United Methodist News ~ Friday, 25 October 2013

United Methodist News ~ Friday, 25 October 2013

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“The three Hindu men with me in the parking lot, we prayed together. So, here’s this United Methodist and these Hindus, and we’re praying to our spiritual leaders together as the shooting’s going on. To get to cry together and have genuine feeling … there was a shared experience you can’t replicate in any other way.”(Scott Gilpin, executive director of fund development for the United Methodist Board of Discipleship.)

‘Grateful to God’ for Kenya mall experience (Joey Butler)

NAIROBI, Kenya (UMNS) — Nairobi, Kenya, Sept. 21, 2013

Saturday traffic in Nairobi is usually terrible, and this day was no exception. The main road was essentially a parking lot, and Scott Gilpin was running late. He just needed to pop into the mall to pick up some computer equipment and meet a friend for lunch at the Art Café. He had been coming to Nairobi for years and knew his way around. He told his driver to let him out, that he knew a shortcut.

Cutting across the campus of the Oshwal Indian Cultural Center, which abuts the mall parking lot, he was 100 yards from the entrance when he noticed something was wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.

“I was educated in part at a military academy,” Gilpin said. “I know the sound of hand grenades. I know the sound of AK-47s.”

From the length of a football field, the Westgate Mall fell under siege before Gilpin’s eyes.

Historic meeting

Gilpin is executive director for fund development for the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. He’d traveled to Nairobi for a historic first meeting of presidents of African Methodist colleges and universities.

The Board of Discipleship and the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry were collaborating on a project that would provide e-readers to seminarians in countries where getting the theological materials they need is difficult, if not impossible.

“E-readers can download a complete theological library,” Gilpin said. “For the first time, they have everything they need — four versions of the Bible instead of photocopied pieces of one Bible.”

The higher education board organized a meeting with the African college and university presidents, which began in Nairobi and moved to Meru at the Kenya Methodist University campus. They invited Gilpin and fellow staff member Steve Bryant, who oversees Discipleship Resources International, to help teach the presidents about development and fundraising using the e-reader project.

When the meeting wrapped up on Friday, Sept. 20, Gilpin traveled back to Nairobi. Thirteen years before, he had helped to start a ministry in nearby Kikuyu with an Anglican priest. Gilpin, an avid fly fisherman, organized a ministry of flytiers to try to help create jobs. His plan was to stay behind and work for two days with the ministry.

He was scheduled to meet the leader of that ministry at Westgate Mall. He needed to pick up a wireless keyboard and mouse for a computer he’d had delivered to the ministry.

“My friend’s car broke down, and he was delayed. I was to be there at 11, and we were to meet at the Art Café, which is a favorite of mine,” Gilpin said.

The driver couldn’t get near the mall because of heavy traffic, so Gilpin hopped out of the car and experienced the last routine moment of his trip.

Thirty-five minutes

“I saw the first people killed, saw the first indiscriminate spray of small-arms fire across the parking lot,” Gilpin said. “You could hear bullets flying overhead and smacking into cars around you. The horror of seeing people killed.

“A mother and two children ran toward me. I had just come through a great shortcut, so I knew the way to go. Along the way, we picked up three Hindu men who had family in the mall. One was holding his cell phone and crying. His phone had just rung; it was his daughter’s number, but it wasn’t she on the phone. It was a man in the mall who said he had picked up the phone and was calling for help — and then the phone went dead.

“After maybe 35 minutes,” Gilpin continued, “the seven of us walked back out of the lot when the fire outside the mall calmed down and I felt it was safe enough to help get them to the Oshwal Center, so that’s what we did. We just walked out.”

The Oshwal Center became a central point for security and safety, providing aid to the wounded. While the siege went on for several days, the Indian community offered food, care and a place for the Kenyan Red Cross, military and police.

You might argue that Gilpin is a hero, but he’ll argue right back. Vehemently. “I’m a witness and a survivor, and that’s it.”

He prefers to reflect on what happened next.

‘God be with you’

“That feeling after the attack of anger, shock about the lack of emotion in killing another person. … My feeling was wanting to do something in response to the attacks and not have that as the defining memory of the wonderful work we did the week before.”

On Sunday, Sept. 22, the day after the attack, Gilpin went to a Kenyan Red Cross site set up in downtown Nairobi and realized the Kenyan people had turned out in great numbers in response, “like we did after 9/11.” He also realized the Red Cross was overwhelmed. The line to give blood was so long, he went to a local hospital to donate instead, and still waited two-and-a-half hours before he could give.

“I realized that the Red Cross needed assistance,” Gilpin said, “if I could give some, as a catharsis to what I’d seen and, like everybody else, wanting to do something. They said, ‘By all means.’”

