NOTE: This is a digest of news features provided by United Methodist Communications for March 30-April 2. 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 umc.org/news.
Top Stories:Reaction continues on Indiana religious freedom law
Photo by Dan Gangler
After Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act on March 26, critics said the law would allow discrimination against gays and lesbians.
Reaction continues on Indiana religious freedom law by Linda Bloom
NEW YORK (UMNS)
Editor's note: UPDATES with new information about similar Arkansas legislation, as well as comments from university presidents in Indiana.
Days of heated public discussion over the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act — and whether it would allow businesses to deny services to gays and lesbians — have prompted reaction from Indiana United Methodists.
The Rev. Robert Fuquay, pastor of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, pointed out that church members have differing opinions about the law, whether they are within his 6,000-member Indianapolis congregation or part of the denomination at large.
“It’s hard to line up this law with our United Methodist teaching and practice. We have a social responsibility, even if it does cause friction within our churches….to speak out against it,” Fuquay said.
At the same time, he noted, the law provides “an opportunity for the church to practice true hospitality and welcome.”
Some United Methodist churches in Indianapolis, for example, are among the organizations and businesses posting signs making it clear they are open to all. The Indianapolis City-County Council also passed a resolution Monday night opposing the new law.
The Rev. Michael Mather, left, pastor of Broadway United Methodist Church, joins others at an Indianapolis rally protesting the new religious freedom law. Photo courtesy of Michael Mather.
New action by legislature
Fuquay spoke Tuesday with United Methodist News Service just before an 11 a.m. EDT press conference in which Indiana Governor Mike Pence said that while there was never any intent by the state to discriminate against gays and lesbians or anyone else, he could appreciate how “that’s become the perception.”
Pence said he was raised to treat others as he would want to be treated. “I believe in my heart of hearts that no one should be mistreated because of who they are, who they love or what they believe,” he said.
New legislation, the governor announced, will provide a fix to a “misunderstood” law and make “it clear that this law does not give businesses a right to deny services to anyone.”
The Arkansas House of Representatives passed a similar religious freedom bill March 31, but Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said he would not sign it unless changes are made. Two Arkansas United Methodists —Bishop Gary Mueller and Carlotta Walls Lanier, a member of the Little Rock Nine, a group of students who desegregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957 — are among those who oppose the current version of the bill.
Concerns over that possibility have been raised ever since Pence signed the religious freedom legislation into law March 26.
About a dozen members of Broadway United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, including the Rev. Michael Mather, the pastor, joined hundreds of others during a March 28 rally opposing the law. “Some of us actually served communion there,” he said. “That was really a good experience.”
Mather said he believes the bill signed by the governor does encourage discrimination. Such a message, whether stated or implied, goes against Broadway’s mission statement to be a multicultural Christian community “that seeks, welcomes and values all people,” he added.
In an “Epistle” commentary posted March 30 after his return from a trip to Africa, Indiana Area Bishop Mike Coyner characterized the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as a reflection of fear rather than faith.
“People are afraid of change, and especially some persons who consider themselves to be religious are afraid that the changes in our society — most notably the legalization of same-gender marriages — may affect their freedom of religion,” he wrote.
Some of the angry reaction to the act also seems based on fear, he pointed out, although he noted that language “to verify that discrimination is unlawful” would have been helpful.
“As United Methodists our stance is clear as indicated in our Social Principles: We defend everyone’s right to freedom of expression of their own religion or personal faith,” Coyner wrote.
“We also believe all persons are of sacred worth, and so we oppose discrimination against anyone. We hope this law will not allow or encourage any forms of discrimination.”
Grieved by divisiveness
The Rev. Beth Ann Cook of Columbus told United Methodist News Service that she was among the many United Methodists in the state “deeply grieved by the divisive nature of the debate” and misleading speculation about the new law.
“To imply that anyone who opposed this legislation is in favor of trampling the religious rights of others is wrong,” she wrote in an email response. “It is equally wrong to imply that anyone who supported this legislation must be a bigot who hates gay people and wants to set Indiana back 50 years.”
Cook sits on the board of Good News, an unofficial United Methodist evangelical caucus. Its vice president, the Rev. Thomas Lambrecht, agreed the situation “is being blown way out of proportion.”
Good News, he said, “supports civil rights for all people, including gays and lesbians. My understanding is that the Indiana law, like the laws and court decisions in at least 30 other states who have the same legal status, does not sanction discrimination. It simply sets a high bar for courts in determining the balance between religious freedom and competing values in our society.”
The Indiana law differs from the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act and most similar state measures in explicitly allowing any for-profit business to assert a right to “the free exercise of religion.” The Indiana law also explicitly makes a business’s “free exercise of religion” a defense against a private lawsuit by another person, rather than simply against actions brought by government.
Religious freedom also deserves protection, Lambrecht noted. “Since religious freedom is one of our bedrock freedoms, I believe it ought to be protected for all people, not just Christians,” he said. “Our society functions best when there is a free and open marketplace of ideas and people have the freedom to live by their convictions to the greatest extent possible.”
Freedom in the public sphere
The Rev. Brent Wright, pastor of Broad Ripple United Methodist Church, Indianapolis, said he thinks the intent of most supporters of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was to allow people to follow their conscience, but noted there are “appropriate limits” when it comes to freedom in the public sphere and equality for every human being.
For Wright, the real issue is the civil rights of yet another marginalized community in America. “We’re having the same conversations again that we once had about skin color,” he said, but added that, “The fact that we’re going through it now feels hopeful to me even as it feels frustrating.”
Wright, who wrote a letter to Pence asking him to veto the bill, believes the church should lead the way and show the world “the open arms of Christ, to all people, in all circumstances.”
The law has pushed many, he explained, to speak up in a way that no one thought was unnecessary before. “One of the signs of hope these days is the swell of public support for openness,” Wright said.
Mayors and leaders of businesses, civic organizations and educational institutions across the state — including the presidents of the United Methodist-related University of Evansville, University of Indianapolis and DePauw University —have issued statements of concerns about the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Thomas Kazee, president of the University of Evansville, wrote that while he respected Pence’s arguments about religious freedom, the act itself “fuels the perception that we are intolerant and thus is damaging to the public welfare and to the University of Evansville.”
The University of Indianapolis cannot support a law “that may impinge upon the rights of certain groups in our community,” said Robert Manuel, University of Indianapolis president, in a statement.
“As we continue to build an environment of inclusion at UIndy, I join many other leaders in our state in calling for our Governor and our legislators to do the same for our community of Hoosiers.”
DePauw University President Brian W. Casey said he joined with other state leaders, institutions and corporations in urging “the governor and the legislature to take all steps necessary to address the harm this legislation has caused. We must affirm that the State of Indiana is a place that welcomes and respects all citizens and visitors regardless of their race, religion, or sexual orientation.”
Bloom is a United Methodist News Service multimedia reporter based in New York. Follow her athttps://twitter.com/umcscribe or contact her at (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org
What can Christians learn from Judas?
Painting by Carl Heinrich Bloch, late 19th century. Public domain
Judas Iscariot (right), retiring from the Last Supper. New Testament scholars argue for a nuanced view of the disciple who betrayed Jesus.
What can Christians learn from Judas? by Heather Hahn
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)
Portraying one of the most notorious villains in the Bible can get a man thinking about his faith.
David Berger did that a lot when he played Judas Iscariot in Lake Harriet United Methodist Church’s production of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” The musical’s Judas is not so easy to write off as history’s greatest monster. Instead, he comes across as a man agonized about his decision to betray his friend, even as he rationalizes that it is for his friend’s own good.
“I am more inclined to cut Judas some slack,” said Berger, a member of Lake Harriet in Minneapolis.
“But I think his own self-righteousness, his sense that ‘I know what’s right,’ really got him into trouble. Of course, it got Jesus into trouble. too.”
At the same time, Berger said, Judas set in motion Christ’s Passion — the sacrifice that would be the world’s salvation.
So how should Christians view Judas: As a traitor or an essential help to the Crucifixion and Resurrection? Or perhaps he is something else. Like the Beatles’ tune his name resembles, is Judas an example of God taking a sad song and making it better?
IS JUDAS REDEEEMED?
While rehearsing “Jesus Christ Superstar,” the director of the Lake Harriet UnitedMethodist Church production one night asked his team if they thought Judas ended up in Hell.
Simultaneously, the producer said “yes,” and the music director said “no.”
For much of Christian history, few questioned that if anyone deserved to be condemned for eternity, it was Judas.
Dante’s “Inferno” famously depicts Judas as the sinner “who suffers most of all” — quite literally reduced to Satan’s chew toy, his head gnawed perpetually in one of Lucifer’s three mouths.
John Wesley, Methodism’s founder, also did not seem to hold out much hope for Judas’ fate. In fact, Wesley sometimes used the wayward disciple as a warning to his burgeoning movement. In his 1789 sermon“Causes of Inefficacy of Christianity”— two years before his death — Wesley urged the people called Methodist to give all they can “otherwise I can have no more hope of your salvation, than of that of Judas Iscariot.”
Many Wesleyans are not so quick to give up on Judas. In a Bible commentary written decades after Wesley’s death, British Methodist Bishop Adam Clarke wrote that Judas “committed a heinous act of sin and ingratitude.” But because Judas repented, Clarke wondered if mercy “could not be extended to wretched Judas?”
We simply don’t know whether Judas was saved in the end, said David Berger, who played Judas in the Lake Harriet production. But he noted that Jesus died for him too.
The Rev. Thomas E. Phillips, a New Testament scholar and dean of the library at United Methodist Claremont School of Theology, said it’s significant that Jesus allowed Judas to participate in the Last Supper.
“Grace above all,” said Phillips, ordained in the Church of the Nazarene. “Imagine this scenario: Judgment day. God looks at Judas and says, ‘Aw, what the heck? You can come on in too.’ Who would have the right to object?”
One of the Twelve
All four biblical Gospels agree that Jesus called Judas as one of the Twelve. Not one presents Judas’ actions in a sympathetic light.
In Mark — widely believed to be the oldest Gospel — Jesus tells the disciples: “How terrible it is for that person who betrays the Son of Man! It would have been better for him if he had never been born.”
Many Christians historically used such passages to dehumanize Judas. They equated Judas with Judaism, and throughout the Middle Ages exploited Judas to justify attacks on their Jewish neighbors.
Today’s scholars reject such anti-Semitism and generally argue for a more nuanced view of this troubled disciple.
Judas, even in his sinfulness, has something to teach Christians, scholars say.
“Part of what I believe Lent is about is the recognition of our own frailty and our profound fault in so many ways,” said Jennifer W. Knust, associate professor of New Testament and Christian origins at United Methodist Boston University School of Theology. “It’s an invitation to extend compassion as Jesus did in the Passion.”
One way to do that, she said, is revisiting Judas’ story.
Why did he do it?
Little is known about the historical Judas beyond that he was a disciple and had a hand in turning Jesus in to authorities.
The Gospels disagree about why. In Mark, thechief priests promise to pay Judas only after he offers to give Jesus up to them. In Matthew, his motive appears to be greed. Both the Gospels of Luke and John simply say that Satan entered Judas before the betrayal, though John earlier notes that Judas was a thief who pilfered from the disciples’ common purse.
“You can see the Gospel writers struggling themselves to understand why Judas did what he did,” said James Barker, a recent recipient of the Paul J. Achtemeier Award for New Testament Scholarship.
Barker noted that the 30 pieces of silver Judas receives is actually slightly less than a week’s wages at the time.
One possible clue to Judas’ motives is his last name, said the Rev. Ben Witherington III, New Testament professor at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, and a member of the faculty at St. Andrews University in Scotland.
The name Iscariot could be a corruption of the word “sicarii,” which referred to the “dagger men” or hit men of the Zealots who wanted to overthrow Roman rule.
Witherington, a United Methodist elder, said Judas may have felt betrayed when he realized Jesus intended to die at the hands of the Roman occupiers instead trying to overthrow them.
“Imagine early in the week what a riding into Jerusalem in triumph and a cleansing of the temple would have done to the hopes of a Zealot and contrast that with what Thursday's pronouncements would have done — namely dashed zealotic hopes,” Witherington said.
Another possibility, he said, is that Judas feared Jesus was a false messiah. That’s the theory put forth in “Jesus Christ Superstar,” and one that Berger, who played Judas, finds plausible.
First-century Judaism was replete with men claiming to be God’s anointed king, most with disastrous results.
WHAT ABOUT THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS?
In 2006, the National Geographic Society had a blockbuster on its hands. It provided the first English translation of “The Gospel of Judas,” an ancient text that at first appeared to offer sympathy for the long-reviled disciple. The text appears to have Judas acting on Jesus’ request to be handed over to the authorities.
Likely written sometime in the second century A.D., long after the New Testament's Gospels, the text excited scholars and grabbed international headlines for showcasing the varied thought among early Christians.
The Rev. Thomas E. Phillips, lead editor of Luke in the Common English Bible, likened the Gospel of Judas to an ancient conspiracy theory. It postulates that “the story which everyone knows is a sham; here's the real story from a guy who was there and who knows the real scoop.”
The text does reveal squabbles among early Christians, but not necessarily the way first reported, argued April D. DeConick, a New Testament professor and chair of the religion department at Rice University in Houston. As she describes on her website, she also translated the text from the Coptic, and she concluded that parts had been mistranslated. Where the English translation called Judas a “spirit,” she decided a more accurate interpretation would be "demon."
The Rev. Ben Witherington III of Asbury Theological Seminary, agrees with DeConick.
“Judas is not rehabilitated in the Gospel of Judas; he is demonized!” Witherington said.
Bad deeds and a happy ending
Still, none of Judas’ possible reasons justifies his actions, scholars say. Neither does the joy of the Resurrection.
“Nowhere in the Gospels does it suggest that because the cross is a good thing, it was therefore a good deed of the people who delivered Jesus up to death,” said the Rev. Charles Cosgrove, professor of early Christian literature at United Methodist Garrett-Evangelical Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. He is also a United Church of Christ minister.
Nonetheless, he said early Christians struggled to reconcile the bad guys with the good news.
“The answer, according to most of those ancient theologians, is that they were doing God’s will without knowing it,” Cosgrove said. “What they really thought they were doing was opposing God. But God is smarter than them and worked out good through it.”
The Acts of the Apostles — the sequel to Luke — leaves little hope for Judas. In Acts 1:18, Peter says Judas bought a field with the blood money he received. But then he fell headfirst, and his guts spilled out.
The Gospel of Matthew offers a very different account. When Judas realizes Jesus has been condemned to die, he repents deeply of betraying “an innocent man.” He then throws the silver pieces into the temple. It is the chief priests who use the money for a field.
Judas, meanwhile, hangs himself.
While the church eventually condemned suicide, ancient Judaism taught that in certain situations, it could be an honorable act. In any case, most Christian denominations today — including The United Methodist Church — no longer teach that suicide is an unforgiveable sin.
“It’s a tragic story of someone who did a horrible thing and did what he could see himself doing to try to make it right,” Cosgrove said. “Although we have no words from him, I would say he was in effect throwing himself on the mercy of God.”
Lessons for Lent
The Rev. Sarah Conrad Sours, a United Methodist elder and religion instructor at United Methodist-related Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama, said that all the disciples pre-Pentecost give material for rather sobering Lenten reflections.
A painting titled, “The Pact of Juda,” circa 1350, shows Judas Iscariot receiving silver coins in his outstretched hand. Painting by Berna da Siena, Public domain
“The accent in all the Gospels is on the disciples’ failures and misunderstandings,” she said. “While the author of Luke goes on to give us a rousing story of their eventual faithfulness in Acts, all four Gospel writers remind us over and over that all of Jesus’s followers (or, at least, all of his male followers) misunderstood, betrayed and rejected him.”
She especially finds intriguing the possibility that Judas was trying hurry Jesus along the path of becoming a military messiah. Even now, she said, Christians often succumb to similar temptations.
“We are prone to believe that Jesus, or God, or the Gospelneeds our machinations to make it work in the modern age,” she said.
Berger, for his part, can sometimes see himself in Judas.
“I think of those times I’ve had the best intentions in mind but those intentions hurt others, or they actually turned out not to be the best intentions. But even through that, there’s grace. I think Judas experienced Jesus’ grace.”
Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
United Methodist Women helping women in Cote d’Ivoire
Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS
Eugenie Sowan Erse N’Ghessan sews clothes to earning a living for herself and her seven children in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
United Methodist Women helping women in Côte d’Ivoire by Kathy L. Gilbert
ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire (UMNS)
Eugenie Sowan Erse N’Ghessan is bent over her loud, blue, industrial sewing machine in the back corner of a small room she shares with three other tailors.
She works from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and she is happy and feels blessed because she is earning a living for herself and her seven children.
Surrounded by multicolored fabric and thread, N’Ghessan also keeps a folder nearby. Inside is the paperwork that shows she completed training and owns the machine she is using. She is one of 48 women who received a micro-loan from the United Methodist Women in the Côte d’Ivoire Conference. That loan started her business.
N’Ghessan’s husband is retired. She wasn’t a tailor before she got the machine but she has learned to embroider, which brings her a lot of business making school and business uniforms.
A mannequin standing out front of her shop is dressed in an elegant full-length burgundy dress adorned with heavy satin stitches in teal thread. This is one example of N’Ghessan’s work, and it is the kind of work she enjoys most.
“I love to embroider because it is very beautiful,” she said.
N’Ghessan said it takes two days to make such a detailed dress and she earns 10,000 CFAs ($17 U.S.).
Testimonies to success
N’Ghessan’s success is exactly what Dorcas Adou was praying for when she approached the international UMW office in New York three years ago and asked for $20,000 U.S. to start a program to help women become independent business owners.
Dorcas Adou, president of UMW in Abidjan District.
“We could see what was around us, the misery, the poverty, so we discussed amongst ourselves, ‘What can we do to help these women?’” said Adou, president of United Methodist Women in the Abidjan District.
“My greatest pride is to see these women in their situations assuming responsibility for their family, their business. It puts these women into a position of dignity,” Adou said.
Christine Dobre, who received one of the loans, bought a freezer for her juice-making business.
Dobre lost her husband in 2012 and lives in cramped quarters with her large family of children and grandchildren.
She makes juice from ginger, pineapple, lemons and other fruit and freezes them in small plastic bags. She sells her product on the streets and at a nearby school. She heard about the micro-loan program at her local United Methodist church and requested a loan. She makes about $10 a week, selling her juice bags, five for $1.
Now she has income to help feed her family and send her children to school. “It changed my life,” she said.
Reine Akaffou sells palm oil and pancakes. Plastic water bottles filled with the golden oil sit in neat rows inside a rusty wheelbarrow near her outdoor kiosk. One of the things she most enjoys about being a part of the women’s program is the chance to meet with other businesswomen and share their experiences.
“I learned of the program through church,” she said. She is learning how to keep records and about accounting, and that, in turn, teaches her to make a profit.
Changing Côte d’Ivoire
Adou said children seeing their mothers work so hard and achieve success will be good for the future of Côte d’Ivoire.
“Women are the producers of life, if they can raise their children with values, to assume responsibility later in life, that already is the beginning of the change,” she said.
She laughed and pointed out, “We have no cooking books, but we are very good cooks because we see how our mothers cook.”
Gilbert is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
United Methodists train teachers for reopening of schools
Photo by Phileas Jusu, UMNS.
The Rev Winston Ashcroft, Sierra Leone Conference connectional ministries director, distributes hand washing buckets to the Makeni District Superintendent, the Rev Mariama Bockarie, for teachers in the Makeni District.
United Methodists train teachers for reopening of schools by Phileas Jusu
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (UMNS)
Primary and secondary school teachers at United Methodist schools in the Sierra Leone Conference were in a classroom just for them as the country prepares to reopen in April schools that have been closed since June 2014, because of the Ebola virus.
