NOTE: This is a digest of news features provided by United Methodist Communications for April 13-17. 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:
Answering the pastoral call, despite terminal cancer
NITRO, W.VA. (UMNS) —
Answering the pastoral call, despite terminal cancer by Sam Hodges
NITRO, W.Va. (UMNS)
Time is not on the Rev. Shelly Nichols’ side, but many people are.
Her family, pastor, church, district superintendent, bishop — all have helped Nichols answer God’s call to pastoral ministry, even as she faces terminal cancer.
“It’s worked out more perfectly than I could ever imagine,” she said.
Nichols, a 53-year-old mother of five, has since last summer served as associate minister at her home church, Cross Lanes United Methodist in Cross Lanes, West Virginia.
In her first appointment as a licensed local pastor, she has begun to preach and baptize. She has visited shut-ins and people less acutely ill than she is. She helped preside at the funeral of a young mother who committed suicide.
Nichols — whose cancer has spread so much that doctors give her just a few months — works part time at Cross Lanes. She works as her energy permits, and takes no salary.
Cross Lanes’ pastor, the Rev. Gary Nelson, laid down one law.
“He said, 'Shelly, you can do as much or as little as you want. The main thing is no stress for you,’” Nichols said. “That’s how I’ve approached it. … It’s all good.”
West Virginia #UMC clergywoman who has cancer: “God doesn’t cause any of these things. “He doesn’t play favorites.
TWEET THIS
Nelson insists that Nichols’ work and example have more than compensated for any accommodations.
“It’s been a tremendous gift for the church, for me, for all of us,” he said.
Feeling the call
Nichols grew up in Dumfries, Virginia, attending Dumfries United Methodist Church. Her father, Pete Costello, had a plumbing business and did lay ministry on the side, eventually becoming a licensed local pastor.
As a girl joining her father in visits to juvenile detention centers and retirement homes, Nichols felt her own tug toward ministry. Her father was sure she had a call, and after praying about it one night, woke her and her three younger brothers at 5 a.m., to share his conviction. They had a party that night to celebrate.
Nichols took a first step by enrolling at North Carolina Wesleyan College. But a roadblock appeared.
“I absolutely hated the religion classes,” she said.
Instead, Nichols majored in criminal justice and psychology, getting her master’s in counseling psychology at Towson State University, and becoming a licensed professional counselor.
Her life soon included motherhood — twin girls, followed by three boys. The career of her husband, Dave Nichols, took the family to Nitro, West Virginia, a suburb of the capital city of Charleston, in 2001.
There she became deeply involved at nearby Cross Lanes United Methodist. She taught Sunday school, became a liturgist for worship services, served as president of the United Methodist Women chapter, and went on mission trips to Nicaragua and Haiti.
Her idea of a vacation was to attend the Festival of Homiletics, accompanied by her father and brothers, all of whom shared her love of good preaching.
But always, and particularly when hearing a sermon, Nichols felt her own call.
“It continued to eat at me,” she said. “I saw myself having my own little church.”
Help from Ohio
In 2012, Nichols took the first step. She met with the Rev. Edward Grant, superintendent of the Midland South District in the West Virginia Conference, about becoming a licensed local pastor.
Two weeks later, Nichols — whose only symptom had been fatigue — was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Surgeons removed 12 inches of her colon, but further tests showed the cancer had spread to her lungs and liver, leading to surgeries on those, too.
Since that first diagnosis, Nichols has yet to have a “clean” scan. But as she underwent chemotherapy, then alternative medicine treatments, she held to her dream of answering God’s call.
A setback in early 2014 prevented her from attending the weeklong local pastor licensing school in the West Virginia Conference. She recalls being in tears as she phoned one of her brothers, the Rev. Steve Stultz Costello, an elder and pastor at Faith United Methodist Church in North Canton, Ohio.
“My brother, he’s like, ‘Let me call somebody,’” Nichols said.
Her brother worked it out for Nichols to attend licensing school later, in the East Ohio Conference.
“Everybody fell in love with her,” said the Rev. Cara Stultz Costello, wife of Nichols’ brother, a pastor with him at Faith United Methodist and a teacher at the licensing school. “That’s what happens with Shelly. Everybody falls in love with her instantly. She’s like a magnet.”
Fulfilling the dream
Nichols’ health was so precarious that she knew she couldn’t lead her “own little church.” But she pushed forward, trusting some opportunity would appear.
Then Nelson, her pastor, had what he calls a Holy Spirit-sent idea to have her appointed to Cross Lanes. The church, with weekly attendance of 260, needed an associate minister. And Nelson knew how much leadership she had provided as a laywoman.
He worked with Grant to get West Virginia Area Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball to make the appointment.
“She acted very, very quickly,” Nelson said. “She really liked the idea.”
Nichols began last summer to serve Cross Lanes, wearing a robe provided by its United Methodist Women. Since then, she has preached four times.
“It’s kind of scary giving your first sermon,” Nichols said. “But, I thought, what better place than with people who are going to love me no matter what?”
Nelson agrees the church has fully supported her.
“They knew that she had this dream, and it meant a lot to them that they got to help her fulfill that dream,” he said.
Nelson added that it hasn’t been charity. He said Nichols has proved invaluable to him and the congregation as a fill-in preacher and regular liturgist, as well as in various other pastoral roles.
The Rev. JF Lacaria, assistant to Steiner Ball, has long been active at Cross Lanes and helped arrange Nichols’ appointment. He has watched her in action for years, particularly since her diagnosis.
“I really believe she’s teaching the church how a person should die,” he said.
Nichols is characteristically plainspoken when asked for her theological understanding of what she has been through with cancer.
“God doesn’t cause any of these things,” she said. “He doesn’t play favorites. God loves us, and God is with us through whatever journey we have to go through.”
Nichols has outlived her doctors’ earliest predictions. But a scan last month showed the cancer has spread to her spine, leading to an updated prognosis that she is in her last four months.
Of late, standing has become hard. She was unable to give the children’s sermon at Easter, or even to go to church. However, that afternoon, a crowd of friends and family came to her home for food and fellowship.
Amid the hubbub, she answered questions about her life since diagnosis, matter-of-factly relaying the latest dire details. She also said, with a laugh but also with emphasis, “The story ain’t over yet!”
One indication: She filled out paperwork, asking Steiner Ball to reappoint her to Cross Lanes.
Hodges, a United Methodist News Service writer, lives in Dallas. Contact him at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org
Oklahoma City bombing survivor says God helped her forgive
Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS
The Rev. Shelly Nichols, seen here with husband Dave Nichols, got a stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis two weeks after taking the first steps toward entering pastoral ministry. She kept on anyway, and has served this past year as associate minister at her home church, Cross Lanes United Methodist in Cross Lanes, W.Va.PreviousNextAnswering the pastoral call, despite terminal cancer by Sam Hodges
NITRO, W.Va. (UMNS)
Time is not on the Rev. Shelly Nichols’ side, but many people are.
Her family, pastor, church, district superintendent, bishop — all have helped Nichols answer God’s call to pastoral ministry, even as she faces terminal cancer.
“It’s worked out more perfectly than I could ever imagine,” she said.
Nichols, a 53-year-old mother of five, has since last summer served as associate minister at her home church, Cross Lanes United Methodist in Cross Lanes, West Virginia.
In her first appointment as a licensed local pastor, she has begun to preach and baptize. She has visited shut-ins and people less acutely ill than she is. She helped preside at the funeral of a young mother who committed suicide.
Nichols — whose cancer has spread so much that doctors give her just a few months — works part time at Cross Lanes. She works as her energy permits, and takes no salary.
Cross Lanes’ pastor, the Rev. Gary Nelson, laid down one law.
“He said, 'Shelly, you can do as much or as little as you want. The main thing is no stress for you,’” Nichols said. “That’s how I’ve approached it. … It’s all good.”
West Virginia #UMC clergywoman who has cancer: “God doesn’t cause any of these things. “He doesn’t play favorites.
TWEET THISNelson insists that Nichols’ work and example have more than compensated for any accommodations.
“It’s been a tremendous gift for the church, for me, for all of us,” he said.
Feeling the call
Nichols grew up in Dumfries, Virginia, attending Dumfries United Methodist Church. Her father, Pete Costello, had a plumbing business and did lay ministry on the side, eventually becoming a licensed local pastor.
As a girl joining her father in visits to juvenile detention centers and retirement homes, Nichols felt her own tug toward ministry. Her father was sure she had a call, and after praying about it one night, woke her and her three younger brothers at 5 a.m., to share his conviction. They had a party that night to celebrate.
Nichols took a first step by enrolling at North Carolina Wesleyan College. But a roadblock appeared.
“I absolutely hated the religion classes,” she said.
Instead, Nichols majored in criminal justice and psychology, getting her master’s in counseling psychology at Towson State University, and becoming a licensed professional counselor.
Her life soon included motherhood — twin girls, followed by three boys. The career of her husband, Dave Nichols, took the family to Nitro, West Virginia, a suburb of the capital city of Charleston, in 2001.
There she became deeply involved at nearby Cross Lanes United Methodist. She taught Sunday school, became a liturgist for worship services, served as president of the United Methodist Women chapter, and went on mission trips to Nicaragua and Haiti.
Her idea of a vacation was to attend the Festival of Homiletics, accompanied by her father and brothers, all of whom shared her love of good preaching.
But always, and particularly when hearing a sermon, Nichols felt her own call.
“It continued to eat at me,” she said. “I saw myself having my own little church.”
Help from Ohio
In 2012, Nichols took the first step. She met with the Rev. Edward Grant, superintendent of the Midland South District in the West Virginia Conference, about becoming a licensed local pastor.
Two weeks later, Nichols — whose only symptom had been fatigue — was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Surgeons removed 12 inches of her colon, but further tests showed the cancer had spread to her lungs and liver, leading to surgeries on those, too.
Since that first diagnosis, Nichols has yet to have a “clean” scan. But as she underwent chemotherapy, then alternative medicine treatments, she held to her dream of answering God’s call.
A setback in early 2014 prevented her from attending the weeklong local pastor licensing school in the West Virginia Conference. She recalls being in tears as she phoned one of her brothers, the Rev. Steve Stultz Costello, an elder and pastor at Faith United Methodist Church in North Canton, Ohio.
“My brother, he’s like, ‘Let me call somebody,’” Nichols said.
Her brother worked it out for Nichols to attend licensing school later, in the East Ohio Conference.
“Everybody fell in love with her,” said the Rev. Cara Stultz Costello, wife of Nichols’ brother, a pastor with him at Faith United Methodist and a teacher at the licensing school. “That’s what happens with Shelly. Everybody falls in love with her instantly. She’s like a magnet.”
Fulfilling the dream
Nichols’ health was so precarious that she knew she couldn’t lead her “own little church.” But she pushed forward, trusting some opportunity would appear.
Then Nelson, her pastor, had what he calls a Holy Spirit-sent idea to have her appointed to Cross Lanes. The church, with weekly attendance of 260, needed an associate minister. And Nelson knew how much leadership she had provided as a laywoman.
He worked with Grant to get West Virginia Area Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball to make the appointment.
“She acted very, very quickly,” Nelson said. “She really liked the idea.”
Nichols began last summer to serve Cross Lanes, wearing a robe provided by its United Methodist Women. Since then, she has preached four times.
“It’s kind of scary giving your first sermon,” Nichols said. “But, I thought, what better place than with people who are going to love me no matter what?”
Nelson agrees the church has fully supported her.
“They knew that she had this dream, and it meant a lot to them that they got to help her fulfill that dream,” he said.
Nelson added that it hasn’t been charity. He said Nichols has proved invaluable to him and the congregation as a fill-in preacher and regular liturgist, as well as in various other pastoral roles.
The Rev. JF Lacaria, assistant to Steiner Ball, has long been active at Cross Lanes and helped arrange Nichols’ appointment. He has watched her in action for years, particularly since her diagnosis.
“I really believe she’s teaching the church how a person should die,” he said.
Nichols is characteristically plainspoken when asked for her theological understanding of what she has been through with cancer.
“God doesn’t cause any of these things,” she said. “He doesn’t play favorites. God loves us, and God is with us through whatever journey we have to go through.”
Nichols has outlived her doctors’ earliest predictions. But a scan last month showed the cancer has spread to her spine, leading to an updated prognosis that she is in her last four months.
Of late, standing has become hard. She was unable to give the children’s sermon at Easter, or even to go to church. However, that afternoon, a crowd of friends and family came to her home for food and fellowship.
Amid the hubbub, she answered questions about her life since diagnosis, matter-of-factly relaying the latest dire details. She also said, with a laugh but also with emphasis, “The story ain’t over yet!”
One indication: She filled out paperwork, asking Steiner Ball to reappoint her to Cross Lanes.
Hodges, a United Methodist News Service writer, lives in Dallas. Contact him at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org
Oklahoma City bombing survivor says God helped her forgive
OKLAHOMA CITY (UMNS) —
Photo by Boyce A. Bowdon, UMNS
In the "Field of Empty Chairs," Ruth Schwab stands at the chair that represents one of her best friends, Patricia Nix.PreviousNext
Oklahoma City bombing survivor says God helped her forgive by the Rev. Boyce A. Bowdon
OKLAHOMA CITY (UMNS)
Ruth Schwab will grieve on April 19, but the United Methodist who survived the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building 20 years ago that day will also be grateful.
She reached that place of gratitude with the help of God, her church and many others.
A member of First United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City, Schwab was at her desk in the federal building at 9:02 that morning in 1995. A homemade bomb concealed in the bed of a Ryder truck detonated in what — until Sept. 11, 2001 — was the deadliest act of terrorism that had ever occurred on American soil. Altogether, 168 people — including 19 children — died and more than 500 were injured.
Timothy McVeigh, who parked the bomb-laden truck, and Terry Nichols were later convicted of building the bomb and organizing the attack.
Then 46, Schwab was the single mother of five. The oldest was away at college, and the others — ages 9, 11, 13 and 15 — lived with her. For 23 years, she had worked at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“Suddenly, there was a tremendous boom. Then it seemed like I was being hurled down a dark, black hole,” Schwab says.
The floors of the nine-story building were caving in on top of one another.
Schwab regained consciousness on the floor, bleeding profusely from cuts, especially to her face, neck and arms. She was pelted by shards of glass that slashed both of her eyes.
SUFFERING CONTINUES AFTER BOMBING
It’s been two decades since the bombing of the federal building, but hundreds of people still suffer from the horrors they experienced on April 19, 1995.
The Rev. Michael Potts — a United Methodist minister and licensed professional counselor who was called in by the American Red Cross hours after the bombing — is still engaged in ministry to those whose lives were damaged by the bombing.
“Some people still have physical injuries,” Potts says. “Just a few days ago, a woman’s face finally healed to the point that doctors could replace an ear she lost in the bombing.”
Potts initially debriefed workers who risked their lives going into the wreckage of the building to rescue the injured and remove the dead.
Most people he now sees are suffering from post-traumatic stress sidebar. Some of those are first-responders, others are spouses and children of those who died or were badly disabled.
“Many are going through retirement or some other life transition. Others have been relying on alcohol or some other substance to deny or deaden their pain. And it hasn’t worked,” he said.
Potts says both as a consultant for the Red Cross and as a counselor in his psychotherapy practice, he has seen evidence to support lessons that are often forgotten.
He offers these examples:
Any trauma — especially one that is life threatening — is life changing. “When you face your own mortality, you realize how fragile life is. You are likely to shift your expectations and reorient your priorities. Your identity is changed.”
Our feelings need healing, just like our bodies do. “Different individuals have different feelings and different ways of responding to feelings. Feelings that we deny or bury sometimes resurface years later.”
“We learned that people who are grieving need a safe place that respects them, that doesn't try to give them all the answers, but helps them find their answers, a place that gives them time to heal, where they can experience a source of healing that can make them whole again. Our churches are called to be such a safe place.”
The Rev. Guy Ames — senior pastor of Chapel Hill United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City at the time of the bombing, and a former national consultant for the United Methodist Committee on Relief — agrees that many people are still suffering from the bombing.
Ames points out that in addition to the Murrah Federal Building, 324 other buildings were damaged or destroyed within a 16-block radius. He estimates that in addition to the 168 killed in the bombing, at least 2,500 were physically injured. He suspects hundreds of them are still hurting.
"One lesson we learned, is that we need to provide more emotional and spiritual care to our rescue and recovery workers, to our ministers and other caregivers, to people who had lived in nearby apartments that were damaged, and to people who owned and worked in the hundreds of business in the area who suffered heavy financial losses,” Ames said.
The number one thing Ames says he learned from the bombing was that man-made disasters could happen even in America's heartland.
The Rev. David Wilson, superintendent of the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, says the bombing of the Murrah Building also taught conference leaders that they needed to be better prepared for disasters.
“We can never prepare enough for everything that might happen, but we must prepare the best we can before disasters strike,” Wilson says.
Since the bombing, the conference developed some of the most effective Native American disaster-response teams in the country.
‘Is anybody there?’
“I couldn't see anything. It was a blessing in a way. I was spared from seeing lots of gruesome sights,” she says.
“I hollered, ‘Is anybody there?’ Then the sweetest voice I’d ever heard answered back. ‘I'm here, Ruthie. I'm coming to you. Don’t move.’ It was my co-worker, V.Z. Lawton. We inched our way through the debris. Before we got far, things we couldn’t move or get around blocked us. In a few minutes, rescue workers made it to us and carried us out of out of the building.”
Schwab was rushed to a hospital. After eight hours of surgery, specialists had some hope for saving her left eye, but not her right.
Three days later, she went home just in time for her 47th birthday — a day that brought a special reason to celebrate.
"I was telling my kids about my friends who were killed in the building. Evidently, the swelling in my left eye had gone down a little. All of a sudden, I could see something. It looked like polka dots. In a few seconds, my vision cleared some more, and I could tell I was seeing flowers and ‘happy birthday’ balloons all over the room. I knew I was going to see again.”
Specialists later replaced her right eye with a newly developed prosthetic eye.
During the next few months, Schwab had several more surgeries to repair her jaw and removescars caused by cuts that had required more than 200 stitches.
Losses kept adding up
Physical pain wasn’t all Schwab had to cope with. As the months passed, she became increasingly aware of what she had lost.
She had lost her right eye, and she could never get it back. She had lost a job she loved, and the paycheck she depended on. She had lost scores of friends who worked at HUD and in other offices — one of them was one of her “closest buddies,” Patricia Nix.
“Pat kept a box on her desk that looked like a loaf of bread and was filled with Scripture readings on little slips of paper. Friends would come by and tell Pat what was troubling them. She would hand them her little box and invite them to pull out a scripture. They would read it. Pat would tell them, ‘Just wait; God's going to fix it. Just trust him.’ And they would say thanks and walk away.”
Schwab says she felt overwhelmed, helpless and angry.
“I walked through my house, yelling. ‘Timothy McVeigh, I hate you! Why did you blow up our building and kill so many innocent people and leave so many of us messed up for the rest of our lives! I didn’t do anything to you. Why did you do this to me?”
And she was angry with God.
“Nothing made sense,” she says. “Why did God let McVeigh do this? Why did God take Pat, who was such a loving and faithful Christian? Why had he left me and taken her? Why?”
She felt guilty for surviving. Guilt, grief, anger and hate were making her bitter.
“I tried, but for a long time, I couldn't forgive.”
Ministering to survivors continues
The Rev. Michael Potts, a United Methodist clergyman who is a licensed professional counselor, says Schwab is not alone in her struggles. Finding healing can take a long time for people hurt in such a traumatic event, he said.
Potts, who helped in 1995 and is still helping survivors, says such a life-threatening situation becomes part of who you are and who you become.
“When you are overwhelmed by destructive feelings that you can do nothing about, such as fear and anger and being unable to forgive, it makes a tremendous difference if you have faith in a power greater than yourself who can enable you to get through them and grow stronger.”
Finally, forgiveness
Schwab’s feelings finally passed.
What released Schwab from her fear and anger and freed her to hope and love again? What enabled her to forgive?
She has no doubts.
“God pulled me through!” she declares. “God saved me physically, emotionally and spiritually. That’s the only way I can explain it!”
She says God worked through rescue workers and medical professionals who saved her life; through her family and friends, who stood by her, eager to help any way they could; through a Christian counselor, who helped her and her children get through troublesome emotional issues; and through countless people who prayed for her.
And Schwab says God worked through her church, which embraced her with love, giving her a safe place to grieve and grow, to serve and share, and to forgive and be forgiven.
“I have lost an eye; I still have some pain; I still don’t have all the answers to all the whys,” she says. “But I’m healed! God has healed me.”
An ordained United Methodist minister, Bowdon directed communications for the Oklahoma Conference for 24 years. In retirement, he writes inspirational articles and books.
News media contact: Vicki Brown at newsdesk@umcom.org or 615-742-5400.
Love guided church after 1995 bombing
OKLAHOMA CITY (UMNS)
Ruth Schwab will grieve on April 19, but the United Methodist who survived the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building 20 years ago that day will also be grateful.
She reached that place of gratitude with the help of God, her church and many others.
A member of First United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City, Schwab was at her desk in the federal building at 9:02 that morning in 1995. A homemade bomb concealed in the bed of a Ryder truck detonated in what — until Sept. 11, 2001 — was the deadliest act of terrorism that had ever occurred on American soil. Altogether, 168 people — including 19 children — died and more than 500 were injured.
Timothy McVeigh, who parked the bomb-laden truck, and Terry Nichols were later convicted of building the bomb and organizing the attack.
Then 46, Schwab was the single mother of five. The oldest was away at college, and the others — ages 9, 11, 13 and 15 — lived with her. For 23 years, she had worked at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“Suddenly, there was a tremendous boom. Then it seemed like I was being hurled down a dark, black hole,” Schwab says.