They sent Gilpin to Uhuru Park in downtown Nairobi, where they had another donation site.

“I worked as a common laborer,” Gilpin said. “I carried cases of sodas and cookies, bandages; delivered food to the nurses, doctors, volunteers. The lines snaked through the park, city blocks long. For many, the only thing they had to give was their blood, and they were taking off work to do it, not getting paid, sacrificing to respond.”

When Gilpin signed up with the Red Cross, he was supposed to leave the country on Monday, Sept. 23, but because of reports of planned attacks on U.S. citizens in Nairobi, there was concern that travel in and out of the airport was not ideal. Gilpin felt it was not wise to leave, and he also felt called back to the Red Cross. He contacted his colleagues at the Board of Discipleship to alert them to his change of plans.

“Their main concern was for my safety,” he said, “but they were nothing but supportive about my decision. Once we looked at the situation and decided I would cancel my Monday flight and stay, Karen Greenwaldt, my general secretary, said, ‘God be with you,’ and blessed my work. For my agency to let me stay four more days and do that work, I can’t even estimate what that means to my psyche.”

‘This is not my religion’

Once back at the Red Cross site, Gilpin became all too aware how much he stuck out, as likely the only white U.S. citizen in a sea of Kenyan workers. But he also realized he wasn’t the only minority: Kenya is a majority Christian nation. The terrorists who seized the mall were Muslim, and he recognized Muslim volunteers were working at the site.

“There had to have been fear that there would be retribution, and in spite of it, these people rose to the occasion, which made them truly brave,” Gilpin said. “I’m just there; they’re really stepping up, and they can’t come home. They’re there. I get to come home to my wife and my home and my work and safety; that’s almost unbelievable for them.

Gilpin said it truly struck him when he ran into a Muslim Red Cross volunteer.

“I felt I had to talk to him, and I’m sure he wondered what I was thinking,” Gilpin said. “When I walked up and touched his elbow, he flinched, but I said, ‘I just want to say hello and thank you for your service, and I’m sure this is difficult for you as well.’ That started a conversation that included some of the sweetest words that he could say to me. ‘I’m here for my fellow countrymen,’ he said. ‘What’s happening here in the name of Islam is not the Islam I know; it’s not my religion. It’s not what I or my friends practice or what my community is about.’

“There were many opportunities for that. There were several Muslim women working there, and every time we met, there were great smiles, and they assured me they were in partnership in grieving and trying to find an answer to this.

“All these Muslims, Hindus and Christians were gathered there at the park, due to a wonderfully strong commitment to their country, their community and to God. What a catharsis, a healing. As I would walk around, people would ask, ‘Where are you from? Why are you here, and why are you staying?’ And that I could tell them I work with The United Methodist Church and the Board of Discipleship was a real opportunity to represent the work we do.”

Throughout his four days working at that Red Cross site, Gilpin had numerous conversations in the same vein. He shared his relationship and role with United Methodism; Muslims working by his side said these acts don’t resemble their personal faith. The United Methodist Church places a premium on ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, and Gilpin, unplanned, was having lots of that dialogue.

It all culminated in his last night in Nairobi, Wednesday, Sept. 25. He’s chronicled his experiences on Facebook, but he shared them with United Methodist News Service as well:

“At the airport Wednesday night, I was sitting in the hallway and saw a group of Americans. You can always tell Americans by their tennis shoes. One of them has an Auburn T-shirt, and I say, ‘Are you kidding? I’m from Birmingham.’ They were there for other mission work outside Nairobi, and we talked about the coincidence.

“Down a few seats from me is a young, married Muslim woman. After they leave, she scoots over and asks, very quietly, ‘May I talk to you for a moment? I couldn’t help but overhear you. I want you to understand’ — and tears start rolling down her face — ‘that what happened here is not my religion.’ She said the same thing the young man said on my first day with the Red Cross. She thanked me for my service, and we ended up talking for a long time. I asked her if she’d experienced any attitudes or retaliation for what’s happened. I asked her about what it’s like to be Muslim in a predominantly Christian country that is now on the frontline for the battle between extremists of Islam and Christianity, in a sense. It was a very open, sweet conversation.

“What a grand way to end this experience,” Gilpin said. “I’m so very thankful that God provided this opportunity to serve my church, stay those extra days … to do anything but run at the first opportunity.”

Westgate Nairobi days, Red Cross days

Since he’s been home, Gilpin has what he calls “Westgate Nairobi days,” and thanks God that those are tempered by “Red Cross days.”

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Scott Gilpin talks about his experience

Clip 1: “We literally walked out.”

Clip 2: “I want you to understand that happened … is not my religion.”

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Despite what he’s been through — or perhaps because of it — he looks forward to his next trip to Africa. The new association of African colleges and universities that formed at this first historic meeting, overshadowed by the siege, has asked him to be their development consultant.

