United Methodist News ~ Tuesday, 22 October 2013
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2016 General Conference to see drop in delegates by Heather Hahn
The 2016 General Conference in Portland, Ore., will have about 15 percent fewer delegates than recent gatherings of The United Methodist Church’s top lawmaking body.
The Commission on the 2016 General Conference on Friday, Oct. 18, voted 14 to 2 to set the target number of delegates at 850. That number is not exact. It could vary by a few people either direction to meet representation requirements under church law.
General Conference, which meets for nearly two weeks every four years, has lawmaking authority “over all matters distinctly connectional.” Half of the delegates are lay, and half are clergy. It is the only body that can officially speak for the global denomination of about 12 million professing members.
Since the merger that created The United Methodist Church in 1968, the number of delegates at each General Conference has remained closer to 1,000.
Previously, the General Conference secretary has set the target number of delegates. The 2012 General Conference in Tampa, Fla., gave that authority to the full commission.
The reduction will save the church around $600,000, Sara Hotchkiss, General Conference business manager, told the commission. Before the vote, the projected costs for the 2016 General Conference were more than $10 million.
More significantly, the reduction in delegates begins to smooth the way for The United Methodist Church to hold its first General Conference outside the United States, said the Rev. L. Fitzgerald Reist II, the General Conference secretary. That move could happen as early as 2024.
“At the present time, there is no one willing to host us because of what is involved in moving General Conference outside the United States,” he told the commission. “One of the changes that will probably need to be made is in the size of the delegation. I think it would be a mistake to move outside the United States and reduce the size of the delegation at the same time.”
The 2020 General Conference will be in the North Central Jurisdiction. The specific site has yet to be chosen.
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‘Therefore, Go’ chosen as 2016 theme
The Commission on the 2016 General Conference on Friday, Oct. 28, also approved the theme for the gathering in downtown Portland, Ore.
The theme will be “Therefore, Go” from Christ’s Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20. The same passage also serves as inspiration for the denomination’s mission “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” It also has the advantage of being easily translated into multiple languages.
Nordic and Baltic Episcopal Area Bishop Christian Alsted, an ex-officio commission member, first suggested the 2016 theme.
The Rev. Lynn Hill, the chair of the commission’s program committee and a member of the Tennessee Annual (regional) Conference, noted worship leaders and other organizers will be able to invoke the theme in a variety of ways to expand upon the Christian message.
Some possible directions include:
“Therefore, go … in love”
“Therefore, go and baptize”
“Therefore, go work for peace.”
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In addressing the question of representation, Reist pointed out that the United States has a population of more than 300 million people, and yet relies on a federal legislature that is slightly more than half the size of the typical General Conference.
The commission’s vote came after hours of discussion that touched on stewardship of the denomination’s resources, the need for adequate representation and the balance of power in the denomination.
“Part of our goal is to move incrementally, but our intention is to move toward a smaller General Conference,” said Judi Kenaston, the commission’s chair and conference secretary of the West Virginia Annual Conference.
What church law says
The denomination’s constitution sets a range of 600 to 1,000 delegates and a ratio for representation based on an annual conference’s membership. Each annual and missionary conference is allowed to send at least one lay and one clergy delegate. Annual conferences elect their delegates.
A proposed constitutional amendment to increase the minimum to 800 delegates got majority support at the 2012 General Conference, but fell short of the required two-thirds of the vote.
The 2012 General Conference had 988 delegates from around the globe. It cost about $8.4 million.
Hotchkiss pointed out that some fixed costs for General Conference would remain or increase no matter how steeply the number of delegates decreased. Such costs include interpreters in multiple languages. For example, the 2012 General Conference voted to require that starting in 2016, General Conference materials must now be translated into Kiswahili.
Based on the membership numbers used for the 2012 General Conference, no U.S. jurisdiction would lose or gain more than about 1 percent of its representation at the 2016 General Conference, said commission member Stephanie Deckard Henry, a member of the New England Annual (regional) Conference. Also based on the figures for the 2012 General Conference, U.S. delegates still would comprise nearly 60 percent.
Reist did note that a reduction in delegation size would increase the proportionate representation of smaller annual conferences as well as the central conferences — church areas in Africa, Asia and Europe.
Initially, the commission considered a motion to reduce the number of delegates to 750. But ultimately the board approved an amendment to increase that number to 850.
“This was a compromise,” said the Rev. Diane Wasson Eberhart, the commission member who proposed the amendment. She is an ordained deacon in the Iowa Annual (regional) Conference.
“I was on the fence about the issue because I feel strongly that we have a lot of voices that need to be heard, but I also feel strongly that we need a culture of change. If we do the same thing over and over again, we’ll get the same results.”
