e-Review archive
Global Connection
October 2006
 

Spanish-only program helps participants master language

Oct. 2, 2006      United Methodist News Service ROCKFORD, Ill. — A weeklong experience of speaking only Spanish for 14 hours every day helped clergy and church leaders gain proficiency in the language. Fifteen church leaders, or pilgrims as they are called, descended upon the Bishop Lane Retreat Center in Rockford for seven days of activities, language sessions and worship services in Spanish. Called Spanishtown, the total immersion language program was designed by the Rev. Kirk Reed to help participants minister to a growing Latino population. full story

Campus ministers seek church help with 'helicopter parents'

Oct. 3, 2006     United Methodist News Service NASHVILLE — College students having trouble making the transition to adulthood increasingly rely on cell phone calls and e-mails to their parents, a United Methodist campus ministers group says. So campus ministers are asking local churches to develop ministries that help parents and college freshmen adjust to this transition. "I've had faculty members tell me they'll be discussing a grade with a student, and the student will take out their cell phone and call their mother, then hand the cell phone to the professor," said the Rev. Bill Campbell, co-chairperson of the United Methodist Campus Ministers Association and a campus minister at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. "Campus ministers have seen a real change in the last few years of students not being ready to take on adult responsibilities when they get to college and parents struggling with how to deal with this, not knowing how much to help," Campbell said. full story

Commentary: Churches cannot remain silent about HIV/AIDS

Oct. 4, 2006 United Methodist News Service Recently, I heard the moving testimony of Bishop Fritz and Etta Mae Mutti, coordinators of the United Methodist Church Global AIDS Fund Committee. Speaking to a Washington gathering of United Methodists fighting HIV/AIDS, the couple told how this deadly disease took the lives of two of their sons. Their story reminded me that HIV/AIDS does not respect persons of power or privilege. The disease does not care about race, class, color, culture, religion, creed, ethnicity or gender. AIDS is an equal-opportunity menace, affecting rich and poor, the well educated and successful, and those with little education and few successes. One could feel the pain the Muttis experienced. And yet, just as evident were the enormous strength and sense of responsibility in their fight to eradicate AIDS. The Muttis' story teaches us a lesson about how one family turned their pain into gain for the church and the world. Think about it. Who could better serve as coordinators of the Global AIDS Fund Committee than a mother and father who lost two young sons to AIDS? full story

NCC's Edgar looks to 'Middle Church' to restore values

Oct. 6, 2006      United Methodist News Service NEW YORK — The Rev. Bob Edgar has a wake-up call for those he thinks can  help restore America's moral values. The call can be found in his new book, Middle Church: Reclaiming the Moral Values of the Faithful Majority from the Religious Right, published by Simon & Schuster. Edgar, 63, has announced he will leave his position as chief executive of the National Council of Churches at the end of 2007. The United Methodist pastor also served six terms as a congressman from Pennsylvania and was president of Claremont (Calif.) School of Theology. While depictions of sex and violence on television are a measure of morality, so are "hunger, illiteracy, disease, war and environmental degradation," he writes. full story

Malaria, poverty kill children in Angola

Oct. 6, 2006      United Methodist News Service MALANJE, Angola — At 3:50 p.m. on Sept. 25, 8-month-old Domingos Antonic died. Malaria and poverty killed him. A $10 mosquito net might have saved his life. A clean neighborhood sprayed with pesticide surely would have. Forty-six percent of all the deaths in Malanje are related to malaria. Malaria is the No. 1 cause of death for children under 5 in this southwest African country. A delegation from the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries and United Methodist Communications visited two cities in Angola - Malanje and Luanda -- Sept. 24-Oct. 1. The group toured hospitals, clinics, orphanages, schools and churches to explore ways to prevent malaria and other communicable diseases by providing greater access to health care. full story

Angolan children die without pediatric surgeon

Oct. 6, 2006     United Methodist News Service MALANJE, Angola — Sitting on the couch in the living room of Bishop Jose and Dr. Laurinda Vidal Quipungo, the Rev. R. Randy Day listens closely as the couple describe the needs in their country. Dr. Quipungo softly starts talking about a child that had died of complications from malaria the day before. She says the child's death was complicated by the need to give him a blood transfusion and oxygen. "Here in Malanje, we don't have a national surgeon," she says. "The doctors and surgeons we have here are all foreigners who tend to be general, not pediatric specialists." She says a pediatric surgeon would have been able to cut into the child's arm and get to a deeper vein. "It was very hard to find a vein in his small arm. "One of our short-term needs would be to help train some people even as nurses who have some pediatric training so when we find situations like this they would know what to do." full story

