverty, churches must decide how much they can do. There are levels of involvement, according to Templeton.

Most churches are level-one churches. They deal with the symptoms of poverty by providing soup kitchens, clothing closets, night shelters, etc.

Level two is helping families overcome issues and barriers that prevent them from thriving. These could include assisting them with pursuing employment and education.

Level three is reviewing systems that are barriers to escaping poverty. Is there adequate, safe, accordable housing? Is there adequate transportation to places of work? Why can't people who work long, hard hours still not afford housing? Is there adequate health care?

"I honestly believe that the justice that the Bible talks about is systems work," Templeton said.

For instance, working to change the system might mean campaigning to raise the minimum wage. A person earning the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour cannot afford a fair-market apartment anywhere in the United States.

In Greenville, a family needs to earn at least $11.50 an hour to afford housing, according to Templeton. That means two people working full-time and earning minimum wage cannot find an affordable place to live.

How churches can help
Churches have numerous options to respond. If they choose to help anyone who walks in the door, church policy needs to address staff safety, designate someone to work with the homeless and allocate money in the budget.

A church may decide to use all of their benevolence money for direct aid and do it through an organization such as United Ministries. They can establish a specific day to take requests for assistance and make appointments throughout the week for that day.

Churches can choose to help by agency referral only. Churches also can staff a crisis ministry such as that of Buncombe Street United Methodist Church in Greenville.

Debbee Gordon, a longtime member of Buncombe, is on the board of United Ministries. She also was part of one of Templeton's poverty simulation workshops, which give participants an experience of what poverty looks and feels like.

"We are people who work everyday, pay taxes, and don't know anything about poverty," said Gordon.

In the workshop, participants are assigned roles and resources and must simulate four weeks in that person's life.

"You go to work, pick up your paycheck, pick up your children, pay bills, everything," said Gordon. "It is a small taste of what people have to go through everyday."

Gordon assumed the role of a 14-year-old boy in a family with a 7-year-old sister with ADHD and asthma and a baby brother. Their father had to balance getting them to and from school, going to work, and paying bills on a limited income.

"We came close to getting evicted because the mortgage on our house was not through a bank," she said. "When 'Dad' went to pay the note at the mortgage company, he forgot to get a receipt. When told the mortgage was past due, he had to pay again because he had no receipt."

At the end of the day, all participants come together to discuss their experiences. It is an intense, eye-opening experience, said Gordon.

'God put me here'
Templeton said she was called into ministry at age 9 at a time when women weren't ordained to ministry. She became a math teacher instead. The call tugged at her, however, and she worked in a hospital for a year as a chaplain's assistant. That experience convinced her to go to seminary.

United Ministries contacted her after graduation about a part-time job. She didn't think working with the homeless was what she wanted to do, but 25 years later, she is still there.

"Part of how I survived is I was aware when I was getting to my limit," she said. "I remember days when I thought, 'I don't want to see another poor person, I don't want to smell another poor person, I don't want to have to deal with another poor person.' And so I'd leave the office."

She also believes that sometimes people placed in our paths are messengers of God--angels in disguise.

When confronted with her own limitations or encountering someone who needs help beyond her resources, she says a prayer:

"God, this is your child and I care and so if there is something I can do, then help open that door for me. But at this point I am entrusting this person to your care. Bring the right person into this man's life so that hopefully he can have a different kind of life if that is what you want."

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

Santa's sleigh raises money for mission work

Mitch Mitchell drives his "sleigh" through the streets of Greenville, S.C., to raise money for church missions. He built the sleigh from an old Chevy Astro Van purchased on eBay. UMNS photo by Heidi Robinson.

By Heidi Robinson*

GREENVILLE, S.C. (UMNS) -- Dressed in a Santa suit, Mitch Mitchell hops into his makeshift "sleigh" to treat kids of all ages to open-air rides along the streets of Greenville.

For a mere $5, the riders listen to Christmas carols and take a spin in a souped-up Chevrolet Astro Van driven by the jolly old elf.

Mitchell considers himself a Santa's helper, giving all proceeds of his Santa's Sleigh service to support mission trips led by Buncombe Street United Methodist Church, where he is a maintenance worker.

"Climb aboard," Mitchell tells a cluster of families waiting for their turn.

"We've been waiting all night!" squeals a curly-headed 7-year-old.

Giving new meaning to the phrase "conversion van," Mitchell bought the Chevy van on eBay, removed the top and reworked the interior to transform the vehicle into a sleigh on wheels.
Beginning this year, he has driven the 15-passenger sleigh every evening during Advent except for Sundays.

"People told me I was out of mind to try to make this sleigh, but I've always been able to do things with my hands," he said. "When I wake up, I thank the Lord above for the talent he gave me to use my hands. And it is a pleasure to be able to use them to help others."

Mitchell got the idea of raising money for missions after helping build homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast and for families in rural villages of Mexico.

"We all have skills we can give to God and be blessed," said the Rev. Jerry Hill, minister of missions at the Buncombe church. He said Mitchell reminds people in the church to ask themselves how they can give back and reach out to the community.

"And the ripples, you don't know where they go," said Hill. "They don't really stop."

For Mitchell, the ripples include the wide-eyed looks on children's faces as he takes them for sleigh rides. "I get an unexplainable joy out of being a part of that," he said. "It doesn't matter whether they're young or old. They all enjoy Santa."

*Robin is a freelance writer and producer in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Pastor experiences racial threats, cross burning

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

Dec. 13, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)
The Rev. Robert Utley is recovering from a heart attack after finding a burning wooden cross and noose on his front porch Dec. 10.

The Rev. Robert Utley

Utley, a resident of Nashville and pastor of Clark United Methodist Church, McMinnville, Tenn., reported hearing someone banging on his door shortly after midnight. When he investigated, he found a small wooden cross on a stack of newspapers burning on his porch. On his gutter a thin white rope had been tied into a noose.