“The training is to prepare our teachers to be able to respond to health emergencies when schools re-open, especially given the situation that Ebola is not over yet. We are giving them knowledge and tools to be able to respond appropriately and safely,” said Joseph Pormai, education secretary forsecondary schools at the United Methodist Sierra Leone Conference. The training was conducted by the conference education department with support from Operation Classroom, a support ministry to the Sierra Leone and Liberia education departments funded mainly by the Minnesota and Indiana Conferences
EBOLA NOT OVER YET
A government lockdown March 27-29 was a final push to end Ebola in Sierra Leone. National Zero Ebola Campaign came on the heels of news just 33 new confirmed cases were reported in the week ending March 27, the lowest since June 2014. Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea have set a target of having no new cases by the middle of April. The outbreak has killed more than 10,000 people in the three countries over the past year.
Exceptions to the lockdown were made to allow Muslims to go the mosques Friday and for Christians to attend Palm Sunday church services.
The training for the 160 schoolteachers is a response to the government’s plan to reopen schools in April. The Sierra Leone Conference’s effort, which started Tuesday March 17 in Freetown and ended Monday, March 25 in Bo in southern Sierra Leone, is part of a wider national plan involving UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the government of Sierra Leone. UNICEF also is sponsoring similar trainings around the country.
The United Methodist effort is supporting the nationwide training and consideration is being given to training at United Methodist schools in remote and hard-to-reach communities that might not be covered by the generaltraining opportunities.
The workshop followed the Key Messages for Safe School Operations, guidelines developed “to help West African ministries of health and education reopen schools closed because of the Ebola outbreak.” The training materials, developed for countries with outbreaks of Ebola, was put together by the collaborative efforts of UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and WHO. The training takes the form of discussions and information-sharing.
‘Here to discuss with you and think’
“We have not come here with solutions or answers to all the questions you have. We are here to discuss with you and think of ‘probable solutions’ together with you,” said Henrietta Emmanuel, a facilitator and member of the Sierra Leone Conference’s Ebola Response team at the training of the first 40 teachers March 17 in Freetown.
The Key Messages for Safe Schools Operations guidelines recommend four basic principles to help keep students, teachers and staff safe at school and help stop the Ebola spread:
Sick students, teachers, and staff should not come to school
Schools should encourage frequent hand-washing and daily disinfection and cleaning of school surfaces
Schools should discourage physical contact
Schools should follow national and local Ebola and safe school guidelines, including separating sick people and telling local health officials if someone appears to be sick with Ebola.
Some of the requirements and expectations spurred strong debates at the training sessions in Freetown. Participants expressed concern about their welfare and safety. There was mumbling and some participants expressed apprehension at the Freetown training when a facilitator jokingly said that health workers have had their fair share of the fight against Ebola and it was now the teachers’ turn to play their part – a tacit reference to the large number of health workers who became infected and died of Ebola through their job.
“I am a teacher and not a nurse. I don’t know how to take care of sick people. I want to know how much protection teachers and students will be given from those who might fall ill during school hours when we return to school,” said Satta Mambu, a female teacher at UMC Primary School in Kenema, eastern Sierra Leone, at the Bo training session.
Questions and doubts remain
Sierra Leone Ministry of Education sources said last week that the earlier plan to reopen schools in March did not work out because some schools that were used as Ebola holding andtreatment centers have not all been disinfected and made ready to accommodate pupils. School reopening has now been deferred to mid-April. The disinfection of schools that served as Ebola holding and treatment centers are part of the directives in the document.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Donate through UMCOR
Questions and doubts still remain and were evident at the training sessions. Teachers wanted to know, for instance, how spacing, which was a problem even before the Ebola outbreak, will be managed. Some of the schools are overcrowded with some classrooms having as high as 80 students with poor seating accommodations.
The Key Messages for Safe School Operations also provides steps school authorities must take to help keep their schools safe. Those steps include:
Choosing a school Ebola Response Team
Providing equipment and supplies such as thermometers for screening, isolation rooms, hand washing stations, soap, chlorine and gloves
Preparing teachers, staff, parents, students, and the community for school reopening
Providing regular Ebola education for students, parents, staff, and the community
Participants expressed concern about how to prevent children from touching and hugging their friends they have missed for almost a year. One teacher asked, for instance, what punishment they would give a student who hugs a friend. No one was able to provide an answer.
Other issues for discussion included how the teachers would manage the children at play and what kind of play would be allowed, how to deal with children who are traumatized because they lost loved ones to Ebola, and, how the teachers themselves would manage their trauma while trying to keep the children focused and alert.
Getting sanitized provisions together
The Sierra Leone Conference Education Department is providing sanitizing buckets, bars of soap for hand washing and sanitizers while the Ministry of Education is expected to provide every school with infrared thermometers in addition to other sanitary conditions when the schools reopen.
Teachers were encouraged to be very observant to be able to weed out for isolation children who might show signs of illness. But, emphasis was put on how that isolation would be done so that the children’s dignity and self-esteem is preserved. Signs and symptoms of Ebola were emphasized but care was urged since some signs of Ebola are similar to malaria, which is also common in the country.
Everything in life is a risk, noted the Makeni District superintendent, Mariama Bockarie, even the reopening of schools in Sierra Leone at this time. She said the Bible admonishes Christians to do their part and leave the rest to God Almighty. She asked all to do what the health officials advise, but prayed that Ebola would be over by the time schools are scheduled to reopen.
Jusu is director of communications for The United Methodist Church in Sierra Leone. News media contact: Vicki Brown at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Sharing Passover seders, like a good neighbor
Photo courtesy of Mount Bethel UMC, Marietta, Georgia
Seder plate
Sharing Passover Seders
Barbara Dunlap-Berg
March-April 2015
"The Passover is not about just telling the Exodus story," says Rabbi Evan Moffic. "It is about reliving it." Senior rabbi of Congregation Solel in Highland Park, Ill., Moffic recently wrote What Every Christian Needs to Know about Passover: What It Means and Why It Matters (Abingdon Press).
He describes the Passover meal as "one of the interesting places that Judaism and Christianity intersect – intersections that are, at once, rich, complicated, winsome, and sometimes fraught. Jews – even Jews who observe very few other religious rituals – celebrate a Passover seder each year, a meal that commemorates the events of the original Exodus from Egypt."
Celebrating a seder is more than gathering supplies – matzah, bitter herbs, charoset, a roasted bone, a hard-boiled or roasted egg, parsley, saltwater and wine or grape juice – and reciting the Passover story. It is a spiritual experience that can enrich one's faith.
Moffic encourages Christian congregations to consider having a seder with their Jewish neighbors. By doing so, he says, "Christians can learn about the roots of several Christian practices as well as some of the depth of Jewishness in Jesus' teachings. Jews can learn a great deal of spirituality andcontemporary worship from Christians. The possibilities are endless."
Sharing meals, sharing mission
The United Methodist Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew on New York's Upper West Side knows firsthand how valuable that sharing can be. The United Methodists have shared a building and a life with the Jewish Congregation B'nai Jeshurun since 1991.
"Early on," recalls the Rev. K Karpen, senior pastor at St. Paul and St. Andrew, "we held Passover seders with B'nai Jeshurun. The rabbis created and led the Haggadah (storytelling). We pastors joined in the singing and eating!" Participants from both faiths led the readings.
The seders led to other shared experiences.
While the two congregations have not recently celebrated Passover together, B'nai Jeshurun families have invited Karpen and others from St. Paul and St. Andrew to join them for seders in their homes.
"One time, we went to the home of one of the rabbis, Roly Matalon, and his wonderful family," Karpen remembers. "They had also invited several Muslim friends. I think that the Jewish participants came away with how powerful and important the Exodus is in Christian tradition. The United Methodists were struck with different aspects of the ritual – for instance, spilling drops of wine in memory of the suffering of the Egyptian soldiers and their families at the drowning in the Red Sea. That made us more aware and sensitive to the many ‘enemies' who suffer as a result of our participation in war."
One United Methodist participant told him, "At events like this, it's so important to be a ‘perfect stranger,' learning and taking the lead from our hosts."
The seders have led to other interfaith ventures such as regularly scheduled themed meals with St. Paul and St. Andrew, B'nai Jeshurun and two Muslim groups.
"We do it potluck," Karpen says, "all vegetarian, because of the Jews and Muslims; no alcohol, because of the Muslims and United Methodists!" They also hold interfaith worship services on special occasions, run a homeless shelter together and cooperate in a large emergency-food program and a tutoring project.
"I think our Wesleyan tradition really helps with things like this," Karpen says. "John Wesley, for all his evangelical fervor and Christian conviction, knew how to be respectful and appreciative of other religious traditions."
"Occasionally," author Moffic tells Interpreter, "Christians only see Passover through a Christian lens." In his book, he points to the Jewish and Christian parallels.
"Churchgoing Christians celebrate Jesus' Passover seder when they take Communion," he writes, "and many Christian communities specifically recall Jesus' last Supper on Holy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter."
"The seder plate is to Passover dinner what the chalice and paten are to the celebration of Communion, and the special foods on the seder plate are, in some ways, like the bread and the wine that the chalice and paten hold."
The Passover story, says Moffic, "is not just a part of Jewish history. It delivers a universal message of hope."
Barbara Dunlap-Berg is associate editor of Interpreter magazine.
Clark Atlanta University names new president
CAU PRESIDENT ELECT
Ronald A. Johnson, Ph.D.
Home CAU President Elect Ronald A. Johnson, Ph.D.
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CAU President Elect
Ronald A. Johnson, Ph.D.
“In Ronald Johnson, we have identified a scholar of tremendous intellect, a global financier with impeccable credentials, an institution-builder with a demonstrable record of successes, a fundraiser with highly developed strategic acumen and a compassionate role model whose obvious desire to engage and empower students is borne out of his own personal journey. I am honored to have Ron and his wife, Irene, become part of the CAU family.”Alexander B. Cummings Jr.- Chairman, CAU Board of TrusteesClark Atlanta University Board Of Trustees Concludes Nationwide Search With Election Of Fourth President: Ronald A. Johnson, Ph.D., Takes Helm Of Historic Institution July 1
Posted on Tuesday, March 31, 2015
CAU President- Elect Ronald A. Johnson, Ph.D.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Donna Brock
404-880-8337
dbrock@cau.edu
ATLANTA (March 31, 2015)—The Clark Atlanta (CAU) University Board of Trustees today concluded its nationwide search for the institution’s fourth president with the announcement of Texas Southern University’s (TSU)Ronald A. Johnson, Ph.D., as the historic university’s next leader. Johnson, who currently serves as dean of TSU’s Jesse H. Jones (JHJ) School of Business will assume this new role on July 1, 2015, succeeding Clark Atlanta’s current President Carlton E. Brown, Ed.D., who will retire on June 30.
Johnson, born in Brooklyn, N.Y., earned the B.A. in economics and the MBA in finance from Adelphi University. He earned the M.A and the Ph.D. degrees in economics from Stanford University. His professional success tracks through some of the nation’s foremost investment organizations, including Smith Graham & Company where he managed assets totaling $3 billion and Templeton Worldwide where he managed assets totaling $2 billion. His love of education, teaching and research, and his reverence for the nation’s HBCUs in particular, has kept him close to academic circles for much of his career, which includes leading two schools of business as dean and named professorships at some of the nation’s most respected institutions of higher education.
CAU Board Chairman Alexander B. Cummings Jr., executive vice president and chief administrative officer for The Coca-Cola Company, says “in Ronald Johnson, we have identified a scholar of tremendous intellect, a global financier with impeccable credentials, an institution-builder with a demonstrable record of successes, a fundraiser with highly developed strategic acumen and a compassionate role model whose obvious desire to engage and empower students is borne out of his own personal journey. I am honored to have Ron and his wife, Irene, become part of the CAU family.”
CAU Trustee Joe Laymon, vice president for human resources at Chevron Corp., led the Board’s 12-member Presidential Search Committee, supported by Washington, D.C.-based, AGB Search. “Our search was intentionally broad,” he notes. “We carefully reviewed more than 100 applications from across the United States. Our fundamental qualifications for the position were rooted in the University’s strategic plan, the realities of the current economic climate, the prevailing legislative environment and the increasingly competitive global student recruitment marketplace. One candidate, Ronald Johnson, consistently stood out during the intensive, very detailed vetting phases of the process. He possesses the skill, experience and vision necessary to provide the leadership and focus required to elevate Clark Atlanta and reposition it in the international arena.”
The president-elect says he is eager to join the Clark Atlanta University community and begin his term as president. “There are few institutions in the United States, HBCU or otherwise, with the rich dual history, the intellectual legacy and the tradition of scholar-activism that defines Clark Atlanta. Now the University will look to its future, harnessing a tremendous wealth of academic talent, a nation-wide expanse of passionate, multigenerational alumni and opportunities to create strategic alliances that will elevate its competitive advantage.”
Johnson emphasized that he and his wife are a team. “Irene and I want to be a part of the exciting efforts to sustain the relevancy and vibrancy of Clark Atlanta University as a premier institution of higher education and learning. We are looking forward to becoming part of the CAU community that is inspired by social purpose and fueled by intellectual vitality, cultural diversity, and global awareness.”
New President’s Leadership, Skills the Right Match for Elevating CAU
As the JHJ School of Business dean and full professor of finance since 2011, Johnson is intricately familiar with the rigors of the academic enterprise and, more important, how to sustain and strengthen connections between the academy and strategic partners to create substantive, relevant opportunities for students and faculty. Under his leadership, the School in 2014 was listed as one of The Princeton Review’s 295 best U.S. business schools, and GetEducated.com listed its eMBA programs as one of the best online buys. In 2015, U.S. News & World Report listed the school as one of the best graduate schools. Prior to serving as dean of the JHJ School of Business, Johnson served as dean of the Western Carolina University College of Business in Cullowhee, N.C., where the MBA program was included in The Princeton Review’s “Best Business Schools” in the nation, and its online master’s degree program in project management earned GetEducated.com’s distinction as the nation’s top-ranked online program in quality and affordability. The school’s online master of entrepreneurship program in 2007 was ranked as one of the five best online entrepreneurship programs in the nation.
Johnson built his career around teaching, mentoring and preparing future leaders in the investment, global financial management, international business, portfolio and securities analysis, economics and banking arenas, serving with distinction for two decades: BB&T Distinguished Professor of Capitalism and professor of finance, Western Carolina University;
JP Morgan Chase Professor of Finance, Texas Southern University; visiting associate professor of finance in the School of Business and Industry at Florida A&M University; assistant professor of finance, Northeastern University; and visiting assistant professor of economics, Howard University.
As Clark Atlanta reinforces its capacity to prepare for the University’s first comprehensive capital fundraising campaign, Johnson’s credentials and corporate leadership experience will prove invaluable in articulating the University’s assets and positioning the institution as a solid investment. He served as president and chief investment officer of Smith Graham & Company, an institutional investment management company in Houston, Texas, where he managed $3 billion in assets. Prior to joining Smith Graham, he served as director of global fixed income research and senior portfolio manager for Templeton Worldwide Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he oversaw assets valued at $2 billion. Johnson also served as the chief strategist and chairman of the investment committee for Americas Trust Bank in Miami, Florida; division chief for domestic financial markets with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and as an economist with the International Monetary Fund, as well as The Federal Reserve System Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. He has developed investment strategies, informed economic and financial policy decisions, consulted heads of government and their administrations on macroeconomic policy adjustments and led business development teams to more than 25 foreign nations during his career.
“Clark Atlanta, Johnson observes, has done a commendable job in sustaining itself over the past decade. Despite serious economic turbulence nationwide, compounded by constricting federal regulations and financial aid support, the University has managed to retain its enrollment of nearly 3,500, making it the largest of the nation’s UNCF 37 member institutions, as well as the largest among its affiliated United Methodist Church Global Higher Education Ministries HBCU institutions. I look forward to working with our talented faculty, dedicated staff, and engaged students to produce the next generation of global leaders, pioneer research and craft innovation that touches the lives of millions of people. By reinvigorating our business model, we are going to realize strategic advantages that will result in increased enrollment, enriched bases of graduate and undergraduate research, strengthened student support programs, and increased external funding support. These systemic components, once effectively and operationally interconnected, will ultimately define the brand of this great institution." “Today, we see in our midst a university that is poised to be a leading model for the 21st century in teaching, learning, and world-class research. "Our aim, he adds, is for the world community to see, embrace and share in the awesome mix of inspiration, value creation, and leadership that continues to be the mark of distinction for Clark Atlanta University.”
# # #
Ronald A. Johnson, Ph.D.
Dr. Ronald A. Johnson is a high-level strategic thinker who brings a broad vision, pragmatic leadership and collaborative style to address the twenty-first century challenges and opportunities faced by academic organizations. For the last 20 years he has helped universities, businesses, and governmental organizations create and implement strategies to achieve and maintain sustainable competitive advantage. A thoughtful leader and change agent with a global perspective, Dr. Johnson bridges the worlds of theory and practice.
Dr. Johnson presently serves as dean of the Jesse H. Jones (JHJ) School of Business at Texas Southern University (TSU). Since his arrival in June 2011, he has applied his unique blend of business acumen, fundraising, visionary curriculum development, and change agent skills to help move the JHJ School to the next level of strategic advantage. The JHJ School of Business has an enrollment of 1,500 students and offers five undergraduate and three master’sdegree programs. Academic programs are delivered through several modes, including face-to-face (residential), on-line (distance) and hybrid enrollment. The School employs more than 60 faculty and staff and is home to four research and outreach centers.
During his first year at the JHJ School of Business, Dr. Johnson successfully obtained re-accreditation by the AACSB International and developed strategies to improve undergraduate retention and progression rates; internships; scholarships; and employment opportunities for graduates. Paralleling upgrades in every area, Dr. Johnson restructured the office of the dean and hired a new leadership team to concentrate on recruitment, retention, student services, marketing, internships, and experiential learning; organized a Business Advisory Council of impact leaders; developed the JHJ Leadership Fellows program for high achieving students to enhance leadership capabilities and exposure; developed a coaching and counseling center to strengthen student intrinsic motivation for learning; updated the School's vision, mission and strategic plan; and sharpened the School’s focus by developing new marketing materials and raising the national visibility and awareness of the School. In addition, Dr. Johnson has been a regular guest speaker on local radio and television, on topics including the fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling debate, and the economic and financial market outlook. He is leading the School’s donor development fundraising campaign to raise $5 million over the next two years.
Dr. Johnson is the former dean of the College of Business at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C. Under his leadership, the College reaffirmed its AACSB International accreditation and revised its baccalaureate and master’s degree programs to focus on preparingBusiness Ready® graduates. Additionally, Dr. Johnson enriched external relations through active engagement with the College’s alumni and business and community leaders throughout the southeast region, initiating alumni chapters, its inaugural Golf Classic and chairing the Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC), covering 14 counties of the Western North Carolina region. Dr. Johnson expanded the College’s educational/learning partnerships through the establishment of several articulation agreements with two-year colleges and relationships with business incubators in North Carolina, Arizona, Belgium, India, Mexico, and South Africa.
Dr. Johnson led donor development and personally fundraised the largest private gift the college has received, $1 million from the BB&T Foundation. He was a regular guest speaker on local radio and television in the Asheville area. Dr. Johnson co-chaired the campus UNC Tomorrow Subcommittee on Enhancing the Global Competitiveness of the University and its Graduates.
Dr. Johnson has taught in the classroom and developed innovative curriculum at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida; Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts; and Howard University in Washington, D.C., as well as Texas Southern University. He is an accomplished researcher and has developed expertise in the design of learning focused business curriculums. He has co-authored peer review journal articles in this field on topics including, Integrated System Oriented Student-Centric Learning Environment: A Framework for Undergraduate Curriculum, which is forthcoming in January 2014 in the Campus-Wide Information Systems Journal.
Dr. Johnson serves as a member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) maintenance of accreditation peer review teams and is currently serving on the peer review team for Howard University’s College of Business. He has honed his academic executive development skills by participating in professional development seminars, including: the American Council on Education’s, Advancing to the Presidency; the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Academic Leadership Series, Changes that Matter: Looking to the Future of Higher Education; AACSB International’s Peer Review Training; AACSB International’s Design Thinking and Management Education; and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s Development and Advance Development for Deans.