The floors of the nine-story building were caving in on top of one another.
Schwab regained consciousness on the floor, bleeding profusely from cuts, especially to her face, neck and arms. She was pelted by shards of glass that slashed both of her eyes.
SUFFERING CONTINUES AFTER BOMBING
It’s been two decades since the bombing of the federal building, but hundreds of people still suffer from the horrors they experienced on April 19, 1995.
The Rev. Michael Potts — a United Methodist minister and licensed professional counselor who was called in by the American Red Cross hours after the bombing — is still engaged in ministry to those whose lives were damaged by the bombing.
“Some people still have physical injuries,” Potts says. “Just a few days ago, a woman’s face finally healed to the point that doctors could replace an ear she lost in the bombing.”
Potts initially debriefed workers who risked their lives going into the wreckage of the building to rescue the injured and remove the dead.
Most people he now sees are suffering from post-traumatic stress sidebar. Some of those are first-responders, others are spouses and children of those who died or were badly disabled.
“Many are going through retirement or some other life transition. Others have been relying on alcohol or some other substance to deny or deaden their pain. And it hasn’t worked,” he said.
Potts says both as a consultant for the Red Cross and as a counselor in his psychotherapy practice, he has seen evidence to support lessons that are often forgotten.
He offers these examples:
Any trauma — especially one that is life threatening — is life changing. “When you face your own mortality, you realize how fragile life is. You are likely to shift your expectations and reorient your priorities. Your identity is changed.”
Our feelings need healing, just like our bodies do. “Different individuals have different feelings and different ways of responding to feelings. Feelings that we deny or bury sometimes resurface years later.”
“We learned that people who are grieving need a safe place that respects them, that doesn't try to give them all the answers, but helps them find their answers, a place that gives them time to heal, where they can experience a source of healing that can make them whole again. Our churches are called to be such a safe place.”
The Rev. Guy Ames — senior pastor of Chapel Hill United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City at the time of the bombing, and a former national consultant for the United Methodist Committee on Relief — agrees that many people are still suffering from the bombing.
Ames points out that in addition to the Murrah Federal Building, 324 other buildings were damaged or destroyed within a 16-block radius. He estimates that in addition to the 168 killed in the bombing, at least 2,500 were physically injured. He suspects hundreds of them are still hurting.
"One lesson we learned, is that we need to provide more emotional and spiritual care to our rescue and recovery workers, to our ministers and other caregivers, to people who had lived in nearby apartments that were damaged, and to people who owned and worked in the hundreds of business in the area who suffered heavy financial losses,” Ames said.
The number one thing Ames says he learned from the bombing was that man-made disasters could happen even in America's heartland.
The Rev. David Wilson, superintendent of the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, says the bombing of the Murrah Building also taught conference leaders that they needed to be better prepared for disasters.
“We can never prepare enough for everything that might happen, but we must prepare the best we can before disasters strike,” Wilson says.
Since the bombing, the conference developed some of the most effective Native American disaster-response teams in the country.
‘Is anybody there?’
“I couldn't see anything. It was a blessing in a way. I was spared from seeing lots of gruesome sights,” she says.
“I hollered, ‘Is anybody there?’ Then the sweetest voice I’d ever heard answered back. ‘I'm here, Ruthie. I'm coming to you. Don’t move.’ It was my co-worker, V.Z. Lawton. We inched our way through the debris. Before we got far, things we couldn’t move or get around blocked us. In a few minutes, rescue workers made it to us and carried us out of out of the building.”
Schwab was rushed to a hospital. After eight hours of surgery, specialists had some hope for saving her left eye, but not her right.
Three days later, she went home just in time for her 47th birthday — a day that brought a special reason to celebrate.
"I was telling my kids about my friends who were killed in the building. Evidently, the swelling in my left eye had gone down a little. All of a sudden, I could see something. It looked like polka dots. In a few seconds, my vision cleared some more, and I could tell I was seeing flowers and ‘happy birthday’ balloons all over the room. I knew I was going to see again.”
Specialists later replaced her right eye with a newly developed prosthetic eye.
During the next few months, Schwab had several more surgeries to repair her jaw and removescars caused by cuts that had required more than 200 stitches.
Losses kept adding up
Physical pain wasn’t all Schwab had to cope with. As the months passed, she became increasingly aware of what she had lost.
She had lost her right eye, and she could never get it back. She had lost a job she loved, and the paycheck she depended on. She had lost scores of friends who worked at HUD and in other offices — one of them was one of her “closest buddies,” Patricia Nix.
“Pat kept a box on her desk that looked like a loaf of bread and was filled with Scripture readings on little slips of paper. Friends would come by and tell Pat what was troubling them. She would hand them her little box and invite them to pull out a scripture. They would read it. Pat would tell them, ‘Just wait; God's going to fix it. Just trust him.’ And they would say thanks and walk away.”
Schwab says she felt overwhelmed, helpless and angry.
“I walked through my house, yelling. ‘Timothy McVeigh, I hate you! Why did you blow up our building and kill so many innocent people and leave so many of us messed up for the rest of our lives! I didn’t do anything to you. Why did you do this to me?”
And she was angry with God.
“Nothing made sense,” she says. “Why did God let McVeigh do this? Why did God take Pat, who was such a loving and faithful Christian? Why had he left me and taken her? Why?”
She felt guilty for surviving. Guilt, grief, anger and hate were making her bitter.
“I tried, but for a long time, I couldn't forgive.”
Ministering to survivors continues
The Rev. Michael Potts, a United Methodist clergyman who is a licensed professional counselor, says Schwab is not alone in her struggles. Finding healing can take a long time for people hurt in such a traumatic event, he said.
Potts, who helped in 1995 and is still helping survivors, says such a life-threatening situation becomes part of who you are and who you become.
“When you are overwhelmed by destructive feelings that you can do nothing about, such as fear and anger and being unable to forgive, it makes a tremendous difference if you have faith in a power greater than yourself who can enable you to get through them and grow stronger.”
Finally, forgiveness
Schwab’s feelings finally passed.
What released Schwab from her fear and anger and freed her to hope and love again? What enabled her to forgive?
She has no doubts.
“God pulled me through!” she declares. “God saved me physically, emotionally and spiritually. That’s the only way I can explain it!”
She says God worked through rescue workers and medical professionals who saved her life; through her family and friends, who stood by her, eager to help any way they could; through a Christian counselor, who helped her and her children get through troublesome emotional issues; and through countless people who prayed for her.
And Schwab says God worked through her church, which embraced her with love, giving her a safe place to grieve and grow, to serve and share, and to forgive and be forgiven.
“I have lost an eye; I still have some pain; I still don’t have all the answers to all the whys,” she says. “But I’m healed! God has healed me.”
An ordained United Methodist minister, Bowdon directed communications for the Oklahoma Conference for 24 years. In retirement, he writes inspirational articles and books.
News media contact: Vicki Brown at newsdesk@umcom.org or 615-742-5400.
Love guided church after 1995 bombing
OKLAHOMA CITY (UMNS) —
Triumph over tragedy
‘Across the city, not just St. Luke’s, people would see a need and respond’ – Bob Long Love guided church after 1995 bombing by HOLLY McCRAY
Triumph over tragedy
‘Across the city, not just St. Luke’s, people would see a need and respond’ – Bob Long Love guided church after 1995 bombing by HOLLY McCRAY
On April 19, 1995, a man clutching a paper bag stood at the south entrance to St. Luke’s Christian Life Center in Oklahoma City. He had come from downtown, directed to the church by emergency workers after the Murrah Building exploded at 9:02 a.m.
The bomb blast also had torn into the YMCA, where the man had been living. The ceiling in his room fell; first responders allowed him 5 minutes to grab his possessions and get out. St. Luke’s was the designated Red Cross shelter.
At the church doors, the man opened his bag. It was empty. He had failed to gather any belongings in those chaotic minutes.
But the church family moved quickly to welcome him to safety and provide for him.
St. Luke’s sheltered hundreds of people displaced by the disaster, assisted families desperate to locate loved ones and those grieving deaths, served thousands of meals to survivors and rescue workers, staffed six phone lines around-the-clock, made care packages, even provided a room for news media.
Twenty years later, Senior Pastor Bob Long identifies that loving response as a significant lesson from that terrible time.
"You gave your all, and you saw God bless lives. I am very clear that the grace of God helps us to overcome the evil and meanness of the world to be triumphant survivors," Rev. Dr. Long said.
Tragedy "is never the last word in your life," he said. "You take what life has dealt you and build life upon it. In those kinds of moments, I think God does strengthen you if you ask for God’s guidance.
"Nothing in life or death… (Romans 8:38-39) You can hear it, read it in your theology books, but when you live it through these kinds of experiences and look back, you know it’s true.
"We go forward as people of hope."
Long recalled pausing in the Christian Life Center. He saw about 400 people filling the great hall. Some needed a place to stay; some were counselors; and some, volunteers. Some were eating, and a long trough held cold drinks. Above cots in the fellowship hall, clothes hung from a chandelier. Church members sat talking with strangers.
"Everybody was gathered there either to be comforted or to do the comforting," he said. "I thought, ‘Wow, the presence of God is being there with one another.’ I can see it like it was yesterday."
Shortly after the explosion, pastors were requested downtown, to be present as victims were brought out of the Murrah Building. Long remembers praying as he walked there — and praying constantly as he moved throughout the coming days.
He also speaks of feeling as if time had slowed down. "You were more in the moment; you had greater sensitivity to the people you were seeing."
At one point, he was puzzled to find people unloading and setting up refrigerators and freezers in one of the church’s hallways. They told him: You’re going to need these. Then food began arriving from restaurants across the city.
"I suddenly sure was glad I had all these refrigerators out in the hall, that I hadn’t asked for, to take care of all the food that I didn’t know I was going to receive, to take care of all the people who were suddenly showing up," Long said.
"Across the city, not just at St. Luke’s, people would see a need and respond. Nobody was assigned tasks. People just stepped forward. It really was a wonderful response."
Helping after the bombing came naturally to St. Luke’s people, he explained. For 125 years, they’ve been reaching out to those in need, in times of disasters, and to the poor. Long referenced Matthew 25:40: Whatever you do for the least of these…
The church’s pastors in the 1930s and 1950s gave special emphasis to missions, he said. World Neighbors was founded through St. Luke’s. Ministries have reached into Russia. Some current missions serve disadvantaged children: Studio 222, El Sistema, and a partnership with El Rancho Elementary School.
In the aftermath of the bombing, St. Luke’s efforts "made me so very proud of the spirit of the people," Long commented.
"You discover, when you serve, there is that intrinsic joy you get to receive within as you’ve been helping to bless life in those difficult moments."
In worship on April 19, 2015, a stone from the Murrah Building will sit on the altar at St. Luke’s. It was a gift from the government to the church because of St. Luke’s role in the recovery. A candle will be lit, and the anniversary will be noted.
"Where are we 20 years later?" Long asked. "We are God’s people, full of hope, who are looking to the future and living our lives in love, who remember that as part of our history."
The bomb blast also had torn into the YMCA, where the man had been living. The ceiling in his room fell; first responders allowed him 5 minutes to grab his possessions and get out. St. Luke’s was the designated Red Cross shelter.
At the church doors, the man opened his bag. It was empty. He had failed to gather any belongings in those chaotic minutes.
But the church family moved quickly to welcome him to safety and provide for him.
St. Luke’s sheltered hundreds of people displaced by the disaster, assisted families desperate to locate loved ones and those grieving deaths, served thousands of meals to survivors and rescue workers, staffed six phone lines around-the-clock, made care packages, even provided a room for news media.
Twenty years later, Senior Pastor Bob Long identifies that loving response as a significant lesson from that terrible time.
"You gave your all, and you saw God bless lives. I am very clear that the grace of God helps us to overcome the evil and meanness of the world to be triumphant survivors," Rev. Dr. Long said.
Tragedy "is never the last word in your life," he said. "You take what life has dealt you and build life upon it. In those kinds of moments, I think God does strengthen you if you ask for God’s guidance.
"Nothing in life or death… (Romans 8:38-39) You can hear it, read it in your theology books, but when you live it through these kinds of experiences and look back, you know it’s true.
"We go forward as people of hope."
Long recalled pausing in the Christian Life Center. He saw about 400 people filling the great hall. Some needed a place to stay; some were counselors; and some, volunteers. Some were eating, and a long trough held cold drinks. Above cots in the fellowship hall, clothes hung from a chandelier. Church members sat talking with strangers.
"Everybody was gathered there either to be comforted or to do the comforting," he said. "I thought, ‘Wow, the presence of God is being there with one another.’ I can see it like it was yesterday."
Shortly after the explosion, pastors were requested downtown, to be present as victims were brought out of the Murrah Building. Long remembers praying as he walked there — and praying constantly as he moved throughout the coming days.
He also speaks of feeling as if time had slowed down. "You were more in the moment; you had greater sensitivity to the people you were seeing."
At one point, he was puzzled to find people unloading and setting up refrigerators and freezers in one of the church’s hallways. They told him: You’re going to need these. Then food began arriving from restaurants across the city.
"I suddenly sure was glad I had all these refrigerators out in the hall, that I hadn’t asked for, to take care of all the food that I didn’t know I was going to receive, to take care of all the people who were suddenly showing up," Long said.
"Across the city, not just at St. Luke’s, people would see a need and respond. Nobody was assigned tasks. People just stepped forward. It really was a wonderful response."
Helping after the bombing came naturally to St. Luke’s people, he explained. For 125 years, they’ve been reaching out to those in need, in times of disasters, and to the poor. Long referenced Matthew 25:40: Whatever you do for the least of these…
The church’s pastors in the 1930s and 1950s gave special emphasis to missions, he said. World Neighbors was founded through St. Luke’s. Ministries have reached into Russia. Some current missions serve disadvantaged children: Studio 222, El Sistema, and a partnership with El Rancho Elementary School.
In the aftermath of the bombing, St. Luke’s efforts "made me so very proud of the spirit of the people," Long commented.
"You discover, when you serve, there is that intrinsic joy you get to receive within as you’ve been helping to bless life in those difficult moments."
In worship on April 19, 2015, a stone from the Murrah Building will sit on the altar at St. Luke’s. It was a gift from the government to the church because of St. Luke’s role in the recovery. A candle will be lit, and the anniversary will be noted.
"Where are we 20 years later?" Long asked. "We are God’s people, full of hope, who are looking to the future and living our lives in love, who remember that as part of our history."
Oklahoma mission trip results in partnership
MOUNT JULIET, Tenn. (UMNS) —
Photo by Donna Pewo
On the first day of their reunion, members of both Clinton and Providence United Methodist churches enjoy lunch after worship. Becky Yates, outreach director at Providence, is on the far left, and the Rev. David Wilson, Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference superintendent, is on the far right.PreviousNext
Oklahoma mission trip results in partnership by Barbara Dunlap-Berg
MOUNT JULIET, Tenn. (UMNS)
A lasting friendship among United Methodists in two states began with a phone call.
Three years ago, the Rev. Donna Pewo, director of the Clinton Indian United Methodist Church and Community Center in Oklahoma received a phone call from Becky Yates, outreach director at Providence United Methodist Church, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Providence was looking for a U.S. mission project for children and youth to support.
Thanks to that phone call, in June 2012, more than 20 Providence youth and adults traveled 800 miles to Clinton.
“We knew it was going to be a great week,” Yates said. “What we didn’t realize is that we would fall completely in love with the children and with Donna and that, not only would we return, but we were profoundly moved by the people we met. We have now traveled to Clinton for three Christmases to bring gifts and attend their Christmas pageant.
“Every summer we take a team to conduct VBS and sports camp. The summer trip is a highlight for our church, and the interest is high in being a part of the team. Even more than the trips, our Clinton friends are a part of our church, and we are a part of Clinton. We stay in touch throughout the year through social media and continue to support Donna as covenant partners.”
The Rev. David Wilson, conference superintendent for the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, also appreciates the partnership.
“Providence has been a blessing to the Clinton Indian Church and Community Center,” he said. “They provided a new playground, much-needed repairs within the church facility and, most of all, positive support and love to the children and youth of the Cheyenne and Arapaho community.”
The mission venture began shortly after the Rev. Jacob Armstrong, Providence’s pastor, participated in An Act of Repentance toward Healing Relationships with Indigenous People at the 2012General Conference. Hearing the Rev. George Tinker tell of the atrocities Native Americans endured on the Trail of Tears, Armstrong wept.
A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP
“Macy, who was in high school in 2012 for our first trip to Clinton, had just lost her grandmother to cancer. The first day we were there, she met Chris, a young man with Down syndrome, who had also recently lost his grandmother. They immediately connected, and we all grew closer to Chris because of their relationship. They stay in contact with each other and look forward to an annual reunion each summer. This relationship helped many of us come to a better understanding not just of Native Americans, but also those with special needs.”
Becky Yates, director of outreach, Providence United Methodist Church.
‘Less prejudice and more understanding’
“I felt so sorry for my heritage,” Armstrong wrote after the service. “Who could I apologize to? What would it mean if I could? What weight would it carry? I wanted to run to the Native Americans who had gathered in the gallery that night and beg them for forgiveness.
“Dr. Tinker said that we are far past the point of apology. And, he said, we are nowhere near reconciliation. His remarks were pointed, but full of compassion and grace as he said we must begin the work of repentance together.”
Providence members take that call seriously.
Since that first mission trip, children and youth from both congregations have formed friendships and developed a sense of trust, Wilson said. “The young people embrace Providence UMC because the church believes in the youth and children of Clinton. All the youth know that the Mount Juliet church is a positive influence and support system for them.”
One of the Clinton youth remarked, “Wow! It’s good to know there are still good people out there.”
More than 100 people have participated in at least one of the mission trips, and several have been multiple times. “We were led to start a college scholarship fund and continue to support Donna in encouraging the youth to dream big,” Yates said. “We hope the scholarship can provide a pathway out of the poverty so many are in. But more than that, these children continue to enrich our lives and help point us to a future that will have less prejudice and more understanding.”
The goal always is to provide a positive experience for everyone.
“Mission teams that connect with mission projects can work together and set a wonderful example of loving neighbor,” Wilson said. “By both churches striving to make a difference in the lives of children, it is a special way to experience and learn of other cultures and traditions, especially within the Native American communities.”
NATIVE AMERICAN MINISTRIES SUNDAY
United Methodists celebrate Native American Ministries Sunday on April 19 this year. The special offering funds Native American ministries, urban initiatives and seminary scholarships. Get resources.
‘Where healing happens’
Learning as much as possible about the culture and traditions of Native American people is essential, Wilson continued. He stressed the importance of meeting both physical and spiritual needs.
“Young people are looking for someone to listen to them, to hear what they have to say and not to be judged by their looks or status,” Wilson noted. “Native American children and youth are very bright, loving, caring people. All they need is a chance — support and encouragement for a brighter future. The love of Christ and the good-hearted people they encounter makes an impression on their lives.”
Since the partnership began, Clinton youth had wanted to travel to Tennessee. This year, they finally made the 12-hour journey.
“God is so good,” Pewo told the Mount Juliet congregation. “In 2012, after your mission team had come to Clinton, one of my youth asked me, ‘When can we go there?’ And I said, ‘We’ll work on that.’ They worked hard to raise the funds to come here.”
The Oklahoma visitors met more of the congregation, shared their stories and songs in their tribal languages, and volunteered with Providence youth and church members at the Second Harvest Food Bank.
The group sorted more than 17,700 pounds of food. “Both youth groups and leaders were blessed to have the opportunity to help those in need,” Wilson said.
“It was great hearing the laughter between both youth groups as we traveled together, and Facebook helps keeping in touch with one another.”
“What a wonderful partnership God has formed!” Pewo exclaimed. Speaking at Providence United Methodist Church, she said, “You do not know how much you mean to us; how much your giving, your love, your support and your prayers have made a difference. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Yates said this kind of partnership “is where healing happens.”
“Acts of repentance are important and are a path to healing,” she said. “But it is in the relationship where it is sealed.”
Barbara Dunlap-Berg is general church content editor, United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tennessee. Contact her at newsdesk@umcom.org or (615) 742-5470.
‘Easter miracle’ in New Jersey
MOUNT JULIET, Tenn. (UMNS)
A lasting friendship among United Methodists in two states began with a phone call.
Three years ago, the Rev. Donna Pewo, director of the Clinton Indian United Methodist Church and Community Center in Oklahoma received a phone call from Becky Yates, outreach director at Providence United Methodist Church, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Providence was looking for a U.S. mission project for children and youth to support.
Thanks to that phone call, in June 2012, more than 20 Providence youth and adults traveled 800 miles to Clinton.
“We knew it was going to be a great week,” Yates said. “What we didn’t realize is that we would fall completely in love with the children and with Donna and that, not only would we return, but we were profoundly moved by the people we met. We have now traveled to Clinton for three Christmases to bring gifts and attend their Christmas pageant.
“Every summer we take a team to conduct VBS and sports camp. The summer trip is a highlight for our church, and the interest is high in being a part of the team. Even more than the trips, our Clinton friends are a part of our church, and we are a part of Clinton. We stay in touch throughout the year through social media and continue to support Donna as covenant partners.”
The Rev. David Wilson, conference superintendent for the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, also appreciates the partnership.
“Providence has been a blessing to the Clinton Indian Church and Community Center,” he said. “They provided a new playground, much-needed repairs within the church facility and, most of all, positive support and love to the children and youth of the Cheyenne and Arapaho community.”
The mission venture began shortly after the Rev. Jacob Armstrong, Providence’s pastor, participated in An Act of Repentance toward Healing Relationships with Indigenous People at the 2012General Conference. Hearing the Rev. George Tinker tell of the atrocities Native Americans endured on the Trail of Tears, Armstrong wept.