The Rev. Daniel M. Hayes, a close friend and mentor, said the shock of the incident sent Utley to the hospital, where doctors determined he had suffered a small heart attack. Hayes is pastor of Gordon Memorial United Methodist Church, Nashville, Tenn.

Police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. Nashville Metro Police spokeswoman Kristin Mumford said a note left at the scene contained "threats of a racial nature" toward Utley and a co-worker. Utley is a supervisor at Caremark, a pharmaceutical services provider.

"There is some thought that the incident may be related to his work (at Caremark), but that is still under investigation," Mumford said.

Hayes said he also thought the incident was related to Utley's job at Caremark. "He and a couple of other people at work received white envelopes containing white powder a month ago," he said.

Hayes describes Utley as a "very generous, very giving man."

Bishop Richard J. Wills

"We decry any form of racism and violence against other people," said Bishop Richard Wills Jr., episcopal leader of the Memphis and Tennessee Annual (regional) Conferences.

"I have a zero tolerance for racism or gender bias against any of our churches or any of our people. This act was so blatant and easy to see. My experience is that racism is still around but has grown more subtle and harder to identify," he added.

"This is a terrible thing to be happening in this day and time," Hayes said. "We have to look at different ways of venting our frustrations and not through hatred and not through any means of sending messages of this nature. This kind of thing is not of God and is not something God's people will tolerate."

Wills noted that several superintendents and laity in leadership roles will be at Lake Junaluska, N.C., this weekend for a training event on diversity.

"We are trying to make sure all people in leadership are aware of the importance and values of diversity and those forces which try to block our efforts to be God's people in an imperfect world."

United Methodist couple helps Korean community own homes
First-time homebuyers Sung Woo Rhee and Myung Suk Jin (center) received more than $174,000 in government down-payment assistance through the Korean Churches for Community Development Homeownership Program in Los Angeles. A UMNS photo courtesy of KCCD.By Kathy L. Gilbert*

LOS ANGELES (UMNS)--"Sang-hee's" dream of home ownership had some major roadblocks: she was a single mother in a low-income job, and she faced a language barrier.

The high-risk, subprime adjustable rate mortgages offered in the past few years were the light at the end of tunnel for Sang-hee (who did not want to be identified) and millions like her. That light went out, however, when the mortgage rates soared and nearly priced her out of her home.

But she found someone to turn to that literally spoke her own language and spoke it with compassion.

Help came from a nonprofit faith-based organization founded and run by two United Methodist Korean Americans, Hyepin Im and her husband, Jin Kim. Korean Churches for Community Development's mission is to help people like Sang-hee move from poverty to self-sustenance.

Established in 2001, KCCD helps Korean and other Asian-American churches expand their social services in areas such as affordable housing, job training and economic development.

"I see this really as a calling, and I have a sure conviction in my heart that it is God that is leading this effort," said Im, president and chief executive officer. Im and Kim, executive director, have faced obstacles, but their work has paid off because today they are "talking with the big dogs," she said.

Im and Kim convinced Sang-hee not to give up and brought her to testify in a congressional hearing held by U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. They are hopeful she will be able to stay in her home.

Participating in congressional hearings to advocate for "those who are not on anyone's radar screen" is part of the experience Im and Kim bring to the table for their mostly Korean-American clients. They have started partnerships with CVS Pharmacy, State Farm insurance, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, to name a few, Im said.

So far in 2007, they have helped 14 families purchase their first homes and provided more than $1.19 million in government down payment assistance and over $2.7 million in first mortgages.

Closing the gap
California and Florida are the leading states in U.S. home foreclosures, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, which reported an all-time high in foreclosures during July to September.

Kim said there is a huge gap in the ownership rate in the United States, especially in southern California, where the median price for a home is $500,000 while the median income is $50,000 to $60,000.

In Los Angeles, before the federal government will provide assistance, a person must complete 12 hours of education in homeownership. KCCD is one of only three agencies in the city that provide that education, Im said.

"We also provide one-on-one counseling for everyone who goes through our education session," she said. KCCD assesses their situation and helps them qualify for a loan and down-payment assistance. "We also provide handholding throughout the escrow process.

"On average, we save people about $2,000-3,000 in excess fees that are just placed on the unsuspecting consumer who is signing documents," said Im. "They don't know what they are just signing away, so we are able to go over the documents. On average for each client, we do about 100 e-mails back and forth. It's a very labor-intense service."

Spending that much time builds trust, and Im said that is why people come to them for help when they are suddenly in a foreclosure situation.

According to the 2000 census, the four communities that are below the U.S. national rate in income are Latinos, African Americans, Native Americans and Koreans, Im said. Koreans also have the second-highest language barrier problem in the United States.

"When you have low income in any kind of crisis, you're going to be impacted," she said. "At this point, we are the only Asian agency in the country that is providing any foreclosure assistance," Im said.

Many miracles
Im said KCCD has been the product of "many miracles" starting with her parents, who are in ministry.

She grew up seeing her parents help immigrants with housing, education, social services and other needs, and all with very limited means.

"I saw a wonderful model," she said of her parents.

She admits that sometimes at night, she gets a little scared because of all the people who are depending on her and looking to her for answers.

"We are constantly having to almost invent the wheel or be pioneers because there is no other group even in the Asian-American community like us," she said.

Im ticks off the things she sees as potential obstacles stacked against her: she is a young female in ministry but not ordained and Korean American. She said even though her Korean is not perfect she has no fear of "walking boldly into any room and taking risks."

Anytime she feels doubt, she says, she retraces her steps to see if what she is doing was her idea or God's.

"Each step of the way, when it's very scary and it's very stressful, God has always brought help."

