e-Review archive
Global Connection
August 2004
 

Protestants losing majority, study suggests

Aug. 2, 2004     News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*  New York {04351} Uniated Methodist News Service NEW YORK (ENI) — A long-standing feature of U.S. religious life—a Protestant majority—may become a thing of the past, a new survey has concluded. "Since colonial times the United States has been a Protestant nation. But perhaps as early as this year (2004), the country will for the first time no longer have a Protestant majority," the survey by the National Opinion Research Center, based at the University of Chicago, found. The number of those identifying themselves as Protestant, already declining in recent years, is expected to drop below 50 percent if present trends continue, the survey results were announced on July 20. A Protestant majority may have already vanished in the two years since the survey was conducted. full story

RCC handbook assists faith communicators

Aug. 2, 2004     News media contact:   Linda  Green * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {04354} United Methodist News Service NASHVILLE(UMNS) — A new edition of a handbook for all faith communities, produced by the Religion Communicators Council (RCC), will be available in September. The seventh edition of the organization's resource, Speaking of Faith: The Essential Handbook for Religious Communicators is a 155-page, softbound book covering issues ranging from establishing a strategic communications plan to crisis communication. United Methodists who wrote sections of the handbook include M. Garlinda Burton, the Rev. Daniel R. Gangler, Bret Haines and Kimberly Pace. The Rev. J. Richard Peck, a United Methodist Publishing House retiree who also serves as communications officer for United Methodist Men, was editor. RCC's executive director, Shirley Struchen, a United Methodist, helped in the planning, review and production of the new edition. Divided into three sections, the handbook is aimed at helping communicators at all levels of the church meet the challenge of communicating religion through varied forms of media. full story

September designated as 'welcome your neighbors' month

Aug. 30, 2004    News media contact:  Michael Wacht*     407-897-1140    mwacht@flumc.org     Orlando  {0152} An e-Review Feature By Kathy L. Gilbert ** NASHVILLE (UMNS) — Won't 'cha be my neighbor? Folks at Asbury United Methodist Church, Rochester, N.Y., are being downright neighborly—they are inviting 1,200 new residents in their community to a picnic. Around the country, United Methodist churches are collaborating with National Neighborhood Day to make Sept. 12 a day of getting to know and welcoming neighbors into the church. full story

RCC handbook assists faith communicators

Aug. 2, 2004     News media contact:   Linda  Green * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {04354} United Methodist News Service NASHVILLE(UMNS) — A new edition of a handbook for all faith communities, produced by the Religion Communicators Council (RCC), will be available in September. The seventh edition of the organization's resource, Speaking of Faith: The Essential Handbook for Religious Communicators is a 155-page, softbound book covering issues ranging from establishing a strategic communications plan to crisis communication. United Methodists who wrote sections of the handbook include M. Garlinda Burton, the Rev. Daniel R. Gangler, Bret Haines and Kimberly Pace. The Rev. J. Richard Peck, a United Methodist Publishing House retiree who also serves as communications officer for United Methodist Men, was editor. RCC's executive director, Shirley Struchen, a United Methodist, helped in the planning, review and production of the new edition. full story

After hurricane, signpost symbolizes long connection for Port Charlotte resident

Aug. 27, 2004  *  United Methodist Committee on Relief, General Board of Global Ministries  * By Whit Elam This home in Port Charlotte, Florida was severely damaged by Hurricane Charley. Some 26,000 Florida residences were totally destroyed on August 13 by Hurricane Charley's 195 mph winds. FEMA Photo/Mark Wolfe, Port Charlotte, FL, August 16, 2004. For the past 25 years, home #777 on a quiet street in Port Charlotte, Florida, has been the address of a kind man named Bill.* After a long career in public service, he found the palms on Florida's southwest coast more inviting than the cold winters of his native northern New York. So, without any family, Bill moved to picturesque Port Charlotte. Today, Bill's manufactured home is splintered across the grid of roadways and cul-de-sacs of his neighborhood. Number 777 is one of the 26,000 Florida residences totaled on August 13 in Hurricane Charley's 195 mph winds. Palm trees that once proudly lined the streets lie across the roadways, stripped of their canopied tops and wrapped by pieces of aluminum siding, roofing and broken telephone lines.My parents, recently retired, own a home in the same community as Bill. They've joined neighbors along the street to search homes, clear roadways, and salvage any identifiable personal belongings strewn about the sandy soil and soggy carpeting. full story