e-Review archive
Global Connection
February 2006
 

Program seeks to call young people into clergy

Feb. 1, 2006       United Methodist News Service A new program will partially address pastoral leadership concerns in the United Methodist Church and other denominations by cultivating young candidates for ministry vocations. The program, "Calling Congregations," will organize churches in grass-roots programs to find and support the next generation of pastoral leaders for Christian denominations. It is being launched by the Atlanta-based Fund for Theological Education with a $6 million grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc. "Calling Congregations" will be rolled out later this year in the U.S. Midwest, with additional regions being added in 2007 and 2008. full story

Major efforts get under way to recruit young clergy

Feb. 1, 2006      United Methodist News Service NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Rocio Del Carmen Ramirez sported green hair and a punk look when she played piano at her inner-city Chicago church - a style that rubbed many older church members the wrong way. "The pastor always said God wanted her to give me time. I'm grateful for the compassion of that pastor," says the 26-year-old student at Pfeiffer University, Misenheimer, N.C. Her pastor's support gave her time to hear and accept her own call to ministry. That makes her unusual in a different way. At a time when just 13 percent of United Methodist clergy in the United States are under age 40, Ramirez is studying for a bachelor of arts degree in youth ministry, with plans to attend seminary and seek ordination as an elder. With half of all ordained United Methodist clergy older than 50, church leaders are looking for more candidates like Ramirez. full story

UMCOR's farm program in Sudan is 'people-driven'

Feb. 2, 2006      United Methodist News Service KHARTOUM, Sudan — On an August morning, Jane Ohuma points to a large map of Sudan in the Khartoum office of United Methodist Committee on Relief. Ohuma's arm sweeps from west to east as she explains to a visitor the plight of displaced people out in Darfur, seven hundred miles from the capital city. She is head of mission for UMCOR's operations in Sudan, which began in February 2005. Funded by a large gift from Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church in Tipp City, Ohio, and other grants, the agriculture program based in the Al Daein region of South Darfur already has crops in the ground. Some 5,200 families are working the 4-hectare farms. At an average five per family, that adds up to more than 25,000 beneficiaries. full story

WESLEYAN WISDOM: Empower the laity

Feb. 3, 2006     United Methodist Reporter   On the day of the Super Bowl, 22 men will be “in play” and millions will be critiquing their efforts. Unfortunately, this could be the paradigm of local church leadership: too few in action and too many critics. Jesus chose 12 men and the women disciples to be an inner circle for his ministry. In addition he sent out the “70” evangelists mentioned in Luke 10:1. full story

Producing Bible by hand is labor of love, faith for Dallas man

Feb. 7, 2006      United Methodist News Service DALLAS — The embodiment of James Pepper's life during the past 18 years is spread out over the floor and tables of his apartment and in a special room set aside for him at Highland Park United Methodist Church, where he attends and volunteers. Since 1987, Pepper, an investment manager, has painstakingly copied portions of the Bible word for word, and he's doing it the old-fashioned way, like scribes did centuries ago: with stylus pen and black ink on plain sheets of drawing paper, and with ancient styles of calligraphy. He shuns using a computer. After spending as many as 16 hours on some days sweating over handwriting the entire New Testament, a task he completed in 1995, Pepper is days away from completing another phase: an illuminated manuscript of the Gospels - 304 entirely handmade, highly decorative pages in a 550-page, four-year project. full story

Norwegian youth explore issues of poverty at United Nations

Feb. 8, 2006      United Methodist News Service NEW YORK — A group of Norwegian youth are exploring how they can help eliminate hunger and poverty through meetings at the United Nations and a journey to Mexico, Brazil, South Africa and India. The 11 young people are students at the Soltun Folkehogskole, a folk high school in northern Norway owned by the United Methodist Norway Annual (regional) Conference. They are enrolled in Soltun's "Backpack Surprise" course, which concludes April 6. The group arrived in New York on Feb. 4 for a weeklong visit. On the agenda were meetings organized by the United Methodist Office for the United Nations, including attending the U.N.'s 44th Session of the Commission on Social Development. full story

