News In Brief – September 4, 2009

Brief items for use in local church newsletters
Prepared by United Methodist News Service

The story of David and Goliath is Sam Bradford’s favorite from the Bible. Like David, he faces big challenges and super-sized expectations – especially on the football field as the quarterback for the University of Oklahoma. And like David, he is confident that God goes with him into battle. “I think it’s a great story. It’s grown to become a big part of my life,” the Heisman Trophy-winning athlete told an audience at the United Methodist Church of the Servant in Oklahoma City, where he is a member. “With God, you’re so much stronger than you could ever be by yourself. Any time I step on the field, I know I’m not alone. He’s got my back.”

The church’s role in reforming health care begins at home, a family physician told United Methodist leaders. Dr. Scott Morris, founder of the Church Health Center in Memphis, Tenn., said the inability to deal with health and wholeness is one of the fundamental reasons the U.S. health-care system is broken. Churches need to do more than check blood pressure on Sunday and host health fairs, he told nearly 80 new district superintendents and directors of connectional ministries. “We need to explore what it means to have a healing ministry in our congregations and in our lives,” he said.

The forest fires ravaging Southern California have destroyed one church worker’s home, forced others to evacuate and still threaten two United Methodist camps. As they wait and pray, United Methodists in the California-Pacific Annual (regional) Conference also are responding with compassion, preparing to house evacuees and setting up funds to assist fire victims. The Rev. Yvonne Williams-Boyd, pastor of Altadena United Methodist Church, said several members were given mandatory evacuation orders, but the congregation was still able to have church on Sunday.

The United Methodist Board of Discipleship and the United Methodist Publishing House are seeking new, previously unpublished, original worship resources - prayers, litanies, blessings, calls to worship, etc. - for a new worship publication that will be available in print and in an expanded online edition. Each entry must be submitted by Sept. 18. Further information is available from Dean McIntyre, director of music resources, United Methodist Board of Discipleship at dmcintyre@gbod.org, or by calling (877) 899-2780, Ext. 7073.

A year to the day of taking the helm of The United Methodist Church's mission agency, the top executive is leaving for health reasons. The Rev. Edward W. Paup has resigned, effective immediately, as general secretary of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, Bishop Bruce Ough of West Ohio, board president, announced Sept. 1. Paup, 63, had been on medical leave since Aug. 10. "The results of examinations indicate the presence of a brain tumor that will require close and constant monitoring in the days ahead," Ough said. Bishop Joel N. Martínez will serve as interim general secretary while a search is conducted for a new chief executive.

The African American Methodist Heritage Center, an initiative of Black Methodists for Church Renewal, is sponsoring a workshop Oct. 2-4 at Gammon Theological Seminary. "The Journey: History as a Bridge to the Future" is designed to increase awareness about African-American contributions to the church and to encourage effective discipleship, evangelism and mission. The United Methodist Board of Church and Society and Commission on Archives and History also are sponsors. Further information is available at www.aamhc-umc.org.

The remnants of the Berlin Wall will serve as a powerful symbol of unity and hope for some 500 youth and young adults expected at the Global Young People’s Convocation and Legislative Assembly next July 21-26. “We chose Berlin intentionally,” said Elizabeth-Ann Rowlison, coordinator of the event for Young People’s Ministries, a division of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. “It speaks to the kind of event we want to have because of Berlin’s history and its present, as a divided city that has united over the last 20 years and has had to overcome a lot of its history.” For more information, go to www.globalyoungpeople.org.

The World Council of Churches condemned mass atrocities against civilians in Darfur, and urged the Sudanese government to protect its citizens and allow free access for humanitarian aid. The council’s Central Committee, in a statement adopted Sept. 1, also encouraged African nations and the international community to continue to support the peace process “through constructive dialogue with all parties involved in the conflict.” The statement concluded by encouraging Christians everywhere to pray “for an end to the hostilities in Darfur and for a lasting peace in Sudan.”

British Methodists have expressed solidarity with Methodists in Fiji following the country’s suspension from the Commonwealth Sept. 1. The Methodist Church in Britain has called on the Fiji government to allow the Methodist Church to exercise its right to freedom of religion and to play its part in developing a just society. Steve Pearce, partnership coordinator for Asia and the Pacific, said: “Things are becoming increasingly difficult for the Methodist Church in Fiji, and I think there are real grounds for believing not only that the military government is slowly crippling the church, but that it is doing so intentionally."