New Model of Ministry highlights SEJ Connectional Table Meeting

Lake Junaluska, N.C.: A new model of ministry for the Southeastern Jurisdiction was the highlight of the SEJ Connectional Table meeting at Lake Junaluska during the November 17-19 weekend. The Organizational Task Group presented a report to the Connectional Table calling for several changes in the current ministry of the Jurisdiction based on recommendations made in the 2004 Jurisdictional Conference.

The report, which was approved by the Connectional Table, called for the elimination of SEJAC and any remnants of the old Jurisdictional Council on Ministries. According to the report, the legal entity known as "SEJAC" remains on the books, and must do so until the 2008 (or any future) Jurisdictional Conference officially adopts changes and the necessary documents are prepared and filed.

"The new "Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference," which meets once every four years, will be the basic entity for the whole Jurisdiction. A Coordinating Council will function between sessions of the Jurisdictional Conference to hold accountable the ministries of the Jurisdiction and exercise its role in coordinating the varied ministries and the outreach of SEJ. This council will meet at least twice a year.

SEJ Agencies were distinguished in three categories in the report: ownership of property within the bounds of SEJ; A separate board of directors with full-time Executive Directors and a focused and clearly defined mission in keeping with the purpose statement.

The three agencies in the Jurisdiction who currently fit this category are Lake Junaluska Assembly, the Hinton Rural Life Center and Gulfside Assembly. Each agency is to be self-sustaining by the end of 2012 and attention shall be given to the membership of each Board not only for policy and mission decisions, but also for financial support and fund raising. Each Agency will have a full-time Director to guide the work and ministry. The Director of Lake Junaluska Assembly will also serve as the Executive Director of SEJ Ministries, working with and accountable to the Coordinating Council.

Three Jurisdictional offices will be created and funded through the SEJ Administrative Fund beginning 2009-2012. They are the office of Finance and Administration, the office of Development and the office of Communications.

The period of transition that will take the Jurisdiction today to this new model begins in January 2007 and will last between 18 and 24 months. A transition team was formed so that the implementation of portions of this new structure may begin immediately. The members of the Transition Team are:

Two members of the current SEJAC Connectional Table Executive Committee:
Bishop Lawrence McCleskey (WNC)
Roger Hopson (Memphis)

Two members of the Organizational Task Group:
Anne Travis (Holston)
Gary Locklear (NC)

Two members elected by SEJAC Connectional Table:
Jim Trollinger (WNC)
Patricia Battle (MS)

Two Conference Lay Leaders:
Lyn Powell (NGA)
Bill Walker (FL)

Three Directors of Agencies:
Jimmy Carr (Lake Junaluska)
Clay Smith (Hinton Rural Life Center)
Mollie Stewart (Gulfside)

Convener and Chair (without vote):
Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster

Consultant (without vote):
Bishop Robert Fannin

The transition period beginning January 2007 will continue through the 2008 Jurisdictional Conference.

"All of this is about a new model of ministry that calls for new connections in this day, new perspectives about who we are, moving outside perhaps some of the status quo and moved into God's preferred future," Bishop Goodpaster said.

"It's all about equipping and preparing people to be effective, faithful disciples who bear fruit across the Jurisdiction. It's about extending hope and hospitality to all of God's people across the Jurisdiction. It's about serving and glorifying God and do it with excellence. That's, we believe, our challenge," he said.

"These are exciting days ahead for the SEJ and for Lake Junaluska as we chart our way into this new future. I pray that God's hand will direct our decisions in order for us to be an equipping place for disciples of Christ," Jimmy Carr said.

Betty Admussen, leader in Native American work, dies at 80

By United Methodist News Service

Betty Jane Admussen, of Kansas City, Mo., a member of the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race and an active part of Native American ministries in the church, died Nov. 22 after a long illness. She was 80.

A member of the Eastern Shawnee tribe, she was chairperson of the commission's Native American Concerns Work Group and served on the Finance and Annual Conference Review work groups (committees).

Known to many as "Miss Betty," she was an active, lifelong member of United Methodist Women and treasurer of the National United Methodist Native American Center. She also served on the board of the denomination's Native American Comprehensive Plan and was active in the World Council of Churches.

"She was a dedicated, enthusiastic, tenacious servant of God and of her church for over 50 years," said Suanne Ware-Diaz, the commission's staff executive for the Native American constituency. "She especially had a deep concern for young adults and was very supportive of Native Americans interested in the ordained ministry.

Admussen, a member of Platte Woods United Methodist Church in Kansas City, was a cancer survivor who "fought for her life" and was a "lady of grace and beauty and strength," Ware-Diaz said.

"Her death leaves a huge void in the life of the Native American community," she added, "particularly among her family, her tribe and her church."

Last year, the Eastern Shawnee Indian Tribe named its museum in Seneca, Okla., the Betty Jane Holden Admussen Museum in her honor.

Admussen was born in Quapaw, Okla. She is survived by her husband, Jim; daughter and son-in-law Linda and Kevin Hendrix; and her grandchildren, Samantha and Drew.
Funeral services were held Nov. 25 at Platte Woods United Methodist Church.

*Information for this story was provided by the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race, with additional details gathered from the Kansas City Star newspaper.

Pan-Methodist commission continues journey of becoming one

By Linda Green*

CHICAGO (UMNS) - Since 1996, the Commission on Pan-Methodist Cooperation and Union has had an ongoing struggle around issues related to union - what union is, what it would look like and how to proceed toward it.

"No more, but not yet" is the phrase the new chairman of the commission uses to describe the group's future work.

Bishop Nathaniel Jarrett of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church explained, "We live in existential tension" and "we are no more what we were, but, by the same token, we have not become what we will become and what we ought to become." Jarrett received the Pan-Methodist leadership gavel from African Methodist Episcopal Bishop E. Earl McCloud on Nov. 17.

The Pan-Methodist committee rejoices that it has overcome its earlier struggles and continues to move forward, Jarrett said, "and yet there is the tension of knowing that you still have a long way to go."

The group's historical reflections indicate both an unknown future and a commitment on behalf of five strands of American Methodism to explore God's leading in response to the call to become one.

The 38-member commission has representatives from four historic black churches --African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Christian Methodist Episcopal, Union American Methodist Episcopal -- and the predominantly white United Methodist Church.

Black Methodists created their own denominations in response to racism and other injustices that existed in the main Methodist bodies of their day. The Union American Methodist Church became a member of the commission in 2004.

Jarrett said the fact that there is a table with five American Methodist strands surrounding it indicates "some of the suspicion no longer exists and a real sense of fellowship is enjoyed."

Established in 2000 by the top legislative body of each denomination, the commission's purpose is to facilitate the Methodist family members' movement toward "union" by redefining and strengthening relationships in Jesus Christ. The commission works under the vision of "One body, many members." The group works to foster cooperation among its member denominations in evangelism, missions, publications, social concerns and higher education.

Jarrett said the Acts of Repentance that the United Methodist Church conducted with the African American Methodist bodies in 2000; the inclusion of Pan Methodists among directors of United Methodist boards and agencies; and the cooperation given through the children and poverty initiatives and drug abuse and prevention programs of the denominations demonstrate the "no more, but not yet" theme. "Things that we were doing individually, we have been able to do collectively," he said.

Before 2000, the commission was two separate groups; a commission on cooperation and a commission on union. Since then, Jarrett noted, the greatest accomplishment has been "our ability to continue in spite of disappointments, in spite of frustrations that are a part of not moving fast enough, not seeing the difference being made."

Jarrett will lead the commission through 2008. He outlined his vision of where "we ought to be and need to be," which includes structural shifts. He urged the commission to move "beyond the biblical oneness that we are in Christ," and work in practical ways that impact the quality of life for the people of God.

He invited the five communions "to be who and what we are, a Methodist people, and I would want us to be that in its fullest sense; in the sense of our holiness, in the sense of our social justice agenda and in the sense of all that it means to be a Methodist people."

Jarrett added that the sense of union and the reality before the commission at this time is not organic but a oneness that comes through a shared ministry.

Included in each meeting of the commission is a community-wide worship service hosted by a congregation of one of the Pan-Methodist communions. Coppin Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church in Chicago was the site of the Nov. 17 gathering. AME Bishop Philip R. Cousin Sr. provided the keynote message.

Reminding the congregation of the 1960s' television game show "What's My Line," Cousin urged each individual to show the world that they are of a family in Methodism.

The premise of the program was for four panelists to try to guess unusual occupations of contestants or a product associated with them by asking questions. Those who were being questioned tried to stump the panelists.

"Sometimes in our churches, when we are brought before the panel of the world, we stump them because they never figure our line," Cousin said.

People are confused and upset by "our" disunity and divisiveness, jealousy and hardheartedness, which "make us seem like everything but what we are not," he explained.

The role of an ambassador is not to give policy, but to state policy that comes from the king, Cousin said, adding that an ambassador is not a diplomat. "A diplomat equivocates," he said, while an ambassador for Christ declares the policy that Jesus lives, saves, forgives, reconciles, and blesses.

"What a better place we would have if churches would begin to perform and to act as ambassadors and not diplomats," he added, 'if we would state the policy instead of trying to make the policy."

He told the Pan-Methodist congregation not to sell the product but to be the product. "We have to be representatives and not salesmen," Cousin said. "We are not hucksters selling religion in a bargain-basement fashion."

*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.

