Oct. 2, 2009
NOTE: This is a digest of news features provided by United Methodist Communications for Sept. 28-Oct. 2. It includes summaries of stories, UMTV video reports and additional briefs from United Methodist News Service. Full versions of the stories with photographs and related features can be found at http://umns.umc.org.
Stories this week:
Plus:
UMTV:
Young people help form ministries outside U.S.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)—Three young people from the Philippines, Africa and Europe are taking a leading role in developing the denomination’s ministry with youth outside the United States. Armindo Mapoissa, Mighty Rasing and Clara Steinert will supply on-the-ground leadership as part of a new organizational structure by the Young People’s Ministries division at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. Instead of running everything from Nashville, Mike Ratliff, division top executive, says it makes sense to use people who have a cultural understanding of how the young people’s ministry is working in their area. {388} Read More
Black church leaders learn ways to share their message
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)—United Methodist black congregations seeking to use the gift of technology often find themselves somewhere between Skype and phone trees. So when nearly 100 African-American pastors and lay leaders attended a gathering of Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century, they were eager to learn how to better present their message to today’s congregations. Adapting to new technology was part of a full day of training for these church members before the initiative’s biannual business meeting, Sept. 25-26. {389} Read More
Methodists, Catholics, Lutherans celebrate milestone
CHICAGO (UMNS)—Justification by faith. Those three words divided Western Christianity for centuries, splitting apart families and nations. Wars were fought over their meaning. So it was with a sense of awe and wonder that representatives of three major Christian traditions – Methodism, Lutheranism and Catholicism – gathered in a Chicago church Oct. 1 to celebrate their fundamental agreement on how sinful human beings are forgiven and brought into a right relationship with God. Young church members like Nikki Rhoads, 31, say they see their Catholic and Lutheran friends “as just Christians.” What would Jesus do? “He’d want us all to love each other,” says Rhoads, who attends Hillcrest United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn. {390} Read More
Mission service offers live viewing, chat options
NEW YORK (UMNS)—United Methodists around the connection will be able to participate in a virtual laying on of hands when 40 mission personnel are commissioned and the service is streamed live on the Internet. The service will take place at 7 p.m. EST, Oct. 13, during the annual meeting of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries in Stamford, Conn., and can be followed at www.ummissionaries.org. Blessings and prayers, along with words of encouragement and other comments, can be posted via Twitter and Facebook. {391} Read More
Hunger ministry adds sweetness to menu at food bank
CORVALLIS, Ore. (UMNS)—Sara Power works her way carefully around stinging nettles, picking wild Oregon blackberries in a park. Within hours, the berries turn into sweet treats for distribution at area food banks. “We have abundant fruit here, and it dawned on me that there was no reason we didn’t have jams and jellies in the food bank,” Power says. That realization led her to launch the Jamming for the Hungry ministry at her church, Corvallis First United Methodist. Since the program began a year ago, she and other volunteers have cooked up more than 1,500 jars of jams, jellies and syrups for several area food banks. {392} Read More
‘Gardening for God’ reaps unexpected blessings
LEACHVILLE, Ark. (UMNS)—When members of a small United Methodist church followed Jesus’ command to feed the hungry, they reaped a lot more than they sowed. This spring, Leachville United Methodist Church grew corn on about three acres along the main highway in this northeastern Arkansas farming town. Church members harvested the ears by hand, then delivered bags of about a dozen each to elderly residents and families in Leachville and the neighboring towns of Monette and Manila. Each sack the congregants delivered had a flier with the name and worship time of the church. Altogether, the small congregation gave away more than 2,500 ears through its inaugural “Gardening for God” project. {393} Read More
UMCOR distributes relief supplies in Philippines
NEW YORK (UMNS) — United Methodists have been working to get emergency supplies to nearly 2 million people affected by Typhoon Ketsana in the Philippines. “With the limited supplies we had on hand, we were able to supply immediate relief to about 500 families,” reported Melissa Crutchfield, the executive in charge of international disaster response for the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Volunteers are preparing supplies at UMCOR’s Philippines Office, about 50 miles south of Manila. They are assembling packets of rice, sardines, coffee, oil, sugar, and special items for women and children to distribute in evacuation centers. Some blankets also were available for flood victims. Other church members in the Manila area are collecting supplies as well, Crutchfield noted. Donations to UMCOR’s relief work can be made to Philippines Emergency, UMCOR Advance #240235. {394} Read More
3 traditions celebrate historic agreement, spirit of unity
CHICAGO (UMNS)—In joyful embraces, spirit-filled hymns and common prayer, Methodists, Catholics and Lutherans marked the end of centuries of division over a central doctrine of faith by vowing to move toward greater unity. The celebration of an historic agreement on justification by faith, or how individuals are forgiven and brought into a right relationship with God, began with a colorful opening procession in which robed leaders of the three historic Christian traditions walked side by side. Participants broke out in spontaneous applause at the end. Bishop Gregory Palmer, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, said in reflection, “For me, the heart of God, I trust, found some delight in us tonight.” {395}
UMCOR to respond to earthquakes, tsunami
NEW YORK (UMNS)—The United Methodist Committee on Relief is in close contact with local partners to prepare a response to the Sept. 30 earthquake and tsunami that struck the Samoan Islands – including American Samoa, which is part of the denomination’s California-Pacific Annual (regional) Conference – and Tonga, which borders Samoa, as well as a response to the unrelated earthquakes affecting Indonesia Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Melissa Crutchfield of UMCOR said she has been in touch with the agency’s Indonesia office but added that it was difficult to obtain information from Padang, the hardest-hit city. The death toll is expected to be in the thousands and damage is widespread from the two events. Donations can be made to Indonesia Emergency, UMCOR Advance #217400, and Samoa Tsunami, U.S. Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #901670.