“To be back in Africa and be part of that, the quicker the better,” he said.

“The United Methodist Church in Africa is so dynamic and growing so quickly, but they need healthy assistance and the right kind of support. To be part of that is such a blessing.”

Mercifully, those “Westgate Nairobi days” are fading. “I’m doing better every day,” Gilpin said. “My visions are not quite what they were a few weeks ago.”

When Gilpin reflects upon all he experienced in those few fateful days in Nairobi, he often lands upon what he calls a point of blessing.

“The three Hindu men with me in the parking lot, we prayed together. So here’s this United Methodist and these Hindus, and we’re praying to our spiritual leaders together as the shooting’s going on. To get to cry together and have genuine feeling … there was a shared experience you can’t replicate in any other way.

“Did those three guys take away a message from Methodism? I don’t know. But we all appreciated being spiritual together. Maybe because of that, they might have a deeper appreciation for Christians, if not United Methodists.

“I’m so thankful to God for the opportunity, and I’m so glad I had the chance to rise to it. It just makes me hungry to go back. What’s next?”

*Butler is editor of young adult content for United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Joey Butler, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist Church intensifies ministries with poor (Elliot Wright)

NEW YORK (UMNS) — Efforts are underway to expand, strengthen, and promote United Methodist ministries with the poor in the United States.

This intensified work includes connecting local models of successful ministries that cross class, ethnic, and racial lines to address the causes and conditions of poverty. It seeks to engage more people in these ministries and to bring about a church more vital, diverse, and welcoming of those who are marginalized.

A series of regional training events in 2014 and 2015 will utilize the expertise of practitioners in such fields as community development, financial literacy and management, employment, and multicultural encounters.

Ministry with the Poor is one of four current focus areas of The United Methodist Church. A strong emphasis is on “with,” rather than ministries “for” or “to” the poor.

The new efforts reflect a four-point plan agreed to earlier by the Justice and Reconciliation Table of the denomination’s Council of Bishops and representatives of the General Board of Church and Society and the General Board of Global Ministries. The two agencies share overall responsibility for the Ministry with the Poor area of focus. 

Step one is a request, already made, that each resident bishop in the United States identify up to three existing ministries with the poor to consider as models to be shared, studied, and adapted for wider use.

In making this request of colleagues, Bishop Michael McKee of North Texas, chair of the Justice and Reconciliation Table said, “We want to know about ministries that are about more than charity and show persons of various economic backgrounds responding to the love of God in Jesus Christ in economic as well as spiritual ways.”

“We know that there are already many excellent and varied examples of ministries with the poor in, or associated with, United Methodist churches throughout the United States,” said James Winkler, general secretary of the Church and Society agency. “Some are known only to their immediate communities. We want to identify those that can have broader value or suggest a variety of approaches to poverty reduction.”

The action plan includes three other measures to strengthen the Ministry with the Poor emphasis, according to Thomas Kemper, who leads the Global Ministries agency.

Global Ministries will organize regional experiential training events featuring local ministries with the poor that can inspire and equip others to development creative approaches.

Church and Society will lead, or arrange for, training in community organizing relevant to ministries with the poor.  

Global Ministries will continue to collect, publicize, and distribute Ministry with the Poor materials and best practices and partner with United Methodist Communications on other communication strategies for spreading the gospel of ‘Ministry With.’”

“Bringing in local ministry models that have proven track records will strengthen our connectionalism as well as deepen our reservoir of resources and trainers,” Kemper said.

The training events to begin next year will be preceded in late 2013 by two Ministry with the Poor roundtables, or forums, one in Dallas in November, hosted by Bishop McKee, and the other in Chicago in December, hosted by Bishop Sally Dyck. These events will provide opportunities for those engaged in ministries with the poor to get to know one another and to interact with annual conference and general agency personnel.

While these particular efforts relate to local ministries in the United States, the Ministry with the Poor focus is global in nature, relating to international programs in humanitarian relief, health, and education.

The other three focus areas of the church are Global Health, Leadership, and Congregational Development. These overarching priorities are meant to intersect in ways that spark the transformation of individuals, the church, and the society in response to the Christian call to bring about a world of love and justice.  (See Ministry with the Poor Guiding Principles and Foundations: Answering Jesus’ Call to Discipleship in God’s Mission of Love and Justice.)

*Elliott Wright is a contributing writer for umcmission.org

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Ohioans reach out in church fire loss Rick Wolcott)

CLEVELAND (UMNS) — “This is so sad,” said Robert Crew.  “It’s a really big loss – a loss that isn’t coming back.”