Fishermen struggle to rebuild boats, lives after Katrina

By John Gordon*

EMPIRE, La. (UMNS)-Residents of this South Louisiana parish left Vietnam and Cambodia to start new lives in the U.S.

They were working hard and making a good living as commercial fishermen when Hurricane Katrina damaged their homes and boats.

More than a year after the storm, the refugees are still working to rebuild their boats and their lives with the help of Boat People SOS, a social service organization partially funded by the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).

The boats and homes of about 200 commercial fishermen in Plaquemines Parish were directly in Katrina's path.

"I have to repair my boat as soon as possible so that I can make money to recover my life," said Neang Pum, a shrimper who came to the United States from Cambodia in 1981.

The 64-year old received financial assistance from the Return to the Sea program operated by Boat People SOS, but she is still working to make her boat seaworthy. Pum said it may be weeks or months before her boat is repaired.

In the past, she has earned thousands of dollars in a single fishing trip-money she said she desperately needs to build a new house. "Going to the sea, using our boat, we can make good money," she said. "And as soon as we have good money, we can buy a house, easily."

Pum now lives in a FEMA trailer, but she did not qualify for a Small Business Administration loan or other conventional federal aid to repair her boat.

Plenty of shrimp
Ironically, after boats were destroyed, shrimp became abundant in the Gulf of Mexico. The high tides of Katrina swept shrimp into areas of the Gulf where they were not previously found.

"They found themselves in habitats that were near optimal in terms of growth and survival. We had huge numbers of shrimp available to harvest," said Martin Bourgeois of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in Baton Rouge.

"The problem was you had certain communities that were devastated. It was a total collapse of the infrastructure," he said.

Some people will never return to the fishing business, Bourgeois said. "There are a number of boats that are up on a hill, with no government program in place to be able to return boats back to water."

Refugees flee Southeast Asia
The refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia came to the United States in search of freedom and a better education for their children, said Margaret Nguyen, operations manager at the Boat People SOS office in Gretna, La.

Nguyen did not know whether the children of the refugees would continue in the commercial shrimp business.

The life of a fisherman is difficult. They will often spend several days on the water, working day and night to bring in their catch.

"It's very, very hard work," said Tran Yen, a friend who is helping Pum repair her boat. "But I don't know of many jobs like shrimping."

In some years, as much as 45 percent of the shrimp harvested in the Gulf of Mexico comes from Louisiana. The shrimp is served on dinner tables from the southern states to Washington, D.C.

Funds for Katrina victims
Boat People SOS is one of a consortium with nine other organizations, called Katrina Aid Today, headed by the United Methodist Committee on Relief. The organization received a $66 million grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security. The grant consists of international donations that were received after the hurricane.

The goal of Katrina Aid Today is to help 100,000 storm victims rebuild their lives.

* Gordon is a freelance producer and writer based in Marshall, Texas

The People of The United Methodist Church join launch of global malaria campaign

By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK (UMNS) - The people of The United Methodist Church are participating in the official kickoff of a malaria-prevention campaign that plays on the image of balls flying into nets to encourage donations for malaria nets for African families.

United Methodist Bishop Thomas Bickerton of the denomination's Western Pennsylvania area said one of the campaign's most appealing aspects is that fact that "anyone, anywhere" can forge this lifesaving link with children in Africa.

"It all fits in to the whole issue of eradicating poverty," added Bickerton, who also serves as president of United Methodist Communications. "A million people are dying of malaria every year, 75 percent of them children."

The campaign asks for a $10 contribution. The first $7 purchases and distributes the nets, which can cover up to four family members as they sleep. The last $3 pays for community workers to educate families on how to use the insecticide-treated bed nets.

Partners in "Nothing But Nets" include The people of The United Methodist Church, the United Nations Foundation, Sports Illustrated, and the National Basketball Association's foundation NBA Cares, Millennium Promise and the Measles Initiative. The United Methodist Board of Global Ministries and United Methodist Communications are coordinating participation in the campaign.

A special Web site, www.NothingButNets.net, was launched Nov. 14 and online donations can be made through that site. The People of The United Methodist Church have a partner page on the site. United Methodist Communications is creating a special Web page through www.UMC.org in conjunction with the campaign's Web site. Both sites feature additional malaria initiatives of the denomination.

The campaign originated with Rick Reilly, a Sports Illustrated columnist who became interested in the topic after watching a BBC television special, according to Elizabeth McKee, director of marketing for the United Nations Foundation. "When he called us, we happened to have the mechanisms in place to distribute insecticide-treated bed nets," she said.

On May 5, 2006, Reilly wrote a column, headlined "Nothing But Nets," in which he asked readers who "have ever gotten a thrill by throwing, kicking, knocking, dunking, slamming, putting up, cutting down or jumping over a net" to donate money for bed nets. He raised $1.2 million.

Mckee said it was a "natural synergy" for The People of The United Methodist Church to join the "Nothing But Nets" campaign because of the denomination's long experience with malaria work. The United Nations Foundation -- a public charity created in 1998 with a $1 billion gift from Ted Turner to support U.N. causes and activities - builds public-private partnerships to address the world's most pressing problems.

"This natural blending of the sacred and secular…is a wonderful possibility for 21st century ministry," Bickerton added.

Calling Reilly "a wonderful illustration of public awareness," the bishop wants other groups - church youth, Scouts, basketball and soccer teams and "anyone associated with nets in any way" - to become tuned into this simple, inexpensive and lifesaving prevention tool in the fight against malaria.

He expects to use the denomination's connectional system to engage United Methodist youth and others in the campaign. Features such as text message updates provide a "dynamic" way to reach these potential contributors, he said. Anyone can send a text message to 47647, type "Nets" in the text field and hit send to be added to the network.

The "Nothing But Nets" Web site includes toolkits for youth to download. "They can also create their own team," McKee said.

The campaign will be highlighted at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship's Youth 2007 gathering July 11-15, 2007 in Greensboro, N.C.

Bickerton stressed that 100 percent of the funds raised are used directly for the purchase and distribution of bed nets. "Thanks to the United Nations Foundation, the administrative costs are being picked up," he explained.

To distribute the nets throughout communities in Africa in 2007 and 2008, Nothing But Nets has partnered with the Measles Initiative -- an integrated health campaign whose partners include the American Red Cross, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, UNICEF and the UN Foundation.

The first distribution of nets - 150,000 nets in Nigeria - occurred in October and Reilly visited Nigeria with foundation staff the week of Nov. 6 "to ensure the nets were actually hung," McKee said.

She reported that the community health workers who provide education about malaria and demonstrate proper use of the nets "are the most important link to the chain."

Reilly's follow-up column on the campaign is scheduled for the Dec. 4 issue of Sports Illustrated, which will appear on newsstands on or around Nov. 28.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

Cottage industry rejuvenating lives

By Holly McCray*

A new cottage industry is recycling tires and rejuvenating lives at Cookson Hills Center in Oklahoma.

Recycle Rebound adds to the growing number of small-business projects at the United Methodist mission south of Tahlequah, Okla. These projects generate jobs and income for people who are economically at risk.

Denise Rowell is one person who has found new purpose through the new business. Her faith witness is a powerful one, and she willingly tells her story.

Rowell said she is one of three children who have been drug abusers. Her illegal activity led to jail and an extensive probationary sentence. After she was paroled, she struggled to find employment - and she struggled against resuming her destructive behaviors.

She learned from friends about work possibilities at Cookson Hills and about a nearby church "that accepted people like me," Rowell said.

The center this year obtained the equipment and machinery used to convert used tires into new products: doormats.

Rowell's connection to the project was visceral. "Discarded tires and discarded people," she said. "That was me."

She also began attending nearby Canterbury United Methodist Church, a 12-step church that is part of the Oklahoma Indian Missionary (regional) Conference.

Rowell's sister started attending Canterbury Church, too. Their mother, who is Catholic, sometimes visits "to see what made such a difference in us," Rowell said.

The former inmate gives the credit to God.

She has been set free through Christ. The transformation in her was so radical that the court dismissed years of probation. She counts her days of sobriety as she counts her blessings. She smiles as she explains the manufacturing process that is her new job.

At Recycle Rebound, old tires are cut into strips. After holes are punched into the strips, they are placed on a flat form and wired together in the mat shape. Beads cover the wires between the strips. Rubber doormats in three sizes are created.

The choice of bead colors ranges, too. Some mats incorporate beads in many colors. Some may feature only one color. Options include patriotic, Christmas and even college colors.

Waste from the process goes to another Oklahoma plant that chips and crumbles the rubber for other uses.

Patty Ballard, a member at Canterbury, started the recycling business at Cookson Hills.

Rowell said a supply of about 200 mats is maintained, and special orders are accepted. The mats could be used in fund-raising, Rowell noted. Recycle Rebound seeks to cooperate with local church groups in ways that could benefit all, she said.

"We want to develop the business and help people get jobs," Rowell said.

The Rev. Meri Whitaker, director of Cookson Hills, said "Has-Mat" leaders are being sought for the project. These volunteers will help with promotion and distribution of the product.

"The more mats we sell, the more unemployable we can help," said Whitaker, who is also pastor at Canterbury Church. "The mats also promote environmental justice."

To place orders or volunteer, contact the center at cookson@fullnet.net or 918-457-5181.
Among the other cottage industries at Cookson Hills are a silk-screening business, Native American crafts store, a sewing project that creates church paraments and the Country Cupboard supplied by senior citizens.