Leaders call for restoration of rights in Honduras
WASHINGTON (UMNS)—Three United Methodists – the Rev. John McCullough of Church World Service, Jim Winkler of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society and Nan McCurdy, a missionary – joined with leaders of faith-based and other nongovernmental Latin American policy, human rights, labor, and peace organizations to support human rights in Honduras following the June ouster of President Manuel Zelaya and Zelaya's secret return to the country Sept. 21. The Sept. 29 statement urged the current government to restore the country's constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties, along with freedom of the press.
Winans, Woodruff, Nhanala to appear at UMW Assembly
NEW YORK (UMNS)—Vocalist and performer CeCe Winans, broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff, and newly appointed United Methodist Bishop Joaquina Nhanala of Mozambique are slated to participate in the Assembly 2010 gathering of United Methodist Women. The event will be April 20-May 2 in St. Louis. It will celebrate women of faith and the mission work of women, children and youth in more than 80 countries. More information about the assembly can be found online at www.umwmission.org/assembly.
United Methodists respond to Georgia floods
NEW YORK (UMNS)—The United Methodist Committee on Relief is working with the denomination’s North Georgia Annual (regional) Conference to assist with recovery efforts from flooding in 17 counties, caused by severe storms moving northeast from the Gulf of Mexico. The deluge resulted in at least nine deaths before the rain stopped. Cleaning buckets from UMCOR’s Relief Supply Depots were ready to be sent to areas in need. Teams interested in volunteering for flood cleanup and repairs should contact the conference’s call center at (678) 533-1443. Donations for United Methodist participation during the initial phase of recovery can be made to U.S. Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #901670, and placed in church offering plates or given electronically.
Iliff welcomes largest class ever
DENVER (UMNS)—The Iliff School of Theology recently welcomed its largest class since the school began in 1892. “This year’s incoming class is the largest in the school’s 100-plus-year history,” said David Trickett, president. The class includes 104 students—80 seeking master’s degrees and 24 not seeking degrees. Iliff is a graduate theological school of The United Methodist Church, serving more than 38 different faith traditions.
UMTV: Raising Grandkids in Retirement
CHICAGO (UMTV)—Seven percent of U.S. households with children are headed by a grandparent, according to census data. Mothers and fathers battling disease, poverty, incarceration, or addiction can’t give kids a stable home, and often a grandparent has to step in. Meet one couple who are raising teen girls after the kids’ mom had a breakdown and the children ended up in a homeless shelter. The family relies on a support group at Chicago’s Fernwood United Methodist Church that gives grandparents guidance, respite, and a social outlet where they can meet other intergenerational families. “Raising Grandkids in Retirement” is available to view at http://www.umtv.org/archives/raising_grandkids_in_retirement.htm.
UMTV: Jamming for Hungry
CORVALLIS, Ore. (UMTV)—A food bank volunteer noticed that shelves stocked plenty of bread, pancake mix, and peanut butter but no syrup or jelly. So she helped organize a group to collect wild berries and turn them into sweet treats for patrons of a local food pantry. They even make a few special batches for diabetic shoppers. The cooking and canning is done in the commercial kitchen at Corvallis United Methodist Church in Oregon. “Jamming for Hungry” is available to view at http://www.umtv.org/archives/jamming_for_hungry.htm. |
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