Sister Prejean to receive Methodist peace award

Sister Helen Prejean speaks Dec. 17, 2007, at New Jersey's Capitol during a signing ceremony making New Jersey the first state to legislatively end the death penalty since 1976. A UMNS photo by John C. Goodwin.

By United Methodist News Service

Sister Helen Prejean, the Catholic nun who has become a symbol of opposition to the death penalty, will receive the 2008 World Methodist Peace Award on April 2 in New Orleans.

The Rev. John Barrett, president of the World Methodist Council and an ordained member of the British Methodist Church, will present the award during a special ceremony.

Prejean is the author of Dead Man Walking: an Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States, which served as the basis for a 1995 movie starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Sarandon won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Prejean.

She was present in Trenton, N.J., on Dec. 17, 2007, when Gov. Jon Corzine signed legislation ending capital punishment in New Jersey, the first state to do so legislatively since 1976.

The Rev. George Freeman, the council's chief executive, cited Prejean's "commitment to abolishing the death penalty in the United States, her ministry to inmates and their families, as well as her ministry to the families of victims" as the key factors in presenting her with 2008 award.

The World Methodist Peace Award is presented annually to individuals or groups who have contributed significantly to peace, justice and reconciliation. Among the criteria for the award are courage, creativity and consistency.

Prison ministry
Prejean, 68, joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille in 1957 and served as a teacher and religious education director in New Orleans.

In 1981, after dedicating her life to the poor and beginning a prison ministry, she began corresponding with Patrick Sonnier, the convicted killer of two teenagers, and became his spiritual advisor. Because Sonnier was scheduled to die in the electric chair, she became aware of the execution process in the state of Louisiana. Sonnier was executed in 1984.

Dead Man Walking, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1993, is an account of her experiences. On The New York Times Best Seller list for 31 weeks, the book also became an international best seller and has been translated into 10 languages.

Her second book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, was published in 2004. It focuses on two men, Dobie Gillis Williams and Joseph O'Dell, whom she accompanied to their executions, and examines the evidence and the death penalty system. She believed both men were innocent.

Prejean continues to educate the public about capital punishment. She founded Survive, a victims advocacy group in New Orleans, and continues to counsel inmates on death row, as well as the families of murder victims.

She is a member and former chairperson of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and currently is the honorary chairperson of Moratorium Campaign, a group gathering signatures for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty. In 2000, she joined Paul Hoffman, board member of Amnesty International, and Mario Marizziti, representative of The St. Egidio Community in Rome, in presenting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan with 2.5 million signatures calling for a moratorium on the death penalty. Both the St. Egidio Community and Annan are past recipients of the peace award.

Legacy of peace
The 2007 recipient of the World Methodist Peace Award was the Rev. Harold Good, a former president of the Methodist Church in Ireland, who was honored for his role in working for stability and peace in Northern Ireland. Other past winners include former South Africa President Nelson Mandela, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Habitat for Humanity and Boris Trajkovski, the late president of Macedonia.

This year's presentation ceremony, which is open to the public, will be at 7:30 p.m. at Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church, 3900 St. Charles Ave. in New Orleans.

The World Methodist Council is a communion of 74 member churches in more than 132 countries reaching nearly 75 million people worldwide.

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

Retired Liberian clergy eke out survival on pensions

The Rev. JoJoe Vah, a retired United Methodist minister, lives in a burned-out house with 17 relatives. UMNS photos by Kathy L. Gilbert*

By Linda Green*

GRAND BASSA COUNTY, Liberia (UMNS)-The Rev. JoJoe Vah, his mother and 16 other relatives live in a house that would be condemned by U.S. standards.

The home was heavily damaged and looted by rebels during Liberia's long civil war, and now it stands as a burned-out shell.

Vah, 78, who retired from active ministry in 2002, was a United Methodist pastor for 53 years. He has no money to repair the damage to his home caused by fire, bullets, water and weather. Receiving no income other than a quarterly pension of US$60, he and his family subsist on rice, soup made from a local nut and items they receive from others.

His grandchildren reside with him in Buchanan so they can attend school in town. "They live in the rural area and have no means of transportation and no means to go to school, so most have to be here in the city to go to school," he says. He also cares for his elderly mother, who is in poor health.

"The only income coming in is from the Board of Pension," he says, referring to the United Methodist Board of Pension and Health Benefits. "That buys just a bag of rice to sustain the rest of the family," he says of the hundred-pound bag that sometimes lasts a month.

The pension "is not enough to sustain me and my family," he says. "With the funds given to us by the Board of Pension, we purchase the rice and keep it in the room where I sleep because I can't keep it in the kitchen," which is outside under a roofed structure.

Retired pastors and surviving spouses gather at St. John United Methodist Church in Grand Bassa County, Liberia, to share their stories.

When he was an active pastor, a small side business helped him to support his family. Since retiring, he says, "I don't have any money like before from the business when I was active. I rely only on the Board of Pension."

Offering hope
Stories like Vah's abound in Liberia. A news team from United Methodist Communications and members of the denomination's Board of Pension visited the Liberia Annual Conference in 2005 to gain a better understanding of the pension needs in that West African country. The team visited cities outside of Monrovia, Liberia's capital city, meeting with pastors and surviving spouses whose pension funds were minimal or nonexistent. Many had given 20, 30 or 40 years of service to the church.

The United Methodist Church, directed by its 2000 and 2004 General Conferences, has been working to develop pension models to help pastors and church lay workers in Liberia and other countries retire with an adequate pension. The church's effort, known as the Central Conference Pension Initiative, is focusing on Africa, Eastern Europe and the Philippines.

A campaign to raise $20 million is under way to fully fund pensions for retired central conference clergy and surviving spouses. More than $4.6 million has been raised, says Chad Peddicord, the campaign director for the Board of Pension and vice president of CCS (Community Counseling Services) of New York.

The initiative is led by a Central Conference Pension Committee with representatives from five church agencies: the Board of Pension and Health Benefits, General Council on Finance and Administration, Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Publishing House and United Methodist Communications.

In November 2006, the committee selected the Liberia Conference to implement a pilot pension program for clergy and church lay workers, beginning in 2007.

"This is groundbreaking and is a celebration of the church's global nature and that we are in mission together," says Bishop John Innis of Liberia. For the Liberia Conference to be chosen as the pilot project in Africa is "commendable" and "falls under the umbrella of making disciples for the transformation of the world," he says.

'We are begging'
On its visit to Liberia in 2005, the U.S. team met with a group of 12 retired pastors and surviving spouses at St. John United Methodist Church in Buchanan. The retirees reported that the cost of living is high, and that their pension money is often the only income they receive. It covers some food costs, but often comes up short, forcing retirees and surviving spouses to turn to family members and others for help.

Most of the retired pastors say life continues to be hard, and as a result of Liberia's civil war, every day is a struggle. Many of the pastors saw their homes destroyed in the war, and they now live in those same dilapidated structures. An increase in pension would help pay for expenses in addition to food, shelter, clothing, school fees and medical care.

The Liberia Conference, comprising more than 170,000 United Methodists, has 382 active clergy, 230 retired clergy and 264 surviving clergy spouses.

Retired pastors and surviving spouses in Liberia generally receive US$60 a quarter, according to the Board of Pension. That amount represents an increase of $5 since last fall. The pension is slightly less for retired associate elders and surviving spouses ($55), retired deacons and their surviving spouses ($50), and retired probationary members and surviving spouses ($45).

The Rev. Charles Horace, 78, and the Rev. Henry Wheh, 77, both retired United Methodist pastors from the Grand Bassa area, live in damaged houses. Like Vah, they help to care for their children and grandchildren who live with them.

"We are begging, asking the church to increase pension," says Horace, who served for 34 years. "It is not enough at all, with a lot of children."

Asked how he survives, he replies: "By the mercy of God. There is hunger. Most of the time we don't eat. When God opens a way, we find something to eat. That is how we are living."

His family relies on his pension and a meager income from two rented rooms. His children, who are adults, have no jobs. Rice is the family's staple food.

"We struggle. We always struggle," Horace says, choking back tears. There are times when the only thing that touches the family's lips is water from a pump at St. John United Methodist Church. There is a well outside Horace's back door "where we get water to cook with. We don't drink it," he says, "because it is not sterilized."

Wheh's home has been damaged from a leaking ceiling and sinking floors. Like most other retirees, the only income he receives is the church pension. He recently took a year's worth of his pension and purchased a sheet to put on the roof and a mattress.