Cookson Hills Center, Advance Special No. 582161-6, is a mission of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. The Web site is: www.gbgm-umc.org/cooksonhillscenter.

*McCray is editor of Contact, newspaper of the Oklahoma Annual Conference.

Four-legged tutors make reading fun for children

By Heidi Robinson*

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (UMNS) -- Two four-legged reading coaches bring something special to an after-school tutoring program at First Centenary United Methodist Church in Chattanooga.

Sixty children read out loud to two trained therapy dogs as part of a partnership between the church and Read Aloud Chattanooga, an effort to engage children in a life-long love of reading.

"Reading affects everything…math, science," says Karen Fletcher, director of Inner City Ministry, an outreach program in this downtown church. "When the children here improve their reading, we see grades go up. And, everyone loves reading to these dogs. Many of the children in our program have never had a dog, so it adds interest which makes the reading even more special."

All the children in the after-school program are considered "at-risk" either because of low test scores or home situations. But the church sees these children as future bookworms, and the dogs are part of that transformation.

Beverly Trobaugh, an early childhood educator at the church and liaison between the programs, explains, "When you are reading to a dog, you are reading to someone who is totally accepting, and non-judgmental. If a reader struggles, or stumbles that dog will just sit there, and smile. It is an encouraging listener who will not correct, just cuddle. So reading becomes something that makes you feel good."

On a recent afternoon, anticipation builds in the reading room. "After you've selected your story, have a seat in the circle so we can read and wait for the dogs," says Fletcher.

In the church parking lot, a van door slides open. Brandy, a golden-retriever, sedately steps from the van, while Peppy, an aptly-named terrier-mix, hops out and heads for the door.

Both dogs started as therapy dogs, but received additional training that allows them to work with children. As the dogs make their way down the hall they receive a hero's welcome.

"Ooh, the dogs are here!" squeals a middle-school girl. "It just makes it so exciting to read to the dogs."

Smiling students in the reading room greet Brandy and Peppy with pats and squeezes. As the children and dogs settle on the floor, the students begin to read, and the dogs sit quietly, gazing at each reader.

After each child takes a turn, the dogs receive heart-felt hugs, and head off to the next room, where a fourth grader named Jemell has been waiting. "The dogs can tell I have improved my reading," he insists as he settles in to read a joke book. "And, they like funny books."

*Robinson is a freelance producer based near Cleveland, Tenn.

Publishing House to republish book for U.S. troops

By J. Richard Peck*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - The United Methodist Publishing House will resume its role as the publisher of a 64-year-old book of daily devotions for U.S. military troops.

In the days after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, staff members of the Methodist Publishing House discussed ways in which they could serve the thousands of men and women enlisting in the armed services.

The Publishing House staff decided to ask church and academic leaders from many denominations to write one-page devotions for each day of the year. Each message would be written for combat troops. The staff titled the book Strength for Service to God and Country.

The massive publishing project was completed in 1942; by 1944 the book had been given to 800,000 troops, the largest publishing effort by the Nashville-based agency to that date.
The original book was a hard-back pocket book purchased by local churches and individuals to give to troops as they were deployed for Europe and Asia.

The book was republished during the Korean conflict, and it was then forgotten by nearly everyone except World War II or Korean War veterans who kept copies of the book as a reminder of their days in the service.

Boy Scout leads republishing effort
One of the veterans who kept a copy of the pocketbook was Eugene Hunsberger, a former Navy officer living in Orange County, Calif. His grandson, Evan, noted how important the book was to his grandfather and Evan asked him if it would be a good idea to republish the book for his Eagle Scout project. "That's not a good idea," said Eugene, "that's a great idea."

Eugene Hunsberger did not live to see his grandson's Eagle project completed, but five years later, with help from the churchwide Commission on United Methodist Men, the addition of devotions by contemporary religious leaders and contributions from across the nation, more than 250,000 copies of an updated version of the historic book have been sent to members of the armed forces.

Unlike the first effort in which local churches purchased the book and gave it to service men and women, the men's agency has solicited funds to send the books to chaplains who distribute the books to their troops. The goal of the agency is to give copies of the book to 1 million troops.

Shift in publishers
In November, after publishing 250,000 copies with the Franklin, Tenn.-based Providence House Publishing Company, the Commission on United Methodist Men returned the publishing role to the original developer and copyright holder, the United Methodist Publishing House.

"We were pleased with our five-year relationship with Providence House," said the Rev. David Adams, top staff executive of the agency for men's ministry, "but we think there may be people who want to purchase the book for local police, fire fighters or emergency workers, and we felt we could reach new markets through the United Methodist Publishing House with more than 70 Cokesbury stores and outlets."

"We all stand in the need of prayer," said Neil Alexander, president and publisher of the United Methodist Publishing House. "We all hunger for an encounter with God's word and God's grace. Surely this is even more so in times of great crisis and moral challenge, and in places where we are far from loved ones and surrounded by threats of conflict and violence." He said the Nashville-based Publishing House "is privileged to join with United Methodist Men from all corners of the world to offer holy words of guidance, solace, forgiveness and challenge through this new version of a historic publication."

Appreciation from Iraq
Captain Pete Keough, an Army chaplain stationed in Iraq, recently wrote the commission to thank it for sending Strength for Service to God and Country books. "I have been carrying copies with me as I go 'outside the wire' to visit soldiers at the places of duty within the Baghdad region. I have worked it out to where at least one book goes with every squad. The feedback from the soldiers is unanimous: 'It is the perfect devotional for the warrior/soldier on the go.' I keep mine in my left leg pocket, a perfect fit. Your ministry is a huge blessing. May God richly bless you all!"

The 400-page books are also given to men following their basic training before they are deployed. "Strength for Service speaks right to the heart of a warrior and hits on the topics that are at the forefront of our thoughts," said Marine Lt. Jason Rochester, a chaplain at the Paris Island, S.C., training center. "The size is ideal for carrying in a cargo pocket or in the pouch of a pack."

"I read a passage every night at lights out and it always strengthens me and gives me motivation," said Pvt. Schmidtberger, a recruit at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Copies were also sent to staff members of the Pentagon, who also suffered an attack on 9/11. Pentagon Chaplain Jim Driscoll said the books have "been much appreciated and used by civilian and military personnel throughout the Pentagon."

The men's commission hopes to provide all U.S. service men and women with a copy of this historic book. The commission is accepting donations by mail to GCUMM, P.O. Box 340006, Nashville, TN 37203-0006. For additional information, contact Larry Coppock at (615) 620-7262 or by e-mail at lcoppock@gcumm.org. Additional information is available at the commission's Web site, www.strengthforservice.org.

*Peck is a retired clergy member of New York Annual Conference and communications coordinator for the General Commission on United Methodist Men.

Historic black Methodist church delegation visits Holy Land

By Lesley Crosson*

ORLANDO (UMNS) - A delegation of leaders from historic African-American churches who just returned from Jerusalem and the Holy Land says conditions for Palestinians in the West Bank painfully echo the injustices suffered by people of color during South Africa's apartheid era and during the pre-civil rights era in America.

Black church leaders in the delegation, which included representatives from three Methodist denominations - the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church - now are vowing to work with their communions and congregations, the Jewish, Christian and Islamic faith communities, politicians and Palestinians in the Diaspora to focus attention on the deteriorating situation in the Holy Land.

The Oct. 27-Nov. 3 trip was hosted by the global humanitarian agency Church World Service, and the delegation was led by the Rev. John L. McCullough, a United Methodist pastor and CWS executive director.

Delegation members reported their findings Nov. 9 in Orlando at the combined General Assembly of Church World Service and the National Council of Churches - an annual meeting of leaders from 35 mainline Christian denominations.

On a visit to the Israeli-built barrier now separating Palestinian residents in the West Bank from residents in Israel-controlled Jerusalem, AME Bishop E. Earl McCloud Jr. said, "I'm surprised by the blatant attempt of Israelis to separate themselves. I've also been on the backside of fear of black people, and it makes me sad to see this wall and to hear so many say this wall has been built with money I have sent to the U.S. government in tax dollars."

Supporters call the nearly 26-foot-high wall portion of the barrier, which in some places runs through the home sites and farms of Palestinians, a "separation barrier." Palestinians alternately referred to it as the "apartheid wall" or the "segregation wall."

The controversial 400-mile-plus West Bank barrier is marked with protest slogans left by visitors, including a fading stencil of the United Methodist Cross and Flame symbol.

Supporters say the barrier is necessary to protect Israeli civilians from Palestinian suicide bombing in public places. Opponents say the barrier violates international law, is an illegal effort to annex Palestinian land and severely restricts the normal life movements of Palestinians who live in the area.

"I can understand Israelis concern about security. That's a valid concern for anyone, even though there have been very few incidents that truly threaten their security. But when you take a wall that separates families, that keeps people from their land, that causes immense hardship, that is overkill and there is no justification for that wall," said Bishop Louis Hunter of the AME Zion Church.

The 12-member delegation met with heads of the region's oldest Orthodox and Latin Catholic churches and with Anglican, Lutheran, and Jewish faith leaders and government officials. The group also conferred with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry representative Shmuel ben Shmuel.

Linked to the discussion of the oppression of the mostly-Christian community in Jerusalem was the threat to the survival of a Christian presence in the Holy Land, where Arab Christians and Palestinian Christians have lived for 2,000 years since the earliest Christian communities.