Bishop expresses concerns to Congress on Philippines

By Elliott Wright*

NEW YORK (UMNS) - The leader of The United Methodist Church's international mission agency has asked Congress to assure that no U.S. military aid to the Philippines can be used in ways that violate human rights.

Bishop Felton E. May, interim chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, sent a letter to members of Congress on Dec. 10, which was International Human Rights Day.

Dealing with spending bills, Congress was considering a measure (H.R. 2764) that would provide $30 million in military aid to the government of Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The amount is $19 million more than was requested by the U.S. State Department.

H.R. 2764 passed the House of Representatives, and the Senate has passed a similar version. The two bills must now be reconciled.

The Philippines military has been cited in numerous reports as being complicit in, if not directly responsible for, a series of murders of human right activists, including clergy and church lay leaders. These "extrajudicial killings" have been widely condemned by both Protestant and Roman Catholic leaders in the Philippines and on the global stage.

May urged Congress to approve no more than the $11.1 million requested by the State Department for military aid to the Philippines and asked that human rights conditions be applied to whatever amount is voted. He also appealed to Congress to make publicly available State Department reports that might indicate whether the U.S. government was aware of the use of U.S. funds in anti-human rights activities of the Arroyo administration and its military.

Several reports indicate that the extrajudicial killings are being justified on a pretext of security precautions rooted in the "war on terror."

Working for rights
The United Methodist Church in general and the denomination's Boards of Global Ministries and Church and Society in particular are working to help establish human rights in the Philippines, to stop the extrajudicial killings, and to bring to justice those responsible for the murders.

The United Methodist Church has three episcopal areas in the Philippines, and the global ministries agency is linked through mission work to the United Church of Christ in the Philippines.

May wrote that his board "has been involved for many years in advocacy ministries of peace, human rights, interfaith relations and reconciliation in cooperation with Filipino churches. There are many United Methodist congregations in the Philippines that are experiencing increasing human rights violations within their communities."

Democracy 'is suffering'
His letter cited several reports, including one by the Philippines government itself, which implicated the military in the wave of killing. Some estimates place the death toll at more than 800.

"As a result of the attacks on civil society, including church groups and clergy, opposition political parties, labor unions and nongovernmental organizations, democracy in the Philippines is suffering," the bishop wrote. "We know this firsthand and are involved in efforts to protect human dignity and rights.

"United Methodists in the Philippines are among the victims. In March 2007, my colleague, Bishop Solito Toquero of Manila, came to Washington as part of an ecumenical delegation to voice concern to members of the U.S. Congress about the many extrajudicial killings. Global Ministries has also supported human rights delegations that document atrocities and give support to bereaved families and communities."

*Wright is the information officer of the Board of Global Ministries.

United Methodist bishop prays for shooting victims

By United Methodist News Service

Bishop Felton E. May

Offering prayers for those affected by two shootings in Colorado, a United Methodist bishop questioned the use of guns "in a society that claims to be civil and compassionate."

Five people died in two separate incidents Dec. 9, including a gunman, and five others were wounded.

Bishop Felton E. May, interim chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, issued a Dec. 10 statement lamenting the loss of life from the two incidents, which may be related. "May God heal the bodies of survivors and the grief of those who mourn the dead," he said.

Early on Dec. 9, a gunman killed Tiffany Johnson, 26, and Philip Crouse, 24, after being refused lodging at Youth With a Mission, a live-in Christian missionary center in Arvada, Colo. Two other staff members were wounded, one critically.

Later that day, at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, two teenage sisters, Rachael Works, 16, and Stephanie Works, 18, were shot and killed in the parking lot and their father, David Works, 51, was wounded. A female security guard shot and killed the gunman as he entered the church. The gunman's identity has not been released.

During a Dec. 10 press conference, the Rev. Brady Boyd, New Life senior pastor, said the church's biggest concern was for the Works family. "One of the young girls just returned from an overseas mission trip - they are very committed here," he said. He added that the church also was praying for the family of the attacker.

"We long to know the reasons for such outbursts of fury, which occur at many types of places - schools, shopping malls, offices and churches," May said in his statement. "We long for healing of those whose rage or confusion or hatred leads them to such wanton violence.

"We also long for effective legislation and law enforcement to control or ban the weapons used in these kinds of attacks. Yet another wave of shootings, including those in Colorado, sends a signal that guns have very little or any place in a society that claims to be civil and compassionate."

Project assists deaf people living with HIV/AIDS

A UMNS Report
By Judith Santiago*

Once a year, a small group from the community of the deaf meets with HIV/AIDS survivors to share their personal journeys.

The United Methodist Deaf Shalom Zone, a ministry of Christ United Methodist Church in Baltimore, provides sign language interpreters so the deaf people with HIV/AIDS can have communication access at the Quality of Life Retreat they attend, which is held in Maryland or the Washington area.

"HIV/AIDS cases are four times higher in the deaf community than in the hearing community," said Carol Stevens, the shalom zone coordinator.

Quality of Life Retreats, an independent ministry, is open to anyone and has four retreats each year designed to empower participants with life strategies that help them live with HIV/AIDS.

The program received additional funding this year from the United Methodist Baltimore-Washington Annual (regional) Conference and the denomination's Board of Global Ministries.

"My experience at the Quality of Life Retreat was so great. It helped me to find myself, my inner place, my spiritual home, my peace, my purpose in life," signed the Rev. Harry Woosley Jr., leader of the deaf AIDS community in Baltimore. "I want to help others to find life like I have."

Since the retreat, Woosley has been educating three high-risk groups about AIDS: deaf-blind people, a group of deaf inner-city young people and deaf people living in group homes.

Each retreat aims to offer a safe, loving environment in which participants can be themselves, free of fears and inhibitions, and can openly discuss their deepest concerns and challenges about living with HIV/AIDS.