His family of 20 people survives on fish from a local fisherman and rice that is purchased by the cup. The type of fish they eat-boney-is high in protein, but it must be dried out in an open-air kitchen to be safe for consumption.

"We have no icebox to store raw fish for the next few days," Wheh says. "We dry this fish to sustain us for the next few days."

Since his retirement, he says, the family doesn't have enough money to send his children to school. "Even my health, there is not enough for me to go to the hospital. I am old. I need medical care. That is my concern."

Retired and working
The Rev. David W. Paye, 78, has not experienced the hardship and hand-to-mouth existence of some of his peers, but he too faces difficulties.

Retired as a United Methodist pastor in 1998, he did not stay inactive for long. He travels four miles three days a week to serve as a chaplain for the employees in the conference office. When he is at home in Lookingtown, he does chores while his wife operates a roadside stand selling clothing, food, oils and vegetables to supplement the family's income.

As chaplain of the annual conference office, Paye leads chapel services on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and goes from office to office praying for the ministers, staff and bishop. He receives a pension equal to US$60 every three months, as well as a stipend for being the office chaplain. There are 102 people working at the conference office.

"As chaplain, I pray in offices-I pray for their lives, for the conditions, to hold the job and do it well," he says. "Being a chaplain is beautiful to me because I still continue to do the work of God. Doing the work of God is important because God is my strength and my salvation, so I always work for him."

If he did not have the income from being chaplain, survival would be hard for Paye, who has 13 children and numerous grandchildren who depend on him. Eight grandchildren are at home and some are still in school. A son just finished high school and wants to go to college.

"At my age, there is no way to survive," he says.

The children sometimes buy rice, at a cost of about US$25 for a 125-pound bag. "Rice lasts about two weeks," he says. "We sometimes eat nothing but rice."

When Paye can no longer be chaplain, he says he "will look to the Lord from whom all blessings flow and look to my wife, who sells clothes, vegetables, Pal oils, foo-foo (derived from cassava)-all the small things in front of the house that people come and buy."

More information on the Central Conference Pension Initiative is available at www.ccpi-umc.org or by writing to ccpi@gbophb.org.

The Rev. Joseph Sunday: No nest egg after 33 years

To supplement his church pension, the Rev. Joseph Sunday, 77, serves as chaplain for Liberia’s Monrovia Central Prison. A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert.

By Linda Green*

MONROVIA, Liberia (UMNS)--The types of churches led by the Rev. Joseph Sunday for 33 years did not pay enough for him to accumulate a retirement nest egg.

Sunday, 77, who retired from active ministry in 2002, led rural churches and worked on circuits where he would be sent to United Methodist congregations "that sometimes paid me L$25," he says.

Upon retirement, he expected to receive something from the denomination's Liberia Annual Conference. Although he planned as best as he could, "it did not enable me to accumulate any money because of the kinds of churches I was pastoring."

In addition to a US$60 quarterly pension, Sunday receives a stipend as the chaplain/counselor for the Monrovia Central Prison. The United Methodist Church is one of several churches sponsoring the Prison Fellowship of Liberia.

Sunday says that in spite of his "inadequate" pension, he is grateful. He would like to see his quarterly pension increase to not only enable the purchase of a bag of rice, plus fish, but to leave enough money afterward for other needs.

"A bag of rice lasts a month," says Sunday, who leads a family of seven. Sometimes one of his children will bring in some money, but it is not sufficient, he says.

The United Methodist Church, through its Central Conference Pension Initiative, is developing model systems aimed at providing an adequate pension to retired pastors, surviving spouses and church lay workers in Liberia and elsewhere. More information is available at http://www.ccpi-umc.org/.

"We eat once a day," Sunday says. "We are used to it. We adapted ourselves to that condition. We eat small bread, then we cook that one meal at the end of the day."

That is not unusual in Liberia, which is trying to rebuild after a long civil war. Says Sunday: "Most Liberians, now, eat once a day."

Agnes Toe: 'Ministry was a blessing in my life'

Agnes Toe, a pastor’s widow, says she can’t afford repairs for her home and often doesn’t have enough money for her medication. A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert.

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

MONROVIA, Liberia (UMNS)-Agnes Toe suffered the deaths of her husband and 32-year-old daughter, Cecelia, on the same day in 1991. The two died separately, and Agnes doesn't offer details.

Wiping away tears, she says the two deaths have left her grieving and sick from high blood pressure and asthma.

Her husband, the Rev. David Tweh Toe, was 69 and still active in ministry through The United Methodist Church.

Today, Agnes Toe lives in the home she shared with her husband and four children, but it is falling apart around her. She has no money for repairs and often can't afford the medication she needs.

During a visit by a team from United Methodist Communications, one of Toe's grandchildren is frying fish heads in the family's humble kitchen. The fish heads are the only food she has in her home.

"My husband was pastor more than 30 years," Toe says. "He was a good pastor. Ministry was a blessing in my life."

Charles Toe, one of their sons, says his mother and father were "always at church."

"Their whole life was the church-Wednesday night prayer meetings, Bible studies. They were always busy," he says. His parents worked hard for the church but now his mother is not receiving enough pension funds to survive, he says.

The United Methodist Church, through its Central Conference Pension Initiative, is developing model systems aimed at providing an adequate pension to retired pastors, surviving spouses and church lay workers in Liberia and elsewhere. More information is available at http://www.ccpi-umc.org/.

"My faith helped me," Agnes Toe says. "My faith is helping me because when some things happen to me, when difficulties happen, when I think about the church and my faith in Christ, then I can console myself."

The Rev. James Mazdeh: Praying for another day

The Rev. James Z. Mazdeh served for 18 years as a pastor in The United Methodist Church in Grand Bassa County outside of Monrovia, Liberia, before retiring in 1997. A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert.

By Linda Green*

MONROVIA, Liberia (UMNS)-For the Rev. James Z. Mazdeh, life is much different today than it was when he was in active ministry.

"Whatever God provides, I eat it for the day and pray for another," he says.

Mazdeh served for 18 years as a United Methodist pastor in Grand Bassa County outside of Monrovia, the capital of this West African country. Before retiring in 1997, "I went all in the district preaching the word of God and baptizing them in the name of Jesus Christ," he says.

Now 86, his life has changed. "When I had more strength, I farmed. But now I couldn't make it," he says through an interpreter. "I have no strength and power to go in the bush and cut bush and plant. I just sit down."

Mazdeh relies on a quarterly pension of US$60 from the United Methodist Liberia Annual Conference, and his wife sells goods in a small market to generate some money. Sometimes they have to rely on help from their children.

"I have nine children," he says. "Some of them are here (Monrovia) and give a small something to me. But those who are in the country farm cassava, and they bring cassava, rice, to me, and I eat it."

Mazdeh's plight is shared by many other retired United Methodist pastors and church employees in Liberia. The church is developing model systems for providing pensions to pastors, church workers and dependents in Liberia and other countries. More information on the Central Conference Pension Initiative is available at http://www.ccpi-umc.org/.

"When I was young and strong, I used to go everywhere and find ways and means" of making a living, Mazdeh says. "But now, there is no way to go up and down, and I just stay. Whatsoever God will provide in one day, I eat it, and pray for another day."

The Rev. Karmah Early: 'My life is total darkness'

The Rev. Karmah Early, a retired United Methodist pastor who has been blind for several years, survives on a small pension from the Liberia Annual Conference. A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert.

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

MONROVIA, Liberia (UMNS)-The Rev. Karmah Early isn't sure how old she is or how many years she served as a United Methodist pastor in a rural area outside of Monrovia.
She heard God's call to ministry when she was a little girl and says she was "happy" to be a pastor.

She has been blind for several years. "I can't distinguish night from day. My life is total darkness," she says.

The US$60 pension she receives every three months from the Liberia Annual Conference is not enough to guarantee food every day. It is certainly not enough to repair the holes in her roof or the cracks in the walls.

The holes and cracks allow scorpions, snakes and harmful bugs into her room. If no one comes to her aid, Early is a captive of her dark world.

Early and others like her are getting more attention now as The United Methodist Church develops model systems for providing pensions to pastors, church workers and dependents in Liberia and other countries. More information on the Central Conference Pension Initiative is available at http://www.ccpi-umc.org/.

When Early was a girl, someone brought her to church, and she worked there for many years.
"I started to hear a voice say I needed to be in ministry," she says. "I am very happy and satisfied that God called me to be a pastor."

Even now she knows God is always with her. "My Father is taking care of me," she says.