Bishop Aris, the Armenian Patriarchate Ecumenical Officer for Jerusalem, called upon Christians to "unify in the common cause of maintaining the holy places of Jerusalem for people of all faiths." Aris said the Christian community represents less than 1.5 percent of the population in the region.

"If the current situation continues it may well result in the extinction of the Christian presence in the Holy Land and seriously endanger continued collaboration amongst the three Abrahamic traditions represented there," McCullough observed.

"The mostly Palestinian Christian community is facing a period of intense crisis because of the expanded separation wall and restrictions on the ability of Palestinians to travel from the West Bank into Jerusalem," he said. "Israeli security and defense policies also seem to unfairly infringe upon the churches, including the effective conduct of their affairs, the nurturing of their members and the fulfillment of their ministries."

In a Nov. 2 meeting with the delegation Abbas shared his views on a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. "We should have our own state within the borders outlined in the 1967 agreement," Abbas said. "In the past, Palestinians owned 95 percent of Palestine. The share now is 22 percent."

Abbas said the international siege over the past 10 months has increased the suffering of people living in occupied Palestine, "with invasions every day, fatalities and increased demolitions of houses. We recognize the right of Israelis to live, but we also want them to recognize our right to live safely within our own borders."

Emphasizing the need to draw more worldwide attention to the crisis in the region, His Beatitude Michel Sabbah, the Latin Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem, told the delegation, "The conflict is not just the business of Palestinians and Israelis. It is the business of every Christian whose obligation is to witness justice, equality and love for all, not just for a chosen few."

The severely limited freedom and discrimination against Palestinian Christians make social and economic development impossible. "In the political arena," Sabbah said. "I think that we have no place on the agenda and we do not count."

Delegates vowed to try to change that. Bishop Ronald M. Cunningham of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church said he is "prepared to become a part of a prophetic ministry to bring this situation to the forefront and to be a part of the search for a solution."

McCloud pledged to look "for ways to positively and dramatically impact this situation. We're going to work with Church World Service. We're going to work with the Congressional Black Caucus. We're going to work with the ecumenical leadership. We've got to bring attention to this in America."

Other members of the delegation included the Rev. Tyrone Pitts, chief executive, Progressive National Baptist Convention; the Rev. A. Wayne Johnson, chief executive, National Missionary Baptist Convention of America; the Rev. George T. Brooks Sr., National Baptist Church of America; the Rev. Charles Mock, executive secretary, National Baptist Convention USA; and David Weaver and Cheryl Dudley, CWS staff.

*Crosson is the media relations officer for Church World Service and she accompanied the delegation.

United Methodist Women (UMW) continues to press for chlorine-free paper

By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK (UMNS) -Despite occasional setbacks, members of United Methodist Women are continuing to press companies to use and stock chlorine-free paper.

For the past year and a half, for example, UMW has used a letter-writing campaign to urge Office Depot, Office Max and Corporate Express to sell and use processed chlorine-free paper.

Now, "after several hundred letters," Office Depot has agreed to carry PCF paper, according to Sung-ok Lee, an executive with the Women's Division, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. The division is the parent organization of United Methodist Women. Lee and other UMW representatives met with Office Depot on Jan. 31 in Delray Beach, Fla.

Corporate Express provides paper to retail stores and stocked PCF paper for the UMW assembly in Anaheim, Calif., last May.

The UMW environmental campaign calls attention to the fact that chlorine bleaching produces dioxin, a toxin that has been linked to breast cancer, miscarriages and birth defects, impaired child development, respiratory diseases and diabetes. Bleaching paper with chlorine also uses 20 times more water than a chlorine-free alternative.

In addition to buying chlorine-free paper with a PCF or TCF label, UMW and the Women's Division suggest using alternatives to other chlorinated products that do not produce dioxin, avoid products with terms like "vinyl," "PVC" or "ballistic look," and recycling paper, plastics and metals.

At the division's annual meeting in October, directors added Wausau-Mosinee Paper Corporation and Yum! Brands Inc., to the letter-writing campaign. Wausau-Mosinee produces fine printing and writing paper, specialty products and towel and tissue papers. Yum! Brands Inc., based in Louisville, Ky., is the parent company of more than 34,000 restaurants - including Taco Bell - in more than 100 countries.

The letters from United Methodist Women notes that each company "is a trusted steward" and has a duty to make positive change. "A good steward needs an eye for sustainability and an understanding of the impact that the company has on natural resources such as water, air, energy, recycling, toxic releases of chlorine chemistry, human and animal health, greenhouse gas emissions and on social and economic accountability."

Previous campaigns for PCF paper with Kinko's and Staples met with limited success. Some Kinko's stores stock PCF paper for people using their copy machines, Lee reported, but said the chain was not consistent.

In 2004, UMW members visited more than 300 Staples stores across the country to see if they carried PCF paper and then sent a delegation to meet with Staples company executives in Framingham, Mass.

At that time, Staples agreed to work with UMW on educating store employees and communities around the nation on the dangers of chlorine, the dioxin it creates and the health effects of dioxins.

Since then, however, there has been a change in personnel, according to Lee, and the cooperative educational activities never occurred. Staples also stopped carrying the PCF paper after a trial period.

Still, UMW members realized from the Staples campaign that letter-writing is a "pretty powerful" tool for persuasion, Lee noted, and learned, during visits to the stores, how to have "a teaching moment where you can explain what you're trying to do."

The Women's Division's "Green Team" helps educate local churches about environmental concerns. Training for letter-writing campaigns occurs during leadership training for conference officers, at regional and conference schools of mission and at district training events. "It really becomes a collective action," Lee said.

One Green Team member, Karen Hewitson of Lake Carroll, Ill., represents the denomination's North Central Jurisdiction. While CPF paper and other conservation efforts are discussed, the jurisdiction has chosen "pure water" as its issue for 2006, she said.

"Everyone has been receptive to this message," said Hewitson, who speaks to school groups as well as church groups. "People are very concerned about their water and they want to know what they can do to conserve the water they have and make it better."

Water also ties in to chlorine processing and she passes along information about environmentally sound products as part of the education process. "When I've showed them the chlorine-free products, they're really excited about that," she added.

The United Methodist General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body, has called for "a dioxin-free future" since 1996, based on its serious health threat to the general U.S. population.

The denomination supports "a phase-out of the production of dioxin beginning with immediate action on the three largest sources of dioxin: incineration of chlorine-containing wastes, bleaching of pulp and paper with chlorine, and the entire life cycle of polyvinyl chloride (PCV) plastic."

More information about the Green Team and letter-writing campaigns can be found at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umw/, the UMW Web site.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

Africa University develops e-learning plans, officials say

By Sharai Nondo*

MAPUTO, Mozambique (UMNS) - Africa University is on an e-learning threshold to become the pan-African institution it was created to be, school officials told United Methodist bishops.
Throughout the United Methodist Council of Bishops' Nov. 1-6 meeting, information technologists from Africa University provided a glimpse of how distance education would work to reach and provide learning opportunities to areas of the continent.

The bishops saw how the university will use electronic learning methods as well as establish a virtual university on campus. E-learning will enable the university to reach out to several African countries in its initial phases, including Mozambique, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia, according to Nodumo Dhlamini, the university's director of communication technology.

Dhlamini said electronic learning, which is the use of current information technologies in the delivery of teaching and learning, has always been at the heart of the information and technology strategy at Africa University.

"We face the usual challenges of lack of requisite infrastructure, access to computers and connectivity," she added. "This cannot deter us from our goal of setting up distance learning."

Connectivity, however, remains a major challenge in Africa, with governments giving their major priorities to basic provision of health care, water and sanitation and education. Information technologies also are facing strict regulatory controls, she said.

Mozambican Bishop João Somane Machado commended Africa University on its plans for the virtual university and the opportunity for his clergy to continue with their studies and contribute to the overall growth and development of the church.

Representatives from the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry canvassed areas of Maputo and outlying environs to find a location for a satellite link or campus that would enable distance education to begin in Mozambique. The search is still under way.

During an Oct. 30-31 session on a holistic strategy for Africa, the continent's United Methodist bishops spoke of the need for translation of any content into Portuguese and French to cater to the diverse needs of people using those languages.

Ken Yamada, a Higher Education and Ministry staff person, said Africa University was designed to serve the entire continent of Africa. In order to do that, "it was important to devise a strategy whereby the university would go to the people" through satellite campuses in different locales, he explained.

He emphasized the importance of local people having ownership of their institutions. "Students can now access and experience an innovative way of teaching and learning, and the lecturers are assisted by support structures and capacity building efforts," he said.

Bishop Felton May, chairperson of the holistic strategy on Africa committee, noted that distance education will reflect that Africa University is Pan-African.

East Angolan Bishop Jose Quipungo praised Africa University's investment into distance learning. He said he perceives "education in Africa as a total liberating force from poverty."

*Nondo is program assistant in Africa University's Information and Public Affairs Office.

Bishops adopt calls to action for United Methodists

By Linda Green*

MAPUTO, Mozambique (UMNS)-The bishops of the United Methodist Church are calling members of the denomination to "live the United Methodist way" in their daily lives and public witness and be a community of believers who offer hope to the world.

Nearly 80 bishops affirmed that call to action Nov. 6 during their first meeting outside the United States. The bishops accepted the concept but are seeking to clarify what living the United Methodist way really means.

The council also introduced an action plan that includes starting new churches across the globe, reaching and caring for children throughout the world and leading the effort to stamp out the killer diseases of poverty: malaria and HIV/AIDS.