A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP
“Macy, who was in high school in 2012 for our first trip to Clinton, had just lost her grandmother to cancer. The first day we were there, she met Chris, a young man with Down syndrome, who had also recently lost his grandmother. They immediately connected, and we all grew closer to Chris because of their relationship. They stay in contact with each other and look forward to an annual reunion each summer. This relationship helped many of us come to a better understanding not just of Native Americans, but also those with special needs.”
Becky Yates, director of outreach, Providence United Methodist Church.
‘Less prejudice and more understanding’
“I felt so sorry for my heritage,” Armstrong wrote after the service. “Who could I apologize to? What would it mean if I could? What weight would it carry? I wanted to run to the Native Americans who had gathered in the gallery that night and beg them for forgiveness.
“Dr. Tinker said that we are far past the point of apology. And, he said, we are nowhere near reconciliation. His remarks were pointed, but full of compassion and grace as he said we must begin the work of repentance together.”
Providence members take that call seriously.
Since that first mission trip, children and youth from both congregations have formed friendships and developed a sense of trust, Wilson said. “The young people embrace Providence UMC because the church believes in the youth and children of Clinton. All the youth know that the Mount Juliet church is a positive influence and support system for them.”
One of the Clinton youth remarked, “Wow! It’s good to know there are still good people out there.”
More than 100 people have participated in at least one of the mission trips, and several have been multiple times. “We were led to start a college scholarship fund and continue to support Donna in encouraging the youth to dream big,” Yates said. “We hope the scholarship can provide a pathway out of the poverty so many are in. But more than that, these children continue to enrich our lives and help point us to a future that will have less prejudice and more understanding.”
The goal always is to provide a positive experience for everyone.
“Mission teams that connect with mission projects can work together and set a wonderful example of loving neighbor,” Wilson said. “By both churches striving to make a difference in the lives of children, it is a special way to experience and learn of other cultures and traditions, especially within the Native American communities.”
NATIVE AMERICAN MINISTRIES SUNDAY
United Methodists celebrate Native American Ministries Sunday on April 19 this year. The special offering funds Native American ministries, urban initiatives and seminary scholarships. Get resources.
‘Where healing happens’
Learning as much as possible about the culture and traditions of Native American people is essential, Wilson continued. He stressed the importance of meeting both physical and spiritual needs.
“Young people are looking for someone to listen to them, to hear what they have to say and not to be judged by their looks or status,” Wilson noted. “Native American children and youth are very bright, loving, caring people. All they need is a chance — support and encouragement for a brighter future. The love of Christ and the good-hearted people they encounter makes an impression on their lives.”
Since the partnership began, Clinton youth had wanted to travel to Tennessee. This year, they finally made the 12-hour journey.
“God is so good,” Pewo told the Mount Juliet congregation. “In 2012, after your mission team had come to Clinton, one of my youth asked me, ‘When can we go there?’ And I said, ‘We’ll work on that.’ They worked hard to raise the funds to come here.”
The Oklahoma visitors met more of the congregation, shared their stories and songs in their tribal languages, and volunteered with Providence youth and church members at the Second Harvest Food Bank.
The group sorted more than 17,700 pounds of food. “Both youth groups and leaders were blessed to have the opportunity to help those in need,” Wilson said.
“It was great hearing the laughter between both youth groups as we traveled together, and Facebook helps keeping in touch with one another.”
“What a wonderful partnership God has formed!” Pewo exclaimed. Speaking at Providence United Methodist Church, she said, “You do not know how much you mean to us; how much your giving, your love, your support and your prayers have made a difference. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Yates said this kind of partnership “is where healing happens.”
“Acts of repentance are important and are a path to healing,” she said. “But it is in the relationship where it is sealed.”
Barbara Dunlap-Berg is general church content editor, United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tennessee. Contact her at newsdesk@umcom.org or (615) 742-5470.
‘Easter miracle’ in New Jersey
RAHWAY, N. J. (UMNS) —
Photo by Greater New Jersey Conference.
Members from Elim United Methodist Church, Manantiales de Vida Pentecostal Church and other neighboring churches pray together in thanksgiving for the fact that no lives were lost when a 30-square-foot section of the ceiling of Elim fell on Easter.PreviousNext
Easter miracle in New Jersey
A UMNS Feature
By Gustavo Vasquez
UMNS
Members from Elim United Methodist Church, Manantiales de Vida Pentecostal Church and other neighboring churches worshipped together to remember the “Easter miracle” in Rahway.
While the Pentecostal congregation, which rents out the space from the Korean church, was holding Easter service April 5, they heard a cracking sound. A moment later, a 30-square-foot section of plaster from the ceiling fell. Though falling debris injured 14 people, none of the injuries were serious.
“The ceiling was falling down but surely God was watching over us. It was a real miracle,” said the Rev. Leo Park, pastor at Elim United Methodist.
Investigators have looked into the cause of the collapse, but have not yet come to a conclusion about the cause.
“Our church plans the worship with two basic goals,” Park said. “First, come together as one body to express our gratitude to God for his mercy; second, to comfort our brothers from Manantiales de Vida.”
Worship service another miracle
The April 12 service was led by Park; Pastor Cesar Caceres of Manantiales de Vida; Manuel Sardinas, superintendent of the Gateway North District; and leaders from the International House ofPrayer in Rahway. There were around 300 participants who wore red T-shirts that read “Easter Miracle.”
“After the incident I have seen one miracle after another. This worship is one of them,” Park said. “We were together with children and parents who were able to leave the building before the collapse. And I just think of my congregation where there are people on their 90s who could not come out as fast as that kind of emergency situation requires.”
Trinity United Methodist Church in Rahway and its pastor, the Rev. Michael Howard, will host Manantiales de Vida Church during the reconstruction process.
Park emphasized that “when we finish the reconstruction, we hope to work on joint projects (with Manantiales de Vida Church) to develop more ministries to benefit our community.”
*Vasquez is director of Spanish resources for United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tenn. Contact him at GVasquez@UMCOM.ORG or 615-742-5111.
United Methodist church disinvited to Easter parade
A UMNS Feature
By Gustavo Vasquez
UMNS
Members from Elim United Methodist Church, Manantiales de Vida Pentecostal Church and other neighboring churches worshipped together to remember the “Easter miracle” in Rahway.
While the Pentecostal congregation, which rents out the space from the Korean church, was holding Easter service April 5, they heard a cracking sound. A moment later, a 30-square-foot section of plaster from the ceiling fell. Though falling debris injured 14 people, none of the injuries were serious.
“The ceiling was falling down but surely God was watching over us. It was a real miracle,” said the Rev. Leo Park, pastor at Elim United Methodist.
Investigators have looked into the cause of the collapse, but have not yet come to a conclusion about the cause.
“Our church plans the worship with two basic goals,” Park said. “First, come together as one body to express our gratitude to God for his mercy; second, to comfort our brothers from Manantiales de Vida.”
Worship service another miracle
The April 12 service was led by Park; Pastor Cesar Caceres of Manantiales de Vida; Manuel Sardinas, superintendent of the Gateway North District; and leaders from the International House ofPrayer in Rahway. There were around 300 participants who wore red T-shirts that read “Easter Miracle.”
“After the incident I have seen one miracle after another. This worship is one of them,” Park said. “We were together with children and parents who were able to leave the building before the collapse. And I just think of my congregation where there are people on their 90s who could not come out as fast as that kind of emergency situation requires.”
Trinity United Methodist Church in Rahway and its pastor, the Rev. Michael Howard, will host Manantiales de Vida Church during the reconstruction process.
Park emphasized that “when we finish the reconstruction, we hope to work on joint projects (with Manantiales de Vida Church) to develop more ministries to benefit our community.”
*Vasquez is director of Spanish resources for United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tenn. Contact him at GVasquez@UMCOM.ORG or 615-742-5111.
United Methodist church disinvited to Easter parade
EUREKA SPRINGS, Ark. (UMNS) —
United Methodist church disinvited to Easter parade
A UMNS Feature
By Kathy L. Gilbert
UMNS
In a city that sits under the watchful eyes of a 67-foot Jesus, a United Methodist church marching in a Jesus Parade, waving a banner “Jesus Loves All! All are Welcome!!” would seem to be right in step with the celebration.
It didn’t turn out that way for First United Methodist Church of Eureka Springs when the congregation was disinvited to join the parade on April 4.
Eureka Springs is home to “America’s #1 attended outdoor drama,” The Great Passion Play about Jesus’ last days on earth, and Christ of the Ozarks, a 2-million-pound sculpture of Jesus. The city in northwest Arkansas is also the only city in the state with a nondiscrimination ordinance providing protection for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) residents and visitors.
Diversity seems to be embraced.
But Suzie Bell, a member of First United Methodist Church, believes the church was turned away because it is a “reconciling” congregation. That means the church is committed to equality and full inclusion for all people regardless of race, gender, age, physical or mental ability, sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality or economic status.
The Reconciling Ministries Network, an unofficial United Methodist group, recognizes a congregation as reconciling if it adopts a statement to welcome people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The group also asks congregations to look for ways to be more welcoming of other people who may be missing from their pews, including people of color and people with disabilities.
The Judicial Council, the denomination’s top court, ruled in 1999 that a local church or any of its organizational units may not label itself as an unofficial body. Many congregations disregard that ruling.
‘A pretty great message’
“‘Jesus loves all. All are welcome.’ Can’t argue with that. It’s a pretty great message,” Bell said. The church applied and was accepted to participate in the parade. Parade organizers talked to Bell about what the church’s message would be and also approved.
That permission was rescinded by parade organizers the Monday before the event. Organizers said the church “was the wrong kind of group” for their parade.
Steve Roberson, another church member who represents the reconciling congregation group, said people in the church were shocked and angry but God turned the incident into a blessing.
"We are Christians just like everyone else and just wanted to celebrate Jesus on Easter weekend. It has allowed our little congregation a chance to shine and show what we are about," he said.
United Methodist News Service tried to contact organizers of the Jesus Parade but got no response.
Laura Nichols, parade director, did release a statement to the press after some local news stations picked up the story.
"This day isn't a day of pointing fingers or playing the blame game. This parade is to honor our Lord and Savior and for praising God for sending His only Son who willingly went to the cross, died and rose on the third day that when we repent of our sins and accept Him. We have the promise of eternal life with the Lord. But more than that, He carries us each day that we are on this earth. We are all sinners redeemed by the grace of God. We believe that the Bible is the uncompromised Word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit.”
The statement from Nichols goes on to say, “We do not have anything against the Methodist Church. After all, my uncle was a Methodist minister. Nor do we have anything against the homosexual community. When I worked downtown I had homosexual people that I considered my friends and still do.”
Following a plan
Bell said the church was following a 10-point plan for Arkansas designed by Bishop Gary E. Mueller.
“One of the goals is to look like your neighborhood,” she said. “This is our neighborhood; we cannot ignore this large group of people who feel left out and ostracized by the church.”
Mueller sent a letter to the congregation of First United Methodist Church saying he was saddened by the treatment they received at the Jesus Parade and was grateful for the church’s response to stand on the sidelines and cheer for the parade marchers, as well as offering food and water to all.
“You responded in love,” he said.
The Rev. Bud Reeves, district superintendent, attended the parade and witnessed how the church responded to exclusion.
“When the parade started, a bunch of UMs gathered along the route with their banner (that would have been used in the parade) saying ‘Jesus Loves All’ and a few homemade signs with similar messages, and each group that came down the parade route, the UMs applauded for them!” said Reeves, noting the church members knew many of the marchers. “I was frankly astounded at the response of the leaders who curtailed the anger and bitter reactions to the hypocrisy and exclusion to turn it into an expression of love.” He was so impressed he sent that message to Mueller and other members of the United Methodist Arkansas Conference.
Bell said she has had many conversations with Reeves, who did not approve of the church identifying as “reconciling.”
Reeves said that was true.
“I still don’t agree with the decision of the Eureka Springs United Methodist Church to become a reconciling congregation because the Judicial Council has ruled it inappropriate. But I was glad to be there and be in conversation with a group of positive and gracious people,” Reeves said.
The United Methodist Church’s official stance is that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. United Methodist pastors are not allowed to officiate at same sex weddings; same sex weddings cannot be held in United Methodist churches; and “self-avowed practicing” gay people cannot be ordained.
BEHIND THE STORY
In a “behind the story” story, Suzie and her husband, Dan, started a free ecumenical medical clinic in Eureka Springs in 2005. The clinic was featured on ABC World News Tonight, in an issue of People magazine and on the Oprah Winfrey Show, which included a visit to the clinic from Dr. Oz. Laura Nichols and her husband as well as four other people on the parade committee were all part of a prayer teamthat meets in support of the clinic. Bell said all of them resigned after the incident.
Since 1972, the denomination has been debating this stance at its top legislative body,General Conference. Each time, General Conference has consistently voted to keep the language, and over the years has expanded restrictions against gay clergy and same-gender unions.
Disagreements do not have to mean exclusions, Mueller said on Easter Monday.
“Yesterday Christians throughout the world celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. On the day after Easter, it’s back to business as usual as we criticize each other in ways that break Jesus’ heart and give the world all the evidence it needs to not take us seriously.
“Why does this happen? There are many reasons, some profound and others petty. But there’s one that’s far more powerful than all the others put together — each of us believes Jesus prefers our worship style, beliefs and stance on social issues more than others. It doesn’t have to be this way if each of us is willing to set aside our own agenda and give ourselves wholly to Christ,” he writes.
Bell said church members had many “fabulous conversations” with members of the LGBT community on Saturday, and many of them came to First United Methodist on Easter morning “to see what we were about.”
“It cracked open the door for many in the LGBT community and I think that will be ongoing,” Bell said.
Gilbert is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
'We shall be raised!'
Photos courtesy of Suzie Bell.
Members of First United Methodist Church Stryker talk with Sandy Martin, a resident of Eureka Springs, Ark., who came to the Jesus Parade. From left, Suzie Bell, Peggy Way and Kim Stryker.United Methodist church disinvited to Easter parade
A UMNS Feature
By Kathy L. Gilbert
UMNS
In a city that sits under the watchful eyes of a 67-foot Jesus, a United Methodist church marching in a Jesus Parade, waving a banner “Jesus Loves All! All are Welcome!!” would seem to be right in step with the celebration.
It didn’t turn out that way for First United Methodist Church of Eureka Springs when the congregation was disinvited to join the parade on April 4.
Eureka Springs is home to “America’s #1 attended outdoor drama,” The Great Passion Play about Jesus’ last days on earth, and Christ of the Ozarks, a 2-million-pound sculpture of Jesus. The city in northwest Arkansas is also the only city in the state with a nondiscrimination ordinance providing protection for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) residents and visitors.
Diversity seems to be embraced.
But Suzie Bell, a member of First United Methodist Church, believes the church was turned away because it is a “reconciling” congregation. That means the church is committed to equality and full inclusion for all people regardless of race, gender, age, physical or mental ability, sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality or economic status.
The Reconciling Ministries Network, an unofficial United Methodist group, recognizes a congregation as reconciling if it adopts a statement to welcome people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The group also asks congregations to look for ways to be more welcoming of other people who may be missing from their pews, including people of color and people with disabilities.
The Judicial Council, the denomination’s top court, ruled in 1999 that a local church or any of its organizational units may not label itself as an unofficial body. Many congregations disregard that ruling.
‘A pretty great message’
“‘Jesus loves all. All are welcome.’ Can’t argue with that. It’s a pretty great message,” Bell said. The church applied and was accepted to participate in the parade. Parade organizers talked to Bell about what the church’s message would be and also approved.
That permission was rescinded by parade organizers the Monday before the event. Organizers said the church “was the wrong kind of group” for their parade.
Steve Roberson, another church member who represents the reconciling congregation group, said people in the church were shocked and angry but God turned the incident into a blessing.
"We are Christians just like everyone else and just wanted to celebrate Jesus on Easter weekend. It has allowed our little congregation a chance to shine and show what we are about," he said.
United Methodist News Service tried to contact organizers of the Jesus Parade but got no response.
Laura Nichols, parade director, did release a statement to the press after some local news stations picked up the story.
"This day isn't a day of pointing fingers or playing the blame game. This parade is to honor our Lord and Savior and for praising God for sending His only Son who willingly went to the cross, died and rose on the third day that when we repent of our sins and accept Him. We have the promise of eternal life with the Lord. But more than that, He carries us each day that we are on this earth. We are all sinners redeemed by the grace of God. We believe that the Bible is the uncompromised Word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit.”
The statement from Nichols goes on to say, “We do not have anything against the Methodist Church. After all, my uncle was a Methodist minister. Nor do we have anything against the homosexual community. When I worked downtown I had homosexual people that I considered my friends and still do.”
Following a plan
Bell said the church was following a 10-point plan for Arkansas designed by Bishop Gary E. Mueller.
“One of the goals is to look like your neighborhood,” she said. “This is our neighborhood; we cannot ignore this large group of people who feel left out and ostracized by the church.”
Mueller sent a letter to the congregation of First United Methodist Church saying he was saddened by the treatment they received at the Jesus Parade and was grateful for the church’s response to stand on the sidelines and cheer for the parade marchers, as well as offering food and water to all.
“You responded in love,” he said.
The Rev. Bud Reeves, district superintendent, attended the parade and witnessed how the church responded to exclusion.
“When the parade started, a bunch of UMs gathered along the route with their banner (that would have been used in the parade) saying ‘Jesus Loves All’ and a few homemade signs with similar messages, and each group that came down the parade route, the UMs applauded for them!” said Reeves, noting the church members knew many of the marchers. “I was frankly astounded at the response of the leaders who curtailed the anger and bitter reactions to the hypocrisy and exclusion to turn it into an expression of love.” He was so impressed he sent that message to Mueller and other members of the United Methodist Arkansas Conference.
Bell said she has had many conversations with Reeves, who did not approve of the church identifying as “reconciling.”
Reeves said that was true.
“I still don’t agree with the decision of the Eureka Springs United Methodist Church to become a reconciling congregation because the Judicial Council has ruled it inappropriate. But I was glad to be there and be in conversation with a group of positive and gracious people,” Reeves said.
The United Methodist Church’s official stance is that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. United Methodist pastors are not allowed to officiate at same sex weddings; same sex weddings cannot be held in United Methodist churches; and “self-avowed practicing” gay people cannot be ordained.
BEHIND THE STORY
In a “behind the story” story, Suzie and her husband, Dan, started a free ecumenical medical clinic in Eureka Springs in 2005. The clinic was featured on ABC World News Tonight, in an issue of People magazine and on the Oprah Winfrey Show, which included a visit to the clinic from Dr. Oz. Laura Nichols and her husband as well as four other people on the parade committee were all part of a prayer teamthat meets in support of the clinic. Bell said all of them resigned after the incident.
Since 1972, the denomination has been debating this stance at its top legislative body,General Conference. Each time, General Conference has consistently voted to keep the language, and over the years has expanded restrictions against gay clergy and same-gender unions.
Disagreements do not have to mean exclusions, Mueller said on Easter Monday.
“Yesterday Christians throughout the world celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. On the day after Easter, it’s back to business as usual as we criticize each other in ways that break Jesus’ heart and give the world all the evidence it needs to not take us seriously.
“Why does this happen? There are many reasons, some profound and others petty. But there’s one that’s far more powerful than all the others put together — each of us believes Jesus prefers our worship style, beliefs and stance on social issues more than others. It doesn’t have to be this way if each of us is willing to set aside our own agenda and give ourselves wholly to Christ,” he writes.
Bell said church members had many “fabulous conversations” with members of the LGBT community on Saturday, and many of them came to First United Methodist on Easter morning “to see what we were about.”
“It cracked open the door for many in the LGBT community and I think that will be ongoing,” Bell said.
Gilbert is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
'We shall be raised!'
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) —
‘We shall be raised!’
"I believe in ... the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting."
For centuries, Christians have repeated the words of the Apostles' Creed, affirming their belief in doctrines central to their faith.
But what is it we affirm in that final phrase? What is it the hope that surrounds the grief we acknowledge in the "Service of Death and Resurrection"?
The death and resurrection of Jesus laid the groundwork for current Christian beliefs about what happens to the body after death, say United Methodist scholars and theologians.
"Scripturally, we have only a very few clues, images, texts to draw on. This is why we have always referred to our bodily resurrection as one of the mysteries of faith," said the Rev. Heather Murray Elkins, professor of worship, preaching and the arts at Drew University. "The way it stays present in our mind is the letters of Paul and the way in which the Apostles' Creed is used in worship."
Famous hymns by Charles Wesley link "our resurrection and Christ's resurrection," she said. "You have Charles Wesley's Easter hymn, 'Made like him, like him, we rise. Ours the cross, the grave, the skies.' ("Christ the Lord Is Risen Today")" So Christ's resurrection and humans' bodily resurrection become linked in people's minds through preaching, hymns, worship and Scripture."
Promise of embodiment
"In my own belief, Jesus' bodily resurrection is a model of what we mean by resurrection," said the Rev. Henry "Hal" H. Knight III, professor of Wesleyan studies at Saint Paul School of Theology.
"I'm not so much thinking of an empty tomb because that was within three days,'' he said. " We know that our bodies decompose.
"I take this to be a promise of God our creator that we will have an embodied existence somewhat like Jesus and in line with what St. Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians."
The key word here is embodied, said the Rev. M. Douglas Meeks, professor of theology and Wesleyan studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School. The idea of bodily resurrection for human beings became a significant issue in Christian history.
"This is a major theological question in the whole tradition," he said. "The theological choices boil down to the Greek notion of the immortality of the soul on one hand and the Old Testament understanding of the resurrection of the body.
"My own view is that it is very important for Christians to hold to the resurrection of the body. The (concept of) immortality of the soul is that the body dies and the soul goes to heaven. That's a very non-Jewish way of thinking. I think the New Testament has a Jewish horizon obviously. Jesus was a Jew and so were most of the first Christians including St. Paul." The verses of 1 Corinthians illustrate the doctrine, he said.
