Korean leaders caution against prejudice after shooting
A UMNS Report By Marta W. Aldrich*

Korean and American Korean Methodist church leaders are calling for "healing, reconciliation and peace" amid concerns that the Virginia Tech shootings by a South Korean native could lead to a backlash against Koreans.

"I was really shocked to hear that this senseless crime was committed by a Korean-immigrated student," said Bishop Kyung-Ha Shin, president of the Council of Bishops of the Korean Methodist Church.

In an April 18 letter from Seoul to the World Methodist Council, Shin offered condolences to the bereaved families and the American people while hoping "there will be no undesirable negative feeling and attitude toward Koreans."

Meanwhile, in the United States, more than 250 leaders of the National Association of Korean American United Methodist Churches were holding their annual meeting April 16-19 in Chicago when the shooting occurred. As word of the shooter's identity spread, the mostly clergy participants began receiving calls from their home churches asking for guidance.

"The whole community was in shock and did not know how to respond, but we prayed for the victims and their family members and the school and the community," said the Rev. Keihwan Ryoo, editor of United Methodists in Service, who was reporting on the gathering on behalf of the Korean-language magazine published by United Methodist Communications.

Several pastors received reports that Korean American students had been bullied in their mostly white schools as the week progressed, Ryoo said.

The caucus held a memorial service for the shooting victims and released a pastoral letter April 18.

"We pray that the violence that has needlessly taken innocent lives does not escalate nor happen again," said the Rev. Hoon Kyoung Lee, chairman of the association. "Furthermore, we are especially concerned that the immigrant community and the children of minorities may become targeted by anti-racial backlash because of this incident.

"We pray that all of our friends and neighbors will support the Korean-American community in striving for healing, reconciliation and peace."

The April 16 massacre in Blacksburg, Va., left 33 people dead, including the lone gunman, Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior majoring in English literature. Born in South Korea, he moved to the United States in 1992 at age 8 and was raised in the suburbs of Washington D.C., where his parents worked at a dry cleaner store.

Authorities said Cho appeared to shoot his victims randomly. In a video made prior to the killings and sent to NBC-TV, he ranted about rich kids and portrayed himself as persecuted.

Lee asked people throughout the church to prayer for the shooting victims and their families, the family and friends of Cho, and the minority and immigrant community in the United States.

"We departed from this meeting with a heavy heart," Ryoo reported. "A lot of churches planned special memorial services over the weekend."

Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, of the Northern Illinois Conference, said the church's American Korean community is "weeping and praying" with the rest of the world. He said grief and concern over such events cross all racial and ethnic lines.

"We pray for our young people and those feeling a sense of vulnerability, isolation, insecurity and fear on their campuses, and even in their homes," Jung wrote in a pastoral letter from his Chicago office. "… I encourage each of us to offer the ministries of comfort, healing and love."

*Aldrich is news editor for United Methodist News Service.

Two United Methodists among Virginia Tech victims
A UMNS Report by Linda Bloom*

Austin Cloyd

Austin Cloyd was raised as a child of faith, taught by her family that she was blessed and needed to pass on that blessing to others.

That faith was evident to the Rev. Terry Harter, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Champaign, Ill., and others in the congregation where she was actively involved for six years.

Cloyd was one of the 32 victims of Cho Seung-Hui, a disturbed student who went on a shooting rampage April 16 at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va., before killing himself. She was a freshman majoring in international studies and would have been 19 years old on April 24.

She was among at least two United Methodists killed in the massacre. Christopher James Bishop, 35, known as "Jamie," was shot while teaching his introductory German class. An instructor in German and German literature, Bishop grew up in First United Methodist Church of Pine Mountain (Ga.).

Cloyd's family - including her parents, C. Bryan and Renee Cloyd, and her brother, Andrew, a high school student -- moved in 2005 from Champaign to Blacksburg, where her father is a Virginia Tech accounting professor and the editor of the Journal of the American Taxation Association.

"I've talked with Bryan and Renee a couple of times in the last few days," Harter told United Methodist News Service in an April 18 interview. "They're extremely upset and distraught."

The Cloyds joined the Champaign congregation in 1999 when Mr. Cloyd joined the faculty at the University of Illinois. Mrs. Cloyd immediately became an active church volunteer and served a few years as director of youth ministries and a year as Harter's administrative assistant.

Harter remembered how Austin Cloyd, a redhead with a big smile, lit up a room. She was humble, but not shy, with a good sense of humor. And she was tall enough for Harter, at 6-foot-1, to look her straight in the eye.

Harter's wife, Martha, served as Austin's mentor for confirmation and spent a lot of time with her, particularly in eighth grade. "She and I really hit it off," she recalled. "We met weekly."

She remembered Austin as a loving, well-rounded girl who liked sports, movies and friends.

Austin was an avid reader and good student with a strong work ethic, and she handled the fact that she was taller than most of the kids in school with grace.

"She wasn't one of those persons who had to be out front, but, boy, if she wasn't there, you'd miss her," Mrs. Harter said.

Austin and her mother joined others from the congregation for an Appalachian Service Project, where they helped build an addition for a house.

"It's amazing how different life is in Appalachia, how important family is, and how the land is cherished," Austin wrote in a brief report about her experience. "The family my group worked with consisted of grandparents who were caring for their five grandchildren, the oldest of which was about to turn 12 years old."

She enjoyed the friendliness of the children and the grandparents and was impressed by their overall hospitality. "At the end of the week, the grandfather thanked us and told us that he was going to make a sign that says 'House that Love Built' and put it up on the addition," she wrote.

"But we figured that there was already so much love within their home, we just helped put more walls around it."

Rev. Harter said the Appalachian Service Project made such a lasting impression that Austin and her mother began a project with a local agency to rehabilitate houses in the Champaign-Urbana area. "We still continue that," he added.

First United Methodist Church hosted a brief prayer service in Austin's memory on the evening of April 17. Despite the late notice, about 125 people attended. Many came from the University of Illinois and some had been classmates from Centennial High, where she had played on the basketball and volleyball teams.

Another candlelight service was held the same night at First United Methodist Church of Pine Mountain to remember Bishop. The Rev. Matthew Mitchell read the same sermon that Bishop had delivered there on "youth Sunday" some 18 years earlier -- just a few months before graduating from high school. "God's prepared a place for each and every one of us," Mitchell said, "and Jamie Bishop is there."

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

Commentary on school shootings: For such a time as this

NOTE: This message was delivered to staff members of the Virginia Annual (regional) Conference on April 17 during a worship service one day after a gunman killed 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech University.

A UMNS Commentary By Angie Williams*

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- "For such a time as this" - So, what is this time?

This is a time when we, the leaders of the church, need to discuss the deeper issues that lay the foundation for such atrocities as the massacre on the campus of Virginia Tech -- and the implications for our response as the body of Christ.

This is a time when…
.A record number of students were killed in a college campus shooting;
.The number of teens in foster care has increased by more than 200,000 in the last 20 years;
.About 6 million children under age 12 have been diagnosed with depression and are on medication for it;
.Urban youth swarm the streets because Daddy has abandoned them and Mama's strung out on crack;
.Minority youth are trapped by oppressive political and economic systems that have rendered them victims of degradation;
.1 in 12 young people are the victims of violent crime;
.Substance abuse among young adults has increased as much as 10 percent in the last decade;
.Technology and acquaintances on My Space masquerade for true intimacy and significant relationships;
.There is a considerable rise in young people who suffer from emotional disturbances manifested through eating disorders, self-mutilation and violence.

And, this is also a time when, for the most part, the institutional church with its traditional families wants nothing to do with "that" kid who abuses substances; or who dresses inappropriately; or who uses obscene street language and grooves to rap and hip-hop; or who has two mommies or daddies; or who is promiscuous or pregnant; or who is emotionally disturbed and anti-social; or who has darker skin or an accent; or who wears all black or metal or chains or piercings, tattoos or "bling bling"; or who isn't familiar with the most basic of Bible stories.

The church stays away from "those" kids, lest they negatively influence the churched kids.

Neglecting 'those' kids
This is a time, for the most part, when we Christians spend the majority of our time building the church and very little time building God's kingdom on earth. A time when the church has sold out and is more concerned with its own self-preservation than with the needs of the least, the last and the lost. A time when urban centers are surrounded by churches that refuse to reach out to the impoverished, drug-infested, subsidized residents.