West Ohio Bishop Bruce Ough, chairperson of the bishop's plan team, said that the call to action is an attempt to chart a response to the council's adopted seven vision pathways and focus those pathways into four areas of emphasis to compel United Methodists to action.

He said these calls reflect a strategy under development by the council, the church's general agencies and members of the Connectional Table, the denomination's program coordination group.

Ough explained that the action plan is rooted in the denomination's mission to make disciples of Christ, in the church's Wesleyan traditions "while spoken in ways that resonate with members of the 21st century United Methodist Church" and the commitment to be a global church, "grounded in our fervent belief that through Christ, there is hope for a fractured world full of hurting people."

Starting new congregations
According to North Georgia Bishop Lindsey Davis, the council seeks to put hope into action by creating new congregations that serve all people.

The bishops not only envision planting at least one new church every day outside the United States, where there is significant membership growth, but also starting a new church every day in the United States, where the membership has declined for 40 years, he said.

Currently 75 new U.S. churches are begun each year. "Our team is discovering what it will take for us to ramp up from 75 new church starts per year to 365 a year," Davis added.

Since the church in the United States "is at a crucial tipping point," Davis said a way must be found to challenge United Methodist churches in the country to "rekindle our Wesleyan passion for souls with the same kind of enthusiasm and spirit that we see lived out … throughout Africa."

According to the bishops' plan team, new churches are started so that disciples can be formed and the world can be changed. These churches, the team said, must pay attention to new immigrant and refugee communities, to expanding racial/ethnic populations, to new generations of children and to "those places that have not yet received the Good News of Jesus Christ."

Reaching and caring for children
Ough told the council that 30,000 children from across the globe die each day of hunger, preventable diseases and violence, while 13 million children live in poverty.

"The current generation of children is the largest the world has ever experienced," the bishops' plan team said, noting that the fastest-growing population of children being from racial/ethnic communities. "If the United Methodist Church is to be the hope for the world, we must offer hope to the world's children."

The call to action encourages the bishops to focus on transforming the lives of children while working to eliminate poverty. "If the United Methodist Church is to be the witness to Jesus Christ and be the hope for the world, we must be engaged in those places where hope is most absent" and extreme poverty is the norm, the team pointed out.

United Methodist Bishops Eben Nhiwatiwa of Zimbabwe and Jose Quipungo of East Angola spoke on the pandemic of malaria and AIDS, its impact on the church and the world. During a workshop, the two bishops said both epidemics annually claim 4 million people, cause 300 acute illnesses and favor the poorest countries in the world.

Quipungo noted that the impact of malaria on the continent "is terrible because we have been losing lots of children, which is losing the nation since they are the future of the nation."

The United Methodist Church is engaged in a malaria-prevention campaign called "Nothing But Nets." Partners include 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 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.

HIV/AIDS has gone beyond clinical and medical parameters, Nhiwatiwa said. "Its tentacles are economically, socially and even politically felt. It is no longer a health issue alone but an issue that is affecting all aspects of human life."

*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.

NBC documentary focuses on poverty, housing

A UMNS Report By Linda Bloom*

For a magnified example of how poverty, housing and a just society are intertwined, take a look at the Gulf Coast.

That's exactly what United Methodist Bishop Melvin Talbert has done in his role as chairperson of the Special Commission for the Just Rebuilding of the Gulf Coast for the National Council of Churches.

Talbert is one of the religious and political leaders featured in "Building on Faith: Making Poverty Housing History." The documentary, from the National Council of Churches, will be shown on NBC-TV affiliate stations beginning Dec. 10.

Shirley Struchen, a United Methodist who served as executive producer, is encouraging church members to contact their local NBC stations and ask them to schedule the documentary for broadcast on a specific date between Dec. 10 and June 10.

Talbert told United Methodist News Service he has been "highly frustrated at times" with what has seemed to be the lack of progress, even a year later, in the region's recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Part of the problem has been the devastation of homes and livelihoods.

Bad planning - and the lack of planning - also has been a factor. "People aren't wanting to accept responsibility for the failure on the part of groups to act," he said. "We need to face up to the fact that we all blew it at some point."

The real question, he added, is "what are we going to do now?" After attending an Aug. 19 retreat with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and religious leaders, Talbert said he realized he was being too impatient with the process and had to be prepared to "live with the good and the bad of it."

He's also optimistic because of ongoing conversations with people and groups in the region.

Talbert's brother-in-law, for example, suffered losses from the hurricane but is back in his renovated house and has reopened a business.

But many others don't have the knowledge or the networks needed to achieve affordable housing. That's why needs must be matched with resources, the bishop said.

A basic right
"Building on Faith: Making Poverty Housing History," narrated by broadcast journalist Linda Ellerbee, focuses on the idea that having a safe and secure home is a basic right in a just society.
Among those discussing that issue in the hour-long documentary are Jonathan Reckford, chief executive of Habitat for Humanity, and former vice presidential candidates John Edwards and Jack Kemp. Kemp once served as the secretary of Housing and Development.

Various people will share their personal stories about dealing with the high cost of housing, and several leading experts on the topic of affordable housing will speak.

Talbert said the documentary is "essential" because it demonstrates how individuals and families can improve their housing situations and their lives through assistance from groups, including the church, "that take seriously the issue of poverty and housing.

"As the church, there is no option for us," he explained. "Our faith calls us to address the issue of poverty. Closely related to poverty is housing. We can't be silent on this issue."

Also spotlighted in the documentary is Rising Hope United Methodist Church in Alexandria, Va., where the Rev. Keary C. Kincannon is pastor. Rising Hope has a multi-faceted ministry working to solve housing problems.

The church was established in 1996 to bring "spiritual and material relief" to people who live in the area. About 60 percent of its members are homeless or have been homeless at some point.

Other religious leaders featured in the documentary include the Rev. Bob Edgar, a United Methodist and the NCC's chief executive; Jim Wallis, president and executive director of Sojourners/Call to Renewal; Mark J. Pelavin, associate director of Religious Action Center of Reformed Judaism; Sayyid M. Syeed, national interfaith director of the Islamic Society of North America; Brenda Girton-Mitchell, executive for justice and advocacy, NCC; Sharon Watkins, general moderator, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); and Brad Hewitt, senior vice president of fraternal operations, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.

Mennonite Media is producer of the program for the NCC as part of the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission's partnership with NBC-TV. Viewers can visit http://www.interfaithbroadcasting.com/onair.aspx to see which stations have scheduled the program to date.

Those without a local listing can call their NBC station to express interest in "Building on Faith" or join with other faith groups to encourage the broadcast or buy time so the station will air the program.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

Orphans in Angola grow up 'in hands of church'

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

MALANJE, Angola (UMNS) - Agnalda Miseria Mutale No Bento wants to be a doctor.
The 18-year-old sees one up close every day at the United Methodist East Angola Annual (regional) Conference center next to the orphanage where she has lived since she was 12.

Dr. Laurinda Quipungo is a good role model. The bishop's wife serves as the health coordinator for the conference, runs a clinic at the conference headquarters, works part-time in the Malanje Provincial Hospital and serves as public health coordinator for the province. She also personally cares for each of the 24 orphans living in the orphanage.

Bento is one of the older children and helps orphanage director Rita Luis Simao Gregorio with the younger ones.

Gregorio says the children are "growing up in the hands of the church." The oldest is 20 and the youngest is 3.

The orphanage is a collection of shelters connected by a sloping, tin-covered sidewalk. In the girls' bedroom, 12 bunk beds with painfully thin mattresses are neatly lined up against the back wall. Plastic purses, small bottles of nail polish, lotion and other personal items are carefully laid out beside each child's sleeping space. A blonde-headed doll sits on a shelf among some books. Sheets strung across the ends of the bed give the girls some privacy.

Looking down at the girls from the cracked yellow walls are shiny posters of Jesus the Good Shepherd, singer Britney Spears, pop group Westlife and actress Charlize Theron.

The boys have their own bedroom, with posters of NASCAR racers and rock bands on the walls. A large, gnarly tree outside the orphanage is littered with little toys, and its big roots and limbs look like nature's version of a jungle gym.

The dinning hall is a dark, dank room with a few sticky tables. A yellow puppy is disturbed from his nap under the table when a delegation from the United States stops by. The delegation is led by the Rev. R. Randy Day, top staff executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, and includes staff from his agency and from United Methodist Communications.

Big dreams
Bento says her father was "assassinated during the war." Her mother tried to care for her but couldn't. When Bishop Jose Quipungo invited children to come live at the church, her mother was happy to accept for her daughter.

"It was for the best for me to come here," Bento says. She has been appointed to the Department of Working with Children by the bishop. She rises at 6 a.m. and does domestic chores at the orphanage, then goes to work in the office from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. In the evenings, she comes back and helps bathe, feed and get the children ready for bed.

She says she enjoys working with children and teaching them about the church.

Becoming a doctor is a "big dream," she knows. She has been a good student, but she has gone as far with her education as she can at the local level.

Surrounded by smiling faces of children trying hard to get her attention, Bento says, "I would like to progress in other places; I would like to go to college.

"I am praying for my dream," she says. "It would be a miracle if it could come true."

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.

Special Report: United Methodist Council of Bishops--Draft Plan Eliminates Jurisdictions, Would Create Central Conference for U.S.

A high-level group examining the global nature of The United Methodist Church is suggesting significant organizational and governance changes for the denomination.