NCC study guide focuses on poverty goals

Feb. 8, 2006      United Methodist News Service NEW YORK — To help churches take action on poverty, the National Council of Churches has released a new guide, Eradicating Poverty: A Christian Study Guide on the Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Development Goals are a set of eight goals to end extreme poverty, hunger and disease by 2015, agreed to by world leaders in 2000. The 2004 United Methodist General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body, supported those goals. The purpose of the study guide is to motivate people to make the goals a reality, according to Lallie B. Lloyd, one of its editors. full story

Global young people's event set for South Africa

Feb. 9, 2006      United Methodist News Service Young people will be challenged to "be the salt of the earth and light of the world" at the first Global Young People's Convocation and Legislative Assembly, set for Dec. 26-Jan. 1 in Johannesburg, South Africa. "Our goal is to empower young people to become the world-changing disciples of Jesus Christ that God has called us to be according to Matthew 5," said Kenia da Silva Guimaraes, director with the Division on Ministries with Young People, United Methodist Board of Discipleship. About 500 people are expected at the convocation, which is open to all United Methodist youth, young adults and adult workers with young people. Mandated by the 2004 General Conference, the event will be held every four years, according to the denomination's Book of Discipline. full story

Churches redesign worship to enhance participation

Feb. 10, 2006     United Methodist Reporter Bulletins or PowerPoint. Organ music versus guitars. Sunday or Saturday. Whatever the parameters, the concept of contemporary worship is being defined differently every day at United Methodist churches. Churches that include contemporary worship outpace by an 11-to-1 margin those that are shifting to more traditional styles, according to a survey by Ellison Research in Phoenix, Ariz. The United Methodist Church is no exception, and successfully redesigning traditional worship for a more contemporary experience means walking a careful line between trends and tradition. Bishop Jane Allen Middleton of the Central Pennsylvania Conference says contemporary worship elements can help reach people today, but she doesn't encourage change just for the sake of change. "Worship, in any form, must be thoughtful and in the context of communicating and speaking the truth of faith," she said. full story

Growing churches: Media campaign beguiles new members

Feb. 10, 2006     United Methodist Reporter DALLAS — A savvy marketing campaign that started two years ago has attracted hundreds of new members—including almost 200 African immigrants—to the growing Lovers Lane United Methodist Church. Stark advertisements on billboards and radio and television stations around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex feature pictures of church members with the slogan: "WANNAKNOWWHY? WANNAKNOWWHY.COM." There is no mention of the church until users access the Web site. Senior pastor Stan Copeland called the strategy "a real shining star as far as growth." full story

GenX-Rising: 'We can regain our power through discipline'

Feb. 10, 2006     United Methodist Reporter We lack discipline. It is an unfortunate irony, but we lack discipline. Methodists, that's who I'm talking about. Methodists, the group that earned its name by its methodical approach to discipleship. Methodists, the ones who led a revival in England over 200 years ago with our systematic approach to spreading the Gospel and bringing good news to the poor. Methodists, the church body that even now calls its authoritative collection of church law, The Book of Discipline. In the present, we have very little of it. full story

Church burnings continue, Christians must renew efforts, say leaders

Feb. 13, 2006     News media contact:   Kelly C. Martini * 212-870-3729*  New York Women's Division, General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church When the clusters of churches were burned last week in Alabama, the national media began asking questions about hate, and federal officials opened investigations. According to those who have been working to end church burnings for years, these acts of arson raise questions about broader issues than those portrayed in the media spin or investigators' quotes. Religious leaders say federal investigators are wrong when stating there has been no evidence of targeted church burnings in Alabama since the early 1990s. This "misinformation" is putting a false face on what's really happening, they contend. full story

United Methodist hurricane relief for 2005 exceeds $62 million

Feb. 13, 2006    News media contact:   Elliott Wright * 212-870-3921*  New York General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church NEW YORK — More than $62 million was contributed in 2005 to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) for hurricane relief and rehabilitation in the United States and wider Gulf of Mexico region. full story

Global media monitoring evaluates role and images of women

Feb. 16, 2006     News media contact:   Kelly C. Martini * 212-870-3729*  New York Women's Division, General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church NEW YORK — Since Feb. 15, 2005, hundreds of women and men in 76 countries have collected data to monitor the role and images of women in the news media. Yesterday, the World Association of Christian Communication in London, England, sponsors of the event, released the results of the study, which stated that since 2000, very little has changed for women, how the media portrays them and how they are involved in media stories. full story