This is a time when research has proven the primary impact of a significant adult relationship other than a parent in determining the success and positive adjustment of at-risk young people, and yet very few churches engage the youth of their communities in mentoring programs.

This is a time, for the most part, when the institutional church is completely out of touch with the cultures of today's young people and has absolutely no clue how to reach the marginalized, disenfranchised, at-risk populations of young people.

And I only wish I was exaggerating.

Just in the 12 years of career experience that I have had in my young life, I've been there. I have served "that" church - the church that kicked out the kid who was caught selling drugs in youth group; the church that told the emotionally disturbed kid that he couldn't come back to youth group unless a parent accompanied him; the church that outcast an unmarried young adult when she became pregnant; the church that literally closed its doors on a group of youth who wanted to share an alternative style of worship; the church that stared down the youth who was dressed creatively; and the church that refused to let the young visitor sit in a family-designated pew.

'Be the hope'
I realize that many of you were probably expecting more of a message of hope this morning, not words of seemingly negative chastisement. However, in this room sit THE leaders of the United Methodist Church of Virginia. And as leaders, what we need most is not a message of hope but a wakeup call that reminds us of our mission to BE the hope.

Of course, we can't and shouldn't blame the church or anyone or anything else for the actions of the Virginia Tech shooter. I remember hearing a professor speak shortly after the Columbine shootings. Likewise, he did not place the blame on the failures of an institution, the parents, the media, violent video games or any other entity.

However, he did speak of the deep responsibility that should be owned by educators in acknowledging their role as mentors who have at least the possible capability to stop such atrocities through successful intervention and outreach to high-risk students.

He suggested that more often than not, educators simply pretend not to see these students and ignore their cries for help.

This professor's words to educators ring true for the church. We can no longer sit complacent in our pews, but must answer the call for such a time as this.

The greatest tragedy is that we respond in such a time as this in the midst of an isolated incident of crisis while we pretend not to see the crises that constantly surround us on a daily basis. When the upcoming months have gone by and the church feels like it has done its part to comfort families who have lost loved ones and lead them toward a path of the peace and forgiveness of Christ, will we forget that this crisis didn't begin at Virginia Tech and it still hasn't ended?

Or, will we finally realize that, "for such a time as this," the church must finally begin the active pursuit of intimate and significant mentoring relationships with ALL young people within AND BEYOND our church walls, just as God ceaselessly pursues us.

For such a time as this is our call to finally wake up to the cries of marginalized, disenfranchised, at-risk young people who desperately need the church to show them a God and a love that is big enough for even them. For such a time as this…

*Williams is director of youth, young adult, and single adult ministries of the Virginia Annual Conference. Her message to the conference staff was based on Isaiah 40:27-31 and Esther 4:6-14.

Virginia Tech shooting: What the church is saying

By United Methodist News Service*
The deaths of 33 people April 16 on the campus of Virginia Tech University -- in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history -- brought an outpouring of reactions from across the world, including within The United Methodist Church. Here are some thoughts from United Methodists across the connection:

"The God that I worship is crying along with us. This is not what He intends as an abundant life for His children -- to be mowed down in innocence by somebody that just went berserk." --The Rev. Glenn Tyndall, campus minister, Virginia Tech University

"Last night, just before I hung up from talking with my son, I told him that I loved him, and loved him a lot. And I realized that many, many people were not being given that same opportunity because it had been violently taken away from them." --Erik Alsgaard, whose 23-year-old son, a senior at Virginia Tech, was not on campus during the shootings. Alsgaard is director of communications for the Florida Annual Conference.

"We've been shocked into remembering our purpose as the body of Christ. … We are to be intercessors on behalf of the whole world. The highest calling at this time is to pray."
-- The Rev. Karen Greenwaldt, chief executive, Board of Discipleship, asking all United Methodist congregations to include special prayers on Sunday, April 22, for those touched by the tragedy

"How many more senseless deaths will have to be counted before we enact meaningful firearms control in this country?" --The Rev. Bob Edgar, a United Methodist pastor and leader of the National Council of Churches

"It's going to be tough to come back from this, but as long as we have the support of each other …somebody to lean on every day." --Amanda Rader, a senior at Virginia Tech and member of the campus Wesley Foundation

"They are all tired, but energized by the work before them." --Bishop Charlene Kammerer, Virginia Annual Conference, speaking about the United Methodist campus ministry at Virginia Tech

"I hate days like this." -- Billy Reeder, First United Methodist Church, Dardanelle, Ark., after hearing about the shooting and the rising death toll

"The presence of guns in U.S. society has not led to greater security but in fact has undermined the general sense of safety." --Jim Winkler, chief executive, Board of Church and Society

"We're a connectional people. This is Virginia Tech's tragedy. It is our tragedy. It is a time for us to remember to love deeply, and gently, because everybody we meet is carrying a heavy burden. We have the opportunity to be a means of grace." --The Rev. Dale Schultz, St. Philips United Methodist Church, Round Rock, Texas

"I was really shocked to hear that this senseless crime was committed by a Korean immigrated student. … My thought and prayer go out to the bereaved families and the American people who are going through a very hard time. At the same time, I also think of the Korean community in the U.S. that will be under greater shock and worry, hoping that there will be no undesirable negative feeling and attitude toward Koreans. --Bishop Kyung-Ha Shin, president of the Council of Bishops, The Korean Methodist Church

"I thank God we have a campus minister on that (Virginia Tech) campus, someone who knows the students and the community." -- The Rev. Rev. Luther Felder, who oversees campus ministry for the Board of Higher Education and Ministry, referring to the Rev. Glenn Tyndall

"So, it is now about our response. … Pledge to do 10 acts in the name of Christ for every dead. … And then, one year from now, when the news coverage reminds us of what happened, instead of being catapulted back into your pain, you can walk to your wall and celebrate 330 things that you have done to beat Satan down. You win. In the name of Christ." --Debra L. Cicchella, Cleveland, Ohio

"In this joyous season of Easter, we have discovered how Good Friday has intruded on our world again …" -- Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, president of the Council of Bishops, during a prayer to open a denomination-wide 'town hall' meeting April 17

"The entire United Methodist-related higher education community of schools, colleges, universities and theological schools is shocked and deeply saddened by the wanton killing of human beings at Virginia Technical University." --The Rev. Jerome King Del Pino, chief executive, Board of Higher Education and Ministry

"We look to you, Jesus, to help us forgive what seems to be unforgivable." --Deb Spaulding, Faith United Methodist Church, St. Charles, Mo.

This story was compiled from various sources, including 7Villages, an online social network of The United Methodist Church at www.umc.org.

Imus remarks require broader dialogue on gender, race
By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK (UMNS) - The real issue arising from the controversial words of radio host Don Imus is not whether he should have been fired but why there is a need to discuss attitudes about gender and race, say two United Methodist leaders.

In an April 16 statement, M. Garlinda Burton, chief executive of the United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women, and the Rev. Larry Pickens, chief executive of the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, lauded the "heroic" stance of the Rutgers University women's basketball team "as they have moved beyond the paralysis of their wounds" after being the target of hurtful words from Imus.

"The firing of Don Imus is not really the critical issue for us to consider with respect to race and gender in this country," the statement said. "The hope is that this won't be another fleeting media flash-in-the-pan, where the flurry ends with one person's indiscretion. Instead, let's invite social, political and religious leaders into a serious conversation about issues of race, gender and media."

The controversy began April 4 when Imus referred to the Rutgers team members as "nappy-headed hos," drawing heavy criticism from a variety of groups.

A member of the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame and one of the nation's best-known radio personalities, Imus is known for his caustic style. His show was syndicated to millions of listeners at more than 70 stations throughout the United States.

On April 11, MSNBC dropped the morning simulcast of his radio program, which it had aired for the past decade. The following day, CBS dropped the radio program as well. Imus has been broadcasting his program for more than 30 years.

The radio host met privately April 12 with team members, their parents and others at the New Jersey Governor's Mansion in Princeton. C. Vivian Stringer, the Rutgers' coach, announced the next day that her players had accepted Imus' apology for his racist and sexist comments and said they hoped the incident would "serve as a catalyst for change" in society.

