Wrap up for Tuesday, April 29: Liberian president addresses assembly
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia addresses the 2008 United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. A UMNS photo by Maile Bradfield.
By J. Richard Peck*
FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS) — Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 69, spoke to the April 29 session of the United Methodist General Conference.
Liberia Bishop John Innis noted that the first woman to be elected president of an African nation is a graduate of the Methodist College of West Africa, a secondary school in Liberia. Innis introduced her to the assembly as “your daughter whom you educated.”
“I am a United Methodist and a product of United Methodist education in Liberia, and I feel at home with you, members of my United Methodist family,” said Johnson Sirleaf, who is revered as the “iron lady” of that West African nation.
Despite the fact that 85 percent of residents in the Republic of Liberia are unemployed and 63.8 percent live on less than $2 a day, “Liberia is on the way back,” she said.
In a banquet where she received the first James K. and Eunice Mathews Bridge Builder Award, she told how her country was torn apart by wars and thousands had fled the nation. She spoke of young boys who were conscripted to kill and destroy, and she said mothers and children could get neither food nor education during the conflicts.
“Today we seek to start anew,” she told nearly 1,000 attending the banquet. She said the infrastructure is being rebuilt and children are going back to school. “We turned on electricity in our capital city,” she said. “Children danced in the street.”
Johnson Sirleaf thanked the denomination for its 175-year presence in Liberia. There has been a Methodist presence in the Liberia since it was established by free American slaves in the 1820s. The church operates hospitals, schools and four mission stations in that nation.
Study of ministry
The 2008 General Conference continued a study of ministry from the preceding quadrennium. General Conference took similar action in 2004.
After four years, the Study of Ministry Commission found more questions than answers. The group said there was not sufficient time to resolve the divergent concerns around the ordering of ministry.
Delegates asked the Council of Bishops, in consultation with the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, Board of Discipleship and Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, to establish a 28-member Study of Ministry Commission for 2009-2012. The delegates also requested $150,000 for the new commission's work.
ELCA bishop’s message
Bishop Mark Hanson, a bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and president of the Lutheran World Federation, preached April 29, a day after delegates approved an agreement establishing full communion with the ELCA. Pointing to worldwide migration caused by famine, war, poverty and national disasters, Hanson said the church has good news to share with a “rootless, restless, hopeless world.”
“That good news is the words of Jesus, ‘I am the vine, and you are the branches. I have loved you the way my Father has loved me. You didn’t choose me, remember: I chose you.’
“The choosing is not conditional upon our cooperation,” Hanson said, because the roots of Christians already “are deeply planted in God’s grace and mercy.”
Higher Education banquet
More than 1,000 people attended a banquet April 28 to celebrate the witness of the 122 United Methodist-related academic institutions. Following a performance by a 120-member student choir, Jake Schrum, president of Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas, said he doesn't worry about the “United Methodist Church's ability to share the hope of Christ with the rest of the world.”
Following the student choir’s singing of "Wade in the Water," Iowa Area Bishop Gregory Palmer said the song could be used to invite people to “wade in the water” of a United Methodist college, university or seminary.
“If we are beginning to sing in harmony ... the key to our future and the future of the world and of our planet is leadership, leadership, leadership,” he said. “I say to you … let's wade in the water.”
Some 250,000 students attend United Methodist-related academic and theological institutions in the United States. Ninety-two are four-year institutions, six are two-year colleges, 13 are theological schools, 10 are pre-collegiate schools and one is a professional school.
Hymnal revision
The assembly voted 450-336 to approve the creation of a 27-member hymnal revision committee. The committee would include three bishops, two members from each of the five U.S. jurisdictions, a representative from two groups concerned with liturgy and hymnody, three representatives from the United Methodist Publishing House, five from the Board of Discipleship and four chosen for expertise in liturgy and music.
Delegates also authorized the Board of Discipleship and the Publishing House to create a nine-member committee to determine the need for an Africana hymnal.
Other items
The Commission on Religion and Race celebrated its 40th anniversary. The agency was formed at the 1968 uniting conference in Dallas.
The Judicial Council meets during General Conference and ruled on four issues presented prior to the Fort Worth gathering. The council affirmed two bishops’ decisions of law, sustained the church trial conviction and the revoking of credentials of a pastor in the Rocky Mountain Annual (regional) Conference, and ruled that annual conference commissions on religion and race do not have the authority to investigate complaints.
The 2004 Book of Discipline says, “The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.” Delegates added the clause “for the transformation of the world” to the end of that statement. A motion to add a clause about “salvation of souls” was defeated. Most argued that the mission is defined in further statements within the Discipline. The Rev. Tyrone Gordon, a clergy member of the North Texas Conference, said people need help living in the “nasty now”; let God take care of the “sweet by and by.”
The Revs. Homer Noley and Alvin Deer were honored April 28 at a dinner celebration for their longtime commitment to Native American ministries in The United Methodist Church. About 50 Native American leaders and supporters from across the United States attended the dinner, sponsored by the Native American Comprehensive Plan.
*Attending his 11th General Conference, Peck is a four-time editor of the Daily Christian Advocate now serving as an editor for United Methodist News Service during General Conference.