A number of United Methodists have denounced the 2012 gathering as the “do-nothing” General Conference. The Judicial Council — the denomination’s top court — overturned an effort to restructure the church’s general agencies and overturned other legislation to eliminate eliminate guaranteed security of appointments for ordained elders in good standing. The wider General Conference ran out of time before it could consider a number of petitions approved by legislative committees.
Some commissioners expressed the hope that a smaller General Conference also might increase the efficiency in handling petitions.
The Rev. Francis Charley, a commission member and district superintendent in Sierra Leone Annual (regional) Conference, said a delegate count of 850 still would give many people the chance to participate in the lawmaking assembly.
“It’s a learning experience especially for those doing it for the first time,” Charley said. “One of the things I have been contemplating is increasing the amount of training in the central conferences before General Conference, so delegates can have the right kind of perspective.”
Reist said he plans to calculate the number of delegates for each annual conference this week, and will notify each conference secretary and bishop of the numbers in their areas.
“It will be based on the most recent figures we have for each annual conference,” he said.
As permitted by the 2012 General Conference, some annual conferences plan to elect their delegates next year. Others will wait to 2015.
In other action
The commission reduced the number of legislative committees at the 2016 General Conference from 13 to 12. The commission voted to combine the work previously done by the Higher Education and Ministry Committee — which deals with petitions concerning seminaries, ordination and clergy — and the Superintendency Committee — which deals with petitions concerning district superintendents and bishops.
The commission set a daily schedule with an adjournment of 6:30 p.m. most days. The one exception is the Saturday of General Conference, the last day when legislative committees meet. On that day, legislative committees would have the option of finishing their work during 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
*Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service.
News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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30 pastors plan to perform same-sex union by Kathy Gilbert
The Rev. Frank Schaefer will go before a church trial on Nov. 18 for performing the same-sex wedding of his son, but he is going with the support of more than 30 of his fellow United Methodist pastors who also plan to violate the same church law.
The pastors say they will participate in the wedding of a same-sex couple some time before the start of Schaefer’s trial. The gender, identity and date of the ceremony is not being disclosed to protect the privacy of the couple.
Since 1972, The United Methodist Church has said, “Homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.”
Only General Conference can determine the denomination’s position. The 2012 United Methodist General Conference retained that language and rejected a resolution that stated the church disagrees on sexuality. The next General Conference, which meets every four years and sets the laws for the denomination, will be in 2016.
The denomination’s Book of Discipline also forbids United Methodist clergy from performing same-sex unions, and it bars the performance of such unions in United Methodist church sanctuaries.
Schaefer learned of the pastors’ plan at a meeting Oct. 17 at Arch Street United Methodist Church in Philadelphia. Arch Street is a Reconciling Congregation, and member of Reconciling Ministries Network, an unofficial caucus that advocates for the denomination’s greater inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
“I addressed them and thanked them for standing up for me and the LBGTQ community,” Schaefer said. “We sang hymns, we prayed … it was very touching. I was so moved that men and women, young and old, retired and active clergy were all willing to put their careers, their orders of ordination on the line.”
The Rev. David Brown, a deacon on staff at Arch Street, said the pastors who will officiate at the wedding hope to “continue to move the denomination’s affirmation of these members (LBGTQ) of our faith community.”
Brown said it is difficult to know what The United Methodist Church’s reaction will be to the action.
“Our actions to support him are more powerful than any words we can offer. We hope our support provides a powerful illustration of how we affirm what Rev. Schaefer did as a father and pastor of a congregation that should welcome all.”
Planning a defense
Schaefer officiated at his son’s wedding in 2007. A member of his congregation at Zion United Methodist Church of Iona in Lebanon, Pa., filed a complaint against him one month before the statue of limitations ran out.
His son had confided to his father and mother that he had contemplated suicide because he thought the messages he got from the church and culture made him feel something was wrong with him.
Schaefer said other paragraphs of the denomination’s law book speak of the sacred worth of all people and speak of teens who are struggling with their sexual identity as needing special care.
“That is the story of my son,” he said. “We are hoping we can make an argument that I may have violated some paragraphs but what about other paragraphs?
“We have a number of expert witnesses lined up, and hopefully they (will) be allowed to testify that there are some times in ministry when a pastor has to obey one part of the Discipline at the expense of another.”
The Rev. Thomas Lambrecht is the vice president and general manager of Good News, an unofficial evangelical United Methodist caucus, and has been following the case.