Poverty in Porto Alegre takes toll on children: church responds

Feb. 16, 2006     News media contact:   Kelly C. Martini * 212-870-3729*  New York Women's Division, General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church Nine little girls sang their names and included us — their visitors — in their song. As part of the Exposure Program for journalists, prior to the opening of the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches we visited these girls at the United Methodist Women's supported Susanna Wesley Center in the neighborhood of Saõ Luca in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The day of our visit, the special music the girls learned and performed was a method of teaching the children how to present themselves in public — part of a  process of healing and restoration of critical self-esteem. "How good it is to see so many people", they sang. "How good it is to be able to sing." In Saõ Luca, the Methodist church is at work — reaching out to those whom society has made the "least of these." The conviction to respond comes from the belief that in God's eyes, each child is important and we are called through One God to bring good news to the poor. full story

Churches must build unity, reach young people, WCC leader says

Feb. 16, 2006 United Methodist News Service PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — Churches have new opportunities to influence global policies and "bring a moral voice to the world," but that cannot happen unless they relate to each other more closely, according to the leader of the World Council of Churches. "We can no longer separate ethics and ecclesiology, the search for unity of the church and the unity of humankind," said the Rev. Samuel Kobia, a Methodist pastor from Kenya and the WCC's chief executive. "They are closely intertwined with each other." full story

United Methodists increase giving to church by more than 50 percent

Feb. 16, 2006 United Methodist News Service NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Amid a year of natural disasters, United Methodists reached deep into their pockets and increased their total giving to the church's ministries by more than 50 percent over the previous year. The denomination has much to celebrate in "the overwhelming generosity of the people of the United Methodist Church, who increased giving by 53.6 percent compared to 2004," said Sandra K. Lackore, top executive of the denomination's General Council on Finance and Administration in Nashville. She spoke to United Methodist media by telephone and Web conferencing Feb. 15. Total giving in 2005 was $244.7 million, which is $85 million more than in 2004, she said. Of that, $80 million was for tsunami and hurricane relief efforts. Total giving in 2004 was $159.3 million. full story

Tampa, not Richmond, to host 2012 General Conference

Feb. 17, 2006      United Methodist News Service NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The United Methodist Church's top legislative assembly won't be meeting in Richmond, Va., in 2012, as announced last fall, but will convene in Tampa, Fla., instead. In making the change, the United Methodist Commission on the General Conference cited a church policy regarding meeting in cities that are home to professional sports teams with Native American names. The 2012 General Conference will be held April 25 to May 4 in the 600,000-square-foot Tampa Convention Center. full story

UMCOR gears us after mudslide in Philippines

Feb. 17, 200  * 212-870-3816 *  New York United Methodist Committee on Relief, General Board of Global Ministries This morning in the Philippines a mudslide triggered by days of drenching rains buried an entire village and an elementary school. The village of Guinsaugon in southern Leyte Island is located about 420 miles southeast of Manila. So far 83 people have been found alive and 19 are confirmed dead, according to a BBC account this afternoon. Rescue officials estimate between 1,500 and 2,500 people may be buried in the mudslide. ... “Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of the village of Guinsaugon on the Leyte Island in this time of tragedy and grief,” said the Rev. R. Randy Day, general secretary of the General Board of Global Ministries. “We think especially of the families of the children trapped in the school covered in the mudslide. The Philippines is part of our United Methodist global family of nations and we are mobilizing to offer tangible signs of compassion and care.” full story

Cartoons irresponsible, but violence inexcusable

Feb. 17, 2006     United Methodist Reporter Watching the Muslim indignation at caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad spill over into outbursts of anger and violence, I find myself, an American Muslim woman, wondering. Which would make the prophet sadder — the libel of his character by Danish non-Muslim cartoonists or the actions of his followers that are so out of keeping with his own example, actions that would seem to prove that the cartoonists' depictions are not so far from truth? full story

Megachurch pastor gives tips for growing churches

Feb. 17, 2006     United Methodist Reporter When you think "megachurch," "United Methodist" may not be the first thing that comes to mind. United Methodists, after all, comprise only 5 percent of churches with a weekly attendance of 2,000 or more, according to a new study by Hartford Seminary researchers. Perhaps that's why United Methodist ministers filled a recent workshop led by the Rev. Adam Hamilton, pastor of the hugely successful United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan. full story

