Churches give big to tsunami victims
In one of the largest Holston outpourings in recent years, donations to tsunami relief jumped 73 percent within two weeks, bringing the total collected to $317,946 as of Feb. 2.
The conference finance office received a staggering $138,306 from Jan. 20 to Feb. 2. The funds will be forwarded to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to aid victims of tidal waves that swept the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26.
"The amount of money given to this effort is a testimony to the genuine Christian spirit of the Holston Conference, especially when you reflect on the fact that this took place after the Christmas season," Bishop James Swanson said on Feb. 3. "Traditionally, giving is a little down after Christmas, but maybe what Holston is saying is that Christmas is not just a day or a season but a spirit.
"Thank you, Holston, for expressing your real love and concern for answering Cain's question, ' ... Am I my brother's keeper?'" Swanson said. "You, Holston, obviously believe that we are our sisters' and brothers' keepers."
Clyde McDonald, conference treasurer, said that some congregations routinely send remittance funds on a monthly basis. However, some congregations have already sent more than one check to tsunami relief. In addition, special offerings were recently collected at the Resurrection youth retreat ($6,862) and Divine Rhythm young adult retreat ($245).
"This tremendous outpouring of financial support by our churches emphasizes the generous spirit of our people when they see a real need that touches lives," McDonald said.
In all, 255 out of 923 total Holston congregations - less than one-third - have sent donations to the conference office for the tsunami effort.
Leading the conference with tsunami gifts is the Knoxville District with $59,417 - donated by 22 of 55 Knoxville churches. In second place is the Johnson City District with $40,272 donated by 17 of 66 churches.
As of Feb. 2, the largest total gift from a single congregation is $25,751 from Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church of Johnson City District.
Across the denomination, the United Methodist Church announced that it had raised $6 million for relief work by Jan. 25. UMCOR is encouraging church members to continue making cash donations and collecting health and school kits and medicine boxes for shipment to South Asia. Instructions for the kits can be found at gbgm-umc.org/umcor/print/kits online.
TSUNAMI RELIEF
HOW TO GIVE
Write a check to your local church, designating "Tsunami Disaster Relief on the memo line.
Make credit-card donations at www.unitedmethodistrelief.org or call (800) 554-8583.
Pastors and treasurers may designate "Project 513" on their remittance forms.
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