Saint Paul School of Theology to thank partners in Congo mission

Bill Clemmer (left) of Interchurch Medical Assistance and Sillah Sheku (right) of UMCOR help to unload medical supplies for distribution to hospitals in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A UMNS photo courtesy of UMCOR.

A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*

The Rev. Pamela Couture has a deep interest in peace-building efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and is writing a book on the topic.

Couture, the vice president for academic affairs and dean at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo., was planning a research trip to the African nation in January and wondered what type of gift she could bring the people there.

As a result, Saint Paul's and others developed a plan to deliver more than $14 million worth of medicines to Congo.

The United Methodist-related seminary will present four individuals with "Good Samaritan" awards for helping to organize the life-saving delivery. The awards will be part of an April 7 banquet at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown recognizing the contributions of the Saint Paul Council and Board of Trustees.

Recipients include two staff members of the U.S. Department of Defense: Theresa Whalen, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Africa, and U.S. Army Lt. Col. Mark Ellington, regional director for Central and West Africa OSD, African Affairs. The other honorees are Ahmad El Bendary, senior consultant and past CEO of Islamic Relief USA, and Diana Sufian, president, Nour International Relief Aid.

The Rev. Pamela Couture

Couture also will give a public presentation of her research at 2:30 p.m. April 6 at Central United Methodist Church in Kansas City.

Couture's relationship with the Congolese began in 1996 when she and United Methodist Bishop Ntambo Nkulu Ntanda were appointed to serve on the task force for the United Methodist Bishops' Initiative on Children and Poverty. Ntambo had just been elected to serve the North Katanga Episcopal Area in Congo, based in Lubumbashi.

Over an eight-year period, they saw each other every three months. In 2003, Couture accompanied two different church-related groups that were visiting the Congo. "That's when I realized there was a book to be written about what was going on," she said.

Proactive in peacemaking
Couture's goal now is "to write about the Congolese who are not only living lives but also proactively involved in creating peace." The United Methodist Church, she added, "is a major force in all the areas of conflict."

Ntambo presided over the Kamina Peace Conference in 2004, which was funded by United Methodist donations. Couture is focusing her book on peacemaking practices generating from the city of Kamina.

Last October, she spoke with the Rev. James Glass, Saint Paul's vice president of development, about a possible gift for the Congolese people. Glass, who is a retired volunteer chaplain for the U.S. Army, contacted an Army friend who put him in touch with Ellington, who is under Whalen in African Affairs at the Pentagon. The son of Presbyterian missionary parents, Ellington had grown up in Kinshasa.

After some research and discussions with Couture, Ellington proposed focusing the aid on medical assistance. That appealed to Couture, who believes that medicine helps to contribute to peace-building. "Medicine and health care along with basic commodities … are central to being able to create a peace and keep the peace and make the peace," she said.

Ellington connected Glass with Sufian who, in turn, put him in touch with Islamic Relief USA. El Bendary said his organization would fund what was becoming a medical airlift, as long as it went to people in need. The conditions of the gift also required a nongovernmental organization to receive and distribute the aid, and the United Methodist Committee on Relief was an obvious choice.

"We turned to UMCOR and UMCOR said 'we can do this,'" Glass said. UMCOR brought one of its partners, Interchurch Medical Assistance, which has an extensive health network in Congo, to assist UMCOR and The United Methodist Church there with distribution of the medicines needed to treat infections, malaria, anemia and other illnesses common to the region.

"My role … was to handle the logistical end and to keep everybody talking," Glass said. During the month of January, while Couture was in the Democratic Republic of Congo, "it fell to me (to make sure) we were on target and on time."

Medicines distributed
With more help from the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa, the Congo capital, the shipment of medicines arrived Feb. 2. Receiving the medicines were 11 hospitals and clinics, including eight United Methodist facilities. A later shipment of medical supplies is planned.

The Rev. Myron McCoy, president of Saint Paul School of Theology, joined Couture, Glass, Ntambo and the Rev. Sam Dixon, UMCOR's chief executive, in Kinshasa on Jan. 28 to celebrate the airlift. The reception was attended by both religious and government leaders. Leaders from the Katanga region participated in another celebration the following day in Lubumbashi.

The group also toured three hospitals and saw the need not just for medicine but for every basic type of supply such as sheets for the hospital beds. Glass remembered one particular mother who was with her child. "The only sheet they had for her baby was the dress that she was wearing," he said. "We're going to make a difference in that hospital and others."

Couture had not visited hospitals during her previous trips to Congo. "It was overwhelming, both to see how deep the needs were as well as to see how much people were trying to do with nothing," she said.

Before she left Africa in January, Couture had given money to Ntambo for the care of an orphaned child in the hospital who had been burned and was receiving only sporadic attention from a grandmother. She knows the girl's health has improved but wonders what will happen to her once she leaves the hospital.

"Relief efforts like this are not at the end of the story," Couture said, adding that relief supplies are necessary "in an interim period when a society is trying to stabilize itself."

Building infrastructure
The United Methodist Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo, she noted, has built an infrastructure that "allows us to bring pharmaceuticals into the country and put them into the hands of Congolese health care workers … that we know and we trust."

Couture said Saint Paul "has always been a school interested in theory and practice." In this case, the school is supporting both her research and the practice of peacemaking.

Glass believes Saint Paul may be the only seminary to have arranged such a mission effort. "As an alum (1965), I take a great deal of pride in having a hand in helping my institution do something this remarkable," he said.

He saluted the "superb leadership" offered by McCoy throughout the process of creating the airlift. "He supported this effort right from the start," Glass said.

The Good Samaritan awards are a small effort to say thank you, according to Glass. He lauded the enterprise, which brought together the military, Muslims and United Methodists "to deal with human need and to deal with it in its most pure and generous form."

Drawing upon such partnerships, Glass believes that Saint Paul may be able to provide similar aid in another part of the world. "That's a wonderful gift to be given," he said.

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

Ana Simeone Elija Chuquele: 'I can't stand up straight'

Ana Simeone Elija Chuquele sits with her grandchildren on a mat outside her son's home in Maputo, Mozambique. A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert.

By Kathy Gilbert*

MAPUTO, Mozambique (UMNS)-Sitting on a mat on the ground outside her son's home, Ana Simeone Elija Chuquele is waiting for her health to improve because she wants to go to her village home and attend to her husband's grave.

Her husband, the Rev. Elija Chuquele, was a United Methodist pastor for 24 years before he retired.

Her son, David, made the three-hour drive to her home to pick her up so she could be seen by doctors in Maputo. She says she is suffering from pain in her legs, arms and backbone. "I can't stand up straight," she explains.

Her home in the village is "very different" from her son's home, she says. Her home is a traditional small hut compared to the stone house she is now sharing with six people, including three young grandchildren.

In the countryside, she attends the church named in her husband's honor, Elija Together United Methodist Church. She receives about $20 a month in pension. She is surviving with her children's help, she says.

Chuquele is not alone. Her plight is shared by other surviving spouses and retired church employees in Africa and elsewhere. The United Methodist Church is developing pension models to address their needs through its Central Conference Pension Initiative. Details are available at http://www.ccpi-umc.org/.

"For retirees in the countryside, it is hard to live," Chuquele says. "Even if you are sick, sometimes the church doesn't help. If you don't have children to help you can die."

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

Church acts to help pastors, widows on meager pensions

Legina Mabunda (right), a widow of a United Methodist pastor, conducts Bible classes in her garage in Maputo, Mozambique. UMNS photos by Kathy L. Gilbert.

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

MAPUTO, Mozambique (UMNS) - It is 6:15 on a cool Wednesday evening, and people are streaming into Legina Mabunda's garage.

Behind the tin door, people are sitting in white plastic lawn chairs and wooden kitchen chairs, and they are packing together tightly on a long bench that runs along one wall. Children cover every inch of a mat spread on the floor. At the end of the room, a small table serves as a podium for tonight's Bible class. A woman is preparing to give a sermon, and the room can't accommodate all those who want to hear.

Mabunda, 83, opens her home to people from her local United Methodist church every evening.

She used to rent out the garage for extra income but decided the church needed the space more than she did. That's pretty amazing, since Mabunda, widow of a retired United Methodist pastor, has been receiving only $20 a month in pension since his death in 1989.

"My life is very much occupied," she says. "I like teaching, leading women and children. We really have the whole week occupied."