Crew is a 30-year member of Willson United Methodist (North Coast District) in Cleveland.  The 120 year-old structure burned on October 19.  Parishioners could only look on in tears as the Cleveland Fire Department doused hot spots Sunday morning.

“Words cannot describe what I felt when I found out about the fire,” said Trustee Committee chair Collins Bennett.  “It’s hard to believe.”

News of the fire quickly spread.

Bishop Julius Trimble of the Iowa Conference asked attendees of the North Central Jurisdiction Commission on Religion and Race Annual Learning Event in Independence to join hands in prayer.  The former superintendent of the then Cleveland District talked about the ways Willson UMC impacted the community over the years, changing lives.  In his prayer Trimble reminded all of us that, “out of the ashes life shall rise.”

Current superintendent the Rev. Dr. Peggy Streiff spent the day comforting parishioners and working with the Cleveland Department of Building and Housing to save what could be salvaged.  The extensive damage from the fire made the building unsafe.  By the end of the day, demolition crews had knocked down all but the entrance way of the church.

Two stained glass windows, the lectern, the guest book table, the light that hung in the entrance way, and the contents of the church safe were able to be saved.

“In our work we understand that there are things that people get attached to – a church building is one.  It’s important that we respect their loss as we do what we need to do to keep people safe,” said Rufus Taylor, bureau manager of demolition for the Cleveland Department of Building and Housing.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, as are plans for where parishioners of Willson UMC will gather for worship moving forward.

“We are sad for the loss of this beautiful building but we must remember that the church is not a building.  The church is the people,” said the Rev. Lorry Mabiala.  “We are very glad that there were no injuries.”

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Protect Your Church Property

Church fires: Damage, recovery, prevention

During 2012 and early 2013, fire destroyed or damaged more than a dozen United Methodist church properties across the United States. Arson was the cause of at least five fires. The insured property value ranged from $10,000 to $3.3 million, but several churches lacked adequate insurance to cover full replacement costs. This special news series reported on the damage from those fires, the response to the affected congregations and what churches can do to protect themselves.

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Just save one child, urges Global AIDS fund

NEW YORK (UMNS) — The United Methodist Global AIDS Fund Committee asks local congregations to observe the 15th anniversary of World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, by raising awareness of the HIV and AIDS crisis and committing to "just save one" child from contracting the disease. This year, Dec. 1 lands on the first Sunday of Advent. The fund has developed resources to help churches observe World AIDS Day

For More Information: Just Save One Child during ‘Season of Hope’ kicked off by World AIDS Day, Dec. 1

United Methodist Global AIDS Fund offers Bible study, worship service for 15th anniversary that lands on Advent Sunday.

The United Methodist Global AIDS Fund (UMGAF) Committee asks local congregations to observe the 15th anniversary of World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, by raising awareness of the HIV & AIDS crisis and committing to Just Save One child from contracting the disease. This year, Dec. 1 lands on the first Sunday of Advent.

According to UNAIDS, every day 1,000 children are born with HIV. "Even a small gift can make a big difference," said Linda Bales Todd, UMGAF Committee co-chair. "For example, it costs less than $10 to prevent transmission of HIV from a mother to a child; and just $1 provides needed nutrients for an AIDS orphan."

UMGAF has developed resources to help churches observe World AIDS Day, including a First Sunday of Advent suggested order of worship, a four-week Advent Bible study and 40 Days of Prayers & Actions to Just Save One.

AIDS-free world

UMGAF developed the resources in cooperation with the General Boards of Church & Society (GBCS) and Global Ministries (GBGM). The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and GBCS are offering the resources for download from their websites.

The United Methodist Global AIDS Fund is working toward an AIDS-free world by providing a tangible response to the worldwide HIV & AIDS crisis. Thirty-four million persons around the globe are infected, including 3.4 million children.

UMGAF supports education, prevention, and care programs for people living with HIV & AIDS around the world. The fund supports more than 200 HIV & AIDS church-oriented and Christ-centered ministries in 35 countries, including the United States.

New resources

The new resources are available on the UMGAF under “Educate.” They include:

A World AIDS Day Advent Study, “A Season of Hope” includes articles for each week, such as “The Shocking Christmas Story & AIDS Prevention,” accompanied by biblical references, questions for discussion and prayers. The study also includes resource material such as “Myths & Facts about HIV & AIDS” and a glossary of terms.

A first Sunday of Advent suggested order of service, adapted from Bering United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas.

40 Days of Prayer & Actions. The booklet contains daily prayers and reflections from people around the world addressing this pandemic disease. The daily actions consist of simple, but meaningful steps people can take to make a difference in combating this disease, or are stimulating facts about the pandemic.

Stories of persons living with and affected by HIV & AIDS.. These will be posted on the UMCOR and GBCS websites and shared through social media.