The proposal would end the current system that splits the United States from the Central Conferences that govern the church outside the U.S. It would end the jurisdictional conference system and make the United States a Central Conference.

These proposals come from a joint task force of bishops and members of The Connectional Table, the key coordinating arm of the denomination. Since 1964, the church has had numerous studies, task groups and legislative attempts to clarify the world-wide nature of the denomination.

The draft plan given to bishops on Nov. 3 would revise the Book of Discipline into a “truly general book of doctrine, mission and discipline, deleting all portions that apply only to the United States.” Each Central Conference would have a book of discipline outlining rules applicable to its life and ministry. Other publications such as hymnals could be tailored for each Central Conference.

These changes would require approval by the General Conference. “These changes would strengthen our unity and missional effectiveness as a united church working on our continents,” the task force said.

While adding flexibility and support for regional units of the church, “the changes… do not solve all the problems facing the church… They do address the fundamental structures and processes,” the task force concluded.

The power of the General Conference will essentially remain the same, the task force said. General agencies will remain as agencies for the whole church. The Judicial Council would remain as a general church body elected by the General Conference. The Council of Bishops remains as the council for the entire church.

Central conferences would consider resolutions pertinent to their regions. They could create and fund their own agencies. They could establish their own educational requirements for clergy.

They could establish mission initiatives appropriate for their context.

The task force is continuing its work. It is inviting feedback from annual conferences, districts, and local churches. It has asked the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns to engage its partners in conversations on the ecumenical implications of a U.S. Central Conference. It is exploring what General Conference legislation will be required.

The group will make a second report to the Connectional Table and Council of Bishops in spring, 2007.

Bishops’ Unity Group Urges New Thinking on Division, Controversy, Debate
Bishops are being urged to take a “cross every line” approach when dealing with controversial theological and social issues before denominational caucuses.

The Council of Bishops’ Task Force on Unity called on bishops to invite colleagues “from a different corner” to join them when asked to speak on issues before the special-interest groups.
In its report, the task force said the council needs to take responsibility to cross theological, jurisdictional, and racial ethnic lines in bishops’ presence at such events. This is another move to focus the church on the need and benefit of holy conferencing.

Reflecting widespread concern over the tone of debate at General Conference, the group is developing a “Covenant for Conversation” it hopes will be a model, or “rules of engagement” for the 2008 General Conference in Fort Worth.

Stemming from Wesley’s General Rules, the biblical model is based on James 1:19, “Be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger,” and Ephesians 4:15, “to speak… the truth… in love… together.” The elements are:

- To speak: we invite all voices into the conversation
- The truth: it takes all voices to discern the truth; requires “I” statements
- In love: speaking to and about others with generous compassion
- Together: truth and love come only through community, the need to broaden the conversation, not to remain in isolated pockets

The recommendations are elements of a strategy focused on bishops taking a more proactive role in the time approaching General Conference. More discussion is continuing on bishops’ role in leading the church toward unity, in presiding at General Conference, how annual conferences handle controversial issues, and their interaction with caucus groups.

Study of Episcopacy Group Seeks Bishops’ Input on Change Ideas
The denomination’s Task Force to Study the Episcopacy is seeking input from bishops on a number of suggestions that have arisen out of its work. The task force is comprised of laypersons, clergy, and bishops.

Bishops are receiving a questionnaire asking them to rate the issues that rose from their work so far. Participants are asked to give ratings of 1 – absolutely not; 2 – worthy of exploration; and 3 – absolutely. The issues are:

- Limiting bishops’ terms to 8-12 years with an option for re-election.
- Ending a bishop’s term at retirement, and returning the bishop’s membership to the annual conference from which he/she is elected.
- Annual conferences pay for its bishop’s health benefits.
- Reduce the number of bishops in the United States.
- Establish a permanent office of presidency for the Council of Bishops.
- General Conference legislation on the complaint process, administrative leave for ineffective clergy, expanding 8 year assignments to 12 years.
- Designating bishops as a third order.
- Aligning changes in the episcopacy to a strong theology on the bishop’s relationship to making disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Bishops are asked to provide their comments and additional suggestions to Bishop Sally Dyck of the Minneapolis Area.

Through organ donations, teenager 'gave life to so many'

By Susan Passi-Klaus*

Whenever Betty Chaffin sees the Rev. John Hastings, she asks if she can put her ear on his chest and listen to the sound of his heart.

The strong lub-dub, lub-dub indicates that the 71-year-old Hastings is alive and very well. It's also a reminder that Chaffin's late grandson, Andru Chaffin, lives on with every beat of Hastings' transplanted heart.

"It just makes me feel good to know that Andru's heart is still beating and living and that his whole body gave life and hope to so many other people," said Chaffin who lives in Sublette, Kan. "When Andru died we donated his heart, his lungs, liver, pancreas and his eyes."

The 15-year-old died in 1997 after an accident on his four-wheeler. His family agrees that Hastings, father of four and grandpa to 10, is the perfect steward of the teenager's heart.

"The year Andru would have graduated from high school, John called and said that even though Andru wouldn't be there, his heart would be," Chaffin said. "He came to graduation, and so many of Andru's friends wanted their picture taken with him."

'I'm blessed'
Hastings doesn't fit any stereotypes of a retiree in his 70s.

He's a feisty, straight-talking, pokin' fun kind of a guy. He's the kind of grandparent who serves up ice cream for breakfast and the kind of preacher who begins every sermon at the Elmdale and Strong City United Methodist churches in Kansas with a good joke or tattled tale.

"I wake up looking forward to every day," Hastings said. "People say to me, 'You're the luckiest guy I've ever met,' and I say, 'I'm not lucky, I'm blessed.'"

Prior to being diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 1997, Hastings was an avid snow skier, a fast walker and a man who'd run up the steps in hospitals when visiting patients.

He's a man on the go again - especially when it comes to running the 200-meter dash and the 1,500-meter race walk. This past summer, he brought home gold and silver medals from the 2006 U.S. Transplant Games in Louisville, Ky.

Hastings often speaks to groups and at health fairs, talking tough about the importance of organ donation.

"Seventeen people a day in America die from the lack of an organ," he said. "Chances are they could live if they had one."

When talking to reluctant donors, Hastings sometimes uses "shock tactics."

"I've said to people, 'Why don't you sign your donor card?' and they say, 'No, I don't want to give up any of my organs.' And then I say, 'If one of your family members was dying, wouldn't you let them have an organ transplant?' 'Oh yeah,' they say."

"'If everybody has that attitude,' I said, 'where would the organ come from? It's OK for others to donate, but not OK for you?'"

Special Sunday
On Sunday, Nov. 12, United Methodists will observe Organ and Tissue Donor Sunday. Timed to emphasize gratitude and thanksgiving for life, many churches will pass out pamphlets or supply members with organ donor cards. Some people will hear firsthand how organ and tissue transplants both save lives and honor the lives of the donors.

"Just imagine," Hastings said, "being able to give someone the gift of life. Wouldn't that be something?"

*Passi-Klaus of Nashville, Tenn., is a freelance writer and publisher of Cracked Pots, an inspirational newsletter for women. This article originally appeared in Interpreter, a publication of United Methodist Communications and the official ministry magazine of the United Methodist Church, www.interpretermagazine.org.

Nelson Mandela Tells Bishops Achievement No Guarantee of Heaven; South African Leader’s Surprise Appearance Electrifies UM Leaders

A life of achievement is no guarantee of a place in heaven, Nelson Mandela told United Methodist bishops as they neared the end of their historic meeting in Maputo, Mozambique.

Mandela and his wife, Gracia Machel, surprised the bishops with their appearance at dinner on Sunday, Nov. 5. Machel is the former education minister of Mozambique and the widow of Mozambique president Samora Machel, who died in an air crash.

Both Mandela and Machel have deep Methodist roots. Mandela was educated in a Methodist school in South Africa. Machel is United Methodist and attended a Methodist school in Mozambique.

The 87-year-old Mandela spoke with a feistiness in his voice as he recounted his Methodist education and the role of the church in his upbringing.

Mandela told the bishops that when he arrived “I had no idea whatsoever that I would be brought so such a sacred gathering.” He said that to arrive in this setting and praise “what we believe is a superior gift.

The former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize winner invoked the African-American spiritual “May the Work I’ve Done,” as he told bishops of a story he often tells about leaving this earth, going to heaven’s door and knocking. An angel comes forth and asks his identity. He identifies himself as “Madiba.” The angel responds by saying there is no space for him.

His message was that one should be recognized for the work they have done and not for who they are or where they come from.

As Mrs. Machel addressed the bishops, Mandela sat next to Bishop Gregory Vaughn Palmer of the Iowa Area. He leaned over to talk with and shake the hands of two young boys who had nervously come forward to meet the world leader.

“I am standing here mainly as a Methodist child,” Machel, one of six daughters raised by her widowed mother, told the bishops. Her mother “did the impossible to educate all of us.”

Machel became the minister of education for the country of Mozambique in 1975, the first woman of education in the country.

“From the Methodist church I had an obligation to give back to those who had supported me. I had to give back to the community. My experience as the minister of education was based in linking national policies with communities. In helping communities to fight very actively in building schools, selecting teachers, and supporting the teachers in school,” Machel said.

She cited disturbing statistics on the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and children in Mozambique.

It has been estimated 1-in-5 persons in Mozambique is infected with the AIDS virus. She said that women are the caregivers and sometimes the providers and if they are sick they cannot provide.

