'Open hearts' campaign expands church's reach

By United Methodist News Service

The "Open hearts, Open minds, Open doors" campaign of The United Methodist Church launched in 2001 and is increasing awareness of the denomination. A UMNS video image courtesy of Igniting Ministry.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)-Now in its seventh year, the "Open hearts, Open minds, Open doors" campaign of The United Methodist Church is reaching more "seekers" each year, according to new research.

Thirty percent of those surveyed in 2006 were aware of the campaign, up from 27 percent the previous year and 14 percent in 2001 when the campaign began.

"The impact of the advertising is that awareness is growing from year to year," said the Rev. Larry Hollon, chief executive of United Methodist Communications. "The research also indicates that our messages continue to be believable and important to the audience-and they are effectively shifting people's attitudes about the denomination in a very favorable way."

In 2006, the church spent more than $6 million on the campaign, which primarily paid for television ads but also included billboard ads and radio and cinema spots, according to Diane Denton, a spokeswoman for The United Methodist Church.

The purpose of the campaign is to increase awareness and recognition of The United Methodist Church's basic beliefs and to promote willingness to visit a United Methodist church among people ages 21-60 who do not attend a United Methodist church and are searching spiritually.

Each year, United Methodist Communications commissions independent research about the effectiveness of the denomination's "open hearts" advertising campaign.

More than 1,200 people from six test markets (Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Des Moines, Roanoke, Springfield, and Tallahassee/Gainesville) were interviewed by the Barna Research Group regarding their impressions of the denomination, their willingness to visit a United Methodist church, and their perception of the "open hearts" message.

Highlights of the research shows:
.Thirty-seven percent of all respondents said their impression of The United Methodist Church was very or somewhat favorable;
.Those who had seen the advertising were 47 percent more likely to have a favorable impression of The United Methodist Church than those who had not;
.Nearly half of the target audience-47 percent-expressed willingness to attend a United Methodist church, with 11 percent being very willing;
.Fifty-eight percent of those exposed to the advertising recalled the tagline: "Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.";
.Seventeen percent of respondents said they would definitely or probably visit a United Methodist Church in the next three months.

The survey also looked at 10 different statements about United Methodists to measure respondents' perceptions of the denomination. Slightly more than half of those surveyed agreed with the top five perceptions of United Methodists as people who: care for and support each other; accept people from different walks; would accept you for who you are; help people in the community; and care about justice and peace for all people.

This story was based on a news release from the Office of Public Information at United Methodist Communications.

A UMNS Commentary by Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker: Pondering The future of The United Methodist Church

Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker

During a recent interview, I was asked, "What is the future of The United Methodist Church?"

The question reflects a widespread anxiety that is not groundless. There has been a steady decline in the membership and average worship attendance in our church in the United States for decades. The reality of this decline has to be faced.

Yet, we must not overlook another reality, and that is the amazing vitality of many congregations in our church. In Florida and elsewhere, we have some of the most faithful and fruitful congregations in the world.

Still, thousands of congregations in our church are declining or not growing.

One of the reasons is demographics.

The United Methodist Church in the United States was built as a connection of congregations in rural areas and small towns. When the nation's population shifted to the suburbs of metropolitan areas, our church failed to start new congregations. This is beginning to change as conferences learn again how to plant new congregations, but we have to catch up after decades of negligence.

Another reason is theological.

We forgot that our identity consists of being the bearer of the Wesleyan tradition-with its focus on the experience of salvation by the grace of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and administered by the power of the Holy Spirit-and its mission of spreading both personal and social holiness. We lost the class meeting as the way to watch over one another in love so that we grow in our communion with God and one another.

In the place of our identity as the bearer of the Wesleyan tradition of the Christian faith, we defined our church as one of the mainstream Protestant churches, thus tying our identity to our place in the culture, rather than our theological heritage. Methodism offers a way of discipleship, and the future of our church requires a reappropriation of the Methodist Way in the life of our congregations.

Leadership and vision
I believe part of our problem has been the decline in constructive temporal and spiritual oversight of the church by the Council of Bishops. For decades, the church has moved authority from the bishops to boards and agencies. At the same time, the council went along with this development.

Since 2004, there have been significant signs of change with the 2004 election of new bishops who now comprise one-third of the active bishops. The council has initiated a positive and vigorous agenda for the church called "Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for a Transformed World," and it has received the eager cooperation of the boards and agencies.

I still think institutional reforms are needed, such as giving the council authority to select the general secretaries of the boards and agencies. Nevertheless, there are positive signs of new leadership by both the bishops and the boards in beginning to work together on a common and exciting agenda.

Another problem is ineffective pastoral leadership of congregations. The guaranteed appointment system limits the capacity of bishops and cabinets to remove ineffective pastors.

The council will present new legislation to modify the system without destroying its good features, which include a covenant by pastors to be granted an appointment if they will itinerate and protection of effective women and ethnic pastors.

Renewal of purpose
Those congregations that are stagnant or declining need, in general, a spiritual rebirth that comes from a recovery of a missional purpose, an intentional process of transformation and a reconnection to their communities. Transformation of existing congregations is very hard, but far from impossible.

We should not be Pollyannaish about our problems as a church or resigned to continual decline. The church of Jesus Christ has remarkable resiliency because, while it is human, it is the body of Christ animated by the Holy Spirit.

I have studied enough church history to know the church is always dying and always being resurrected. As G.K. Chesterton observed: Five times in the history of the church, it seemed the church had died and gone to the dogs, but it was the dog that died.

As a part of the apostolic and catholic church, The United Methodist Church participates in this same resiliency of the body of Christ. We would not want it any other way because every generation must live by faith and engage in risk-taking mission, rather than distort the identity of the church as a self-satisfied, comfortable, ingrown society.

*Whitaker is bishop of the Florida Conference. This commentary originally appeared in e-review, the online Florida United Methodist News Service.

'Path One' team plans strategy for new church starts

'Path One' team plans strategy for new church starts
By Linda Green*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)-Since the most effective evangelism is through new churches, The United Methodist Church wants to start 650 new congregations with 63,000 members by 2012 as part of a new emphasis on church growth in the United States.

Eventually, the shrinking denomination wants to return to its evangelistic heyday of planting a new U.S. church every day. It also wants to reach untapped frontiers such as western states where the church historically has not followed population growth.

The strategy is all part of the aggressive vision of "Path One," the newly organized strategy team on new congregational development coordinated by the United Methodist Board of Discipleship.

"We believe it's one of the most needed and time-sensitive national efforts in the denomination's recent history," said the Rev. Karen Greenwaldt, top executive of the Board of Discipleship.
"This is a new and bold vision of church planting that has been formed out of the work of many partners."

The initiative will be headed by the Rev. Thomas G. Butcher, who on July 1 becomes executive secretary of the newly created office of new congregational development for the United States.

Butcher will work to foster a new wave of United Methodist evangelism by developing and coordinating training for 1,000 new church "planters." He will collaborate with representatives from churchwide boards, agencies, networks and racial and ethnic plans to align resources to help and encourage annual conferences in their common goal of serving people and inviting them to become disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. This is also the mission of The United Methodist Church.

