e-Review archive
Global Connection
April 2006
 

UMCOR makes grants to Asian projects, Sudan

Apr. 10, 2006    News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*  New York {204} United Methodist News Service STAMFORD, Conn.—- For the past seven years, United Methodists have partnered with International Blue Crescent in response to earthquakes in Turkey and Iran and the tsunami in Indonesia. Now that partnership is being used in response to the earthquake that devastated parts of Pakistan and Kashmir last October. In early April, directors of the United Methodist Committee on Relief allocated $1.5 million to the Turkish nongovernmental organization to extend its assistance to earthquake victims. UMCOR directors also approved $5.8 million for tsunami-related projects in Sri Lanka and Indonesia and $330,000 for further assistance to South Sudan and Darfur. full story

Book chronicles women's struggles for full clergy rights

Apr. 10, 2006    News media contact:   Linda  Green * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {205} United Methodist News Service NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A book recounting the stories of the first women to receive full clergy rights in the Methodist Church has been published by the denomination's Board of Higher Education and Ministry. Courageous Past-Bold Future chronicles the historic journey of the first women to receive full clergy rights and looks at challenges still facing clergywomen 50 years later. full story

UMCOR wraps up 13 years of work in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Apr. 11, 2006      United Methodist News Service STAMFORD, Conn. — After the 16th-century bridge in Mostar was destroyed by Croatians during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United Methodist Committee on Relief oversaw construction of a temporary footbridge to reconnect the two sides of the devastated city. The bridge - a symbol of reunification and healing between Bosnian Croatians and Muslims - has since been rebuilt and UMCOR, after 13 years in the country, has officially closed its project there. full story

United Methodists join in demonstrating for immigrants

Apr. 11, 2006     United Methodist News Service Immigration rallies across the United States on April 10 signal that something hopeful and historic is brewing, said United Methodist Church leaders, after nearly 2 million marched in 140 cities for the rights of undocumented people. "It was a powerful witness that indeed this is a much broader movement, broader than we have seen in years," said the Rev. Eliezer Valentin-Castañon, executive with the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race. "It is something that brings hope to my heart and soul that something is brewing. We were part of history yesterday and will continue to be part of history." Hundreds of thousands gathered in the nation's capital, where United Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcaño, who leads the denomination's Phoenix Area, was one of several speakers to address the crowd. full story

Commentary: America's open door has been its strength

Apr. 11, 2006     United Methodist News Service One of the things I love best about America is the way she opens her doors to people of other nations. I have a pretty personal reason for appreciating that. I was born in Japan and immigrated to the United States when I was 22 years old. My parents are Japanese, not American.  Yet I am an American citizen. full story

Columbia College hosts 'Jubilee' for clergywomen

Apr. 12, 2006     United Methodist News Service A jurisdictional event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of clergywomen receiving full rights has mushroomed into a conference with a national scope. Columbia (S.C.) College will sponsor "Jubilee Voices," a three-day conference open to all women in ministry and students preparing for ministry in the United Methodist connection. The event will be May 11-13. full story

Group marks Lent with protest at nuclear test site

Apr. 12, 2006     United Methodist News Service Fifty years ago, tourists traveled to Las Vegas to watch mushroom clouds rise in the distance. Between 1951 and 1991, more than 900 nuclear tests were conducted at a site 65 miles northwest of the city. Science would not know until decades later the environmental and health fallout from experiments at the Nevada test site. It has been called the "most bombed place on earth." For the last 25 years, the site has been a draw not for tourists, but for anti-war and pro-environment demonstrators. Margaret Fuller-Lindgren of Palm City, Calif., goes there every year with a group of United Methodists. "When I come here it's very humbling, but it's also very empowering," she says. full story

Radio show provides scholarship support to black colleges

Apr. 13, 2006    News media contact:   Linda  Green * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {216} United Methodist News Service A nationally syndicated radio program that supports scholarships for needy students at historically black colleges will benefit four United Methodist-related schools in 2006. "The Tom Joyner Morning Show" and the foundation of the same name are raising money to support scholarships, bricks and mortar, endowments, special funds and projects at 11 black colleges in 2006. Each month, the four-hour syndicated radio program features one of 11 schools, launching a yearlong fund-raising campaign by the school and foundation to assist students of that school in higher education. The show is heard daily on 96 stations of the ABC Radio Network and on the Armed Forces Network. full story

Churches that show compassion will grow, says pastor and author

April 14, 2006 United Methodist Reporter "Good Samaritan" churches that use compassionate love to bring people to Christ will grow numerically, says Robert Pierson, senior pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Tulsa. Dr. Pierson describes his strategy for growing healthy churches in his book, Needs-Based Evangelism: Becoming A Good Samaritan Church, published in February by Abingdon Press. Jesus' teachings inspired his focus on needs-based evangelism, he says, and Christ Church has been his "laboratory" for finding ways to reach people for Christ in a secular world. full story

