Members of the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race meet Sept. 25-28 in Linthicum Heights, Md. UMNS photos by John Coleman.By John Coleman*
LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, Md. (UMNS)--The agency charged with helping The United Methodist Church be more racially inclusive will increase its monitoring, advocacy and education efforts, while at the same time integrating that work into the churchwide focus on developing new congregations, new leaders, and new ministries to fight poverty and disease.
The United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race, meeting Sept. 25-28 to organize its new board of directors for 2009-2012, adjusted its year-old strategic plan to encompass the new emphases adopted by the denomination's legislative assembly in May.
The commission's strategic goals call for engaging more white partners in the fight against racism, facilitating the growth of multicultural leadership in the church, expanding its purview to address racism and ethnocentrism on a global scale, and promoting core values of justice and compassion around denominational concerns with racial/ethnic implications. Those concerns have included the need for more humane policies and practices in the treatment of undocumented immigrants and the elimination of sport mascots offensive to Native Americans.
Now the agency will also encourage more inclusiveness in the church's efforts to attract new and younger members through new faith communities, to develop new clergy and lay leadership, and to overcome poverty and fatal diseases through collaborative ministries. Part of that inclusiveness, for example, could mean more focus on addressing racial/ethnic disparities among people who suffer most from poverty, preventable diseases and inadequate health care.
Erin Hawkins, top executive, and the Rev. Bob Bushong of Florida discuss the agency’s agenda
"The destination for our journey and our mission is to reach the heart of the gospel and become the heart of the church," said top executive Erin Hawkins. Her keynote speech evoked the agency's 40th anniversary theme, "Journey to Inclusiveness."
"We are on a continuing quest to reach out and be a voice of advocacy and support for those who are still excluded and marginalized because of race and ethnicity," she said.
*Coleman is director of communications for the Commission on Religion and Race.
LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, Md. (UMNS)--The agency charged with helping The United Methodist Church be more racially inclusive will increase its monitoring, advocacy and education efforts, while at the same time integrating that work into the churchwide focus on developing new congregations, new leaders, and new ministries to fight poverty and disease.
The United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race, meeting Sept. 25-28 to organize its new board of directors for 2009-2012, adjusted its year-old strategic plan to encompass the new emphases adopted by the denomination's legislative assembly in May.
The commission's strategic goals call for engaging more white partners in the fight against racism, facilitating the growth of multicultural leadership in the church, expanding its purview to address racism and ethnocentrism on a global scale, and promoting core values of justice and compassion around denominational concerns with racial/ethnic implications. Those concerns have included the need for more humane policies and practices in the treatment of undocumented immigrants and the elimination of sport mascots offensive to Native Americans.
Now the agency will also encourage more inclusiveness in the church's efforts to attract new and younger members through new faith communities, to develop new clergy and lay leadership, and to overcome poverty and fatal diseases through collaborative ministries. Part of that inclusiveness, for example, could mean more focus on addressing racial/ethnic disparities among people who suffer most from poverty, preventable diseases and inadequate health care.
Erin Hawkins, top executive, and the Rev. Bob Bushong of Florida discuss the agency’s agenda"The destination for our journey and our mission is to reach the heart of the gospel and become the heart of the church," said top executive Erin Hawkins. Her keynote speech evoked the agency's 40th anniversary theme, "Journey to Inclusiveness."
"We are on a continuing quest to reach out and be a voice of advocacy and support for those who are still excluded and marginalized because of race and ethnicity," she said.
*Coleman is director of communications for the Commission on Religion and Race.
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