Links to HIV & AIDS resources. These will point to other sources, including those specifically targeted at World AIDS Day itself.

United Methodist Advance project

The United Methodist Global AIDS Fund is an Advance Special Project #982345 of The United Methodist Church. It was created in 2004 by the denomination’s highest-policy setting body, General Conference.

To make a monetary contribution to UMGAF, give online at www.givetomission.org, through your local church offering with UMCOR Advance #982345 in the memo line or mail a check made payable to UMCOR Advance #982345 to: United Methodist Committee on Relief, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087.

More information about UMGAF is online at www.umglobalaidsfund.com.

Contact Info

Rebecca Yount, Consultant
United Methodist Global AIDS Fund
(918) 289-1274 / rlconsult1@gmail.com

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Come together: Responding to the government shutdown Annette Spence

ALCOA, Tenn. (UMNS) — How should United Methodist Christians have responded during the recent government shutdown and related political drama? At The Call's request, four Holstonians gave it some thought.

Last week, the Rev. Brenda Carroll watched the evening news as another attempt to end the U.S. government shutdown fell apart.
“I guess I responded by being amazed at the protective bubble the legislators live in that allows selfish and immature behavior,” said Carroll, senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tenn.

“But someone close to me once said, ‘Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.’ A Christ-follower whose stuff I love to read once wrote, ‘Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.’”

Late on the evening of Oct. 16, the 16-day shutdown and debate over the national debt limit finally ended. However, it did not stop citizens from expressing dismay and disgust at their elected leaders and sparring with friends and co-workers over which political party was most at fault.

What is the appropriate response for United Methodist Christians during these harmful, divisive conflicts played out before the U.S. public?

“There is so much evil to overcome in this world, and there are so many opportunities to invest in my life in lifting up the downtrodden, bringing hope to dark places, and speaking the name of Jesus into parched and dry hearts,” Carroll said.

“It is a sad day when intelligent people who have been entrusted to represent all of us would rather ‘have it their way’ than to find a compromise. But the best of what I wish for them is also what I need to live out in my own home, my church, and my community.”

HOLY CONFERENCING
Del Holley is Holston Conference lay leader and a member at Colonial Heights United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Tenn. He is also Knox County assistant district attorney.

“My first reaction,” Holley said, “is that as United Methodists, we live and worship within a context of ongoing debate and a constant process of discernment. So we probably understand better than any other denomination within mainline Protestantism how to live out our Christian lives in disagreement.”

United Methodists have established a process of discussion during disagreement known as “Holy Conferencing,” said Holley, who used the guidelines as he led Holston’s delegation to the 2012 General Conference.

“While it’s important for us as United Methodists to see value in prayer during this time, I especially regret that our government leaders aren’t looking at and using our guidelines for ‘Holy Conferencing,’” he said.
“My prayer has been that our government leaders will stop the finger-pointing and name-calling and listen to each other as we United Methodists are called to do. When people are involved in a debate, whether you agree with them or not, they are all children of God and they all have value in his kingdom.”

Holley also questioned whether Christians should lament the loss of government assistance for churches but instead see the situation as an opportunity.

“Because we as a culture have become more accepting of government intrusion, maybe some of the pressure has been taken off our churches to respond appropriately through their social ministries,” he said.
“Instead of focusing on what has been lost, our focus should be on reaching out in faith to help fill those gaps for our neighbors who may have lost jobs and services. I hope this will help open our eyes to be more intentional about that," Holley said.

SEEK GOD'S FACE

The Rev. Gordon McBride, pastor of North Tazewell United Methodist Church and Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in North Tazewell, Va., said that all Christians should pray during times of conflict – for national and world leaders, but also, to look for commonalities and “seek God’s face in all things.”

“Christ teaches us that if we have disagreement, we need to reconcile, come face-to-face, put aside our differences and not focus on our personal agendas but seek our common goals,” McBride said.

“It’s a wonderful time for the church to promote Christ,” he added. “Our hope is not in the government or any other entity. Our hope is in Christ."

McBride said that Christians need to offer "a voice of unity and hope" instead of division. "We need to respond as peaceful people who look to our Creator for hope and to say to a world that doesn’t know Christ: ‘Look, here is your greater hope. And there is nothing greater than our God.”

JaNae’ Swanson, administrative assistant on the Holston Connectional Ministries staff and member at Cokesbury United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., also said Christians should respond to government trials with prayer.

“Let’s stop pointing fingers and playing the blame game,” she said. “Pray for our government, both sides. Pray that they will let the Lord guide their decisions and do what’s best for our country.”

Partisan politics “are not good for our country,” Swanson said. “What is good is for our representatives to always consider the needs of the people above the desires of their political party or special-interest groups.”