Knight also points to ancient Jewish teachings, saying the idea of the resurrection of the body precedes Jesus.
"For Christians, it is rooted in Jesus' resurrection," he said. "But when you read the New Testament, you will read about Jesus and the disciples talking about the resurrection of the body in Jewish tradition. This was taught by the Pharisees but not by the Sadducees."
Take death seriously
The problem with the Greek view of the soul's immortality, Meeks said, is that it doesn't take death seriously enough and it denigrates the body.
"Wherever you have the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, you also have slavery and the denigration of women. For example, the slavemasters before the Civil War said it doesn't matter what you do to people's bodies because what matters is the soul," he said.
"The doctrine of the Resurrection says it does matter because we are an in-spirited body or an embodied spirit. We view the human being as not separate entities but as a whole being.
"So this means that the Scriptures take death very seriously," Meeks continued. "According to Scripture, death is the last and greatest enemy of God. When we die, all of us dies. When we die, we expect God to recreate us in resurrection as he did Jesus. The only power stronger than death is God."
United Methodists use both the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. The first speaks of the "resurrection of the body," while the second expresses belief in the "resurrection of the dead."
The historical context for any difference in wording reflects a "difference of community and a difference of time frame," Elkins said. "Resurrection of the dead means the importance of those who came before Christ (and) what happens to them. And the Apostles' Creed is pushing back against Gnostic or Greek thought. Both of them in some ways are trying to answer the question of, ‘Those we love have died and those who love Christ have died, what happens to them?'"
What is needed?
Theological issues surrounding understanding of bodily resurrection may emerge when people make funeral plans. Younger generations seem more comfortable with cremation than older ones.
The United Methodist Church is "generally open to cremation as a viable alternative" to burial or entombment of earthly remains, writes the Rev. Taylor Burton-Edwards in an article on www.umc.org. Burton-Edwards is director of worship resources for the General Board of Discipleship.
Still, "sometimes people think that, 'If I'm cremated, then I can't be bodily raised,'" said Knight. "That is not true. God is the creator. Creation is not going to prevent a bodily resurrection. Organ donation. Same thing. These are not obstacles for God. In fact, I can't think of an obstacle for God."
The Social Principles of The United Methodist Church both encourage and support organ donation.
Imminent or immediate
Elkins outlined two principle themes from Scripture regarding bodily resurrection. The first, affirming the Hebrew Scriptures in their proclaiming of the goodness of creation, refutes Greek dualism about the body and the soul and affirms the Incarnation as a time when God came and dwelt with humanity.
Then in the Apostle Paul's understanding "of what happens at death, we go into a period of waiting, we sleep, we rest and then comes resurrection, so that's a very strong understanding of what happens to us," she said.
"We don't immediately in a very Pauline approach move into the presence of God. We shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye, but we shall be resurrected in the final judgment and then be fully integrated."
Another tradition of understanding what happens at death, when resurrection occurs, is based upon the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, she said. At the cross, the good thief asks that Jesus remember him when he comes into his kingdom.
"And Jesus looks at him and says, ‘Today you will be with me in Paradise,'" Elkins said. "That means there are at least two different biblical streams of understanding what happens to us after death when we die in Christ. Both of them are faithful. There are those who argue one over the other. But both are there."
"The creeds were the anchor and point to the mystery of what we believe," she continued. "Can we define what we believe? No. Can we say this we believe and trust? Yes. That gets expressed often in the hymns.
"This is an affirmation of faith that we will live by even when we know we cannot prove it, but we're going to live by it."
Cecile S. Holmes, an associate professor at the University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications, is a veteran religion writer and the author of Four Women, Three Faiths. Her web site is www.cecileholmes.com.http://www.cecileholmes.com.
Debates continue about what Bible really means
Photo by Stefano Bistolfi, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The finding of the Empty Tomb of Christ, 'Sacro Monte di Crea.' Statues by Antonio Brilla, 1889.‘We shall be raised!’
"I believe in ... the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting."
For centuries, Christians have repeated the words of the Apostles' Creed, affirming their belief in doctrines central to their faith.
But what is it we affirm in that final phrase? What is it the hope that surrounds the grief we acknowledge in the "Service of Death and Resurrection"?
The death and resurrection of Jesus laid the groundwork for current Christian beliefs about what happens to the body after death, say United Methodist scholars and theologians.
"Scripturally, we have only a very few clues, images, texts to draw on. This is why we have always referred to our bodily resurrection as one of the mysteries of faith," said the Rev. Heather Murray Elkins, professor of worship, preaching and the arts at Drew University. "The way it stays present in our mind is the letters of Paul and the way in which the Apostles' Creed is used in worship."
Famous hymns by Charles Wesley link "our resurrection and Christ's resurrection," she said. "You have Charles Wesley's Easter hymn, 'Made like him, like him, we rise. Ours the cross, the grave, the skies.' ("Christ the Lord Is Risen Today")" So Christ's resurrection and humans' bodily resurrection become linked in people's minds through preaching, hymns, worship and Scripture."
Promise of embodiment
"In my own belief, Jesus' bodily resurrection is a model of what we mean by resurrection," said the Rev. Henry "Hal" H. Knight III, professor of Wesleyan studies at Saint Paul School of Theology.
"I'm not so much thinking of an empty tomb because that was within three days,'' he said. " We know that our bodies decompose.
"I take this to be a promise of God our creator that we will have an embodied existence somewhat like Jesus and in line with what St. Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians."
The key word here is embodied, said the Rev. M. Douglas Meeks, professor of theology and Wesleyan studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School. The idea of bodily resurrection for human beings became a significant issue in Christian history.
"This is a major theological question in the whole tradition," he said. "The theological choices boil down to the Greek notion of the immortality of the soul on one hand and the Old Testament understanding of the resurrection of the body.
"My own view is that it is very important for Christians to hold to the resurrection of the body. The (concept of) immortality of the soul is that the body dies and the soul goes to heaven. That's a very non-Jewish way of thinking. I think the New Testament has a Jewish horizon obviously. Jesus was a Jew and so were most of the first Christians including St. Paul." The verses of 1 Corinthians illustrate the doctrine, he said.
Knight also points to ancient Jewish teachings, saying the idea of the resurrection of the body precedes Jesus.
"For Christians, it is rooted in Jesus' resurrection," he said. "But when you read the New Testament, you will read about Jesus and the disciples talking about the resurrection of the body in Jewish tradition. This was taught by the Pharisees but not by the Sadducees."
Take death seriously
The problem with the Greek view of the soul's immortality, Meeks said, is that it doesn't take death seriously enough and it denigrates the body.
"Wherever you have the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, you also have slavery and the denigration of women. For example, the slavemasters before the Civil War said it doesn't matter what you do to people's bodies because what matters is the soul," he said.
"The doctrine of the Resurrection says it does matter because we are an in-spirited body or an embodied spirit. We view the human being as not separate entities but as a whole being.
"So this means that the Scriptures take death very seriously," Meeks continued. "According to Scripture, death is the last and greatest enemy of God. When we die, all of us dies. When we die, we expect God to recreate us in resurrection as he did Jesus. The only power stronger than death is God."
United Methodists use both the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. The first speaks of the "resurrection of the body," while the second expresses belief in the "resurrection of the dead."
The historical context for any difference in wording reflects a "difference of community and a difference of time frame," Elkins said. "Resurrection of the dead means the importance of those who came before Christ (and) what happens to them. And the Apostles' Creed is pushing back against Gnostic or Greek thought. Both of them in some ways are trying to answer the question of, ‘Those we love have died and those who love Christ have died, what happens to them?'"
What is needed?
Theological issues surrounding understanding of bodily resurrection may emerge when people make funeral plans. Younger generations seem more comfortable with cremation than older ones.
The United Methodist Church is "generally open to cremation as a viable alternative" to burial or entombment of earthly remains, writes the Rev. Taylor Burton-Edwards in an article on www.umc.org. Burton-Edwards is director of worship resources for the General Board of Discipleship.
Still, "sometimes people think that, 'If I'm cremated, then I can't be bodily raised,'" said Knight. "That is not true. God is the creator. Creation is not going to prevent a bodily resurrection. Organ donation. Same thing. These are not obstacles for God. In fact, I can't think of an obstacle for God."
The Social Principles of The United Methodist Church both encourage and support organ donation.
Imminent or immediate
Elkins outlined two principle themes from Scripture regarding bodily resurrection. The first, affirming the Hebrew Scriptures in their proclaiming of the goodness of creation, refutes Greek dualism about the body and the soul and affirms the Incarnation as a time when God came and dwelt with humanity.
Then in the Apostle Paul's understanding "of what happens at death, we go into a period of waiting, we sleep, we rest and then comes resurrection, so that's a very strong understanding of what happens to us," she said.
"We don't immediately in a very Pauline approach move into the presence of God. We shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye, but we shall be resurrected in the final judgment and then be fully integrated."
Another tradition of understanding what happens at death, when resurrection occurs, is based upon the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, she said. At the cross, the good thief asks that Jesus remember him when he comes into his kingdom.
"And Jesus looks at him and says, ‘Today you will be with me in Paradise,'" Elkins said. "That means there are at least two different biblical streams of understanding what happens to us after death when we die in Christ. Both of them are faithful. There are those who argue one over the other. But both are there."
"The creeds were the anchor and point to the mystery of what we believe," she continued. "Can we define what we believe? No. Can we say this we believe and trust? Yes. That gets expressed often in the hymns.
"This is an affirmation of faith that we will live by even when we know we cannot prove it, but we're going to live by it."
Cecile S. Holmes, an associate professor at the University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications, is a veteran religion writer and the author of Four Women, Three Faiths. Her web site is www.cecileholmes.com.http://www.cecileholmes.com.
Debates continue about what Bible really means
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) —
ASBURY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
The Rev. Bill Arnold
The Bible: from age to age the same?
For countless numbers of people, the Bible is the most important guide to living a faithfulChristian life. With an estimated 5 billion copies printed between 1815 and 1975, the Bible remains the top-selling book of all time.
What the Bible really means to its readers, however, has been a consistent source of debate.
In Gallup's annual poll of beliefs and values in 2014, 50 percent of Americans said the Bible is the actual word of God. Of that group, 22 percent said it should be taken literally, and 28 percent said it could be interpreted in multiple ways. Another 28 percent said it is the inspired, but not literal, word of God, and a final 18 percent said the Bible is "fables, legends and history written by men."
For United Methodists, the Bible is the "Word of God through the words of human beings inspired by the Holy Spirit," (United Methodist Book of Discipline, "Doctrinal Standards and Our Theological Task," Paras. 104-105). It is the source of all needed for salvation and the "guide for faith and practice."
The Discipline further says Scripture should be read within a community of faith and informed by that tradition; individual texts should be interpreted in light of their place in the Bible as a whole; the original context and intent of each text must be considered; and attempts to understand Scripture should consider tradition, experience and reason.
The core beliefs of the Christian faith, then, are "revealed through Scripture, illuminated by tradition, vivified (brought to life) in personal and corporate experience, and confirmed by reason."
Despite those declarations, United Methodists do not always agree about how to interpret Scripture and its role in understanding essential affirmations of faith.
Never changing?
The most visible debate relates to Scriptures about same-sex relationships, say the Rev. Adam Hamilton and the Rev. David F. Watson.
Hamilton is lead pastor at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, and author of Making Sense of the Bible. Watson is academic dean/vice president for academic affairs and associate professor of New Testament at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.
Most United Methodist clergy agree that using tradition, reason and experience to interpret Scripture is important, Hamilton says, but "where faithful United Methodists disagree is whether what Paul and Moses say about same-sex intimacy is more like what Paul and Moses say about slavery or ... justice and love."
United Methodists agree that verses on slavery "do not reflect God's affirmation of slavery," he says. Likewise, children should not be stoned to death for persistent disobedience, and the idea of women serving as religious teachers and ordained clergy is "in keeping with God's will."
The conflict over same-sex relationships and other issues, Hamilton says, points to "a deeper question about the nature of Scripture."
Watson says it is a matter of Scriptural interpretation for many Christians, with some believing they should not affirm same-sex intimacy because verses referring to it are "unequivocally negative." Likewise, Jesus' affirmation of marriage as between a man and a woman in Matthew 19 should settle the debate.
"Others believe ... passages that condemn same-sex intimacy are not binding for people today because they reflect an ancient worldview and an outdated understanding of human sexuality," he says. "(They ask) if we are content to regard passages around slavery as outdated and no longer binding, why shouldn't we make the same moves with regard to same-sex intimacy?"
Different interpretations stem from how people describe "the overarching logic of the Scriptures," says the Rev. Elaine Robinson, interim vice president/dean of academic affairs and professor of Methodist studies and Christian theology at Saint Paul School of Theology in Overland Park, Kansas. That leads to a variety of considerations, including whether God's grace and love take priority over all else.
"Do the Scriptures present certain sinful attitudes or behaviors that indicate we are not in right relationship with God and repenting of these must be a priority in the life of faith?" Robinson asks. "Does science help us understand things today which our biblical forebears could not know and, thus, require us to read some texts in light of the best scientific knowledge of our day — something (John) Wesley, himself, tried to do?"
What is uniquely United Methodist, Robinson says, is "our communal covenant ... to read the Bible in light of tradition, experience and reason."
Role of Scripture
Watson questions whether that commitment or a "confession of the basics of Christian faith" is what really "binds us together."
He believes using Scripture, reason, tradition and experience (often referred to as the quadrilateralor the Wesleyan quadrilateral) to answer difficult theological questions "has not worked" and on some issues has instead produced "entirely contradictory conclusions."
Those tools, he says, are only useful if they clarify "aspects of the tradition we regard as normative and the way in which we understand experience." How to interpret Scripture, what constitutes tradition and how far reason should go in revising beliefs also need to be resolved.
"If we cannot gain greater clarity on these matters, there is little hope of our gaining agreement about ethical matters such as same-sex intimacy," he says.
Adding to the confusion is a growing tendency to treat each of the four as equal, says the Rev. Bill Arnold, Paul S. Amos Professor of Old Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.
Based on Wesleyan affirmations in the Discipline, "the revelation of God comes only through Scripture," Arnold says. "The other three merely illuminate, vivify or confirm that revelation." Scripture, then, is the primary source for discerning the core of faith; the others are secondary.
"Disagreements will never be resolved," he says, "until we have an honest conversation about ... what it means to take Scripture as primary in our theological task."
Growing together
Are the debates healthy? Hamilton believes they are, if approached with humility and love.
"They are a part of how we work together to discern God's will," he says. "When they become unhealthy is when either or both sides in the debate are unable to say, ‘I could be wrong about this, and you might be right.'"
Arnold acknowledges that United Methodist tradition allows disagreement on matters unrelated to core beliefs. The Discipline quotes Wesley as saying, "As to all opinions which do not strike at the root of Christianity, we think and let think."
However, Arnold says Wesley also cautioned against adopting too broad an acceptance of opinions about theology and Christian practice.
"If we follow Mr. Wesley ... I think it is detrimental to our church to assume we should be able to agree to disagree about every issue before us," he says.
For Robinson, disagreements are neither inherently healthy nor unhealthy.
"Some congregations are destroyed by disagreements; others are able to allow different points ofview to coexist," she says. "The Wesleyan way is to hold the ‘essentials' in common – our human sinfulness, preveniently graced, justification by faith, and sanctification or growing into the fullness of love – and allow ‘opinions' to dwell in our midst."
Robinson urges people to consider 1 Corinthians 13:12: "For now we see in a mirror dimly."
"We don't have the full knowledge of God and always need to approach our reading of Scripture with humility," she says. "Unfortunately, we live in a time when people often prefer to be right, rather than to listen to one another and, perhaps, even learn something from someone who holds a different understanding."
For Watson, the problem isn't that United Methodists disagree. It's that they disagree on so many important matters.
He says the denomination would benefit from resuming the practice of reading the Bible in light of basic rules of faith, as the early church did.
"We often read Scripture very individualistically, taking little account of the ways in which the believing community through the centuries has interpreted and applied these sacred texts," he says. "The believing community of both past and present, however, provides us with a fuller interpretation than we could derive on our own and corrects us when we fall into error."
Interpreting texts in light of their place in the Bible and considering their original context and intent would also provide clarity.
"These are often seen as protections against ‘proof texting,' which occurs when Scripture becomes a tool to support our own agendas, rather than a means of grace by which we come to know and love God," he says. "We must allow God to form us by our reading of Scripture, rather than trying to marshal the authority of Scripture in service to our own agendas."
Ultimately, Robinson says she sees the Bible as "more of a process than a product ... something that is living and always informing our life in God in new ways and new contexts."
Regardless of the disagreements, she hopes all United Methodists will know the Bible as "a living word to us anew in each generation, but ever faithful to God and to the word incarnate in Christ."
Tita Parham is a communications consultant, writer and editor based in Apopka, Fla.
Bishop: Liberian Christians don’t need legislation to expand faith
The Rev. Bill Arnold
The Bible: from age to age the same?
For countless numbers of people, the Bible is the most important guide to living a faithfulChristian life. With an estimated 5 billion copies printed between 1815 and 1975, the Bible remains the top-selling book of all time.
What the Bible really means to its readers, however, has been a consistent source of debate.
In Gallup's annual poll of beliefs and values in 2014, 50 percent of Americans said the Bible is the actual word of God. Of that group, 22 percent said it should be taken literally, and 28 percent said it could be interpreted in multiple ways. Another 28 percent said it is the inspired, but not literal, word of God, and a final 18 percent said the Bible is "fables, legends and history written by men."
For United Methodists, the Bible is the "Word of God through the words of human beings inspired by the Holy Spirit," (United Methodist Book of Discipline, "Doctrinal Standards and Our Theological Task," Paras. 104-105). It is the source of all needed for salvation and the "guide for faith and practice."
The Discipline further says Scripture should be read within a community of faith and informed by that tradition; individual texts should be interpreted in light of their place in the Bible as a whole; the original context and intent of each text must be considered; and attempts to understand Scripture should consider tradition, experience and reason.
The core beliefs of the Christian faith, then, are "revealed through Scripture, illuminated by tradition, vivified (brought to life) in personal and corporate experience, and confirmed by reason."
Despite those declarations, United Methodists do not always agree about how to interpret Scripture and its role in understanding essential affirmations of faith.
Never changing?
The most visible debate relates to Scriptures about same-sex relationships, say the Rev. Adam Hamilton and the Rev. David F. Watson.
Hamilton is lead pastor at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, and author of Making Sense of the Bible. Watson is academic dean/vice president for academic affairs and associate professor of New Testament at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.
Most United Methodist clergy agree that using tradition, reason and experience to interpret Scripture is important, Hamilton says, but "where faithful United Methodists disagree is whether what Paul and Moses say about same-sex intimacy is more like what Paul and Moses say about slavery or ... justice and love."
United Methodists agree that verses on slavery "do not reflect God's affirmation of slavery," he says. Likewise, children should not be stoned to death for persistent disobedience, and the idea of women serving as religious teachers and ordained clergy is "in keeping with God's will."
The conflict over same-sex relationships and other issues, Hamilton says, points to "a deeper question about the nature of Scripture."
Watson says it is a matter of Scriptural interpretation for many Christians, with some believing they should not affirm same-sex intimacy because verses referring to it are "unequivocally negative." Likewise, Jesus' affirmation of marriage as between a man and a woman in Matthew 19 should settle the debate.
"Others believe ... passages that condemn same-sex intimacy are not binding for people today because they reflect an ancient worldview and an outdated understanding of human sexuality," he says. "(They ask) if we are content to regard passages around slavery as outdated and no longer binding, why shouldn't we make the same moves with regard to same-sex intimacy?"
Different interpretations stem from how people describe "the overarching logic of the Scriptures," says the Rev. Elaine Robinson, interim vice president/dean of academic affairs and professor of Methodist studies and Christian theology at Saint Paul School of Theology in Overland Park, Kansas. That leads to a variety of considerations, including whether God's grace and love take priority over all else.
"Do the Scriptures present certain sinful attitudes or behaviors that indicate we are not in right relationship with God and repenting of these must be a priority in the life of faith?" Robinson asks. "Does science help us understand things today which our biblical forebears could not know and, thus, require us to read some texts in light of the best scientific knowledge of our day — something (John) Wesley, himself, tried to do?"
What is uniquely United Methodist, Robinson says, is "our communal covenant ... to read the Bible in light of tradition, experience and reason."
Role of Scripture
Watson questions whether that commitment or a "confession of the basics of Christian faith" is what really "binds us together."
He believes using Scripture, reason, tradition and experience (often referred to as the quadrilateralor the Wesleyan quadrilateral) to answer difficult theological questions "has not worked" and on some issues has instead produced "entirely contradictory conclusions."
Those tools, he says, are only useful if they clarify "aspects of the tradition we regard as normative and the way in which we understand experience." How to interpret Scripture, what constitutes tradition and how far reason should go in revising beliefs also need to be resolved.
"If we cannot gain greater clarity on these matters, there is little hope of our gaining agreement about ethical matters such as same-sex intimacy," he says.
Adding to the confusion is a growing tendency to treat each of the four as equal, says the Rev. Bill Arnold, Paul S. Amos Professor of Old Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.
Based on Wesleyan affirmations in the Discipline, "the revelation of God comes only through Scripture," Arnold says. "The other three merely illuminate, vivify or confirm that revelation." Scripture, then, is the primary source for discerning the core of faith; the others are secondary.
"Disagreements will never be resolved," he says, "until we have an honest conversation about ... what it means to take Scripture as primary in our theological task."
Growing together
Are the debates healthy? Hamilton believes they are, if approached with humility and love.