Dr. Johnson’s experience is steeped in the world of investment management, as well. He is the former president and chief investment officer at Smith Graham & Company and led a team of traders and investment professionals in raising and managing almost $2 billion in fixed income portfolios for institutional investors. He is the former director of fixed income research and senior portfolio manager for Templeton Worldwide Inc., raising and managing nearly $3 billion in global fixed income assets. He is the former chief strategist and chairman of the investment committee for Americas Trust Bank, a Latin American investment bank. Dr. Johnson also has held positions with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the International Monetary Fund, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Active in civic and higher education organizations, Dr. Johnson is a member of the Cougar Investment Fund Board of the C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston and the former chair of the investment committee. He is a member of the investment committee of the Greater Houston Community Foundation, a member of the Sigma Pi Phi Boulé Fraternity, and the former Rhetoricos officer of the Fraternity’s Gamma Upsilon Organization. He is a former member of the board of overseers of the Wright Fund at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University; the audit, finance, and investment committees of the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast; the board of directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Houston; the board of advisory trustees of the Houston Ballet; and the board of directors of the Rabun Gap Nacoochee School in Rabun Gap, Ga. He is also an alumnus of Leadership North Carolina Class XVIII and a fellow of the Center for Houston’s Future.
Dr. Johnson holds the Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in economics from Stanford University, and an MBA in finance and a B.A. in economics from Adelphi University in New York. Dr. Johnson is married to Irene Oakley Johnson and has one son, Brandon.
#BringChange this World Malaria Day
Ronald A. Johnson, Ph.D.
Home CAU President Elect Ronald A. Johnson, Ph.D.
MENU
CAU President Elect
Ronald A. Johnson, Ph.D.
“In Ronald Johnson, we have identified a scholar of tremendous intellect, a global financier with impeccable credentials, an institution-builder with a demonstrable record of successes, a fundraiser with highly developed strategic acumen and a compassionate role model whose obvious desire to engage and empower students is borne out of his own personal journey. I am honored to have Ron and his wife, Irene, become part of the CAU family.”Alexander B. Cummings Jr.- Chairman, CAU Board of TrusteesClark Atlanta University Board Of Trustees Concludes Nationwide Search With Election Of Fourth President: Ronald A. Johnson, Ph.D., Takes Helm Of Historic Institution July 1
Posted on Tuesday, March 31, 2015
CAU President- Elect Ronald A. Johnson, Ph.D.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Donna Brock
404-880-8337
dbrock@cau.edu
ATLANTA (March 31, 2015)—The Clark Atlanta (CAU) University Board of Trustees today concluded its nationwide search for the institution’s fourth president with the announcement of Texas Southern University’s (TSU)Ronald A. Johnson, Ph.D., as the historic university’s next leader. Johnson, who currently serves as dean of TSU’s Jesse H. Jones (JHJ) School of Business will assume this new role on July 1, 2015, succeeding Clark Atlanta’s current President Carlton E. Brown, Ed.D., who will retire on June 30.
Johnson, born in Brooklyn, N.Y., earned the B.A. in economics and the MBA in finance from Adelphi University. He earned the M.A and the Ph.D. degrees in economics from Stanford University. His professional success tracks through some of the nation’s foremost investment organizations, including Smith Graham & Company where he managed assets totaling $3 billion and Templeton Worldwide where he managed assets totaling $2 billion. His love of education, teaching and research, and his reverence for the nation’s HBCUs in particular, has kept him close to academic circles for much of his career, which includes leading two schools of business as dean and named professorships at some of the nation’s most respected institutions of higher education.
CAU Board Chairman Alexander B. Cummings Jr., executive vice president and chief administrative officer for The Coca-Cola Company, says “in Ronald Johnson, we have identified a scholar of tremendous intellect, a global financier with impeccable credentials, an institution-builder with a demonstrable record of successes, a fundraiser with highly developed strategic acumen and a compassionate role model whose obvious desire to engage and empower students is borne out of his own personal journey. I am honored to have Ron and his wife, Irene, become part of the CAU family.”
CAU Trustee Joe Laymon, vice president for human resources at Chevron Corp., led the Board’s 12-member Presidential Search Committee, supported by Washington, D.C.-based, AGB Search. “Our search was intentionally broad,” he notes. “We carefully reviewed more than 100 applications from across the United States. Our fundamental qualifications for the position were rooted in the University’s strategic plan, the realities of the current economic climate, the prevailing legislative environment and the increasingly competitive global student recruitment marketplace. One candidate, Ronald Johnson, consistently stood out during the intensive, very detailed vetting phases of the process. He possesses the skill, experience and vision necessary to provide the leadership and focus required to elevate Clark Atlanta and reposition it in the international arena.”
The president-elect says he is eager to join the Clark Atlanta University community and begin his term as president. “There are few institutions in the United States, HBCU or otherwise, with the rich dual history, the intellectual legacy and the tradition of scholar-activism that defines Clark Atlanta. Now the University will look to its future, harnessing a tremendous wealth of academic talent, a nation-wide expanse of passionate, multigenerational alumni and opportunities to create strategic alliances that will elevate its competitive advantage.”
Johnson emphasized that he and his wife are a team. “Irene and I want to be a part of the exciting efforts to sustain the relevancy and vibrancy of Clark Atlanta University as a premier institution of higher education and learning. We are looking forward to becoming part of the CAU community that is inspired by social purpose and fueled by intellectual vitality, cultural diversity, and global awareness.”
New President’s Leadership, Skills the Right Match for Elevating CAU
As the JHJ School of Business dean and full professor of finance since 2011, Johnson is intricately familiar with the rigors of the academic enterprise and, more important, how to sustain and strengthen connections between the academy and strategic partners to create substantive, relevant opportunities for students and faculty. Under his leadership, the School in 2014 was listed as one of The Princeton Review’s 295 best U.S. business schools, and GetEducated.com listed its eMBA programs as one of the best online buys. In 2015, U.S. News & World Report listed the school as one of the best graduate schools. Prior to serving as dean of the JHJ School of Business, Johnson served as dean of the Western Carolina University College of Business in Cullowhee, N.C., where the MBA program was included in The Princeton Review’s “Best Business Schools” in the nation, and its online master’s degree program in project management earned GetEducated.com’s distinction as the nation’s top-ranked online program in quality and affordability. The school’s online master of entrepreneurship program in 2007 was ranked as one of the five best online entrepreneurship programs in the nation.
Johnson built his career around teaching, mentoring and preparing future leaders in the investment, global financial management, international business, portfolio and securities analysis, economics and banking arenas, serving with distinction for two decades: BB&T Distinguished Professor of Capitalism and professor of finance, Western Carolina University;
JP Morgan Chase Professor of Finance, Texas Southern University; visiting associate professor of finance in the School of Business and Industry at Florida A&M University; assistant professor of finance, Northeastern University; and visiting assistant professor of economics, Howard University.
As Clark Atlanta reinforces its capacity to prepare for the University’s first comprehensive capital fundraising campaign, Johnson’s credentials and corporate leadership experience will prove invaluable in articulating the University’s assets and positioning the institution as a solid investment. He served as president and chief investment officer of Smith Graham & Company, an institutional investment management company in Houston, Texas, where he managed $3 billion in assets. Prior to joining Smith Graham, he served as director of global fixed income research and senior portfolio manager for Templeton Worldwide Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he oversaw assets valued at $2 billion. Johnson also served as the chief strategist and chairman of the investment committee for Americas Trust Bank in Miami, Florida; division chief for domestic financial markets with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and as an economist with the International Monetary Fund, as well as The Federal Reserve System Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. He has developed investment strategies, informed economic and financial policy decisions, consulted heads of government and their administrations on macroeconomic policy adjustments and led business development teams to more than 25 foreign nations during his career.
“Clark Atlanta, Johnson observes, has done a commendable job in sustaining itself over the past decade. Despite serious economic turbulence nationwide, compounded by constricting federal regulations and financial aid support, the University has managed to retain its enrollment of nearly 3,500, making it the largest of the nation’s UNCF 37 member institutions, as well as the largest among its affiliated United Methodist Church Global Higher Education Ministries HBCU institutions. I look forward to working with our talented faculty, dedicated staff, and engaged students to produce the next generation of global leaders, pioneer research and craft innovation that touches the lives of millions of people. By reinvigorating our business model, we are going to realize strategic advantages that will result in increased enrollment, enriched bases of graduate and undergraduate research, strengthened student support programs, and increased external funding support. These systemic components, once effectively and operationally interconnected, will ultimately define the brand of this great institution." “Today, we see in our midst a university that is poised to be a leading model for the 21st century in teaching, learning, and world-class research. "Our aim, he adds, is for the world community to see, embrace and share in the awesome mix of inspiration, value creation, and leadership that continues to be the mark of distinction for Clark Atlanta University.”
# # #
Ronald A. Johnson, Ph.D.
Dr. Ronald A. Johnson is a high-level strategic thinker who brings a broad vision, pragmatic leadership and collaborative style to address the twenty-first century challenges and opportunities faced by academic organizations. For the last 20 years he has helped universities, businesses, and governmental organizations create and implement strategies to achieve and maintain sustainable competitive advantage. A thoughtful leader and change agent with a global perspective, Dr. Johnson bridges the worlds of theory and practice.
Dr. Johnson presently serves as dean of the Jesse H. Jones (JHJ) School of Business at Texas Southern University (TSU). Since his arrival in June 2011, he has applied his unique blend of business acumen, fundraising, visionary curriculum development, and change agent skills to help move the JHJ School to the next level of strategic advantage. The JHJ School of Business has an enrollment of 1,500 students and offers five undergraduate and three master’sdegree programs. Academic programs are delivered through several modes, including face-to-face (residential), on-line (distance) and hybrid enrollment. The School employs more than 60 faculty and staff and is home to four research and outreach centers.
During his first year at the JHJ School of Business, Dr. Johnson successfully obtained re-accreditation by the AACSB International and developed strategies to improve undergraduate retention and progression rates; internships; scholarships; and employment opportunities for graduates. Paralleling upgrades in every area, Dr. Johnson restructured the office of the dean and hired a new leadership team to concentrate on recruitment, retention, student services, marketing, internships, and experiential learning; organized a Business Advisory Council of impact leaders; developed the JHJ Leadership Fellows program for high achieving students to enhance leadership capabilities and exposure; developed a coaching and counseling center to strengthen student intrinsic motivation for learning; updated the School's vision, mission and strategic plan; and sharpened the School’s focus by developing new marketing materials and raising the national visibility and awareness of the School. In addition, Dr. Johnson has been a regular guest speaker on local radio and television, on topics including the fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling debate, and the economic and financial market outlook. He is leading the School’s donor development fundraising campaign to raise $5 million over the next two years.
Dr. Johnson is the former dean of the College of Business at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C. Under his leadership, the College reaffirmed its AACSB International accreditation and revised its baccalaureate and master’s degree programs to focus on preparingBusiness Ready® graduates. Additionally, Dr. Johnson enriched external relations through active engagement with the College’s alumni and business and community leaders throughout the southeast region, initiating alumni chapters, its inaugural Golf Classic and chairing the Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC), covering 14 counties of the Western North Carolina region. Dr. Johnson expanded the College’s educational/learning partnerships through the establishment of several articulation agreements with two-year colleges and relationships with business incubators in North Carolina, Arizona, Belgium, India, Mexico, and South Africa.
Dr. Johnson led donor development and personally fundraised the largest private gift the college has received, $1 million from the BB&T Foundation. He was a regular guest speaker on local radio and television in the Asheville area. Dr. Johnson co-chaired the campus UNC Tomorrow Subcommittee on Enhancing the Global Competitiveness of the University and its Graduates.
Dr. Johnson has taught in the classroom and developed innovative curriculum at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida; Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts; and Howard University in Washington, D.C., as well as Texas Southern University. He is an accomplished researcher and has developed expertise in the design of learning focused business curriculums. He has co-authored peer review journal articles in this field on topics including, Integrated System Oriented Student-Centric Learning Environment: A Framework for Undergraduate Curriculum, which is forthcoming in January 2014 in the Campus-Wide Information Systems Journal.
Dr. Johnson serves as a member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) maintenance of accreditation peer review teams and is currently serving on the peer review team for Howard University’s College of Business. He has honed his academic executive development skills by participating in professional development seminars, including: the American Council on Education’s, Advancing to the Presidency; the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Academic Leadership Series, Changes that Matter: Looking to the Future of Higher Education; AACSB International’s Peer Review Training; AACSB International’s Design Thinking and Management Education; and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s Development and Advance Development for Deans.
Dr. Johnson’s experience is steeped in the world of investment management, as well. He is the former president and chief investment officer at Smith Graham & Company and led a team of traders and investment professionals in raising and managing almost $2 billion in fixed income portfolios for institutional investors. He is the former director of fixed income research and senior portfolio manager for Templeton Worldwide Inc., raising and managing nearly $3 billion in global fixed income assets. He is the former chief strategist and chairman of the investment committee for Americas Trust Bank, a Latin American investment bank. Dr. Johnson also has held positions with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the International Monetary Fund, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Active in civic and higher education organizations, Dr. Johnson is a member of the Cougar Investment Fund Board of the C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston and the former chair of the investment committee. He is a member of the investment committee of the Greater Houston Community Foundation, a member of the Sigma Pi Phi Boulé Fraternity, and the former Rhetoricos officer of the Fraternity’s Gamma Upsilon Organization. He is a former member of the board of overseers of the Wright Fund at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University; the audit, finance, and investment committees of the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast; the board of directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Houston; the board of advisory trustees of the Houston Ballet; and the board of directors of the Rabun Gap Nacoochee School in Rabun Gap, Ga. He is also an alumnus of Leadership North Carolina Class XVIII and a fellow of the Center for Houston’s Future.
Dr. Johnson holds the Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in economics from Stanford University, and an MBA in finance and a B.A. in economics from Adelphi University in New York. Dr. Johnson is married to Irene Oakley Johnson and has one son, Brandon.
#BringChange this World Malaria Day
IMAGINE NO MALARIA TEAM
Do you want to be a part of something amazing? A truly world-changing moment in history? What if you could help raise $75 MILLION to end needless death and suffering from malaria – a treatable and preventable disease?
You can, and you are.
How can YOU #BringChange this World Malaria Day?
Show your support online | Hold a Community Event | Engage your congregation
Online Engagement
Order FREE donation boxes online
Join the Thunderclap.it campaign
Join the Twibbon campaign and change your social media profile pic
Download graphics to use in worship, small groups, or community events
Hold a Community Event
Register your community event
Find an event near you
Download event resources and guides
Engage Your Congregation
Download graphics to use in worship, small groups, or community events
View the World Malaria Day video
Download a Word document or PDF of worship resources and sermon starters
More than 30,000 red donation boxes are in United Methodist churches and homes around the U.S. today, and soon there will be even more! When these little donation boxes started flying off our shelves, we knew something special was happening. We decided to build our new theme around “Bring Change.”
Across the United States, congregations are preparing to host World Malaria Day fundraisers. Through creative events such as pancake breakfasts, “lemonAID” stands, 5K walks and much more, United Methodists will make difference.
Bring Change. Add your change to donation boxes, contribute below, start an event in your community or share the malaria story with a friend.
Join us to #BringChange and beat malaria for good!
Resources for your church include: a World Malaria Day video, PowerPoint graphics, web ads, worship resources and more. Resources are coming very soon.
Volunteers needed for General Conference 2016
Do you want to be a part of something amazing? A truly world-changing moment in history? What if you could help raise $75 MILLION to end needless death and suffering from malaria – a treatable and preventable disease?
You can, and you are.
How can YOU #BringChange this World Malaria Day?
Show your support online | Hold a Community Event | Engage your congregation
Online Engagement
Order FREE donation boxes online
Join the Thunderclap.it campaign
Join the Twibbon campaign and change your social media profile pic
Download graphics to use in worship, small groups, or community events
Hold a Community Event
Register your community event
Find an event near you
Download event resources and guides
Engage Your Congregation
Download graphics to use in worship, small groups, or community events
View the World Malaria Day video
Download a Word document or PDF of worship resources and sermon starters
More than 30,000 red donation boxes are in United Methodist churches and homes around the U.S. today, and soon there will be even more! When these little donation boxes started flying off our shelves, we knew something special was happening. We decided to build our new theme around “Bring Change.”
Across the United States, congregations are preparing to host World Malaria Day fundraisers. Through creative events such as pancake breakfasts, “lemonAID” stands, 5K walks and much more, United Methodists will make difference.
Bring Change. Add your change to donation boxes, contribute below, start an event in your community or share the malaria story with a friend.
Join us to #BringChange and beat malaria for good!
Resources for your church include: a World Malaria Day video, PowerPoint graphics, web ads, worship resources and more. Resources are coming very soon.
Volunteers needed for General Conference 2016
Volunteers needed for General Conference
United Methodist Communications
Office of Public Information
Umcpresscenter.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nashville, Tenn.: Volunteers are needed for a variety of roles during the 2016 General Conference, The United Methodist Church’s top legislative assembly, which will meet in Portland, Oregon from May 10-20, 2016.
At this time, volunteers are needed for the following positions: 28 recorders, 10 channel “B” identifiers and 20 verbatim transcribers/copy editors.
Recorders will serve as members of the staff of the secretary of the General Conference and work in direct support of their assigned legislative committee. Recorders are responsible for entering data such as the time, date, and results of committee votes, as well as making changes to pre-entered petition text to reflect the amendments approved by the committee. This information is prepared for the recorder by the legislative committee secretary who manually tracks this information as it happens. The recorder is not responsible for taking minutes or tracking the discussion of the legislative committee.
Channel “B” identifiers will serve as members of the staff of the editor of the Daily Christian Advocate (DCA), the official record of the activity of the General Conference. Channel “B” identifiers will follow action of the plenary, repeating delegates’ names, annual conferences and vote tallies into a microphone.
Verbatim transcribers/copy editors also serve as members of the staff of the editor of the DCA. They are responsible for using Microsoft Word to enter data. They will listen to audio files and transcribe the recordings.
All volunteers are responsible for their own travel and expenses. Those interested can apply herenow through July 1, 2015.
###
About General Conference
The General Conference is the top policy-making body of The United Methodist Church, and meets once every four years to consider revisions to church laws, as well as adopt resolutions on current moral, social, public policy and economic issues. It also approves plans and budgets for churchwide programs for the next four years. The next General Conference takes place May 10-20, 2016 in Portland, Oregon. Follow General Conference on Facebook.
Contact:
Sara Hotchkiss
shotchkiss@GCFA.org
615-369-2352
Job Descriptions Submit Application
If you have any problems with registering, please contact umcevents@gcfa.org
Application for Recorders, Channel "B" Identifier & Transcribers
2016 General Conference
The United Methodist Church
May 10-20, 2016
Portland, OR
2016 Application for Recorders, Channel "B" Identifier & Transcribers
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Online Registration provided by The General Council on Finance and Administration of The United Methodist Church.Newscope to cease publication
United Methodist Communications
Office of Public Information
Umcpresscenter.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nashville, Tenn.: Volunteers are needed for a variety of roles during the 2016 General Conference, The United Methodist Church’s top legislative assembly, which will meet in Portland, Oregon from May 10-20, 2016.
At this time, volunteers are needed for the following positions: 28 recorders, 10 channel “B” identifiers and 20 verbatim transcribers/copy editors.
Recorders will serve as members of the staff of the secretary of the General Conference and work in direct support of their assigned legislative committee. Recorders are responsible for entering data such as the time, date, and results of committee votes, as well as making changes to pre-entered petition text to reflect the amendments approved by the committee. This information is prepared for the recorder by the legislative committee secretary who manually tracks this information as it happens. The recorder is not responsible for taking minutes or tracking the discussion of the legislative committee.
Channel “B” identifiers will serve as members of the staff of the editor of the Daily Christian Advocate (DCA), the official record of the activity of the General Conference. Channel “B” identifiers will follow action of the plenary, repeating delegates’ names, annual conferences and vote tallies into a microphone.
Verbatim transcribers/copy editors also serve as members of the staff of the editor of the DCA. They are responsible for using Microsoft Word to enter data. They will listen to audio files and transcribe the recordings.