“Sadly, our church is once again being led down the path of a costly and divisive trial by a pastor who chose to disregard the prayerful and consistent teaching of our church that Christian marriage is the holy union of one man and one woman,” he said. “As a father, I share Rev. Schaefer’s desire to affirm his son, but there are ways of doing so that do not require a pastor to break the Discipline and the covenant that all United Methodist pastors agree to uphold.
“The plan for a joint same-sex union service represents an escalation in the move to disregard our United Methodist Discipline, portraying a church that is hopelessly divided. Those who could not convince the church of the rightness of their cause are now attempting to impose their will through disobedience and pressure tactics. This approach is a slap in the face to all who uphold 2,000 years of Christian moral teaching. Such tactics call into question whether The United Methodist Church can remain together.”
The trial will take place at Camp Innabah, Pa. Retired Bishop Alfred Gwinn will preside over the case. Bishop Peggy Johnson is episcopal leader for the Eastern Pennsylvania area. The prosecutor will be Christopher Fisher, a pastor in the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual (regional) Conference and director of United Methodist Studies at Evangelical Seminary in Myerstown, Pa.
“The complaint is confidential under our church process, and I am not at liberty to provide any comment,” Johnson said. “I am in prayer for all involved in this process, and I urge everyone to join me in lifting up in prayer each of the persons involved.”
Weddings, charges
Retired United Methodist Bishop Melvin G. Talbert will officiate at the same-sex wedding of Joe Openshaw and Bobby Prince in Birmingham on Oct. 26.
“When our 2012 General Conference failed to do the right thing by removing such derogatory and hurtful language from our Book of Discipline, I was moved by the Spirit to speak a word of hope to our LGBTQ sisters and brothers at every level of the life of our church and society,” Talbert said in a statement about why he is officiating at the wedding.
Their plans prompted the episcopal leader of the area, Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett, to issue a statement asking Talbert not to come to Alabama to disobey church law. She said she fears the distraction of the wedding will take focus away from the ministries going on in North Alabama United Methodist churches, such as feeding the hungry, serving in ministry with the poor and welcoming all people to worship together.
“As a bishop of The United Methodist Church, I took a vow to abide by and uphold the Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church,” she said. “I am also committed to continuing to focus those I lead on our mission, which is broader than any one issue. The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
Three other United Methodist elders are facing complaints — all in the state of New York.
A complaint was filed against the Rev. Stephen Heiss, pastor of Tabernacle United Methodist Church, Binghamton, N.Y., for officiating at his daughter’s same-sex union.
In a letter to Bishop Mark J. Webb, episcopal leader of the Upper New York Conference, Heiss said he has officiated at several other same-sex unions and plans to officiate at a future wedding for two women.
A statement was issued from the episcopal office in July, and Heiss and Webb met to discuss the issue in August. A second meeting took place Sept. 20, and Webb extended the process for another 30 days.
In October 2012, the Rev. Thomas Ogletree, a retired seminary dean and elder, officiated at the same-sex wedding of his son. Some clergy in the New York Annual Conference filed a complaint against Ogletree after his son’s wedding announcement appeared in The New York Times.
The Rev. Sara Thompson Tweedy is also facing a formal complaint in the New York Conference that she is a “self-avowed practicing” lesbian.
A place at the table
Schaefer said he was struck by a prayer from a gay person at the Arch Street church meeting who said, ‘Lord, I am tired of fighting for a place in the pew, for a place at your table.’
“I wondered why do they even still try? But they want to be in the church, they want to be at the Lord’s table, they want to be included.”
*Gilbert is a multimedia reporter for the young adult content team at United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tenn. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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A call for the church to speak out on domestic violence by Daniel R. Gangler*
“Domestic abuse is one of the ugliest crimes I can think of,” said the Rev. Dountonia Slack.
“This is all about sin. Victims of abuse stay in their corner crying out for hope.” Slack, a spousal abuse survivor, addressed an Oct. 2-4 conference hosted by St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Indianapolis.
Not to Believers Like Us Inc., an Indianapolis faith-based organization dedicated to the prevention of domestic violence, sponsored “Shattering the Silence in the Faith Community.” Twenty-four advocates for survivors of spousal abuse attended the conference.
Slack said her spousal abuse began in 2006 when her former husband, also a pastor, physically attacked her. She fought back. To her surprise, the police arrested her for domestic battery because she had no marks on her body, but her husband did. She said her husband hit her in the stomach and tried to strangle her.
The couple reconciled a month later, but her husband attacked her again three times within a year. Each time, she retaliated and was arrested. After 17 months and a contentious divorce, Slack said she learned not to fight back, at least physically.
“My husband attacked me four times, and I was arrested. I never had the background on what would happen to me (if I struck back),” she confessed. “After my divorce, I found out that he had been married to three other wives.”