A clear priority
"Path One" is named for the first of the "seven vision pathways" for church growth from the Council of Bishops. As part of the strategy, Path One will:
.Create a national assessment tool for use with church planters;
.Support new church pastors through regional training, internships, mentoring and Web material;
.Build a system for orienting and training bishops and district superintendents to support new congregational starts;
.Create a database and decision-making calculators that allow conference leaders to make effective decisions for church plantings and closures; and
.Develop modular curriculum for starting congregations that is biblically based and helps congregations prepare for their role in new church starts.

The Path One team comprises members of the Council of Bishops; Connectional Table; the boards of Global Ministries, Communications, Discipleship and Higher Education and Ministry; racial ethnic national plans; the Network for Congregational Developers and congregational church planters.

"Path One is the formalized commitment ... to collaborate in meaningful and faithful ways," Greenwaldt said.

Butcher, who leaves his job as a district superintendent in the Desert Southwest Annual Conference, says the time has come for a new United Methodist approach to evangelism.

Currently in the United States, the denomination averages one church start every 7.6 days, according to statistics from the United Methodist Council on Finance and Administration. That compares with the 50-year period beginning in 1870 when Butcher says Methodists "were at our best" and started one new church a day.

"I think we want to try to get back to that," he said. "It is going to take a couple quadrennia to do that, (but) the goal is to eventually start 350 new churches a year across the country in our denomination."

Initial strategies call for the new "planters pool" to begin approximately 137 new churches a year during 2009-2012. Within the same period, the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries will help plant 400 new churches outside the United States.

A new faith community
The Path One team defines a new congregation as a faith community that:
.Is committed to making disciples of Jesus Christ;
.Includes regular community worship;
.Is Wesleyan in theology;
.Is willing to plant a new congregation in its first decade;
.Has an effective discipling system;
.Does community outreach; and
.Receives new members

"It is important that we plant within the DNA of a new congregation that it needs to start another congregation in 10 years," Butcher said. "It is more than a mission project or a new worship service or the construction of a new building."

Statistics suggests that while the population has grown, at least 35 percent of people in the United States do not attend church.

"The most effective evangelism we have is starting new churches," Butcher said. "Planting new churches means that we attract new people, younger people and more diverse people. There is a lot of excitement created around a new church start."

Greenwaldt agrees. "The creation of new churches gives us the best opportunity we have to connect with new people," she said.

Regional growth
According to Butcher, the church in the United States has started too few congregations in the last 50 years, particularly in areas of population growth such as the western states.

In the Western Jurisdiction, there is one United Methodist church for every 37,000 people, while there is one for every 6,337 people in the South Central Jurisdiction, one per 5,400 in the Southeast, one per 8,400 in the Northeast, and one for every 7,600 in the North Central Jurisdiction.

"The population has shifted and it has been estimated that about 60 percent of our United Methodist churches are in the wrong locations. And, so trying to get a church to move is very difficult," Butcher said.

At the same time, as many as 47 percent of people in the western United States "have no faith involvement and do not care about church," he said.

"We have population areas where there is no Methodist presence," he added. "We think that by putting a church in a new population area, they will come. New churches tend to attract new people, younger people and also more diverse people."

Since 1964, The United Methodist Church has experienced a 27 percent membership decline in U.S. membership despite a 54 percent population explosion. The percentage of youth declined from one in seven in 1964 to one in 21 in 2005, and 41 percent of the country's United Methodist churches did not receive a member by profession of faith in 2005.

The Great Commission
Greenwaldt reminds that the ultimate goal of planting new churches is not to stem United Methodist membership loss or decline. "The goal is to reach more people, more younger people and more diverse people for Jesus Christ. We seek to do that by focusing on identifying, training and equipping 1,000 new church planters by 2012."

Those planters must follow population trends so that United Methodists can go out to where the people are and create churches in a variety of areas and compositions, including multicultural, ethnic and multiethnic congregations, Butcher said.

Population growth by 2030 is projected to be greatest in the South Central and West jurisdictions, at 27 percent, followed by the Southeast Jurisdiction at 26 percent. The North Central and Northeast jurisdictions are projected to grow at 8 percent.

"We can no longer rely on people coming to us," Butcher said. "That might have been good in the '50s and '60s, but now we have to go where the people are. That is what John Wesley did. He followed the people and we have to get back to our roots."

Leadership is an important aspect of Path One, Butcher said, adding that the ability to identify, recruit, assess and train church planters is critical.

This August, at the School of Congregational Development (http://new.gbgm-umc.org/about/us/ecg/events/school/), one of the ministry tracks (entitled "New Church 101: How to Start A New Church") may help pastors discern if they might have the right gifts for the unique ministry of church planting. The Aug. 2-7 event at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan., is jointly sponsored by the United Methodist Board of Discipleship and the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. The mission of the annual event is to help annual conferences and congregations "grow the church" through new congregational starts and the strengthening of existing congregations.

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

United Methodist Advertising Awareness Continues Steady Climb: Tracking Research Consistently Shows Gains

Nashville: New research indicates that awareness of The United Methodist Church’s “Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.” advertising continues to escalate, reaching more “seekers” each year. Thirty percent of those surveyed in 2006 were aware of the campaign, up from 27 percent the previous year and 14 percent in 2001 when the campaign first began.

“The impact of the advertising is that awareness is growing from year to year,” said the Rev. Larry Hollon, chief executive of United Methodist Communications. “The research also indicates that our messages continue to be believable and important to the audience—and they are effectively shifting people’s attitudes about the denomination in a very favorable way.”

The purpose of the campaign is to increase awareness and recognition of The United Methodist Church’s basic beliefs and to promote willingness to visit a United Methodist church. The target audience for the campaign is “seekers”—people ages 21-60 who do not currently attend a United Methodist church and are searching for something spiritually.

Each year, United Methodist Communications commissions independent research about the effectiveness of the denomination’s “Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.” advertising.

More than 1,200 people from six test markets (Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Des Moines, Roanoke, Springfield, and Tallahassee/Gainesville) were interviewed by the Barna Research Group regarding their impressions of the denomination, their willingness to visit a United Methodist church, and their perception of the “Open hearts” message.

Some of the highlights of the research:
.Of all respondents surveyed, 37 percent said their impression of The United Methodist Church was very or somewhat favorable
.Those who had seen the advertising were 47 percent more likely to have a favorable impression of The United Methodist Church than those who had not
.Nearly half of the target audience—47 percent—expressed willingness to attend a United Methodist church, with 11 percent being very willing
.Fifty-eight percent of those exposed to the advertising recalled the tagline: “Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.”
.Seventeen percent of respondents said they would definitely or probably visit a United Methodist Church in the next three months

The survey also looked at ten different statements about United Methodists to measure respondents’ perceptions of the denomination. Slightly more than half of those surveyed agreed with the top five perceptions: that United Methodists care for and support each other, that they accept people from different walks, they would accept you for who you are, they help people in the community, and care about justice and peace for all people.

Africa University graduates promote community health

By Andra Stevens*

MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS)-Two pioneer graduates in the master's program of Health Sciences at Africa University are using research and professional contributions to promote public health in the communities they serve.

Dr. Kasombo Tshiani

Dr. Kasombo Tshiani, a physician, and Margaret Tagwira, a laboratory technician, received Master of Public Health degrees from Africa University June 9 during the institution's 13th graduation ceremony. Both are engaged in studies to improve public health and public safety in Zimbabwe.