All volunteers are responsible for their own travel and expenses. Those interested can apply herenow through July 1, 2015.
###
About General Conference
The General Conference is the top policy-making body of The United Methodist Church, and meets once every four years to consider revisions to church laws, as well as adopt resolutions on current moral, social, public policy and economic issues. It also approves plans and budgets for churchwide programs for the next four years. The next General Conference takes place May 10-20, 2016 in Portland, Oregon. Follow General Conference on Facebook.
Contact:
Sara Hotchkiss
shotchkiss@GCFA.org
615-369-2352
If you have any problems with registering, please contact umcevents@gcfa.org
2016 General Conference
The United Methodist Church
May 10-20, 2016
Portland, OR
2016 Application for Recorders, Channel "B" Identifier & Transcribers
Required FieldContact Information
Title First Name Middle Name Last Name Suffix Address Line 1 Address Line 2 City State Zip Code Country Email Contact Evening Phone Number Daytime Phone Mobile PhoneGender
Age Range Additional Information Local Church Order of Ministry Annual Conference Language(s) Spoken Racial/Ethnic Background Have you served at previous General Conferences? YesNo
Would you prefer to serve as a
Please describe your computer skills: Please describe any experiences in similar roles: Please list the dates you can serve Full ConferenceOther
Online Registration provided by The General Council on Finance and Administration of The United Methodist Church.Newscope to cease publication
Newscope to Cease Publication
Contact: Amy Smith, Communications
Phone: 615.749.6860
Email: asmith@umpublishing.org
NASHVILLE, March 27, 2015—The United Methodist Publishing House, publisher of Newscope, announced today that Newscope will cease publication as of the April 1, 2015, issue, after forty-three years of serving United Methodist leaders with news and information of interest from around the globe.
Originally an experiment, this weekly news digest included accounts of UMs in action,annual conference reports, highlights of work related to the Four Areas of Focus,forthcoming events, and other items of interest, often involving persons who were or are widely known within the connection.
"For everything there is a season, and for more than forty of them Newscope proved to be a trusted and accessible source of denomination-wide news and information. It arrived weekly, first by mail, later via e-mail. It was widely read and was for a time the official vehicle for first notice of Judicial Council decisions. But church leaders, like many readers, increasingly turned to an array of up-to-the-minute Internet sources for news, andNewscope's circulation declined,” said Neil M. Alexander, president and publisher of The United Methodist Publishing House and publisher of Newscope. “We celebrate what Newscope accomplished and are grateful to the readers and the staff who made it such an integral part of UM life for more than forty years.”
###
History of Hymns: ‘Beneath the Cross of Jesus’
History of Hymns: “Beneath the Cross of Jesus”by C. Michael Hawn
"Beneath the Cross of Jesus" by Elizabeth C. Clephane;
The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 297
Elizabeth C. Clephane
Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
the shadow of a mighty rock
within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness,
a rest upon the way,
from the burning of the noontide heat,
and the burden of the day.
Elizabeth Cecilia Douglas Clephane was born in Scotland in 1830 and died in 1869. The daughter of a county sheriff, she lived most of her brief life near Edinburgh.
Though in frail health most of her life, Elizabeth found the strength to help the poor and sick in her town. She and her sister gave all that they could spare to charity including, it is said, selling their horse and carriage for the benefit of the needy. The townspeople of Melrose referred to Elizabeth as “the Sunbeam.”
“Beneath the cross of Jesus,” focusing on the shelter of the cross, was first published three years after the author’s death in 1872 under the title “Breathings on the Border,” perhaps a double entendre referring to a geographical location near Melrose, the Scottish Borders, and a reference to the border between life and death. This poem and others of hers appeared in the Scottish Presbyterian magazineThe Family Treasury, submitted by an anonymous source, perhaps a family member or friend. One source suggests that this hymn was written within one year of her death in 1868. British hymnologist. J.R. Watson mentions that an editorial emendation attached to the poem by the anonymous source submitting the poems said, these lines “express the experiences, the hopes and the longings of a young Christian lately released.”
Contained in the same collection was her famous narrative poem, “There were ninety and nine that safely lay.” Both of these hymns were promoted by the well-known American musical evangelist and songwriter Ira D. Sankey (1840-1908), who published them in his Sacred Songs and Solos (1873). Though Sankey composed a tune for the song entitled CLEPHANE, the almost universal pairing is with ST. CHRISTOPHER, composed by Bristol, England, musician, Frederick C. Maker (1844-1927).
The hymn is full of comforting, and perhaps paradoxical language, about the cross, after all, an instrument of the cruelest torture. These include in stanza two “the shadow of a mighty rock,” “a home within the wilderness,” “a rest upon the way.” An omitted third stanza provides additional images of consolation: a “happy shelter,” “refuge tried and sweet,” a “trysting place,” and “a ladder up to heaven,” a reference to Jacob’s ladder.
O safe and happy shelter,
O refuge tried and sweet,
O trysting place where heaven’s love
and heaven’s justice meet!
As to the exiled patriarch
that wondrous dream was given,
so seems my Savior’s Cross to me -
a ladder up to heaven.
Originally five stanzas, another omitted stanza, perhaps autobiographical, provides further insight into the comfort that the writer found in the shadow of the cross and the inspiration that the cross gave her as she anticipated her own death:
There lies beneath its shadow,
but on the further side,
the darkness of an open grave
that gapes both deep and wide;
and there between us stands the cross,
two arms outstretched to save,
like watchman set to guard the way
from that eternal grave.
Such explicit anticipation of and longing for death may seem somewhat morbid today, but echoes the Romantic literary sentiment of her time. Though appropriately sung during Lent and Holy Week today, this hymn is more of a personal meditation on the cross and one’s own mortality than a hymn written for a specific time of the Christian Year.
The contrast between this nineteenth-century Romantic perspective of the cross and the early seventeenth-century understanding expressed in the famous hymn by Isaac Watts (1674-1748), “When I survey the wondrous cross” (1707) is significant. Only the salient differences can be mentioned here. While Clephane’s cross is one of shelter and comfort, Watts’ cross is one of redemption. Clephane scarcely mentions the One who hung on the cross, while Watts focuses our attention to the dying Christ in stark detail in the first line of the following stanza (UMH 298):
See from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Clephane’s hymn incorporates an extensive list of comforting images, many biblical, while Watts interprets the scene of a dying Christ theologically. Following the first line of the stanza cited above, Watts, through the use of metaphor, transforms blood and water into “love and sorrow” and thorns into a regal crown. He concludes his hymn with a rhetorical question that cannot be answered except to say, “No! Nothing like this has ever happened in the history of the human race.”
Finally, Clephane places her encounter with the sheltering cross as an act of personal solace. She wants to remain spiritually in the shelter of the cross:
I take, O cross, thy shadow
for my abiding place;
Her final stanza states, she is “content to let the world go by,/to know no gain or loss. . .”. Watts, on the other hand, shifts our gaze from the crucified Christ to the “whole realm of nature” and calls for our total commitment:
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
The purpose of this comparison is not to ascribe a higher quality to one hymn over another, for both bear faithful witness to an encounter with the crucified Christ. The purpose is to demonstrate the difference between the early eighteenth century theological perspective of Isaac Watts and the spiritual encounter of a woman during the Romantic era of literature 160 years later.
Elizabeth Clephane’s reflection assumes a spiritual posture of meditation. Unlike what she states in her final stanza, “Content to let the world go by. . . :, this was not her ethical posture as she was not only aware of others’ plight, but also shared all she could spare to meet the needs of the poor and infirmed within the limitations of her frail health and resources. Given the rich symbolism that is part of the cross in Christian experience, we need to sing both of these hymns as well as many others on this theme.
C. Michael Hawn is University Distinguished Professor of Church Music, Perkins School of Theology, SMU.
Brock and Kim honored as retiring Women of Color mentors
"Beneath the Cross of Jesus" by Elizabeth C. Clephane;
The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 297
Elizabeth C. Clephane
Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
the shadow of a mighty rock
within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness,
a rest upon the way,
from the burning of the noontide heat,
and the burden of the day.
Elizabeth Cecilia Douglas Clephane was born in Scotland in 1830 and died in 1869. The daughter of a county sheriff, she lived most of her brief life near Edinburgh.
Though in frail health most of her life, Elizabeth found the strength to help the poor and sick in her town. She and her sister gave all that they could spare to charity including, it is said, selling their horse and carriage for the benefit of the needy. The townspeople of Melrose referred to Elizabeth as “the Sunbeam.”
“Beneath the cross of Jesus,” focusing on the shelter of the cross, was first published three years after the author’s death in 1872 under the title “Breathings on the Border,” perhaps a double entendre referring to a geographical location near Melrose, the Scottish Borders, and a reference to the border between life and death. This poem and others of hers appeared in the Scottish Presbyterian magazineThe Family Treasury, submitted by an anonymous source, perhaps a family member or friend. One source suggests that this hymn was written within one year of her death in 1868. British hymnologist. J.R. Watson mentions that an editorial emendation attached to the poem by the anonymous source submitting the poems said, these lines “express the experiences, the hopes and the longings of a young Christian lately released.”
Contained in the same collection was her famous narrative poem, “There were ninety and nine that safely lay.” Both of these hymns were promoted by the well-known American musical evangelist and songwriter Ira D. Sankey (1840-1908), who published them in his Sacred Songs and Solos (1873). Though Sankey composed a tune for the song entitled CLEPHANE, the almost universal pairing is with ST. CHRISTOPHER, composed by Bristol, England, musician, Frederick C. Maker (1844-1927).
The hymn is full of comforting, and perhaps paradoxical language, about the cross, after all, an instrument of the cruelest torture. These include in stanza two “the shadow of a mighty rock,” “a home within the wilderness,” “a rest upon the way.” An omitted third stanza provides additional images of consolation: a “happy shelter,” “refuge tried and sweet,” a “trysting place,” and “a ladder up to heaven,” a reference to Jacob’s ladder.
O safe and happy shelter,
O refuge tried and sweet,
O trysting place where heaven’s love
and heaven’s justice meet!
As to the exiled patriarch
that wondrous dream was given,
so seems my Savior’s Cross to me -
a ladder up to heaven.
Originally five stanzas, another omitted stanza, perhaps autobiographical, provides further insight into the comfort that the writer found in the shadow of the cross and the inspiration that the cross gave her as she anticipated her own death:
There lies beneath its shadow,
but on the further side,
the darkness of an open grave
that gapes both deep and wide;
and there between us stands the cross,
two arms outstretched to save,
like watchman set to guard the way
from that eternal grave.
Such explicit anticipation of and longing for death may seem somewhat morbid today, but echoes the Romantic literary sentiment of her time. Though appropriately sung during Lent and Holy Week today, this hymn is more of a personal meditation on the cross and one’s own mortality than a hymn written for a specific time of the Christian Year.
The contrast between this nineteenth-century Romantic perspective of the cross and the early seventeenth-century understanding expressed in the famous hymn by Isaac Watts (1674-1748), “When I survey the wondrous cross” (1707) is significant. Only the salient differences can be mentioned here. While Clephane’s cross is one of shelter and comfort, Watts’ cross is one of redemption. Clephane scarcely mentions the One who hung on the cross, while Watts focuses our attention to the dying Christ in stark detail in the first line of the following stanza (UMH 298):
See from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Clephane’s hymn incorporates an extensive list of comforting images, many biblical, while Watts interprets the scene of a dying Christ theologically. Following the first line of the stanza cited above, Watts, through the use of metaphor, transforms blood and water into “love and sorrow” and thorns into a regal crown. He concludes his hymn with a rhetorical question that cannot be answered except to say, “No! Nothing like this has ever happened in the history of the human race.”
Finally, Clephane places her encounter with the sheltering cross as an act of personal solace. She wants to remain spiritually in the shelter of the cross:
I take, O cross, thy shadow
for my abiding place;
Her final stanza states, she is “content to let the world go by,/to know no gain or loss. . .”. Watts, on the other hand, shifts our gaze from the crucified Christ to the “whole realm of nature” and calls for our total commitment:
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
The purpose of this comparison is not to ascribe a higher quality to one hymn over another, for both bear faithful witness to an encounter with the crucified Christ. The purpose is to demonstrate the difference between the early eighteenth century theological perspective of Isaac Watts and the spiritual encounter of a woman during the Romantic era of literature 160 years later.
Elizabeth Clephane’s reflection assumes a spiritual posture of meditation. Unlike what she states in her final stanza, “Content to let the world go by. . . :, this was not her ethical posture as she was not only aware of others’ plight, but also shared all she could spare to meet the needs of the poor and infirmed within the limitations of her frail health and resources. Given the rich symbolism that is part of the cross in Christian experience, we need to sing both of these hymns as well as many others on this theme.
C. Michael Hawn is University Distinguished Professor of Church Music, Perkins School of Theology, SMU.
Brock and Kim honored as retiring Women of Color mentors
Rita Nakashima Brock and Jung Ha Kim honored as retiring Women of Color mentors
Nicole Burdakin
Left to right: Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock, Dr. Jeffrey Kuan, and Dr. Jung Ha Kim
Drs. Rita Nakashima Brock and Jung Ha Kim were honored as retiring mentors of the Women of Color scholarship program at the Pacific, Asian and North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry (PANAAWTM) Conference, March 12-14, 2015 at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill.
Brock, Brite Divinity School, and Kim, Georgia State University, were recognized for their service to the program and both were speakers as PANAAWTM celebrated its 30th anniversary. Dr. Jeffrey Kuan, president of Claremont School of Theology, presented the awards as a continued supporter of the WOC program and PANAAWTM.
2014 marked the 25th anniversary of the Women of Color Scholars program, a scholarship and mentoring program administered by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, for United Methodist women of color pursuing doctoral degrees in theological and religious education. Through interaction with other women who have succeeded, students learn how to present academic papers, seek tenure on faculties, and more. For the scholars, the mentoring sessions are the lifeblood of the project.
“Rita was the first Asian American woman to receive her Ph.D. in Religion and Theology, so it is significant that she was willing to assist the program by serving as a mentor for all scholars, especially in view of the Asian descended women going through the program,” said Dr. Rosetta Ross, professor Spelman College and Mentor Chair of the Women of Color Scholars program.
“As the numbers of Asian women grew, Rita identified Jung Ha, who was another pioneering Asian American woman Ph.D. in sociology of religion. Apart from being models for the scholars, Rita's work in theology and Jung Ha's training as a social scientist added to the diversity of disciplinary support the WOC program could provide. Both Rita and Jung Ha have served as dissertation committee members for former scholars, now graduates.”
“Rita and Jung Ha have given invaluable contributions through their time, knowledge, and commitment to the scholars. We are grateful for their assistance to United Methodist Women of Color Scholars, and look forward to our continued relationships with them,” said GBHEM General Secretary, the Rev. Dr. Kim Cape.
GBHEM created the Woman of Color Scholars program in 1989 to address the absence of women of color faculty in theological education in the United States by providing scholarships and mentoring to women pursuing higher theological education. GBHEM’s Office of Loans and Scholarships continues to administer and facilitate this program through the application, awarding, and mentoring process.
“We celebrate that 39 graduate scholars are teaching in seminaries and theological schools not only in the United States, but globally as well in Africa, Korea and Vietnam,” said Allyson Collinsworth, executive director of Loans and Scholarships at GBHEM.
To give to the Women of Color Scholars Endowment fund, visit www.gbhem.org/wocdonate, or mail a gift to GBHEM Office of Loans and Scholarships
Nicole Burdakin
Left to right: Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock, Dr. Jeffrey Kuan, and Dr. Jung Ha Kim
Drs. Rita Nakashima Brock and Jung Ha Kim were honored as retiring mentors of the Women of Color scholarship program at the Pacific, Asian and North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry (PANAAWTM) Conference, March 12-14, 2015 at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill.
Brock, Brite Divinity School, and Kim, Georgia State University, were recognized for their service to the program and both were speakers as PANAAWTM celebrated its 30th anniversary. Dr. Jeffrey Kuan, president of Claremont School of Theology, presented the awards as a continued supporter of the WOC program and PANAAWTM.
2014 marked the 25th anniversary of the Women of Color Scholars program, a scholarship and mentoring program administered by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, for United Methodist women of color pursuing doctoral degrees in theological and religious education. Through interaction with other women who have succeeded, students learn how to present academic papers, seek tenure on faculties, and more. For the scholars, the mentoring sessions are the lifeblood of the project.
“Rita was the first Asian American woman to receive her Ph.D. in Religion and Theology, so it is significant that she was willing to assist the program by serving as a mentor for all scholars, especially in view of the Asian descended women going through the program,” said Dr. Rosetta Ross, professor Spelman College and Mentor Chair of the Women of Color Scholars program.
“As the numbers of Asian women grew, Rita identified Jung Ha, who was another pioneering Asian American woman Ph.D. in sociology of religion. Apart from being models for the scholars, Rita's work in theology and Jung Ha's training as a social scientist added to the diversity of disciplinary support the WOC program could provide. Both Rita and Jung Ha have served as dissertation committee members for former scholars, now graduates.”
“Rita and Jung Ha have given invaluable contributions through their time, knowledge, and commitment to the scholars. We are grateful for their assistance to United Methodist Women of Color Scholars, and look forward to our continued relationships with them,” said GBHEM General Secretary, the Rev. Dr. Kim Cape.
GBHEM created the Woman of Color Scholars program in 1989 to address the absence of women of color faculty in theological education in the United States by providing scholarships and mentoring to women pursuing higher theological education. GBHEM’s Office of Loans and Scholarships continues to administer and facilitate this program through the application, awarding, and mentoring process.
“We celebrate that 39 graduate scholars are teaching in seminaries and theological schools not only in the United States, but globally as well in Africa, Korea and Vietnam,” said Allyson Collinsworth, executive director of Loans and Scholarships at GBHEM.
To give to the Women of Color Scholars Endowment fund, visit www.gbhem.org/wocdonate, or mail a gift to GBHEM Office of Loans and Scholarships
Women of Color Scholars Fund
P.O. Box 340007
Nashville, TN 37203-0007.
Financial assistance will help award, mentor and support more United Methodist Women of Color Scholars.
Burdakin is editorial and production assistant, Office of Communications, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
Churches offer free formal wear, God’s love, to teens
Burdakin is editorial and production assistant, Office of Communications, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
Churches offer free formal wear, God’s love, to teens
Photo courtesy of Prom Boutique
“Some find what they’re looking for in just a few minutes, but others are here all afternoon,” said Fern Truschke Stuart coordinator of Prom Boutique at Woods Chapel United Methodist Church.
Churches offer free formal wear, and God’s love, to teens
A UMC.org Feature by Susan Passi-Klaus
March 20, 2015
“It's big and poofy and I love it,” says Jordan Paul about the beautiful yellow prom grown she picked out. Photo courtesy of Prom Boutique.
“It’s big and poofy and I love it!”
As high school senior, Jordan Paul, swished and twirled in her yellow puff of a prom dress, she had a “Maria moment.” Just like the lead character in the film "West Side Story," Jordan could relate to “I feel pretty, oh so pretty…such a pretty face, such a pretty dress, such a pretty smile, such a pretty me!”
Several United Methodist churches want to ensure that every girl has the opportunity to promenade into a ballroom or high school gymnasium this spring feeling like a prom queen. No crowns or sashes are necessary—just the knowledge that someone cares about you.
Throughout the year, Woods Chapel United Methodist Church in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, along with new partner, Central United Methodist Church in Kansas City, collects thousands of donated new and almost-new prom dresses. On different dates, the two churches give away the to-die-for gowns—for FREE. No income verification. No explanations. No one is turned away.
“We never know why a girl needs a dress—maybe she has special needs, financial challenges or shame issues,” says Laura Wesche, who along with Carla Kath founded and coordinates the Blessed Dress ministry at Central United Methodist Church.
PROM MEMORIES OF A DIFFERENT SORT
In the 11 years she has coordinated the Prom Boutique at Woods Chapel United Methodist Church, Fern Truschke Stuart has had her heart warmed by the ways lives have been touched by this ministry.