Slack said her life changed when her attorney suggested, “Why don’t you become your own advocate?”
‘Not just a women's ministry issue’
Slack grew up in a church and had loving parents who never abused her. She called domestic violence the “cesspool of injustice.”
“The injustice of arrest is most unbearable for most women,” she said. Now Slack’s response is to educate and help women “with the love of Christ.” That is what called her to be an advocate and founder of NOT GUILTY! Courtroom Advocates, a Christ-centered organization dedicated to fighting legal-system abuse, based in Anderson, Ind., 40 miles northeast of Indianapolis.
Spousal abuse, Slack noted, “is not just a women's ministry issue. In marriage, two become one. We can’t ignore the male issue. It takes both the abused and an abuser.”
Also speaking at the conference was Vivian Finnell, founder and CEO of Not to Believers Like Us Inc. She is married to Bishop Charles M. Finnell, pastor of Christ Temple Apostolic Assembly of Indianapolis.
Finnell, who experienced abuse as a child, said her first goal is to protect abused women and children.
“Abuse is a learned behavior,” she said. “Unfortunately, the Bible is even used to justify abuse. … Domestic abuse is not a women’s ministry issue but a society issue. We have a challenge.”
Stressing that churches must address the issue, she said spousal abuse exists in congregations. For that reason, Finnell said, every church needs a safety team and a safety plan to respond with a comprehensive approach.
Healing a horrible ‘cancer’
Perpetrators and victims can be members of the same church, she said. “Our goal is to understand that domestic violence follows a cycle – hearts and flowers, same old stuff, nagging, warning signs, act of violence, remorse leading back to hearts and flowers.”
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Resources for churches and individuals
Related Links
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Why did Finnell begin N2BLU?
“I saw a need in the aftermath of domestic violence and felt the mission I was supposed to do was healing both mother and father,” she said. “I feel called to empower selves about the prevention of domestic violence — a horrible ‘cancer’ that is talking over our society. I’m not about intervention but prevention.
“By the numbers, spousal abuse in the church is similar to spousal abuse in (the greater) society.”
During the conference, 12 speakers shared various aspects of domestic violence prevention. They included a playwright from a violence-awareness-and-prevention theatrical troupe, a community developer, a counselor for domestic violence survivors, a police detective, a family-violence resource attorney and former judge, a lawyer who volunteers at a Christian legal clinic, a victim advocate with a county prosecutor’s office and an advisory council member of the Indiana Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.
The mission of the meeting was to shatter the silence of domestic family violence in the faith-based community by raising public awareness among clergy, church leaders and lay members of all faiths.
*Gangler serves as director of communication, Indiana Annual (regional) Conference.
News media contact: Barbara Dunlap-Berg, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Agency forms partnership with Healing Communities
Local church ministry focuses on those adversely affected by criminal-justice system.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United Methodist General Board of Church & Society has announced a partnership with Healing Communities, a Philadelphia faith-based ministry that provides a framework to engage with persons returning from or at risk of incarceration, their families and the larger community.
“Too many of our brothers and sisters who are among the more than 2.3 million currently incarcerated in the United States are facing mountainous obstacles once they return to their local communities and congregations,” said Bill Mefford, GBCS director of Civil & Human Rights. “They face restrictions on access to services as well as the social stigma of having once been in prison.”
Mefford said Healing Communities is a way for United Methodist congregations to become ‘Stations of Hope’ for returning citizens. “In the Healing Communities model, you can mobilize existing resources within your congregation to meet needs both of the individual and their families,” he emphasized.
“This partnership allows us to understand ministry with those who have been touched by incarceration as pastoral care,” said Doug Walker, who is Senior Urban Ministry Fellow and Healing Communities National Coordinator at GBCS. “The Healing Communities framework helps congregations and conferences to expand their ministry without necessarily expanding their budget.”
Walker said starting most often with the pain sitting in a congregation’s very pews, this framework utilizes strengths that naturally exist in a congregation. “It allows us to live our faith and practice our ministry in ways that are specific and relevant to each congregation or conference,” he emphasized. “Can your church be a ‘Station of Hope’ for someone suffering silently with shame and stigma? Yes it can.”
Healing Communities is led by a team of staff and consultants comprising pastors, scholars, practitioners and thought leaders at the Philadelphia Leadership Foundation. Harold Dean Trulear directs the Healing Communities Prison Ministry and Prisoner Reentry Project of the Philadelphia Leadership Foundation.
Designed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Healing Communities has been implemented in over 20 sites nationally, in partnership with such organizations as the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the Christian Assn. for Prisoner Aftercare and the National Women’s Prison Project.
