California Pacific Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church for Thursday, 17 July 2014 "Bishops Call UMC to Prayer"

California Pacific Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church for Thursday, 17 July 2014 "Bishops Call UMC to Prayer"
The California-Pacific Conference is called to prayer about... 
Call to Prayer:
Border Crisis & Global Concerns
Bishops Call UMC to Prayer
The Executive Committee of The United Methodist Council of Bishops has called on United Methodists across the connection, "to pray, reflect, and engage in acts of compassion."
Included in the Bishops' statement is that the Bishops, "commend to all the July 18-20, 2014,
Bishops urge compassion, prayer for border crisis
Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church
100 Maryland Ave. NE
Washington, D.C. 20002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2014
Bishops Urge Compassion, Prayer for Border Crisis
Washington, D.C.:  In response to the rise in unaccompanied migrant children crossing the U.S. border, the executive committee of the Council of Bishops has called on United Methodists across the connection to “pray, reflect and engage in acts of compassion.”
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors have been traveling through Mexico and arriving at the Southwest U.S. border in recent months, specifically in the Rio Grande Valley. About 75 percent of the migrant children are from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.  As of mid-June, more than 52,000 children had been apprehended.
The influx of children is creating humanitarian challenges for the law enforcement organization as they seek to care for large numbers of children in need of food, water and shelter. Many United Methodist churches are eager to help.
The text of the bishops’ statement reads:
“The United Methodist Council of Bishops Executive Committee, meeting in Chicago, July 16, 2014, calls on all United Methodists to pray, reflect on God's Word, and engage in acts of compassion concerning the humanitarian crisis of thousands of unaccompanied children on the southern border of the United States.  There are also refugees and migrant people throughout the world for whom God and we have concern.
Jesus invited the children to come to him.  He called us to welcome strangers and love our neighbors as ourselves.  Let us be guided by Christ's example.
We commend to all the July 18-20, 2014, "Interfaith Weekend of Compassion and Prayer for Unaccompanied Migrant Children" and the "Pastoral Letter" from the United Methodist Bishops in Texas, as well as other resources available through our Annual Conferences and General Boards and Agencies.
As in all things, we seek to serve God, follow Christ, and be empowered by the Holy Spirit.” 
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Contact:
Diane Degnan ddegnan@umcom.org

615.742.5406 (o) 615.483.1765 (c)
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'Interfaith Weekend of Compassion and Prayer for Unaccompanied Migrant Children'
Interfaith Call to Compassion and Prayer for Unaccompanied Migrant Children
Dear colleagues and friends,
We know that many of you join us in being concerned about the urgent humanitarian need at our border and in our communities as thousands of refugee children flee violence and instability, seeking a safe haven here in the U.S.
Photos of overcrowded facilities and political grandstanding on the issue have captivated the media, but the national conversation has yet to reflect our faith values and our commitment to compassion and caring for children.  Too many of these children are scared and alone, desperate for someone to accompany them and care for them as they seek a future that will be brighter than their past.
We hope you will join us for an Interfaith Weekend of Compassion and Prayer for Unaccompanied Migrant Children, July 18-20, from sunset to sunset.
This coming Monday, July 14, we will have a resource packet ready for you online that will include worship guides in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim tradition that you can draw from for language for liturgies, prayers, bulletin inserts or announcements, as we join together in prayer for these refugee children and their families.  We will also send along materials that speak to the plight of these children.
During this interfaith weekend of compassion and prayer, we hope you and your community of faith will also join us in a letter-writing campaign to inject a much-needed dose of compassion into the national conversation and to send a message to these children that they are not forgotten.
Writing letters to the migrant children can be a great activity for small groups, Sunday School classes, coffee hours, Vacation Bible Schools, and for individual parishioners to work on from their homes and with their families.  The website www.TheyareChildren.com will go live on Monday, July 14th with additional information on submitting your own letter, drawing, or photo to a child and holding them in prayer.
We are also inviting you to be ready to join us in reaching out to congressional leaders and calling upon them to rise above politics and respond to this humanitarian crisis with compassion and respect for the rights of these vulnerable ones in our midst. The resource packet will include information to help us do so.
I hope you’ll join us in sending love and support to these children in need and helping us to move away from a polarized and hostile narrative to a narrative of compassion and justice that reflects our faith values.
Blessings,
Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño
Los Angeles Area Resident Bishop
The United Methodist Church
Bishop J. Jon Bruno
Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles

President, Los Angeles Council of Religious Leaders
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and the 'Pastoral Letter' from the United Methodist Bishops in Texas, as well as other resources available through our Annual Conferences and General Boards and Agencies."
A Pastoral Letter from Your Bishops to the People of The United Methodist Church in Texas
July 17, 2014 
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 
Today a humanitarian crisis is unfolding on our southern border with the arrival of tens of 
thousands of unaccompanied children. Many of you have communicated with us about your heartfelt desire to provide compassionate care for the unaccompanied children who are suffering in our midst. As bishops we have been conferencing with each other about how the people of 
The United Methodist Church might respond in a manner that is most faithful to the gospel. 
We have also been in conversation with the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), community leaders, and government officials. Our colleague, Bishop Jim Dorff, and other leaders in the Rio Texas Conference have just returned from three days on the border assessing the situation and representing the gospel and the church and encouraging people in a Christ-like 
response. 
Let us be guided by the Biblical witness of faith: 

• Jesus said, “Let the little children to come to me for to such belong the kingdom of heaven.” (Luke 18:15-16) 
• Jesus instructed us to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe those in need, visit the sick and those imprisoned. Then he said, “When you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.”(Matthew 25:40) 
• We are to extend hospitality to strangers. (Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:12) 

We do not understand all that these children have experienced in their home countries or in their arduous journey to our borders. We do know that heir plight breaks the heart of God. Children 
are some of the most vulnerable members of the global community. Many come seeking to survive. They all need our compassion and care. At a time of concern about a struggling economy and national security, it is easy to give in to fear and to let that fear, rather than God’s heart, shape our hearts and our response. “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.” (II Tim. 1:7). As followers of Christ, we have the power and wisdom of God to care for these unaccompanied children. 
As the Bishops of the United Methodist Conferences of Texas, we call on the people of The United Methodist Church to: 

• Pray regularly for the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being and healing of these children and families, wisdom for our government officials, and peace for the countries from which these children have come; 
• Work with faith and community leadership to provide housing, life necessities, pastoral/spiritual care, and as stable an environment as possible for these children and families while their long-term status is being resolved; 
• Be attentive to seeing Christ in the faces of these children; 
• Be alert for specific opportunities to offer ministries of compassion and care, which we will share as needs emerge. 

In the words of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, “Do all the good you can by all the means you can in all the ways you can in all the places you can at all the times you can to 
all the people you can as long as ever you can.” 
In the name and spirit of Christ, we join with you in Christian love for these children. God bless you. 
Earl Bledsoe 
Bishop of the New Mexico and Northwest Texas Conferences 
Jim Dorff 
Bishop of the Rio Grande and Southwest Texas Conferences 
Janice Huie 
Bishop of the Texas Conference 
Mike Lowry 
Bishop of the Central Texas Conference 
Mike McKee 

Bishop of the North Texas Conference
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Global Young People's Convocation
Let us pray for our group of young people from the California-Pacific Conference who are currently in good spirits in the Philippines attending the United Methodist Global Young People's Convention after having to relocate because of Typhoon Rammasun. 
Methodist Church of Kenya
Let us pray for Bishop Zablon Nthamburi of The Methodist Church of Kenya, who presented Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño with a figurine of a pregnant giraffe at Journey to Wholeness: Annual Conference 2014, and the people of Kenya as they experience insecurity and persistent drought during this difficult time.
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Follow:
•The Interfaith Weekend (calpacumc.org/interfaithweekend // #theyarechildren)
•Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño (@bishopminerva // /bishopminerva)
/calpacumc 
@calpacumc 
calpacumc.org 
Our mailing address is:
The California-Pacific Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
110 S Euclid Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101 United States
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