Participants can interact with other HIV-positive people and learn strategies for long-term survival.

Agencies that provide services to hearing individuals are often inaccessible to the deaf, so The Deaf Shalom Zone includes case management services for deaf people living with HIV/AIDS.

Case managers assist people who have contracted the disease but have no health insurance, medical care, medication or financial support and help them gain independence.

*Santiago is a staff member with the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

United Methodist free clinic opens in New Orleans

The Rev. Oscar Ramos-Gallardo confers with patients at Luke's House, a new free clinic at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church's Family Life Center in New Orleans. UMNS photos by Betty Backstrom.

By Betty Backstrom*

NEW ORLEANS (UMNS) - The Rev. Connie Thomas stood with tears in her eyes as nurses and doctors treated patients during the opening of Luke's House, a free clinic housed in Mt. Zion United Methodist Church's Family Life Center.

"This is cutting edge ministry," said Thomas, pastor of Mt. Zion Church. "Here is a chance for United Methodists to do hands-on work, helping those in need as they recover from Hurricane Katrina."

Mt. Zion was badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Situated near a thoroughfare in an underserved area of New Orleans, the clinic makes its services available to anyone in need.

"Many of the residents are uninsured and need free health care," said the Rev. Carol Winn Crawford, pastor of Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church, a partner church in the project. "A lot of children live in the area surrounding Mt. Zion."

An African-American couple with a young child visited with church volunteers while waiting to see the doctor at the clinic's opening. During the conversation, volunteers learned the family was homeless and in need of food.

"We were able to provide food items from the Mt. Zion pantry and give them housing vouchers that had been purchased by Rayne from the Salvation Army," said a smiling Thomas.

The free clinic will serve former residents who have returned to the central city area and growing numbers of Hispanic workers participating in the reconstruction of homes and businesses.

"We hope not only to provide medical help, but to wrap them into the conference's Hispanic ministry," said Rev. Oscar Ramos-Gallardo, a United Methodist Board of Global Ministries missionary helping to expand established Hispanic ministries in New Orleans and throughout the Louisiana Conference.

Small miracles
Dr. Susan Berry, medical director for the clinic and a member of Rayne, was amazed at how everything fell into place so the clinic could open quickly.

Jiselle Bock, Dr. Susan Berry and the Rev. Connie Thomas stand inside a portable exam room at Luke's House. A UMNS photo by Betty Backstrom.

"A lot of hard work certainly paid off, but it was remarkable that things just seemed to work out miraculously," said Dr. Berry, also an associate professor for the Louisiana State University Medical School.

One of those little miracles involved Dr. Betty Lo, a professor in the Medical/Pediatrics Department at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. After expressing an interest in a partnership with Luke's House, Berry and Lo established an agreement with the pediatric resident physicians at the school. "The residents volunteered every night for the opening and have agreed to staff the clinic regularly on Tuesday nights," said Jiselle Bock, executive director for the free clinic.

Other key elements needed for the clinic seemed to fall into place in the weeks before the opening. Luke's House will be working with the St. Vincent de Paul Pharmacy to obtain medications for patients.

"We received close to 1,000 pounds of donated supplies from a physician in upstate New York," Berry said. "Dr. Joseph Lalka happened to be retiring the week before our opening and offered us supplies from his office. That gift saved us thousands of dollars."

Volunteers from as far away as Washington, Pennsylvania and Nebraska had a hand in the opening of the clinic. The idea of opening a free clinic came from members of volunteer work teams from St. Marks United Methodist Church in Lincoln, Neb.

"Dr. Jim Jantzen and his wife, Amy, who is a registered nurse, not only helped to staff the clinic, but helped set up the clinic before we opened on Tuesday. Several volunteers from Nebraska also regularly serve at Clinic with a Heart, our clinic model," Bock said.

Since December 2005, a total of 10 teams from Lincoln have been housed at Rayne Memorial while gutting homes through the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Ministry, which is supported by the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

"We became very close to the teams from Lincoln. They even held fundraising campaigns back in Nebraska for the rebuilding of New Orleans," said Melissa Erekson, board member for Luke's House and a member of Rayne.

Private donations and a grant for $84,000 from the Methodist Health System Foundation in Louisiana provided a base of funds to launch the clinic.

Healing ministry
"Luke's House is a unique development because we provide care in a comprehensive way by offering medical services, mental health counseling and pastoral counseling. Offering all this and caring for each individual in the spirit of God's love truly makes this a healing ministry," said Bock, who most recently served in a free clinic in Armenia.

"One thing I am sure of," Bock said, "is that we have the capacity and the resources in this country to make clinics like this one a reality. Countries like Armenia have very little. But we have so much in the United States at our fingertips."

The Rev. Larry Norman, director of Louisiana Volunteers in Mission, will assist with recruiting volunteer medical teams locally and nationally.

"The teams will be critical in the success of the project, which will be volunteer-driven. We've already been in conversation with a team from Alabama, and we believe this volunteer opportunity will be very successful," Norman said.

The clinic serves as a medical facility during the week and a sanctuary on Sunday.

"Our church, badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina, is still in need of repair," Thomas said. "So this examination area is like a M.A.S.H. unit, which we take down before services and put back up again to serve patients during the week. Once we can get appropriate funding to repair the sanctuary, this area will be devoted fully to Luke's House."

*Backstrom is editor of Louisiana Now!, the newspaper of the United Methodist Church's Louisiana Annual Conference.

'Johnny Appleseed' organizes church tree-planting project
Volunteers plant seeds for a variety of trees near the Des Plaines River as part of Riverside (Ill.) United Methodist Church's "The 1,000 Tree Planting Project." UMNS photos by Jon Kaplan.

By Jon Kaplan*

RIVERSIDE, Ill. (UMNS) - Tom Sisulak smiles when locals refer to him as their own "Johnny Appleseed." He considers it a compliment and a calling.