Brings mercy and justice together
Healing Communities identifies basic components of action for congregations. Each action is built on existing strengths, all located within the existing mission and ministry structure of the local church. Resources helpful in ministries among those affected by the criminal-justice system include the formal and informal networks of congregational life, and the Christian themes of forgiving, healing, redemption, reconciliation and justice.
Healing Communities trainings mobilize congregations to serve returning citizens as well as advocate for needed changes so that the criminal-justice system can be transformed into a truly fair and just system, according to Mefford.
“Healing Communities bring mercy and justice together where they belong,” Mefford said. “It creates spaces for incarnational relationships among those directly impacted by the broken criminal-justice system so that the United Methodist movement to end mass incarceration can continue to grow and be effective.”
Mefford urged every United Methodist church considering ministry among those directly affected by the criminal-justice system, or who are already engaged in these important ministries, to become a Healing Community.
Primary components
Primary components of Healing Communities are the following:
Stigma Reduction & a Welcoming, Supportive Atmosphere. The aim is to heighten awareness surrounding reentry, help families reduce the sense of stigma and shame over having incarcerated loved ones, and create a welcoming environment for returning citizens.
Formal & Informal Support. Congregations will be a source of strength for the family of the incarcerated and/or at risk persons through pastoral counseling and providing a support group to walk with the family through the incarceration of their loved one and their return home.
Volunteering. Congregations will be exposed to life-skill development programs in jails and prisons, and will be encouraged to provide volunteers for these efforts.
Mentoring. Using the Amachi model, mentors are expected to listen to, encourage, support and assist their mentees as they go through difficult times and face certain challenges.
Network of referrals. Congregations will be introduced to and connected with resources available in the community for persons impacted by incarceration.
Advocacy & Mobilization. Through additional training from the General Board of Church & Society, Healing Communities will build movements among United Methodist congregations committed to seeing an end to mass incarceration and the creation of a genuinely fair, just criminal-justice system.
Build teams with others
Healing Community congregations will build teams with other congregations in their conference and community and work with United Methodists from all over to build an effective, movement to change the criminal-justice system at both the state and federal levels.
More information, including United Methodist congregations that have embarked on the ministry is available on the GBCS website at Healing Communities Partnership.
If you are interested in your congregation becoming a Healing Community, contact Doug Walker at dwalker@umc-gbcs.org or Mefford at bmefford@umc-gbcs.org.
You can learn more about Healing Communities on its website at www.healingcommunitiesusa.org.
The General Board of Church & Society is one of four international general program boards of The United Methodist Church. Prime responsibility of the board is to seek implementation of the Social Principles and other policy statements on Christian social concerns of the General Conference, the denomination’s highest policy-making body. The board’s primary areas of ministry are Advocacy, Education & Leadership Formation, United Nations & International Affairs, and resourcing these areas for the denomination. It has offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and at the Church Center for the United Nations in New York City.
Contact Info
Wayne Rhodes
Director of Communications
General Board of Church & Society
(202) 488-5630 / wrhodes@umc-gbcs.org
Director of Communications
General Board of Church & Society
(202) 488-5630 / wrhodes@umc-gbcs.org
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Arrangements for the late Bishop Wertz by Heather Hahn
United Methodist Bishop D. Frederick Wertz, who led the West Virginia, Washington and Harrisburg (Pa.) episcopal areas, died Oct. 16 in Carlisle, Pa. His passing came less than two weeks after his 97th birthday.
Wertz was the longest-serving surviving bishop in the United States. Elected to the episcopacy in 1968 — the same year as the merger that formed The United Methodist Church — he played a crucial role in uniting former Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren members.
“He was a godly man, a strong leader, a good pastor,” said the Rev. Tom Maurer, pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Hummelstown, Pa., about 30 miles east of Carlisle.
Maurer was pastor of Allison United Methodist Church in Carlisle when he got to know Wertz, who was then a retired bishop as well as the congregation’s pastor emeritus.
“He was in the first class of United Methodist bishops elected … and he helped a great deal in forging that union between Methodists and EUBs.”
Bringing members of the two denominations together in shared ministry could be a challenge in those early years, recalled the Rev. Bill Wilson. He was ordained an elder by Wertz in the West Virginia Annual (regional) Conference.
Wertz’s first appointment as bishop was to West Virginia, where the former Evangelical United Brethren Conference had been one of the few “no” votes to the merger. In 1968, Wilson said, many Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren congregations in West Virginia were across the alley from each other.
Wertz ended up serving the newly formed West Virginia Conference for 12 years, four years longer than most U.S. bishops serve in one episcopal area. During his tenure, he led a substantial fundraising campaign that helped to solidify the conference’s clergy pensions, support United Methodist-related West Virginia Wesleyan College and improve the conference’s camp and educational center.