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Church opens gym to give kids a safe place (Andrew Barksdale)

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (UMNS) — After a pickup basketball game, David Blackman slapped the hands and patted the backs of the five boys around him as they formed a huddle.

"Bring it in," said Blackman, pastor of Hay Street United Methodist Church. "Give it up. Put your hands in, and let's pray."

The historic red brick church opens its gym once a week after school, inviting children to shoot hoops, play badminton or use a bowling set with foam pins.

Blackman, 44, said he came up with the idea of giving children a safe place to play sports after reading a news story about residents complaining of teenagers playing basketball with portable goals in neighborhood streets in violation of a city ordinance.

"We are trying to be a helpful neighbor downtown," said Blackman, who took over the church of about 600 members four months ago.

At 6-foot-3, Blackman looked comfortable on a recent afternoon in an impromptu game of three-on-three with his two sons and three other boys. Sweat clung to his gray Fellowship of Christian Athletes T-shirt. He wore his black-rimmed glasses on the court and sported a dark head of short cropped hair.

In August, the city had investigated about 130 complaints since last year of teens playing basketball in the streets. They had issued 85 warnings, asking people to move the goals away from the streets.

Police Chief Harold Medlock told the Observer then that he was sympathetic to children playing basketball on a quiet street with adult supervision. He defended that view in late August at a public meeting at E.E. Smith High School, where one resident accused the police of teaching children how to break the law.

Hay Street United Methodist is opening its gym every Tuesday from 4:30 to 6 p.m. to children in elementary and middle school. There's space for them to finish homework, too.

Qasim Hardister, a seventh-grader at Max Abbott Middle School, gets credit for the idea of the open gym, too, Blackman said. In August, church members went to Margaret Willis Elementary School, where Qasim's sister attends, to donate student uniforms. Qasim, who was there with his mother, had a question for one of the church officials: Do you have a gym to play basketball?

On the first day earlier this month, 12-year-old Qasim was the only one to show up. He had walked in the rain from his home off Ramsey Street, about 1 1/2miles from the church.

"His clothes were soaking wet," Blackman recalled, adding that the boy's aunt took him home afterward.

Gym available

The church's 6-year-old gym is not used often. It is home to a contemporary Sunday morning service and the youth service Sunday evenings. Adults use the gym for exercise classes twice a week, and the church's preschoolers play in it when the weather is bad.

Jennie Vick, the church's director of children's activities, has contacted the three schools within a half mile of the church to tout the open gym.

"Schools that are within walking distance," said Vick, whose full-time job is teaching physical education to special-needs children in the public schools.

For the gym's second opening last week, Qasim showed up - again after a 30-minute hike from his home. He joined a half-court game and immediately made a nothing-but-net shot.

"Whoa!" shouted those in the gym. "All right!"

Qasim, who is soft-spoken, said he does not mind the walk.

"One of my first dreams is to become a basketball player," he said. "I think I could step up my defense."

Blackman said Qasim's initiative demonstrates just how much children want to play basketball and do it in a safe place.

"I just pray we can get more children here to play basketball in a place that is wholesome and good," Blackman said.

Staff writer Andrew Barksdale can be reached at barksdalea@fayobserver.com or 486-3565.

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Texas church joins search for missing 82-year-old (Claire Z. Cardona)

GARLAND, Texas (UMNS) — Almost two weeks after the disappearance of an 82-year-old man suffering from dementia, tips have been sparse but community efforts to find him are shifting into high gear.

A statewide Silver Alert for Hal Ticknor, who went missing Oct. 11, expired five days later when Garland police stopped receiving viable leads.

But Ticknor’s spiritual family at the First United Methodist Church of Garland has gathered a “spontaneous army” to blanket the state — in the air and on the ground — with search teams.

On Sunday, they divided North Texas into grids and sent out more than 50 volunteers with fliers and maps to scour streets for signs of Ticknor or his SUV. They have covered 11 of 14 zones and will continue Thursday.

On Saturday, a woman in Denton saw a man who matched Ticknor’s description trying to cross the street around 3 p.m. Someone pulled over and helped the man get to the other side. Garland police are trying to find clues in security camera footage.

At a meeting on Wednesday, the church search group began its afternoon with a prayer and started planning for Denton.

At the top of coordinator Darrell Lancaster’s checklist for the meeting was printed “Team Hal Agenda.”

“Boy, I sure hate to be around something long enough to have a name for it,” said Lancaster, who has been a member of the church since 1978. The Ticknors have been members since the 1950s.

Garland police spokesman Joe Harn said there are no plans to stop searching. Lancaster echoed the sentiment.

“I know people are getting frustrated and they’re getting tired of doing it and that’s normal. We’re humans, we’d like to find Hal, but I haven’t heard anyone say they want to stop,” Lancaster said.