"The inflammatory comments made by Don Imus are symptomatic of a legacy of double-barreled disrespect hurled at women of color in our society," Burton and Pickens said.
Such disrespect comes from all sides, they pointed out.

"The racist characterization of 'nappy heads' is symptomatic of a historic casting of black women as less aesthetically beautiful, less worthy of respect than white women. Imus' reference to 'hos' is also used too often by some blacks, hip-hop artists and young people of all colors as a euphemism for women.

"This phrase reminds us of our society's ongoing fear of strong women, self-determining women, women who play sports or excel in what has been a 'man's domain.' It also speaks to a mentality of denigration aimed at black women which particularly casts them as sex objects to be used, disrespected and discarded."

While calling for accountability from Imus, his employers and his advertisers, "people of faith who believe that men and women of all colors are created in the image of God and are worthy of respect" can also use the episode as an entry into conversation. Such a conversation should focus on how society and the media view, portray, hear from and talk about black women.

"Opening the dialogue around a God of such diversity is the challenge that we have in our society and the Church," the statement said.

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

Virginia Tech tragedy reflects gun violence epidemic

By United Methodist News Service

Virginia Tech's picturesque campus in the Blue Ridge Mountains became the scene of the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history on April 16. A student gunman massacred 32 people before killing himself. A UMNS file photo by Maile Bradfield

As they grieved for victims of the deadly shooting rampage at Virginia Tech University, United Methodist leaders condemned U.S. gun laws as lax and questioned why Congress allowed a federal ban on the sale of 19 types of semiautomatic weapons to expire in 2004.

The social action agency of The United Methodist Church also renewed the church's call for governments around the world to ban ownership by the general public of handguns, assault weapons, automatic weapon conversion kits and weapons that cannot be detected by traditional metal-detection devices.

"… Had this ban been in place, this shooting might have been prevented since one of the guns used by the assailant was a 9-mm handgun," said Jim Winkler, chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society.

"We once again call on the Congress to ban all handguns and assault weapons so that our communities will be safer and so that this endless cycle of violence can be ended," Winkler said in an April 17 statement, one day after the shootings in Blacksburg, Va., left 33 people dead.

A Virginia Tech student identified as Cho Seung-Hui, 23, shot and killed 30 people in a building of classrooms and offices on campus and is believed to be responsible for the earlier killings of two people in a dormitory. Fifteen people were wounded, and the gunman took his own life.

"What is indeed tragic is the fact that this violence is commonplace in U.S. society," Winkler said.
"In 2005, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that there were 10,100 deaths by firearms in the United States. This represents an average of four deaths for every 100,000 people in the United States. By contrast, England, Wales, Scotland, and Canada averaged .54 deaths for every 100,000 people.

"The presence of guns in U.S. society has not led to greater security but in fact has undermined the general sense of safety."

Currently, most states do not require gun owners to be licensed or guns to be registered. Most states also allow the purchase of guns at gun shows without background checks and do not update criminal history databases in a timely manner, allowing criminals to obtain firearms.

The United Methodist Church officially supports regulation of the importation, manufacturing, sale and possession of guns and ammunition.

The church's resolution on gun violence in the denomination's 2004 Book of Resolutions points to the significant risk of handgun violence, especially to young people. "Our communities and schools are so exposed to large numbers of privately owned guns that no mere attempts at providing slightly better security can match the awful threat of guns finding their way through our well-intentioned safety systems."

Epidemic of gun violence
The Rev. Bob Edgar, a United Methodist pastor who is the leader of the National Council of Churches, said the Virginia Tech massacre reflects an epidemic of gun violence in the United States.

"My pastor's heart breaks for the families of those who died today," Edgar said in a statement released April 16. "I pray for them and for those who witnessed the unspeakable violence that destroyed the peace of a spring day on a scenic campus at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia."

A former U.S. congressman, Edgar said faith leaders have frequently spoken up about the epidemic of gun violence. "Despite repeated calls from faith and community leaders to Congress and presidents, nothing ever seems to get done to stem the tide," he said.

"How many more will have to die before we say enough is enough? How many more senseless deaths will have to be counted before we enact meaningful firearms control in this country? How many more of our pastors, rabbis and imams will have to preside over caskets of innocent victims of gun violence because a nation refused to stop the proliferation of these small weapons of mass destruction?"

Edgar pointed to the National Council of Churches' 1967 policy calling for firearms control and a March 2000 interfaith campaign urging an end to the epidemic of gun violence.

"The escalation of gun violence compels us to call for an end to the manufacture and easy distribution of such instruments of destruction," Edgar said in 2000, reiterating that statement after the Virginia Tech shootings.

Concern around the world
The Rev. Samuel Kobia, a Methodist from Kenya who serves as chief executive of the World Council of Churches, pointed out that disbelief and grief over the sorrowful tragedy in Virginia must translate into action.

"Today and in the days to come, national leaders, state leaders and the gun lobby across the USA must hear more than the latest outburst of anger at violence in America," he said in an April 16 statement. "They must also begin to understand the rising frustration among concerned citizens and governments around the world.

"The World Council of Churches has 347 member churches in over 100 countries. For many of them the news from Virginia today is little different than the news from Darfur yesterday and the news from Iraq tomorrow. They see wanton killings, the indiscriminate use of armed force and the widespread availability of deadly weapons."

Kobia noted that U.S. arms manufacturing and arms sales policies have violent consequences abroad as well as in the United States. He called for firm controls on the small arms trade.

"We are all Virginians in our sympathy, but many people around the world are also Virginians in their vulnerability to the misuse of unregulated guns," he said. "Each day, about 1,000 of them die from gun violence and many more are injured."

The R. Rev. Randy Day, chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, said the Virginia Tech carnage shows the impact of violence on families and society in general.

"The rampage in Blacksburg offers further indication of too many guns, too freely available in this country and around the world," Day said.

Living Faith, Seeking Justice global gathering November 1-4, 2007, Fort Worth, Texas

We invite you to join hundreds of United Methodists and other Christian advocates for justice at this important global gathering in Fort Worth, Texas. Together we will build alliances, learn and teach practical ways to move our churches and congregations from ministries of mercy to ministries of Justice.Come prepared to enjoy four days of transformational learning, preaching, collaboration and community building. You will come away with resources, techniques and programs to teach and preach the Social Principles, train and equip others to understand and live out justice in their lives, and mobilize others to engage in advocacy and work that transforms the world in the ways of Christ.

If you are working to join justice and mercy as a clergy or layperson, Living Faith, Seeking Justice is a time to nourish and equip you for ministry.

Join hundreds of other Christians from around the world on a journey of justice. You will experience:

.Top speakers and justice leaders;
.Culturally diverse, biblically-grounded preaching and worship;
.Great workshops with proven, exercises and strategies for justice ministries in your local church;
.Straight talk about the issues facing the church and the world;
.Nurture and encourage leadership among lay, clergy, students and seminarians;
.Creative arts & entertainment;
.CEU credits are available!

Featured Guest speakers include:
Shane Claiborne
Rev. Emanuel Cleaver
Rev. Adam Hamilton
Rev. Chebon Kernell
Rev. Dr. Pamela Lightsey
Dr. Mercy Amba Oduyoye
Dr. Harold Recinosn
Bishop Beverly J. Shamana
Dr. Elizabeth Tapia
Mr. Jim Winkler
Rev. Janet Wolf
Rev. Michael Yoshii

Registrations options.Individual and group rates are available.

Early Bird
$175 (by August 15, 2007)
Regular
$225 (by October 22, 2007)
Group of 2
$300 ($150/person)
Group of 3+
$400 for 3, $125 each additional person
Student
$125 (High School, College or Graduate Students)
Walk-in
$100 Day or $50 Half Day (no meals included)

On-line registration
https://www.kintera.org/site/apps/ka/rg/ecreg.asp?c=fsJNK0PKJrH&b=1810531&en=bsIQIZOAIeJVI1NALgJNLZMIJkL3KeMMIhLYI4OIKhITLeMYG

Downloadable PDF of conference brochure
http://www.umc-gbcs.org/atf/cf/%7B325AB72F-313E-4CC3-BB1A-EF0A52968A8D%7D/Living%20Faith%20Seeking%20Justice%20Flyer.pdf

To make a room reservation go to:
http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/groups/personalized/ftwfwhf_gbc/index.jhtml

Santa Cruz United Methodist church goes green

By Jeneane Jones*

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (UMNS) - Like a seed planted in fertile ground, plans for a new United Methodist Church of Santa Cruz soon will come up green.