A physician from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tshiani is based at the hospital of the Nyadire Mission of The United Methodist Church. For his thesis, he investigated factors contributing to an increase in traffic accidents and related injuries and deaths in Zimbabwe.

Tagwira's research focused on health laboratories in six hospitals in the Mutasa District in the eastern province of Manicaland in Zimbabwe. The study's objective was to assess laboratory capacity and related factors in controlling tuberculosis, malaria and HIV infection.

Dr. Barbael Krumme, a community health specialist in Africa University's Faculty of Health Sciences, supervised their research. "It is very important for a doctor who is totally focused on the individual in terms of care to have this broader view of what is good for the population and to understand how to balance public health interests and individual interests," she said.

Life-saving research Tshiani's study involved interviewing drivers and reviewing accident records in police departments and hospitals. Using data primarily from Mutare, home of Africa University, he found that fatality rates can be reduced if speed controls are consistently enforced. The study also found that time of day, careless driving, environmental factors and vehicle defects are contributing to the increase in road accidents and traffic injuries and deaths.

His findings may assist in finding new strategies to improve road safety. Tshiani has made specific recommendations to road safety organizations, police departments, businesses that employ large numbers of drivers and other stakeholders.

Margaret Tagwira

Tagwira's health laboratory study findings also touched the conditions of service of laboratory personnel, their training in management and their ability to maintain their equipment, all of which she found to be in need of improvement.

The results revealed inadequacies in infrastructure, human resources and equipment. It concluded that health systems need strengthening and that quality assurance programs need to be developed and implemented.

"We have to be able to do effective disease surveillance so that we know if our health systems are performing adequately or if they are lacking in any way," said Tagwira. "If we find that systems are lacking, then we must look at how they can be helped. If the systems are failing to control tuberculosis and malaria, how can we even think about being effective against the new threats like bird flu?"

Translating academics to life Both Africa University graduates are working to impact their communities. As the only doctor at the Nyadire Mission, Tshiani is responsible for overall administration and clinical services at the 200-bed rural hospital, which serves about 1,000 patients a month, including malaria and surgical cases, and provides health services to significant numbers of people living with HIV/AIDS. In addition, the hospital reaches out to surrounding communities by supporting the work of local clinics. It provides immunizations, collects and passes on statistics to national health officials, tracks trends and implements prevention measures.

"This hospital is good for putting what I've learned (in the master's program) into practice. It is also a good place for gaining experience and making a difference," he said.

Tagwira is working in the university's Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources and is as busy off campus and in the community as she is in the school's agriculture laboratories.

For more than a decade, she has shared her knowledge of mushroom production with others in the community. She created a model small-scale operation that consists of rabbit hutches feeding into a vegetable garden and a fish pond and is demonstrating how, with very modest resources and practical training, vulnerable and marginalized citizens such as orphans can become successful agribusiness operators.

Orphaned children and young people comprise more than 10 percent of Zimbabwe's population, and many are girls who often must provide for younger siblings. Tagwira is passionate about resourcing and preparing them to support themselves and to make meaningful contributions in their communities.

"I'm of the view that public health practice is not restricted to offices, hospitals and classrooms," she said. *Stevens is director of information and public affairs at Africa University.

Africa University awards 282 degrees at graduation

By Andra Stevens*

This achievement was by God’s grace," says Unekuojo Haruna, a psychology major and recipient of the ZIMRE Prize for the best overall graduating student.


MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS)-Africa University celebrated its 13th graduating class by awarding 282 degrees to students from 15 African countries and seeing its first recipients from two new master's degree programs.

The Class of 2007 of the United Methodist-related school also featured its largest-ever group of recipients for first-class degrees, which are awarded to students with a cumulative grade point average of between 3.65 and 4.0.

The private, pan-African school held its commencement ceremonies on June 9.

The class was comprised of 230 undergraduate and 52 graduate students and featured two pioneer classes-recipients of the master's degree in public sector management and the master's degree in public health.

The first-class degree recipients were spread across four faculties or disciplines: Education (4), Humanities and Social Sciences (4), Agriculture and Natural Resources (2) and Management and Administration (1).

"This achievement was by God's grace," said Unekuojo Haruna, a Nigerian psychology major and the only non-Zimbabwean among the first-class degree recipients.

Haruna maintained her grades and remained active in student government and community life after her father died last September in the crash of a Nigerian military aircraft. She was awarded the university's most prestigious award, the ZIMRE Prize for the best overall graduating student.

"I thank God and I thank my family, friends and lecturers for their support," said Haruna.

Celebrating diversity
Gareth Horsfield also received a first-class degree and was among the top graduating students in the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

"I'm shocked and happy at the same time," said Horsfield, who also was awarded prizes for best graduating student in Animal Science and best overall graduating student in his discipline.

"Africa University has just been amazing," he said. "I remember being worried about coming here on the first day because I thought I would stick out quite a bit. It (race) has never been an issue, and I've never been made to feel as if I'm any different from any other student on campus."

In fact, campus diversity and cultural interaction are highlights cited by many of the new graduates. Neusa Joaquim spent four years on campus, first learning English and then pursuing a bachelor's degree in theology. She says the "give and take" involved in living with so many cultures, backgrounds and personalities has had a positive impact on her.

"Africa University is a place where you find everything and everyone, culturally speaking," said Joaquim. "I learned a lot, grew personally and came out more open-minded and mature."

Joaquim is returning to her country of Angola after graduation. Throughout her studies, she was supported by the congregation at Belem United Methodist Church in Luanda, and she's excited about returning there to serve.

Giving back
In her commencement address, Caroline Njuki urged the graduates to give back to society.

Caroline Njuki

"I expect that most of you are here because someone took you by the hand and started you on the journey to this hour," said Njuki, a staff member of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries in New York. "Therefore, you are morally obliged to do the same for another. And the more money and the more energy and the more influence you have or accumulate, the more you must do."

Njuki urged the graduates to set an example for honesty and openness regardless of the circumstances.

"Be honest even if you find yourselves trapped in a corrupt economic environment," she said. "You have learned at this school and need always to remember that it is wrong to steal, lie or cheat, and to pretend that you are something other than what you are."

As she ended her address, Njuki appealed to the graduates to remain engaged with their communities and continent and to "love Africa with passion."

"This continent of ours with its great diversity, its wealth of resources, and its potential, is our Mother Earth. Claim it! Embrace it! Care for its people, protect its environment, nurture its cultures and represent it with pride. You are, after all, its sons and daughters. Walk straight and tall proclaiming to the world, 'I am proud to be an African and I am a graduate of Africa University.'"

The members of the 2007 graduating class increased Africa University's alumni to more than 2,600 in 14 years of operation. The first private university to open in Zimbabwe, Africa University opened in 1992 with 40 students from six African countries. Its current annual enrollment is 1,300. The institution offers degrees in agriculture, business and public administration, education, health sciences, the humanities and social sciences, peace and governance, and theology.

*Stevens is director of information and public affairs at Africa University.

Olson nominated to lead United Methodist Women's Division

By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK (UMNS)-Harriett Jane Olson, an executive with the United Methodist Publishing House, has been nominated as chief executive of the Women's Division, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

If elected, Olson would join the division in the fall, succeeding Jan Love, who left the post at the end of 2006 to become dean of the Candler School of Theology in Atlanta.