When Sisulak noticed many trees in his tree-filled hometown were starting to die, he sounded an environmental call to arms. He asked his United Methodist church to help.

"While I was helping our Riverside forester clear brush along the Des Plaines River, I noticed that the older trees in Riverside were dying off at a fast rate," said Sisulak. "In 10 years or so, we might lose a lot of the natural beauty and heritage of our town. I knew I had to do something."

For 35 years, this coach and conservationist has been doing more than his share. He's personally planted more than 15,000 trees in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. As a member of Riverside United Methodist Church, he affirms that the earth is God's good creation and we must be its faithful stewards.

Sisulak's faith and philosophy were the inspirations for an idea he called "The 1,000 Tree Planting Project." His goal was to gather volunteers to plant a thousand seedlings in the forested areas near the river. The idea immediately took root with his own congregation and Pastor Bromleigh McCleneghan.

"The people of Riverside United Methodist Church have spent the last months studying about our special responsibility for our environment," McCleneghan explained. "The 1,000 Tree Planting Project was the perfect fit for us. This project is grounded in the history of our tradition and in our Christian hope for and investment in the future."

Gathering seeds
Sisulak had originally planned the project for last spring, but a cicada emergence this past summer would have destroyed the young trees he hoped to plant. Instead, Sisulak proposed waiting until the fall and planting seeds rather than seedlings. The church and town officials agreed.

Sisulak spent several months gathering acorns and other seeds that had fallen from trees throughout the village. By November, he'd collected 1,000 seeds for trees native to Illinois - Northern Red Oak, Burr Oak, Black Walnut and Hickory.

On a cold, damp Saturday in mid-November, Sisulak gathered volunteers in the basement of Riverside United Methodist Church to dole out the seeds and instruct teams on the best planting methods. During a brief ceremony, he dedicated the planting project to the congregation's youngest and oldest members: 3-month-old Fiona Hammond, the pastor's daughter, and 99-year-old Frank Sisulak, Tom's father.

"My father, Frank, is like the mighty oak and little Fiona is like the acorn; together, they connect the past, present and future life of our church and our community," Sisulak said.

Pastor McCleneghan added, "They remind us that God binds all of creation together, across many miles, across all walks of life and across many lifetimes."

Sisulak also had a close family friend, Art Shagonee, a Native American, perform a sacred dance to bless the project. Native Americans lived in this region thousands of years ago and used the trees for shelter, tools, clothing and jewelry.

Long-term impact
Following the ceremony, volunteers of all ages and backgrounds went to work. Despite less than ideal weather conditions, all teams completed the project in less than three hours. Afterward, everyone was enthusiastic about the experience.

"The fact that something's going to be here 100 years from now that's not manmade makes it important," said volunteer Bob Finn.

Several parents saw the project as a great way to get families involved in outdoor quality time. "I'm hoping they had fun, learned a little about the environment, and I hope these trees are here when they grow up," remarked Jane Murphy, mother of four young children who planted seeds near the river.

"I think they learned about nature and learned about doing a good deed," added Dan Gmitro, father of three boys who also took part.

"You plant six or eight seeds and you might get one tree. You could say those aren't very good odds, but you could also say that it is our need and our call to go plant as many as we can so that something will come," McCleneghan said. "I think there's a sense of hope. We're contributing to something that is beyond ourselves."

Sisulak hopes that contribution is even bigger next year. He plans to have 10 United Methodist churches from across the country join forces in planting 10,000 trees one day next fall. People who are interested can contact him through Riverside United Methodist Church at http://www.umcriverside.org/.

*Kaplan is a freelance producer and writer in Chicago.

Coalition urges candidates to change tone on immigration

A UMNS Report
By Arthur McClanahan*

DES MOINES, Iowa (UMNS) - Representatives of the Iowa Interfaith Immigration Coalition are urging presidential candidates of both parties to conduct the debate over immigration policy in a civil manner "that respects human dignity."

The coalition held a press conference Dec. 4, one month before the Iowa caucuses and just hours before the Democratic candidates engaged in a radio debate sponsored by National Public Radio and Iowa Public Radio.

Connie Ryan Terrell, executive director of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, led a group of speakers who gathered to "change the negative, public attitudes and rhetoric which demonize and dehumanize our immigrant friends and neighbors." Terrell said this "destructive attitude has permeated our nation," making the discussion about immigration a more "complex and difficult debate."

In a four-week period, more than 3,600 signatures from across the state of Iowa were gathered on a "Creating a Welcoming State" petition, the group said at the press conference.

The petition states, "We pledge ourselves as people of faith and good will to stand with our immigrant neighbors who have come to the United States from throughout the world. Recognizing the moral imperative to welcome the stranger in our midst, we commit ourselves to support laws that affirm their dignity, preserve their families, and acknowledge the value of their presence among us."

More than 100 faith and civic leaders and groups attended the press conference. They included United Methodist Bishop Gregory Palmer, episcopal leader of the Iowa Area, the United Methodist Iowa Annual (regional) Conference Board of Church and Society, the Iowa chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action, Justice For Our Neighbors, and United Methodist clergy and congregations.

A mean tone
Rich Pleva, conference minister of the Iowa conference of the United Church of Christ, said he grieves "the mean-spirited tone to our contemporary debate on immigration."

"Certainly the issues confronting us are difficult and complex," he added, "but at least it ought to be possible for people of faith and, in particular, people who value devotion to Christ, to engage in this conversation with grace and respect."

Imam Ahmed Elkhaldy, Iowa president of the Muslim American Society in Cedar Rapids, expressed disappointment in the U.S. government's immigration policy.

"Our country's current immigration policy runs counter to the humanitarian aspirations the country once aspired to," he said. "It is a shame that our modern democratic government perpetuates a basically aristocratic system by protecting the children of the very rich against real competition from children of the poor."