The church will be Santa Cruz County's first to go "green" from the ground up and among the first United Methodist churches in the United States designed for environmental friendliness.

The building will include solar panels, windows designed to draw in more light and other eco-friendly features. Construction is expected to begin July 1.

The 189-member congregation is the result of a 2003 merger of three congregations - Live Oak, Grace and Santa Cruz.

The new United Methodist Church of Santa Cruz sanctuary is designed for minimal reliance on electricity. Artist's rendering courtesy of William Bagnall Architects.

The Rev. Michael Love said church leaders decided at the start they needed to develop more than just a building on 17th Avenue.

"We wanted the church to be an expression of our core United Methodist values - values rooted in the Wesley tradition and in our Christian faith," Love said. "We take seriously that 'the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof' and so building a facility that reflected stewardship of the earth was important," he said.

Being an eco-friendly church is more than just a nice idea, according to the pastor.

"In general it's a little bit more expensive to do some of the things we are doing," said Love of the $8 million project.

"People think that incorporating environmentally responsible design into their buildings is icing on the cake; it's the last thing they do. In fact, eco-friendly architecture is a huge movement within the construction industry, and many architects are knowledgeable about how to help you and your church cut heating costs."

While the church won't be totally off the grid in terms of electricity, Santa Cruz-based William Bagnall Architects says the new two-story, 20,000-square-foot structure will have many energy-saving features.

"From flooring and wall coverings to the heating and cooling systems, we are looking at a number of ways the new church facility will minimize reliance on electricity," said project architect William Bagnall.

The multi-functional church will feature a flat roof and solar panel tiles made to look like concrete. The sanctuary will be oriented to take advantage of natural sunlight through windows and skylights. Even the parking lot will reflect the green concept.

"We are looking at using paving materials that allow water to soak back into the ground, recharging ground water aquifers, instead of running into storm drains," said Bagnall.

The new building also will be educational. "Small plaques will be featured throughout the buildings to explain what renewable resources were used, and why," he said.

While designs, permits and plans were being completed, Love says the Santa Cruz congregation has been growing its ministries.

"It's been a long road, but the delays in work approvals have been a blessing," he said.

"We've added a middle school ministry; our children's ministry is now at its limit; we have launched a Spanish language Bible studies and worship services as well. These ministries are really important to us because geographically the building site is five miles away from the place where we are currently meeting. We realized we needed a way to remain focused on our neighborhood - letting them know we hadn't left them. We want to be able to cut the ribbon on the new building and have the people excited about coming to join us."

*Jones is director of communications for The United Methodist Church's California-Nevada Annual Conference.

Seashore Mission starts over with partnership
By Lisa Michiels*

The Revs. Sally Bevill and Elijah Mitchell greet worshippers arriving for the March 18 celebration of the new partnership of Beauvoir United Methodist Church and Seashore Mission Church. A UMNS photo courtesy of Mississippi United Methodist Advocate.

BILOXI, Miss. (UMNS) - Just in time for Easter, the Seashore Mission has new life on the Gulf Coast.

Clergy and lay members of the Seashore District gathered March 18 at Beauvoir United Methodist Church to celebrate new beginnings of ministry to displaced people.

Seashore Mission Church, on Howard Avenue in Biloxi, housed the United Methodist district's ministry to the homeless. After Hurricane Katrina destroyed its building and scattered its staff in 2005, the future of the mission's programming was uncertain.

"After the storm, a number of people began conversations about how to recover the ministry. We kept running into road blocks along the way until the conversations led to a partnership with Beauvoir United Methodist Church, giving the ministry of Seashore Mission a place to begin anew," said the Rev. Bill McAlilly, the area's district superintendent.

"To that end we have reappointed the Rev. Elijah Mitchell to Seashore Mission Church and as an associate to Beauvoir United Methodist Church. Beauvoir and Seashore Mission will join as a worshipping community," he said.

The mission church offered those seeking refuge a place to find food, shelter, a 12-step program, a general equivalency degree and discipleship classes for more than 15 years. Through partnerships with area businesses and other agencies, it also provided limited medical, legal and employment services. Prior to Katrina, it met the needs of 75 to 100 people a day.

In the 18 months since Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, temporary housing and employment were found for the staff. Mitchell accepted an assignment with Mississippi United Methodist Disaster Response.

'God is the leader'
The original site of Seashore Mission Church presented challenges through the years, so the storm provided the board with an opportunity to seek property that could better serve the ministry's needs.

"Katrina may have destroyed the facility, but it did not destroy the spirit or the love of the ministry to God's precious souls," Mitchell said. "Our partnership with Beauvoir does not mean that we have given up our dream of a building to house and expand the ministry."

The partnership does offer a place of worship and an office space for Mitchell.

The Rev. Sally Bevill and the congregation of Beauvoir welcomed Mitchell and the members of the mission. Beauvoir has a history of community service and just recently was awarded the 2006-07 Community Partnership Award from "Hands On Gulf Coast."

Since Hurricane Katrina, the church has housed the Hands On service organization, and Bevill, the church's pastor, also serves as the conference Hispanic-Latino coordinator.

The shared ministry of Bevill and Mitchell presents an opportunity for expanded services to displaced people.

"We're not sure where it leads, but we are sure that God is the leader," Bevill said. "Katrina has showed us God makes beautiful and wonderful things out of disaster. I know what the past looks like and we can't change it, but we can look forward and make changes. I trust God to show us the way."

*Michiels is a correspondent for the Mississippi United Methodist Advocate, the newspaper of the Mississippi Annual Conference.

Black caucus joins Native American mascot fight

By John Coleman*

CLEVELAND (UMNS) - In keeping with its theme of "advocacy for empowerment," the black caucus of The United Methodist Church began its annual meeting advocating on a racism issue affecting another minority group: Native Americans.

The 40-year-old Black Methodists for Church Renewal is standing in solidarity with Native Americans regarding the use of Indian mascots by sport teams.

Officers of the caucus board met March 19 with an official of the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland to voice concern about the name of the Cleveland Indians professional baseball team and its mascot, Chief Wahoo.

While team owners did not send a representative to the meeting, the delegation met with Dan Williams, the bureau's assistant director of sales. They discussed Resolution #131 in the United Methodist Book of Resolutions, which "rejects the use of Native American names and symbols for sport teams and considers the practice a blatant expression of racism."

The resolution, called "Respecting the Native American Legacy and Tradition," was passed by the 2004 General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body. It calls on United Methodist-related organizations and institutions to avoid sponsoring meetings and events in cities that sponsor such team names and symbols, and to make public the church's concern for this issue.

Trustees of the University of Illinois recently bowed to pressure from the National Collegiate Athletics Association, which in 2005 barred sports teams with nicknames and symbols considered offensive to Native Americans from hosting or competing in its lucrative postseason tournaments. The regulatory body banned Chief Illiniwek, a controversial athletics program mascot, as a "hostile and abusive" image of American Indians.

In a March 21 statement read to the caucus by caucus President Cheryl Walker, the group reportedly was told by Williams that the Cleveland Indians organization is "moving to discontinue" use of the decades-old image of Chief Wahoo, a grinning, red-faced, large-nosed caricature of an Indian with a headband and feather, and to replace it with "a scripted letter I."

According to Walker, Williams said team owners are "in dialogue" about changing the team's name, but no decision or timetable has been determined.

Walker asked caucus members to "continue to pray and advocate for the Indians organization and other teams to change their hearts and remove all symbols and names demeaning to our Native American sisters and brothers."

"We commend black Methodists and people of all races who advocate with us on this painful issue," said Suanne Ware-Diaz of the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race in an appeal to the National Black Staff Forum, which met prior to the caucus meeting. "We need you to stand with us in solidarity and give us your support."

Ware-Diaz, a Kiowa American Indian who relates to the church's Native American constituency, teamed with Chris Begay, a Navajo leader of the local Committee of 500 Years of Dignity and Resistance, to conduct a workshop during the caucus meeting on the issue of Native American team names and mascots.

"The significance of our being here is to raise our voice on this issue," said the Rev. Joseph Crawford, caucus treasurer, at the close of the workshop, "and I believe it can make a difference."