Her husband, the Rev. Elias Mabunda, served the church for 40 years before he died. His widow still leads the active life of a pastor's wife, with church-related classes in her home every night of the week. She gives lectures on church history to newcomers and is president of the program for children at Liberdad United Methodist Church.

Legina Mabunda holds a photo of her and her husband, the Rev. Elias Mabunda, on their wedding day.

"I teach them the importance of loving Jesus Christ so our church will benefit from our small classes," she says. She also tells them about the importance of contributing to the church in hopes a pension fund may someday grow large enough to help retired pastors and their spouses live comfortably in their retirement years.

Dreams coming true
The United Methodist Church, directed by its 2000 and 2004 General Conferences, has been working to develop pension models to help pastors and church lay workers in annual conferences in Mozambique and elsewhere retire with dignity, hope and an adequate pension.

Even though the denomination's greatest growth is in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Philippines, pension funds are minimal or nonexistent for pastors in those areas. Many clergy have served for 20, 30, 40 or more years. When they retire, they find survival difficult.

The committee guiding the church's Central Conference Pension Initiative has approved Mozambique for the denomination's second pilot pension program. The action, taken Nov. 3, will provide additional pension benefits to 132 ordained clergy, 32 deacons and 278 evangelists. Mozambique follows Liberia, where the first pilot pension project was launched in 2006.

The Central Conference Pension Committee consists of members from the denomination's Board of Pension and Health Benefits, General Council on Finance and Administration, Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Publishing House and United Methodist Communications.

Beginning in Africa, the Board of Pension is developing different models for each country's circumstances, trying to determine how best to support the different governmental and church systems and respond to cultural differences and economic situations.

The additional funding for retired Mozambique pastors and surviving spouses will begin in 2009 after the initiative raises $2 million in seed money.

"This news is just like a surprise that makes me collapse with joy," says Mozambican Bishop João Machado. "This will completely change the lives of the people who gave all of their lives to the ministry of The United Methodist Church. This is a joy."

$20 million campaign
Mozambique has a program similar to the U.S. Social Security system, in which a retiree's government benefits are based upon the length of time paid into the program. Three percent of every active pastor's salary is withheld for the federal program, and the employing church pays 12 percent of that salary into the pension program.

When funded, the United Methodist pension plan will provide an additional $100 per month to the 50 retired pastors and $70 to 41 surviving spouses in the two annual conferences. Combined with federal funds, pastors will receive up to $150 a month from the two programs. The average income of Mozambique citizens is $300 a month.

A campaign to raise $20 million is under way to fully fund pensions for retired central conference clergy and surviving spouses. More than $4.6 million has been raised, "putting us off to a tremendous start in this campaign," says Chad Peddicord, who is working with the Board of Pension as its campaign director. Peddicord is vice president of CCS (Community Counseling Services) of New York.

Life is not comfortable
Mabunda, like many pastors and widows, does not blame the church for her financial condition. She looks forward to any money the church can give her.

"I have no health benefits, and in my old age, the whole body is painful, nothing seems to go right," she says. Getting the extra monthly payments "is heaven," she says.

Mabunda is more fortunate than most because she receives a pension from her years as a registered nurse. She also has income from renting three rooms in her home to tenants.

The Rev. Amina Isaias is a retired pastor, and her husband was also a United Methodist pastor.

She served for 23 years, and her husband served 17 years before he died in an automobile accident. She lives with her children and grandchildren because her pension does not cover her living expenses.

She asked to retire at 61 after her husband's death because she wasn't in good health, and "a pastor's life is hard."

"I am happy to be retired," she says. "I keep busy with domestic work and taking care of the house." It comforts her to get visits from people in her former churches.

'Grateful for what I get'
The Rev. Francisco Mastela Macie, age 83, served 27 years before he retired in 1993. He says he enjoyed his life as a pastor, and he thinks his preaching helped many people.

A missionary taught him how to garden, and that knowledge is coming in handy now that he is retired. He lives alone in a home he built before he retired. His seven children help when they can, but if he gets sick, he has no money for hospital care.

"I am grateful for what I get," he says. "However, if the amount (of pension) could be doubled, I would be more comfortable."

For more information on the initiative, go to http://www.ccpi-umc.org/ or write to ccpi@gbophb.org. Donations can be made online or by calling (847) 866-4230.

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

Serafina Ngal: Living on $20 a month

Serafina Ngal sits with her granddaughters under a shade tree at a house in Maputo, Mozambique. A UMNS photo by Kathy L. Gilbert

By Kathy Gilbert*

MAPUTO, Mozambique (UMNS)-Serafina Ngal has struggled with her health since the death of her husband, the Rev. João Tove Ngal, in 2003. He was a pastor for 23 years before he retired.
When he became ill, her children moved them both to Maputo, she says. The house in which she lives belongs to her eldest son. She receives only $20 a month in pension from the church.

"My health has declined since my husband's death," she says. "I can't take care of myself anymore."

The United Methodist Church is developing pension systems to help Ngal and others like her in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Philippines. Details on the church's Central Conference Pension Initiative are available at http://www.ccpi-umc.org/.

Ngal would like to go back to her home in Massinga, about 560 km from Maputo, "but life would be hard."

"I have nothing to do during the day," she says, as she sits on a mat under a shade tree.

"Sometimes I go to my daughter's small farm to help out." When her husband was a pastor, she was active with the women's groups and would often head meetings and conferences.

"I was happy when my husband was a pastor serving the church because we did everything together," she says.

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

Singer-songwriter Elizabeth Cumbest uses her gift to raise over $42,000 for Katrina Recovery efforts; will perform at General Conference 2008

Elizabeth Cumbest performs “Seashore” onstage during opening worship at Youth 2007 in Greensboro, N. C. She will close the Katrina Bishops’ Appeal Report at General Conference with an original song created for the occasion on April 29, 2008 in Fort Worth, Texas. Proceeds (over $42,000) from her CD, “All Things New,” will help rebuild the Seashore Mission destroyed by Katrina. Photo by Mike Dubose, UMNS.

NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 18, 2008 /GBOD/ -- “My outlook on who I am and what God has called me to do changed because of a storm. When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, I was scared. I sat in the corner of my living room crying, wondering if my family was alive and trying to find hope. I started praying, and I picked up my guitar and sang a song that would be a new beginning for me.”

So writes United Methodist youth Elizabeth Cumbest in the January-February 2008 issue of Devozine magazine, which features her response to disaster and her success in winning the Devozine 2007 SoulTunes Contest (http://www.upperroom.org/devozine/pdf/jf08wknd.pdf) as the cover story.

Cumbest, a 17-year-old singer/songwriter, will perform on Monday, April 28, at 9:20 a.m., as part of the Katrina Bishops’ Appeal Report on Katrina Recovery at General Conference 2008, the meeting of the denomination’s top legislative body, April 23-May 2, in Fort Worth, Texas.

Elizabeth will be closing the presentation entitled “Our Shattered Lives” with a new song she is writing for the occasion. Also, a part of the report will be the amazing story of her efforts to raise money to rebuild the ministry and the facility of Seashore Mission, a ministry to the homeless along the Gulf Coast where Elizabeth was a volunteer before Katrina demolished the building, killing six members of the staff.

Wanting to do something to help, Elizabeth decided to record her songs and give the proceeds from her CD, “All Things New,” to Seashore Mission. She also entered some of the songs in the Devozine SoulTunes Contest.

“I never imagined that God would give me another incredible opportunity. My song ‘Seashore’ won first place! Before I knew it I was on my way to Youth 2007 to sing in front of thousands of young people. As I walked on stage that night, I was nervous; but in that moment, God took over and sang through me. The rest of the week, I connected with many other people my age who are at work all over the world serving God,” Cumbest said in the Devozine article.

To date, Elizabeth has raised over $42,000; and the Board of Seashore Mission is currently meeting to envision the future of this ministry of hospitality to the homeless along the Gulf Coast.

A photo of Elizabeth singing at Youth 2007 graces the cover of the January-February 2008 issue of Devozine, and her article appears in the section titled “The Soundtrack of My Life” (pages 43-47).

The Upper Room, a ministry of GBOD, is providing 1000 copies of the issue to every General Conference delegate. Delegates may pick up a copy of the magazine at the GBOD display in the General Conference exhibit area.

Devozine, The Upper Room’s devotional magazine for youth, gives young people an opportunity to express their faith to their own generation, usually in print but sometimes, as in Elizabeth’s case, on stage in front of 6,200 young people.