The Women's Division is the administrative arm and policy-making body of United Methodist Women, a denominational organization of approximately 1 million members whose purpose is to foster spiritual growth, develop leaders and advocate for justice.

"Ms. Olson is a woman of many gifts and will serve the division with distinction," said Kyung Za Yim in a June 13 letter to Women's Division directors. Yim is division president and chairperson of its search committee.

Yim said Olson is "the closest match for our unique needs at this time in our history" and noted that she was one of eight candidates initially interviewed and among the three finalists. With the approval of directors, the committee had started a second search process for the position last year to expand the field of candidates.

Division directors will vote on the search committee's recommendation in August and share that information with the personnel committee of the Board of Global Ministries. The full board is scheduled to vote on the matter during its annual meeting in October.

Lois Dauway, who leads the division's Section on Christian Social Responsibility, has served as interim chief executive since Jan. 1.

Olson said she is "thrilled" to be the Women's Division nominee and looks forward "to what the division directors, the staff and I can do, together with the members of United Methodist Women, to work toward the spiritual and physical wholeness that was God's desire for the creation from the foundation of the world."

Since 1996, Olson has been senior vice president for publishing, editor for church school publications and UMC book editor at the United Methodist Publishing House in Nashville, Tenn. She supervises a staff of 125 to 150 people responsible for the development, production and trade distribution of resources from Abingdon Press, Cokesbury and Kingwood Books.

Before joining the Publishing House, she worked for the Pitney, Hardin, Kipp and Szuch law firm of Morristown, N.J., from 1983-96, where she was a partner in the real estate department, with a specialization in environmental law, from 1991-96.

From 1988-96, Olson was a director of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship and was a delegate to the 1988, 1992 and 1996 General Conferences of the denomination. She also served on a number of committees with what was then the Northern New Jersey Annual Conference.

She is a member of Morristown (N.J.) United Methodist Church and an affiliate member of McKendree United Methodist Church in Nashville.

Olson is a 1983 graduate of Harvard Law School and has a bachelor's degree from Houghton (N.Y.) College, where she serves on the board of trustees.

She is a board member of the Protestant Church Owned Publishers Association and Bible Translation and Utilization Committee of the National Council of Churches.

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

United Methodists Release State of the Church Report

Survey Data Explores Attitudes, Opinions

Nashville: A new report from The United Methodist Church on the state of the church reveals that United Methodist core beliefs are clear, but a variety of attitudes and opinions exist about other issues. The first-of-a-kind effort gathers survey data, research, and essays from a cross-section of leaders to present a comprehensive overview of the denomination.

“With this collection of survey data, research reports, and views from United Methodist leaders, we want to prompt and support prayerful conversation in many congregations and other settings about the life of our church, as well as its future,” said Bishop John Hopkins who is the Convener of the Connectional Table. “Christian conferencing is an historic and proven way for the church to seek clarity about God’s call and our response.”

The project was commissioned by the Connectional Table, an organization within the church that guides missions and ministries. As a part of the project, more than 11,000 United Methodists from the U.S., Africa, Europe and the Philippines participated in online and telephone surveys conducted by an outside research group. The report utilized survey data collected in June through early September—about 2,600 interviews.

Both clergy and lay members participated in the survey, which included a wide range of questions including issues of importance for ministry planning, organizational structure, emphasis on worship and prayer, and other topics. In addition to the surveys, the Connectional Table invited a cross-section of church leaders to write short opinion essays, and collected available research on church life from seminaries, foundations, agencies, and other sources.

The survey data indicates that United Methodists strongly affirmed their belief in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, as well as their reliance on God’s grace and salvation. There was somewhat less agreement as to whether mission and service are important to personal salvation. Respondents in the Western U.S. on average placed a lower importance on core beliefs than did others.

The respondents reported a high level of desire to attract more young people to the aging church, though there was less agreement about specifically how that should be accomplished. But only a minority of respondents felt that churches are willing to change or add alternative worship options or to reallocate resources to attract young people.

Other research indicated that nearly half of the new churches started in the U.S. over the past six years have emerged in non-Anglo contexts. More than half of the U.S. new church starts have emerged in Spanish-speaking communities, with others in African-American, Asian-American and Brazilian American communities. The fastest growth continues to be in Africa.

One of the survey findings is that views about the church's position on homosexuality vary greatly depending on where in the U.S. respondents live. The percentage of respondents who "strongly disagree" with the church's position that it does not condone the practice of homosexuality varied widely among different regions of the U.S., with people in the Southeast being least likely to disagree and people in the West being most likely to disagree.

Less than half of those surveyed, however, saw the issue as “extremely important.” The highest priorities were focus on Scripture, children, reaching out to the unchurched, and ending racial divisions.

More findings include:
.35 percent of United Methodist congregations consistently report growth
.Between 1995 and 2005, global membership increased more than 34 percent, with the largest increases occurring in Africa and the Philippines
.Giving per member has increased by 58 percent over the past 20 years
.Significant numbers of United Methodists were hopeful about the future of the church, especially in Africa and the Philippines
.Pastors generally do not believe strongly that they are well trained, expertly supervised, or assigned to churches in an appropriate manner
.While respondents believe that core values are important to the church, only one-third say that the church provides an opportunity to discuss them
.A strong plurality of both clergy and laity became United Methodists because they were born into the church; the next most common reasons are appreciation of the teachings and beliefs of The United Methodist Church

A summary report is available at www.umc.org/stateofthechurch , as well as survey data and essays from more than 60 United Methodist leaders expressing individuals’ views of the church and its future. Statistical information compiled by the General Council on Finance and Administration is included along with links to other research reports available on the Internet.

The summary of the report will also be distributed to church leaders as an insert in the September/October Interpreter magazine and through other channels worldwide in all the annual conferences. United Methodists are encouraged and invited to join the conversation and to participate by adding their perspectives to the on-line exchange at www.umc.org/stateofthechurch

Pastor recalls historic Uniting Conference of 1968

A UMNS Report
By John A. Lovelace*

When The United Methodist Church celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2008, it will have "traveled" 30 miles-from its 1968 birthplace in the Dallas Convention Center to the Fort Worth Convention Center, the site of the 2008 General Conference.

Few people can recall the scene on April 23, 1968, when the 10.3 million-member Methodist Church and the 750,000-member Evangelical United Brethren Church united to become The United Methodist Church.

The Rev. R. Bruce Weaver of Dallas has a unique perspective on the Uniting Conference of 1968 and the 40 years that have followed.

As a district superintendent in the Fort Worth-based Methodist Central Texas Conference, he was a first-time delegate to General Conference and also chaired his conference's delegation that spring.

"There were five of us," he recalls. "The other four were all seasoned veterans in the conference, and I felt mighty insignificant in their presence. I had lots of learning and growing up to do in a few short months. It was a thrilling journey and provided an opportunity to learn more about The Methodist Church."

Historic photographs captured the moment when Methodist Bishop Lloyd C. Wicke and EUB Bishop Reuben H. Mueller clasped hands over a table laden with symbolic documents: Holy Scripture, hymnals, the Book of Discipline, Book of Worship and the 307-page Plan of Union. In unison, the two bishops, 1,300 delegates and upwards of 10,000 visitors and guests recited these binding words:

"Lord of the Church, we are united in Thee, in Thy Church and now in The United Methodist Church. Amen."