Crawford said the caucus' new strategic plan would include continuing advocacy on the mascot issue.

*Coleman is director of communications for the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race.

Author John Paul Lederach and Civil Rights Leader James Lawson to Speak at Peace Conference, April 11-13

NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 5, 2007/GBOD/ -- The United Methodist General Board of Discipleship (GBOD) and the JUSTPEACE Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation will co-sponsor “Imagination and Peacebuilding,” April 11-13, 2007 at The Upper Room in Jackson Hall Auditorium, located at 1908 Grand Ave., Nashville, Tenn.

Among those scheduled to participate are John Paul Lederach and the Rev. James Lawson.

John Paul Lederach

Lederach, (http://kroc.nd.edu/faculty_staff/faculty/lederach.shtml) author, professor and leader in the field of moral imagination, will give the keynote address at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 12 in Jackson Hall Auditorium.


“Imagination is the key missing ingredient in the church and the world in our responses to conflict. This conference is an opportunity for the community to understand the role of the imagination in peacebuilding and to develop practices that unleash our creativity as ministers of reconciliation," said the Rev. Thomas W. Porter, executive director of JUSTPEACE.


The Rev. James Lawson

United Methodist pastor and civil rights justice leader, will lead a plenary session on "Moral Imagination and Nonviolence" from 3:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. on Thursday, April 12. http://www.pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith/witnesses/james_lawson.html

“These powerful plenary leaders will help us explore with one another not only method and technique, but the art and soul of peacebuilding and conflict transformation, including metaphors and stories that can help us break free of destructive cycles of violence to imagine new possibilities,” says the Rev. Stephen Bryant, associate general secretary of GBOD and world editor of The Upper Room daily devotional guide.

The peacebuilding conference, which explores the role of imagination and the arts when engaging conflict, begins with registration at 4:00 p.m., April 11 and ends at 12 noon April 13.
The registration fee is $185. To register online visit http://justpeaceumc.org or e-mail justpeace@justpeaceumc.org.

JUSTPEACE Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation is a mission of The United Methodist Church to engage conflict constructively in ways that strive for justice, reconciliation, resource preservation and restoration of community in and through The United Methodist Church and with the Church universal to the world in which we live.

GBOD’s mission is to support annual conference and local church leaders for their task of equipping world-changing disciples. An agency of The United Methodist Church, GBOD is located at 1908 Grand Ave. in Nashville, Tenn. For more information, call the Media Relations Office toll free at (877) 899-2780, Ext. 7017.

Faith groups explore insurance risk pooling

By Erik J. Alsgaard*

LAKELAND, Fla. (UMNS) - In a state where homeowners and churches have seen property insurance rates skyrocket, the governor and legislature are not the only ones trying to do something about it.

Led by representatives of the United Methodist Property and Casualty Trust (PACT) and the Florida Annual (regional) Conference, among others, several national faith groups have come together in recent months to explore catastrophic property insurance possibilities that would spread the risk and save money.

"The recent abnormal hurricane activity has changed the insurance environment, not only in Florida, but in every state with hurricane exposure," said Mickey Wilson, Florida Conference treasurer.

"The insurance industry is rethinking its prediction models and appetite for offering wind-storm coverage," he said. "This year there were fewer companies offering coverage in Florida and the Gulf states, and those still offering coverage were greatly refining and reducing the types of coverage offered. In short, we are in a seller's market and will be in one for an extended period of time."

Irene Howard, PACT's chief executive officer and former general counsel for the General Council on Finance and Administration of The United Methodist Church, said the interfaith effort is important, especially now.

"More than 10 percent of the local churches in the United Methodist community have coastal exposure," she said. "If we don't find a way to provide property insurance for that part of our connection, we won't be in ministry there in the future. That's not acceptable."

Nineteen United Methodist conferences are participating in PACT.

When Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005, the insurance ministry proved to be a vital resource for the Mississippi Conference. "If it had not been for PACT, there would have been no way to work with the churches to handle their claims," said David Stotts, director of financial administration for the Mississippi Conference, in a 2006 interview with United Methodist News Service.

Spreading risk
Florida's new governor, Charlie Crist, signed a bill Jan. 25 that many expect will lower property insurance costs. The measure, passed by lawmakers in a special session, forces an immediate rate decrease for Florida's largest insurance company, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which was created by the state. The new law also cancelled a future rate increase.

The bill also seeks to lower rates by making more state backup insurance available to private insurance companies - in effect, having the state and its residents assume that risk.

Spreading risk is not just for homeowners. The Florida Conference in late December hosted a meeting with insurance and faith group representatives, seeking ways people of faith can work together to make insurance affordable.

"What we want to do is bring people together and simply ask the question, 'Is there a way for us to collaborate and spread the risk?'" said Peter Persuitti, a managing director of Arthur J. Gallagher's Religious Practice Group. Arthur J. Gallagher, according to its Web site, is the fourth largest insurance brokerage and risk management services firm in the world.

The idea is simple. When churches from disparate areas share the risk, insurance premiums go down. For example, churches in the Florida Conference do not share risks with churches in Okalahoma or Texas when it comes to tornadoes, or churches in California when it comes to earthquakes, and vice versa. By spreading the risk over more churches and more geography, the likelihood of a catastrophic disaster happening across a widespread area is minimized and premiums go down on a broader base of exposure.

In a 'crisis market'
The collaborative effort is in its early stages, according to Persuitti. Participants include national insurance programs of the Episcopalian and Presbyterian faith traditions, as well as Roman Catholic dioceses and archdioceses and the national United Methodist PACT, including the Florida Conference. If a feasibility study is approved, Persuitti said a next step would include gathering data to draw up a property location map and to run insurance models.

"When insurance is cheap, no one talks about pooling your resources," Persuitti said. "In a crisis market, it's different, and we're in a crisis market now. People are thirsting for alternatives."

Even though pooling resources sounds easy, it's not. During the Lakeland meeting in December, participants looked at such issues as who would pay what premiums, how much risk of potential loss is acceptable, how the structure would be organized to handle governance and administrative functions, and when coverage would become effective. Among the experts supporting this initiative are staff from the Insurance Services Office and its actuarial and catastrophic modeling divisions.

"Coming together around this issue just makes sense," Wilson said. He noted that Florida Conference churches are required to participate in the conference's insurance program, a measure approved by the annual conference itself. "The members of the Florida Conference are unique in their understanding of connectionalism and their commitment to each other."

For Wilson and others, the insurance issue strikes at the core of being a disciple of Jesus Christ: stewardship.

"We need a commitment from United Methodists and others," Howard said, "because it's not about today; it's about good stewardship and making sure we enable ministry in all parts of this connection now and in the future.

"It may take time to accumulate funds for this project, but if we are to protect our ministries long term, we must start now, working in collaboration with other denominations facing similar challenges. This is our common ground. Plus, we just think there's a more efficient way for nonprofits to finance risk."

*Alsgaard is director of communications for the Florida Conference. This story originally appeared in the conference's e-Review Florida United Methodist News Service. Some information for this story came from Associated Press news reports.

The United Methodist Appalachian Ministry Network Shows Concern for Mining Practices

Hagerstown, Maryland—“Oh the West Virginia hills, how majestic and how grand,” words of the state song learned by every school child. Mountains are one of the unique features of the state. Yet, as members of The United Methodist Appalachian Ministry Network learned that in some places the natural beauty of the mountains is being destroyed.

Meeting at Temple UMC in Beckley, West Virginia for its bi-annual meeting UMAMN members were exposed to the vastness of the practice of blasting off whole tops of mountains to expose the rich coal seams beneath. The aerial view of the breadth of mountain top mining was staggering. The destruction is indescribable. From the Stanley homestead on Kayford mountain the up close view of huge “dump trucks” moving loosened earth and dumping it in the “hollow” (valley) seemingly with no regard for the people, streams and rivers below nor the consequences for the future seemed obscene.

Mountaintop removal mining is a form of strip mining in which coal companies use explosives to blast as much as 800 to 1000 feet off the tops of mountains in order to reach the coal seams that lie underneath. The resulting millions of tons of waste rock, dirt, and vegetation are then dumped into surrounding valleys, burying miles of streams under piles of rubble hundreds of feed deep.