The dad who got tears in his eyes when he saw his daughter in her dress. He said, “We drove two hours to see this moment. Thank you.”
The mom in the wheelchair who got special permission from hospice to come see her daughter try on dresses.
The teary-eyed mom whose two daughters found dresses at our boutique. The mother said they never had to worry about money until her husband wasinjured on the job. There was no money for “extras” like prom dresses.
A young man who received a tuxedo donated by a friend of one of our volunteers. Not only was it the exact size, but all the accessories to go with it were included.
The young lady who was so thrilled with her new dress and wanted to make a donation. All she had was 41 cents, but she gave it to us!
The social worker who said, “It’s so much more than a dress; it’s Christ’s love shown through your generous spirits. The seeds you planted through your service will make an eternal difference in some lives!”
To spread these joyous moments to other churches, Fern Truschke Stuart has written a handbook to help similar ministries get their start. Learn more here.
“We try to alleviate any negative emotions like, ‘I don’t have enough,’ and ‘I’m not good enough.’ All they need to know is that it’s not the dress that makes them beautiful. They are the beautiful one.”
Churches caught prom fever
While Central United Methodist’s Blessed Dress ministry is just in their second year, the Prom Boutique at Woods Chapel United Methodist recently celebrated 11 years of helping girls attend prom.
Prom Boutique and Blessed Dress share 4,500 fancy dresses, the more sparkles the better, in colors cranberry to nude, styles strapless to sweetheart, and sizes 0 to 32. Both ministries are up to their earrings in chiffon, sequins and lace. No one has to go home without a dress.
“So many girls walk in with shoulders hung, thinking, ‘I’m never going to find anything here—it’s a church with free dresses,’” Wesche says. “But when they see the dresses and spend an hour or two going through them, texting pictures to friends and modeling them for moms, dads and boyfriends, prom takes on a new excitement.”
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!
Fern Truschke Stuart, Prom Boutique coordinator since 2005, is a prom fashion veteran. Although she admits she is a no frills and no fru-fru type, she does live vicariously through her shoppers.
“Anytime you can make somebody happy by doing something simple like giving them a way to feel good about themselves is ‘awesome,’ as our girls would say.”
Hours before the doors opened at Prom Boutique on March 17th, the line began to build. When the shoppers walked into the church’s worship center, the giggling began.
“When they see 18 racks of prom dresses, their eyes light up and off they go…zoom, zoom, zoom!” Truschke Stuart says. “Some find what they’re looking for in just a few minutes, but others are here all afternoon. One girl must have paraded out wearing 12 different dresses to show her dad.”
"It's big and poofy and I love it!" #UMC churches give away formal wear to help students attend prom. #prom2k15
TWEET THIS'We can’t afford it'
Prettifying for prom is the dream of many young girls, but outward beauty often comes at a high cost.
Prom specialists predict that girls attending prom in the U.S. in 2015 will spend on average $530; the boys $250. At those prices some families are forced to shatter their teenager’s dream by saying, “We can’t afford it.”
The Rev. Michael Williams, senior pastor at West End United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, sees prom attire not as a fashion issue, but as a justice issue.
When Charysma Smoot tried on her pink prom gown she said, “I feel like a princess.” Photo courtesy of Prom Boutique.
“In the Hebrew Bible,” Williams says, “justice means that everybody, including orphans, widows, immigrants and the poor, can get what they need to have a quality life.”
“One thing people in high school need is the ability to fit in with their peers,” the pastor continues. “Not being excluded from the prom experience is a basic, but important form of justice—everybody gets what they need.”
A little girl’s big girl dream
“I feel like a princess,” were the first words out of Charysma Smoot’s mouth when she showed off her pearl-decked pink Cinderella-style dress. Since middle school, she’s dreamed of going to her senior prom. This year’s dance theme is appropriately, “Golden Memories.”
“I really have to watch my money if I want to go to college.” Smoot said. “I can’t afford a $200 dress, but I found a beautiful one here.”
The dress doesn’t make the girl
Both Wesche and Truschke Stuart’s volunteers are very careful with the reassurance they give each girl. For them, it’s not about the dress, but the person who wears it.
“I know girls in adolescence measure their beauty and worth in superficial ways,” Wesche says.
Volunteers like Ginnie Miller help to make sure every dress is “perfect.” Photo courtesy of Prom Boutique.
“We never tell them we’ll help them find a dress that will make them look skinny. We talk about how the dress compliments their hair, that their smile is beautiful and that the dress will be fun to dance in. Our message is, ‘You’re perfect. Let’s find a dress that is just as fabulous as you.’”
Not a shopping experience, but a spiritual experience
The hundreds of volunteers who alter dresses, steam clean them, work as a personal shoppers, rescue remnants to recycle and cheerlead with ooh’s and ahh’s, also do something else. They touch and pray over each dress.
For both Prom Boutique and Blessed Dress, it’s about more than a dress. It’s about making beautiful, lifelong memories. It’s about experiencing a “God moment.” It’s about beauty within.
“Over a woman’s life when she looks back and remembers her prom maybe she’ll think about the church that made her feel beautiful,” Wesche says, “the people who didn’t question her, judge her, or make her feel unworthy. Maybe she’ll remember, ‘They just accepted me as I am.’ And maybe at some point when she’s ready, she’ll be open to finding a church of her own.”
If you would like to begin a prom dress ministry in your church, Fern Truschke Stuart of Prom Boutique has written a handbook to help you get started. Learn more here.
*Susan Passi-Klaus is a freelance writer based in Nashville, Tenn.
News media contact: Joe Iovino, UMC.org content manager for United Methodist Communications,jiovino@umcom.org, 615-312-3733.
3 new church starts succeed in multiplying ministry
Three New-Church-Starts Succeed in Multiplying Ministry
In the last two years, the Texas Annual Conference has launched 11 new churches by multiplying existing ministries in new locations. The Story in Houston and Galveston Central launched in mid-February and Faithbridge launches a new campus in The Woodlands on Easter Sunday.
Portable church? Musical sermons? Church in the park? Yes, yes and yes -- as three of the Texas Annual Conference’s newest churches are fruitfully expanding the gospel in new places in new ways.
February 22: Launch Day for The Story in Houston and Galveston Central Church
“Launch Day at The Story in Houston was overwhelming,” says Rev. Eric Huffman, of St. Luke’s UMC Houston’s newest worship community. “We welcomed 478 people to worship, many of whom were previously unaffiliated with the Church. We are working to encourage our people to invite a friend to The Story over the next several weeks, and we're honing our hospitality and discipleship processes. We are so grateful to St. Luke's UMC for being an amazing, supportive mother church.” Services are held in the Activities Center building on the church campus at 11:05. Banners welcome guests of all ages as do StoryKids volunteers in bright green shirts.
To foster awareness and attendance, Eric blazed an active Facebook trail leading up to this big day. He continues to stay on the radar of social media platforms with announcements related to present and upcoming sermon series and activities for children. One timely post on March 1, reads, “I’m preaching about Noah’s Ark today and Houston is literally flooding. Well played, God, or Satan, whoever is doing this to me.”
“Launch Day at The Story in Houston was overwhelming,” says Rev. Eric Huffman, of St. Luke’s UMC Houston’s newest worship community. “We welcomed 478 people to worship, many of whom were previously unaffiliated with the Church. We are working to encourage our people to invite a friend to The Story over the next several weeks, and we're honing our hospitality and discipleship processes. We are so grateful to St. Luke's UMC for being an amazing, supportive mother church.” Services are held in the Activities Center building on the church campus at 11:05. Banners welcome guests of all ages as do StoryKids volunteers in bright green shirts.
To foster awareness and attendance, Eric blazed an active Facebook trail leading up to this big day. He continues to stay on the radar of social media platforms with announcements related to present and upcoming sermon series and activities for children. One timely post on March 1, reads, “I’m preaching about Noah’s Ark today and Houston is literally flooding. Well played, God, or Satan, whoever is doing this to me.”
The weather did not dampen the worship, however, and March 9 brought another interesting Facebook post: “Bishop Janice Huie surprised us by coming to The Story yesterday. It’s an honor to serve under her leadership in ‘thee’ Texas Conference.”
Next steps include hosting a 10 a.m. service outdoors. Adds Eric, “We're looking forward to a big Easter celebration at Discovery Green Park in downtown Houston, and we can't wait to see how God uses this new congregation to change lives and transform the world!” Additionally, the church is already hosting a team to the Dominican Republic this June with Go Ministries. “Everyone has a story, and every story matters to God," adds Eric. See more at:https://www.facebook.com/thestoryhouston
Excitement has also been building at Galveston Central, about 50 miles south of The Story, in a United Methodist church that originated on Galveston Island some 130 years ago. Prior to the February 22 launch of a new worship community in this location, Pastor Michael Geinger started a grassroots momentum that included informal discussion groups, leadership recruitment, workdays to refurbish the worship space – and a series of preview services prior to launch Sunday. “In keeping with our “church past, church future” tagline we have an ancient/modern feel to our worship space,” he explains, “with a variety of seating options ranging from pews to sofas. We also start every service with a song from the radio – such as It’s Time by Imagine Dragons or You Found Me by the Fray.” Galveston Central is true to it's description: "church.different in other ways as well. In keeping with the relaxed style of island life, Galveston Central has featured a musical sermon, and rumors abound that the pastor prefers preaching barefoot.
Launch Day guests were invited to grab coffee, a cupcake and a sofa there at 3308 Avenue O. One attendee describes it this way on Facebook, “It is abundantly clear that God is doing something special at Galveston Central. Worship, led by the talented Brandon Williams, is incredible. The pastor, Michael Gienger, is a naturally gifted speaker who delivers a message that is both relatable and based firmly in the word. Michael's wife, Moriah, is the sweetest person you will ever meet and can make anyone feel right at home. The service I attended today was one of the most impactful I've ever experienced. There is nothing fake or phony about Central. If you are looking for a Christ-centered church or just want to see what Christianity is about, Galveston Central is worth a visit.”
Galveston Central offers online giving, unabashedly encourages attendees to bring friends, and offers “Deeper Groups” for ongoing Bible study and discussion.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/GalvestonCentralChurch
Next steps include hosting a 10 a.m. service outdoors. Adds Eric, “We're looking forward to a big Easter celebration at Discovery Green Park in downtown Houston, and we can't wait to see how God uses this new congregation to change lives and transform the world!” Additionally, the church is already hosting a team to the Dominican Republic this June with Go Ministries. “Everyone has a story, and every story matters to God," adds Eric. See more at:https://www.facebook.com/thestoryhouston
Excitement has also been building at Galveston Central, about 50 miles south of The Story, in a United Methodist church that originated on Galveston Island some 130 years ago. Prior to the February 22 launch of a new worship community in this location, Pastor Michael Geinger started a grassroots momentum that included informal discussion groups, leadership recruitment, workdays to refurbish the worship space – and a series of preview services prior to launch Sunday. “In keeping with our “church past, church future” tagline we have an ancient/modern feel to our worship space,” he explains, “with a variety of seating options ranging from pews to sofas. We also start every service with a song from the radio – such as It’s Time by Imagine Dragons or You Found Me by the Fray.” Galveston Central is true to it's description: "church.different in other ways as well. In keeping with the relaxed style of island life, Galveston Central has featured a musical sermon, and rumors abound that the pastor prefers preaching barefoot.
Launch Day guests were invited to grab coffee, a cupcake and a sofa there at 3308 Avenue O. One attendee describes it this way on Facebook, “It is abundantly clear that God is doing something special at Galveston Central. Worship, led by the talented Brandon Williams, is incredible. The pastor, Michael Gienger, is a naturally gifted speaker who delivers a message that is both relatable and based firmly in the word. Michael's wife, Moriah, is the sweetest person you will ever meet and can make anyone feel right at home. The service I attended today was one of the most impactful I've ever experienced. There is nothing fake or phony about Central. If you are looking for a Christ-centered church or just want to see what Christianity is about, Galveston Central is worth a visit.”
Galveston Central offers online giving, unabashedly encourages attendees to bring friends, and offers “Deeper Groups” for ongoing Bible study and discussion.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/GalvestonCentralChurch
Portable Church Knows the Best is Yet to Come
Faithbridge, Spring will officially launch a new campus in The Woodlands area to the public on Easter Sunday. “In January, we launched an evening service in a nearby YMCA,” says Campus Pastor Wayne Risher, “then moved to our regular worship services every Sunday morning in a school in February, which we refer to as our ‘soft launch’. It has been quite the experience driven by a handful of staff,” he adds, “yet powered by unpaid servants who faithfully volunteer each week to set up portable church for the mission field in our community.”
The February and March preview services featured the same “honest, thought-provoking sermons, engaging music and dynamic kids ministry that is distinctive to Faithbridge,” Wayne explains, “and our Small Groups will continue planning and setting out the empty chair for those who are not here yet.”
Wayne says it is humbling to know that his helpers are not the only pioneers starting a new worship campus of Faithbridgers. “We plan to take a very similar approach as we start a new worship campus of Faithbridge in The Woodlands, just as Pastor Ken did when he started Faithbridge in Klein back in 1998.” Read that story here. Adds Wayne, “Already in just our short soft-launch period, we are averaging 120 adults, students and children in Sunday worship. Many of these folks are what we call ‘rocket boosters’ who joined us from our first campus in Klein. We are praying that our Easter launch will help us begin engaging more and more local families, continuing the Faithbridge tradition of healthy growth through discipleship one life at a time.”
Beyond the Halfway Point
Rev. Jeff Olive, New Church Development Director for the conference attends launches of new churches and anticipates attending Launch Day for Faithbridge in The Woodlands. “We have had good success with multi-siting existing churches,” notes Jeff. It has become a more common and acceptable way of starting new churches. Pastors are discovering a great benefit of multiplying the strength of their mission and vision in another location. I see the future of new churches in the Texas Annual Conference as one where the norm for healthy churches is to multiply their ministry in new locations.” Adds Jeff, “When I started this position I developed a plan to start 20 new churches in four years. As of this summer we will be two years into this goal and right on target with 11 new churches in the Texas Annual Conference in the past two years.”
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United Methodist Communications Interim General Secretary Appointed
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Nashville, Tenn.: The General Commission on Communication announced today the appointment of an interim chief executive officer for United Methodist Communications, effective immediately.
The Rev. Larry Hollon, who has served as general secretary of United Methodist Communications for the past 15 years, announced this past August that he would retire this spring, having reached the mandatory retirement age for elective and appointive staff of United Methodist general agencies. Hollon’s last day at United Methodist Communications was today.
The Commission launched a search for Hollon’s successor this past September and expects to make an appointment very soon. Sherri Thiel, chief operating officer of United Methodist Communications, will serve as general secretary in the interim period.
“The leadership and the vision that Larry Hollon provided has enabled the denomination to grow in its capacity to communicate and empowered United Methodist Communications to fulfill its calling,” said Bishop Sally Dyck, president of the Commission. “I believe the agency is at its very best, and is poised to continue to move fast-forward into the future.”
The Rev. Greg Cox, chair of the personnel committee, said the selection of Thiel as the interim general secretary will allow the agency to continue to move forward uninterrupted until a new general secretary is named.
“Sherri has 37 years of experience at United Methodist Communications. She has a thorough knowledge of every aspect of the agency and a clear understanding of the vision cast by Larry Hollon and we have great confidence that her leadership will assure a smooth transition,” said Cox.
###
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Diane Degnan ddegnan@umcom.org
615.742.5406 (office) 615.483.1765 (cell)
About 200 join in Côte d’ Ivoire Palm Sunday procession
Photo by Kay Panovec, United Methodist Communications
Sometimes our faith feels as solid as water running through our fingers. During those times, it is good to know God is still with us, even as we struggle with doubt.
‘God, why have you left me?’ What people of faith can do with doubt
A UMC.org Feature by Joe Iovino*
Jesus' words from the cross are a comfort to many who feel alone in their doubt. Painting by James Tissot (Public domain), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
“My God, my God, why have you left me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34 CEB) This painful cry of Jesus from the cross pierces our souls. Many can relate to feeling abandoned, alone, and afraid.
A devastating diagnosis comes from the doctor. A spouse confesses an affair. You lose your job. A natural disaster destroys your house. "My God, my God, why have you left me?"
Hanging from the cross, Jesus felt it. As the divine Son of God, he knew better, but as a son of humanity, he felt abandoned, if only for a second, if solely on our behalf.
When we suffer, we also know better. Many of us can quote how “God works all things together for good” (Romans 8:28), but in the midst of our own dark night of the soul, we struggle to believe it applies to us.
In those moments, a statement made by a dad who brings his son to Jesus for healing may express it better. When Jesus asks the man if he has faith in Jesus’ ability, the father replies, “I have faith; help my lack of faith!” (Mark 9:24).
Doubt
Doubt is not the opposite of faith, but rather a component of it. People of faith, even those with a strong, deep faith, have moments of doubt. Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples, is known as a doubter because he had to see the resurrected Jesus with his own eyes before he would believe.
In Matthew's gospel, a group meets Jesus on a mountain following his resurrection. We read, “They worshipped him, but some doubted.” (Matthew 28:17).
Peter, another disciple, has a moment of great faith when he steps out of the boat to walk on water with Jesus. When he notices the wind and the waves, however, he begins to doubt and starts to sink.
John Wesley’s doubt
As United Methodists, we often look to John Wesley the founder of the Methodist movement for inspiration. Even this fearless evangelist experienced moments of doubt.
Much is known about John Wesley through the journals he kept throughout his life. Photo illustration by Kathryn Price, United Methodist Communications.
He chronicled one of those times in his journal during March 1738, just weeks before his Aldersgate experience. Wesley wrote, “I was…clearly convinced of unbelief… Immediately it struck into my mind, ‘Leave off preaching…’ I asked [Peter] Bohler whether he thought I should leave it off or not. He answered, ‘By no means… Preach faith till you have it; and then, because you have it, you will preach faith.’”
We may not have a pulpit from which we can “preach faith,” but each of us can “pray faith,” even when we are living through doubt and pain. When we study and pray we follow Jesus’ example from the cross.
In his time of deep physical, emotional, and spiritual pain, Jesus recited at least part of a prayer he had probably memorized many years before. “My God, my God, why have you left me?” is the first line of Psalm 22, a prayer written for times of anguish.
"God, why have you left me?" #UMC writer reflects on Jesus' cry from the cross and our moments of #doubt.TWEET THIS
Someone who has been there
The Rev. Ronald Greer, director of the Pastoral Counseling Service of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, talked about Jesus’ cry from the cross. “The pain he felt in that moment was as real as it could be," he said. “That is a Christ who understands what it is like to be human, what it is like to be in agony, what it is like to be in a deep emotional crisis.”
Having someone who understands your pain is extremely helpful in times of struggle. Greer knows this as a counselor and as one who has suffered. Following the tragic death of their 2-year-old son, Greer and his wife shared their grief with their congregation. When he later wrote a book where he shared his story to help others in pain, more people learned of his heartbreak.
As a result, Greer noticed something about those seeking him out for counseling.
The Rev. Ronald Greer understands doubt and struggle both as a pastoral counselor and as one who has suffered tragedy. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Ronald Greer.
“I see a radically disproportionate number of people going through grief, especially after the death of a child," he reports. Many of his clients have told him they specifically chose him because, “we wanted to talk with someone who has been there, because if you haven't been there you don't fully get it."
People may not always get it. Jesus does. He felt the grief, the pain, and the loneliness as he prayed, “My God, my God, why have you left me?”
Borrowing faith
Being with others who understand is therapeutic and gives us the opportunity to borrow their faith while we remain doubtful.
The gospels of Mark and Luke recount a story of Jesus healing a man lowered through the ceiling of the house where Jesus was teaching. Both authors include something notable. They write, “When Jesus sawtheir faith” he healed the man (Mark 2:5; Luke 5:20).
Jesus is impressed not with the singular faith of the man on the mat. It is instead the combined faith of the man and his friends that grabs Jesus’ attention.