“Empowering women . . . through education is a must for us,” Machel said. Her country faces serious challenges. Providing statistics, she said Mozambique is in the top 10 countries affected by HIV/AIDS with 1.8 million infected and of those aged 25-49, the percentage of women infected is 58 percent, “far more than men,” she said. Of those aged 15-34 years who are infected, girls comprise 76 percent of the infected.

“No matter what we can try to do” to tackle the HIV/AIDS problem with women, Machel said, “we will not be able to turn around this problem, in terms of reduction of infection” without educating women regardless of where they live, regardless of the African country about “gender relations.”

“It is a matter of survival for our women,” she said.

Mandela and Machel married on Mandela’s 80th birthday. They have a home in Maputo where the bishops met. It is the first meeting of the bishops outside of United States territory.

After Mandela spoke, Bishop Janice Riggle Huie of Houston, president of the Council, told her colleagues, “We have been in the company of saints.”

Turning to look at Mandela and Mrs. Machel, she told them “you are hope in action. We stand with you. You have shown us how to make the world a better place.

“Mrs. Machel, you are an inspiration to young girls born poor, particularly United Methodists. We will pray for you. We trust you will pray for us.”

As Mandela and Mrs. Machel moved from their table to leave the dining room, bishops lined up to speak with them, shake their hands or to touch Mandela’s arm.

Their appearance was hastily arranged. Mrs. Machel had originally been scheduled to speak at a cultural event for the bishops on Saturday night. Her appearance was canceled after a last-minute downpour forced the moving of the event into a local church.

Machel was appreciative that the Council of Bishops chose Mozambique to conduct its Nov. 1-6 meeting and despite the issues the country has faced poverty, it “has shown such a resilience . . . to reinvent itself.

“Our people reinvent themselves even before huge challenges,” such as they did when everything was disrupted by the war, she noted. Now, she said “poverty” is the only signal that there were problems. “In about 10-12 [years], this country has changed its face.

“Having you here is an additional recharging of our energies; to know that we are not alone, you are there as leaders. Thank you for clearly sending that message that we are not alone,” Machel said

Survey Seeks Grassroots Views on Future of United Methodist Urban Ministry

New York, NY, November 6, 2006-Clergy and laity of urban congregations can help to shape next steps in The United Methodist Church's strategy for strengthening city-based ministries in the United States.

They are invited to complete an online survey, described as a "Call to Transformation," that is available from November 7, 2006 through January 31, 2007. The questionnaire can be found at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=375832674837

The survey is part of the research being conducted for a revision and refinement of the denomination's national urban ministry plan, "Holy Boldness," adopted ten years ago by the policy-making United Methodist General Conference.

"We have reached the point when we must evaluate our plan and make adjustments to keep up with the changing times," said Diane Johnson, the executive for the Office of Urban Ministry of General Board of Global Ministries. "We cannot do our job well unless we hear from the urban grassroots."

"Holy Boldness: Pathways to Transformation" is the tentative name of the next-step urban plan that will be submitted for consideration by the 2008 General Conference.

The survey is sponsored by Johnson's office along with its related National Urban Strategy Council.

"The urban scene constantly changes," said the Rev. Craig French, chairperson of the council and pastor of Immanuel United Methodist Church in Camillus, NY, located in the Syracuse area.
"We need to hear from the people who live and minister there as we work with annual conferences and districts in shaping our urban strategy for the future.

"What we learn through the survey will also assist our urban ministry office as it determines how to use and allocate resources."

The original Holy Boldness plan included extensive training in a range of city-based ministry options. It is credited with helping to enliven urban congregations across the country.

The second stage will most likely focus on models, "how to's," and the use of church-wide resources, according to Johnson, citing the introduction to the survey questionnaire.

Other research involves theological seminaries and denominational leaders.

"We hope that many urban clergy and lay members, even people who attend city churches but have not joined, will take part in our initial survey," Johnson said. "We also hope they will take seriously a call to transformation in the city. "Responding to that call means making disciples of Jesus Christ, offering passionate worship, creating faith-forming relationships, and sending people out for risk-taking service."

A Statement on the Judicial Council’s Cote d’Ivoire Decision from R. Randy Day, General Secretary, General Board of Global Ministries

In the wake of the Judicial Council decision regarding the status of The United Methodist Church in Cote d’Ivoire, the concern of the General Board of Global Ministries is for the wonderful United Methodist people of the West African country. Regardless of the issue of the size of their 2008 General Conference delegation, the United Methodists of Cote d’Ivoire are part of the people called United Methodist and we love and respect them.

I deeply regret that the internal United Methodist contest over general conference delegates came to focus on a people of such spiritual vigor and cooperative faith. Bishop Benjamin Boni and the church leaders in Cote d’Ivoire maintained a dignified silence as the United Methodist legal bureaucracy made decisions about them without ever consulting them.

The United Methodists of Cote d’Ivoire are our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus! Their initial and only request was to be a part of the global United Methodist Church, and by God’s grace they are. The General Board of Global Ministries thanks God for Bishop Boni and his people. We shall continue to work enthusiastically with them in Christian witness and service. They too are disciples, co-workers with Christ through the church.

Cote D'Ivoire Church not fully admitted, says Judicial Council

By Neill Caldwell*

CINCINNATI (UMNS) -- The top court of the United Methodist Church has ruled that the 2004 General Conference was within its authority to limit the United Methodist Church of Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) to two General Conference delegates.

Meeting Oct. 25-28, the Judicial Council made it clear that the action by the 2004 General Conference "was not a final act of admission" of the Methodist Church of Cote d'Ivoire into the United Methodist Church. "By its terms, the legislation contemplated that further action would be taken by the 2008 General Conference," the council said in its ruling.

But the Judicial Council said that action by the 2004 General Conference "has led the church into a veritable no-man's land where the questions are many and the answers are few," and would require additional legislative work in 2008 to complete the admission process.

The 2008 General Conference will meet April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas.

The ruling cites Paragraph 502 of the Book of Discipline as authority for a General Conference to provide for the composition and allocation of its delegates.

Conference deviated
The council also scolded the 2004 General Conference, saying its action "deviated" from the Discipline. "The General Conference cannot function effectively as a committee of the whole," the ruling said.

On the final morning of the 2004 General Conference, delegates considered a recommendation from the Commission on Central Conference Affairs proposing the addition of Cote d'Ivoire to the West Africa Central Conference. The committee's recommendation was a referral so that the West Africa Central Conference, the Commission on Central Conference Affairs and the church's Board of Global Ministries could work together on the entry of Cote d'Ivoire into the denomination.

Instead a substitute motion was offered from the floor that included four separate actions.

Those included a measure "that Cote d'Ivoire be added to the West Africa Central Conference and the West Africa Central Conference is authorized to elect a bishop to serve as episcopal leader in a new Cote d'Ivoire Episcopal Area."

"The Cote d'Ivoire Episcopal Area is responsible to set up and fully fund its own episcopal fund during the 2005-2008 quadrennium with no funding from either GCFA (General Council on Finance and Administration) or the Episcopal Fund of the United Methodist Church," the substitute motion said.

"Further, the annual conference within the Cote d'Ivoire Episcopal Area shall be represented at the 2008 General Conference with two delegates (one lay and one clergy).

"Finally, the Commission on Central Conference Affairs, in consultation with the Council of Bishops and the Connectional Table, shall bring enabling legislation to the 2008 General Conference to include the Cote d'Ivoire Episcopal Area in the Episcopal Fund of the United Methodist Church."

This substitute motion passed.

Not a full member
Both the 2004 and 2000 Disciplines set out the procedures by which churches may join the United Methodist Church, the Judicial Council said.

"The original resolutions contemplated following the provisions of Paragraph 537 of the 2000 Discipline. The substitute motion offered referred to Paragraph 535.3 of the 2000 Discipline. The aftermath of the harried discussion and precipitous action on the substitute motion has led many to believe that the Church of Cote d'Ivoire has joined the United Methodist Church under the provisions of Paragraph 575. Such a process has not been achieved. In fact, none of the processes that lead to church affiliation were perfected by the General Conference action. …

"The substitute (motion) adopted anticipates that the 2008 General Conference will consider further legislative action to include Cote d'Ivoire into the Episcopal Fund," the council's ruling continues. "The remaining formalities of affiliation or admission should be completed by the agencies to whom the responsibility is assigned in time for presentation to and perfection by the 2008 General Conference. Once the process of joining the United Methodist Church is fully achieved, Cote d'Ivoire would have the right to full representation in its delegations to the 2012 and succeeding General Conference sessions."

Dissenting opinion
In a signed dissent, four council members - Rodolfo Beltran, Rev. Dennis Blackwell, the Rev. Keith Boyette and Dr. James Holsinger - said they believed that the action of 2004 General Conference was unconstitutional. "The General Conference, and now this Judicial Council, has acted in a way which substantially disenfranchises what statistically is the largest annual conference in the United Methodist Church. And applying the logic of our colleagues, it creates a situation where other annual conferences can likewise be denied proportionate representation so long as they are provided with the minimal representation of one lay and one clergy delegate. This is a dangerous precedent and one which reflects poorly upon the global nature of our church.

"Four of the seven members of the Judicial Council present and voting (at) our fall 2006 session have voted to hold the action of the 2004 General Conference in allocating two clergy delegates to the Cote d'Ivoire Episcopal Area unconstitutional. Paragraph 2608 of the 2004 Discipline requires that '(a)n affirmative vote of at least six members of the council shall be necessary to declare any act of the General Conference unconstitutional.'