Bishop James K. Mathews later called it "one of the great church assemblies of the (20th) century."

Historic assembly
According to Weaver, becoming accustomed to using the name 'The United Methodist Church' was a bit challenging because of the concern that the Evangelical United Brethren Church would get lost among the Methodist Church folk.

"As I recall, not much opposition arose, especially in the South," he said. "There was only one EUB congregation in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area, Trinity church in Wichita Falls. Serving in Wichita Falls later, I learned that Trinity United Methodist Church had made the adjustment probably better than most members from the former Methodist Church."

To catch a glimpse of what that "great assembly" faced and what it accomplished, no source excels the pages of the two former churchwide periodicals-the family-oriented monthly Together magazine and the bi-weekly Christian Advocate magazine for ordained clergy.

In an advance story in April 1968, F. Paige Carlin, then managing editor of Together, noted that the new church would be "the second largest and most truly national in distribution of members throughout the country." He said the Uniting Conference also faced challenges such as the issues of the Vietnam War, black power, poverty, crime, urban unrest, violence, revolutionary changes in popular morality, and the crisis of the rich versus the poor around the world.

Carlin pointed out that uniting the two churches had been "in the making" almost 10 years and that General Conferences of the two churches separately had approved the Plan of Union in 1966, leaving tidying up to a joint union committee headed by Methodist layman/attorney Charles Parlin of New York and EUB clergyman Paul Washburn, who became a bishop.

The magazine's July 1968 issue carried a full report from Dallas under the headline "A Union-and Much More." It was described as "the largest religious merger in U.S. history."

"The feeling of unity was not dissipated," Together magazine reported, "in subsequent days of sometimes heated debate" by Uniting Conference delegates. The article said lines were not divided along Methodist and EUB lines, but between progressives and conservatives from both churches. Special interest groups identified included Methodists for Church Renewal, dating to 1964, and Black Methodists for Church Renewal, organized earlier in 1968.

The ordained clergy's Christian Advocate issue of May 16, 1968, editorialized that two themes dominated actions of the Uniting Conference: church renewal and world missions. It also noted creation of the new churchwide Commission on Religion and Race and the expected naming of an African American as its general secretary, the first of his race to head a general church agency in either denomination. The Rev. Woodie W. White soon was chosen to head Religion and Race, and he was elected a bishop in 1984.

The magazine observed that flags of 53 countries adorning the Dallas Convention Center represented the reach of United Methodist work. Editor James M. Wall commented that the uniting service principal speaker, Dr. Albert C. Outler from Perkins School of Theology, displayed his "usual salty wit" in likening the uniting of two churches to Pentecost and in apologizing for the absence of fire and glossolalia.

On to St. Louis
Late in the conference, delegates realized that the work of actual uniting could not be completed in 1968. A special session of General Conference was approved for 1970 to last only five days and have a budget of $500,000. It later met in St. Louis.

Bishop Eugene M. Frank of the St. Louis area delivered the final sermon, and Bishop William C. Martin of Texas pronounced the benediction. Then the 40-year, 30-mile trek from Dallas to Fort Worth began.

The gathering morphed from being the Uniting Conference to constituting the new denomination's first General Conference. A significant difference was a cutback in the number of delegates from 1,300 representing the two separate churches-1,000 Methodists, 300 EUBs-to 1,000, the maximum in former Methodist practice. Seated on that final day were 850 former Methodists and 130 former EUBs.

"My observation now is that very few current members know much about the merger, especially in the southern United States," Weaver said, adding that it took time for the pension boards and other agencies to merge, but they eventually did.

"The question today is: 'Was it helpful to both groups, given the fact that we now have about 4 million fewer members combined than was in both groups in 1968?'" Weaver asked. "My observation after 40 years is 'maybe.'"

Other concerns facing the church in 1968 focused on restructure of boards and agencies-issues still under discussion today.

According to Weaver, perhaps the concerns then could have been better addressed just as they should be addressed in 2008. "Spend the time, energy and funds on making disciples for Jesus Christ," he said. "I wonder how much continually restructuring the denomination during the past 40 years has contributed to the erosion of membership."

Noting that it is destructive to hold on to the past, Weaver said there were those in1968 who tried to protect vested interests in cultural and racial power. Even though the segregated Central Jurisdiction was eliminated, many delegates used parliamentary procedures and local structures to inhibit the merger of several racial influences in Methodism.

"Looking toward the 2008 General Conference in Fort Worth, I sense that whereas 'unity' was a primary focus in 1968, dissension, divisiveness and scrambling for power will be at the center of all debates on the various issues of the church. It would seem that we in the church would take our cue from Jesus and learn to respect each other with love and peace toward all," Weaver said.

"Perhaps all of United Methodism should recover John Wesley's Aldersgate Street experience reported in his own words: 'While he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed.' May that be our hope and prayer for the delegates assembling in Fort Worth in 2008."

*Lovelace, who has covered eight General Conferences of The United Methodist Church, covered the April 23, 1968 uniting service as an associate editor of Fort Worth-based All-Church Press, a nondenominational newspaper for local churches. He joined the General Church Periodicals staff in 1968 as news editor of Together and Christian Advocate magazines and in 1973 was founding editor of NEWSCOPE. He joined the United Methodist Reporter staff in 1981 and retired as editor in 1997.

Churches share stories of Filipino martyrs

By Jeneane Jones*

Photographs of clergy victims of extra-judicial killings in the Philippines are paraded at the start of a commemoration service at Pinole (Calif.) United Methodist Church. The service was organized by members of the California-Nevada Conference Filipino task force, including the Rev. Arturo Capuli (right) and Laddie Perez-Galang (left). UMNS photos by Jeneane Jones.

PINOLE, Calif. (UMNS)-They left the sanctuary as they came in: silently, in single file, carrying photographs of young men and women killed throughout the Philippines in "extra-judicial killings"-deaths without due process.

The silent walk-in has become the group's signature protest.

As members of a fact-finding team from the United Methodist California-Nevada Annual (regional) Conference, they visit churches to share information about alleged brutality toward Filipino citizens by the military of the Philippines.

During a June 10 program at Pinole United Methodist Church on the edge of the San Francisco Bay Area, the Rev. Linda Prendergast retells the story of a young woman whose photo is on a nearby screen. "Hooded gunmen barged into her home … and, while she and her children watched from the dinner table, the men shot and kill her husband at the table. His crime was that he was working to bring better conditions to the farmers."

The fact-finding team of 17 United Methodists, including California-Nevada Bishop Beverly J. Shamana, traveled in February to three regions of the Philippines to hear the personal accounts behind reports concerning the more than 800 killed in six years. The majority of those victims have been church workers, primarily members of the United Church of Christ of the Philippines. United Methodist pastors and workers also have been killed.

Standing up for rights
The Rev. Arturo Capuli, a member of the team, is clear on why people of faith have been targeted. "They are leaders, for one thing," Capuli said. "They awaken people. They enlighten people. They encourage people to stand up for their rights."

On June 9, another person of faith paid the ultimate price for helping people. Filipino newspapers reported that a lone assailant stabbed a young seminarian to death in his home in Quezon City.