When doubt comes, borrow another’s faith. Confess your struggle to one you trust and let their faith be enough. It may bring you to the feet of Jesus.
God is with you
Emmanuel is a messianic title applied to Jesus that we sing at Christmas but largely ignore the rest of the year. The word is Hebrew for “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). Jesus, God incarnate, is the sign that God is with us even when we do not feel it.
In the hospital, courtroom, and funeral home, God is with us. In our fights, struggles, and sleepless nights, God is with us. In our faith and in our doubt, God is still with us.
“My God, my God, why have you left me?” People of faith experience periods of doubt. It is OK. Jesus has been there and he will walk with you through it.
Questions for reflection and discussion
WCC’s Philip Potter dies at 93
Photo by Mike DuBose, United Methodist News Service
Holy Thursday foot washing at Belmont United Methodist Church, Nashville, Tennessee
Washing Feet: A Dream for a Servant by Sam Murillo
July-August 2014
It was crisp and cool that morning of May 3, 2013. I made my way to work excited that it was Friday. It had been a long, busy week for me, and I was feeling a bit tired.
I was also feeling a bit discouraged. I was probably experiencing what I call servant-fatigue. It is what we feel when we start to question whether our efforts to serve Christ in the world are really making a difference. Would anyone miss our efforts if we stopped?
A few hours later, while taking my morning walk-break, I suffered a massive, congestive heart attack. And, if the heart failure itself was not serious enough, I picked up some mysterious, quite deadly infection that caused respiratory complications including severe, pulmonary hemorrhaging. My doctors' primary objective was to keep me alive long enough to arrest the infection.
Miracle boy
I was in a coma for five weeks. My family was prepared for the worst – if I survived, I would probably be confined to a bed as I most assuredly had brain damage. My brother Benjamin, however, clung to the words of Jesus: "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40) He told our family that this would be our mantra – to see the glory of God.
Slowly, I started to show signs of improvement. Surely, I got better and better. My doctors and caregivers were amazed and astounded. Some started calling me the "miracle boy."
One afternoon one of my favorite nurses had performed her routine duties on me. Finished with her charting, she came over and stood at my bedside, just looking at me.
"You were under for quite a while," she said. "You went through a lot. I am curious. Did you see or experience anything unusual?"
I looked up at her and said, "I had a great time. Got to spend some quality time with Jesus." I said I had a couple of dreams or visions and learned some things. I looked away and did not say anything else.
After several long seconds of stone-cold silence, she shook her hands palms up and asked rather peeved, "Like?!?"
I told her about one.
I am soaring high above a beautiful coastline where lush green cliffs look over a white, sandy beach below. Flying like an eagle along this majestic coastline, I come upon lots of people gathered at the water's edge. I go down and start walking toward them. People are coming and going, but all are hovering around one young man who seems to be listening to them and giving advice.
I hear one woman say to another, "Ask the Lord about that."
Pointing at the young man, I asked her, "Is that the Lord?" She did not answer me. I asked, "Where is this place? Where am I?" No one looked at me. It was as if they could not see me. I made my way closer to the man at the center of the crowd. He had a towel tied around his waist, but I did not think much about it.
As he dismissed one person, I tried to get his attention. I asked, "Are you the Lord?"
Instead of answering my question, he simply turned and knelt in front of an elderly woman sitting on a small stool in front of a basin. The people in line to speak to him just stood and waited. He washed the woman's feet and dried them. Then, he kissed her on her head and turned back to the people in line. After talking with a couple of them, he turned back around, knelt in front of a young boy who seemed to have multiple sclerosis and proceeded to wash his feet.
Nothing more important than washing feet
This kneeling to wash feet and rising to speak to people in line went on for quite a while. Finally, frustrated with this inefficient multi-tasking, I blurted out, "Lord, why are you wasting time washing feet when all of these people are waiting in line to speak with you, to get your direction on important matters?"
The Lord stopped his foot washing. Standing up and facing me, he looked me straight in the eye but said nothing immediately.
Then, with one of the deepest looks of compassion I have ever seen, he said, "There is nothing more important in heaven or on Earth than washing feet." He took the towel in his hands, turned around and got back on his knees to finish what he had started.
Immediately, I started to feel myself drifting from the scene. "Lord!" I cried out, "Tell me more! Please, what did you mean?"
I woke up in my hospital room and it was the middle of the night. Over the next few weeks, I worked hard in therapy, but often my last thought at night was "Lord, you said there is nothing more important in heaven or on Earth than washing feet. Please, help me understand."
My answer came not in another dream, but in the middle of a Wednesday afternoon. I was walking the hallways of my rehab facility, working to build strength and endurance. Passing one particular room, I looked in and saw that the resident, an elderly, frail-looking man, had fallen between his wheelchair and his bed. I should have used the call button, but I just went over and tried to help him. He had soiled himself. Embarrassed, he apologized to me for having to help him in that condition. I managed to get him to the bathroom.
Loving to serve, serving to love
Back in my room, I plopped on my bed, exhausted from my little excursion. Then, out of nowhere, words came to me like a quiet whisper in my ear: "That was washing feet. Never, ever stop washing feet. Each time you do, I will know how much you love me."
I was suddenly filled with emotion. I choked up. Finally, I understood. Here is the Lord, the Redeemer, needing to hear from us, to see from us that we in fact do love him — every day — in big ways and in little ways.
When we read to a child in a poor school district, we wash feet. When we take food to a shut-in, we wash feet. When we walk through iron prison gates to love those who are not loved, we wash feet. When my brothers and sisters in Christ cared for my family and me while I was down, they washed my feet. My pastor, the Rev. Carol Cavin-Dillon, was in the ICU with me. Probably wondering if I were going to make it, she was there, early in the morning, praying and reading Scriptures for me. My pastor washed my feet, when I was not even conscious.
Many others did special and loving things for my family and me. I can imagine – for every time they washed my feet – seeing Jesus with a big, wide grin across his face, beaming with pride and joy over their display of love for him.
If your works of justice and mercy ever start to feel a bit strained, by all means, take a break. But, please return and do not neglect to serve the least of us. Do not think for a minute that your love and sacrifice do not matter. Never think that your time and effort go unnoticed and unappreciated. I believe every time you wash someone's feet, the Lord sees it and holds it close, like a beautiful love note from you, and only you, to him.
When we take the bread and the cup, we catch a tiny glimpse of the breadth and length, height and depth of Christ's love for us. But when we wash one another's feet, then it becomes our privilege to give Christ a glimpse of the breadth and length and height and depth of our love for him. We may not think it is much, but I firmly believe it means everything to him. I believe I have it on good authority that to him there is nothing more important in heaven or on Earth than my washing your feet, and you washing mine.
Sam Murillo is a member of Christ United Methodist Church in Franklin, Tenn., where he first shared this story on Holy Thursday in 2014. He has recovered well from the heart attack and infection. By Christmas 2013, Murillo had returned to full-time work as a partner in a financial brokerage firm. He and his wife, Susan, have two young adult children, Jessica and Jared, a son-in-law, Aaron, and a grandson, Sutton, born in April 2014.
To be United Methodist: Footwashing
‘Why do we wash one another's feet on Maundy Thursday?'
As recorded in the Gospel of John, the night he was betrayed and arrested, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and then gave them a new commandment to love one another as he loved them. But how did foot washing become part of Christian worship?
When Jesus washes his disciples' feet, it is one of the most incredible acts of humility in the Bible. For many, this was revolutionary – the master was washing his servants' feet. At first read, it seems the disciples should be washing Jesus' feet. But, as is often the case, Jesus turns the meaning of a common act upside down.
Foot washing was an act of hospitality in ancient civilizations, especially where sandals were the common footwear. Scripture first names it as a sign of humility in 1 Samuel when an honored personoffers to wash the feet of a servant. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus comments on the lack of hospitality in the home of a Pharisee. He says to the host, "When I entered your home, you didn't give me water for my feet, but she wet my feet with tears and wiped them with her hair" (Luke 7:44b, CEB). Jesus is referring to a woman who is a sinner, who has come to worship him.
Some Christian denominations and churches regularly observe foot washing; a few consider it a sacrament along with baptism and Holy Communion based on Jesus' words: "So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other's feet. I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you also must do" (John 13:14-15, CEB).
Others, including a number of United Methodist congregations, reserve the practice for certain occasions, including Maundy Thursday of Holy Week, the night before Good Friday. ("Maundy" comes from the Latin mandatum, meaning mandate or commandment.) The foot washing is often part of services of Holy Communion that recall Jesus' last meal with his disciples before he was arrested. The foot washing preceded the meal. Later that same evening, as he shared bread and wine with his disciples, Jesus mandated remembering him whenever those items were shared. References to that meal are found in several parts of the New Testament. We remember when we observe what we call Holy Communion, Eucharist or the Last or Lord's Supper.
A sign of humility – the master serving his servant, an act of servitude – is the example that Jesus imparted to his first disciples and to those following him today.
Adapted from "Chuck Knows Church," produced by Discipleship Ministries. View the episode atwww.gbod.org/resources/foot-washing-chuck-knows-church.
"To Be United Methodist" provides short answers to questions of United Methodist practices and identity. Submit a possible topic or question for a future column to interpreter@umcom.org.
Lent quiz continues through Easter Sunday
Faithbridge, Spring will officially launch a new campus in The Woodlands area to the public on Easter Sunday. “In January, we launched an evening service in a nearby YMCA,” says Campus Pastor Wayne Risher, “then moved to our regular worship services every Sunday morning in a school in February, which we refer to as our ‘soft launch’. It has been quite the experience driven by a handful of staff,” he adds, “yet powered by unpaid servants who faithfully volunteer each week to set up portable church for the mission field in our community.”
The February and March preview services featured the same “honest, thought-provoking sermons, engaging music and dynamic kids ministry that is distinctive to Faithbridge,” Wayne explains, “and our Small Groups will continue planning and setting out the empty chair for those who are not here yet.”
Wayne says it is humbling to know that his helpers are not the only pioneers starting a new worship campus of Faithbridgers. “We plan to take a very similar approach as we start a new worship campus of Faithbridge in The Woodlands, just as Pastor Ken did when he started Faithbridge in Klein back in 1998.” Read that story here. Adds Wayne, “Already in just our short soft-launch period, we are averaging 120 adults, students and children in Sunday worship. Many of these folks are what we call ‘rocket boosters’ who joined us from our first campus in Klein. We are praying that our Easter launch will help us begin engaging more and more local families, continuing the Faithbridge tradition of healthy growth through discipleship one life at a time.”
Beyond the Halfway Point
Rev. Jeff Olive, New Church Development Director for the conference attends launches of new churches and anticipates attending Launch Day for Faithbridge in The Woodlands. “We have had good success with multi-siting existing churches,” notes Jeff. It has become a more common and acceptable way of starting new churches. Pastors are discovering a great benefit of multiplying the strength of their mission and vision in another location. I see the future of new churches in the Texas Annual Conference as one where the norm for healthy churches is to multiply their ministry in new locations.” Adds Jeff, “When I started this position I developed a plan to start 20 new churches in four years. As of this summer we will be two years into this goal and right on target with 11 new churches in the Texas Annual Conference in the past two years.”
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Former staffer agrees to repay church agency
MEDIA ADVISORY
Grants from the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD) that were destined for various ministry projects among the United Methodist Church’s Korean, Asian American and Pacific Islander Ministries were mishandled by a former staffer during 2006-2010 and some of the funds were used for purposes other than stated in the grant applications.
The misused funds were discovered during a routine audit and a subsequent forensic audit. Findings of the audits were turned over to the Davidson County District Attorney General’s office in Nashville, Tennessee, for disposition who recommended restitution as an appropriate resolution.
In an agreement reached with the board of directors, Sungnam Choi, who served at that time as director of Korean, Asian American and Pacific Islander Ministries at GBOD, now known as Discipleship Ministries, has acknowledged that during his employment certain funds, which were meant to support various ministry projects, were mishandled by him and diverted from the ministries for which they were designated. Fund applications were altered to conceal his actions.
Choi has agreed to make restitution for the lost funds in the amount of $37,000.
“People who give to the Church need to be confident that their donations are used for the purposes given and managed with utmost care. Mr. Choi has acknowledged his wrongdoing and agreed to restore the $37,000 in question,” said Bishop Elaine Stanovsky of the Mountain Sky Episcopal area, who serves as president of the Discipleship Ministries Board of Directors. “The restitution of the lost funds settles this matter, and Discipleship Ministries is not pursuing further legal action.”
The mission of Discipleship Ministries is to support annual conference and local church leaders for their task of equipping world-changing disciples. An agency of The United Methodist Church, Discipleship Ministries is located at 1908 Grand Ave. in Nashville, Tenn. For more information, visit www.UMCdiscipleship.org, the Press Center at www.UMCdiscipleship.org/about/press-center or call the Communications Office at (877) 899-2780, Ext. 1726.
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Contact information:
Grants from the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD) that were destined for various ministry projects among the United Methodist Church’s Korean, Asian American and Pacific Islander Ministries were mishandled by a former staffer during 2006-2010 and some of the funds were used for purposes other than stated in the grant applications.
The misused funds were discovered during a routine audit and a subsequent forensic audit. Findings of the audits were turned over to the Davidson County District Attorney General’s office in Nashville, Tennessee, for disposition who recommended restitution as an appropriate resolution.
In an agreement reached with the board of directors, Sungnam Choi, who served at that time as director of Korean, Asian American and Pacific Islander Ministries at GBOD, now known as Discipleship Ministries, has acknowledged that during his employment certain funds, which were meant to support various ministry projects, were mishandled by him and diverted from the ministries for which they were designated. Fund applications were altered to conceal his actions.
Choi has agreed to make restitution for the lost funds in the amount of $37,000.
“People who give to the Church need to be confident that their donations are used for the purposes given and managed with utmost care. Mr. Choi has acknowledged his wrongdoing and agreed to restore the $37,000 in question,” said Bishop Elaine Stanovsky of the Mountain Sky Episcopal area, who serves as president of the Discipleship Ministries Board of Directors. “The restitution of the lost funds settles this matter, and Discipleship Ministries is not pursuing further legal action.”
The mission of Discipleship Ministries is to support annual conference and local church leaders for their task of equipping world-changing disciples. An agency of The United Methodist Church, Discipleship Ministries is located at 1908 Grand Ave. in Nashville, Tenn. For more information, visit www.UMCdiscipleship.org, the Press Center at www.UMCdiscipleship.org/about/press-center or call the Communications Office at (877) 899-2780, Ext. 1726.
# # #
Contact information:
Steve Horswill-Johnston, Discipleship Ministries
P.O. BOX 340003
Nashville, TN 372030003
Bishop Schol releases statement on alleged misuse of funds
Bishop John Schol, who leads the Greater New Jersey Annual (regional) Conference, released the following letter to clergy after an audit implicated a former pastor in the misuse of funds at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. Sungnam Choi, a former board staff member who had served in the conference, is accused of the misuse.
Bishop John Schol
Dear Clergy Colleagues,
I am sharing with you the following materials because you or your parishioners may read or hear about this matter in the press or from others. I value your leadership and judgment in sharing as necessary information with your congregation. I will share with you the facts as I know them.
I have been informed by General Board of Discipleship General Secretary Karen Greenwaldt that findings from a forensic audit have been forwarded to appropriate law enforcement bodies implicating Sungnam Choi of misappropriating tens of thousands of dollars while he served with the General Board of Discipleship. The alleged infraction involved multiple misappropriations of funds.
Sungnam Choi worked for the General Board of Discipleship prior to receiving an appointment to the Korean Community Church in Englewood in the Greater New Jersey Conference of the United Methodist Church in 2010. In 2013 Mr. Choi was reassigned to a new appointment after significant conflict in the church and accusations of misappropriated funds. Upon further questioning about financial matters and other concerns, Mr. Choi surrendered his credentials in March of 2013. Upon exiting the United Methodist Church, Mr. Choi began serving a group of members from Korean Community Church who supported his ministry.
This has been a painful and challenging matter for the congregation, the General Board of Discipleship and the Greater New Jersey Conference. I am grateful for the careful review of these matters by the General Board of Discipleship. The General Board of Discipleship has practices and procedures that identified the issues and is now taking corrective steps to secure the apportionment funds that were misappropriated.
The leadership of Korean Community Church has been working to heal the deep division that was created in their congregation. I call each of you to prayer for the pastoral staff, leadership and all of the disciples of Korean Community Church who have suffered and endured a very trying situation. I also ask you to pray for the General Board of Discipleship and its leaders. I also invite you to pray for Mr. Choi, his family and others who were implicated or harmed by the alleged behavior that resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars.
Lastly, I invite you to recommit your life and ministry to Christ Jesus and to practice the highest ethical standards in your ministry and personal life. When any one of us transgresses, it hurts the entire body of Christ.
Interim top executive named at communications agency
Bishop John Schol, who leads the Greater New Jersey Annual (regional) Conference, released the following letter to clergy after an audit implicated a former pastor in the misuse of funds at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. Sungnam Choi, a former board staff member who had served in the conference, is accused of the misuse.
Bishop John Schol
Dear Clergy Colleagues,
I am sharing with you the following materials because you or your parishioners may read or hear about this matter in the press or from others. I value your leadership and judgment in sharing as necessary information with your congregation. I will share with you the facts as I know them.
I have been informed by General Board of Discipleship General Secretary Karen Greenwaldt that findings from a forensic audit have been forwarded to appropriate law enforcement bodies implicating Sungnam Choi of misappropriating tens of thousands of dollars while he served with the General Board of Discipleship. The alleged infraction involved multiple misappropriations of funds.
Sungnam Choi worked for the General Board of Discipleship prior to receiving an appointment to the Korean Community Church in Englewood in the Greater New Jersey Conference of the United Methodist Church in 2010. In 2013 Mr. Choi was reassigned to a new appointment after significant conflict in the church and accusations of misappropriated funds. Upon further questioning about financial matters and other concerns, Mr. Choi surrendered his credentials in March of 2013. Upon exiting the United Methodist Church, Mr. Choi began serving a group of members from Korean Community Church who supported his ministry.
This has been a painful and challenging matter for the congregation, the General Board of Discipleship and the Greater New Jersey Conference. I am grateful for the careful review of these matters by the General Board of Discipleship. The General Board of Discipleship has practices and procedures that identified the issues and is now taking corrective steps to secure the apportionment funds that were misappropriated.
The leadership of Korean Community Church has been working to heal the deep division that was created in their congregation. I call each of you to prayer for the pastoral staff, leadership and all of the disciples of Korean Community Church who have suffered and endured a very trying situation. I also ask you to pray for the General Board of Discipleship and its leaders. I also invite you to pray for Mr. Choi, his family and others who were implicated or harmed by the alleged behavior that resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars.
Lastly, I invite you to recommit your life and ministry to Christ Jesus and to practice the highest ethical standards in your ministry and personal life. When any one of us transgresses, it hurts the entire body of Christ.
Interim top executive named at communications agency
United Methodist Communications Interim General Secretary Appointed
United Methodist Communications
Office of Public Information
Umcpresscenter.org
Nashville, Tenn.: The General Commission on Communication announced today the appointment of an interim chief executive officer for United Methodist Communications, effective immediately.
The Rev. Larry Hollon, who has served as general secretary of United Methodist Communications for the past 15 years, announced this past August that he would retire this spring, having reached the mandatory retirement age for elective and appointive staff of United Methodist general agencies. Hollon’s last day at United Methodist Communications was today.
The Commission launched a search for Hollon’s successor this past September and expects to make an appointment very soon. Sherri Thiel, chief operating officer of United Methodist Communications, will serve as general secretary in the interim period.
“The leadership and the vision that Larry Hollon provided has enabled the denomination to grow in its capacity to communicate and empowered United Methodist Communications to fulfill its calling,” said Bishop Sally Dyck, president of the Commission. “I believe the agency is at its very best, and is poised to continue to move fast-forward into the future.”
The Rev. Greg Cox, chair of the personnel committee, said the selection of Thiel as the interim general secretary will allow the agency to continue to move forward uninterrupted until a new general secretary is named.