"Following the conclusion of the 2004 General Conference, the West Africa Central Conference elected Rev. Benjamin Boni to the episcopacy of the United Methodist Church, as it was authorized to do by the action of the 2004 General Conference and by Paragraph 543.2 of the 2004 Discipline. The West Africa Central Conference then assigned Bishop Boni to the Cote d'Ivoire Episcopal Area, composed of the Cote d'Ivoire Annual Conference, as it was authorized to do by the action of the 2004 General Conference and by Paragraphs 543.5 and 543.8 of the 2004 Discipline.

"As a result of the action by the 2004 General Conference and the subsequent meeting of the West Africa Central Conference, the Cote d'Ivoire Annual Conference came into existence and was immediately entitled to all of the rights and privileges of any annual conference in The United Methodist Church," the dissent said.

Oral arguments
In oral arguments for the case, Sam Dixon of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries told council members that the Methodist Church of Cote d'Ivoire is a strong church with a long history that is "ready to fully participate in United Methodist activities around the world." Cote d'Ivoire "should be brought into our family with open arms," he said.

Dixon said the latest survey numbers sent to the General Council on Finance and Administration by the Board of Global Ministries tallied 579,000 members in the Methodist Church of Cote d'Ivoire, but only 123 ordained clergy and around 500 local pastors. Three districts there are involved in a civil war, making an accurate count difficult, Dixon said.
Jim Allen, GCFA general counsel, said no one is really sure how many members and pastors Cote d'Ivoire has and that more research is needed.

Greg Stover of the Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns said that while getting accurate information from central conferences is often a challenge, that fact should not prevent representation. Central conferences are regional units of the church in Africa, Asia and Europe.

Judicial Council members Mary A. Daffin and Shamwange P. Kyungu were absent from the meeting.

*Caldwell covers the Judicial Council for United Methodist News Service and is editor of the Virginia Advocate of the Virginia Annual Conference in Richmond.

African church needs more women in authority, bishops learn

By Linda Green*
MAPUTO, Mozambique (UMNS) - The United Methodist Church in Africa needs to address the lack of women in positions of authority in both church and society, according to the head of the denomination's Africa University.

Rukudzo Murapa, vice chancellor of Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe, was one of many United Methodists from around Africa who provided leadership at the Council of Bishops' meeting Nov. 1-6 in Maputo. The bishops, who are the top clergy leaders of the 10 million-member church, met outside the territorial United States for the first time.

Although it is encouraging that women hold district superintendent positions, "we yearn for the day when the first African woman will be consecrated bishop," Murapa said. After the applause subsided from the Council of Bishops, he said: "Women have provided decisive leadership in difficult times."

He reflected on the women from Liberia, South Africa, Senegal and across the continent who have come together with their experiences and talents to "break the culture of silence," bring peace and order to their chaotic and war-torn communities, and create new relationships.

"African women may well have the special word of God to us for our time," Murapa said. "Is the United Methodist Church listening? Is the United Methodist Church urging anyone else to listen? We need a higher visibility of women in the church in Africa."

During the Nov. 1 welcoming service, Bishop João Somane Machado of Mozambique said the United Methodist Church was "greatly advanced" in having female bishops. He noted that Portuguese, the official language of Mozambique, defines the word "bishop" only as male.

"We have to insert this in our dictionary because the United Methodist Church has many women bishops," he said.

While the council members wore their episcopal purple shirts to the opening service to signify who they were, the garments also were used to make a statement by the women bishops. They wanted African clergywomen to know that while the entire council was in solidarity with them, they especially wanted to affirm the women and the jobs they are doing, and to show them that they too could one day be bishop.

Environmental crisis
Africa's problems include a serious environmental crisis whose impact may be greater than AIDS, according to Murapa.

He told the bishops that Africa "faces a serious environmental crisis" that threatens current and future generations. "This crisis has long-term implications which may be greater than even the scourge of HIV/AIDS," he said.

Deforestation, water resources, land degradation, food insecurity and scarcity, and urban and industrial pollution are among the most important environmental challenges facing Africa, he noted. How, he asked, can the church help overcome the crisis?

Quoting the World Bank, Murapa said Africa is the world's only region with decreasing food production per capita, and current growth trends point to a food shortage of at least 250 tons of grain by 2020, making food scarcity a serious regional concern in this century.

The shortages are the result of soil erosion, desertification, soil nutrient depletion, substantial loss of forest cover leading to flooding, evaporating springs, and the diminishing flow of rivers and streams. These hurt the productivity of agriculture and pastoral lands, Murapa said.

The economy and the environment are "inextricably intertwined," he said, and the crisis will be "solved when the majority of human kind begins to care for the environment for its intrinsic value."

Poverty at the center
The issue of poverty has been talked about among heads of states and governments across the globe, and an appeal for environmental action has been unsuccessful, partly because of scientific and economic points of view. Poverty, he said, is at the center of the challenges to be confronted by the church.

In his address, "God's Will for Africa," Murapa told the bishops that the church "has a great responsibility" to respond to Africa's environmental crisis, "which brings glory to the creator, advances the cause of Christ and leads to a transformation of the lives of the people and the land that sustains them."

According the United Methodist Book of Discipline, the church supports the restoration of ecosystems, and everyone is responsible for the way creation is used - and abused. Murapa said the church is compelled to embrace Africa's crisis and provide leadership.

"What we do today - or fail to do - will define the future of our people and children," he said.
Addressing the issue of globalization, Murapa said the technical globalization of communications, trade and inter-governmental decision-making processes have not been accompanied by the ethical frameworks that will ensure that all benefit and that a real sense of community is developed.

"Perhaps never before in human history has the Christian gospel of inclusive community been so seriously needed," Murapa said.

Need for leadership
He highlighted the inaction of governments, civil society and church organizations on various problems that continue to degrade the lives of people, especially in Africa. Globalization, he said, has given no room or space for the total participation and ownership of resources by the people.

"There have been paradoxical shifts, which have been difficult to deal with, as globalization has not been all inclusive and has seen the manifestation of sectional interests, with the dominant becoming the global," he added.

Murapa explored challenges to the leadership of the United Methodist Church within the African context, and cited the need for nurturing a new culture of leadership and governance and healing broken relationships for a new community.

Africa, like the rest of the world, needs leaders who see their "immediate task as a contribution towards an envisioned future," leaders determined to reach difficult goals and who can move the continent toward abundance and wholeness.

"It needs leaders who are committed to the well-being of their people and make uncounted sacrifices for them," he said. He acknowledged that the continent has contributed world leaders known for their vision and integrity.

The church has a role to play, he said. "The church is an important agent in building an ethical framework for transformation and indeed, it has a duty to do so."

*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.

Young Adult Network--United Methodist young adults now have a place in cyberspace!

NASHVILLE, Tenn., AUGUST 29, 2006 /GBOD/ -- The General Board of Discipleship’s Young People’s Ministries division has launched a Web sited specifically targeting young adults in the United Methodist Church worldwide.

Billed as the Young Adult Network (www.gbod.org/youngpeople/yanet), the Web site was created in response to the call from General Conference 2004 to help the church place more emphasis on young people.

The Young Adult Network seeks to connect young adults to each other, the United Methodist Church, and local entities such as a congregation, campus ministry, or small group, by providing spiritual formation and community resources. To visit the Web site go to: www.gbod.org/youngpeople/yanet.

Julie O’Neal hopes that the Young Adult Network “becomes a safe place for young adults to just be.” A manager with the division on ministries with young people, she manages faith formation, leadership development and resource coordination.

O’Neal sees the network as a place “where young adults will not be judged; where they can vent their frustrations and celebrate their joys; where they can engage in dialogue about life, faith, school, family, sexuality, politics, work, and music,” she says.

Many of the components of the network were guided by the creative ideas of young adults throughout the UMC connection.

As an online community, the YANetwork will morph and change based on the needs of young adults, which will result in a very different look and feel consistent with how this demographic is always changing and transitioning.

Major features include a section for contributors to share whatever topics they choose, along with discussion questions that correspond to the topic of the contributor's weekly article. These discussion forums will allow young adults to engage in dialogue with one another in a place where their voices can be heard.

The Young Adult Network is important to the church because it provides space for young adults to come together and connect with other young people. It provides a way for them to maintain a connection to the ministries of The United Methodist Church.

“It offers a way for the Church to respond to young adults that's active, engaging and relevant. The UMC struggles in the ways it reaches out to those in this age category because of the myriad of their life stages. This is one way that the church can respond,” says O’Neal.

Other features of the Young Adult Network include:

Prayers and meditations that are relevant to young adults;
Information about internships and other service or vocation opportunities;
Links to other young adults networks;
Real-world Young Adult Ministry examples from across the UMC connection;
College related information; and
Information about generational studies on young adults.

The future expansion of the network will include a section on UM young adult blogs, a "Name the Network" contest, book/movie/CD reviews, opinion polls and more.

The Young Adult Network was launched in June of this year. For more information about the Young Adult Network, please contact YANetwork@gbod.org. To visit the Web site go to: www.gbod.org/youngpeople/yanet.

The General Board of Discipleship’s mission is to support annual conference and local church leaders for their task of equipping disciples to transformation of the world. An agency of the United Methodist Church, The General Board of Discipleship is located at 1908 Grand Avenue in Nashville, Tennessee.