REFLECTIONS: The key to compromise: knowing when it's OK

Oct. 6, 2006  United Methodist Reporter Compromise! I used to think it was weak, unprincipled or opportunistic. Sometimes mere expediency. I have known compromise to result in unjust and unfair consequences. A simple dictionary definition, of course, is much more neutral: "A settlement of differences by mutual consent." But for the most part, compromise is thought to be more ominous. Compromise can result in the rejection of a higher good for a lesser one. Or the loss of a valued result. Most people feel to compromise is to give in or give up. On the other hand, compromise may mean moving forward, creating the possibility for progress, even unity. What may be difficult is knowing when compromise is appropriate. Or when not compromising is for the sake of conscience, and not ego. full story

DVD assists with dialogue, not debate, about homosexuality

Oct. 9, 2006     United Methodist News Service A DVD resource that offers a practical guide to discussions about homosexuality and the church while putting "a real human face" on the issue is now available to United Methodists. The resource was produced by the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns and United Methodist Communications. According to the Rev. Greg Stover, a member of the Commission on Christian Unity, the DVD "will provide a practical, general resource about how a group of people can engage in divisive, controversial issues." The purpose of the resource is not to change people's opinions, he added, but "to grow an understanding of our own views and the views of others." full story

Winter poses 'ticking time bomb' for quake survivors

Oct. 9, 2006      United Methodist News Service MANSEHRA, Pakistan  —  As winter approaches the north of Pakistan once again, many of those left homeless by the crippling earthquake in October 2005 are growing increasingly frustrated and newly afraid. "I want to start my life here again, but there is no work," said Shams Shah Zaman, a quake survivor in the remote village of Khanian. "Soon the snow will begin, and our tents are too thin to withstand the winter. How are we supposed to live here? The army doesn't want to let us return to the city, but how can we stay here in the mountains?" full story

United Methodists condemn North Korea test, nuclear weapons

Oct. 9, 2006      United Methodist News Service United Methodist and World Council of Churches leaders are responding with concern to the news of a nuclear weapon test by North Korea. "Many United Methodist Christians are concerned about North Korea's nuclear test," said Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, who leads the United Methodist Church's Chicago Area. The church opposes any country testing or developing nuclear arms, "which can be misused and destroy all of God's creation," he said Oct. 9, in a Korean-language interview with United Methodist Communications. North Korea announced that it had carried out an underground test of a nuclear weapon Oct. 8. full story

United Methodist military chaplains gather in Nashville

Oct. 10, 2006     United Methodist News Service NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Members of the military who served in Iraq are welcomed home, but they often find their homes are not the same, said a seminary professor at a gathering of United Methodist military chaplains. "The church should make sure returning military find homes," said M. Douglas Meeks, the Cal Turner Professor of Theology and Wesleyan Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville. Meeks spoke about what it means to be a United Methodist chaplain, the public expression of religion, just war theory and the Catholic-Evangelical heritage of United Methodists. The Sept. 22-24 gathering was sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry. Retired Bishop Robert Fannin of Lakeland, Fla., and Saul Espino, a board executive, planned the event. full story

U.N. Foundation helps fund United Methodist health summit

Oct. 11, 2006     United Methodist News Service NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The United Nations Foundation is providing a $100,000 grant to help underwrite a meeting of United Methodist leaders that will focus on a possible churchwide response to global health care challenges. The grant, made to the Foundation for United Methodist Communications, was announced Oct. 10. Leaders from around the denomination will meet in Washington in December to address urgent issues such as HIV/AIDS and malaria, particularly on the continent of Africa. full story

United Methodists to observe U.N. Sunday

Oct. 11, 2006     United Methodist News Service NEW YORK — United Methodists are being asked to observe United Nations Sunday on Oct. 22, with particular attention to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. The observance also includes an essay contest and visual arts contest and children's participation in "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF." The Rev. Liberato Bautista, a staff executive for the United Nations and International Affairs for the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, says issues of peace, security and development are intertwined with how the HIV/AIDS crisis is handled. full story