WCC looks for alternatives to globalization

Feb. 17, 2006  United Methodist News Service PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — In the Lord's Prayer, Christians say, "Give us this day our daily bread." But where does that bread come from? Increasingly, as the Rev. Nancy Cardoso Pereira, a Brazilian Methodist, pointed out to participants at the World Council of Churches 9th Assembly, bread and cereal items — along with meat and dairy products - come from transnational corporations located in the United States and Europe. "So, 'on earth as in heaven,' globalized capitalism ... is punishing farmers in poor countries, whom they are treating as permanent debtors, while at the same time, the debts of agriculture in rich countries are being cancelled in the form of subsidies, tariffs and free trade treaties — and there is no one who 'can deliver us from that evil,'" she declared. full story

World's churches must address crisis in Uganda, speaker says

Feb. 20, 2006     United Methodist News Service PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — Children in northern Uganda are dying at the rate of 1,000 per week, and the world's churches need to take notice. That was the plea and challenge issued by Olara Otunnu, a Ugandan and former under-secretary general of the United Nations, during a Feb. 18 plenary on "Overcoming Violence" at the World Council of Churches' 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre. For the past 10 years, nearly 2 million people — 80 percent of whom are women and children — have been forced into "concentration camps" in northern Uganda by the government, according to Otunnu. The situation amounts to genocide, he said. full story

WCC assesses impact of 'Decade to Overcome Violence'

Feb. 20, 2006      United Methodist News Service NEW YORK — When the World Council of Churches initiated its "Decade to Overcome Violence" in 2001, the idea was to "shine a bright light" on places where Christians are working on issues of justice and peace — places that could be models for others. Now, at the halfway point, the decade has had an "important impact," according to Jan Love, a United Methodist who has served as chairwoman of the decade. full story

UMCOR begins response to mudslide in Philippines

Feb. 20, 2006     nited Methodist News Service The United Methodist Committee on Relief is asking for prayers and financial support as it responds to the mudslide that has buried an entire village in the Philippines. A Feb. 17 mudslide, triggered by days of rain, buried the entire village — including an elementary school — of Guinsaugon, on southern Leyte Island. The island is about 420 miles southeast of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. full story

Upper Room editor kidnapped in India

Feb. 20, 2006     United Methodist News Service NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An international editor of the Upper Room and a prominent Christian leader in India has been held hostage for four weeks by a rebel group. The Rev. Tongkhojang Lunkim, the editor of the Kuki edition of the Upper Room Daily Devotional Guide in India, was kidnapped four weeks ago by a group of rebels called the Kuki Liberation Army. According to news reports, Lunkim's captors are demanding a ransom equal to US$430,000. full story

Church unity remains a dream of God: Tutu

Feb. 21, 2006     United Methodist News Service PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — A united church helped defeat apartheid in South Africa, former Archbishop Desmond Tutu reminded participants at the World Council of Churches' 9th Assembly. He was one of the speakers during a Feb. 20 plenary session on "Church Unity: Claiming a Common Future." But apartheid also continued as long as it did "in part because the church was divided," he said. "Some Christians — many Christians — tried to (provide) scriptural justification for it. See how a divided church has exacerbated the conflict in Northern Ireland." full story

Close Up: Women in ministry celebrate, but challenges remain

Feb. 22, 2006      United Methodist News Service A 50th anniversary is a time for celebration, and United Methodists around the world are doing just that this year as they mark the jubilee of full clergy rights for women. Such a milestone is also a cause for reflection, and for many women leaders, the analysis is sobering. While women — lay and clergy alike — have moved from marginal support roles in the church to positions of leadership, they still find themselves confronting limited opportunities and problems being accepted. full story

Activist continues work merging social justice, religion

Feb. 22, 2006      United Methodist News Service As the United Methodist Church celebrates the gains made by women in ministry during the past half-century, one laywoman reminds women to never give up the fight for social justice and religious equal rights. "When I came along, my teacher told me that I didn't need to learn so much about religion," recalled Dorothy I. Height of Washington. Height took several courses in religion during the 1930s, thinking she might want to work in the church. "But according to (my) religion professor ... the church was not ready for women, and the black church surely was not ready for me." Ready or not, the church and the larger society were changed for the better by Height's contributions as a leader in the civil rights movement and of the YWCA and National Council of Negro Women. She is a symbol not only for social change but also of the power of one woman to make a difference in the world. full story