The Cal-Nevada team concurs with the World Council of Churches that Christians have suffered the brunt of human rights violations under the Philippine government's counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism strategies.

While the team's trip was needed, it was also a dangerous mission. In Mindinao, some of its members were stopped and searched.

"We had a big gathering that night in the town," said Capuli. "We noticed we were being videotaped by the military people. Then we were told that instead of staying the night in that town, we would be in danger, so we traveled about five more hours (in another direction) in order to be safe."

The retired pastor quickly notes that the danger was no less than what Filipino people face daily.
U.S. responsibility
Capuli says it is not only the Philippine government that must be held accountable for the violence, but the U.S. government as well.

"We should persuade our government not to send any military aid, but instead (to) send economic aid. And if we cannot but send military aid, what we should do is to make sure that money is not used to exploit and abuse the human rights of our people."

The government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo says it has conducted an investigation into the more than 800 killings. At meetings this week in Rome with Pope Benedict XVI, Arroyo's protocol officer said she would address how her government is responding to the violence attributed to death squads.

Capuli and the team will continue to give churches a chance to listen to their stories-stories of victims of abuse. At the annual conference session June 20-24, the fact-finding team will introduce a resolution to allow them to extend their work permanently.

Laddie Perez-Galang, another member of the fact-finding team, said they will have legislation to place additional pressure on the U.S. government about the money being sent to the Philippines.
"We want some strings attached to it so the U.S. government can put pressure on the Philippine government to start prosecuting the perpetrators of this violence," Perez-Galang said.

*Jones is director of communications for The United Methodist Church's California-Nevada Annual Conference.

Health, community projects aid rural Afghanistan

By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK (UMNS)-Bringing stability to Afghanistan will require attention to the needs of its rural population, according to a United Methodist who recently visited the Asian country.

"Probably 80 percent of the population is in rural areas," said David Wildman, an executive with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. In a place where "daily living is quite hard," the people of Afghanistan struggle with extreme poverty, a low life expectancy and high maternal and infant mortality rates.

For the past 40 years, the Board of Global Ministries has partnered in Afghanistan on projects aimed at providing physical and mental health care, improving sources of energy, water and sanitation, and fostering community development and self-sufficiency. "In a small way, we've tried to model an ongoing commitment," he said.

The projects receive financial assistance through the Advance for Christ and His Church, the voluntary giving program of The United Methodist Church.

During a two-week visit to Afghanistan in May, Wildman said he heard "over and over again" that while the actions of the Taliban are a major concern, the country's main problems are the drug trade and political corruption.

The opium trade accounts for half the economy and opium addiction is a community issue. "Opium is a crop that is far more drought resistant," he added. "It does well with not much rainfall."

But as he traveled around Kabul and into a remote valley east of the capital city toward the Pakistan border, Wildman was impressed by the ability of the Afghan people to overcome hardships. "They are incredibly creative and resourceful in addressing their needs," he said.

Wildman also was struck by the "extraordinary hospitality" he experienced. "The generosity of the community is really quite genuine," he said.

A vision of health
Comprehensive eye care is one of the major programs that the Board of Global Ministries supports through partners in Afghanistan. In 2006, several eye hospital clinics treated more than 270,000 patients and performed more than 15,000 surgeries. In addition, pharmacies produced nearly half a million eye drops and hospitals distributed 22,200 pairs of glasses.

Preventative eye care remains a concern. An estimated one in 1,000 Afghans goes blind from cataracts each year. Among the consequences of Afghanistan's years of war and occupation are its high rates of maternal, infant and child deaths. Wildman visited the CURE International Hospital in Kabul, which is addressing these problems.

"Probably 85 percent of mothers give birth with no trained medical attendant present," he explained. "So if there's any kind of medical emergency, the rates of infant mortality and maternal mortality are incredibly high."

According to CURE, 44 Afghan women die every day giving birth because of a lack of access to services and to skilled delivery care. The infant mortality rate is 165 per 1,000 live births and child mortality before age 5 is 257 deaths per 1,000, compared with 7 per 1,000 and 8 per 1,000, respectively, in the United States.

CURE specialists and midwife trainers have created a curriculum for maternal and infant health training programs by spending hundreds of hours in 2005 developing and measuring competencies of staff midwives and general medicine doctors. Those training programs are being implemented across the country.

Besides the OB/GYN care, the hospital in Kabul provides general health services, orthopedic rehabilitation of children with disabilities, corrective plastic surgery for burn patients and treatment of cleft palates and lips. "The medical staff speaks in English, so they can bring in short-term (medical) volunteers," Wildman said.

Physical and economic needs
Wildman also visited a physiotherapy institute in Kabul, which offers a two-year training course and continuing education classes for physiotherapists and teachers, and an orthopedic workshop and physiotherapy center in the city of Maimana. That center is the only one serving people with disabilities between Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat.

In 2006, 14 physiotherapists graduated from the course in Kabul and 940 patients were treated there. Another 1,350 patients were treated in Maimana and many received technical appliances.

Providing electricity to rural communities is another way to meet basic physical and economic needs. Wildman said he was impressed by the system of micro-hydropower plants being established. These mini-plants use existing irrigation ditches and a turbine to harness water, providing electricity for 100 to 200 families. Teams of trained mechanics work with local communities to set up the system and install the turbines, which are built in a metal workshop in Kabul.

Other projects focus on mental health care, health and social education, micro-enterprise development and English language training for Afghan professionals and prospective university students.

For more information about projects in Afghanistan and how to contribute, contact Wildman at dwildman@gbgm-umc.org. Information also is available at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/about/advance/, the Advance Web site.

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

Information Shared by Bishop Wills: Petitioning General Conference

Paragraph 507 of The Book of Discipline states “Any organization, clergy member, or lay member of The United Methodist Church may petition the General Conference…” In doing so, it answers the age-old question – “What do I do if I want to change something about the UMC?” Perhaps you don’t agree with a resolution in The Book of Resolutions. Perhaps you have a great idea about how your church should be structured differently. Perhaps you would like to encourage a particular ministry and see it assigned as the duty of a particular local church committee or General Board or Agency.

Once you have decided to petition the General Conference to adopt your idea, there are several steps to take in the process. You must decide whether your idea is a petition which will require further action or a resolution which will be printed in The Book of Resolutions and make a political, social, or theological statement on behalf of the entire denomination. Petitions may seek to make changes in The Book of Discipline or may be non-disciplinary and address the work of the local church or any other level of church structure without a Disciplinary mandate. You must also decide whether your petition will have financial implications in the budget process of the General Conference.

Paragraph 507.2 states “Each petition must address only one issue if the Discipline is not affected; if the Discipline is affected, each petition must address only one paragraph of the Discipline, except that, if two or more paragraphs in the Discipline are so closely related that a change in one affects the others, the petition may call for the amendment of those paragraphs also to make them consistent with one another.” In other words, don’t send in one petition which addresses Global Warming, child care at the Annual Conference session, and voting rights at various stages of the Ordination process unless you are extremely creative.

As you write your petition or resolution, please be very clear about the words you would like to add or delete from the current (2004) edition of The Book of Discipline or The Book of Resolutions. Detailed instructions may be found at gc2008.umc.org.