Some relief has been provided through a March 23, 2007 ruling by a federal judge in West Virginia who ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated the law by issuing mountaintop removal mining permits that allowed headwater streams to be permanently buried.

The ruling will affect dozens of pending mining permits across Appalachia’s coals fields in West Virginia, Kentucky, southern Virginia and eastern Tennessee.

Reflecting on conversation with Larry Gibson whose family has refused to sell the mineral rights under their Kayford mountain homestead, one Network member said, “I was struck by the strong sense of family pride in Larry and his extended family. In spite of the fact that this narrow strip of land at the crest of the mountain was not 'prime farm land'—there was the sense that it was 'ours'—and nobody is about to tell the Stanley clan what they should do with it. It remains a tiny island in a sea of destruction. One has to wonder how long the family can hold out—or will even want to hold out after this generation is gone.” Another reflected, “To witness the destruction of God’s creation reminded me that we are to be stewards…we have failed to be good stewards of the mountain tops, the valleys, the rivers and streams and the people affected in West Virginia. May God forgive us for both what we have done and for what we have not done. May God empower us to be prophetic stewards of the mountains of West Virginia.”

Why should UMAMN be concerned about mining practices? Advocacy education for both public policy that affects communities in the Appalachian region as well as concern for developing and strengthening church leaders is one of the foci of the Network. All United Methodist need to know and understand the impact this type of natural resource extraction has not only on the immediate communities but on all of us as it feeds our energy needs. Coal fired power plants are one of the major contributors to mounting carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere creating climate warming across the world and emissions of mercury which concentrates in our waters. Every United Methodist needs to think about how their use of energy feeds the destruction resulting from this supposedly economical method to remove coal from the earth--a method that seems to put profit and production above care for creation and has resulted in fewer and fewer, although good paying jobs, in the coal mining industry.

During its meeting UMAMN also:
. heard a report from the Appalachian Assembly Planning Team. The Assembly will be held September 19-22, 2007 at Hinton Rural Life Center in Hayesville, NC. The featured educational element of the Assembly will be “Asset Mapping and Capacity Building, led by Luther K. Snow. Mr. Snow has over twenty-five years of experience in asset building in communities, congregations and faith-based organizations. The Assembly will also celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the organization’s recognition by General Conference as a coordinating body for United Methodist ministries in Appalachia.

· learned that Phase II of the strategic analysis project will be completed by mid-April. During May a survey will be distributed widely to seeking feedback to information collected during Listening Posts conducted in February and March.

· approved a Resolution on Immigration Reform that will be distributed to federal government and church bodies.

· approved grants from the Appalachia Hunger and Poverty Advance Special fund in the amount of $5,500 to two ministries addressing poverty in the region. Application deadline for the submitting grant applications for the fall is September 1.

· Received a report from Bishop Tom Bickerton, Chair, of an offer made to assist the Network in seeking a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families.

For additional information contact: N. Sharon Leatherman, Executive Director,
Phone and Fax 301-791-7355
Email: umadc@aol.com
Website: www.gbgm-umc.org/appalachia

Pastor accepts once-rejected gay man as member
A UMNS Report By Linda Green*

The pastor of a Virginia United Methodist church has granted membership to the gay man whose 2005 denial of membership by the previous pastor prompted controversy across the denomination on the issues of homosexuality and pastoral authority.

During worship services on March 11 at South Hill (Va.) United Methodist Church, the Rev. Barry Burkholder accepted the man's transfer of membership from a Baptist church to South Hill (Va.) United Methodist Church.

The development follows a series of rulings related to the case, including one on pastoral authority, by the denomination's highest court.

"The Judicial Council's ruling says that the pastor of the church is the person in authority to determine whether an individual is ready to receive the vows of membership," Burkholder told United Methodist News Service.

"And having spoken with this individual and him having professed Christ as his savior, his belief that Jesus Christ died for his sins tells me that he is ready to receive the vows of membership."

The Rev. Edward H. Johnson had refused to receive the man into membership in 2005, saying the man would neither repent nor seek to live a lifestyle that does not include homosexuality.

The man has continued to worship at the South Hill Church and to participate in its music ministry. Meanwhile, Johnson since has been appointed pastor at Dahlgren (Va.) United Methodist Church.

Homosexuality and the church
Like many other Protestant denominations, The United Methodist Church has struggled with the issue of homosexuality for more than 30 years.

In its Book of Discipline, the church declares the practice to be "incompatible with Christian teaching." But while the church has proscriptions against ordination of "practicing" homosexual clergy and clergy conducting same-sex ceremonies in United Methodist churches, it has no specific law about church membership and homosexual practice.

The Virginia case is among several to bring issues related to homosexuality before the denomination's high court.

Johnson was placed on involuntary leave of absence in June 2005 by a vote of fellow clergy of the Virginia Annual Conference after he refused to receive the man into membership. Four months later, the nine-member Judicial Council ruled that United Methodist pastors have authority to decide who becomes a member of a local church and reinstated Johnson.

Specifically, the Judicial Council ruled that "the pastor in charge of a United Methodist church or charge is solely responsible for making the determination of a person's readiness to receive the vows of membership."

Burkholder said he based his decision to receive the man into membership on the council's ruling, the criteria for membership found in Paragraph 214 of the 2004 Book of Discipline and the invitation for membership found in the Service of Word and Table 1 of the United Methodist Hymnal.

"Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another. This is my definition" (of membership), he said.

Following the close of the March 11 worship service, the man and two others who transferred membership that day were greeted by most of the church's members, according to Burkholder.

"A vast majority of the congregation came forward and warmly welcomed all three of these people into the life of the church," said the pastor, adding that he was "very gratified at seeing that."

Thoughts from the bishop
Burkholder said he made the decision to accept the man into membership because "that is what I was charged with doing when I was ordained." He said it is important to "understand that there has never been any coercion, there has never been any suggestion on the part of the bishop as to the action that I took here at the local church."

Bishop Charlene Kammerer, in an interview with United Methodist News Service, said she was unaware of the latest development until Burkholder contacted her afterward.

"So what this conveyed to me was that another United Methodist pastor in the Virginia. Conference - through his own getting to know the man and counseling with him spiritually and also with working with other leaders in the church - felt very comfortable inviting him to join," Kammerer said.

The congregation's continuing struggle with the issue and its spiritual discernment "helped the new pastor be clear in issuing the invitation," she said.

Bishop Charlene Kammerer

The congregation and its pastor have taken a "very courageous step," she said. She added that she could not imagine what kind of courage it has taken for the man "to continue to be an active participant as a baptized Christian in this congregation where he had been clearly rejected and set apart."

"I thank God for the ways that I believe that Christ is continuing to work in his life," she said.

Ongoing dialogue
The Judicial Council ruling on the Virginia case was the subject of a denominational consultation last February in Nashville, Tenn., where pastors, bishops, theologians, seminary deans and denominational staff gathered to discuss its implications. The consultation focused on the nature, practice and integrity of the church's leadership.

While the ruling uncovered conflicts in church membership criteria, ecclesiology and the authority given to pastors, church leaders expect the issues will continue to be debated across United Methodism.

"What has happened here in the same congregation is that one pastor made a decision and another pastor made a different decision," Kammerer said.

She singled out the South Hill church as a "local congregation who has struggled mightily to understand the meaning of membership and what really has happened to them and particularly to the man in this journey."

The bishop said there are members of South Hill who disapprove of the man's lifestyle and sexual orientation, but "these same members would not exclude him from membership in The United Methodist Church based on that reality alone."

She said it is her hope and prayer "that no United Methodist pastor would use discretion to bar anyone from membership in The United Methodist Church."

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

Rev. Dr. Jeffery L. Tribble, Sr. to Lecture at Martin Methodist College as Series of Events on Race Relations and the Church Concludes

Rev. Dr. Jeffery L. Tribble, Sr. will be the distinguished speaker at the final lecture in a series of events for Martin Methodist College’s 2006-2007 academic year dealing with race relations and the Church. Dr. Tribble will speak about race relations and the Church from a Pan-Methodist perspective. The title of his presentation is: “Journeying Together in Christ Though Divided by Race.”

The lectures will be presented on Monday April 9, and Tuesday April 10, 7:00 p.m. in the Gallery of Colonial Hall, on the campus of Martin Methodist College. The event is free and open to all.

