United Methodist News ~ UMNS Weekly Digest ~ Friday, 25 October 2013
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UMNS Weekly Digest
October 25, 2013
NOTE: This is a digest of news features provided by United Methodist Communications for Oct. 21 - Oct. 25. It includes summaries of United Methodist News Service stories and additional briefs from around the United Methodist connection. Full versions of the stories with photographs and related features can be found at http://umns.umc.org.
News around conferences
Ohioans reach out in church fire loss
CLEVELAND (UMNS) — United Methodists across the North Central Jurisdiction are joining in prayers and reaching out to members of Willson United Methodist Church, whose 120-year-old church building burned Oct. 19. Parishioners looked on in tears as the Cleveland Fire Department doused hot spots Sunday morning. Initial secular news reports misspelled the name of the church. Rick Wolcott of the East Ohio Annual (regional) Conference offers an overview of the impact of the fire and how United Methodists are responding.
Church opens gym to give kids a safe place
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (UMNS) — Hay Street United Methodist Church opens its gym once a week after school, inviting children to shoot hoops, play badminton or use a bowling set with foam pins. The Rev. David Blackman, the church’s pastor, said he came up with the idea after reading that residents complainined of teenagers playing basketball with portable goals in neighborhood streets in violation of a city ordinance. The Fayetteville Observer has the story.
Texas church joins search for missing 82-year-old
GARLAND, Texas (UMNS) — First United Methodist Church of Garland has gathered a “spontaneous army” to blanket the state — in the air and on the ground — with teams to help in a search now nearing two weeks for missing 82-year-old Hal Ticknor. The Dallas Morning News tells how the church has divided North Texas into grids and sent out more than 50 volunteers with fliers and maps to scour streets for signs of their church member, who has dementia.
S.C. district fights poverty through friendship
GREENVILLE, S.C. (UMNS) — Forming a relationship with a family in poverty instead of just giving anonymously is the new mission of the Greenville District of the South Carolina Annual (regional) Conference. Called the Methodist Family Partnering With Families Initiative, the project has the goal of focusing local churches on the needs of families in poverty to make ministry more effective. Jessica Connor, editor of the South Carolina Advocate, has the story.
S. C. churches work for humane homeless policies
COLUMBIA, S.C. (UMNS) — Controversy that began with a misunderstanding about City Council action has turned into a greater understanding and growing mission among Columbia churches to minister to the homeless. Jessica Connor, editor of the South Carolina Advocate, tells the story.
Homeless ministry born from pastor’s chance encounter
KINGSPORT, Tenn. (UMNS) — A chance encounter between a homeless man and the Rev. Ray Amos Jr., pastor at St. Matthew United Methodist Church in Kingsport, led to what is now the Secondhand Shoes ministry. The TimesNews reports what St. Matthew is doing to help the homeless.
Michigan church makes food favorite to keep the church warm
MIDLAND, Mich. (UMNS) — When parishioners at LaPorte United Methodist Church in Freeland looked for ways to raise money for the general fund to keep the church warm this winter, they remembered a time-honored Michigan favorite. The Midland Daily News reports that some 600 pasties — meat pies encased in pastry — were made and sold by church volunteers Wednesday through Friday the week of Oct. 13. Read how this congregation found a forgotten recipe and organized the assembly line.
30 pastors plan to perform same-sex union
LEBANON, Pa. (UMNS) —The Rev. Frank Schaefer will go before a church trial on Nov. 18 for performing the same-sex wedding of his son but he is going with the support of more than 30 of his fellow United Methodist pastors who also plan to violate the same church law. The pastors will participate in the wedding of a same-sex couple some time before the start of Schaefer’s trial. The gender, identity and date of the ceremony is not being disclosed to protect the privacy of the couple.
A call for the church to speak out on domestic violence
INDIANAPOLIS (UMNS) — Twenty-four advocates for survivors of spousal abuse gathered at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church Oct. 2-4 for a conference titled “Shattering the Silence in the Faith Community.” Speakers, including the Rev. Dountonia Slack, an abuse survivor, called for the church to do more toward awareness and prevention. The Rev. Daniel Gangler of the Indiana Annual (regional) Conference has the story.