Two significant changes have been made in the submission process. First, we are asking that all petitions and resolutions be submitted digitally. You may do so by e-mail, by use of a 3.5” diskette or CD, or through a link on the General Conference website. This speeds the processing of your material greatly. It also increases the accuracy of our completed materials by reducing the chance of typographical error or omission. In order to meet the needs of some of our Central Conference members, non-digital submissions (typed or legibly printed only) will be received until September 1, 2007. This should be an avenue of last resort, however.

The second change involves the printing of a rationale for the petition. Fifty (50) words will be allowed for each petition. This should eliminate the need to write a petition in the form of a resolution with several “Whereas” sections explaining why everyone should agree with you.

Please remember that all items must be postmarked by October 26, 2007, if being submitted through a national postal service. All items submitted by any other means must be received by October 26, 2007.

While the street address used for commercial overnight carriers has not changed, there has been some confusion in the assignment of the Post Office box number used for the receipt of petitions. All items submitted via the United States Postal Service should be mailed to:
Gary W. Graves, Petitions Secretary
United Methodist General Conference
P.O. Box 188
Beaver Dam, KY 42320-0188

The local Post Office has assured that they will do their best to catch any items which come in with an incorrect earlier address, but if an item is returned to you, please re-submit it to the above address prior to the October deadline.

Please take this opportunity to be involved in the decision-making life of The United Methodist Church. One of the first steps of Christian conferencing is the prayerful offering of an inspired idea. As we receive and process those offerings from around the world, we begin to move toward an exciting time together in the presence of God.

Rev. Gary Graves
Petitions Secretary

Spiritual Formation event, SOULfeast, to feature Trevor Hudson, Marcia McFee and workshop leaders Dan Glover and Marjorie Thompson

SOULfeast, The Upper Room’s signature spiritual formation conference, will be held this July 15-19, 2007 in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. A spiritual formation event for congregational leaders, lay people, adults, teens, and children, SOULfeast offers five days of Sabbath rest and spiritual enrichment. All who come will discover valuable resources and experiences to deepen the spiritual life of both the individual and the congregation.

Trevor Hudson

Key note speaker Trevor Hudson, pastor of Northfield Methodist Church near Johannesburg, South Africa, will lead participants in the conference theme, The Listening Heart: Wisdom for Living and Leading. Trevor, author of A Mile in My Shoes and the Companions in Christ® resource, The Way of Transforming Discipleship, brings spiritual depth and down to earth warmth as he challenges people to be attentive to God.

Marcia McFee

Marcia McFee, a consultant on worship and the arts and has preached, has led worship and workshops for churches and conferences across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Her hand-on workbook, The Worship Workshop: Creative Ways to Design Worship Together, guides worship teams through evaluation, study and design of worship. Marcia will bring her engaging and interactive style to SOULfeast worship. Corporate worship will offer a variety of experiences from old-time Gospel singing to Taizé, as well as contemporary and traditional worship styles.

Dan Glover

Dan Glover, co-author of Deepening Your Effectiveness, Restructuring the Local Church for Life Transformation published by Discipleship Resources, joins the SOULfeast team of workshop leaders. Marjorie Thompson, author of Soulfeast (John Knox Press), will offer the workshop, Discernment: Listening for the Divine Lead.

Marjorie Thompson

SOULfeast is an ecumenical event and is open to anyone interested in deepening a life with God. SOULfeast invites families to come and engage in experiences for all ages. Congregational Leadership teams are invited to come and glean resources for nourishing the spiritual life of their congregation.

To register or for more information visit www.UpperRoom.org/soulfeast or phone 1-800-972-0433.

Henderson to lead United Methodist Global Health Initiative

The Rev. Gary R. Henderson (right) and Arnold Rhodes pass out a fortified beverage called mahewu to children at the Marange Mission Center near Mutare, Zimbabwe. Henderson has been named executive director of the Global Health Initiative of The United Methodist Church. A UMNS file photo by Linda Green.

By Linda Green*

NASHVILLE, Tenn.(UMNS) - The Rev. Gary R. Henderson says access to health care is a basic human right that should be extended to all of God's children - regardless of their income level.
Such a belief explains why Henderson is energized about his new job, beginning July 1, as executive director of the Global Health Initiative of The United Methodist Church.

The initiative is part of the church's long-term effort to raise awareness and understanding of global health issues. It aims to develop support and participation across the denomination for expanding health ministries, and to significantly reduce illness and death related to diseases of poverty such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

Henderson views the task as an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people who suffer from treatable diseases and "to add my voice to the rallying cry that access to good medical care is a basic human right; it is not just the right of the wealthy."

Currently pastor of East Shore United Methodist Church in Euclid, Ohio, Henderson said the opportunity opened up as he felt God prodding him by "enlarging my vision as to what it means to really be the church."

"I have felt that my world was too small and that God was urging me to do more from a global prospective," said Henderson, who has more than 20 years of pastoral experience including membership on the United Methodist Commission on Communication and the World Methodist Council.

"As I have traveled the world, I have seen first-hand some of huge health needs and issues. Rather than simply say that someone ought to do something, I have sensed that I ought to do something. I have come to believe that God is positioning the people of The United Methodist Church to really make a difference," Henderson said.

The initiative is the outcome of more than two years of conversations about health issues affecting the church and the world. United Methodist leaders have declared global health one of the denomination's four priorities to guide the church's work at the dawn of the new century.

The initiative's goal is to mobilize the full resources of The United Methodist Church to effect health care changes on a global scale. Denominational partners in the effort are the church's Commission on Communication and the boards of Global Ministries, Church and Society and Higher Education and Ministry, among others.

As executive director, Henderson will work with a steering committee to develop a communications and fund-raising strategy, create partnerships to expand the reach of the church and collaborate with agencies involved in global health issues. He will work to map out the distribution of health resources across the globe, aligning people and resources to meet urgent and critical needs and to maximize their effectiveness.

"Global health relates to a healthy and whole world and takes into consideration the rights of all people to be free of disease and poverty inasmuch as the current medical science and technologies and available resources can make it possible," he said.

"I will be challenged to help many different entities see the value of partnering and working together in order to achieve a greater need," said Henderson, noting that such partnerships mobilize many people to "make a difference for the sake of humankind everywhere."

A native of Jackson, Miss., Henderson earned a biology degree from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., and received his Master of Divinity degree in 1986 from Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta. Prior to entering ordained ministry, he was in chemical sales and reached $20 million in annual sales.

"Rev. Henderson has the kind of visionary leadership and global perspective necessary to mobilize the church and move this initiative forward," said the Rev. Larry Hollon, chief executive of United Methodist Communications. "His communication skills, corporate world experience and passion for global health issues make him ideal for this role."

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

General Conference host committee issues call to prayer

By United Methodist News Service

United Methodists around the world are asked to pray for God's guidance for the church in the time leading up to and during the denomination's 2008 legislative assembly.

The Central Texas Annual (regional) Conference host committee, which is preparing for the assembly next spring in Fort Worth, has issued a "A Call to Prayer for General Conference 2008."

"Just as prayer is as essential to the Christian life as breath, so prayer is essential to our shared life together as we prepare for General Conference 2008," the committee said in its call.

"We on the General Conference Hosting Committee Prayer Ministries Team invite you to pray daily for General Conference 2008 and for all the preparations and deliberations leading up to it so that in all that we do we are 'rooted and grounded in love,'" the committee said.