“His episcopal leadership was about moving with a purpose together all these entities that could have been divided,” said Wilson, now retired as West Virginia’s director of connectional ministries and assistant to the bishop.
Wilson quoted the report of the West Virginia episcopacy committee when Wertz left in 1980 to lead the Washington Area that encompasses what is now the Baltimore-Washington Annual (regional) Conference. The committee, which advised the bishop, credited Wertz with leading a merger “without suffering losses of identity and purpose.”
From academia to the episcopacy
David Frederick Wertz was born in Lewistown, Pa, on Oct. 5, 1916.
He served pastoral appointments while a student at now United Methodist-related Dickinson College in Carlisle and later while earning graduate degrees at United Methodist Boston University School of Theology.
He was ordained an elder in 1942 in the Central Pennsylvania Conference — now the Susquehanna Conference. He served these pastoral appointments: Doylesburg (1940-43); Stewartstown (1943-46); Camp Curtin Memorial (1946-49) and Allison Memorial Methodist (1949-53). He then was a district superintendent for two years before becoming president in 1955 of United Methodist-related Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pa.
From there, the Northeastern Jurisdiction elected him bishop. After his service in West Virginia, he led the Washington Area until retirement in 1984. In 1990, he came briefly out of retirement to serve one year as bishop of the Harrisburg Area.
During his time as bishop, he also was the president of the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race from 1972 to ’76 and president of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries from 1976 to ’80.
“The impact he had on so many lives will not be forgotten,” said Zedna Haverstock, who got to know Wertz when she was treasurer and comptroller of the Central Pennsylvania Annual (regional) Conference. She is now the Susquehanna Annual (regional) Conference benefits officer. “He was well-respected by not just clergy but also laity.”
Influence on other bishops
Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton, who now leads the Pittsburgh Area, said in a Facebook post that Wertz had a profound effect on his sense of calling.
Bickerton recounted that he was a teenager with plans to become an optometrist when he was summoned to the then West Virginia bishop’s office. Bickerton, then president of the Conference Council on Youth Ministry, expected Wertz to discuss the conference’s youth work. Instead, Wertz told Bickerton that God was calling the teen to ordained ministry.
Bickerton, initially, disagreed. But two years into college, Bickerton changed his major and made plans for seminary. Shortly after being elected bishop, he visited Wertz who was now living in a retirement home. It was then, Bickerton said, Wertz looked him in the eye and said, “I told you so.”
“I thank God for the life of D. Frederick Wertz,” Bickerton said. “He was a bishop of the church who shaped the direction of a young boy who could not see what he saw. I thank God that I finally did.”
Bishop Marcus Matthews, who today leads the Washington Area, recalls that as a young pastor in Washington, he invited Wertz to visit his small church.
“Not only did he come to the church, but he stopped by the house afterwards, along with his wife,” Matthews recalled. “They stayed for dinner and played with the kids. I will always remember that.”
He added that Wertz “was a good, good spirit. He was gentle but firm when needed.”
Bishop Jeremiah J. Park, who now leads the Harrisburg Area, first met Wertz when the then 91-year-old bishop visited the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference in 2008. “I remember the whole conference enjoyed what he had to share with us,” Park said. “I remember it as very exciting moment — one of the highlights of the jurisdictional conference.”
Wertz married Betty Jean Rowe on Aug. 25, 1938. She preceded him in death in 1999. The couple had four children: Robert Gary, Joanne Rowe, Donna Jean and Elizabeth Barratt. The family has tentative plans for his memorial service to be at the Carlisle (Pa.) United Methodist Church on Saturday, Nov. 2. Other memorial plans still are being planned.
*Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service. The Rev. Erik Alsgaard, managing editor in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, contributed to this report.
News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Bishop David Frederick Wertz, 97, of Carlisle, died Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013 at Cumberland Crossings, Carlisle with his loving family by his side.
Hoffman-Roth Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc., 219 North Hanover Street, Carlisle is in charge of the funeral arrangements and will announce them when completed. www.hoffmanroth.com
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — As part of a recent discussion of the possibility of online Eucharist, church leaders endorsed surveying United Methodists to get their thoughts on the practice. All United Methodist members, clergy and other individuals who attend or affiliate with The United Methodist Church are invited to fill out this short survey on Holy Communion online.
To take survey
To take survey
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Fire destroys Ohio church
CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) -
The Cleveland fire department says that an overnight blaze destroyed Wilson United Methodist Church Sunday morning.
Crews were dispatched to the church located at 1561 E. 55th Street at Midnight Sunday.