United Methodists learn Palestinians' side on Mideast trip

Feb. 22, 2006      United Methodist News Service A group of 51 United Methodists from across the United States spent 10 days in Israel and the Palestinian territories searching for ways to bring peace and justice to that conflicted area. The study trip, "Seeking Peace and Pursuing Justice: Mission Education and Advocacy for Israel and Palestine," was sponsored Jan. 17-27 by the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is "a deeply spiritual crisis that involves all of us — American, Israeli and Palestinian," said Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, who leads the denomination's Chicago Area. In a sermon delivered on the trip, he called on Americans to repent of their part in the conflict and work toward a just peace in the area. "Somebody said you can't be a Christian if you're not a peacemaker," he said. "I truly believe that." full story

Religion can be barrier to peace in Middle East, panel says

Feb. 22, 2006      United Methodist News Service Three religious leaders — a Jewish rabbi, a Palestinian Christian pastor, and a Muslim professor of Islamic studies — told a group of United Methodists visiting Jerusalem that religion can sometimes hinder a search for a just peace. "One of the sad realities," Rabbi Levi Weiman Kelman told the group, "is that among peace workers, religion is seen as part of the problem and not part of the solution." Most peace workers in Israel are secular Israelis and "indifferent or agnostic to religion," he said. "Most believe that if this (Israeli-Palestinian conflict) were just a political problem without any religious issue, it would be a lot easier to solve," he said. "There is some truth to that." full story

'Scopes Monkey Trial' tested, strengthened woman's faith

Feb. 23, 2006     United Methodist News Service Eloise Reed was 13, and she was mad. Raised to revere the Bible as God's literal and infallible word, she never had heard it challenged before. "I was just squirmin'," says Reed, now 93 and a lifelong United Methodist. "I was ready to get up and holler." Reed is among the last living witnesses to the 1925 "Scopes Monkey Trial," in which schoolteacher John Scopes was convicted of breaking state law by teaching evolution. It was considered the trial of the century then, pitting a three-time presidential candidate and a literal belief in the Bible against the then-burgeoning American Civil Liberties Union and Darwin's theory of evolution. The trial drew thousands to pastoral Dayton, Tenn., and shaped how science was taught in classrooms for decades. full story

Church burnings not random, leaders say

Feb. 24, 2006 United Methodist Reporter Religious groups that track incidents of arson say the recent cluster of church burnings in Alabama is symptomatic of a national problem. Rose Johnson-Mackey, program director for the National Coalition for Burned Churches (NCBC), says church burnings are intended to terrorize people by attacking their place of worship, often seen as the heart of a community. And that should motivate Christians to action, she says. full story

Church forms coalition with town to defeat high energy bills

Feb. 27, 2006     United Methodist News Service DYERSBURG, Tenn. — A looming utility bill crisis, a result of the destruction of refineries on the Gulf Coast by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, was weighing heavily on the mind of Mayor Bill Revell. Predictions by the federal government of a 71 percent increase in natural gas prices meant the economically disadvantaged in his northwest Tennessee community might soon find themselves out in the cold and out of options. That's what made his meeting with the Rev. Esther Gant, pastor of Ross United Methodist Church, such a godsend. "We made an appointment with the mayor to discuss the upcoming crisis in utility bills," Gant said. "We wanted to talk to him about what people could do to cut back on demand, where they could go for assistance in paying their bills, and who they could call." full story

WCC assembly speaks on terrorism, other public issues

Feb. 27, 2006     United Methodist News Service PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — Churches must "respond to the reality of living in a world terrorized by fear" and then use their resources to provide a guide for peace and reconciliation. That is part of a statement on terrorism, one of a series of statements on public issues adopted near the end of the Feb. 14-23 World Council of Churches 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil. United Methodists and Methodists from around the world were among the assembly participants. Religious leaders need to use those resources for peace and reconciliation when coming together to speak against all acts of terror, as well as any disrespect for human rights and the rule of law when fighting terrorism. full story

Q&A: Zimbabwe bishop confronts shortages in staffing, money

Feb. 28, 2006   United Methodist News Service Bishop Eben K. Nhiwatiwa, episcopal leader of the United Methodist Church's Zimbabwe Area, sat down in Harare for a question-and-answer session about the challenges and opportunities facing the 150,000 members of the United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe. full story