“Sherri has 37 years of experience at United Methodist Communications. She has a thorough knowledge of every aspect of the agency and a clear understanding of the vision cast by Larry Hollon and we have great confidence that her leadership will assure a smooth transition,” said Cox.
###
Contact:
Diane Degnan ddegnan@umcom.org
615.742.5406 (office) 615.483.1765 (cell)
About 200 join in Côte d’ Ivoire Palm Sunday procession
PORT-BOUET, Côte d’ Ivoire (UMNS) — About 200 people processed to Emmanuel United Methodist Church on Palm Sunday, including a man who portrayed Jesus riding on a donkey. Isaac Broune has a photo essay.
View photos
http://umcmedia.org/umns/2015/palm-sunday-cote-divoire/
Indiana presents $1 million endowed chair to Africa University
View photos
http://umcmedia.org/umns/2015/palm-sunday-cote-divoire/
Indiana presents $1 million endowed chair to Africa University
Indiana Conference presents $1 million to Africa University
The Indiana Conference Delegation presents a ceremonial check to the leadership of Africa University. Photo Credit: Vicki Brown (UNMS)By Skyler Nimmons and Vicki Brown
MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) – The Indiana Conference of The United Methodist Church presented $1 million for an endowed chair of agriculture and natural resources for Africa University, continuing a long conference tradition of major support for the United Methodist university.
“In Indiana, we know about and celebrate the ministry of Africa University,” said Indiana Conference Bishop Michael Coyner during the presentation ceremony in Africa, “and we appreciate the witness that you are here in Africa and to the world.”
Coyner said the conference, beginning with the tenure of Bishop Woodie White, now retired, has a long history of backing significant projects to support Africa University. That support started with building a small bridge at the university’s entrance road and continued with the building of four three-story dorms.
The bishop noted that people of Indiana wanted to do something special in honor of Africa University’s 20th anniversary in 2012, but wanted to consult with the university about what their needs might be. A request was made for an endowed chair to lead the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The commitment to raise that money in Indiana was followed by an Africa University choir tour of the conference in 2013. The United Methodist Foundation of Indiana assisted with the fundraising.
The endowment presentation was held in conjunction with the inauguration ceremonies for the university’s fourth vice chancellor, Munashe Furusa. Furusa thanked the conference for “a gift that will last as long as the university exists.”
“One professor or chair can touch hundreds of lives through the courses they teach, the students they mentor, or through their own academic work. Having endowed faculty means students get to rub elbows with the most talented scholars in the world,” Furusa said.
He also noted that endowed faculty can open up real world opportunities for students, such as work in research labs. “They not only learn from textbooks, but from a real world of innovation and discovery,” Furusa said. He further stated that endowed professorships are crucial for recruiting and training the best minds, most creative researchers and engaged teachers.
The Indiana Conference isn’t done yet with its support of Africa University.
Bishop Coyner said that the conference is also committed to raising an additional $600,000 to endow scholarships for students to learn the importance of agriculture. “Nearly half of our $600,000 goal has been raised; however, money is being sent to AU Development Office, the United Methodist Foundation and the Conference Office, so we aren’t sure exactly where we are at the moment,” Coyner said.
During the presentation ceremony, Coyner and Manet Shettle, president of the United Methodist Foundation of Indiana, presented a framed picture of a local farm in Indiana to Africa University. They noted that while the picture is not of any particular farm, farming and agriculture are an important part of Hoosier culture and the conference was pleased to support something that is so close to home.
A. Z. Chiteka, dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said the Indiana Conference knows and values the mission of Africa University and has demonstrated a commitment to helping the school and its students succeed.
“If I had to list all the things that the Indiana Conference has done to support Africa University, I would need more than an hour,” Chiteka said.
Jim Salley, associate vice chancellor for Africa University’s Development Office, commended Bishop Coyner and the Indiana Conference for their generosity.
“There is an old proverb which states, ‘A sign of a mature society is when men and women plant trees whose shade they will never sit in,’” he said. Salley noted that the Indiana Conference gifts were those of mature leaders who may never have the opportunity to see or meet someone from Africa University, but have planted seeds for young people to grow.
Africa University’s world-renowned choir closed the endowment celebration with lively songs of celebration to offer thanks to the delegation that traveled from Indiana.
For more information on the Indiana Conference of The United Methodist Church’s campaign to support Africa University, please visit www.inumc.org/au.
Nimmons is the Indiana Conference communications director and Brown is the news editor for United Methodist News Service. You can reach Brown at 615-742-5472 or vbrown@umcom.org. Nimmons can be reached at 317-564-3242 orskyler.nimmons@inumc.org.
What people can do with doubt
The Indiana Conference Delegation presents a ceremonial check to the leadership of Africa University. Photo Credit: Vicki Brown (UNMS)By Skyler Nimmons and Vicki Brown
MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) – The Indiana Conference of The United Methodist Church presented $1 million for an endowed chair of agriculture and natural resources for Africa University, continuing a long conference tradition of major support for the United Methodist university.
“In Indiana, we know about and celebrate the ministry of Africa University,” said Indiana Conference Bishop Michael Coyner during the presentation ceremony in Africa, “and we appreciate the witness that you are here in Africa and to the world.”
Coyner said the conference, beginning with the tenure of Bishop Woodie White, now retired, has a long history of backing significant projects to support Africa University. That support started with building a small bridge at the university’s entrance road and continued with the building of four three-story dorms.
The bishop noted that people of Indiana wanted to do something special in honor of Africa University’s 20th anniversary in 2012, but wanted to consult with the university about what their needs might be. A request was made for an endowed chair to lead the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The commitment to raise that money in Indiana was followed by an Africa University choir tour of the conference in 2013. The United Methodist Foundation of Indiana assisted with the fundraising.
The endowment presentation was held in conjunction with the inauguration ceremonies for the university’s fourth vice chancellor, Munashe Furusa. Furusa thanked the conference for “a gift that will last as long as the university exists.”
“One professor or chair can touch hundreds of lives through the courses they teach, the students they mentor, or through their own academic work. Having endowed faculty means students get to rub elbows with the most talented scholars in the world,” Furusa said.
He also noted that endowed faculty can open up real world opportunities for students, such as work in research labs. “They not only learn from textbooks, but from a real world of innovation and discovery,” Furusa said. He further stated that endowed professorships are crucial for recruiting and training the best minds, most creative researchers and engaged teachers.
The Indiana Conference isn’t done yet with its support of Africa University.
Bishop Coyner said that the conference is also committed to raising an additional $600,000 to endow scholarships for students to learn the importance of agriculture. “Nearly half of our $600,000 goal has been raised; however, money is being sent to AU Development Office, the United Methodist Foundation and the Conference Office, so we aren’t sure exactly where we are at the moment,” Coyner said.
During the presentation ceremony, Coyner and Manet Shettle, president of the United Methodist Foundation of Indiana, presented a framed picture of a local farm in Indiana to Africa University. They noted that while the picture is not of any particular farm, farming and agriculture are an important part of Hoosier culture and the conference was pleased to support something that is so close to home.
A. Z. Chiteka, dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said the Indiana Conference knows and values the mission of Africa University and has demonstrated a commitment to helping the school and its students succeed.
“If I had to list all the things that the Indiana Conference has done to support Africa University, I would need more than an hour,” Chiteka said.
Jim Salley, associate vice chancellor for Africa University’s Development Office, commended Bishop Coyner and the Indiana Conference for their generosity.
“There is an old proverb which states, ‘A sign of a mature society is when men and women plant trees whose shade they will never sit in,’” he said. Salley noted that the Indiana Conference gifts were those of mature leaders who may never have the opportunity to see or meet someone from Africa University, but have planted seeds for young people to grow.
Africa University’s world-renowned choir closed the endowment celebration with lively songs of celebration to offer thanks to the delegation that traveled from Indiana.
For more information on the Indiana Conference of The United Methodist Church’s campaign to support Africa University, please visit www.inumc.org/au.
Nimmons is the Indiana Conference communications director and Brown is the news editor for United Methodist News Service. You can reach Brown at 615-742-5472 or vbrown@umcom.org. Nimmons can be reached at 317-564-3242 orskyler.nimmons@inumc.org.
What people can do with doubt
Photo by Kay Panovec, United Methodist Communications
Sometimes our faith feels as solid as water running through our fingers. During those times, it is good to know God is still with us, even as we struggle with doubt.
‘God, why have you left me?’ What people of faith can do with doubt
A UMC.org Feature by Joe Iovino*
Jesus' words from the cross are a comfort to many who feel alone in their doubt. Painting by James Tissot (Public domain), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
“My God, my God, why have you left me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34 CEB) This painful cry of Jesus from the cross pierces our souls. Many can relate to feeling abandoned, alone, and afraid.
A devastating diagnosis comes from the doctor. A spouse confesses an affair. You lose your job. A natural disaster destroys your house. "My God, my God, why have you left me?"
Hanging from the cross, Jesus felt it. As the divine Son of God, he knew better, but as a son of humanity, he felt abandoned, if only for a second, if solely on our behalf.
When we suffer, we also know better. Many of us can quote how “God works all things together for good” (Romans 8:28), but in the midst of our own dark night of the soul, we struggle to believe it applies to us.
In those moments, a statement made by a dad who brings his son to Jesus for healing may express it better. When Jesus asks the man if he has faith in Jesus’ ability, the father replies, “I have faith; help my lack of faith!” (Mark 9:24).
Doubt
Doubt is not the opposite of faith, but rather a component of it. People of faith, even those with a strong, deep faith, have moments of doubt. Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples, is known as a doubter because he had to see the resurrected Jesus with his own eyes before he would believe.
In Matthew's gospel, a group meets Jesus on a mountain following his resurrection. We read, “They worshipped him, but some doubted.” (Matthew 28:17).
Peter, another disciple, has a moment of great faith when he steps out of the boat to walk on water with Jesus. When he notices the wind and the waves, however, he begins to doubt and starts to sink.
John Wesley’s doubt
As United Methodists, we often look to John Wesley the founder of the Methodist movement for inspiration. Even this fearless evangelist experienced moments of doubt.
Much is known about John Wesley through the journals he kept throughout his life. Photo illustration by Kathryn Price, United Methodist Communications.
He chronicled one of those times in his journal during March 1738, just weeks before his Aldersgate experience. Wesley wrote, “I was…clearly convinced of unbelief… Immediately it struck into my mind, ‘Leave off preaching…’ I asked [Peter] Bohler whether he thought I should leave it off or not. He answered, ‘By no means… Preach faith till you have it; and then, because you have it, you will preach faith.’”
We may not have a pulpit from which we can “preach faith,” but each of us can “pray faith,” even when we are living through doubt and pain. When we study and pray we follow Jesus’ example from the cross.
In his time of deep physical, emotional, and spiritual pain, Jesus recited at least part of a prayer he had probably memorized many years before. “My God, my God, why have you left me?” is the first line of Psalm 22, a prayer written for times of anguish.
"God, why have you left me?" #UMC writer reflects on Jesus' cry from the cross and our moments of #doubt.
TWEET THISSomeone who has been there
The Rev. Ronald Greer, director of the Pastoral Counseling Service of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, talked about Jesus’ cry from the cross. “The pain he felt in that moment was as real as it could be," he said. “That is a Christ who understands what it is like to be human, what it is like to be in agony, what it is like to be in a deep emotional crisis.”
Having someone who understands your pain is extremely helpful in times of struggle. Greer knows this as a counselor and as one who has suffered. Following the tragic death of their 2-year-old son, Greer and his wife shared their grief with their congregation. When he later wrote a book where he shared his story to help others in pain, more people learned of his heartbreak.
As a result, Greer noticed something about those seeking him out for counseling.
The Rev. Ronald Greer understands doubt and struggle both as a pastoral counselor and as one who has suffered tragedy. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Ronald Greer.
“I see a radically disproportionate number of people going through grief, especially after the death of a child," he reports. Many of his clients have told him they specifically chose him because, “we wanted to talk with someone who has been there, because if you haven't been there you don't fully get it."
People may not always get it. Jesus does. He felt the grief, the pain, and the loneliness as he prayed, “My God, my God, why have you left me?”
Borrowing faith
Being with others who understand is therapeutic and gives us the opportunity to borrow their faith while we remain doubtful.
The gospels of Mark and Luke recount a story of Jesus healing a man lowered through the ceiling of the house where Jesus was teaching. Both authors include something notable. They write, “When Jesus sawtheir faith” he healed the man (Mark 2:5; Luke 5:20).
Jesus is impressed not with the singular faith of the man on the mat. It is instead the combined faith of the man and his friends that grabs Jesus’ attention.
When doubt comes, borrow another’s faith. Confess your struggle to one you trust and let their faith be enough. It may bring you to the feet of Jesus.
God is with you
Emmanuel is a messianic title applied to Jesus that we sing at Christmas but largely ignore the rest of the year. The word is Hebrew for “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). Jesus, God incarnate, is the sign that God is with us even when we do not feel it.
In the hospital, courtroom, and funeral home, God is with us. In our fights, struggles, and sleepless nights, God is with us. In our faith and in our doubt, God is still with us.
“My God, my God, why have you left me?” People of faith experience periods of doubt. It is OK. Jesus has been there and he will walk with you through it.
Questions for reflection and discussion
- If you could ask God to clarify something with which you wrestle, what would you ask?
- Is doubt a sin? Can it be helpful?
- The author states, “Doubt is not the opposite of faith, but rather a component of it.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
- How is praying through our doubt an act of faith? How might a prayer learned in childhood, read in the Bible, or found in another book, be helpful?
- Is it helpful to know that Jesus has “been there”? Why or why not? Does it help to know that Bible characters and Christian heroes have doubted? Why or why not?
- Research some of the Bible stories of those who have had doubts. With whom do you most relate?
- To whom will you turn the next time you experience doubt? Will you be able to borrow their faith?
- Why don’t we talk more about our doubt in church?
WCC’s Philip Potter dies at 93
WCC celebrates the life and witness of Rev. Dr Philip Potter
Philip Potter at the WCC Central Committee meeting in Geneva, Switzerland February, 1966.
A special tribute was paid by the World Council of Churches (WCC) to the Rev. Dr Philip Potter, the third general secretary of the WCC, who served in that office from 1972 to 1984. A global ecumenical leader known for accompanying churches around the world in their struggles for unity, justice and peace, Potter died on 31 March at the age of 93 in Lübeck, Germany.
Born in Roseau, Dominica, in the West Indies on 19 August 1921, Potter began his ecumenical involvement as part of the student Christian movement in the Caribbean. He was a youth representative to the first two assemblies of the WCC at Amsterdam (1948) and Evanston (1954).
He was the first person from the newly independent countries in the world to be elected as general secretary of the WCC. Among the most memorable achievements during Potter’s tenure were the theological consensus document on Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry and the continuation of a courageous campaign against apartheid in southern Africa and against other forms of racism throughout the world.
“Almost everyone I meet who has a strong image of or a strong opinion about the World Council of Churches links this to Philip Potter. First as a young delegate at conferences and assemblies, then as a member of staff, and later as WCC general secretary, Philip has always brought high visibility to the Council,” said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the WCC general secretary.
“He was ever ready to open debates, to offer the WCC as an open space for ecumenical reflection and action and to make known his own positions. Philip Potter remains as ever, a credible witness to the vision of the kingdom of God and its true values of ‘righteousness’ peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans. 14:17b),” Tveit said.
“We give thanks to God for Philip’s witness,” Tveit added.
Potter made significant contributions to the vigorous debate on the nature of post-colonial Christian mission and evangelism, the churches’ witness for peace amidst East-West tensions, the raising of questions concerning the ecological crisis and encouragement of campaigns challenging the threat of nuclear annihilation. In this era the WCC also sponsored the development of new forms of spirituality, common prayer and music drawing on the diverse traditions and confessions of diverse churches.
Before joining the WCC, Potter served as staff of the Methodist Missionary Society in London. He represented the Jamaica Student Christian Movement at the 1947 world conference on Christian youth in Oslo, Norway. Potter was an active participant in every WCC assembly from 1948 to the 9th Assembly at Porto Alegre, Brazil (2006).
While in Geneva, Potter also chaired the board of the World Student Christian Federation.
He is survived by his widow, Bishop-emeritus Bärbel Wartenberg-Potter of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD). His first wife, the musician and composer Doreen Potter, died in 1980.
Read full text of the WCC general secretary's tribute to Philip Potter
At Home with God and in the World: A Philip Potter Reader
Tributes to Philip Potter (Excerpt from At Home with God and in the World)
Philip Potter at the WCC Central Committee meeting in Geneva, Switzerland February, 1966.
A special tribute was paid by the World Council of Churches (WCC) to the Rev. Dr Philip Potter, the third general secretary of the WCC, who served in that office from 1972 to 1984. A global ecumenical leader known for accompanying churches around the world in their struggles for unity, justice and peace, Potter died on 31 March at the age of 93 in Lübeck, Germany.
Born in Roseau, Dominica, in the West Indies on 19 August 1921, Potter began his ecumenical involvement as part of the student Christian movement in the Caribbean. He was a youth representative to the first two assemblies of the WCC at Amsterdam (1948) and Evanston (1954).
He was the first person from the newly independent countries in the world to be elected as general secretary of the WCC. Among the most memorable achievements during Potter’s tenure were the theological consensus document on Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry and the continuation of a courageous campaign against apartheid in southern Africa and against other forms of racism throughout the world.
“Almost everyone I meet who has a strong image of or a strong opinion about the World Council of Churches links this to Philip Potter. First as a young delegate at conferences and assemblies, then as a member of staff, and later as WCC general secretary, Philip has always brought high visibility to the Council,” said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the WCC general secretary.
“He was ever ready to open debates, to offer the WCC as an open space for ecumenical reflection and action and to make known his own positions. Philip Potter remains as ever, a credible witness to the vision of the kingdom of God and its true values of ‘righteousness’ peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans. 14:17b),” Tveit said.
“We give thanks to God for Philip’s witness,” Tveit added.
Potter made significant contributions to the vigorous debate on the nature of post-colonial Christian mission and evangelism, the churches’ witness for peace amidst East-West tensions, the raising of questions concerning the ecological crisis and encouragement of campaigns challenging the threat of nuclear annihilation. In this era the WCC also sponsored the development of new forms of spirituality, common prayer and music drawing on the diverse traditions and confessions of diverse churches.
Before joining the WCC, Potter served as staff of the Methodist Missionary Society in London. He represented the Jamaica Student Christian Movement at the 1947 world conference on Christian youth in Oslo, Norway. Potter was an active participant in every WCC assembly from 1948 to the 9th Assembly at Porto Alegre, Brazil (2006).
While in Geneva, Potter also chaired the board of the World Student Christian Federation.
He is survived by his widow, Bishop-emeritus Bärbel Wartenberg-Potter of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD). His first wife, the musician and composer Doreen Potter, died in 1980.
Read full text of the WCC general secretary's tribute to Philip Potter
At Home with God and in the World: A Philip Potter Reader
Tributes to Philip Potter (Excerpt from At Home with God and in the World)
Philip Potter: In Memoriam by Thomas Kemper*
The Rev. Dr. Philip Potter, who died on March 31 at the age of 93, was a monumental presence in the global Christian community and world Methodism in the 20th century. As the general secretary of the World Council of Churches from 1972 to 1984, the native of the Caribbean island of Dominica helped to shape the ecumenical commitment to justice and peace in the era of the East-West Cold War and as the nations of the Global South made their way onto the international political and economic scene. He was instrumental in bringing the collective Christian conscience to the foreground in opposing Apartheid in South Africa and in launching the larger World Council’s program to combat racism, which was based in solid Christian and Wesleyan theology.
While a consummate theologian and diplomat, Philip Potter was also a caring pastor and a calming Christian spirit. I recall a particular occasion while he was a visiting speaker at the Methodist seminary in Brazil where I served as a United Methodist missionary. One of our exchange students from Germany was experiencing a “dark night of the soul,” which threw him into such an emotional panic that it prevented him from travelling back to Germany for medical reasons. He was paralyzed in fear and called out for the attention of notable, experienced Christians, and he particularly asked for Philip Potter. With hesitation, I went to Dr. Potter. “Would you, could you pray with and for our distressed student?” He would, and did, and counseled and prayed with great understanding of the uncertainty that can infiltrate the mind and heart of one struggling and in profound emotional stress. Potter’s deep, resonant voice on that occasion seemingly conveyed the assurance of God’s presence. Our student rallied and was able to return to Germany restored.