By J. Richard Peck*
FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS) — Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 69, spoke to the April 29 session of the United Methodist General Conference.
Liberia Bishop John Innis noted that the first woman to be elected president of an African nation is a graduate of the Methodist College of West Africa, a secondary school in Liberia. Innis introduced her to the assembly as “your daughter whom you educated.”
“I am a United Methodist and a product of United Methodist education in Liberia, and I feel at home with you, members of my United Methodist family,” said Johnson Sirleaf, who is revered as the “iron lady” of that West African nation.
Despite the fact that 85 percent of residents in the Republic of Liberia are unemployed and 63.8 percent live on less than $2 a day, “Liberia is on the way back,” she said.
In a banquet where she received the first James K. and Eunice Mathews Bridge Builder Award, she told how her country was torn apart by wars and thousands had fled the nation. She spoke of young boys who were conscripted to kill and destroy, and she said mothers and children could get neither food nor education during the conflicts.
“Today we seek to start anew,” she told nearly 1,000 attending the banquet. She said the infrastructure is being rebuilt and children are going back to school. “We turned on electricity in our capital city,” she said. “Children danced in the street.”
Johnson Sirleaf thanked the denomination for its 175-year presence in Liberia. There has been a Methodist presence in the Liberia since it was established by free American slaves in the 1820s. The church operates hospitals, schools and four mission stations in that nation.
Study of ministry
The 2008 General Conference continued a study of ministry from the preceding quadrennium. General Conference took similar action in 2004.
After four years, the Study of Ministry Commission found more questions than answers. The group said there was not sufficient time to resolve the divergent concerns around the ordering of ministry.
Delegates asked the Council of Bishops, in consultation with the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, Board of Discipleship and Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, to establish a 28-member Study of Ministry Commission for 2009-2012. The delegates also requested $150,000 for the new commission's work.
ELCA bishop’s message
Bishop Mark Hanson, a bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and president of the Lutheran World Federation, preached April 29, a day after delegates approved an agreement establishing full communion with the ELCA. Pointing to worldwide migration caused by famine, war, poverty and national disasters, Hanson said the church has good news to share with a “rootless, restless, hopeless world.”
“That good news is the words of Jesus, ‘I am the vine, and you are the branches. I have loved you the way my Father has loved me. You didn’t choose me, remember: I chose you.’
“The choosing is not conditional upon our cooperation,” Hanson said, because the roots of Christians already “are deeply planted in God’s grace and mercy.”
Higher Education banquet
More than 1,000 people attended a banquet April 28 to celebrate the witness of the 122 United Methodist-related academic institutions. Following a performance by a 120-member student choir, Jake Schrum, president of Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas, said he doesn't worry about the “United Methodist Church's ability to share the hope of Christ with the rest of the world.”
Following the student choir’s singing of "Wade in the Water," Iowa Area Bishop Gregory Palmer said the song could be used to invite people to “wade in the water” of a United Methodist college, university or seminary.
“If we are beginning to sing in harmony ... the key to our future and the future of the world and of our planet is leadership, leadership, leadership,” he said. “I say to you … let's wade in the water.”
Some 250,000 students attend United Methodist-related academic and theological institutions in the United States. Ninety-two are four-year institutions, six are two-year colleges, 13 are theological schools, 10 are pre-collegiate schools and one is a professional school.
Hymnal revision
The assembly voted 450-336 to approve the creation of a 27-member hymnal revision committee. The committee would include three bishops, two members from each of the five U.S. jurisdictions, a representative from two groups concerned with liturgy and hymnody, three representatives from the United Methodist Publishing House, five from the Board of Discipleship and four chosen for expertise in liturgy and music.
Delegates also authorized the Board of Discipleship and the Publishing House to create a nine-member committee to determine the need for an Africana hymnal.
Other items
The Commission on Religion and Race celebrated its 40th anniversary. The agency was formed at the 1968 uniting conference in Dallas.
The Judicial Council meets during General Conference and ruled on four issues presented prior to the Fort Worth gathering. The council affirmed two bishops’ decisions of law, sustained the church trial conviction and the revoking of credentials of a pastor in the Rocky Mountain Annual (regional) Conference, and ruled that annual conference commissions on religion and race do not have the authority to investigate complaints.
The 2004 Book of Discipline says, “The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.” Delegates added the clause “for the transformation of the world” to the end of that statement. A motion to add a clause about “salvation of souls” was defeated. Most argued that the mission is defined in further statements within the Discipline. The Rev. Tyrone Gordon, a clergy member of the North Texas Conference, said people need help living in the “nasty now”; let God take care of the “sweet by and by.”
The Revs. Homer Noley and Alvin Deer were honored April 28 at a dinner celebration for their longtime commitment to Native American ministries in The United Methodist Church. About 50 Native American leaders and supporters from across the United States attended the dinner, sponsored by the Native American Comprehensive Plan.
*Attending his 11th General Conference, Peck is a four-time editor of the Daily Christian Advocate now serving as an editor for United Methodist News Service during General Conference.
posted by TN Conference UMC @ 4:58 AM
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