COMMENTARY: Strict immigration reform bill would harm teacher-student relationships

April 14, 2006 United Methodist Reporter Anna Martinez had just finished a past-tense exercise in my ESL speech class one morning when fellow student Miguel Cruz leaned forward and asked if she'd tell her story about how she came to the United States. Mr. Cruz could persuade anybody to do just about anything. He got Ms. Martinez to agree. It wasn't difficult for me to agree, too. Telling a personal story would put Ms. Martinez through her paces using the past tense. full story

Church leader says United Methodist future depends upon a real passion for mission

April 5, 2006     News media contact:   Elliott Wright * 212-870-3921*  New York General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church STAMFORD, Conn. — Only a genuine passion for mission can assure a strong future for The United Methodist Church, according to the chief mission executive of the denomination. “Mission is the heartbeat of the Church,” the Rev. R. Randy Day told directors of the General Board of Global Ministries, meeting in their semi-annual meeting in Stamford. “I am convinced that only a love of God and action through mission can draw us together,” he said, speaking of the broad diversity of people, cultures, and theological perspectives within the international United Methodist family of some 11 million members. full story

Darfur observer shares horrors of modern genocide

Apr. 18, 2006    News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*  New York {221} United Methodist News Service FORT WAYNE, Ind. — From September 2004 to February 2005, Brian Steidle was an eyewitness to genocide. Steidle, a former U.S. Marine, served as an observer with the African Union to monitor the unsteady peace treaty in the Sudan and the situation of Darfur, an area the size of Texas located in western Sudan. “We were there to monitor a cease-fire that was nonexistent,” he said. During his six months there, Steidle wrote more than 80 reports, four of which reached the U.S. government, regarding the ethnic cleansing, continued attacks against tribes by government-supported militias and a mounting refugee crisis. He talked about his experience in Sudan during a presentation — complete with graphic photographs, video and audio recordings — at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Fort Wayne in early April. full story

Church court rulings provide flashpoint for different groups

Apr. 19, 2006    News media contact:   Tim  Tanton * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {225} United Methodist News Service Many eyes will be on the United Methodist Judicial Council when it meets this month, as people observe how the court handles requests that it reconsider two previous rulings on pastoral authority. Those decisions, issued last fall (see related story), add another dimension to the United Methodist Church's decades-long debate about homosexuality. The church's Book of Discipline states that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching but that homosexuals are persons of sacred worth. full story

Briefs crystallize debate points over Judicial Council decisions

Apr. 19, 2006    News media contact:   Tim  Tanton * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {224} United Methodist News Service The United Methodist Judicial Council is hearing from parties across the church eager to weigh in on the issue of pastoral authority, which the court will consider when it meets next week. Briefs filed with the Judicial Council highlight both sides of the debate over whether or not the church court should reconsider two decisions that it made regarding a pastor's authority to deny someone membership in a congregation. The denomination's supreme court will discuss those questions as non-docketed items during its April 26-29 spring session in Overland Park, Kan. The two rulings — Decisions 1031 and 1032 — stirred much debate in the denomination when they were handed down last fall. Both deal with the case of the Rev. Ed Johnson, pastor of South Hill (Va.) United Methodist Church, who blocked a practicing homosexual from joining the congregation. While the United Methodist Church holds gay people to be persons of sacred worth, it also officially states that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. full story

Students harvest new opportunities at Peace Meal Café

Apr. 19, 2006    News media contact:   Kathy  Gilbert * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {223} United Methodist News Service PETERSBURG, Va. — Like many inner-city youth where she grew up, Latoya Williams never finished high school. "I was one of those young ladies that stayed in quarrels with other people," she said. "So I was put out of school." After several unsuccessful attempts to earn her GED, Williams, now 28, found a life-changing experience. She is learning cooking and restaurant management at the Peace Meal Café, part of a food-services course at Petersburg Urban Ministries. full story

Operation Care Packages brightens lives of Marines

Apr. 20, 2006    News media contact:   Kathy  Gilbert * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {227} United Methodist News Service It's the little things that make a big difference for soldiers at Camp Fallujah — like a care package of Doublemint gum that arrived just in time for St. Patrick's Day from some United Methodist church members "back home." Top of the wish list for April? Microwave popcorn. United Methodist Chaplain Ron Newhouse coordinates "Operation Marine Care Packages" from his tent at Camp Fallujah to help young Marines, sailors and soldiers deal with the "sparse amenities" at the camp in Iraq. "Life here is very basic and very dangerous," he says. "Care packages are a huge boost to the morale of our Marines." full story

Chaplain uses airwaves to get troops 'spiritually fit'