Shelters, soup kitchens, bus barns, hunting stores, post offices, chambers of commerce. The group will call them all.

The outpouring of support goes far beyond Garland city limits. The alumni association of Texas Instruments, where Ticknor, an engineer, worked before retirement, has joined the search. Friends of the church chartered private planes to search the skies and Longhorn Helicopter, which was training Delaware State Police in search and rescue, added Ticknor to the syllabus.

The Rev. Fred Durham, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church of Garland, said he reached out to a network of more than 350 North Texas Methodist churches and 150 in Southern Oklahoma.

Harn said the community efforts are great because they can concentrate on one area, whereas police have to run off when they get a call.

If the Saturday tip checks out, Harn said, police may be able to renew Ticknor’s Silver Alert. Alerts can be renewed every 24 hours, as long as police have viable leads. A Silver Alert was activated in Oklahoma for one day.

From the program’s inception in 2007 through September, 410 alerts have been activated in Texas. Tom Vinger, spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said 382 seniors have been located during the alert period.

The last solid leads for Ticknor came from Tioga, north of McKinney and close to the Oklahoma border, around 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 11, when he asked for directions. Since he left home he has used his credit card only once, to buy gas that night near Valley View, north of Denton.

Ticknor experienced bouts of dementia that got worse in the weeks before he left his home on Morningside Drive while his wife was at work. He has never been missing before, she said.

“He would drive routine places here in town by himself, had no problem,” said Ann Ticknor, 78. Living in the same house since 1961, he would be able to turn around and get home if he was disoriented.

During the couple’s morning walk, he had mentioned he might go out and buy meat.

Ann Ticknor said he may have been headed up to Pecan Grove Cemetery in McKinney, where his grandparents are buried. He had mentioned wanting to go up there to check on the plot. Ticknor didn’t bring a cellphone and his car has no navigation system.

Ann Ticknor spent the first week of her husband’s disappearance doing interviews and working with her family to find her husband. In the past few days, she has jumped back into her job as a part-time CPA. It helps keep her mind occupied.

“If you don’t, you dwell on all the bad, what-ifs and maybes, so I just try to stay busy,” she said.

The couple has been married nearly 57 years. They started dating when she was a senior in high school and he was a senior at Rice University. She said they have been inseparable ever since.

“I’m going to take his keys,” she said. “No more. No more.”

She said she had a message for her husband:

“I would tell him that he just didn’t know how important he was to a lot of people,” she said. “He has two sons and four grandchildren that need him to come home.”

Follow Claire Cardona on Twitter @clairezcardona.

5-11, 170 pounds with silver hair and green eyes

Driving a 2007 silver Chevrolet Equinox with Texas license plate number 599-SNC

Possibly wearing a long-sleeve khaki colored shirt and gray slacks

Anyone with a tip should call 911 or the Garland Police Department at 972-485-4840. If someone locates Ticknor, they should remain with him while calling police.

To join in the search, call the Garland First United Methodist Church at 972-272-3471.

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Correction: 2016 General Conference to see drop in delegates Heather Hahn)

The 2016 General Conference in Portland, Ore., will have about 15 percent fewer delegates than recent gatherings of The United Methodist Church’s top lawmaking body.

The Commission on the 2016 General Conference on Friday, Oct. 18, voted 14 to 2 to set the target number of delegates at 850. That number is not exact. It could vary by a few people either direction to meet representation requirements under church law.

General Conference, which meets for nearly two weeks every four years, has lawmaking authority “over all matters distinctly connectional.” Half of the delegates are lay, and half are clergy. It is the only body that can officially speak for the global denomination of about 12 million professing members.

Since the merger that created The United Methodist Church in 1968, the number of delegates at each General Conference has remained closer to 1,000.

Previously, the General Conference secretary has set the target number of delegates. The 2012 General Conference   in Tampa, Fla., gave that authority to the full commission.

The reduction will save the church around $600,000, Sara Hotchkiss, General Conference business manager, told the commission. Before the vote, the projected costs for the 2016 General Conference were more than $10 million.

More significantly, the reduction in delegates begins to smooth the way for The United Methodist Church to hold its first General Conference outside the United States, said the Rev. L. Fitzgerald Reist II, the General Conference secretary. That move could happen as early as 2024.

“At the present time, there is no one willing to host us because of what is involved in moving General Conference outside the United States,” he told the commission. “One of the changes that will probably need to be made is in the size of the delegation. I think it would be a mistake to move outside the United States and reduce the size of the delegation at the same time.”

The 2020 General Conference will be in the North Central Jurisdiction. The specific site has yet to be chosen.