Camp shares hope, love with the children of inmates

Oct. 11, 2006     United Methodist News Service CABOT, Vt. — When they arrived, the children were fearful, withdrawn and silent. By the time they left the weeklong summer camp, they were just a bunch of kids who had a great time. The 21 children, who attended Camp Agape at Covenant Hills Christian Camp in Cabot, all had something in common: at least one parent was serving time in a Vermont correctional facility. full story

Consultation will study impact of 2 church court rulings

Oct. 12, 2006 United Methodist News Service NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A United Methodist agency is sponsoring a February consultation to study rulings by the denomination's highest court in the case of a pastor who blocked a homosexual man from church membership. The United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry will gather a diverse group of bishops, seminary professors and pastors to probe the implications of Judicial Council decisions that upheld the right of the Rev. Ed Johnson, pastor of South Hill (Va.) United Methodist Church, to deny membership to a practicing gay man. full story

Mission board continues call for better immigration laws

Oct. 13, 2006 United Methodist News Service STAMFORD, Conn. — Concerned about proposed changes to U.S. immigration law, the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries is repeating its call for just immigration policies. The action took place during the mission agency's Oct. 9-12 annual meeting in Stamford. full story

WESLEYAN WISDOM: Is Bible literally the Word of God?

Oct. 13, 2006  United Methodist Reporter Opinions about the authority of the Bible vary widely, and often are expressed with either condescension or accusation. The closest we might come to common ground on what United Methodism believes about the Bible as the Word of God should be the Book of Discipline. The Scripture section of the Discipline's "Theological Guidelines" (Paragraph 104), reads: “United Methodists share with other Christians the conviction that Scripture is the primary source and criterion for Christian doctrine. Through Scripture, the living Christ meets us in the experience of redeeming grace. . . . As we open our minds and hearts to the Word of God through the words of human beings inspired by the Holy Spirit, faith is born and nourished, our understanding is deepened, and the possibilities for transforming the world become apparent to us." full story

UMCOR grants bolster community centers on Gulf Coast

Oct. 13, 2006    United Methodist News Service STAMFORD, Conn. — Three United Methodist community centers on the Gulf Coast - still struggling to recover from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as they assist area residents - will receive additional assistance from the United Methodist Committee on Relief. UMCOR directors approved the funding during the Oct. 9-12 annual meeting of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, UMCOR's parent agency. full story

Small church, big worship

Oct. 13, 2006     News media contact:   Dean McIntyre * 877-899-2780, ext 7073 *  Nashville {05082} General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church I recently led worship and classes for an annual conference laity event. They invited me to stay over Sunday and lead worship in a local church. I accepted the invitation provided they selected a small-membership church. It was a wonderful worship experience with the people of that small church, quite different from my own very large congregation in Nashville. full story

Speakers challenge church health ministry leaders

Oct. 16, 2006    News media contact:   Tim  Tanton * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {612} United Methodist News Service MEMPHIS, Tenn. — United Methodists need to become agents of "holy boldness" in advocating for better health care, Bishop Felton May told a national gathering of health ministry leaders. "Our health system is broken - 46 million Americans have no health care and 40 million have minimal coverage; 18,000 Americans die every year because they have no health insurance. How can we say we're the strongest nation in the world when we treat our citizens so shabbily?" asked May, dean of Philander Smith College's Harry R. Kendall Science and Health Mission Center in Little Rock, Ark. "Our vision is a culture of caring with health care for all," said May, addressing United Methodist leaders who gathered Oct. 8-11 at St. Columbo Retreat Center in the Memphis area for the National Congregational Health Ministries Conference. "Empowering Ministries of Health: Transform, Mobilize, Advocate" was the theme of the conference, sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. full story

Online course will help churches develop Web ministries

Oct. 16, 2006    News media contact:   Linda  Green * (615) 7425470*  Nashville {610} United Methodist News Service The communications arm of the United Methodist Church is launching an online tool to help local churches develop Web sites and Web ministries that are helpful and inviting, and that provide opportunities for spiritual growth. In an effort to further bring the denomination into the digital age, United Methodist Communications has created Web Ministry 101, a free online training experience that provides a local church with the basic steps to establish an Internet presence. The introductory training provides 25 how-to steps to guide a person from the purchase of a computer to launching a church Web site. United Methodist Communications launched this online learning center Oct. 16 at http://www.web.umcom.org. full story