“Elizabeth has been invited to speak and sing at many youth events, local churches and annual conference sessions. She has encouraged many volunteers from around the U.S. to
join in the recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast. I think making her story available is a valuable way to connect with and to inspire delegates from around the world,” says Sandy Miller, editor of Devozine.

Elizabeth is the daughter of United Methodist clergy, the Reverends Chris and Sheila Cumbest of the Mississippi Conference. Chris is pastor of St. Paul UMC in Ocean Springs, while Sheila is the director of Ministerial Services for the Conference.

To order the CD, send $12.50 ($10.00 donation + $2.50 for shipping) to Elizabeth Cumbest, P.O. Box 849, Hurley, Miss. 39555. (Make checks payable to Seashore Mission and mark them for “All Things New.”) Or you can order online at http://cdbaby.com or download the music through iTunes. For more info, visit http://www.elizabethcumbest.com/.

Scholarship recipients journey toward ordained ministry

By Linda Green*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)--When Christopher Deluise opened the doors to the library at Candler School of Theology, his first thought was that "there is a lot of God in here."

The second largest theological library in North America, Pitts Theological Library at Candler is among the reasons that Deluise chose to attend the seminary at United Methodist-related Emory University in Atlanta.

C hristopher Deluise

Now completing his first year at Candler, Deluise recounted his journey toward ordained ministry during a March 5 appreciation dinner sponsored by the Office of Loans and Scholarships, United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

He is among more than 3,000 United Methodist students who received $6.3 million in aid from the Office of Loans and Scholarships for the 2007-2008 academic year. The dinner honored nearly 50 people for their service in enabling students to receive university and theological education over the past four years.

"It does make one feel proud of what this board can do," said Angella Current-Felder, executive director of the Loans and Scholarships office. "We are blessed that we can continue to provide opportunities for students."

Deluise received a special seminary scholarship which is awarded to students under age 30 pursuing ordained ministry as a vocation and enrolled at a United Methodist-related seminary or theological school in pursuit of a master of divinity degree. He thanked those at the dinner and others with the church's higher education and ministry agency for "their commitment, their passion and their time."

"The support that we receive allows us the opportunity to focus on our mission of serving God (and) also provides us fortitude in the face of financial pressures that accompany attending an institution of higher education," said Deluise, a former wellness director at a YMCA in Orlando, Fla.

Deluise also talked about the Rev. Bill Barnes, pastor of Hopespring United Methodist Church, Winter Garden, Fla., and St. Luke's United Methodist Church, Orlando, "who was integral in my call to ministry."

"For two years, we worked together in discerning my call. … In a world where faith, theology and religion is such a complex issue, he makes it so simple," Deluise said.

Building relationships
Juan Silva of the Rio Grande Annual (regional) Conference spoke about the Journey Toward Ordained Ministry Program, which provides $50,000 per year in scholarship money, as well as retreats and mentoring, to 10 racial-ethnic students pursuing ordination as an deacon or elder. That amount will increase to $60,000 annually in 2009. Funding comes from gifts received in United Methodist churches on World Communion Sunday(http://www.umcgiving.org/content/sundays/WCS_nav/communion.asp), scheduled this year for Oct. 5.

A student at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Silva said the program's retreats and mentoring has helped him to get acquainted with fellow recipients "who will help me on the journey and even beyond.

"I feel so blessed to know all of my colleagues in the program," he said. "I have been so enriched by the mentors, the other students in the program and by God through this program, affecting me and affecting others through the ministry." He placed emphasis on the retreats because they help "equip us for ordained ministry."

Current-Felder introduced dinner participants to the late Evelyn Steinmeyer Ozga, who received an $80 Methodist student loan in 1929 to remain in college and later received two additional loans. She developed a relationship with Current-Felder in the 1990s and shared that she wanted other United Methodist students to receive the same level of church support in college that she did. Upon her death in 2000, Ozga bequeathed $75,000 to the Office of Loans and Scholarships which established a loan fund in her name.

"Support from the Methodist Church is a lifetime relationship," Current-Felder said. "We are in ministry in the way that we try to help those who are members of our congregations and in support of our denomination to be able to have access to higher education. We can't pay the tuition, but that little bit of money helps and it always goes a long way."

Women of Color Scholars
The Rev. Rosetta Ross, convener and graduate of the Women of Color Scholars Program, talked about how opportunities have opened for ethnic women in the United States since the days of her great-great grandfather, a former slave who helped to found St. Daniel Methodist Episcopal Church in Dorchester, S.C. When the church was founded, historically black Claflin University in Orangeburg, S.C., was only a few decades old.

"It is very unlikely that Pink Ross would have envisioned that one of his female descendants would have completed Candler School of Theology, would have been ordained an elder in the South Carolina Annual Conference and would have obtained a Ph.D. in religion from Emory University," she said of her own education.

Ross affirmed The United Methodist Church for working to change the face of theological education through its Women of Color Scholars Program. The program is designed to increase the number of women of color serving as teachers and researchers on seminary faculties. "We managed to see God's call and hear God's call clearly and to open the table as God's calls us to whosoever will," she said.

Since the program's 1989 launch, 22 women have graduated with doctorate degrees, 17 are in process and others have been assisted along the way. The first Native American woman will graduate from the program in 2008.

"In this work, The United Methodist Church has been and continues to be a singular leader. No other denomination has been so intentional in saying that the history of our nations past does not have the power to stop us from being God's church in the world," Ross said.

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

Conferences will bid farewell to 16 bishops

A UMNS Report
By Linda Green*

Bishop Joel Martinez, who is among several bishops retiring this year, is presented a gift by the Rev. Edith Gleaves in appreciation of his service to the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. A UMNS photo by Cassandra Heller.

Some United Methodist annual (regional) conferences meeting this spring and summer will say goodbye to retiring bishops and become better acquainted with the candidates they have endorsed to succeed them.

The 2008 meetings will be the last for 11 retiring U.S. bishops. In July, their successors will be chosen by jurisdictional conferences, and the new bishops will begin serving effective Sept. 1. In addition, five bishops from the central conferences - regions in Africa, Asia and Europe - will retire this year or next.

Annual conference is the second of three major churchwide events this year in the United States. The 2008 General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body, convenes once every four years and meets April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas. Afterwards, the church's 63 U.S. annual conferences meet individually during the spring and early summer, followed by the conferences for the five U.S. jurisdictions, which also convene once every four years, in July.

Bishops hold the top clergy positions in The United Methodist Church and are elected in the United States for life. Bishops in Africa, Europe and Asia are elected for a specific term, and if they are not re-elected, they return to the pastorate and are no longer considered a bishop. Bishops outside the United States who retire while serving their term are considered bishops for life.

Retiring U.S. bishops as of Aug. 31 include one Hispanic man, one African-American man, four white men, two African-American women and three white women.

Church law requires U.S. bishops to retire after jurisdictional conference if turning 66 on or before July 1 of the jurisdictional year. Outside of the United States, different disciplinary requirements dictate the mandatory retirement age for bishops.

A Task Force to Study the Episcopacy is asking the 2008 General Conference to increase the mandatory retirement age by two years to 68.

Four bishops in the central conferences also are retiring this year: Joseph Humper of Sierra Leone; Benjamin Justo and Solito Toquero of the Philippines; and João Somane Machado of Mozambique. The retirement of Bishop Øystein Olsen of the Nordic and Baltic Area of Europe is effective in 2009. Their successors will be chosen at their respective central conference gatherings, which are held at various times throughout the year.

Jurisdictional conferences
The North Central Jurisdiction Conference convenes July 15-19 in Grand Rapids, Mich. Delegates will elect a bishop to succeed retiring Bishop Sharon Brown Christopher.

The Northeastern Jurisdiction Conference meets July 16-18 in Harrisburg, Pa., and will fill three openings left by the retirements of Bishops Violet Fisher, Jane Middleton and Susan Hassinger. Hassinger has served as an interim bishop to fulfill the unexpired term of Bishop Susan Morrison, who retired in 2006 for health reasons. When the delegates meet, they could decide to merge the episcopal areas of New York West and Albany, folding four conferences into one and reducing the number of bishops in the jurisdiction from 10 to nine. The proposed date for the change is 2010.

The South Central Jurisdiction meets July 16-19 in Dallas, where the retirements of four bishops will be on the agenda. Retiring are Bishops Benjamin Chamness, William Hutchinson, Joel Martinez and Alfred Norris. Norris has been serving as interim bishop since 2006 following the death of Bishop Rhymes Moncure.