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‘Therefore, Go’ chosen as 2016 theme

The Commission on the 2016 General Conference on Friday, Oct. 28, also approved the theme for the gathering in downtown Portland, Ore.

The theme will be “Therefore, Go” from Christ’s Great Commission in  Matthew 28:19-20. The same passage also serves as inspiration for the denomination’s mission “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” It also has the advantage of being easily translated into multiple languages.

Nordic and Baltic Episcopal Area Bishop Christian Alsted, an ex-officio commission member, first suggested the 2016 theme.

The Rev. Lynn Hill, the chair of the commission’s program committee and a member of the Tennessee Annual (regional) Conference, noted worship leaders and other organizers will be able to invoke the theme in a variety of ways to expand upon the Christian message.

Some possible directions include:

“Therefore, go … in love”

“Therefore, go and baptize”

“Therefore, go work for peace.”

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In addressing the question of representation, Reist pointed out that the United States has a population of more than 300 million people, and yet relies on a federal legislature that is slightly more than half the size of the typical General Conference.

The commission’s vote came after hours of discussion that touched on stewardship of the denomination’s resources, the need for adequate representation and the balance of power in the denomination.

“Part of our goal is to move incrementally, but our intention is to move toward a smaller General Conference,” said Judi Kenaston, the commission’s chair and conference secretary of the West Virginia Annual (regional) Conference.

What church law says

The denomination’s constitution sets a range of 600 to 1,000 delegates and a ratio for representation based on an annual conference’s membership. Each annual and missionary conference is allowed to send at least one lay and one clergy delegate. Annual conferences elect their delegates.

A proposed constitutional amendment to increase the minimum to 800 delegates got majority support at the 2012 General Conference, but fell short of the required two-thirds of the vote.

The 2012 General Conference had 988 delegates from around the globe. It cost about $8.4 million.

Hotchkiss pointed out that some fixed costs for General Conference would remain or increase no matter how steeply the number of delegates decreased. Such costs include interpreters in multiple languages. For example, the 2012 General Conference voted to require that starting in 2016, General Conference materials must now be translated into Kiswahili.

Based on the membership numbers used for the 2012 General Conference, no U.S. jurisdiction would lose or gain more than about 1 percent of its representation at the 2016 General Conference, said commission member Stephanie Deckard Henry, a member of the Upper New York Conference. Also based on the figures for the 2012 General Conference, U.S. delegates still would comprise nearly 60 percent.

Reist did note that a reduction in delegation size would increase the proportionate representation of smaller annual conferences as well as the central conferences — church areas in Africa, Asia and Europe.

Initially, the commission considered a motion to reduce the number of delegates to 750. But ultimately the board approved an amendment to increase that number to 850.

“This was a compromise,” said the Rev. Diane Wasson Eberhart, the commission member who proposed the amendment. She is an ordained deacon in the Iowa Conference.

“I was on the fence about the issue because I feel strongly that we have a lot of voices that need to be heard, but I also feel strongly that we need a culture of change. If we do the same thing over and over again, we’ll get the same results.”

A  number of United Methodists have denounced the 2012 gathering as the “do-nothing” General Conference.  The Judicial Council — the denomination’s top court — overturned an effort to restructure the church’s general agencies and overturned other legislation to eliminate eliminate guaranteed security of appointments for ordained elders in good standing. The wider General Conference ran out of time before it could consider a number of petitions approved by legislative committees.

Some commissioners expressed the hope that a smaller General Conference also might increase the efficiency in handling petitions.

The Rev. Francis Charley, a commission member and district superintendent in Sierra Leone Conference, said a delegate count of 850 still would give many people the chance to participate in the lawmaking assembly.

“It’s a learning experience especially for those doing it for the first time,” Charley said. “One of the things I have been contemplating is increasing the amount of training in the central conferences before General Conference, so delegates can have the right kind of perspective.”

Reist said he plans to calculate the number of delegates for each annual conference this week, and will notify each conference secretary and bishop of the numbers in their areas.

“It will be based on the most recent figures we have for each annual conference,” he said.

As permitted by the 2012 General Conference, some annual conferences plan to elect their delegates next year. Others will wait to 2015.

In other action

The commission reduced the number of legislative committees at the 2016 General Conference from 13 to 12. The commission voted to combine the work previously done by the Higher Education and Ministry Committee — which  deals with petitions concerning seminaries, ordination and clergy — and the Superintendency Committee — which deals with petitions concerning district superintendents and bishops.

The commission set a daily schedule with an adjournment of 6:30 p.m. most days. The one exception is the Saturday of General Conference, the last day when legislative committees meet. On that day, legislative committees would have the option of finishing their work during 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

*Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service.

News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist News Service

United Methodist Communications

810 12th Avenue South

Nashville, TN 37203 United States

Phone: (615)742~5400

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