"They are a part of how we work together to discern God's will," he says. "When they become unhealthy is when either or both sides in the debate are unable to say, ‘I could be wrong about this, and you might be right.'"
Arnold acknowledges that United Methodist tradition allows disagreement on matters unrelated to core beliefs. The Discipline quotes Wesley as saying, "As to all opinions which do not strike at the root of Christianity, we think and let think."
However, Arnold says Wesley also cautioned against adopting too broad an acceptance of opinions about theology and Christian practice.
"If we follow Mr. Wesley ... I think it is detrimental to our church to assume we should be able to agree to disagree about every issue before us," he says.
For Robinson, disagreements are neither inherently healthy nor unhealthy.
"Some congregations are destroyed by disagreements; others are able to allow different points ofview to coexist," she says. "The Wesleyan way is to hold the ‘essentials' in common – our human sinfulness, preveniently graced, justification by faith, and sanctification or growing into the fullness of love – and allow ‘opinions' to dwell in our midst."
Robinson urges people to consider 1 Corinthians 13:12: "For now we see in a mirror dimly."
"We don't have the full knowledge of God and always need to approach our reading of Scripture with humility," she says. "Unfortunately, we live in a time when people often prefer to be right, rather than to listen to one another and, perhaps, even learn something from someone who holds a different understanding."
For Watson, the problem isn't that United Methodists disagree. It's that they disagree on so many important matters.
He says the denomination would benefit from resuming the practice of reading the Bible in light of basic rules of faith, as the early church did.
"We often read Scripture very individualistically, taking little account of the ways in which the believing community through the centuries has interpreted and applied these sacred texts," he says. "The believing community of both past and present, however, provides us with a fuller interpretation than we could derive on our own and corrects us when we fall into error."
Interpreting texts in light of their place in the Bible and considering their original context and intent would also provide clarity.
"These are often seen as protections against ‘proof texting,' which occurs when Scripture becomes a tool to support our own agendas, rather than a means of grace by which we come to know and love God," he says. "We must allow God to form us by our reading of Scripture, rather than trying to marshal the authority of Scripture in service to our own agendas."
Ultimately, Robinson says she sees the Bible as "more of a process than a product ... something that is living and always informing our life in God in new ways and new contexts."
Regardless of the disagreements, she hopes all United Methodists will know the Bible as "a living word to us anew in each generation, but ever faithful to God and to the word incarnate in Christ."
Tita Parham is a communications consultant, writer and editor based in Apopka, Fla.
Bishop: Liberian Christians don’t need legislation to expand faith
MONROVIA, Liberia (UMNS) —
Photo by Julu Swen, UMNS
Bishop John G. Innis, right, talked about problems with the proposal to pass legislation making Liberia a Christian nation after he preached at First United Methodist Church Monrovia on Easter Sunday. Also shown are the Rev. Julius Williams, left, associate pastor of the church, and the Rev. Erlene Thompson, pastor.PreviousNext
United Methodist leaders oppose legislation to make Liberia Christian nation by Julu Swen
MONROVIA, Liberia (UMNS)
United Methodist Bishop John G. Innis opposes a proposal approved by a recent constitutionalreview committee to make Liberia a Christian country.
“Liberians, especially Christians, do not need any legislation to practice or expand their faith in Liberia,” Innis said in an interview after delivering his annual Easter sermon at First United Methodist Church. Other United Methodist leaders agreed, calling for tolerance and evangelism to promote Christianity.
The decision was one of several approved during the four-day constitutional review conferenceheld in Gbarnga. The committee has been charged with reviewing the country’s 1986 constitution. The proposal has sparked debate in the country among Christians, Muslims, and civil society organizations.
The conference recommendations will be presented to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a member of First United Methodist Church Monrovia, who would then send them to the national legislature for approval. If approved, the recommendations would to Liberia’s elections commission for a national referendum.
Innis: 'Christ did not force people to follow him'
Innis noted that Liberia was built on Christian principles.
“We don’t need constitutional provisions to practice our faith and expand our denomination in this country,” he said.
“Our Lord Jesus Christ did not force people to follow him, so Christians should not advocate for legislation that will create conflict for our nation.”
Baptist, Catholic and Muslim leaders have also expressed opposition to the proposal according to news reports.
The Rev. Julius Williams, a United Methodist elder, said Christians can “intensify their evangelistic strategies” to increase the number of Christians in Liberia.
“The more we evangelize, the more Christian nation we will become, we don’t need any constitution to help us fulfill our Christian mandate,” Williams added.
Togba-Nah Tipoteh, a United Methodist who was also a presidential candidate in the last three elections, said religious tolerance is a “peaceful pillar” on which Liberia has thrived.
“Any law that interferes with that tolerance is simply a recipe for trouble,” he said.
*Swen is editor and publisher of West African Writers, an online publication about United Methodist happenings in West Africa and assists the denomination in Liberia with coverage for United Methodist Communications.
News media contact: Vicki Brown, newsdesk@umcom.org or 615-742-5469.
Nigeria holds Social Principles discussion
MONROVIA, Liberia (UMNS)
United Methodist Bishop John G. Innis opposes a proposal approved by a recent constitutionalreview committee to make Liberia a Christian country.
“Liberians, especially Christians, do not need any legislation to practice or expand their faith in Liberia,” Innis said in an interview after delivering his annual Easter sermon at First United Methodist Church. Other United Methodist leaders agreed, calling for tolerance and evangelism to promote Christianity.
The decision was one of several approved during the four-day constitutional review conferenceheld in Gbarnga. The committee has been charged with reviewing the country’s 1986 constitution. The proposal has sparked debate in the country among Christians, Muslims, and civil society organizations.
The conference recommendations will be presented to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a member of First United Methodist Church Monrovia, who would then send them to the national legislature for approval. If approved, the recommendations would to Liberia’s elections commission for a national referendum.
Innis: 'Christ did not force people to follow him'
Innis noted that Liberia was built on Christian principles.
“We don’t need constitutional provisions to practice our faith and expand our denomination in this country,” he said.
“Our Lord Jesus Christ did not force people to follow him, so Christians should not advocate for legislation that will create conflict for our nation.”
Baptist, Catholic and Muslim leaders have also expressed opposition to the proposal according to news reports.
The Rev. Julius Williams, a United Methodist elder, said Christians can “intensify their evangelistic strategies” to increase the number of Christians in Liberia.
“The more we evangelize, the more Christian nation we will become, we don’t need any constitution to help us fulfill our Christian mandate,” Williams added.
Togba-Nah Tipoteh, a United Methodist who was also a presidential candidate in the last three elections, said religious tolerance is a “peaceful pillar” on which Liberia has thrived.
“Any law that interferes with that tolerance is simply a recipe for trouble,” he said.
*Swen is editor and publisher of West African Writers, an online publication about United Methodist happenings in West Africa and assists the denomination in Liberia with coverage for United Methodist Communications.
News media contact: Vicki Brown, newsdesk@umcom.org or 615-742-5469.
Nigeria holds Social Principles discussion
ABUJA, Nigeria (UMNS) —
Photo by Ande I. Emmanuel, UMNS
Rev. Isa Duna spoke about the need for the church to protect the rights of the oppressed.
Nigeria holds Social Principles discussion by the Rev. Ande I. Emmanuel
ABUJA, Nigeria (UMNS)
Representatives from The United Methodist Church in Nigeria said the Social Principles have given them the opportunity to put their faith into action for the transformation of the world.
Thirty-five representatives from the Nigeria Episcopal Area attended the eighth Social Principles discussion organized by the United Methodist Board of Church and Society. The event was held March 24-26 after a scheduled November meeting was postponed due to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Representatives were from the three annual conferences of the Nigeria Episcopal Area West Africa Central Conference.
The discussion focused on three questions:
What role do the current Social Principles play in enhancing the mission and ministry of The United Methodist Church?
How much or how well have the current Social Principles served to empower mission and Ministry in your geographical area?
What might globally relevant Social Principles look like?
The Rev. Eunice Iliya, the superintendent of the Southern Nigeria Annual Conference, said "putting the Social Principles into use will transform many lives in Nigeria." She explained that reaching out to people in “our ministry of presence and healing will help in restoring hope in our broken communities.” She also believes teaching the Social Principles from the pulpit, Bible studies classes and small fellowship group meetings will bring desired transformation in lives and the nation.
"The Social Principles have raised the consciousness of my annual conference on matters of faith and practice," said the Rev. Eli Yakku, superintendent of the Central Nigeria Conference, adding that the church has an obligation to care for God’s creation.
The Rev. Isa Duna Audu, the representative of the superintendent of the Northern Nigeria Conference, said, "The Social Principles encourage people to speak for those whose rights have been denied and also helps us to understand that all humanity is equal before God, and there is no reason to deny anyone their fundamental human rights."
Equal education for girls and boys
For example, The United Methodist Church in Nigeria has condemned the activities of the Islamic militant group Boko Haram, especially the abduction of more than 200 schools girls in Chibok Borno State, Nigeria. The church has also been at the forefront in advocating for equal education for all Nigerian children, both male and female. This advocacy resulted to the establishment of the United Methodist Central Nigeria junior seminary and orphanage, all in Jalingo to provide education for children, paying attention to gender equality.
The focus on human rights comes at a time when the northeastern part of Nigeria has been under constant attack by Boko Haram, which has targeted churches, schools and government institutions in an effort to establish an Islamic caliphate in the northeastern part of Nigeria. The group has been responsible for the deaths of more than 50,000 people in Nigeria since 2009.
The whereabouts of the kidnapped girls is still unknown. Violence by Boko Haram has displaced more than 300,000 within and outside Nigeria.
Bishop John Wesley Yohanna, the leader of the Nigeria Episcopal Area, said during closing worship "the consultation offered an opportunity to participate fully in the dialogue that will form the legislation in future annual conferences and the 2016 General Conference."
The bishop stressed that the mission of The United Methodist Church is to transform the world, which he said can only be done if the Social Principles are succinct, theologically founded and globally relevant.
Church strives to be instrument of peace
The meeting also came as Nigeria held its presidential and National Assembly elections. Nigeria, a country with more than 160 million people, faces challenges including a high level of poverty and a dilapidated infrastructure. The candidate of the All Progressive Congress, Gen. Mahammadu Buhari, was declared winner of the presidential election over the outgoing president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, candidate of the ruling party.
The election was conducted peacefully in most parts of Nigeria, with the exception of places like Gombe, Bauchi, Enugu, Yobe and Borno States, where bombs have been reported.
"Our team went to Nigeria during a very anxious period in their history. What we found was a church striving to be an instrument of God's peace even in the midst of violence," said Clayton Childers, Church and Society’s director of conference relations.
The Rev. Neal Christie, Church and Society’s assistant general secretary for education and leadership formation, said the Social Principles are the positions of the United Methodist on social issues affecting church and society. Christie said the principles call members of the denomination to a prayerful, studied dialogue of faith and practice.
The rationale for the consultation was to create a space for honest conversation, listen to stories and experiences of United Methodists living around the world and gather honest feedback on the Social Principles, Christie said.
The Rev. Fitzgerald Reist II, secretary of the General Conference, said further discussion about the worldwide nature of the church will take place when more than 800 delegates gather in Portland, Oregon, for the 2016 General Conference. Six consultations on the Social Principles were held in the central conferences. In addition to Abuja, consultations were held in the Philippines, the Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mozambique. Two were held in the United States.
Emmanuel is field organizer for the United Methodist Board of Church and Society. Contact UMNS atnewsdesk@umcom.org or 615-742-5400.
Zimbabwe churches embrace contemporary music
ABUJA, Nigeria (UMNS)
Representatives from The United Methodist Church in Nigeria said the Social Principles have given them the opportunity to put their faith into action for the transformation of the world.
Thirty-five representatives from the Nigeria Episcopal Area attended the eighth Social Principles discussion organized by the United Methodist Board of Church and Society. The event was held March 24-26 after a scheduled November meeting was postponed due to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Representatives were from the three annual conferences of the Nigeria Episcopal Area West Africa Central Conference.
The discussion focused on three questions:
What role do the current Social Principles play in enhancing the mission and ministry of The United Methodist Church?
How much or how well have the current Social Principles served to empower mission and Ministry in your geographical area?
What might globally relevant Social Principles look like?
The Rev. Eunice Iliya, the superintendent of the Southern Nigeria Annual Conference, said "putting the Social Principles into use will transform many lives in Nigeria." She explained that reaching out to people in “our ministry of presence and healing will help in restoring hope in our broken communities.” She also believes teaching the Social Principles from the pulpit, Bible studies classes and small fellowship group meetings will bring desired transformation in lives and the nation.
"The Social Principles have raised the consciousness of my annual conference on matters of faith and practice," said the Rev. Eli Yakku, superintendent of the Central Nigeria Conference, adding that the church has an obligation to care for God’s creation.
The Rev. Isa Duna Audu, the representative of the superintendent of the Northern Nigeria Conference, said, "The Social Principles encourage people to speak for those whose rights have been denied and also helps us to understand that all humanity is equal before God, and there is no reason to deny anyone their fundamental human rights."
Equal education for girls and boys
For example, The United Methodist Church in Nigeria has condemned the activities of the Islamic militant group Boko Haram, especially the abduction of more than 200 schools girls in Chibok Borno State, Nigeria. The church has also been at the forefront in advocating for equal education for all Nigerian children, both male and female. This advocacy resulted to the establishment of the United Methodist Central Nigeria junior seminary and orphanage, all in Jalingo to provide education for children, paying attention to gender equality.
The focus on human rights comes at a time when the northeastern part of Nigeria has been under constant attack by Boko Haram, which has targeted churches, schools and government institutions in an effort to establish an Islamic caliphate in the northeastern part of Nigeria. The group has been responsible for the deaths of more than 50,000 people in Nigeria since 2009.
The whereabouts of the kidnapped girls is still unknown. Violence by Boko Haram has displaced more than 300,000 within and outside Nigeria.
Bishop John Wesley Yohanna, the leader of the Nigeria Episcopal Area, said during closing worship "the consultation offered an opportunity to participate fully in the dialogue that will form the legislation in future annual conferences and the 2016 General Conference."
The bishop stressed that the mission of The United Methodist Church is to transform the world, which he said can only be done if the Social Principles are succinct, theologically founded and globally relevant.
Church strives to be instrument of peace
The meeting also came as Nigeria held its presidential and National Assembly elections. Nigeria, a country with more than 160 million people, faces challenges including a high level of poverty and a dilapidated infrastructure. The candidate of the All Progressive Congress, Gen. Mahammadu Buhari, was declared winner of the presidential election over the outgoing president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, candidate of the ruling party.
The election was conducted peacefully in most parts of Nigeria, with the exception of places like Gombe, Bauchi, Enugu, Yobe and Borno States, where bombs have been reported.
"Our team went to Nigeria during a very anxious period in their history. What we found was a church striving to be an instrument of God's peace even in the midst of violence," said Clayton Childers, Church and Society’s director of conference relations.
The Rev. Neal Christie, Church and Society’s assistant general secretary for education and leadership formation, said the Social Principles are the positions of the United Methodist on social issues affecting church and society. Christie said the principles call members of the denomination to a prayerful, studied dialogue of faith and practice.
The rationale for the consultation was to create a space for honest conversation, listen to stories and experiences of United Methodists living around the world and gather honest feedback on the Social Principles, Christie said.
The Rev. Fitzgerald Reist II, secretary of the General Conference, said further discussion about the worldwide nature of the church will take place when more than 800 delegates gather in Portland, Oregon, for the 2016 General Conference. Six consultations on the Social Principles were held in the central conferences. In addition to Abuja, consultations were held in the Philippines, the Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mozambique. Two were held in the United States.
Emmanuel is field organizer for the United Methodist Board of Church and Society. Contact UMNS atnewsdesk@umcom.org or 615-742-5400.
Zimbabwe churches embrace contemporary music
CHITUNGWIZA, Zimbabwe (UMNS) —
Zimbabwe churches embrace contemporary music by Eveline Chikwanah
CHITUNGWIZA, Zimbabwe (UMNS)
Singing and the sounds of drums and rattles echo through the church. The rhythm of guitars, a keyboard and other musical instruments bring the congregation to their feet. People move as one in time to the beat, their melodious voices raised in harmony with the music.
The United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe has launched an aggressive campaign to retain and grow congregations. One aspect is embracing musical instruments not traditionally used in worship. The use of contemporary music came in response to the mushrooming of new churches perceived to be “modern and appealing” by younger members of United Methodist congregations.
“Our church acquired a piano because we realized we were losing membership, particularly among the youth, as they were attracted to churches which use modern instruments for praise in worship,” said the Rev. Godfrey Gaga, pastor-in-charge at St. Peter’s United Methodist Church, in Chitungwiza.
“Our youth wanted to join the churches with fast-beat music.” – pastor of St. Peter’s #UMC in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe. TWEET THIS
He said the church lost a significant number of its 1,800 members. Then the church council decided to incorporate musical instruments that traditionally had no place in The United Methodist Church.
However, the young generation was attending the plethora of churches formed in recent years where more Western-style instruments of worship are used to produce catchy, and possibly more fashionable, tunes.
Change can be hard
Gaga said it had been difficult for him to introduce contemporary music at his previous appointment, St. Stephen United Methodist Church. “It is a very traditional, orthodox church and the congregation did not acceptchange easily,” he said.
During his five-year tenure at St. Stephen, the church, located in the city of Chitungwiza, gradually warmed to contemporary music.
“Today St. Stephen in Chitungwiza has become a giant in contemporary music and remains the trailblazer in this regard,” Gaga said. St. Timothy United Methodist Church in Mabvuku, where Gaga was pastor from 2005 to 2008, is another church that uses contemporary music.
He said Zimbabweans have been bombarded by cyber-evangelism via television broadcasts and the Internet, and that younger members of the church were drawn to the churches they saw on the small screen. “These churches are wooing our youths and young adults through instrumental praise in worship,” he said.
Gaga added: “We realized that our youth wanted to join the churches with fast-beat music. Instead of losing our members, it was time to swallow our pride and adapt our services to incorporate more praise in worship with instruments other than the traditional drums and rattles.”
Gaga said pianos were not new to The United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe, but were not previously used much.
“The piano is a versatile instrument. We can play it the United Methodist way and create our own distinctive sound,” Gaga said.
Different services, different music
At St. Peter’s, the main service on Sunday morning is conventional and characterized by the use of drums and rattles during worship. The sunset service held at 5p.m. on Sundays is dominated by contemporary music, Gaga said.
One of the key people in promoting upbeat music at the St. Peter’s is music director Edmore Simbarashe Magureyi. Magureyi, a Midlands State University student, plays a variety of musical instruments, including the piano.
Magureyi, 24, said he initially faced resistance when tasked with overhauling the choirs at the church. “I borrow my beat from South Africa where choral music is very versatile and has no limitations,” he said.
It took Magureyi about two months for the choristers at the church to understand the direction he wanted them to take. “South Africans use their chest voice, not throat voice, when they sing. The piano has added value to praise in worship music, as it can be used to produce a sweet, peaceful accompaniment to church services. Just a few keys will draw people closer to God,” he said.
Magureyi’s major influence is his father who is a retired musician. “My father was a bandmaster in the Presidential Guard Brass Band and holds an internationally recognized qualification in the theoryand practice of music,” he said. “He guides me when I am conducting the choirs at church.”
The Hunyani Praise Team at St. Barnabas United Methodist Church has become synonymous with captivating tunes and the use of contemporary instruments which include guitars and piano. Led by Stanley Chirinda, the group draws its inspiration from Psalms 150 which encourages the use of all music instruments.
“There was initially some resistance to our music, especially from elderly members, but we had the backing of our pastor, the Rev. Miriam Manyaya, and managed to overcome all challenges,” Chirinda said.
Formed in 2011, the Hunyani Praise Team has 30 active members drawn from youths and adults of St. Barnabas. The group performs at church events, including the historic Ebenezer Convention in August 2014.
“I had a dream of adding variety to music in the church and it has been realized through the praise team,” Chirinda said.
Chikwanah is a communicator of the Zimbabwe East Annual Conference.
News media contact: Vicki Brown, news editor, newsdesk@umcom.org or 615-742-5469.
Class draws on Adrian's abolitionist history
Photo by Eveline Chikwanah, UMNS
One of the key people in promoting upbeat music at the St. Peter’s is music director Edmore Simbarashe Magureyi. Magureyi plays a variety of musical instruments, including the piano.Zimbabwe churches embrace contemporary music by Eveline Chikwanah
CHITUNGWIZA, Zimbabwe (UMNS)
Singing and the sounds of drums and rattles echo through the church. The rhythm of guitars, a keyboard and other musical instruments bring the congregation to their feet. People move as one in time to the beat, their melodious voices raised in harmony with the music.
The United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe has launched an aggressive campaign to retain and grow congregations. One aspect is embracing musical instruments not traditionally used in worship. The use of contemporary music came in response to the mushrooming of new churches perceived to be “modern and appealing” by younger members of United Methodist congregations.
“Our church acquired a piano because we realized we were losing membership, particularly among the youth, as they were attracted to churches which use modern instruments for praise in worship,” said the Rev. Godfrey Gaga, pastor-in-charge at St. Peter’s United Methodist Church, in Chitungwiza.
“Our youth wanted to join the churches with fast-beat music.” – pastor of St. Peter’s #UMC in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe.
TWEET THISHe said the church lost a significant number of its 1,800 members. Then the church council decided to incorporate musical instruments that traditionally had no place in The United Methodist Church.
The Rev. Godfrey Gaga, pastor at St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe, said the church was losing younger members until contemporary music was incorporated into the worship service. Photo by Eveline Chikwanah, UMNS
Traditional drums, made of tree bark and animal skin, and rattles have been synonymous with United Methodist music in Zimbabwe since the church was established there in 1897. The instruments, also used in African traditional religion, were played in a distinct rhythm that has become the church’s trademark sound.However, the young generation was attending the plethora of churches formed in recent years where more Western-style instruments of worship are used to produce catchy, and possibly more fashionable, tunes.