During the 2006-07 academic year, the Leadership Development Team, a group of students interested in leadership in The United Methodist Church, worshipped at Gordon Memorial UMC, Nashville; retraced the steps of the Civil Rights Movement in Selma and Montgomery, AL; and welcomed Bishop Woodie White, for a campus wide convocation on Religion and Race.


About our guest: Rev. Dr. Jeffery L. Tribble, Sr.

Reverend Dr. Jeffery L. Tribble, Sr. is a native of Chicago, Illinois. Among other academic accomplishments, he has completed the Black Ministers’ Certificate Program at Hartford Seminary, a Master of Divinity degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Religion and Theology from the Joint Program of Northwestern University and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Dr. Tribble is an ordained elder in the AME Zion Church. He has served the Church in many capacities; he is presently a member of the ministerial and musical staff of Greater Walters AME Zion Church in Chicago, Illinois.

Dr. Tribble serves as Assistant Professor of Congregational Leadership and the Director of the Center for the Church and the Black Experience at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. He is the author of Transformative Pastoral Leadership in the Black Church, published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2005 as a part of its series in Black Religion, Womanist Thought, and Social Justice. He is also the author of Joining Jesus: A Class Manual for Initiation into Christian Discipleship and Welcome into the A.M.E. Zion Church, published by the Christian Education Department of the AME Zion Church in 2006.

Dr. Tribble’s ecumenical work includes his current membership on the United Methodist Publishing House Board of Directors as Pan-Methodist representative (2001-2008).

Dr. Tribble is married to the Rev. Cherlyn Washington Tribble. They are the proud parents of one son, Jeffery Tribble, Jr., an undergraduate student at Howard University.

United Methodists target 'clean sweep' on Earth Day

By Greg Peterson*

MARQUETTE, Mich. (UMNS) - For the third straight year, thousands of northern Michigan United Methodists are being asked to protect the planet by participating in a hazardous materials clean sweep on Earth Day.

This year, the target is out-of-date and unwanted pharmaceuticals.

Upper Peninsula United Methodists are part of an environmental army that includes the vast majority of the northern Michigan religious community, university students, several environmental groups and an American Indian tribe. The previous two clean sweeps collected almost 400 tons of hazardous waste for recycling or proper disposal.

Collecting old medicines will not require a lot of heavy lifting, according to the Rev. Grant Lobb, Marquette District superintendent for The United Methodist Church, "but the result will be cleaner rivers, streams, lakes and tap water for all."

For Lobb, the clean sweep is much more personal this year. "I learned recently that I am going to be a grandfather," he explained. "May our efforts help in providing a clean, healthy future for my grandchild's entire generation."

Common concern
The third annual Earth Keeper Clean Sweep on April 21 is sponsored by nine faith communities with 130,000 members - about 40 percent of Upper Peninsula residents - along with the Superior Watershed Partnership, the nonprofit Cedar Tree Institute and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC).

"I am so pleased that the United Methodists in Northern Michigan can once again join with other faith communities and concerned citizens of all ages by putting our words into action in the constant fight against pollution," said Lobb.

KBIC Tribal Council President Susan LaFernier is asking all tribe members to join fellow residents in dropping off old or unwanted pharmaceuticals.

"We are all responsible for taking care of the precious environment that has been given to us from our Creator," said LaFernier, a long-time member of the 175-year-old Zeba Indian Mission United Methodist Church.

The proud great-great-granddaughter of a Methodist missionary during the 1800s, LaFernier said the Earth Keeper Initiative has forged a stronger bond between the tribe and religious communities. Besides United Methodists, the other faith communities are Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Unitarian Universalist, Baha'i, Jewish and Zen Buddhist.

"The stories about deformed frogs or abnormalities in fish ought to really trouble us," said the Rev. Charlie West, pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Marquette and project director of the first clean sweep. "These chemicals just keep building up in our environment. It's nice that the churches are helping keep some of them out of the water."

Targeting medicines
Carl Lindquist, executive director of the Superior Watershed Partnership, says this year's clean sweep is targeting medicines because trace amounts of pharmaceuticals are turning up in America's drinking water. Most water treatment plants are not designed to filter out these medications, he said.

When pills or liquid medicines are poured down the sink or flushed down the toilet, they remain diluted in the water supply after treatment and these trace amounts are suspected of causing a range of health problems, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

"As leftover and waste pharmaceuticals get flushed down drains, research is showing that they are increasingly being detected in our lakes and rivers at levels that could be causing harm to the environment and ecosystem," said Elizabeth LaPlante, senior manager for the EPA Great Lakes National Programs Office in Chicago.

"Specifically, reproductive and development problems in aquatic species, hormonal disruption and antibiotic resistance are some concerns associated with pharmaceuticals in our wastewater," she explained.

The 2007 clean sweep is backed by many pharmacists and numerous law enforcement agencies including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Michigan Sheriff's Association.

Pharmacists and law enforcement officers will be present on April 21 at all collection sites, which will be open from 9 a.m. to noon local time, to ensure security and proper collection of the pharmaceuticals, according to Lindquist.

For a complete list of participating communities and Earth Keeper collection sites, visit www.superiorwatersheds.org and click on Earth Keepers. For more information, call the Superior Watershed Partnership at (906) 228-6095 or e-mail earthkeeper@charter.net.

*Peterson is a local news reporter and volunteer media adviser for Earth Keeper.

Urban ministry survey cites need for training, support

By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK (UMNS) - United Methodists are committed to urban ministry but want more training on how to provide that ministry.

They also want more networking opportunities so that those ministering to urban neighborhoods can learn from and support one another.

Such were key findings of a denominational survey conducted during the winter, with 808 local churches and 20 United Methodist bishops responding.

Christ Church in downtown New York City is among many United Methodist churches working to minister to urban areas. A new denominational survey reveals a need for more training to better serve urban congregations and ministries. A UMNS photo by John Goodwin.

Called "Shaping the Future of Urban Ministry," the survey was conducted by the Office of Urban Ministry, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, and the related National Urban Strategy Council, with assistance from the denomination's Board of Discipleship.

The results will be used in a revised and refined urban ministry plan tentatively called "Holy Boldness: Pathways to Transformation" for presentation to the 2008 United Methodist General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body.

Diane Johnson, staff executive for the Office of Urban Ministry, said many respondents expressed hope for the future of their congregations and dedication to their church neighborhoods. She sees a need "to continue to train around community assessments."

Of the 808 local church respondents, 57 percent were clergy and 43 percent lay. Responses were fairly evenly divided between men (54 percent) and women (46 percent). A separate survey was sent to United Methodist bishops.

The changing face of urban churches
Just over half of the respondents described their church as an "urban congregation in a neighborhood with a changing population." The majority were churches in a city of more than 100,000 people.

"We are very unlike our neighborhood, even though many live within eight to 10 blocks of the church," one respondent explained. "Many post-World War II homes are being sold for the first time in decades. Our average age is over 70 … (and the) average age of the community is 36-37 (years)."

Congregations were described as primarily Euro-American, 46 percent; multicultural, 16 percent; African-American, 14 percent; Asian-American, 2 percent; and Latino/Hispanic, 2 percent. Less than 1 percent were Native American and 19 percent did not specify their congregation's ethnic characteristics.

One church respondent noted attempts to reach out to new populations in the neighborhood, writing that "we have seen an increase in Mandarin-speaking members of the community and are developing a Mandarin-speaking ministry."

Most churches reported having space for worship, social events and community-based activities, with "talented members" and good community relations. At least half said their congregations also have a commitment to justice, spirit of compassion for and with marginalized communities, and a willingness to change ineffective patterns of ministry.

Training needs
Respondents cited the need for training to set up strategic plans, gain a better understanding of urban theology and urban evangelism, and learn how to transition from a homogenous congregation to a heterogeneous, multicultural one.

"We are located on a boundary line between the stable community whose people have built and maintained the church over the past 40-plus years and a very ethnically-culturally-economically mixed community," one respondent wrote. "We are trying to reach people on both sides of the boundary."

Johnson perceives that some churches do not know how to access resources related to urban theology. Others have done strategic planning but "still haven't been able to make progress in their ministry," indicating a need for assistance on how to execute their plans.

The survey results show a desire to network more closely with others in urban ministry.
One church, for example, is "in an ideal location to become a strong multicultural congregation" and is working to achieve that despite financial pressures and no models of intentional multicultural congregations in its conference.