Treated like animals
Maria Garcia, who has been working toward achieving her legal immigration status for nearly 20 years, spoke about raids conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. She spoke in particular about a raid on meatpacking plants in Marshalltown, Iowa, which was part of an operation by immigration agents in several cities resulting in the arrests of 1,200 people nationwide.

"During the raid in Marshalltown on Dec. 12, 2006," she said, "people were treated like animals. Women were treated in a way that women should not be treated. For example, when they needed to go to the bathroom, they went with their hands tied and didn't have any privacy." She also described how her son, Moises, was confronted when he went to a local Wal-Mart on the evening of the raid. "He was asked by a lady why he was not taken in the raid."

Following the press conference, held at the First Christian Church near Drake University in Des Moines, teams visited the offices of both Democratic and Republican candidates, delivering copies of the petition.

Most of the Democratic contenders were engaged in a debate sponsored by National Public Radio. One group however, had an opportunity to visit with Sen. Barack Obama and members of his campaign staff. During that conversation, representatives of the Obama campaign pledged to stop using the term "illegal aliens" and to look back through their literature and remove the offensive language.

*McClanahan is director of communications for the Iowa Annual Conference.

UMC-GBCS Urge Your Senator to Pass the Second Chance Act Now

Due in large part to your great work, the Second Chance Act passed the House of Representatives on November 13 by an overwhelming vote of 347-62. Passage of the act is an important first step to reforming our criminal justice system by offering necessary programs to ex-offenders in the areas of housing, employment, mental heath and substance abuse treatment. The Second Chance Act will help reduce crime and strengthen the families of those incarcerated.

Now it is time for the Senate to act. Please contact your Senators and tell them not to wait any longer - offer a second chance to those who are coming out of prison and trying to build a better life. (Click on highlighted sentence above to read an expanded story on the Board of Church and Society website)

About the Second Chance Act
The Second Chance Act represents a bi-partisan effort to address the reentry crisis for ex-offenders. The Second Chance Act will help reduce recidivism, provide for safer communities and reduce the number of families harmfully affected by incarcerated family members.

Essentially, this bill aims to achieve the following:

• Provides grants, which focus on jobs, housing, and treating substance abuse and mental health issues
• Establishes a resource center for states, local governments, faith-based organizations, and corrections organizations to share best practices and provide training and support
• Creates a federal interagency task force to identify programs and resources on reentry and a national reentry research agenda
  
  The Second Chance Act focuses on four crucial areas: jobs, housing, mental health and substance abuse treatment, and strengthening families. This bill has a tremendous opportunity to pass this year, but we need your help. Contact your Representative and Senator and urge them to support and co-sponsor this important bill.
  
  Our goal is to see this passed and enacted before the end of the year and you can help make that happen!
  
  In Christ,
  
  Bill Mefford
  Director, Civil and Human Rights
  The General Board of Church and Society
  100 Maryland Avenue NE
  Washington, DC 20002
  202-488-5600FAX 202-488-5619

Profiling of General Conference delegates a disservice to the Body of Christ
By Paul Black

I now know what it feels like to be profiled.

For the past several years, racial profiling has been identified as one of the most pressing civil rights of our time. It is a scourge that negatively affects all persons of color of all generations and income levels. On many occasions, profiling ends up victimizing the innocent, non-criminal public -- persons for whom a community tries to protect.

The United Methodist Church, at the 2004 General Conference took a firm stand, calling profiling “an abhorrent manifestation of racism” and “a painful and tragic reality of our lives.”

Sadly, my profiling experience came because of my position in the church.

Last week, I realized just how painful and tragic profiling can be when I received a telephone call from a telemarketer from Conquest Communications asking me to take part in a survey concerning issues at the upcoming 2008 General Conference.

Having spent a number of years in the political world as a Congressional staff assistant, I am somewhat dubious of such calls. I am well aware the wording of questions and the underlying messages can have great impact in skewing results.

And so, I informed the caller that before I answered any of his questions, I had one of my own: Who is paying for the survey?. His response: “The United Methodist Church.”

I was aware that the General Council on Finance and Administration conducted a survey of delegates to gather demographic information about those whom annual conferences elected to serve as delegates to the worldwide body. However, the caller indicated we would be discussing issues – matters which would be considered by delegates who gather in Fort Worth in late April and early May.

I pressed the issue further, asking, “Are you saying that the General Council on Finance and Adminstration is paying for this survey?” The caller then backed away from his earlier statement, saying a supervisor would have to answer the question. After being put on hold for two minutes, the caller came back and told me that the supervisor wasn’t available. At that point, I ended the telephone conversation without participating in the survey.

As I did a Google search on Conquest Communications, I found that the Richmond, Va.-based organization “provides message consulting and direct contact services to political campaigns and business organizations throughout the United States” according to the group’s website at www.conquestgroup.com . As I investigated their clients, I found out that their customers have almost exclusively been for Republican or conservative political causes. Their call center has 80 phones and 1,200 telephone lines operating simultaneously, meaning that calling the 750 U.S. elected delegates would be a simple task.

But what drew my attention and raised my ire at the same time was a blog entry from the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette-Mail, concerning a 2006 state campaign in which Conquest was involved. Employing a tactic known as “micro-targeting,” Conquest’s goal is to identify voters most likely to elect favored candidates (or be favorable to certain issues), and then tailor messages that appeal specifically to that voter.

Political consultants build sophisticated databases that include not just how you voted in previous elections, but whether you drive a Subaru Outback or a Ford F-150, and whether you prefer to shop at Wal-Mart (a likely Republican) or Target (a swing-voter.)

Then they develop profiles of the types of voters that support their preferred candidate or issues and determine which are swing-voters who need further convincing. Next, they conduct polls to determine what sets you off, known as “anger points.” These are the issues that make you mad enough to show up and vote.