Change can be hard
Gaga said it had been difficult for him to introduce contemporary music at his previous appointment, St. Stephen United Methodist Church. “It is a very traditional, orthodox church and the congregation did not acceptchange easily,” he said.
During his five-year tenure at St. Stephen, the church, located in the city of Chitungwiza, gradually warmed to contemporary music.
“Today St. Stephen in Chitungwiza has become a giant in contemporary music and remains the trailblazer in this regard,” Gaga said. St. Timothy United Methodist Church in Mabvuku, where Gaga was pastor from 2005 to 2008, is another church that uses contemporary music.
He said Zimbabweans have been bombarded by cyber-evangelism via television broadcasts and the Internet, and that younger members of the church were drawn to the churches they saw on the small screen. “These churches are wooing our youths and young adults through instrumental praise in worship,” he said.
Gaga added: “We realized that our youth wanted to join the churches with fast-beat music. Instead of losing our members, it was time to swallow our pride and adapt our services to incorporate more praise in worship with instruments other than the traditional drums and rattles.”
Gaga said pianos were not new to The United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe, but were not previously used much.
“The piano is a versatile instrument. We can play it the United Methodist way and create our own distinctive sound,” Gaga said.
Different services, different music
At St. Peter’s, the main service on Sunday morning is conventional and characterized by the use of drums and rattles during worship. The sunset service held at 5p.m. on Sundays is dominated by contemporary music, Gaga said.
One of the key people in promoting upbeat music at the St. Peter’s is music director Edmore Simbarashe Magureyi. Magureyi, a Midlands State University student, plays a variety of musical instruments, including the piano.
Magureyi, 24, said he initially faced resistance when tasked with overhauling the choirs at the church. “I borrow my beat from South Africa where choral music is very versatile and has no limitations,” he said.
It took Magureyi about two months for the choristers at the church to understand the direction he wanted them to take. “South Africans use their chest voice, not throat voice, when they sing. The piano has added value to praise in worship music, as it can be used to produce a sweet, peaceful accompaniment to church services. Just a few keys will draw people closer to God,” he said.
Magureyi’s major influence is his father who is a retired musician. “My father was a bandmaster in the Presidential Guard Brass Band and holds an internationally recognized qualification in the theoryand practice of music,” he said. “He guides me when I am conducting the choirs at church.”
The Hunyani Praise Team at St. Barnabas United Methodist Church has become synonymous with captivating tunes and the use of contemporary instruments which include guitars and piano. Led by Stanley Chirinda, the group draws its inspiration from Psalms 150 which encourages the use of all music instruments.
“There was initially some resistance to our music, especially from elderly members, but we had the backing of our pastor, the Rev. Miriam Manyaya, and managed to overcome all challenges,” Chirinda said.
Formed in 2011, the Hunyani Praise Team has 30 active members drawn from youths and adults of St. Barnabas. The group performs at church events, including the historic Ebenezer Convention in August 2014.
“I had a dream of adding variety to music in the church and it has been realized through the praise team,” Chirinda said.
Chikwanah is a communicator of the Zimbabwe East Annual Conference.
News media contact: Vicki Brown, news editor, newsdesk@umcom.org or 615-742-5469.
Class draws on Adrian's abolitionist history
ADRIAN, Mich. (UMNS) —
Photo by Mike Neal.
Adrian College student Gregory Roy prepares to enter the debate in the game used to teach students about history.
Class draws on Adrian’s abolitionist history
A UMNS commentary
By the Rev. Chris Momany
ADRIAN, Mich.
Aging former president John Quincy Adams steps to the podium. He is troubled. It is 1845, and a man named Frederick Douglass has just released an autobiography.
Several in the room attack the memoir. Its elegant style, clarity and powerful arguments could not have been written by Douglass, a former slave, they insist. The conversation is thick with presumption, racist attitudes and, thankfully, insightful affirmations of Douglass and his work.
Adams has resisted slavery for some time and even defended the Amistad captives before the U.S. Supreme Court. How long? How long will it take for all Americans to be free? Douglass is there, too, enduring the arrogant insults of those who hold his intellect in contempt. It is a tense meeting, and there is a lot to sort out.
This tense meeting is not really a gathering in 1845, but a dramatic portrayal undertaken by Adrian College’s first-year students in 2015. Adrian College is a United Methodist-related school.
“The Frederick Douglass Game,” uses the teaching method termed “Reacting to the Past.” The drama was written by historians Mark Higbee, a professor at Eastern Michigan University; James Stewart, a professor emeritus at Macalester College; and Deborah Field, a professor at Adrian College. The “game” is designed to confront college students with our nation’s history around race, gender, class, and other issues.
Some unsavory characters take part in this debate, figures from history who did not believe in equality.
“The game is definitely challenging when it comes to remembering that these aren’t really our own opinions and that we really aren’t getting upset or angry at each other. These opinions are from people in history, and we are trying to portray them accurately,” said Ashley Bruce, a first-year student who played John Quincy Adams.
The students note that the person who would become Adrian College’s first president is also in the room. Asa Mahan is a fierce advocate for love and justice, and he intends to speak his mind.
Anti-slavery twist
The “Frederick Douglass Game” is just one component of a first-year experience course taught by Adrian College faculty. Many colleges and universities have such first-year experience courses that help students transition from high school to college life.
Adrian College does that, too. The course is called “Core,” and much of the curriculum covers the practices of close reading, writing, speaking and research.
But Adrian, started by anti-slavery advocates in 1859, has a twist.
Most of the college’s founders were veteran abolitionists and activists on the Underground Railroad. They came from places like Syracuse, New York, and Oberlin, Ohio. President Mahan was widely published in philosophy and ethics. He was known for his writing on Christian perfection or holiness.
The Adrian College program draws upon this unique heritage when helping students learn today. Part of the curriculum includes reading David Batstone’s book, “Not for Sale,” an exposé of human trafficking — otherwise known as modern-day slavery. Then, of course, there is the Douglass game.
Melissa Stewart, Adrian College professor of religion, said: “The first-year experience courses give students a chance to find their voice. Adrian College is uniquely poised, given its abolitionist history, to help students connect their young passions, school pride and academic studies so that they can envision themselves as future citizens concerned for greater justice.”
Recently, the National Association of Schools and Colleges of The United Methodist Churchchallenged member institutions to develop programs on behalf of social justice and human dignity. Core is one way we at Adrian are already doing that. Our students learn to step back in time and grapple with difficult issues. They learn to speak up for the intrinsic worth of people. They learn that as many as 27 million people are enslaved today. They consider the similarities and the differences between slavery old and new, and they develop creative and courageous ways to fight injustice.
The core program began one year ago with a pilot course. This year half of the first year class is involved (260 students). Next fall the entire entering class will participate.
History harbors both good and bad. The past is not automatically worse than the present, nor is it a time of pristine example. But it is immensely instructive.
We were abolitionists more than 150 years ago, and we remain abolitionists today. Moreover, this is not simply some initiative on the margins of campus culture, shoved in around the edges of academic life. This is at the center of our pedagogy. Being who we are is hard work, and we take that very seriously.
Momany is the chaplain and a professor of philosophy and religion at Adrian College. He is the author of many articles and the 2011 book, “Doing Good: A Grace-Filled Approach to Holiness” (Abingdon).
News media contact: Vicki Brown at newsdesk@umcom.org or 615-742-5400.
Religious freedom re-emerges as timely topic
A UMNS commentary
By the Rev. Chris Momany
ADRIAN, Mich.
Aging former president John Quincy Adams steps to the podium. He is troubled. It is 1845, and a man named Frederick Douglass has just released an autobiography.
Several in the room attack the memoir. Its elegant style, clarity and powerful arguments could not have been written by Douglass, a former slave, they insist. The conversation is thick with presumption, racist attitudes and, thankfully, insightful affirmations of Douglass and his work.
Adams has resisted slavery for some time and even defended the Amistad captives before the U.S. Supreme Court. How long? How long will it take for all Americans to be free? Douglass is there, too, enduring the arrogant insults of those who hold his intellect in contempt. It is a tense meeting, and there is a lot to sort out.
This tense meeting is not really a gathering in 1845, but a dramatic portrayal undertaken by Adrian College’s first-year students in 2015. Adrian College is a United Methodist-related school.
“The Frederick Douglass Game,” uses the teaching method termed “Reacting to the Past.” The drama was written by historians Mark Higbee, a professor at Eastern Michigan University; James Stewart, a professor emeritus at Macalester College; and Deborah Field, a professor at Adrian College. The “game” is designed to confront college students with our nation’s history around race, gender, class, and other issues.
Some unsavory characters take part in this debate, figures from history who did not believe in equality.
“The game is definitely challenging when it comes to remembering that these aren’t really our own opinions and that we really aren’t getting upset or angry at each other. These opinions are from people in history, and we are trying to portray them accurately,” said Ashley Bruce, a first-year student who played John Quincy Adams.
The students note that the person who would become Adrian College’s first president is also in the room. Asa Mahan is a fierce advocate for love and justice, and he intends to speak his mind.
Anti-slavery twist
The “Frederick Douglass Game” is just one component of a first-year experience course taught by Adrian College faculty. Many colleges and universities have such first-year experience courses that help students transition from high school to college life.
Adrian College does that, too. The course is called “Core,” and much of the curriculum covers the practices of close reading, writing, speaking and research.
But Adrian, started by anti-slavery advocates in 1859, has a twist.
Most of the college’s founders were veteran abolitionists and activists on the Underground Railroad. They came from places like Syracuse, New York, and Oberlin, Ohio. President Mahan was widely published in philosophy and ethics. He was known for his writing on Christian perfection or holiness.
The Adrian College program draws upon this unique heritage when helping students learn today. Part of the curriculum includes reading David Batstone’s book, “Not for Sale,” an exposé of human trafficking — otherwise known as modern-day slavery. Then, of course, there is the Douglass game.
Melissa Stewart, Adrian College professor of religion, said: “The first-year experience courses give students a chance to find their voice. Adrian College is uniquely poised, given its abolitionist history, to help students connect their young passions, school pride and academic studies so that they can envision themselves as future citizens concerned for greater justice.”
Recently, the National Association of Schools and Colleges of The United Methodist Churchchallenged member institutions to develop programs on behalf of social justice and human dignity. Core is one way we at Adrian are already doing that. Our students learn to step back in time and grapple with difficult issues. They learn to speak up for the intrinsic worth of people. They learn that as many as 27 million people are enslaved today. They consider the similarities and the differences between slavery old and new, and they develop creative and courageous ways to fight injustice.
The core program began one year ago with a pilot course. This year half of the first year class is involved (260 students). Next fall the entire entering class will participate.
History harbors both good and bad. The past is not automatically worse than the present, nor is it a time of pristine example. But it is immensely instructive.
We were abolitionists more than 150 years ago, and we remain abolitionists today. Moreover, this is not simply some initiative on the margins of campus culture, shoved in around the edges of academic life. This is at the center of our pedagogy. Being who we are is hard work, and we take that very seriously.
Momany is the chaplain and a professor of philosophy and religion at Adrian College. He is the author of many articles and the 2011 book, “Doing Good: A Grace-Filled Approach to Holiness” (Abingdon).
News media contact: Vicki Brown at newsdesk@umcom.org or 615-742-5400.
Religious freedom re-emerges as timely topic
WASHINGTON (UMNS) —
Religious freedom re-emerges as timely topic by Linda Bloom
WASHINGTON (UMNS)
From fervent debates over U.S. state laws to shocking global reports about terrorists targeting the faithful, religious freedom once again is a topic of public discussion.
So, when the 2015 Religion Communicators Council convention met April 9-11 in the Washington area, the intersection of religion and government was part of the focus on local and global communications.
Communicators heard from two U.S. government officials who work each day where ministry and governance intersect — Melissa Rogers, who leads the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and Shaun Casey, who leads the U.S. State Department’s Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives.
The Rev. Ken Bedell, an RCC member and United Methodist from the West Ohio Conference, pointed to the hiring of Casey, a fellow United Methodist and professor from Wesley Theological Seminary, as a sign that the U.S. government is taking religion seriously as a part of its global engagement.
Bedell himself works for the U.S. Department of Education Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and is involved with the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, which encourages both community service and a broader understanding of religion among students.
The faith-based offices of various federal government departments relate to the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, led by Rogers. She formerly served as executive director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and general counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
First Amendment rights
Undergirding any U.S. discussion on religion is the First Amendment, which requires that the government make no law that establishes religion or prohibits the free exercise of religious beliefs.
President Obama embraces “both the letter and the spirit of these constitutional commands,” Rogers told convention participants in her April 10 keynote address, and he believes in the right of every person to practice their faith — or observe no faith at all, free from persecution and fear.
The role of her office at the White House, she explained, is not to promote faith but to assist people in need by forming partnerships with faith-based groups and other service-oriented organizations. “In other words, our aim is to serve people who are struggling,” Rogers said.
Partnership between the government and faith groups takes many forms and involves numerous connections.
The Salvation Army and Texas Hunger Institute, for example, are among those who provide federally subsidized summer meals when schools are closed. Homeless U.S. veterans can be reached through groups like Catholic Charities, Gospel Rescue Mission and Jewish federations. The White House office works with United Way on human-trafficking issues, while partners on the Ebola crisis in West Africa included the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
Assessing religious dynamics
As the special representative to the U.S. Secretary of State for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Casey works directly with Secretary John Kerry and has a staff of more than 20 people who relate to the state department’s six regional bureaus. He joined the department in 2013.
“Our job is to bring a more sophisticated approach to engaging religion actors and assessing religious dynamics around the world,” he told RCC members in an April 11 keynote presentation.
His office has three basic missions: to advise the secretary of state when religion comes across his portfolio; to build the capacity of the State Department to understand religion and to go into the field and “model what religion engagement looks like.”
The fieldwork, Casey added, is “not as hard as it seems. The first piece is you’ve got to show up. The second thing you have to do is be an active listener.”
After that, the most important step is finding ways to facilitate an ongoing conversation. “True diplomacy requires you to keep building a dialogue, so when a crisis arises you’re not meeting people for the first time, but you’ve got a relationship to draw upon,” he said.
Casey’s office serves as a “communications portal” to those outside the State Department. “In my first three months, I had over 400 groups or individuals come to see me,” he recalled. “There was an astonishing demand on the part of both domestic groups and global groups to come and see what the state department was doing new in respect to religious engagement.”
He said that initial investment of time “is paying dividends now” as people return to offer information or policy advice.
And by being “radically inclusive” of all religions, Casey said, “I have met global faith groups I never knew existed.”
Global communicators
Most faith groups are familiar to the World Association for Christian Communication, whose officers met simultaneously with the convention.
The Toronto-based organization believes “that communication plays a vital role in building peace, in building security, and to give a sense of identity,” said Karin Achtelstetter in a presentation about faithful responses to local and global needs.
In her view, communication also is a function of transcendence. “There is a sacredness in creating meaning that we share in common,” she explained.
One of the association’s commitments is the Global Media Monitoring Project, which grew out of the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women as a way to measure gender equality in media coverage. The monitoring occurs every five years.
In 2010, Achtelstetter reported, only 25 percent of those interviewed or who were the subject of a news story were female. “Women’s points of view are rarely heard in the topics that dominate the news agenda, even in stories that affect women profoundly,” she noted.
Although the 2015 survey just took place March 25 and results have not been compiled, statistics from the monitoring in Canada that she participated in appeared to be “very depressing,” Achtelstetter said.
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
Call for prayer after Charleston police shooting
Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS
Melissa Rogers addresses the Religion Communicators Council during their 2015 convention April 9. Rogers is executive director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.Religious freedom re-emerges as timely topic by Linda Bloom
WASHINGTON (UMNS)
From fervent debates over U.S. state laws to shocking global reports about terrorists targeting the faithful, religious freedom once again is a topic of public discussion.
So, when the 2015 Religion Communicators Council convention met April 9-11 in the Washington area, the intersection of religion and government was part of the focus on local and global communications.
Communicators heard from two U.S. government officials who work each day where ministry and governance intersect — Melissa Rogers, who leads the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and Shaun Casey, who leads the U.S. State Department’s Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives.
The Rev. Ken Bedell, an RCC member and United Methodist from the West Ohio Conference, pointed to the hiring of Casey, a fellow United Methodist and professor from Wesley Theological Seminary, as a sign that the U.S. government is taking religion seriously as a part of its global engagement.
Bedell himself works for the U.S. Department of Education Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and is involved with the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, which encourages both community service and a broader understanding of religion among students.
The faith-based offices of various federal government departments relate to the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, led by Rogers. She formerly served as executive director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and general counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
First Amendment rights
Undergirding any U.S. discussion on religion is the First Amendment, which requires that the government make no law that establishes religion or prohibits the free exercise of religious beliefs.
President Obama embraces “both the letter and the spirit of these constitutional commands,” Rogers told convention participants in her April 10 keynote address, and he believes in the right of every person to practice their faith — or observe no faith at all, free from persecution and fear.
The role of her office at the White House, she explained, is not to promote faith but to assist people in need by forming partnerships with faith-based groups and other service-oriented organizations. “In other words, our aim is to serve people who are struggling,” Rogers said.
Partnership between the government and faith groups takes many forms and involves numerous connections.
The Salvation Army and Texas Hunger Institute, for example, are among those who provide federally subsidized summer meals when schools are closed. Homeless U.S. veterans can be reached through groups like Catholic Charities, Gospel Rescue Mission and Jewish federations. The White House office works with United Way on human-trafficking issues, while partners on the Ebola crisis in West Africa included the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
Assessing religious dynamics
As the special representative to the U.S. Secretary of State for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Casey works directly with Secretary John Kerry and has a staff of more than 20 people who relate to the state department’s six regional bureaus. He joined the department in 2013.
“Our job is to bring a more sophisticated approach to engaging religion actors and assessing religious dynamics around the world,” he told RCC members in an April 11 keynote presentation.
His office has three basic missions: to advise the secretary of state when religion comes across his portfolio; to build the capacity of the State Department to understand religion and to go into the field and “model what religion engagement looks like.”
The fieldwork, Casey added, is “not as hard as it seems. The first piece is you’ve got to show up. The second thing you have to do is be an active listener.”
After that, the most important step is finding ways to facilitate an ongoing conversation. “True diplomacy requires you to keep building a dialogue, so when a crisis arises you’re not meeting people for the first time, but you’ve got a relationship to draw upon,” he said.
Casey’s office serves as a “communications portal” to those outside the State Department. “In my first three months, I had over 400 groups or individuals come to see me,” he recalled. “There was an astonishing demand on the part of both domestic groups and global groups to come and see what the state department was doing new in respect to religious engagement.”
He said that initial investment of time “is paying dividends now” as people return to offer information or policy advice.
And by being “radically inclusive” of all religions, Casey said, “I have met global faith groups I never knew existed.”
Global communicators
Most faith groups are familiar to the World Association for Christian Communication, whose officers met simultaneously with the convention.
The Toronto-based organization believes “that communication plays a vital role in building peace, in building security, and to give a sense of identity,” said Karin Achtelstetter in a presentation about faithful responses to local and global needs.
In her view, communication also is a function of transcendence. “There is a sacredness in creating meaning that we share in common,” she explained.
One of the association’s commitments is the Global Media Monitoring Project, which grew out of the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women as a way to measure gender equality in media coverage. The monitoring occurs every five years.
In 2010, Achtelstetter reported, only 25 percent of those interviewed or who were the subject of a news story were female. “Women’s points of view are rarely heard in the topics that dominate the news agenda, even in stories that affect women profoundly,” she noted.
Although the 2015 survey just took place March 25 and results have not been compiled, statistics from the monitoring in Canada that she participated in appeared to be “very depressing,” Achtelstetter said.
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
Call for prayer after Charleston police shooting
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (UMNS) —
Churches gather for prayer, unity after Charleston man shot by police officer
NORTH CHARLESTON, South Carolina—United Methodist churches in South Carolina’s Lowcountry are calling for peace, advocacy and prayerful healing after a police shooting left an unarmed Charleston man dead.
North Charleston Officer Michael T. Slager has been charged with murder after a video April 4 shows him fatally shooting Walter Scott, 50, several times in the back after an altercation during a traffic stop. In the video, Scott, a black man, and Slager, a white man, appear to be struggling over a Taser, which was knocked to the ground. Scott was shot after he turned and fled. He died at the scene—the latest in a string of high-profile police shootings in Ferguson, New York, Cleveland and elsewhere.
‘Pathway to healing’
A week after the shooting, churches and community members gathered at the site of Scott’s death for a one-mileprayer pilgrimage in the rain to Aldersgate UMC, where United Methodist leaders and others sang songs, lifted up the Lord and urged all present to embrace a spirit of love and unity as they struggled to respond to the tragedy.
Community members walked alongside clergy, many in black robes and clerical collars, from the grassy patch of land were Scott was shot, down busy Remount Road, and across the street to Aldersgate. There they were greeted by the rhythm of the Trinitarian Heartbeat, a triple beat played on a marching drum that is meant to reflect a combination of a heartbeat sound and the Holy Trinity. Attendees sang hymns like “I’m a Soldier in the Army of the Lord” and “He Is Able” as the rain passed them by and the evening took hold.
Holston urged those present to engage in critical self-examination as they move forward in grief, and particularly to lift up three goals as people of faith: witness, advocacy and prayer.
“We are called to witness not only as faithful disciples, but to witness tothe world the injustices we see and experience,” Holston told the crowd. “We are called to be advocates. Each of us has the responsibility to serve as advocates for our beliefs and, in this particular context, to clearly be advocates opposed to racism in any form and in firm opposition to gun violence. We are called to pray. Prayer is powerful. Much healing is needed in North Charleston, in South Carolina and in our world, and praying together for understanding, forgiveness and peace is the pathway to healing.”