"I believe that in urban centers where United Methodist congregations are in close proximity to each other, a cooperative parish-style ministry would be highly effective," one respondent suggested.

Assets for the future
Space is a tangible asset and respondents expressed a willingness to use their facilities for community-based activities. They also count their faith and Wesleyan heritage as assets.

"While many of our members are young, poor and financially stressed, we do have dedication and desire on our side," one respondent wrote. "We also have some good relationships with local leaders and partnerships that help us to carry out the ministries that we could not afford."

More than half believe their congregations have a promising future, but others say that future depends on leadership or working more cooperatively with other congregations.

"I'm not sure that the congregation I currently serve really wants to last past its current generation," one pastor wrote.

Others were more positive. "We grow because we're real and we're a church that needs people who want to do something meaningful," wrote another. "Our population is messy, our worship is a bit messy and a bit formal and everyone is responsible. We spend very little on looking good."

The 20 bishops who completed the survey also stressed the need for training, along with mentors or coaches for pastors and other church leaders. Assistance in strategic planning would help urban churches be more creative in their ministry, they believe.

Though most urban churches are in decline, the bishops expressed a desire for new urban churches, along with the need for funding to pay for capital improvements.

Support and commitment
Lay and clergy respondents made it clear they need the support of their conferences and the denomination as a whole.

"A commitment must be made by the denomination that urban ministry is important. The congregations do not need more information; they need action," one respondent wrote.

"I know God has not left the city," another respondent declared. "The spirit in our people as they come to trust God is so strong. They need some way to know in a larger way that the church stands with them and for them, as the incarnation of Jesus stand with them."

The denomination's previous urban ministry plan was approved by the 1996 General Conference and reaffirmed in 2000. "It was time for us to continue to add to it," Johnson said. "We're really excited about this plan because it has goals and action steps."

For more information, contact Johnson by e-mail at dhjohnson@gbgm-umc.org.

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

Methodists swap stories of fearless women of faith

By Marta W. Aldrich*

Stories of Methodist women of faith across the generations are exchanged and celebrated during the "Struggle, Faith and Vision" conference at Scarritt-Bennett Center in Nashville, Tenn. UMNS photos by Maile Bradfield.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - A tiny, working-class woman in a plain brown dress, Mary Nind had a titanic faith and a genuine call to testify after God led her and her five children through the Civil War while her husband fought as a Union soldier.

When her congregational church threatened Nind with expulsion for speaking aloud about her deepening experiences of God's grace, she joined the Methodists of St. Charles, Ill., where a friend told her "there is more liberty for women to exercise their gifts."

That change had "profound implications for the next century of Methodism" - and Nind's subsequent ministry reflects the rich heritage of women's impact on Methodism and social reforms in the United States and the world, according to Dana Robert, a professor at Boston University School of Theology.

Nind's story is one of dozens shared March 9-11 about women in Methodism at a conference called "Struggle, Faith and Vision: Celebrating Women in the United Methodist Tradition," held at Scarritt-Bennett Center, where a new research library is dedicated to the study of organized lay women in mission in the Methodist tradition.

Conscience of Methodism
Conference participants celebrated women throughout generations as the conscience of Methodism and the prophetic voice of the church - whether called to ministry as clergy or lay people and despite the obstacles of poverty and prejudice.

However, they worried The United Methodist Church may lose that conscience if the stories and struggles of outstanding church women are not remembered and passed down to inspire future generations of women.

"We've got to be more intentional about nurturing the next generation," said Robert, who gave the opening address to the conference.

According to Robert, Methodist women in ministry have been effective historically because of their authentic relationship with Jesus Christ - and often in spite of a church organizational structure that did not recognize their right to preach until 1956.

"… The essence of our identity lies not in structures, or ordination status, or the Book of Discipline, or race, or wealth, or nationality, but in the continuity of testimony from the earliest days of Methodism in England, to the United States, and to world Methodism in the 21st Century," she said.

Such testimonies are consistent with the biblical accounts of women who "were the last at the tomb and the first to witness to the resurrection," she said. "Didn't the Samaritan woman, Mary Magdalene, Phoebe, Dorcas, Priscilla and other followers of Christ act as evangelists, teachers and church leaders?"

Stories of faith
In her opening address, Robert described Mary Nind as a lay woman who insisted on giving a testimony that grew out of her struggle as an impoverished single parent during wartime. Nind became the organizer of women's mission societies throughout the western United States, traveling by train, stagecoach and foot and speaking in camp meetings, revivals and churches. In 1877 alone, she traveled 7,000 miles and was home only 15 weeks.

But in 1888, despite receiving the most votes from the Minnesota Annual Conference to attend General Conference, Nind sat out when the church's highest lawmaking body refused to seat women. She continued to travel and speak out on social justice issues including liquor, women's rights and foot-binding.

The story of Dr. Louise Branscomb, a physician in Birmingham, Ala., was also shared. A Methodist lay woman active in the church at the local, national and international levels from the 1950s to the 1980s, Branscomb was outspoken on issues of race, women's rights and laity rights.

"She was tenacious, articulate and fearless," said Norma Taylor Mitchell, professor emerita of history at Troy University. "And it was not easy for her as a woman in both the field of medicine and as a lay person in The United Methodist Church. Louise was really hated by many Methodists in Birmingham. They regarded her as a troublemaker."

Long overdue
The church's last women's history conference, held in 1980 in Cincinnati, was sponsored by the United Methodist Commission on Archives and History and was the first to focus on the heritage of women in a major U.S. denomination. Papers and books produced out of the conference became the foundation for Methodist women's history in the church.

"It's been 27 years since the last one, and this is long overdue," said Mitchell, who helped to organize the Cincinnati gathering. "Anybody who goes to church every Sunday knows that women in the Methodist tradition are extremely central to the life of the church at every level. We need to keep alive scholarly exploration of women's history within a religious tradition."

Mitchell said the church historically has invested little time and resources in scholarly research about Methodist women. "We lax back into male domination very quickly if some group isn't intentional in seeing that women have a voice both historically and in the present," she said.

About 100 scholars, church leaders, students and others attended the Nashville event, which was sponsored by Scarritt-Bennett in partnership with Middle Tennessee State University's Department of History.

"This gathering needed to happen because we have a lot of new thought and new names and new faces and we want to expand the base of interest and passion for women's history in the church," said the Rev. H. Sharon Howell, president of Scarritt-Bennett.

New library
The conference opened in conjunction with the dedication of the Virginia Davis Laskey Research Library. Named for a former director of the church's Woman's Division of Christian Service, the library includes the minutes, publications and other historic documents of organized societies of lay women for mission; mission work told through the journals and personal writings of women missionaries; the mission and study publications of the Women's Division of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries; and personal papers from women leaders in the United Methodist tradition.

"I've always said … that the lay women's organizations do the best mission studies of anybody I know," said Howell. "… I think the same has been true of the way in which they have been on the cutting edge of most of the justice issues, not only in the United States but in the world.

"For some reason, we seem to be at a moment in our culture where we have kind of lost some of those courageous voices. The Scarritt-Bennett Center will be one of those places where education and empowerment of women continues and those prophetic voices are nurtured."

Strength in education
Conference participants heralded a Methodist emphasis on education as having profound implications for women in the church, noting that by the late 1800s, Methodists had founded more co-educational academies, schools and colleges than any other denomination in the United States. That impact continues today.

"When I travel in Africa, I can often recognize Methodist women because of their confidence that in Christ they are equal to men, and they attribute their educations to Methodism," said Robert. "Grachel Machel, for example, former first lady of Mozambique and wife of Nelson Mandela, has often said publicly that her Methodist education trained her for leadership that helped Mozambique to move beyond Portuguese colonialism."

The Scarritt-Bennett conference was part of the church's continuing education.

"It's been a real eye-opener," said Lisa Fagerstrom, 47, who attends Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, Mass. "It makes me proud to be a Methodist."

Amy Beth Hougland, a student at Duke Divinity School, said hearing the stories of other Methodist women strengthened her own desire to be ordained in The United Methodist Church.

"I don't take for granted the women who paved the way for me to do that," said Hougland, 36.

"These stories connect us through the years and form who we are as women in the Methodist tradition."

*Aldrich is news editor of United Methodist News Service