Authorities say the blaze began in the basement and firefighters weren't able to extinguish the intense flames and heavy smoke.
The fire completely destroyed the building, and demolition crews worked to tear down the structure Sunday morning.
The cause of the fire is unknown.
Copyright 2013 WOIO. All rights reserved.
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Church rises from arson by Omar Rikabi, Special Contributor
CENTERTON, Ark.—Smoke was once again rising from Living Waters United Methodist Church, but instead of arson it was a barbecue, and instead of sorrow there was celebration. On Sept. 21, nearly two years after the Centerton church’s 89-year-old building was destroyed by fire, friends and family gathered to eat, drink and celebrate the opening of their new home. Howard Womak came to visit and was admiring the new sanctuary, with its new chairs, an altar rail donated by a church in Oklahoma, and a large cross made of salvaged wood from the old, burned out sanctuary. It was Womak’s great-grandfather who had donated the land for the original church back in the late 1800s, and though a life-long Baptist, he grew up attending Bible school at the old church building. Also examining the new worship space was Lance Schaffer, who built the sanctuary’s salvaged cross. Lance’s uncle, Troy Stidham, is a contractor from Missouri and built the new church at cost. Lance smiles as he talks about the past and the future of Living Waters, and his family’s place in it: He and his wife, Brittany, were the last couple to be married in the old sanctuary, eight months before it burned down. And in a couple of weeks their infant son, Brooks, will be the first person baptized in the new sanctuary. Accessibility and more Outside, amid the big grill, live music and bounce-houses for the kids, Shirley Herbaugh repeats over and over, "This is wonderful!” Her husband Gerald is a life-long member of the church. Born with polio, as a young boy he needed to be carried up and down the stairs by groups of friends. Now, he has a building he can enter into on his own in his wheelchair. A quick walk through the building reveals that there is more than handicap accessibility for the members of the church to be excited about. Just two miles from Bentonville, Living Waters is positioned for the growth that is already moving toward Centerton. A new high school will go in down the road, and with it new neighborhoods and new families. In another week or two, the church’s food pantry, shut down since the fire, will be back up and running in its new designated space. And in the room next door, a medical examination room waits for a planned medical clinic. Two retired doctors in the community, moved by the new construction, have already offered their services, free of charge. And somewhere, in the midst of all the people walking around, sharing hugs, and reveling in their new digs, is the Rev. Blake Lasater. He gives tours and answers questions, and the look on his face is one of extreme relief. "We just got the certificate of occupancy yesterday at 4:10 in the afternoon,” he says. "I wasn’t sure this was ever going to happen. I’m starting to feel normal again for the first time in two years. This is a dream come true.” A tough journey Now a retired Navy reservist, Lasater came to pastor here in 2005, and in 2007 was shipped to serve in Iraq. In 2008, Living Waters merged with the 145-year-old Centerton UMC. On September 15, 2011, he was in Little Rock when he got a call that the church was on fire. The cause was ruled as arson, but no arrests were ever made. The sanctuary was gutted, and smoke and water damage filled the rest of the building. But the insurance company wanted to restore the old building, and would only pay half of the claim money if the church decided to tear down and build anew. Lasater tells of how they debated what to do, and how the decision was settled by the church’s oldest living member, Anna Skaggs. In her 90s at the time of the fire, Skaggs had been baptized in the old sanctuary as a child. But as Lasater says, she declared, "I wish you would tear this [old building] down and build a place I can walk into!” And that settled it. "Once the oldest member tells you that,” says Lasater, "you know you won’t have a battle with the congregation.” Sadly, Skaggs died just a few weeks after the church began construction on the new building. And that was not the only tragedy. Less than three months after the building burned down, Lasater’s wife, Jan, died of cancer. As their five-year-old daughter Gracie runs through the new building and past her daddy, he watches her go by, and after a long pause he says, "There were days these last two years where I would have rather been back in Iraq.” But his smile quickly returns. There are new visitors walking around, and Lasater wants to talk about the "new stability.” He tells of how during construction, new people constantly showed up asking when they would re-open. "The old building was dilapidated and not accessible,” he says. "Now we have tons of interest. It’s amazing how a building sets a tone.” The congregation, which averages between 95 and 105 in worship attendance, had been meeting at Centerton Gamble Elementary. Every week they would set up the chairs, sound system, instruments and altar for worship. "I’m never unloading ‘church in a box’ again,” he laughs. The following day, the district superintendent, the Rev. Bud Reeves, helped consecrate Living Waters’ new home. And Lasater preached the first sermon in the new sanctuary. The message? "The cost of discipleship.” The Rev. Rikabi serves as director of the Wesley Foundation campus ministry at the University of Arkansas. - See more at: http://www.arumc.org/article.php?story_id=11#sthash.QSfUUXPW.dpuf
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History of Hymns: ‘God the Sculptor of the Mountain’ by C. Michael Hawn
"God the Sculptor of the Mountains" by John Thornburg(The Faith We Sing, No. 2060)
"God the sculptor of the mountains,
God the miller of the sand,
God the jeweler of the heavens,
God the potter of the land:
You are womb of all creation,
we are formless; shape us now. *
God the miller of the sand,
God the jeweler of the heavens,
God the potter of the land:
You are womb of all creation,
we are formless; shape us now. *
Where do hymn writers get their inspiration? Inspiration can come from almost any place; but, in this case, the author was inspired by a trip to the wilds of Alaska.