I met Philip Potter first in his early years as WCC’s chief executive, when I was a student traveling with a group of fellows to visit the World Council of Churches offices in Geneva, Switzerland. Always a minority as a German United Methodist, I never felt so included as when I met a Methodist who was leading the world’s major ecumenical organization. It was a window for me on the important role Methodism played in the ecumenical and mission movements.
Philip Potter was fearless in faith, wise in knowledge, and determined to bring the Christian community to unity in Christ for the sake of showing the world that generosity, peace, and justice are possible in the real world. I thank God for his life and witness.
*Thomas Kemper is the General Secretary of Global Ministries.
Washing feet: A dream for a servant
The Rev. Dr. Philip Potter, who died on March 31 at the age of 93, was a monumental presence in the global Christian community and world Methodism in the 20th century. As the general secretary of the World Council of Churches from 1972 to 1984, the native of the Caribbean island of Dominica helped to shape the ecumenical commitment to justice and peace in the era of the East-West Cold War and as the nations of the Global South made their way onto the international political and economic scene. He was instrumental in bringing the collective Christian conscience to the foreground in opposing Apartheid in South Africa and in launching the larger World Council’s program to combat racism, which was based in solid Christian and Wesleyan theology.
While a consummate theologian and diplomat, Philip Potter was also a caring pastor and a calming Christian spirit. I recall a particular occasion while he was a visiting speaker at the Methodist seminary in Brazil where I served as a United Methodist missionary. One of our exchange students from Germany was experiencing a “dark night of the soul,” which threw him into such an emotional panic that it prevented him from travelling back to Germany for medical reasons. He was paralyzed in fear and called out for the attention of notable, experienced Christians, and he particularly asked for Philip Potter. With hesitation, I went to Dr. Potter. “Would you, could you pray with and for our distressed student?” He would, and did, and counseled and prayed with great understanding of the uncertainty that can infiltrate the mind and heart of one struggling and in profound emotional stress. Potter’s deep, resonant voice on that occasion seemingly conveyed the assurance of God’s presence. Our student rallied and was able to return to Germany restored.
I met Philip Potter first in his early years as WCC’s chief executive, when I was a student traveling with a group of fellows to visit the World Council of Churches offices in Geneva, Switzerland. Always a minority as a German United Methodist, I never felt so included as when I met a Methodist who was leading the world’s major ecumenical organization. It was a window for me on the important role Methodism played in the ecumenical and mission movements.
Philip Potter was fearless in faith, wise in knowledge, and determined to bring the Christian community to unity in Christ for the sake of showing the world that generosity, peace, and justice are possible in the real world. I thank God for his life and witness.
*Thomas Kemper is the General Secretary of Global Ministries.
Washing feet: A dream for a servant
Photo by Mike DuBose, United Methodist News Service
Holy Thursday foot washing at Belmont United Methodist Church, Nashville, Tennessee
Washing Feet: A Dream for a Servant by Sam Murillo
July-August 2014
It was crisp and cool that morning of May 3, 2013. I made my way to work excited that it was Friday. It had been a long, busy week for me, and I was feeling a bit tired.
I was also feeling a bit discouraged. I was probably experiencing what I call servant-fatigue. It is what we feel when we start to question whether our efforts to serve Christ in the world are really making a difference. Would anyone miss our efforts if we stopped?
A few hours later, while taking my morning walk-break, I suffered a massive, congestive heart attack. And, if the heart failure itself was not serious enough, I picked up some mysterious, quite deadly infection that caused respiratory complications including severe, pulmonary hemorrhaging. My doctors' primary objective was to keep me alive long enough to arrest the infection.
Miracle boy
I was in a coma for five weeks. My family was prepared for the worst – if I survived, I would probably be confined to a bed as I most assuredly had brain damage. My brother Benjamin, however, clung to the words of Jesus: "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40) He told our family that this would be our mantra – to see the glory of God.
Slowly, I started to show signs of improvement. Surely, I got better and better. My doctors and caregivers were amazed and astounded. Some started calling me the "miracle boy."
One afternoon one of my favorite nurses had performed her routine duties on me. Finished with her charting, she came over and stood at my bedside, just looking at me.
"You were under for quite a while," she said. "You went through a lot. I am curious. Did you see or experience anything unusual?"
I looked up at her and said, "I had a great time. Got to spend some quality time with Jesus." I said I had a couple of dreams or visions and learned some things. I looked away and did not say anything else.
After several long seconds of stone-cold silence, she shook her hands palms up and asked rather peeved, "Like?!?"
I told her about one.
I am soaring high above a beautiful coastline where lush green cliffs look over a white, sandy beach below. Flying like an eagle along this majestic coastline, I come upon lots of people gathered at the water's edge. I go down and start walking toward them. People are coming and going, but all are hovering around one young man who seems to be listening to them and giving advice.
I hear one woman say to another, "Ask the Lord about that."
Pointing at the young man, I asked her, "Is that the Lord?" She did not answer me. I asked, "Where is this place? Where am I?" No one looked at me. It was as if they could not see me. I made my way closer to the man at the center of the crowd. He had a towel tied around his waist, but I did not think much about it.
As he dismissed one person, I tried to get his attention. I asked, "Are you the Lord?"
Instead of answering my question, he simply turned and knelt in front of an elderly woman sitting on a small stool in front of a basin. The people in line to speak to him just stood and waited. He washed the woman's feet and dried them. Then, he kissed her on her head and turned back to the people in line. After talking with a couple of them, he turned back around, knelt in front of a young boy who seemed to have multiple sclerosis and proceeded to wash his feet.
Nothing more important than washing feet
This kneeling to wash feet and rising to speak to people in line went on for quite a while. Finally, frustrated with this inefficient multi-tasking, I blurted out, "Lord, why are you wasting time washing feet when all of these people are waiting in line to speak with you, to get your direction on important matters?"
The Lord stopped his foot washing. Standing up and facing me, he looked me straight in the eye but said nothing immediately.
Then, with one of the deepest looks of compassion I have ever seen, he said, "There is nothing more important in heaven or on Earth than washing feet." He took the towel in his hands, turned around and got back on his knees to finish what he had started.
Immediately, I started to feel myself drifting from the scene. "Lord!" I cried out, "Tell me more! Please, what did you mean?"
I woke up in my hospital room and it was the middle of the night. Over the next few weeks, I worked hard in therapy, but often my last thought at night was "Lord, you said there is nothing more important in heaven or on Earth than washing feet. Please, help me understand."
My answer came not in another dream, but in the middle of a Wednesday afternoon. I was walking the hallways of my rehab facility, working to build strength and endurance. Passing one particular room, I looked in and saw that the resident, an elderly, frail-looking man, had fallen between his wheelchair and his bed. I should have used the call button, but I just went over and tried to help him. He had soiled himself. Embarrassed, he apologized to me for having to help him in that condition. I managed to get him to the bathroom.
Loving to serve, serving to love
Back in my room, I plopped on my bed, exhausted from my little excursion. Then, out of nowhere, words came to me like a quiet whisper in my ear: "That was washing feet. Never, ever stop washing feet. Each time you do, I will know how much you love me."
I was suddenly filled with emotion. I choked up. Finally, I understood. Here is the Lord, the Redeemer, needing to hear from us, to see from us that we in fact do love him — every day — in big ways and in little ways.
When we read to a child in a poor school district, we wash feet. When we take food to a shut-in, we wash feet. When we walk through iron prison gates to love those who are not loved, we wash feet. When my brothers and sisters in Christ cared for my family and me while I was down, they washed my feet. My pastor, the Rev. Carol Cavin-Dillon, was in the ICU with me. Probably wondering if I were going to make it, she was there, early in the morning, praying and reading Scriptures for me. My pastor washed my feet, when I was not even conscious.
Many others did special and loving things for my family and me. I can imagine – for every time they washed my feet – seeing Jesus with a big, wide grin across his face, beaming with pride and joy over their display of love for him.
If your works of justice and mercy ever start to feel a bit strained, by all means, take a break. But, please return and do not neglect to serve the least of us. Do not think for a minute that your love and sacrifice do not matter. Never think that your time and effort go unnoticed and unappreciated. I believe every time you wash someone's feet, the Lord sees it and holds it close, like a beautiful love note from you, and only you, to him.
When we take the bread and the cup, we catch a tiny glimpse of the breadth and length, height and depth of Christ's love for us. But when we wash one another's feet, then it becomes our privilege to give Christ a glimpse of the breadth and length and height and depth of our love for him. We may not think it is much, but I firmly believe it means everything to him. I believe I have it on good authority that to him there is nothing more important in heaven or on Earth than my washing your feet, and you washing mine.
Sam Murillo is a member of Christ United Methodist Church in Franklin, Tenn., where he first shared this story on Holy Thursday in 2014. He has recovered well from the heart attack and infection. By Christmas 2013, Murillo had returned to full-time work as a partner in a financial brokerage firm. He and his wife, Susan, have two young adult children, Jessica and Jared, a son-in-law, Aaron, and a grandson, Sutton, born in April 2014.
To be United Methodist: Footwashing
‘Why do we wash one another's feet on Maundy Thursday?'
As recorded in the Gospel of John, the night he was betrayed and arrested, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and then gave them a new commandment to love one another as he loved them. But how did foot washing become part of Christian worship?
When Jesus washes his disciples' feet, it is one of the most incredible acts of humility in the Bible. For many, this was revolutionary – the master was washing his servants' feet. At first read, it seems the disciples should be washing Jesus' feet. But, as is often the case, Jesus turns the meaning of a common act upside down.
Foot washing was an act of hospitality in ancient civilizations, especially where sandals were the common footwear. Scripture first names it as a sign of humility in 1 Samuel when an honored personoffers to wash the feet of a servant. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus comments on the lack of hospitality in the home of a Pharisee. He says to the host, "When I entered your home, you didn't give me water for my feet, but she wet my feet with tears and wiped them with her hair" (Luke 7:44b, CEB). Jesus is referring to a woman who is a sinner, who has come to worship him.
Some Christian denominations and churches regularly observe foot washing; a few consider it a sacrament along with baptism and Holy Communion based on Jesus' words: "So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other's feet. I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you also must do" (John 13:14-15, CEB).
Others, including a number of United Methodist congregations, reserve the practice for certain occasions, including Maundy Thursday of Holy Week, the night before Good Friday. ("Maundy" comes from the Latin mandatum, meaning mandate or commandment.) The foot washing is often part of services of Holy Communion that recall Jesus' last meal with his disciples before he was arrested. The foot washing preceded the meal. Later that same evening, as he shared bread and wine with his disciples, Jesus mandated remembering him whenever those items were shared. References to that meal are found in several parts of the New Testament. We remember when we observe what we call Holy Communion, Eucharist or the Last or Lord's Supper.
A sign of humility – the master serving his servant, an act of servitude – is the example that Jesus imparted to his first disciples and to those following him today.
Adapted from "Chuck Knows Church," produced by Discipleship Ministries. View the episode atwww.gbod.org/resources/foot-washing-chuck-knows-church.
"To Be United Methodist" provides short answers to questions of United Methodist practices and identity. Submit a possible topic or question for a future column to interpreter@umcom.org.
Lent quiz continues through Easter Sunday
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — The Lent quiz will have new questions throughout the rest of Holy Week about Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. A new question will be posted each day, and all previous questions are still available.
Take today's quiz
http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/lent-quiz-test-your-knowledge-of-the-season
Photo by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications
A figurine from Bolivia depicts the Last Supper of Jesus and his Disciples.
Lent Quiz: Test your knowledge of the season
See how much you know about the traditions and symbols of Lent & Easter by clicking on the daily questions below.
We encourage you to share the link to this page with others, too. Good luck!
Click on a question below to take the quiz:
Lent quiz: What is another term for Palm Sunday in the United Methodist Church?
Lent Quiz: Why is Maundy Thursday a name for the night before Jesus’ arrest?
Lent Quiz: Of these phrases, which one does the Bible not attribute to Jesus on the night before he died?
Lent quiz: When Jesus says, “Why have you forsaken me?” what book is he quoting?
Lent Quiz: Jesus instituted communion during what celebration?
Lent quiz: Palm Sunday is March 29. What is the symbolism of palm branches?
Lent Quiz: Where does it say the Messiah rode a donkey into Jerusalem?
Lent Quiz: What are the Stations of the Cross?
Lent Quiz: What group was not typically crucified in Rome?
Lent Quiz: Why do we use lilies as a symbol of Easter?
Lent Quiz: Which disciple objects to Jesus washing his feet?
Lent Quiz: At the Last Supper, the disciples would have been—
Lent Quiz: What song in The Faith We Sing, from St. Patrick, would also be a good Lenten devotion?
Lent Quiz: What is another term for Good Friday, the day Christ was crucified?
Lent Quiz: What snack food has significance during Lent?
Lent Quiz: Why do some churches hold Easter sunrise services?
Lent Quiz: What does INRI mean on a crucifix?
Lent Quiz: True or false, Jesus predicted his death and Resurrection?
Lent Quiz: Communion is based on the Last Supper of Christ. Can anyone receive communion at a United Methodist Church?
Lent Quiz: Whom do the Gospels say Jesus first spoke to after he arose?
Lent Quiz: When do congregations ‘strip the Lord’s Table?’
Lent Quiz: What in nature is used as a symbol of Easter?
Lent Quiz: Many people fast during Lent. How often did John Wesley fast?
Lent Quiz: What do some United Methodists not sing at Lent?
Lent Quiz: What does a Tenebrae service consist of?
Lent Quiz: To whom does Jesus say, “Get behind me, Satan”?
Lent Quiz: Why do people give things up for Lent?
Lent Quiz: Does The United Methodist Church have official rules for observing Lent?
Lent Quiz: Why are eggs associated with Easter?
Lent Quiz: True or False? Sundays are not counted in the 40 days of Lent
Lent Quiz: How did the early church observe Lent?
Lent Quiz: What does the term 'Lent,' which comes from the Anglo Saxon word 'lencten,' mean?
Lent Quiz: When did United Methodists officially start the 'imposition of ashes?'
Looking ahead
Here are some of the activities ahead for United Methodists across the connection. If you have an item to share, email newsdesk@umcom.org and put Digest in the subject line.
Tuesday-Thursday, April 7-9
"Vision to Victory: Religion, Race and Revival," celebration of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — United Theological Seminary will hold revival services calling for accountability and reconciliation at 7 p.m. EDT April 7,8 and 9 at Omega Baptist Church, 1821 Emerson Ave., Dayton, Ohio. Guest speakers include Bishop Gregory V. Palmer of the West Ohio Conference; the Rev. Frank Thomas, professor of homiletics at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, and the Rev. Vanessa Ward, co-pastor of Omega and lecturer at United. Details.
Saturday, April 11
Deacon Day @ Drew — 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. EDT at Drew Theological School, Seminary Hall, 36 Madison Ave., Madison, New Jersey. This workshop is an opportunity to explore the identity and call of the deacon. In the morning, participants will take advantage of Drew's Seminary Saturday offerings. In the afternoon, the Rev. Victoria Rebeck, director of deacon ministry development and provisional membership at the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, will moderate a panel of deacons serving in diverse appointments. Free. Details.
You can see more educational opportunities and other upcoming events in the life of the church here.
United Methodist News Service is a ministry of:
United Methodist Communications
810 12th Avenue South
Take today's quiz
http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/lent-quiz-test-your-knowledge-of-the-season
Photo by Kathleen Barry, United Methodist Communications
A figurine from Bolivia depicts the Last Supper of Jesus and his Disciples.
Lent Quiz: Test your knowledge of the season
See how much you know about the traditions and symbols of Lent & Easter by clicking on the daily questions below.
We encourage you to share the link to this page with others, too. Good luck!
Click on a question below to take the quiz:
Lent quiz: What is another term for Palm Sunday in the United Methodist Church?
Lent Quiz: Why is Maundy Thursday a name for the night before Jesus’ arrest?
Lent Quiz: Of these phrases, which one does the Bible not attribute to Jesus on the night before he died?
Lent quiz: When Jesus says, “Why have you forsaken me?” what book is he quoting?
Lent Quiz: Jesus instituted communion during what celebration?
Lent quiz: Palm Sunday is March 29. What is the symbolism of palm branches?
Lent Quiz: Where does it say the Messiah rode a donkey into Jerusalem?
Lent Quiz: What are the Stations of the Cross?
Lent Quiz: What group was not typically crucified in Rome?
Lent Quiz: Why do we use lilies as a symbol of Easter?
Lent Quiz: Which disciple objects to Jesus washing his feet?
Lent Quiz: At the Last Supper, the disciples would have been—
Lent Quiz: What song in The Faith We Sing, from St. Patrick, would also be a good Lenten devotion?
Lent Quiz: What is another term for Good Friday, the day Christ was crucified?
Lent Quiz: What snack food has significance during Lent?
Lent Quiz: Why do some churches hold Easter sunrise services?
Lent Quiz: What does INRI mean on a crucifix?
Lent Quiz: True or false, Jesus predicted his death and Resurrection?
Lent Quiz: Communion is based on the Last Supper of Christ. Can anyone receive communion at a United Methodist Church?
Lent Quiz: Whom do the Gospels say Jesus first spoke to after he arose?
Lent Quiz: When do congregations ‘strip the Lord’s Table?’
Lent Quiz: What in nature is used as a symbol of Easter?
Lent Quiz: Many people fast during Lent. How often did John Wesley fast?
Lent Quiz: What do some United Methodists not sing at Lent?
Lent Quiz: What does a Tenebrae service consist of?
Lent Quiz: To whom does Jesus say, “Get behind me, Satan”?
Lent Quiz: Why do people give things up for Lent?
Lent Quiz: Does The United Methodist Church have official rules for observing Lent?
Lent Quiz: Why are eggs associated with Easter?
Lent Quiz: True or False? Sundays are not counted in the 40 days of Lent
Lent Quiz: How did the early church observe Lent?
Lent Quiz: What does the term 'Lent,' which comes from the Anglo Saxon word 'lencten,' mean?
Lent Quiz: When did United Methodists officially start the 'imposition of ashes?'
Looking ahead
Here are some of the activities ahead for United Methodists across the connection. If you have an item to share, email newsdesk@umcom.org and put Digest in the subject line.
Tuesday-Thursday, April 7-9
"Vision to Victory: Religion, Race and Revival," celebration of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — United Theological Seminary will hold revival services calling for accountability and reconciliation at 7 p.m. EDT April 7,8 and 9 at Omega Baptist Church, 1821 Emerson Ave., Dayton, Ohio. Guest speakers include Bishop Gregory V. Palmer of the West Ohio Conference; the Rev. Frank Thomas, professor of homiletics at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, and the Rev. Vanessa Ward, co-pastor of Omega and lecturer at United. Details.
Saturday, April 11
Deacon Day @ Drew — 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. EDT at Drew Theological School, Seminary Hall, 36 Madison Ave., Madison, New Jersey. This workshop is an opportunity to explore the identity and call of the deacon. In the morning, participants will take advantage of Drew's Seminary Saturday offerings. In the afternoon, the Rev. Victoria Rebeck, director of deacon ministry development and provisional membership at the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, will moderate a panel of deacons serving in diverse appointments. Free. Details.
You can see more educational opportunities and other upcoming events in the life of the church here.
United Methodist News Service is a ministry of:
United Methodist Communications
810 12th Avenue South
Nashville, Tennessee 37203-4704 United States
NewsDesk@umcom.org
NewsDesk@umcom.org
Phone: 615.742.5400
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Hey, there is a broken link in this article, under the anchor text - English translation
ReplyDeleteHere is the working link so you can replace it - https://selectra.co.uk/sites/selectra.co.uk/files/pdf/GospelofJudas.pdf