‘Not just a Charleston problem’
The prayer pilgrimage and service were organized by the Charleston District of the UMC, the eight North Charleston UMCs comprising the North Hope Cooperative Ministry and the Connectional Ministries Advocacy Team.
Cars and trucks passing by screeched tires and beeped horns as the service progressed with hand-clapping and bowed heads. Some attendees wiped away tears as they gathered, while others nodded their heads or stood quietly.
“It’s not just a Remount Road problem or a Charleston problem but a United States problem,” she said. “We all serve the same God, and it’s important to get together after things like this and have some unity.”
Attendee Derrick Horres said the service is a strong show of dignity, respect and cooperation, pointing the way for all work together.
“It’s all about healing, and we can’t heal things on the national level, but on the local level, we can come together and take care of each other,” Horres said. “How the community responds to things like this says how the community will develop long-term.”
‘Whenever one suffers, all suffer’
In one of many clergy prayers lifted before the crowd, the Rev. Genova McFadden said that while there is much hurting and sorrow, in Jesus Christ all are one. She called the site of the prayer service “holy ground” for just that reason.
“We are here earnestly and fervently praying for healing, here seeking comfort and solace,” McFadden said as murmurs and amens echoed. “We know a clarion call has been issued. We have the opportunity to walk for peace in this community, and we are saying, ‘Yes, we will go.’”
The Rev. William Wrighten called on those present to pray for healing and hope, not just today but far into thefuture.
“At times like this, it’s easy to question God: why did this happen?” Wrighten said. Instead, he said, “Let us lean together and join our hands and our hearts.”
Holston said people of faith are called to work together in churches and communities to break down the dividing walls of hostility between individuals and groups in their midst. Whenever one suffers, all suffer. And without justice for all, there is no justice.
“An ending is always a new beginning for something else,” Holston said as the event wrapped to a close. “As we leave here, you must ask yourself: What will I do to make a difference personally?”
All are invited to join the South Carolina Conference and the Charleston District in continued prayer for the community and for the families of those whose lives were lost or destroyed in the tragedy.
The eight churches in the North Hope Cooperative Ministry are Aldersgate, Cherokee Place, Cokesbury, Enoch Chapel, Midland Park, New Francis Brown, North Charleston and Washington UMCs, North Charleston.
To listen
Two historic churches unite to create new place for new people
Churches gather for prayer, unity after Charleston man shot by police officer
Photo by Matt Brodie
By Jessica BrodieNORTH CHARLESTON, South Carolina—United Methodist churches in South Carolina’s Lowcountry are calling for peace, advocacy and prayerful healing after a police shooting left an unarmed Charleston man dead.
North Charleston Officer Michael T. Slager has been charged with murder after a video April 4 shows him fatally shooting Walter Scott, 50, several times in the back after an altercation during a traffic stop. In the video, Scott, a black man, and Slager, a white man, appear to be struggling over a Taser, which was knocked to the ground. Scott was shot after he turned and fled. He died at the scene—the latest in a string of high-profile police shootings in Ferguson, New York, Cleveland and elsewhere.
‘Pathway to healing’
A week after the shooting, churches and community members gathered at the site of Scott’s death for a one-mileprayer pilgrimage in the rain to Aldersgate UMC, where United Methodist leaders and others sang songs, lifted up the Lord and urged all present to embrace a spirit of love and unity as they struggled to respond to the tragedy.
Community members walked alongside clergy, many in black robes and clerical collars, from the grassy patch of land were Scott was shot, down busy Remount Road, and across the street to Aldersgate. There they were greeted by the rhythm of the Trinitarian Heartbeat, a triple beat played on a marching drum that is meant to reflect a combination of a heartbeat sound and the Holy Trinity. Attendees sang hymns like “I’m a Soldier in the Army of the Lord” and “He Is Able” as the rain passed them by and the evening took hold.
Bishop Jonathan Holston (Photo by Matt Brodie)
“What has happened in our community is tragic and hurtful,” said Bishop Jonathan Holston, resident bishop of the South Carolina Conference of the UMC, to the crowd of more than 100, including children. “But when we come together, we find the pathway to healing.”Holston urged those present to engage in critical self-examination as they move forward in grief, and particularly to lift up three goals as people of faith: witness, advocacy and prayer.
“We are called to witness not only as faithful disciples, but to witness tothe world the injustices we see and experience,” Holston told the crowd. “We are called to be advocates. Each of us has the responsibility to serve as advocates for our beliefs and, in this particular context, to clearly be advocates opposed to racism in any form and in firm opposition to gun violence. We are called to pray. Prayer is powerful. Much healing is needed in North Charleston, in South Carolina and in our world, and praying together for understanding, forgiveness and peace is the pathway to healing.”
‘Not just a Charleston problem’
The prayer pilgrimage and service were organized by the Charleston District of the UMC, the eight North Charleston UMCs comprising the North Hope Cooperative Ministry and the Connectional Ministries Advocacy Team.
Cars and trucks passing by screeched tires and beeped horns as the service progressed with hand-clapping and bowed heads. Some attendees wiped away tears as they gathered, while others nodded their heads or stood quietly.
Children and adults participated in the prayer walk that soughthealing and hope for the community after the tragedy. (Photo by Matt Brodie)
One of the attendees, Robin Speights, said she thinks the pilgrimage and service were a good way for the church to point the way to healing.“It’s not just a Remount Road problem or a Charleston problem but a United States problem,” she said. “We all serve the same God, and it’s important to get together after things like this and have some unity.”
Attendee Derrick Horres said the service is a strong show of dignity, respect and cooperation, pointing the way for all work together.
“It’s all about healing, and we can’t heal things on the national level, but on the local level, we can come together and take care of each other,” Horres said. “How the community responds to things like this says how the community will develop long-term.”
‘Whenever one suffers, all suffer’
In one of many clergy prayers lifted before the crowd, the Rev. Genova McFadden said that while there is much hurting and sorrow, in Jesus Christ all are one. She called the site of the prayer service “holy ground” for just that reason.
“We are here earnestly and fervently praying for healing, here seeking comfort and solace,” McFadden said as murmurs and amens echoed. “We know a clarion call has been issued. We have the opportunity to walk for peace in this community, and we are saying, ‘Yes, we will go.’”
The Rev. William Wrighten called on those present to pray for healing and hope, not just today but far into thefuture.
“At times like this, it’s easy to question God: why did this happen?” Wrighten said. Instead, he said, “Let us lean together and join our hands and our hearts.”
Holston said people of faith are called to work together in churches and communities to break down the dividing walls of hostility between individuals and groups in their midst. Whenever one suffers, all suffer. And without justice for all, there is no justice.
“An ending is always a new beginning for something else,” Holston said as the event wrapped to a close. “As we leave here, you must ask yourself: What will I do to make a difference personally?”
All are invited to join the South Carolina Conference and the Charleston District in continued prayer for the community and for the families of those whose lives were lost or destroyed in the tragedy.
The eight churches in the North Hope Cooperative Ministry are Aldersgate, Cherokee Place, Cokesbury, Enoch Chapel, Midland Park, New Francis Brown, North Charleston and Washington UMCs, North Charleston.
Photo by Matt Brodie
Photo by Matt Brodie
Two bishops talk about church’s futureCHARLOTTE, N.C. (UMNS) — Michael Rich of the Western North Carolina Conference recently asked Bishops Charlene Kammerer and Ken Carter about the future they see for The United Methodist Church. Rich shares their response in this short audio interview.To listen
Two historic churches unite to create new place for new people
WACO, Texas (UMNS) —
Two Historic Central Texas Churches Unite and Create a New Place for New People to Discover Jesus Christ by Dr. Jerry Roberson* and Vance Morton**
The mission of the Central Texas Annual Conference is to energize and equip local churches so that they can more effectively make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. One of the myriad ways in which the CTC Center for Evangelism & Church Growth (CECG) carries out that mission is by partnering with local churches to explore the best tools available to support church growth – and sometimes that exploration leads down the path of merging.
While establishing a New Church Start in any situation is fraught with perils of the unknown, creating a new church out of two already established congregations comes with its own unique set of circumstances, decisions and emotions. Sometimes, the traditions and history of the churches in question are too much for the congregations to overcome and they vote to remain separate. This fact was undoubtedly on the minds of the CECG team when Mt. Zion and Bracks Chapel - two Waco area UMC’s established in the mid-1800s – arose as possible merger candidates.
Bracks Chapel UMC, was formed in 1876 in what was then the Hog Wallow Community under the guidance of Rev. Anderson Bracks. Sister Patsy Blair offered her home as a meeting place in order to organize the Hog Wallow Methodist Episcopal Church and that ignited a blaze of faith, hope and love permeated in an eternal flame that has continued to light the way in Waco for well more than a century.
“The merger process for me can be best described as someone handing me a seed without knowledge of the what, where, or how,” remarked Rev. Bryan Dalco, pastor of both Bracks and Mt. Zion UMC. “You receive it without knowing ‘what’ it will become. You plant it without knowing ‘where’ the most effective place for growth lies. And finally, you care for it without knowing ‘how,’ because you don’t know what is essentially needed. Eventually, after much debate, you reach one conclusion; the best thing you can do is just love it!”
For the next several months the churches worked with Rev Gary Lindley, executive director of the Center for Evangelism and Church Growth and Dr. Jerry Roberson, Church Transformation Coach on the merger process. Then, after much prayer, unified worships and joint missional activities, the churches determined that they would be more effective together than apart and they decided to put it to a vote.
On March 1, Bracks Chapel United Methodist Church and Mt Zion United Methodist Church overwhelmingly voted to unify and form a new church in Waco. When the results of the vote were announced, those gathered began to excitedly chant, “New church! New church! New church!”
Two Historic Central Texas Churches Unite and Create a New Place for New People to Discover Jesus Christ by Dr. Jerry Roberson* and Vance Morton**
While establishing a New Church Start in any situation is fraught with perils of the unknown, creating a new church out of two already established congregations comes with its own unique set of circumstances, decisions and emotions. Sometimes, the traditions and history of the churches in question are too much for the congregations to overcome and they vote to remain separate. This fact was undoubtedly on the minds of the CECG team when Mt. Zion and Bracks Chapel - two Waco area UMC’s established in the mid-1800s – arose as possible merger candidates.
Bracks Chapel UMC, was formed in 1876 in what was then the Hog Wallow Community under the guidance of Rev. Anderson Bracks. Sister Patsy Blair offered her home as a meeting place in order to organize the Hog Wallow Methodist Episcopal Church and that ignited a blaze of faith, hope and love permeated in an eternal flame that has continued to light the way in Waco for well more than a century.
Mt Zion UMC was founded in 1866 as one of the original congregations of the Black Methodist Church. The church’s roots go back to the end of slavery and for 149 years it has had a profound moral, cultural, educational and spiritual effect on the city of Waco.
Given such a long, rich past, there was a real risk that the sentimental and historical hill might be too steep of a climb for these two churches when the merger exploration process officially began in July 2014. However, the two congregations were committed to at least exploring the possibilities, so they strapped on their hiking boots and began to faithfully climb into the unknown.“The merger process for me can be best described as someone handing me a seed without knowledge of the what, where, or how,” remarked Rev. Bryan Dalco, pastor of both Bracks and Mt. Zion UMC. “You receive it without knowing ‘what’ it will become. You plant it without knowing ‘where’ the most effective place for growth lies. And finally, you care for it without knowing ‘how,’ because you don’t know what is essentially needed. Eventually, after much debate, you reach one conclusion; the best thing you can do is just love it!”
For the next several months the churches worked with Rev Gary Lindley, executive director of the Center for Evangelism and Church Growth and Dr. Jerry Roberson, Church Transformation Coach on the merger process. Then, after much prayer, unified worships and joint missional activities, the churches determined that they would be more effective together than apart and they decided to put it to a vote.
On March 1, Bracks Chapel United Methodist Church and Mt Zion United Methodist Church overwhelmingly voted to unify and form a new church in Waco. When the results of the vote were announced, those gathered began to excitedly chant, “New church! New church! New church!”
“To see both congregations excited about voting to becoming one church was a rewarding experience,” said a beaming Rev. Dalco. “I was excited because they were excited. I was moved because they were moved. I was blessed as their pastor, because they were being blessed. As I witnessed the great joy amongst these two congregations, it brought me great joy!”
The 98 percent favorable vote demonstrates the strength and vision of the two historically significant African-American churches and their understanding that we are living in a new day and a new time, where churches have to think in new ways to reach new people in order to offer them Christ.
“We, as an Annual Conference, celebrate the rich heritage as well as the mission and ministry of both these outstanding congregations,” said Rev. Lindley. “It is quite exciting to see a new vision of ministry emerging from these two historic congregations.”
The Center for Evangelism and Church Growth will continue to work with the new church as it prepares for launch later this year. Watch ctcumc.org for details on when that celebration will occur.
If you think your church might be a candidate for a merger or church revitalization, contact Tammy Lindley at tammylindley@ctcumc.org or 817-877-5222.
*Jerry is the CECG Church Transformation Coach for the CTC. jerryroberson@ctcumc.org
**Vance is the director of Communications & IT for the CTC. vance@ctcumc.org
Rethink Church encourages discussion of the death penalty
The 98 percent favorable vote demonstrates the strength and vision of the two historically significant African-American churches and their understanding that we are living in a new day and a new time, where churches have to think in new ways to reach new people in order to offer them Christ.
“We, as an Annual Conference, celebrate the rich heritage as well as the mission and ministry of both these outstanding congregations,” said Rev. Lindley. “It is quite exciting to see a new vision of ministry emerging from these two historic congregations.”
The Center for Evangelism and Church Growth will continue to work with the new church as it prepares for launch later this year. Watch ctcumc.org for details on when that celebration will occur.
If you think your church might be a candidate for a merger or church revitalization, contact Tammy Lindley at tammylindley@ctcumc.org or 817-877-5222.
*Jerry is the CECG Church Transformation Coach for the CTC. jerryroberson@ctcumc.org
**Vance is the director of Communications & IT for the CTC. vance@ctcumc.org
Rethink Church encourages discussion of the death penalty
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (UMNS) — RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
WE NEED TO BE IN THE BUSINESS OF TRANSFORMATION
To help guide our thinking and acting about how we live in, and are in engaged in ministry in the world, The United Methodist Church has created statements to guide the church in its efforts to create a world of justice.
Photo: Anne Havard (left) and Ingrid McIntyre of Open Table Nashville join a prayer vigil at Legislative Plaza in Nashville, Tennessee, to urge Gov. Bill Haslam to reconsider allowing the state to execute death row inmates using the electric chair. About 50 United Methodists and other Christians joined the protest. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.
The Social Principles are a prayerful and thoughtful effort to speak to the human issues in the contemporary world from a foundation firmly grounded the gospel and as historically demonstrated in United Methodist traditions.
One of these human issues is the death penalty. As part of a series on this issue, we chatted with Rev. Cheryl Smith of Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Huntsville, Texas recently, about her commitment to abolishing the death penalty.
When we asked what it would take for us to care about this issue and move us to action, given the directive in The Social Principles (¶ 164. G.) that say, “. . . the death penalty denies the power of Christ to redeem, restore, and transform all human beings”, this is what she shared with us:
It’s about transformation. People have to be transformed. Our minds and hearts have to be continually renewed to think things through theologically and to see things through the lens of Christ. That means giving up what I call primal responses or knee-jerk reaction. At some level, it is satisfying to think about wiping somebody off the face of the earth because what they did was so awful. We want those people out of our community; we don’t want to spend another dime on them. There’s a certain level of that response feeling natural and pretty good.
I UNDERSTAND THAT FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSE. THAT’S WHERE MANY OF US START OUT.
But my understanding of the Christian walk is to move beyond the primal, primitive, knee-jerk and what feels good because we want to punish somebody. I believe we are called to acknowledge it’s a part of us but seek something beyond that. Until we find a way--one person at a time to bring people to thinking about issues with the mind of Christ--we are stuck with primal responses. That’s how frankly, most people reason with this issue. We have to transcend those initial responses to get to a place of reasoning in a different way.
And this is why faith communities could be more active with social issues. Not so we would all agree, but so we could think theologically about issues in our world, and learn to think through the lens of Christ. That’s why I think we don’t have more in the faith community involved. Too many remain thinking at a rather primitive level and it feels good. We have people who drive by and shout at us saying, kill ‘em sooner or kill ‘em all.
As long as we are content to remain at that level of thinking, of course we’re going to kill people. Of course we would. We need to be more in the business of transformation.
Learn more about the ways The United Methodist Church advocates for restorative justice, and watch stories of returned citizens and their mentors, here. Join us onTwitter or Facebook to chime in.
Help for churches ministering to veterans
WE NEED TO BE IN THE BUSINESS OF TRANSFORMATION
To help guide our thinking and acting about how we live in, and are in engaged in ministry in the world, The United Methodist Church has created statements to guide the church in its efforts to create a world of justice.
Photo: Anne Havard (left) and Ingrid McIntyre of Open Table Nashville join a prayer vigil at Legislative Plaza in Nashville, Tennessee, to urge Gov. Bill Haslam to reconsider allowing the state to execute death row inmates using the electric chair. About 50 United Methodists and other Christians joined the protest. Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS.One of these human issues is the death penalty. As part of a series on this issue, we chatted with Rev. Cheryl Smith of Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Huntsville, Texas recently, about her commitment to abolishing the death penalty.
When we asked what it would take for us to care about this issue and move us to action, given the directive in The Social Principles (¶ 164. G.) that say, “. . . the death penalty denies the power of Christ to redeem, restore, and transform all human beings”, this is what she shared with us:
It’s about transformation. People have to be transformed. Our minds and hearts have to be continually renewed to think things through theologically and to see things through the lens of Christ. That means giving up what I call primal responses or knee-jerk reaction. At some level, it is satisfying to think about wiping somebody off the face of the earth because what they did was so awful. We want those people out of our community; we don’t want to spend another dime on them. There’s a certain level of that response feeling natural and pretty good.
I UNDERSTAND THAT FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSE. THAT’S WHERE MANY OF US START OUT.
But my understanding of the Christian walk is to move beyond the primal, primitive, knee-jerk and what feels good because we want to punish somebody. I believe we are called to acknowledge it’s a part of us but seek something beyond that. Until we find a way--one person at a time to bring people to thinking about issues with the mind of Christ--we are stuck with primal responses. That’s how frankly, most people reason with this issue. We have to transcend those initial responses to get to a place of reasoning in a different way.
And this is why faith communities could be more active with social issues. Not so we would all agree, but so we could think theologically about issues in our world, and learn to think through the lens of Christ. That’s why I think we don’t have more in the faith community involved. Too many remain thinking at a rather primitive level and it feels good. We have people who drive by and shout at us saying, kill ‘em sooner or kill ‘em all.
As long as we are content to remain at that level of thinking, of course we’re going to kill people. Of course we would. We need to be more in the business of transformation.
Learn more about the ways The United Methodist Church advocates for restorative justice, and watch stories of returned citizens and their mentors, here. Join us onTwitter or Facebook to chime in.
Help for churches ministering to veterans
WASHINGTON (UMNS) — JustPeace, the United Methodist Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation, has launched Soul Care. The initiative aims to help churches speak to the trauma returning veterans and their families often experience and help them re-integrate into their communities.
To learn more
http://www.soulcareinitiative.org/
New resource helps youth understand sexual identity issues
To learn more
http://www.soulcareinitiative.org/
New resource helps youth understand sexual identity issues
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — New Church Resource Helps Youth Understand Sexual Identity Issues
NASHVILLE, Tenn. April 9, 2015 /Discipleship Ministries/ – A new resource to help youth struggling with their sexual identity, who are statistically more prone to suicide, is now available as part of the SEX: A Christian Perspective on Our Bodies, Decisions and Relationships series from Young People’s Ministries (YPM).
The “Hope and Self- Acceptance” module joins a growing list of resources from YPM, a unit of Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church, that are aimed at helping middle school teens in the church grow in their understanding of sexuality as a good gift from God.
“We know that teens dealing with issues of sexual identity are two to six times more likely to attemptsuicide because of issues of isolation and hopelessness,” said Michael Ratliff, Associate General Secretary at Discipleship Ministries and head of the YPM division. “ ‘Hope and Self-Acceptance’ seeks to communicate God’s love and acceptance of all as ‘precious,’ reflecting the message to the nation of Israel in Isaiah 43:1-7.”
The resource provides helpful theological background, leader notes and engaging learning activities and is designed to be used with younger youth in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades, Ratliff said. It is theresult of discussions among the board of directors and staff of Discipleship Ministries. In particular, it addresses Petition 2121, which was initially adopted at the 2004 General Conference, but never practically addressed by conference delegates.
Other modules are being prepared on gender identity, language and sexuality and pornography, along with a four-session resource for high school-age youth similar in structure and content for the middle school youth, Ratliff said.
All of the resources connect sexuality with who we are as Christians. They are intended to strengthen relationships between youth and their adult leaders, to foster deep conversation during this experience and to provide the beginnings of conversations that go beyond this experience. The resources lend themselves to adaptation, and leaders are encouraged to choose activities and resources that connect in context with how their local church and community address topics of faith and sexuality.
Alternative learning activities, conversation starters, Bible study and worship ideas, and more are included with the resources.
For more information and to order the faith and sex downloadable resources and modules, go tohttp://bit.ly/1O34E8v.
To join an online community for discussion, articles and other resources, go towww.ypmfaithandsex.org.