John Thornburg (b. 1954) is a fourth-generation United Methodist minister. Following twenty-two years in pastoral ministry in Dallas, he began "A Ministry of Congregational Singing," an itinerant ministry of song leading and worship consultation .He joined the Texas Methodist Foundation in 2013 as an area consultant for the North Texas Annual Conference. The Rev. Thornburg has written well over 150 texts for use as hymns, choruses, anthems and vocal solos.
The Rev. Thornburg's ministry has taken him to South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, and numerous times to Cameroon where he joined with the nascent United Methodist Church there to develop their first official French/English hymnal. The Cameroon Hymnal Initiative, developed in partnership with the Global Praise Project of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, not only resulted in a hymnal, but new hymn compositions by Cameroonians, and training events that prepared pastors and musicians in Cameroon to lead congregational singing more effectively in their churches.
The author comments on the formation of the text: "I got the commission just before traveling to Alaska, and while there, got to see all manner of things I'd never seen before including bald eagles, moose, salmon running, etc. I got to pondering the relation of the wind to the eagle’s wing, and found myself saying, 'God, the updraft of the eagle....' When I got home, I disciplined myself on paper to write, 'God, the...' and then to see how many things I could name. It all started with that. Interestingly, the original phrase didn't make it into the final draft."
Stanza one focuses on God, the Creator of the natural order. Stanza two summarizes God’s acts of deliverance in Exodus. Stanza three draws upon images of food in the New Testament — "vineyard," "wheat," and "harvest" — leading ultimately to an image of the Eucharist.
The final stanza, beginning with "God, the unexpected infant," traces the birth and ministry of Christ in four short phrases. The author comments on this phrase: "I've been criticized for the use of the phrase 'unexpected infant' in stanza four, to the effect that some think I've never read the prophecy of Isaiah. I customarily respond, 'I have read the prophet Isaiah, but I've also read the Gospel of Luke, and according to Luke, Mary was surprised!'"
This hymn employs a catalog technique found in a number of hymns by recent hymn writers. In this poetic approach, an author collects several images -- snapshots -- that engage our imagination, and then ties them together with a thematic or theological thread. Such hymns usually make frequent allusions to passages of Scripture and employ an economy of language. This is in contrast to longer lines of thought or a theological narrative developed over several stanzas found in the hymns of earlier centuries. The singer needs to bring a spirit of adventure to work with the author to discover the message.
This hymn is perfectly shaped. The first four lines of each stanza describe God’s actions in creation and throughout history. The fifth line of each stanza refocuses the singer from references to God in the third person to a direct address to God in the second-person, "You." The last three words of each stanza form a petition: "shape us now," "lead us now," "feed us now," "meet us now."
Several well-known composers have set this text. The Faith We Sing sets Thornburg’s text to a rousing tune by Amanda Husberg (b. 1940), a Missouri Synod Lutheran musician who has led music at St. John the Evangelist Lutheran Church, predominately multicultural congregation in New York City, for nearly 50 years! She has composed 190 hymn tunes that appear in hymnals both in the United States and internationally. Her most popular tune, JENNINGS-HOUSTON, provides a wonderful black gospel swing that supports the Rev. Thornburg’s text beautifully. Not only does the melodic contour respond beautifully to the theological and poetic structure of the hymn text, the slower relaxed gospel style allows the singer more time to absorb the meaning of the text.
"God the sculptor" is the Rev. Thornburg’s most published hymn. It was commissioned in honor of James E. Kirby upon his retirement as Dean of Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, in 1993.
Other hymns by John Thornburg have been published in two collections, Can God Be Seen in Other Ways (Abingdon, 2003) and The One Who Taught Bedside the Sea (Wayne Leupold Editions, Inc., 2003).
*© 1993 by John Thornburg. Used by permission of the author.
Dr. Hawn is distinguished professor of church music at Perkins School of Theology. He is also director of the seminary's sacred music program.
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