Finally, you might receive mailings targeted to your “anger” issue.

Similar to push polling in which a campaign call is shrouded as a survey meant to trash one candidate or viewpoint or racial profiling utilized by law enforcement, micro-targeting being utilized by anyone within The United Methodist Church is “an unjust and evil reality that needs to be corrected.”

I have no problem discussing issues of concern to my church but I will not be a party to political agendas whether they come from conservative side or the liberal side. In fact, for groups to be counting heads five months before General Conference convenes means that we close ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s leading while gathered in Fort Worth.

John Wesley saw Christian conferencing as a means of grace. To have one’s mind made up on all the issues prior to General Conference without deeply listening to a variety of viewpoints means we could all mail in our votes and save multiple millions of dollars because what we do when we gather makes no worldly or heavenly difference.

Furthermore, the segmenting and micro-targeting of delegates also betrays the notion of being a delegate. In the political world, there is tension in the role our elected officials are to play in legislative arena: Are those elected to be representatives (meaning individuals that merely stick their finger in the wind and vote as their constituency would like) or delegates (where people of good character are elected to listen to the debate, discern God’s Spirit in the midst of disparate voices and then be guided in their voting)?

Throughout history, when major things have occurred, it has occurred because persons have exercised the role of delegate. Even in political circles, delegates are only pledged to their declared candidate for the first ballot. From then on, they are given freedom to respond in the moment. Persons that gathered in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation threw out the document in favor of drafting a new Constitution.

And even the word used in The Book of Discipline for those persons elected to General and Jurisdictional Conference is delegate.

As we prepare for General Conference in April 2008, please uphold your delegates in prayer as they begin their spiritual journey through preparation, serving on legislative sub-committees and the plenary sessions. Ask that the Holy Spirit, not some unofficial caucus or group that has its own agenda which may or may not be aligned with the mission of “making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world” to guide those that will travel from all over the world to be a part of Christian conferencing.

If we do that, then the profiling of delegates, internal polling and spurious agendas will fall prostrate at the feet of Christ and our resolve “to remain in covenant with one another, even in the midst of disagreement” and our reaffirmation to Christ’s Great Commission will reign supreme.

Thanks!
Paul Black
Director of Communication Ministries
Illinois Great Rivers Conference
The United Methodist Church
(217) 529-2824 – phone
(217) 529-4155 – FAX
(217) 652-6830 – cell
pblack@igrc.org

My Confession: A Commentary by Ben Stein

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart:

I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important? I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is, either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife.

Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are. Is this what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad.

Next confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

Women’s Division supports call to drop torture case

By Linda Bloom*

Jill-Soffiyah Elijah, legal adviser to the San Francisco 8, speaks at a news conference as part of the "International Call on the San Francisco 8." The anti-torture statement was signed by Lois Dauway (right) of the Women’s Division, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. A UMNS photo by Don Reasoner, United Methodist Board of Global Minstries.

It happened 34 years ago, but Harold Taylor remembers everything.

He remembers being chained to a chair, in his underwear, and beaten on nearly every part of his body by New Orleans police officers. "They put a plastic bag over my head and waited until I about suffocated," he said.

The torture continued as a cattle prod sent electric shocks to sensitive areas of his body until he started to talk.

The alleged confessions elicited from Taylor, now 58, and two other former members of the Black Panthers led to charges in the 1971 murder of San Francisco Police Sgt. John Young and conspiracy related to numerous acts from 1968-73. The charges, brought in 1975, were dismissed because the statements used as evidence were made after torture had occurred.

But a reopening of the case this year by California’s attorney general has drawn fire from supporters of the men now know as the "San Francisco 8"

Supporters, including the Women's Division of The United Methodist Church, issued an "International Call on the San Francisco 8" during a Nov. 30 news conference at the Interchurch Center in New York.

A stand against torture
Lois Dauway, one of the signers, noted the organization that she represented — the Women’s Division of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries and the World Council of Churches — have taken "a very clear stand on torture," even though "there is a belief amongst many that torture does not exist in this country."

The United Methodist Social Principles state that "mistreatment or torture of persons by governments for any purpose violates Christian teaching and must be condemned and/or opposed by Christians and churches wherever and whenever it occurs."

Other signers of the call include the Rev. Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and the 1984 Nobel Peace Laureate, and four other past winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Jill-Soffiyah Elijah, a legal advisor to the men and deputy director of the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard Law School, said the original case occurred during a period when law enforcement, particularly the FBI, was targeting the Black Panther Party.

"The tortured confessions extracted from these men" was used to bring the charges in the 1970s and the current case, she noted. "Torture is the foundation of the case today."

Taylor was jailed after his Jan. 23 arrest because, he said, he refused to confirm the lies of the forced confession for the grand jury. Like most of the other defendants, he is now out on bail. But the reopening of the case has convinced him to go public about his experience.

"I never talked about this to anybody because I was so ashamed of what they did to me," he said.

The San Francisco 8 included Taylor, Herman Bell, Ray Boudreaux, Richard Brown, Henry W. (Hank) Jones, Jalil Muntaqim (Anthony Bottom), Richard O’Neal and Francisco Torres. Bell and Muntaqim have been incarcerated since the early 1970s.

In addition to Taylor, two other men were tortured in 1973 — John Bowman, who is now deceased, and Ruben Scott, who is thought to be a government witness.

International call
The International Call on the San Francisco 8 demands that the appropriate legal and governmental authorities:

• Investigate and end all incidents of torture within the U.S. criminal justice system;


• Drop all current charges for all eight men in question;


• Convene official investigations into the possible continued operation of programs such as the FBI Counter Intelligence Programs;


• Release Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim immediately on humanitarian grounds.
  