Church rises from arson
CENTERTON, Ark. (UMNS) — Smoke was once again rising from Living Waters United Methodist Church, but instead of arson it was a barbecue. Nearly two years after fire destroyed the Centerton church’s 89-year-old building, friends and family gathered to eat, drink and celebrate the opening of their new home The Rev. Omar Rikabi of the Arkansas Annual (regional) Conference shares how the church recovered and is now more accessible.
Why S.D. church among 50 fastest growing in U.S.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (UMNS) — Asked to explain the remarkable growth of Embrace, the Rev. Adam Weber, the church’s 31-year-old pastor, points to a focus on helping people start and strengthen a relationship with Jesus. Embrace is the only United Methodist church on Outreach magazine’s recently released list of the top 50 fastest-growing U.S. churches in 2013. Embrace ranked 40th overall, and fourth in growth rate, having seen a 65 percent attendance rise.
California church rising once more from the ashes
SAN JOSE, Calif. (UMNS) — After 22 years, First United Methodist Church in downtown San Jose is about to return from a 1991 fire that gutted the church. But, as Joe Rodriguez explains in the San Jose Mercury News, adversity doesn’t stop this church that has faced fires, earthquakes and the wrath of people who did not respect its stands for social justice.
News around the connection
2016 General Conference to see drop in delegates
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — 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 voted Oct. 18 to set the target number of delegates at 850.
United Methodist Church intensifies ministries with poor
NEW YORK (UMNS) — Efforts are under way to expand, strengthen and promote United Methodist ministries with the poor in the United States through connecting local models of successful ministries that cross class, ethnic and racial lines. The undertaking reflects a four-point plan agreed to earlier by the Justice and Reconciliation Table of the denomination’s Council of Bishops and representatives of the United Methodist boards of Church and Society and Global Ministries.
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.
Finance agency extends benefits to same-sex couples
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — General agencies of The United Methodist Church will extend employee benefits to same-sex couples, under a decision by the board of directors of the denomination’s General Council on Finance and Administration. The board on Oct. 21 also voted to seek a ruling from the Judicial Council, the denomination’s top court, to make sure the change is in keeping with church law.
Agency forms partnership with Healing Communities
WASHINGTON (UMNS) — The United Methodist Board of Church and Society has announced a partnership with Healing Communities, a Philadelphia faith-based ministry that provides a framework to engage with people returning from or at risk of incarceration, their families and the larger community. Bill Mefford, the agency’s director of civil and human rights, said Healing Communities is a way for United Methodist congregations to become “stations of hope” for returning citizens.
Resources for churches
Practices of the ancients aid modern prayers
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — A resurgence of ancient prayer practices has United Methodists and others across the United States experiencing traditional spiritual exercises in new ways. Emily Snell reports about these practices for Interpreter OnLine.
7 practices for best church volunteers
ATLANTA (UMNS) — “I don’t know where I would be without a man named Lenis Black,” writes leadership consultant Brian Dodd in The Christian Post. Black was a volunteer at Acworth United Methodist Church in Acworth, Ga., and Dodd’s first Sunday school teacher. Remembering Black prompted Dodd to identify the seven practices of the best church volunteers.
Survey on online communion
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — As part of the ongoing discussion of the possibility of online Eucharist, the Rev. Dawn Chesser — the director of preaching ministries at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship — is surveying United Methodists to get their thoughts on the practice. All United Methodist members, clergy and other individuals who attend or affiliate with The United Methodist Church are invited to fill out this short survey on Holy Communion online. Chesser will be using the results in her research for her dissertation. She also plans to make the survey findings publicly available.
Read online communion discussion
History of Hymns: ‘God the Sculptor of the Mountain’
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — “God the Sculptor of the Mountain” is the most published work of the Rev. John Thornburg, a hymn writer and fourth-generation United Methodist. C. Michael Hawn discusses Thornburg’s ministry.
United Methodists in the news
‘Grateful to God’ for Kenya mall experience
NAIROBI, Kenya (UMNS) — Scott Gilpin had traveled to Nairobi for a historic first meeting of presidents of African Methodist colleges and universities. The executive director of fund development for the United Methodist Board of Discipleship reflects on how a four-day deadly siege at a mall became a blessing for him.