The Southeastern Jurisdiction Conference convenes July 16-19 in Lake Junaluska, N.C., where delegates will elect a bishop to succeed retiring Bishop J. Lawrence McCleskey.

The Western Jurisdiction Conference meets July 16-19 in Portland, Ore., and will fill two openings being left by the retirement of Bishop Beverly Shamana and the voluntary resignation of Bishop Edward Paup. Paup was elected March 11 to lead the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, the church's mission agency, effective Sept. 1.

Annual conferences
The annual conference is the "basic unit" of the church, according to the denomination's Book of Discipline. It may include an entire state, part of a state or even parts of two or more states. In addition, three U.S. missionary conferences rely on the denomination for funding.

During the annual conference gatherings in the United States, Africa, Europe and the Philippines, one-year appointments of all conference clergy members are announced. New deacons and elders are ordained, candidates for ordination approved, and special projects and ministries recognized. A bishop presides over each annual session.

The first session of 2008 conference gatherings was held in February when the Northwest Philippines Conference convened. The U.S. gatherings begin in May when the Red Bird Missionary Conference convenes May 9-10 in Coalgood, Ky., and will conclude June 22 with the adjournments of the California-Pacific Annual Conference in Redlands, Calif., and the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference in Moscow, Idaho.

The United Methodist Council on Finance and Administration lists the following annual conference meeting dates and places:

U.S. ANNUAL CONFERENCES

North Central Jurisdiction

Dakotas, June 4-7, Fargo, N.D.
Detroit, May 16-18, Adrian, Mich.
East Ohio, June 16-19, Lakeside, Ohio
Illinois Great Rivers, June 4-7, Peoria, Ill.
Iowa, June 5-8, Ames, Iowa
Minnesota, May 27-30 Saint Cloud, Minn.
North Indiana, May 29-31, West Lafayette, Ind.
Northern Illinois, June 5-7, Saint Charles, Ill.
South Indiana, June 5-7, Bloomington, Ind.
West Michigan, June 15-18, Grand Rapids, Mich.
West Ohio, June 9-12, Lakeside, Ohio
Wisconsin, June 8-11, Madison, Wis.

Northeastern Jurisdiction

Baltimore-Washington, May 22-24, Nation Harbor, Md.
Central Pennsylvania, June 5-7, Grantham, Pa.
Eastern Pennsylvania, May 29-30, Philadelphia
Greater New Jersey, May 28-30, King of Prussia, Pa.
New England, June 13-15, Wenham, Mass.
New York, June 11-14, Hempstead, N.Y.
North Central New York, May 30-June 1, Liverpool, N.Y.
Peninsula-Delaware, June 13-15, Princess Anne, Md.
Troy, June 4-7, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
West Virginia, June 5-8, Buckhannon, W.Va.
Western New York, June 13-15, Buffalo, N.Y.
Western Pennsylvania, June 12-15, Grove City, Pa.
Wyoming, May 28-31, Scranton, Pa.

South Central Jurisdiction

Arkansas, June 8-11, Hot Springs, Ark.
Central Texas, May 31-June 4, Fort Worth, Texas Kansas East, June 4-7, Baldwin City, Kan.
Kansas West, May 28-30, Salina, Kan.
Louisiana, June 1-4, Shreveport, La.
Missouri, June 6-9, Springfield, Mo.
Nebraska, June 11-14, Lincoln, Neb.
New Mexico, June 3-6, Glorieta, N.M. (In joint session with Northwest Texas)
North Texas, June 8-11, Plano, Texas
Northwest Texas, June 3-6, Glorieta, N.M. (In joint session with New Mexico)
Oklahoma, May 25-29, Tulsa, Okla.
Oklahoma Indian Missionary, June 5-8, Antlers, Okla.
Rio Grande, June 12-14, Corpus Christi, Texas
Southwest Texas, June 4-7, Corpus Christi, Texas
Texas, May 25-28, The Woodlands, Texas

Southeastern Jurisdiction

Alabama-West Florida, June 1-4, Montgomery, Ala.
Florida, May 29-31, Lakeland, Fla.
Holston, June 8-11, Lake Junaluska, N.C. (Called session June 1 for clergy session and ordination at Central United Methodist Church, Knoxville, Tenn.)
Kentucky, June 1-4, Louisville, Ky.
Memphis, June 3-6, Jackson, Tenn.
Mississippi, June 8-10, Jackson, Miss.
North Alabama, June 5-7, Trussville, Ala.
North Carolina, June 11-14, Greenville, N.C.
North Georgia, June 17-20, Athens, Ga.
Red Bird Missionary, May 9-10, Coalgood, Ky.
South Carolina, June 1-4, Florence, S.C.
South Georgia, June 8-11, Columbus, Ga.
Tennessee, June 8-10, Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Virginia, June 15-17, Roanoke, Va.
Western North Carolina, June 5-8, Lake Junaluska, N.C.

Western Jurisdiction

Alaska Missionary, May 30-June 1, Anchorage, Alaska
California-Nevada, June 18-21, Sacramento, Calif.
California-Pacific, June 18-22, Redlands, Calif.
Desert Southwest, June 12-15, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Oregon-Idaho, June 18-22, Salem, Ore.
Pacific Northwest, June 17-20, Moscow, Idaho
Rocky Mountain, June 18-21, Denver
Yellowstone, June 11-15, Billings, Mont.

CENTRAL CONFERENCES
(Complete information on some conferences is unavailable.)

Austria Provisional, May 15-18, Salzburg, Austria
Bulgaria Provisional, Sept. 4-7, Sofia, Bulgaria Central Luzon Philippines, May 23-25, Baguio City, Philippines
Czech & Slovak Republics, May 22-25, Slovak Republic

Estonia, June 12-15, Tallinn, Estonia
Finland-Finnish-speaking Provisional, June 25-29
Finland-Swedish-speaking Provisional, June 14-17, Vasa, Finland Germany East, Schwarzenberg, Germany
Germany North, Hamburg, Germany
Germany South, Deutschland, Germany
Hungary, April 9-12, Szolnok, Hungary
Liberia, Harper City, Maryland County, Liberia
North Central Philippines, Feb. 21-24, Tumanuini, Isabela, Philippines Northeast Luzon Philippines, March 27-30, Baguio City, Philippines

Northeast Philippines, April 3-6, Rizal. Santiago City, Isabela, Philippines

Northern Philippines, June 5-8, Buguey, Cagayan, Philippines
Northwest Philippines, Feb. 7-10, Baguio City, Philippines
Norway, June 19-22, Stavanger, Norway
Pangasinan Philippines, May 15-18, Bani, Pangasinan, Philippines
Poland, June 13-15, Kielce, Poland
Serbia-Macedonia Provisional, Oct. 9-12, Strumica, Macedonia

Switzerland-France, June 26-29, Basel, Switzerland
Tarlac Philippines, Feb. 28-March 2, Matatalaib, Tarlac City, Philippines

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

Film on Johnson Sirleaf to air on PBS outlet

A documentary on the United Methodist president of Liberia will be shown March 21 on PBS in New York.

"Iron Ladies of Liberia," a behind-the-scenes look at the presidency of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first freely elected head of state in Africa, is part of the Independent Lens series at Channel 13/WNET. Filmmakers Daniel Junge, Siatta Scott-Johnson, Henry Ansbacher and Jonathan Stack explore the challenges faced by Johnson Sirleaf and the women who work with her.

Johnson Sirleaf is scheduled to speak on April 29 at the United Methodist General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body, in Fort Worth, Texas.

She also will accept the Bishop James K. and Eunice Mathews Bridge-Building Award from the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns during an April 29 dinner in Fort Worth.

After nearly two decades of civil war, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was inaugurated as Liberia's first elected female president on Jan. 16, 2006. The Harvard-educated economist and grandmother of eight, who had been exiled to Nigeria and nicknamed the Iron Lady, won a runoff election with 59 percent of the vote.

"Iron Ladies of Liberia," filmed with Johnson Sirleaf's cooperation, looks at the first year of her presidency and the unprecedented number of women appointed to leadership positions in her government. Those women include Beatrice Munah Sieh, national police chief; Antoinette Sayeh, minister of finance; Francis Johnson-Morris, minister of justice; Olubanke King Akerele, commerce minister; and Vabah Kazaku Gayflor, minister of gender.

For updates on other locations to see "Iron Ladies of Liberia," visit http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/ironladies/sirleaf.html.