Alaska Supreme Court awards property to conference

Oct. 17, 2006      United Methodist News Service ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Supreme Court has ruled that a wood building that once housed a 60-member United Methodist congregation is owned by the Alaska Missionary Conference and former members who claimed the property are guilty of trespassing. Almost eight months after the case was argued before the five justices on Jan. 25, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of Alaska Superior Court Judge Richard Savell to award disputed property of St. Paul Church to the Alaska Missionary Conference. The five-member state Supreme Court affirmed Oct. 13 the historic "trust provisions" of the United Methodist Church. The court rejected claims made by a dissident group to a church building valued two years ago at $322,000 and a parsonage valued at $196,000. The trust clause is a measure introduced in the 1700s by Methodism founder John Wesley to protect the security of the "preaching house" as a place for worship. full story

Funds needed to repair campus ministry buildings

Oct. 17, 2006     United Methodist News Service MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The United Methodist Campus Ministers Association is working to raise $170,000 to repair Wesley Foundation buildings damaged by Hurricane Katrina and to support campus ministries in Louisiana and Mississippi. The Rev. Bill Campbell, campus minister at Middle Tennessee State University and co-chairman of the association, said money is needed for construction and renovation, furnishings, appliances and ministry programs at Gulf Coast colleges and universities. full story

Death penalty continues despite church's 50-year opposition

Oct. 19, 2006    News media contact:  Kathy L. Gilbert*, (615) 742-5470 {619} United Methodist News Service Fifty years ago, delegates to the Methodist General Conference granted full clergy rights to women. Action by that top legislative body of the denomination prompted anniversary celebrations across the United Methodist Church this year. Delegates to the 1956 conference in Minneapolis took another historic action that has received little attention. For the first time, delegates put the church officially on record as opposed to the death penalty. Each Methodist and United Methodist General Conference since that time has reaffirmed its opposition to capital punishment. Meeting every four years, these assemblies are the only bodies that can speak officially for the denomination. full story

Mentally ill inmates continue to be executed

Oct. 19, 2006    News media contact:  Kathy L. Gilbert,  (615) 742-5470{622} United Methodist News Service Mentally ill inmates continue to be executed despite a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring it unconstitutional to execute defendants with "mental retardation." Critics of the death penalty contend the practice continues because courts, particularly state courts, tend to interpret the U.S. Supreme Court prohibition in a very restrictive manner. full story

Agency issues statements on North Korea, Darfur, violence

Oct. 20, 2006     United Methodist News Service WASHINGTON — Nuclear weapons testing in North Korea, the continuing humanitarian crisis in Darfur, and the recent school shooting in Pennsylvania were of utmost concern to the members of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society during the agency's fall meeting. full story

UM pastor mediates in Amish crisis

Oct. 20, 2006    United Methodist Reporter When news hit on Oct. 2 that a gunman had shot and killed several Amish children at a schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa., reporters flocked to cover the police investigation and funerals of the young victims. The media spotlight, however, clashed sharply with Amish ways, which include limited contact with other cultures and an aversion to being photographed. A central tenet of Amish beliefs and practices is the concept of modesty before God, and most members believe cameras violate the second commandment: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image...." Because United Methodist pastor Michael Remel already knew this, he was able to effectively help his Amish neighbors in the crisis. Mr. Remel, 32, is a seminary student who serves Georgetown UMC in nearby Bart Township. full story

EDITOR'S CORNER: Garrison Keillor disses UMs after Dallas lecture

Oct. 20, 2006 United Methodist Reporter When it comes to faith and politics, Garrison Keillor doesn't always get it. Like the witticisms he invents on "A Prairie Home Companion," he must have conjured up an image in his mind before he even arrived in Dallas for a Sept. 27 lecture at Highland Park United Methodist Church. And from all accounts, it just doesn't jibe. full story

Board celebrates passage of Internet gambling law

Oct. 20, 2006     United Methodist News Service WASHINGTON — A front-page headline in the Washington Post on the defeat of Internet gambling provided cause for celebration during the United Methodist Board of Church and Society's fall meeting. "'New Law Cripples Internet Gambling' is the headline above the fold," said Jim Winkler, top executive of the agency, as he waved the newspaper's Oct. 14 edition from the podium during the board's meeting. "This reflects seven years of hard work by this board." The Post article said the legislation eliminated "an activity enjoyed by as many as 23 million Americans who wagered an estimated $6 billion last year." full story