Nearly 1,000 delegates from around the world will meet April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth to revise The United Methodist Church's Book of Discipline and Book of Resolutions, approve a budget for general ministries, speak to issues of the day, worship and celebrate the church's work. General Conference meets every four years.

"We feel that the prayers of all United Methodists are crucial as we approach General Conference," said Judy Tutt, co-chairperson of the Prayer and Discernment Ministries Team.

"If we are to discern God's will for our denomination, it is important for every member to be informed about and to pray about the issues that will come before the conference. That's why we are trying to disseminate the Call to Prayer to as many United Methodist publications and Web sites worldwide as we possibly can."

Tutt's co-chairperson, Len Delony, wrote the prayer contained within the committee's call to prayer statement.

"People might pray this particular prayer or they might be led to pray for General Conference in another way," Tutt said. "They might be led to Ephesians 3:14-21, or other portions of Scripture may speak to them more clearly. Our hope is that more and more United Methodists will lift up General Conference during all of their regular prayer time and Bible study in the coming months."

"We encourage everyone in their prayer time to be silently open and available to God," Delony said. "There are so many competing agendas in this fast-paced world of ours, we must be more intentional about taking a second breath and letting go of our agenda. Only when we do that are we able to hear the depth of God's call in the moment," he said.

The committee is planning several types of prayer spaces at General Conference, including "Second Breath" prayer tents near the convention floor, Delony said. The prayer spaces are designed to help the church experience General Conference as a time of "holy conferencing," he said.

"Prayer reminds us of our connectedness to God and to one another," Tutt said. "In the midst of conflicting viewpoints and different understandings of God's will and purpose for us, we all stand humbly before God as brothers and sister when we pray. If we let prayer shape all of our plans for General Conference, our time together to plan for The United Methodist Church will be shaped not merely by our human capabilities and perspectives, which are always limited, but also by the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, which knows no limits."

The complete text of the call to prayer follows:

A CALL TO PRAYER FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE 2008 FROM THE CENTRAL TEXAS HOST COMMITTEE

"To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Just as prayer is as essential to the Christian life as breath, so prayer is essential to our shared life together as we prepare for General Conference 2008.

We on the General Conference Hosting Committee Prayer Ministries Team invite you to pray daily for General Conference 2008 and for all the preparations and deliberations leading up to it so that in all that we do we are "rooted and grounded in love."

We as a church need the cleansing, healing and guiding breath of prayer
as we tend to all of the details in preparation for General Conference 2008,
as we elect General and Jurisdictional Conference delegates,
as the delegates prepare, deliberate and discern,
and for every other large and small thing that goes into General Conference.

Please join us. We pray that our work before and during General Conference 2008 may itself be an act of prayer and that we will be attentive through it all to God's Presence in the Holy Spirit. We pray that through it all, we may follow the lead of the Good Shepherd, Jesus the Christ, and that we are able to let go as we offer and entrust all things to the Holy One.

O Holy One, Be Thou our Vision,
For the church….
For all the United Methodist Conferences….
We pray for Your guidance and Your strength.

Be Thou our Vision for the world…
We pray for Your justice and Your peace.
Through Your amazing grace…
Help us to see what we need to see…
Help us to be who You call us to be…

O Holy One, let our breathing lead us into a place of ever deepening faith. Let us be awake to the Divine Indwelling where you promise, "I shall live in them and I shall walk the corridors of their heart."

Let this be a time of…

Holy Listening…Holy Conversations… and Holy Conferencing.

Retired Bishop David Lawson dead at 77

By Daniel R. Gangler*

Bishop David Jerald Lawson

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (UMNS) - Bishop David Jerald Lawson, who played a key role in establishing and developing Africa University, is dead at age 77.

A retired bishop of The United Methodist Church, Lawson died May 31 at his home in Franklin, Ind., following a lengthy illness.

A memorial service will be held at Saint Luke's United Methodist Church in Indianapolis after June 9 when both sessions of the two Indiana Area annual conferences have met. Other arrangements are also pending.

Lawson served for 12 years as bishop of the Wisconsin and Illinois areas until retiring in 1996.
During that time, he served on the site selection committee for Africa University, which opened in 1992 in Old Mutare, Zimbabwe. He wrote the mission statement for the university's faculty (school) of theology in consultation with Dean David K. Yemba, who is now bishop of the Central Congo Area.

"He probably lived and breathed Africa University for a while," said James Salley, the university's associate vice chancellor for institutional advancement. "He will be greatly missed by all of us. He was a good friend of Africa University."

Retired Bishop J. Woodrow Hearn called Lawson "an extremely insightful leader" who was dedicated to the mission of the church. "He had always carried out his responsibilities with a warm heart, a loving interest in people and was dedicated to helping the world move toward the goal of being a part of the kingdom of God," Hearn said.

Born March 26, 1930, in Princeton, Ind., Lawson earned degrees from the University of Evansville and Garrett Biblical Institute, now Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill.

Lawson was ordained a deacon in 1956 and an elder in 1959. He was pastor of numerous churches in Indiana, in addition to his appointment at the Indiana University Wesley Foundation, and served as superintendent of the Evansville District and the director of the South Indiana Conference Council on Ministries. He was pastor of Carmel United Methodist Church near Indianapolis when elected bishop in 1984 by the North Central Jurisdictional Conference.

Lawson was assigned to the Wisconsin Area from 1984 to 1992 and the Illinois Area from 1992 to 1996. He served as vice president of the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry and president of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. He also was president of the Wisconsin Conference of Churches and served on various committees of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, including chairing the Committee to Study the Ministry. He was a member of the executive committee of the World Methodist Council and president of its Committee on International Theological Education.

Since retiring in 1996, Lawson had served as bishop-in-residence and a faculty member of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Bishop Michael J. Coyner called Lawson his "consecration bishop" and recalled how he preached at the 1996 service at which Coyner was consecrated as bishop. "Since that time, David has been a colleague, friend, advisor and supporter," Coyner told members of the North Indiana Annual Conference as he announced Lawson's death. "He once told me, 'I am one of your balcony people - encouraging you in your ministry as a bishop.' I have felt and experienced his support, especially since I returned to Indiana three years ago. I will miss having him around to provide that kind of encouragement and advice."

The Rev. Lloyd M. Wright, who went to seminary with Lawson and was a lifelong ministry colleague, said Lawson "shared a rich life of talent and love, a legacy long to be remembered."

"David was a man of deep drives of passion for ministry," said Wright, a retired minister of the South Indiana Conference. "He could hold you spellbound as he described his spiritual development at the time of his ordination as deacon and at his ordination of elder. David spent much of his leadership time with boards of ordained ministry. He shared a real passion for making every step into the ordained ministry a step of faith and growth."

Lawson leaves his wife, Martha Ellen Pegram; two children, John Mark Lawson and Karen Sue Eynon; and three grandchildren.

Upon his retirement, the former Central and Southern Illinois annual conferences, now the Illinois Great Rivers Conference, established the David and Martha Lawson Africa University Scholarship Endowment Fund in his honor. The fund provides a perpetual scholarship for at least one student at Africa University annually.

*Gangler is director of communication, Indiana Area of The United Methodist Church