Pan-Methodists reassess roles on United Methodist boards

Bishop Earl McCloud (left) of the African Methodist Episcopal Church listens to United Methodist Bishop Melvin Talbert during the March 6-8 meeting of the Pan-Methodist Commission. UMNS photos by Linda Green..

By Linda Green*

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (UMNS)-The African Methodist Episcopal Church has withdrawn its support of a resolution affirming full communion with the other denominations in the Pan-Methodist Commission, and it is reconsidering having representatives on United Methodist agencies.

Speaking at the March 6-8 meeting of the Pan-Methodist Commission, Bishop Earl McCloud, the ecumenical officer for the AME Church, said the withdrawal was based on a series of events, primarily those that led up to the dismissal of the Rev. Larry Pickens as leader of The United Methodist Church's ecumenical agency.

Last November, the commission adopted a resolution affirming full communion and mutual support of the churches in the Pan-Methodist Commission. But since then, the bishop said, "I've changed my mind."

"I do not agree presently with the resolution and will not take it to our General Conference" for adoption, he said. Other pan-Methodist denominations will consider the resolution at their General Conference gatherings in 2008 and 2010.

The 40-member body includes representatives of The United Methodist Church and five historically African-American Methodist churches: the African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Christian Methodist Episcopal, Union American Methodist Episcopal and African Union Methodist Protestant denominations.

Established in 2000 by the top legislative bodies of the African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Christian Methodist and United Methodist churches, the commission works to foster cooperation among its member denominations in evangelism, missions, publications, social concerns and higher education.

Following the 2000 General Conference's Acts of Repentance, where The United Methodist Church apologized for actions that caused blacks to leave its predecessor churches in the 18th and 19th centuries, representatives of the historically black pan-Methodist churches were placed on the boards of directors of United Methodist agencies.

Those members who have served for eight years reported to the commission that their experiences had been educational and filled with opportunities to "see The United Methodist Church in action," said Juanita Bryant, a representative from the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

Members who served on the Commission of Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns questioned the process that led to the dismissal of Pickens, who was the agency's first African-American chief executive. Last December, the three pan-Methodist representatives on that agency were unhappy enough with the process that they left the commission meeting after Pickens' dismissal.

No inkling
A chief concern, according to McCloud and Lula Howard of the AMEZ Church, was that the full commission never had a chance to vote specifically on whether to re-elect Pickens. "I never had an inkling to what was going on," Howard said.

Instead, members were presented with a motion from the commission's personnel committee to elect retired Bishop Fritz Mutti as the temporary leader and to initiate a search for Pickens' replacement.

"I was hurt," Howard said. "I have seen people dealt with on personnel issues before but never in the manner that this was handled." Her concern was whether Pickens, who had only been on the job a year, was being compared with his predecessor, who had held the position 12 years. She also wondered if personal vendettas had led to Pickens' dismissal.

Nebraska Bishop Ann Sherer, president of the Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, said she could not legally talk about the process or personnel matters, but she told the commission that "our relationship with each another is vital." She said she wanted to find ways to address their concerns.

"We live in a culture which in essence is white privilege and racism, and I know that," Sherer said. "I also know that when you have an internal personnel process, you have to follow that process."

She added that the presence of pan-Methodists on the Christian Unity commission and other boards is needed. "You have made real contributions to our community."

Questions about roles
"It was a gracious invitation by the part of The United Methodist Church to ask us to serve, but I don't see our church becoming more involved in this. I'm questioning within my own heart and soul the real value since they (the United Methodists) have been doing this and we haven't, (and) whether it is something we ought to continue," McCloud said.

Some members of the Pan-Methodist Commission questioned their participation on the boards and agencies because it exposes them to some of the inner workings of a denomination.

Others said that, because of different church structures, United Methodists have not yet been able to serve on the boards of the other pan-Methodist churches.

"While it is my responsibility to put AMEs there (on the United Methodist boards), I would do not that again," McCloud said. "There are some positives to this program, but I think the negatives outweigh the positives."

AMEZ Bishop Nathaniel Jarrett, the Pan-Methodist Commission's chairman, said the Pickens situation had adversely impacted the commission. He asked if pan-Methodist participation on United Methodist boards and agencies should be revisited in the future. "The intent was good and it may still be, but at some point we need to talk about it again," he said.

Byrd Bonner, a United Methodist representative to the commission , said the placement of pan-Methodists has been a mandate of The United Methodist Church for the last eight years, and "The United Methodist Church would be much less whole and led by the Holy Spirit" if AME representation was absent from the boards and agencies.

"Nobody ever thought it would be a bed of roses," he said, "but it is a two-way street." He added that stress points often lead to a deeper faith journey.

A snowstorm prevented Bishop Fritz Mutti, interim leader of the Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, from attending the meeting. In a March 10 letter to the Pan-Methodist Commission, he said, "Our relationships, strained as they are, still hold the possibility of reconciliation and hope for our four communions. I pray every day that God will bless our common effort and enable us to bear meaningful witness to our Lord Jesus Christ."

What the Lord requires
A highlight of each commission meeting is a community-wide worship service hosted by a pan-Methodist congregation. Broadway Temple African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was the site of the March 7 gathering. Jarrett provided the keynote sermon.

Jarrett, who is retiring from the episcopacy this summer, used the service to give the commission its marching orders for the future. Basing a double question on Micah 6:8, he asked: What does the Lord require of you, and does the Lord require too much of us?

"The Lord has directed us to be where we need to be not only as a commission but as a Methodist people," he said. The commission has come full circle in its journey as a pan- Methodist organization seeking to understand the common ministry to which it has been called. "We find ourselves back where we started 29 years ago...."

The commission is the result of the merger of the Commission on Pan Methodist Cooperation and the Commission on Pan-Methodist Union. Since 1996, the commission has had an ongoing struggle around issues of cooperation and what union means.

In 2007, the bishops attending the Consultation of Methodist Bishops in Atlanta voted to remove the words "cooperation" and "union" from the commission's name, making it the Pan-Methodist Commission. The commission works under the vision of "One body, many members."

"Our aim at the beginning and our aim now is a cooperative ministry witnessing together as a people called Methodists," Jarrett said. For nearly 30 years, the commission members, in a variety of forms, have consulted, envisioned and worked together, but the commission may have been asking the wrong questions "in seeking answers that could never satisfy the longings of our souls," he said.

While commission members often wrestled with what was required and expected of one another, the question, Jarrett said, should have been: "What does the Lord require of us?"

The answer, he said, is to do justly, love mercy and kindness, and walk humbly with God. Jarrett proceeded to define and elaborate on each requirement and told the commission that God has something in store for it.

"The commission can't work it out, theologize it out or think it out," he said. "Why don't we do just do what the Lord requires, and if we meet his requirements, he will take us where we need to be and do for us what we need to have done."

In other activities, commission members:
.Refined the commission's report to the 2008 General Conferences of the AME, AMEZ and UM churches and the 2010 General Conference of the CME church.
.Updated the commission's "One Voice" brochure to include two communions - African Union Methodist Protestant and Union American Methodist Episcopal -that have joined the commission.
.Scheduled the next meeting for Nov. 21-22 in Louisville, Ky., and named Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church as host for the community worship service.

Church agencies renew distance-education partnership

The Revs. Jerome King Del Pino (left) and Larry Hollon affirm the partnership between the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry and United Methodist Communications to support education and communication around the world. UMNS photos by Vicki Brown.

By Andrew J. Schleicher*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)-Two United Methodist agencies have renewed a partnership to develop distance-education systems across Africa using satellite and radio.

The top executives of the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry and United Methodist Communications symbolically re-signed an agreement to work together to address denominational focuses on leadership development, health, poverty and congregational development.

The Rev. Jerome King Del Pino and the Rev. Larry Hollon signed the agreement during the March 6-8 meeting of the Board of Higher Education and Ministry. The agencies initially entered the collaborative arrangement last August.

"The partnership between United Methodist Communications and the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry is a model for how we partner, sharing skills and experience, streamlining finances and building sustainable expressions of ministry and mission," Hollon said.

The signing was part of a presentation by the Methodist Global Education Fund for Leadership Development. This fund is designed to create educational partnerships throughout the world to strengthen the role of the nearly 800 Methodist-affiliated academic and theological schools in 69 countries for leadership development.

The four-year, $4 million initiative will pay for technical assistance to Methodist-affiliated schools, colleges, universities and theological schools working to design programs to address local needs for clergy or lay leaders. The fund provides technical assistance, on-site mentoring and scholarship support. It initially launched as an unfunded mandate of the 2004 General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body.