Pastor celebrates October in pink
BROWNFIELD, Texas (UMNS) — On Sunday mornings in October, Ruby Moultrie is behind the pulpit giving sermons in a pink stole at First United Methodist Church in Brownfield, reports Lubbockonline.com. In 1996, Moultrie was told she had breast cancer. A follow-up found the diagnosis false. About 15 years later, she was diagnosed again — this time it was positive. But Moultrie doesn’t see her diagnosis as a burden. She sees it as a blessing.
Faithful Filibuster ends, goal remains
WASHINGTON (UMNS) — The “Faithful Filibuster” ended Oct. 17 after House and Senate votes to end the government shutdown but with a note that the task remains unfinished. The filibuster was a religious effort to read the more than 2,000 verses of Scripture in the Bible to remind Congress that their dysfunction hurts the most vulnerable Americans and that we are charged with caring for the least among us. “We are grateful to God for ending these crises, but we cannot simply exchange one deadline for another,” said the Rev. David Beckman, president of Bread for the World. “We need to address the looming threat of automatic budget cuts or sequestration. We have to stop sequestration, but not on the backs of the working poor and struggling families.”
Bishops in the news
Bishops urge Bishop Talbert not to officiate at same-sex union
WASHINGTON, D.C. (UMNS) — The executive committee of the United Methodist Council of Bishops issued a statement today, Oct. 23, in response to retired Bishop Melvin G. Talbert’s plans to officiate at the marriage ceremony of Bobby Prince and Joe Openshaw on Oct. 26 in Birmingham, Ala.
"The bishops of the church are bound together in a covenant and all ordained elders are committed to uphold the Book of Discipline," the statement reads. "'Conducting ceremonies which celebrate homosexual unions; or performing same-sex wedding ceremonies' are chargeable offenses in The United Methodist Church. (¶2702.1.b) The Executive Committee of the Council of Bishops has urged Bishop Melvin Talbert not to perform the same-gender marriage in Birmingham, Alabama."
Same-sex couple responds to Council of Bishops’ statement on their wedding
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (UMNS) — A same-sex couple who plan to wed Saturday, Oct. 26, is responding to a statement from the executive committee of the United Methodist Council of Bishops asking retired Bishop Melvin Talbert not to perform their wedding.
“Stop writing about us and look at us. Talk to us. See the humanity and faces of two men who are deeply in love with one another and who are seeking to follow God’s calling to join together in marriage so we can go, therefore, and better show the world what God’s love for God’s people looks like,” write Joe Openshaw and Bobby Prince.
Talbert agreed to officiate at the couple’s request after their own United Methodist pastor told them she could not marry them in their church, Discovery United Methodist Church, Hoover, Ala.
Bishop urges prayer, action after school shooting
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (UMNS) — “Once again, a gun has ended up in a school with deadly consequences,” writes Bishop Warner H. Brown Jr. of the California-Nevada Annual (regional) Conference. Brown was referring to the shooting Oct. 22 at a Sparks, Nev., middle school that resulted in the death of a teacher and injuries to students as well as the death of the shooter, also a student. “Join me in prayer for Pastor Gary Pope-Sears and the faithful people of Sparks United Methodist Church, and other faith communities, as they minister to the people of Sparks during this difficult time.”
Bishop’s daughter dies of malaria
KINDU, Democratic Republic of the Congo (UMNS) — Virginie Kabibi Mirgivir Unda, daughter of Bishop Gabriel Unda Yemba of the East Congo Episcopal Area, has died of malaria. Her mother, Omba Charlotte Unda, also died of malaria Feb. 1, 2007. Condolences from around The United Methodist Church go to the Unda family and to the people of the East Congo Episcopal Area.
Arrangements for the late Bishop Wertz
CARLISLE, Pa. (UMNS) — A memorial service for Bishop D. Frederick Wertz is scheduled for 11 a.m. ET Nov. 2 at Carlisle United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, memorials for Bishop Wertz may be made to UMCOR, undesignated fund Advance No. 999895. Please make checks payable to “Advance GCFA” and mail them to: Advance GCFA, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068. The memo line of the check should say “In memory of Bishop Fred Wertz.”