  As the issue of torture has been raised in recent years, the Women’s Division has responded. In 2005, in reaction to allegations of torture in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, members of United Methodist Women were asked to study, reflect and act on the issue.
  
  Women’s Division directors also called upon the denomination — through its agencies and Council of Bishops — "to reflect on this grave concern and move towards a prophetic stance against the use of torture."
  
  Following up, the division has submitted a resolution on torture to the 2008 General Conference, the denomination’s top legislative body, which meets next spring in Fort Worth, Texas.
  
  That resolution calls upon The United Methodist Church to continue "to publicly condemn and oppose torture wherever it occurs through legislative and other means" as well as to "find ways to keep the information about torture, its perpetrators, the victims, their families and their communities continuously in the conscience of United Methodists."
  
  In the case of the San Francisco 8, the use of torture to gain evidence violates basic principles set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Convention against Torture, according to the International Call.
  
  *Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

Bush brings AIDS message to United Methodist church
The Children of Zion Village in Namibia, Africa, cares for 55 children who have lost their parents to AIDS. The orphanage is supported by Calvary United Methodist Church of Mt. Airy, Md., where U.S. President George W. Bush spoke on Nov. 30. A UMNS photo courtesy of Children of Zion Village.

By Melissa Lauber*

MT. AIRY, Md. (UMNS) - President George W. Bush observed World AIDS Day by calling on the U.S. Congress to double funding to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS overseas.

In the process, the president and his visit to a United Methodist church in Maryland spotlighted a United Methodist ministry to orphans of AIDS in Namibia, Africa.

Speaking at Calvary United Methodist Church in Mt. Airy on Nov. 30, Bush called for doubling the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to $30 billion to expand AIDS prevention and treatment in some of the world's most needy nations. World AIDS Day is observed annually Dec. 1.

Five years ago, he said, only 50,000 people with AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa were receiving antiretroviral drugs. Today, because of the U.S. emergency plan, that number is nearly 1.4 million. "Some call this a remarkable success. I call it a good start," he said.

United Methodist Bishop John R. Schol of the Washington Area praised Bush's call for additional funding to address the AIDS pandemic. Global health, he noted, is one of the four major ministry emphases of The United Methodist Church.

"'We are committed to bringing hope to the hopeless and providing assistance to the more than 33 million people around the world living with HIV/AIDS," Schol said.

Faith-based leadership
Bush cited the work of faith-based organizations as one reason for the effectiveness of current efforts against AIDS. Standing with faith leaders in the church fellowship hall, the president said such faith groups are "willing to act on the universal call to love a neighbor." Invited news reporters also were on hand as Bush read his statement.

The presidential visit to Calvary United Methodist Church was inspired by the congregation's involvement in Children of Zion Village, an orphanage in Namibia created and maintained by United Methodists in the Baltimore-Washington Annual (regional) Conference.

"Think about that. People from Maryland took it upon themselves to travel to a faraway land to help orphans, to say, 'we love you,' to inspire through compassion," Bush said. "Faith-based groups like these are the foot soldiers in the army of compassion."

Prior to the statement being read, church leaders spoke with the president and first lady Laura Bush in a roundtable discussion at Calvary.

Leaders attending included the Rev. Dennis Yokum, pastor of Calvary United Methodist Church; the Rev. Craig McLaughlin and his wife, Lisa, of Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, Bel Air, Md.; and Rebecca Meeks, a missionary from the Mt. Zion congregation who, along with her husband, Gary, runs Children of Zion Village.

Orphans of AIDS
The church leaders described how Children of Zion Village is home to 55 orphans in Katima Mulilo, along the Zambezi River in Namibia. It was financed and built by volunteers from Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in 2003.

Mt. Zion, which gives more than 40 percent of its offering collections to missions, provides most of the $14,000 a month operating expenses for the orphanage. Teams of volunteers, like those from Calvary, visit to teach, cook and play with the children on the 17-acre campus.

Meeks told Bush how it took her five years to find blankets for all the children. She told United Methodist News Service later that the president became teary-eyed when she told him about the six children who have died in her arms from AIDS.

"Within a four-hour drive of us, there are 4,000 to 5,000 orphans, most left parentless because of AIDS," Meeks said. "AIDS devastates so many villages. You look around and all there is is death."

For Craig McLaughlin, speaking with the president reinforced his convictions that people in the United States can, and should, transform lives in Africa.

"The first thing the president told us was that 'to whom much is given, much is expected,'" McLaughlin said. "So many Americans are affluent. Imagine how our world would change if the biggest decision in one's life was not what kind of television to get, but what can one do with their money to help provide for the poor."

McLaughlin hopes other churches will use Mt. Zion as model for creating orphanages and other facilities. He and his congregation are willing to work with anyone who is interested. "I told the president, every church in the United States could do this," he said.

More is needed
The Mt. Zion congregation and the Meeks also support a feeding ministry for orphans in the nearby town of Mafuta, where they feed the area's orphans one small meal a day. They would like to open a home there for 10 to 12 children.

The expanded ministry would cost about $60,000 to build and $4,000 a month to operate, according to Meeks. They plan to apply for federal funding but, until then, continue to rely upon gifts from the church.

McLaughlin said supporters of the ministry receive more than they give. "The children pray for us all the time. It makes a difference. It's a blessing," he said.

Bush, who is a United Methodist, concluded his remarks at Calvary by paraphrasing from Deuteronomy 30:19 in the Bible. "The Scriptures tell us, 'I have set before you life and death.

Therefore, choose life.' All who wage the battle against AIDS have made the choice for life," he said.

"Because of their compassion and courage, millions who once saw the disease as a death sentence now look to the future with hope. This World AIDS Day is a day of importance because it's a day we resolve to continue this work of healing and redemption."

*Lauber is the editor of the UMConnection, the newspaper of the Baltimore-Washington Conference.