Apr. 20, 2006    News media contact:   Kathy  Gilbert * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {228} United Methodist News Service Army Chaplain Jay West has gone from a "mud on the boots" chaplain to the pastoral voice for service members in 56 countries. For the past year, the United Methodist has been the broadcast chaplain for the American Forces Network in Germany. It is a role that has been a little hard for him to get used to. "I truly love being with soldiers, and my preference would be to be out there living in the mud, in the dirt and the sand," he says. "Nevertheless, this is where God, through the Army chaplaincy, has assigned me." full story

Membership dips in U.S. but increases in other countries

Apr. 21, 2006    News media contact:   Tim  Tanton * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {220} United Methodist News Service NASHVILLE, Tenn. — U.S. membership in the United Methodist Church decreased by less than 1 percent in 2004, and worship attendance experienced a similar dip, according to a report from the denomination's finance agency. The number of United Methodist members in the United States decreased by 0.81 percent, to about 8.07 million, and worship attendance was down by 0.96 percent from 2003, according to the General Council on Finance and Administration's report, The State of Our Connection. Membership has declined annually since the formation of the denomination in 1968. During the last 10-year period, the number of members churchwide decreased by 5.48 percent. Countering the U.S. decline, United Methodist lay membership in the central conferences — regions of the church in Africa, Asia and Europe — increased more than 68 percent from 1995 to 2004, to 1.88 million. full story

Social action agency speaks out on Iran, immigration reform

Apr. 25, 2006    News media contact:   Kathy  Gilbert * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {234} United Methodist News Service WASHINGTON — Facing two of today's most critical issues, the United Methodist Board of Church and Society passed resolutions urging the United States and Iran to stop their "dangerous rhetoric" and called for Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill. full story

L.A., Atlanta and New York are sites of China Bible exhibit

Apr. 25, 2006    News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*  New York {237} United Methodist News Service A Bible exhibition from China will be displayed in three U.S. locations between April 28 and June 15. Sponsored by the China Christian Council and the National Committee of Three-Self Patriotic Movement of Protestant Churches in China, the exhibition highlights Christian witness in that country. The United Methodist Church has a continuing relationship with the China Christian Council. "A Lamp to My Feet, a Light to My Path - China Bible Ministry Exhibition" will open to the public April 28 at the Crystal Cathedral in Los Angeles, where it will continue through May 4. full story

Iraqi American describes worsening conditions in Iraq

Apr. 25, 2006    News media contact:   Kathy  Gilbert * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {238} United Methodist News Service WASHINGTON — Everyday life in Iraq is becoming increasingly dangerous, an Iraqi American told the United Methodist Board of Church and Society. "Iraq is becoming unlivable," said Andy Shallal, who has many family members living in the country. The Board of Church and Society passed a resolution in 2005 calling on the United States to withdraw troops from Iraq. Shallal spoke to the board's Peace with Justice/United Nations and International Affairs work area during the agency's April 20-23 meeting. He is with the Iraqi American Alliance, a Washington-based group working to strengthen relations between Iraqis and Americans. "One hundred and ninety-two professors have been killed since the start of the war," he said. "Three more have been killed in the last three weeks." Those who can leave are leaving, he said. full story

Two churchwide ethnic caucuses call for immigration reform

Apr. 27, 2006    News media contact:   Kathy  Gilbert * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {244} United Methodist News Service May 1 has been designated "a day without immigrants," and two United Methodist associations representing Asian Americans and Hispanic/Latino concerns have joined in the call for comprehensive immigration reform. The statements from the National Federation of Asian American United Methodists and Methodists Associated to Represent the Cause of Hispanic Americans come as Congress grapples with the reform issue. "Asian-Americans are all immigrants or descendants of immigrants," said the Rev. Mark Nakagawa, pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church in Los Angeles. "Therefore, we identify with the social, economic and political struggles of contemporary immigrants." MARCHA will be joining the May 1 protest, which calls for the entire immigrant community in the United States to abstain from working, buying or even going into the streets. full story

U.S. 'flunked' initial hurricane response, congressman says

Apr. 27, 2006    News media contact:   Kathy  Gilbert * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {245} United Methodist News Service WASHINGTON — Hurricane Katrina revealed the nation's character and "we flunked miserably," said U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II during a healing and justice service for the Gulf Coast held April 26. full story

Pension agency signs U.N. principles on investment

Apr. 27, 2006    News media contact:   Tim  Tanton * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {246} United Methodist News Service The United Methodist Board of Pension and Health Benefits has become one of the original 25 signatories of the new United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. The board announced the news April 27 in New York. The heads of leading financial institutions from 16 countries signed the principles that day at the New York Stock Exchange.The United Methodist agency was part of an international group of institutional investors that developed the principles at the invitation of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. full story