Commentaries and blogs
The Kingdom of God is like a church rummage sale
BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (UMNS) — The Rev. Laurie Haller, the senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Birmingham, explains why church rummage sales are an important expression of Christian mission and offers 12 tips to operate a successful sale.
‘5 things I’ve learned 5 years out’
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (UMNS) — “As the saying goes ‘time flies when you’re having crazy’… or something like that, right?” asks the Rev. Adam Weber, pastor of Embrace. He goes on to list five things he has learned in his first few years at the fast-growing Embrace.
Come together: Responding to the government shutdown
ALCOA, Tenn. (UMNS) — How should United Methodist Christians have responded during the recent government shutdown and related political drama? Annette Spence, editor of The Call, offers responses from four Holston Annual (regional) Conference members.
Looking ahead
Here are some of the activities ahead for United Methodists across the connection. If you have an item to share with others, email newsdesk@umcom.org and put Digest in the subject line.
Lunch and Learn on Christian Leadership in a Pluralistic Society, Monday, Oct. 28 — 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. CT. Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology will present a free lecture by Robert Hunt at Houston-Galveston Extension Program in Houston. Details.
Welcome Table at Wesley Theological Seminary, Monday, Oct. 28 and Thursday, Nov. 21 — 4 to 7:30 p.m. ET, prospective students can join a meal and attend a class at the seminary. Details.
Free webinar “The ELI Project — Developing Young People as Spiritual Leaders,” Wednesday, Oct. 30 — 3 p.m. CT. This webinar is an overview of the Experiential Leadership Initiative, a collaborative effort of the North Georgia Annual (regional) Conference Camp and Retreat Ministry and other ministries. To register.
“JustPeace101,” Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 31-Nov. 2 — Event in the theory, theology, principles and practices of conflict transformation led by JustPeace, The United Methodist Church’s Center for Conflict Transformation, in Nashville, Tenn. Details.
All Saints’ Day, Friday, Nov. 1 — Worship resources for the day or nearest Sunday from the United Methodist Board of Discipleship.
Free webinar “Exploring the Bible through Multiple Intelligences,” Tuesday, Nov. 5 — 6:30 p.m. CT, applying work of Harvard University’s Howard Gardner to Bible study. To register.
Free webinar “Children and Worship: The Conversation Continues,” Thursday, Nov. 7 — 10 a.m. CT. How did Jesus address children in worship? How should we address that ongoing question of whether children should worship with the gathered body? To register.
Free webinar “Developing Your Ministry Plan 3: Discovering your Discipleship Process,” Thursday, Nov. 7 — 6:30 p.m. CT. This session will focus on four key areas of congregational life: values, small groups, worship and preaching. To register.
In Mission Together, Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 7-9 — The United Methodist Board of Global Ministries will hold 50/50 Partnership Roundtable for United Methodists in the U.S., Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The gathering is at Cheviot United Methodist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Details.
“Love across the Spectrum” Conference, Friday-Saturday, Nov. 8-9 — Sponsored by Ohio Wesleyan University Chaplain’s Office. Details.
Red Bird Mission Appalachian Craft Fair, Saturday, November 9 — 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Bethel United Methodist Church-Chewsville, 21006 Twin Springs Dr., Smithsburg, Md. Details.
Spirituality of Advent Retreat, Saturday, Nov. 9 — 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. CT, Scarritt-Bennett Center, Nashville, Tenn. $25. Details.
Veterans Day or Armistice Day, Monday, Nov.11 — Resources for honoring military veterans, from United Methodist Communications and from United Methodist Board of Discipleship.
Workshop on Advocacy, Tuesday-Thursday, Nov. 12-14 — Training for anyone asked to be an advocate for a pastor or lay person. To register and learn the cost and location, contact the Rev. Jerry Eckert of Associates in Advocacy at aj_eckert@hotmail.com. Registration limited.
Free webinar on “Creating Sacred Spaces and Praying through Our Senses,” Thursday, Nov. 14 —7 p.m. CT. The final offering in the “Teach Us to Pray” series will look at the value of creating set-aside space for prayer and devotional time. As Advent approaches, the webinar also will look at how icons and other visual images, music and incense can enrich Christians’ experience of drawing nearer to God through prayer. Details.
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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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