e-Review archive
Global Connection
July 2004
 

Grant allows church to focus on turning young adults into new generation of leaders

July 29, 2004    News media contact:  Michael Wacht*     407-897-1140    mwacht@flumc.org     Orlando  {0125} An e-Review Feature By J.A. Buchholz** JACKSONVILLE  — The numbers are disproportionately alarming. According to an article by United Methodist News Service the average age of the U.S. population is 33.5, with more than 26 percent of the population falling between the ages of 12 and 30. Less than 10 percent of those attending a United Methodist church fall into the 12-30 range, and the average age of United Methodist members hovers around 55. Young adults are the missing piece of the United Methodist family, but New Life Community United Methodist Church here is attempting to put the brakes on the disappearing act of young adults by both retaining and training its young adults for ministry. full story

United Methodists urge caution in political activities

July 7, 2004     News media contact:   Linda  Green * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {04289} United Methodist News Service NASHVILLE (UMNS) — United Methodist churches responding to the Republican Party's request for their church membership directories could be setting themselves up for charges of invasion of privacy and potentially jeopardizing their tax-exempt status, say denominational officials. Numerous media began reporting July 4 on the Bush-Cheney campaign's plan to use church rosters to mobilize religious conservative voters and to organize support among congregations. Reports said the Bush-Cheney re-election strategy asks religious volunteers to help identify churches that could be organized by the campaign and to talk to pastors about conducting voter registration drives, distributing voter guides and other campaign materials in churches and conducting get-out-the-vote efforts during Sunday services. The strategies are included in a guide for volunteers listing duties and deadlines for activities targeting religious voters. Reactions from faith groups about the campaign's desire for church lists have run the gamut from being offended or appalled to amenable. full story

UMCOR 9/11 funds continue to assist secondary victims

July 13, 2004    News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*  New York {04294} United Methodist News Service NEW YORK (UMNS) — A man whose brother took over an early shift for him on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, at Windows on the World is left depressed and guilt-ridden. A driver who worked for a limousine service that drew 70 percent of its business from the World Trade Center loses his home, his job and his marriage. A mother with children doesn't know where to turn because her husband has been deported under the Patriot Act. These are some of the people suffering the long-term effects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks who have sought help from the United Methodist Church. Assistance has come through United Methodist Committee on Relief's 9/11 Disaster Response in New York, the disaster response programs of the United Methodist Greater New Jersey and New York annual conferences, and projects in the denomination's Virginia Annual Conference. Church members generously donated more than $20 million in the aftermath of the tragedy to finance these ministries. The need was evident from the start, according to the Rev. Christopher Miller, who directs the HEART (Healing, Encouragement and Advocacy in Response to Tragedy) program for the Greater New Jersey Conference. "We were so overwhelmed by the numbers of clients who came to us by word-of-mouth that we never really had to go out and search for clients," he told United Methodist News Service. full story

UMCOR providing emergency relief in Sudan

July 14, 2004    News media contact:   Linda  Green * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {04298} United Methodist News Service NASHVILLE (UMNS) — As destabilization threatens Sudan, the United Methodist Committee on Relief is working with partners to expand support for what is being called the world's largest humanitarian crisis. The Darfur region of western Sudan has suffered 16 months of armed conflict. Nearly 30,000 residents have been killed and more than a million people displaced. The United Methodist humanitarian agency is working through its ecumenical partner, Action by Churches Together (ACT), to help people affected by the militia attacks in Darfur maintain their basic daily activities with dignity. The collaborative effort is also aimed at initially stabilizing and then reducing the incidence of environmental health-related diseases, said the Rev. Kristin Sachen, a staff executive with UMCOR/Emergency Services International. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) supports relief and development work in Sudan to meet immediate emergency needs and long-term recovery solutions. full story

United Methodist women met with Staples executives

July 27, 2004    News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*  New York {04341} United Methodist News Service NEW YORK (UMNS) — United Methodist Women are continuing to remind corporations of their responsibilities regarding the environment. A delegation from the million-member organization met July 21 with Staples company executives in Framingham, Mass., to talk about the deadly effects of dioxin on women and children's health and to remind the officials that prevention is possible. United Methodist Women (UMW) believes Staples can help achieve prevention by carrying and promoting processed chlorine-free or total chlorine-free paper in its stores. Chlorine, used in the paper-making industry to bleach paper, is known to create the dioxin linked to breast cancer and other forms of cancer. The meeting with Staples came after UMW members visited more than 300 Staples stores across the country to see if the stores carried chlorine-free paper. full story

Women issue challenge for 'better, safer world'

July 28, 2004    News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*  New York {04343} United Methodist News Service WASHINGTON (UMNS) — United Methodists are being encouraged to join in a nationwide effort to challenge American women to talk to their elected officials and candidates in the upcoming election about the importance of investing in women around the world as a way of fighting global poverty and building a more peaceful world. The Washington-based Women's Edge Coalition, a coalition of more than 40 organizations, including the United Methodist Women, launched the "Million Women Challenge for a Better, Safer World" on July 20 in Washington. The campaign seeks to motivate a million American women to urge their elected officials and political candidates to make women's issues a priority in U.S. national security and foreign policies. Susie Johnson, an executive with the Women's Division, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, said the campaign asks United Methodist women to respond to the call for justice in the world. full story