Article looks at Hillary Clinton’s faith as United Methodist
NASHVILLE, Tenn. April 9, 2015 /Discipleship Ministries/ – A new resource to help youth struggling with their sexual identity, who are statistically more prone to suicide, is now available as part of the SEX: A Christian Perspective on Our Bodies, Decisions and Relationships series from Young People’s Ministries (YPM).
The “Hope and Self- Acceptance” module joins a growing list of resources from YPM, a unit of Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church, that are aimed at helping middle school teens in the church grow in their understanding of sexuality as a good gift from God.
“We know that teens dealing with issues of sexual identity are two to six times more likely to attemptsuicide because of issues of isolation and hopelessness,” said Michael Ratliff, Associate General Secretary at Discipleship Ministries and head of the YPM division. “ ‘Hope and Self-Acceptance’ seeks to communicate God’s love and acceptance of all as ‘precious,’ reflecting the message to the nation of Israel in Isaiah 43:1-7.”
The resource provides helpful theological background, leader notes and engaging learning activities and is designed to be used with younger youth in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades, Ratliff said. It is theresult of discussions among the board of directors and staff of Discipleship Ministries. In particular, it addresses Petition 2121, which was initially adopted at the 2004 General Conference, but never practically addressed by conference delegates.
Other modules are being prepared on gender identity, language and sexuality and pornography, along with a four-session resource for high school-age youth similar in structure and content for the middle school youth, Ratliff said.
All of the resources connect sexuality with who we are as Christians. They are intended to strengthen relationships between youth and their adult leaders, to foster deep conversation during this experience and to provide the beginnings of conversations that go beyond this experience. The resources lend themselves to adaptation, and leaders are encouraged to choose activities and resources that connect in context with how their local church and community address topics of faith and sexuality.
Alternative learning activities, conversation starters, Bible study and worship ideas, and more are included with the resources.
For more information and to order the faith and sex downloadable resources and modules, go tohttp://bit.ly/1O34E8v.
To join an online community for discussion, articles and other resources, go towww.ypmfaithandsex.org.
Article looks at Hillary Clinton’s faith as United Methodist
WASHINGTON (RNS) — 5 faith facts about Hillary Clinton, social gospel Methodist to the core Cathy Lynn Grossman
1) She was shaped by a saying popular among Methodists: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can,” says Paul Kengor in his book “God and Hillary Clinton.”
As a girl, she was part of the guild that cleaned the altar at First United Methodist Church in Park Ridge, Ill. As a teen, she visited inner-city Chicago churches with the youth pastor, Don Jones, her spiritual mentor until his death in 2009. During her husband’s presidency, the first family worshipped at Washington’s Foundry United Methodist Church, and Time magazine described her membership in a bipartisan women’s prayer group organized by evangelicals.
2) Clinton’s been known to carry a Bible in her purse but, she told the 2007 CNN Faith Forum,“advertising” her faith “doesn’t come naturally to me.” Every vote Clinton made as a senator from New York, she said, was “a moral responsibility.” When asked at the forum why she thought God allows suffering, Clinton demurred on theology, then swiftly turned her answer to activism:“The existence of suffering calls us to action.”
In a 1993 speech at the University of Texas, Clinton declared: “We need a new politics of meaning. … We have to summon up what we believe is morally and ethically and spiritually correct and do the best we can with God’s guidance.” A month later, she was pictured as a saint in a Sunday New York Times Magazine exploration of that “politics of meaning” phrase.
3) Prayer matters. Clinton joked at the Faith Forum that sometimes her plea is, “Oh, Lord, why can’t you help me lose weight?” But her daily habit, she said, is praying, “for discernment, for wisdom, for strength, for courage … ”
What she calls “grace notes” matter, too. She described them to adviser Burns Strider as “a gift that is undeserved but bestowed by the everyday joys, beauties, kindnesses, pleasures of life that can strike a deep chord of connection between us and the divine and between us and the mundane.”
READ: ‘Grace Notes’ and the quiet unshakable faith of Hillary Clinton (RNS)
4) God politics gets tough. In 2008, Clinton battered then-Sen. Barack Obama for saying economically hard-pressed Americans were bitter and “cling to guns or religion.” At the CNN Compassion Forum, Clinton said the Democratic Party “has been viewed as a party that didn’t understand the values and way of life of so many Americans. … It’s important that we make clearthat we believe people are people of faith because it is part of their whole being. It is what gives them meaning in life.”
5) Last April, Clinton told the annual United Methodist Women Assembly that their shared faith has guided her to be “an advocate for children and families, for women and men around the world who are oppressed and persecuted, denied their human rights and human dignity.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (UMNS)
Hillary Clinton shared her love and gratitude to all the United Methodist women in her life and then challenged the more than 6,500 United Methodist women before her to go out and “make it happen.”
Clinton spoke for 45 minutes at the Saturday, April 26, morning worship service for the 2014 United Methodist Women Assembly. The gathering took place at the Kentucky International Convention Center.
“We need to wake up our world to what can and should be done,” she said. United Methodist women have a great tradition of “rolling up our sleeves and taking the social gospel into the world.”
In introducing Clinton, Yvette Kim Richards, board president of UMW, called her “a daughter of The United Methodist Church and United Methodist Women.” She added that Clinton declined the honorarium offered by UMW “and paid her own expenses.”
That was one of the many times when the crowd responded with applause and cheers.
United Methodist Women, the official women’s organization of The United Methodist Church, and the former U.S. secretary of state share a common concern for women, children and youth.
United Methodist roots
Clinton started her speech talking about the influence her United Methodist family had on her life. She spoke of the “great witness” of seeing her father kneel by his bed to pray every night. She also said her mother taught Sunday school and was committed to social justice issues.
It was her grandmother, Hannah, “a tough Methodist woman” she said, who “taught me to never be afraid to get your hands dirty.”
But it was Don Jones, her youth pastor at First United Methodist Church in Park Ridge, Ill., whom she credits with being the first person to teach her to “embrace faith in action.”
She commented that the event’s theme “Make It Happen” was such a fitting title.
The biblical text for the 2014 Assembly is the story of the feeding of the multitude in Mark 6:30-44, in which Jesus instructs his disciples to organize the people into groups of 50 to feed them with five loaves of bread and two fish.
Throughout the event, participants have been grappling with Jesus’ instructions for his disciples to “give them something to eat.”
“The miracle of loaves and fish was the first great potluck supper,” she said. Jesus responded by serving the community.
“It is what women do every day: we feed the multitudes.”
Women, youth and children
As the nation’s first lady, she spoke before the 1996 United Methodist General Conference, the denomination’s top legislative body. At that time, she urged the church to continue its social witness for the world’s children and cultivate “a new sense of caring” about its responsibilities to the larger society.
Clinton on Saturday, April 26, commented on the church’s dedication to global health and, especially, the campaign Imagine No Malaria.
“I know what a difference you make,” she said. The nearly 800,000-member United Methodist Women is the denomination’s official women’s mission organization. Members raise more than $16 million annually for mission with women, children and youth.
“Even when the odds are long, even when we are tired and just want to go away somewhere to be alone and rest, let’s make it happen.”
Farilen Coates, a United Methodist woman from Kansas City, Mo., had to miss breakfast to get in line outside of the doors to see Clinton. She was happy with her place on the end of a row, even though it was several rows from the front.
“This has been a wonderful assembly,” she said. “It just shows how great United Methodist women are.”
Gilbert is a multimedia reporter for United Methodist News Service. Contact her at (615)742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Hillary Clinton speaks to participants at the United Methodist Women’s Assembly during an April 26, 2014, worship service at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Ky. Clinton is a lifelong member of United Methodist Women.Photo by Paul Jeffrey for United Methodist Women, courtesy of UM Women via Flickr
WASHINGTON (RNS) As she embarks Sunday on her 2016 presidential campaign, one facet of Hillary Clinton, 67, is unchanged across her decades as a lawyer, first lady, senator and secretary of state: She was, is and likely always will be a social-justice-focused Methodist.1) She was shaped by a saying popular among Methodists: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can,” says Paul Kengor in his book “God and Hillary Clinton.”
As a girl, she was part of the guild that cleaned the altar at First United Methodist Church in Park Ridge, Ill. As a teen, she visited inner-city Chicago churches with the youth pastor, Don Jones, her spiritual mentor until his death in 2009. During her husband’s presidency, the first family worshipped at Washington’s Foundry United Methodist Church, and Time magazine described her membership in a bipartisan women’s prayer group organized by evangelicals.
2) Clinton’s been known to carry a Bible in her purse but, she told the 2007 CNN Faith Forum,“advertising” her faith “doesn’t come naturally to me.” Every vote Clinton made as a senator from New York, she said, was “a moral responsibility.” When asked at the forum why she thought God allows suffering, Clinton demurred on theology, then swiftly turned her answer to activism:“The existence of suffering calls us to action.”
In a 1993 speech at the University of Texas, Clinton declared: “We need a new politics of meaning. … We have to summon up what we believe is morally and ethically and spiritually correct and do the best we can with God’s guidance.” A month later, she was pictured as a saint in a Sunday New York Times Magazine exploration of that “politics of meaning” phrase.
3) Prayer matters. Clinton joked at the Faith Forum that sometimes her plea is, “Oh, Lord, why can’t you help me lose weight?” But her daily habit, she said, is praying, “for discernment, for wisdom, for strength, for courage … ”
What she calls “grace notes” matter, too. She described them to adviser Burns Strider as “a gift that is undeserved but bestowed by the everyday joys, beauties, kindnesses, pleasures of life that can strike a deep chord of connection between us and the divine and between us and the mundane.”
READ: ‘Grace Notes’ and the quiet unshakable faith of Hillary Clinton (RNS)
4) God politics gets tough. In 2008, Clinton battered then-Sen. Barack Obama for saying economically hard-pressed Americans were bitter and “cling to guns or religion.” At the CNN Compassion Forum, Clinton said the Democratic Party “has been viewed as a party that didn’t understand the values and way of life of so many Americans. … It’s important that we make clearthat we believe people are people of faith because it is part of their whole being. It is what gives them meaning in life.”
5) Last April, Clinton told the annual United Methodist Women Assembly that their shared faith has guided her to be “an advocate for children and families, for women and men around the world who are oppressed and persecuted, denied their human rights and human dignity.”
Photo by Mike DuBose, UMNS
Hillary Rodham Clinton (center) waves to participants at the United Methodist Women's Assembly at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Ky., following her address to the group. She is flanked by Yvette Richards (left) and Harriett Jane Olson of United Methodist Women.
Hillary Clinton: ‘Time to roll up our sleeves, make it happen’ by Kathy L. GilbertLOUISVILLE, Ky. (UMNS)
Hillary Clinton shared her love and gratitude to all the United Methodist women in her life and then challenged the more than 6,500 United Methodist women before her to go out and “make it happen.”
Clinton spoke for 45 minutes at the Saturday, April 26, morning worship service for the 2014 United Methodist Women Assembly. The gathering took place at the Kentucky International Convention Center.
“We need to wake up our world to what can and should be done,” she said. United Methodist women have a great tradition of “rolling up our sleeves and taking the social gospel into the world.”
In introducing Clinton, Yvette Kim Richards, board president of UMW, called her “a daughter of The United Methodist Church and United Methodist Women.” She added that Clinton declined the honorarium offered by UMW “and paid her own expenses.”
That was one of the many times when the crowd responded with applause and cheers.
United Methodist Women, the official women’s organization of The United Methodist Church, and the former U.S. secretary of state share a common concern for women, children and youth.
United Methodist roots
Clinton started her speech talking about the influence her United Methodist family had on her life. She spoke of the “great witness” of seeing her father kneel by his bed to pray every night. She also said her mother taught Sunday school and was committed to social justice issues.
It was her grandmother, Hannah, “a tough Methodist woman” she said, who “taught me to never be afraid to get your hands dirty.”
But it was Don Jones, her youth pastor at First United Methodist Church in Park Ridge, Ill., whom she credits with being the first person to teach her to “embrace faith in action.”
She commented that the event’s theme “Make It Happen” was such a fitting title.
The biblical text for the 2014 Assembly is the story of the feeding of the multitude in Mark 6:30-44, in which Jesus instructs his disciples to organize the people into groups of 50 to feed them with five loaves of bread and two fish.
Throughout the event, participants have been grappling with Jesus’ instructions for his disciples to “give them something to eat.”
“The miracle of loaves and fish was the first great potluck supper,” she said. Jesus responded by serving the community.
“It is what women do every day: we feed the multitudes.”
Women, youth and children
As the nation’s first lady, she spoke before the 1996 United Methodist General Conference, the denomination’s top legislative body. At that time, she urged the church to continue its social witness for the world’s children and cultivate “a new sense of caring” about its responsibilities to the larger society.
Clinton on Saturday, April 26, commented on the church’s dedication to global health and, especially, the campaign Imagine No Malaria.
“I know what a difference you make,” she said. The nearly 800,000-member United Methodist Women is the denomination’s official women’s mission organization. Members raise more than $16 million annually for mission with women, children and youth.
“Even when the odds are long, even when we are tired and just want to go away somewhere to be alone and rest, let’s make it happen.”
Farilen Coates, a United Methodist woman from Kansas City, Mo., had to miss breakfast to get in line outside of the doors to see Clinton. She was happy with her place on the end of a row, even though it was several rows from the front.
“This has been a wonderful assembly,” she said. “It just shows how great United Methodist women are.”
Gilbert is a multimedia reporter for United Methodist News Service. Contact her at (615)742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
What do we mean when we pray for revival?
SAVANNAH, Ga. (UMNS) - On Praying for Revival
The sentiment around the church today is a longing for some sort of renewal or, to put it in more churchy terms, a revival. As a Southerner born and raised just due east of the buckle of the Bible Belt, revival is a term I’m familiar with. I can remember my home church hosting revivals when I was a kid. It was a time where we had worship beginning on Sunday evenings (because back then we all came back to church on Sunday evenings anyways) and we met for 2-3 evenings in a row. We often brought in guest preachers and maybe even enjoyed some special music as part of our time together. But make no mistake, the purpose of a revival was to spark a sense of renewed fervor and vitality in the spiritual lives of all in attendance.
I’ve recently heard that word, “revival,” repeated again and again at Methodist gatherings and meetings. And it made me wonder: What does the revival (or renewal) we long for in The United Methodist Church look like?
At the heart of revival, of course, is change. The hopes of a revival is to provide space for a spiritual change to occur in someone’s life. But if being Christian teaches us anything, it’s that change must be BOTH internal AND external. In other words, if change is to take hold in our lives, then nothing remains the same.
So if we believe this applies to individuals, and that such a change is essential to live a faithful life, doesn’t it also apply to our churches and systems of being church? In other words, when we pray for revival in the church, do we take to heart the need for change to take hold in EVERY aspect of our lives together, including the very ways we go about being church?
When we pray for revival or renewal in the church, are we willing to hear God’s voice calling us to change, even if it means radically changing the ways we organize, build and use buildings, and relate to each other and the world around us? Organizational management and change consultant, Margaret Wheatley, reminds us, “Change always involves a dark night when everything falls apart. Yet if this period of dissolution is used to create new meaning, then chaos ends and new order emerges.” If you’re an active leader in the church, I think you’d probably agree we’re experiencing a “dark night” as membership and attendance continues to decline. And we can mourn the loss of “the good ‘ol days” when people just magically showed up at our churches and everyone organized their lives around a Sunday that included worship and three meetings, bible studies, or circle gatherings throughout the week or we can offer ourselves to the change God is calling us to even if that means relinquishing those idols of how we’ve been church for so long now.
What sort of change is God calling your church or district or annual conference to embark on? How are you being called to do things differently for the sake of God’s mission? Margaret Wheatley offers us more wisdom: “In spite of current ads and slogans, the world doesn’t change one person at a time. It changes as networks of relationships form among people who discover they share a common cause and vision of what’s possible.”
Maybe God is calling us yet again to articulate a common vision. If you’re a United Methodist, then you’re probably already shouting at your computer screen, “To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!” Yeah, but how? The creation of a mission statement does not ensure that mission happens, even if people memorize the phrasing. The how question is the true kicker for churches and our denomination – How will we go about being a faithful church to the mission of connecting people to the good news of Jesus Christ in such a way that lives are changed on an ongoing and continual basis? And maybe the how question also leads us to an important distinction – Are we about the business of living into God’s mission or are we about the business of building and playing church?
A couple things should jump out:
First, in order to go about this mission in a 21st Century world we can NOT use 19th or 20th Century methods. For example, building buildings as a sign of success is something the church has done for centuries. And now as we experience a season of decline, we’re saddled with the burdens of buildings that are way too big and way too expensive to keep up. If a 21st Century world is more migratory less tied to buildings, then why do we insist on continuing to build buildings or do everything in our power to fill the ones we have?
Secondly, the very nature of mission insists that we move – move out of our buildings, move out of our aging ways of doing things, move out of our comfort zones. If mission calls us to move out, why do we spend so much time and energy trying to get people to come in to where we already are? The act of counting weekly attendance and membership might have something to say about the affect worship has on the life of a local church, but it says very little about what people do after they leave the worship service. Why not spend more time connecting with the community around us instead of just supplanting and sequestering people off into our buildings. God is doing amazing things outside of our churches and we really ought to take notice.
I guess maybe I’m trying to ask this: If we pray for the revival of the church, are we praying for a season of change in EVERY sense of the word, or are we just praying for things to go back to the way they once were when we had more butts in seats, dollars in the bank, and people who centered their lives on the well being preserving our buildings and programs?Looking ahead:
Tuesday, April 21
Free webinar "Evangelism in a Multifaith Context" — 1 to 2:15 p.m. CDT. Father Darren Dias, professor of theology, St. Michael's College University in Toronto and Bishop Tony Richie, of the Church of God (based in Knoxville, Tennessee) will lead this webinar in partnership with United Methodist Discipleship Ministries. Details
Wednesday, April 22
Earth Day in the U.S. — Resources on creation care from Caretakers of God's Creation, a United Methodist group, and the United Methodist Board of Church and Society.
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
I’ve recently heard that word, “revival,” repeated again and again at Methodist gatherings and meetings. And it made me wonder: What does the revival (or renewal) we long for in The United Methodist Church look like?
At the heart of revival, of course, is change. The hopes of a revival is to provide space for a spiritual change to occur in someone’s life. But if being Christian teaches us anything, it’s that change must be BOTH internal AND external. In other words, if change is to take hold in our lives, then nothing remains the same.
So if we believe this applies to individuals, and that such a change is essential to live a faithful life, doesn’t it also apply to our churches and systems of being church? In other words, when we pray for revival in the church, do we take to heart the need for change to take hold in EVERY aspect of our lives together, including the very ways we go about being church?
When we pray for revival or renewal in the church, are we willing to hear God’s voice calling us to change, even if it means radically changing the ways we organize, build and use buildings, and relate to each other and the world around us? Organizational management and change consultant, Margaret Wheatley, reminds us, “Change always involves a dark night when everything falls apart. Yet if this period of dissolution is used to create new meaning, then chaos ends and new order emerges.” If you’re an active leader in the church, I think you’d probably agree we’re experiencing a “dark night” as membership and attendance continues to decline. And we can mourn the loss of “the good ‘ol days” when people just magically showed up at our churches and everyone organized their lives around a Sunday that included worship and three meetings, bible studies, or circle gatherings throughout the week or we can offer ourselves to the change God is calling us to even if that means relinquishing those idols of how we’ve been church for so long now.
What sort of change is God calling your church or district or annual conference to embark on? How are you being called to do things differently for the sake of God’s mission? Margaret Wheatley offers us more wisdom: “In spite of current ads and slogans, the world doesn’t change one person at a time. It changes as networks of relationships form among people who discover they share a common cause and vision of what’s possible.”
Maybe God is calling us yet again to articulate a common vision. If you’re a United Methodist, then you’re probably already shouting at your computer screen, “To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!” Yeah, but how? The creation of a mission statement does not ensure that mission happens, even if people memorize the phrasing. The how question is the true kicker for churches and our denomination – How will we go about being a faithful church to the mission of connecting people to the good news of Jesus Christ in such a way that lives are changed on an ongoing and continual basis? And maybe the how question also leads us to an important distinction – Are we about the business of living into God’s mission or are we about the business of building and playing church?
A couple things should jump out:
First, in order to go about this mission in a 21st Century world we can NOT use 19th or 20th Century methods. For example, building buildings as a sign of success is something the church has done for centuries. And now as we experience a season of decline, we’re saddled with the burdens of buildings that are way too big and way too expensive to keep up. If a 21st Century world is more migratory less tied to buildings, then why do we insist on continuing to build buildings or do everything in our power to fill the ones we have?
Secondly, the very nature of mission insists that we move – move out of our buildings, move out of our aging ways of doing things, move out of our comfort zones. If mission calls us to move out, why do we spend so much time and energy trying to get people to come in to where we already are? The act of counting weekly attendance and membership might have something to say about the affect worship has on the life of a local church, but it says very little about what people do after they leave the worship service. Why not spend more time connecting with the community around us instead of just supplanting and sequestering people off into our buildings. God is doing amazing things outside of our churches and we really ought to take notice.
I guess maybe I’m trying to ask this: If we pray for the revival of the church, are we praying for a season of change in EVERY sense of the word, or are we just praying for things to go back to the way they once were when we had more butts in seats, dollars in the bank, and people who centered their lives on the well being preserving our buildings and programs?Looking ahead:
Tuesday, April 21
Free webinar "Evangelism in a Multifaith Context" — 1 to 2:15 p.m. CDT. Father Darren Dias, professor of theology, St. Michael's College University in Toronto and Bishop Tony Richie, of the Church of God (based in Knoxville, Tennessee) will lead this webinar in partnership with United Methodist Discipleship Ministries. Details
Wednesday, April 22
Earth Day in the U.S. — Resources on creation care from Caretakers of God's Creation, a United Methodist group, and the United Methodist Board of Church and Society.
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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