United Methodist delegation explores challenges in Cuba

Oct. 24, 2006     United Methodist News Service HAVANA — U.S. policy has made it difficult for the United Methodist Church and other faith groups to work with their Cuban counterparts in mission and ministry. A delegation representing the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns received a special license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department to visit Cuba Oct. 7-12. The group went to develop relationships with the Cuban Methodist Church and to provide a witness to the importance of relationships - both Methodist and ecumenical - to the life of the church in Cuba and its people. The nine-member delegation "went to Cuba to dramatize the importance of ecumenical relationships and the way in which our churches can play a significant role for change in the country," said the Rev. Larry Pickens, the agency's top executive. "It is a critical time, particularly in relation to the reality of our need to be connected to the Methodist Church of Cuba." full story

Hero of 'Catch a Fire' tells church about apartheid era

Oct. 26, 2006     United Methodist News Service DALLAS — "I have learned to remember the words of my friend, Nelson Mandela, when he said, 'We can never be free unless we learn to forgive.'" Those are the words of Patrick Chamusso, a former prisoner on South Africa's Robben Island with Mandela. He spoke and worshipped at Munger Place United Methodist Church while visiting Dallas as part of a promotional tour for the movie "Catch a Fire," which debuts in U.S. theaters Oct. 27. The movie tells the story of his life and his struggle as a freedom fighter in apartheid-era South Africa. full story

Nothing But Nets campaign raises money to fight malaria

Oct. 27, 2006     United Methodist News Service More than 100,000 insecticide-treated bed nets will be delivered to Nigeria in November as part of a new malaria prevention campaign called Nothing But Nets. Partners in Nothing But Nets include the United Methodist Church, the United Nations Foundation, Sports Illustrated, the National Basketball Association, Millennium Promise and the Measles Initiative. The United Methodist Board of Global Ministries and United Methodist Communications are coordinating the church's participation in the campaign, which will include a major initiative for youth groups. The goal is to raise funds to eradicate malaria in Africa, where the mosquito-borne disease causes the death of one-fifth of all children under 5 years old. Hanging nets over children while they sleep is a simple, inexpensive way to kill the mosquitoes or keep them from biting. full story

Church confronts killer diseases in Angola

Oct. 27, 2006     United Methodist News Service LUANDA, Angola — Sometimes malaria can kill a child before anyone even knows the child has been infected. The Rev. Domingos Kafuanda says the recent death of an 8-year-old girl in his congregation was a grim reminder of how deadly malaria can be. The child was singing in the children's choir on Sunday. "She was happy and playing," he says. "We got word she died the next day of malaria." full story

College reopening brings light, joy, to Angola

Oct. 30, 2006     United Methodist News Service MALANJE, Angola — The opening of Quéssua Theological College is bringing the light back to a place that has lived in darkness for the last 20 years. At the beginning of Angola's long civil war, Quéssua, a United Methodist institution, was bombed out of existence in an act of revenge against the first president of Angola, who was a United Methodist. Set a few miles from Malanje in a gently rolling countryside, Quéssua educated many of the leaders of Angola today. "We need this school for our children. We are hoping after today the students will come back," Bishop Jose Quipungo told those gathered to celebrate the inauguration of the pre-university school Sept. 28. full story

Cookie Factory feeds midshipmen, raises funds for missions

Oct. 30, 2006     United Methodist News Service ANNAPOLIS, Md. — This is not your ordinary church bake sale. Members of Calvary United Methodist Church here are known for doing things in a big - and delectable - way. "Wouldn't be anything without chocolate chips," said Jean Graf, mixing the dough at Calvary's Cookie Factory in the church kitchen. full story

India Methodists celebrate 150 years of ministry

Oct. 31, 2006    United Methodist News Service LUCKNOW, India — Nearly 700 Indians and dignitaries from other nations celebrated 150 years of ministry in this South Asian nation. Meeting Oct. 20-23 at Isabella Thoburn College, delegates from the 12 regional conferences of the Indian church and Methodist leaders from other nations celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Methodist Church of India, a 649,000-member autonomous denomination affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Dignitaries came from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, the United Kingdom and the United States. full story