"The grand vision is to be able to link (the schools) in terms of their commitment to leadership development for the sake of the church in the world and for the sake of individuals," Del Pino said, noting that project will connect with Methodists beyond the denominational structure.

The Board of Higher Education and Ministry brings to the table a worldwide structure of United Methodist-related schools and staff including Africa University in Zimbabwe, which will serve as the centerpiece of the distance-education communications infrastructure. United Methodist Communications is providing technical, marketing and media expertise.

According to Hollon, giving people the tools to find their voice, tell their stories and address the needs of their communities is "potentially liberating and empowering."

"This is an exciting, energizing partnership, and it's exciting to consider the work as the church seeks to move into the 21st century, reclaiming the best of our heritage and seeking to apply it in new ways and through new tools," he said.

Partnering with Africa University
"We are happy to report to you that the Mozambique pilot project is a reality," announced Martin Dwomoh-Tweneboah, technology consultant for the board.

Africa University will start an online MBA course soon, and a distance-learning center is scheduled to open March 31 at the United Methodist episcopal office in Mozambique.

Distance-education centers are a priority for the partnering agencies. A radio tower is to be added to the Mozambique center, and the agencies are beginning preliminary research for a distance-learning center and a radio station in Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa. The project is a joint effort of the board, Methodist University of São Paulo, Brazil, Africa University and the conference. Research by the agencies and Africa University is also under way for a distance-education infrastructure to provide higher education access to people in Angola, Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

In an earlier presentation, James Salley, Africa University's associate vice chancellor for development, told the board that a university goal is distance learning throughout Africa as well as in the United States. He thanked annual conferences that have conducted major campaigns to support the Africa University Fund.

"When giving to Africa University increases, the giving to other funds increases," Salley said. "We don't take away from. We add to."

Executives in the Division of Ordained Ministry spoke on the merits of distance education.

The Rev. Robert Kohler, assistant chief executive in the Division of Ordained Ministry, said distance learning will provide new models to train local pastors who do not have a seminary degree. It also can help the church expand its leadership in areas that cannot support a new school.

The Rev. Mary Ann Moman, staff executive in the Division of Ordained Ministry, shared how some, including herself, resisted the move toward distance learning. "I am aware that I've got to get over it," she said. "It is no longer possible to get a seminary in every language group."

The board also reviewed three pending leadership changes in the Division of Ordained Ministry. While Moman will remain, Kohler and Patricia Barrett, who leads the United Methodist Endorsing Agency, are retiring this year. In addition, the Rev. Gwen Purushotham, director of Clergy Supervision and Accountability, will return to the New England Annual (regional) Conference to become senior pastor of Main Street United Methodist Church, Nashua, N.H.

Embracing campus ministry
Directors of the full board went on record "embracing campus ministry as integral to the United Methodist mission of higher education and continuing responsibility for this work with the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry."

A seven-point "Plan for Revitalizing GBHEM work in Campus Ministry" was shared by the Division of Higher Education. The plan recognizes that "revitalizing the work of GBHEM in campus ministry requires a systemic change from the patterns and expectations of the past."

The plan aims to develop "a theological grounding for campus ministry" and become "the first place that campus ministers look for resources and answers to their questions."

In other business, the board:
.Reviewed legislation for General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body, and noted that at least six of its directors are candidates for the episcopacy;
.Viewed a Black College Fund promotional video highlighting United Methodist-related Wiley College with clips from the movie "The Great Debaters" and its star Denzel Washington. Wiley College's 1935 debate team is the subject of the movie. The board urged looking for "every creative opportunity" to share this video with members and guests at General Conference.

*Schleicher is a freelance writer based in Nashville, Tennessee.

United Methodist membership down, constituency up

Worshippers fill the sanctuary at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan. The denomination's Council on Finance and Administration released 2006 data showing the ongoing decline in membership has slowed from previous years. A UMNS file photo by Mike DuBose.

A UMNS Report

By Marta W. Aldrich*

While professing U.S. membership continues to decline in The United Methodist Church, the number of constituents is steadily increasing, according to new denominational statistics.

Membership decreased by eight-tenths of a percent over a one-year period to more than 7.9 million, according to the latest statistics released by the denomination March 11.

Specifically, U.S. membership was 7,931,733 in 2006, the most recent year for which statistics are available, according to the United Methodist General Council on Finance and Administration, which compiles data for the denomination.

U.S. membership in 2005 was 7,995,429.

Another 45,220 people were listed as clergy members of the denomination for a total of 7,976,953 in 2006. In addition, 871,218 people, primarily children, were listed as baptized, non-professing members.

Worldwide United Methodist lay and clergy membership, which stood at more than 11.5 million in 2005, is still being tallied for 2006 and is expected to be released later this year.

Meanwhile, the number of constituents in 2006 was more than 1.5 million, a 16 percent increase from a decade ago. Denominational records show the number of constituents has increased three of the last five years and eight of the last 10.

"Constituents are the unbaptized children, youth and adults who are not members of the church, but for whom the church has pastoral responsibility," said Scott Brewer, the council's director of research. "It's a growing number, and it reflects that people aren't so big into membership anymore."

Brewer said the church "needs to pay more attention" to this growing category and understand the changing dynamics of religious affiliation in the United States. "It's consistent with what we're seeing in the larger culture, particularly when it comes to attitudes toward membership," he said.

Some people aren't joiners
The Rev. Lovett Weems, the director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., said the constituent numbers should be prudently considered.

"There is certainly a phenomenon today of persons who seem more reluctant to join," Weems said. "There are a number of pastors who talk about people in their congregations who are very active in the life of their church, but they just don't join."

He noted that such reluctance is spilling over into groups within the church. Historically, people would be asked to "join a new men's group" that was forming; today, they might instead be invited to participate in a "men's gathering." Today's churchgoers, especially young people, are less likely to "join" and make long-term commitments, he said, and more likely to participate in short-term activities such as Volunteers In Mission trips, the Walk to Emmaus spiritual retreat and short-term Bible studies.

"There's been a real energy in these types of things in recent years, even in Disciple Bible Study classes," Weems said. "Disciple may be 36 weeks long, but at least there's a beginning and an end."

However, he noted that the constituent category is considered a "soft number" that might be overstated when churches report their membership statistics. He views average worship attendance as a more accurate indicator of church vitality.

The latest United Methodist data puts church attendance at more than 3.3 million, down eight-tenths of a percent from 2005 and a 4 percent decrease from 1990.

Brewer said the church hasn't experienced an increase in attendance since 2001. That increase, he said, was presumably related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Other statistics
The report shows that about 2.68 percent of the U.S. population are professing members of The United Methodist Church. Meanwhile, more than 50 percent of the population reported no ongoing relationship with a religious community in 2000, according to a separate study published by the Glenmary Research Center in Nashville, Tenn.

The number of United Methodist churches was 34,398 with a median size of 111. The percentage of churches that have grown since 1996 was 35 percent, and the percentage of churches receiving at least one member on profession of faith or restored was 58.8 percent, up for the third year in a row.

While the church's decline in membership has continued since the mid-1960s, Brewer cautioned against dismissing excitement about current efforts to revitalize the church with a "renewed emphasis on making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world."

"It's important to remember that it will likely be a number of years before we see the fruits of these efforts in our statistics. We should be hopeful, but we also need to be patient," Brewer said.

Fourteen annual (regional) conferences grew in 2006, double the number in 2005. They were Alabama-West Florida, 0.84 percent; Alaska Missionary, 1.75 percent; Arkansas, 0.37 percent; Central Texas, 0.89 percent; Kentucky, 0.17 percent; North Carolina, 0.01 percent; North Georgia, 1.12 percent; Oklahoma, 0.04 percent; Oklahoma Indian Missionary, 0.59 percent; Red Bird Missionary, 1.56 percent; Southwest Texas, 0.09 percent; Tennessee, 0.75 percent; Texas, 0.77 percent; and Western North Carolina, 0.23 percent.

Churches spent more than $6 billion in 2006, down 3.71 percent from 2005, adjusted for inflation, according to the report.

"With such a large increase in spending in 2005, I am not surprised to see giving leveling off in 2006," Brewer said. "In 2005, we saw a tremendous outpouring of support through the Advance for persons affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the December 2004 tsunami. United Methodists have always been generous people, but it's clear that when we're motivated, we will give far beyond historical norms."

Additional statistical data are being prepared and will be reported to the 2008 General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body, which meets April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas.

*Aldrich is news editor of United Methodist News Service.