June 24, 2004
Missouri Methodists advocate for worldwide hunger funds
By Pat Rogers

WASHINGTON (UMNS) -- The Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church is lobbying Capitol Hill to keep federal funds flowing to poor and disease-ravaged countries around the world.

Carol Kreamer, coordinator of the conference's "The Mozambique Initiative," and Peggy Eshelman, the conference's social justice coordinator, visited Washington June 22 to hand-deliver more than 700 letters to 11 Missouri lawmakers.


The letters were written by Missouri's United Methodist congregations in an effort to influence their senators and representatives to help poor countries in Africa and the Caribbean.

The letters were delivered as part of Bread for the World's "Offering of Letters," where members of a church congregation or other entities write letters to Congress in support of hunger-fighting legislation. Bread for the World is a nonprofit, hunger-related organization and this was the first time that the Missouri Annual Conference participated in the letters campaign.

Kreamer and Eshelman - along with Tom Wehrman and Scott Benolkin from Bread for the World - met with legislative aides for each member of Missouri's legislative delegation, including Republican Sen. Jim Talent's aide, Lindsey Neas. June 22 was Bread for the World's annual "Lobby Day."

Neas listened to Kreamer and Eshelman's pitch for more than 20 minutes and received 130 letters from Talent's constituents. "The most effective way to get your voice heard," he said, "is to come in with a strong, merit-based argument and to propose a specific solution to the problem."

The pair used the letter-writing campaign to urge lawmakers to fully fund the Millennium Challenge Account, or MCA, and other HIV/AIDS spending. The Bush administration proposed the MCA in 2002 to help poor but developing countries in Africa and the Caribbean. The program calls for funding to those countries to climb to $5 billion by 2006 - a 50 percent increase over current U.S. core development assistance.

But, the MCA also requires the recipient countries to "rule justly, invest in their people, and encourage economic freedom" and 16 countries thus far have met those requirements. "It is a tough-love approach to foreign aid," Neas said. "You have to have controls in place, there has to be efficacy and accountability."

The MCA passed Congress with bipartisan support but Kreamer and Eshelman want to make sure lawmakers fully fund the project without taking money from other humanitarian aid programs to pay for it.

They also pushed for Congressional support for President Bush's $15 billion, five-year plan to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa. "We just want to make sure that Congress helps President Bush fulfill the promises he made," Eshelman told Neas.

Forty-two million people around the world are infected with HIV/AIDS and as many as 80 percent of them are in sub-Saharan Africa. "The average life expectancy is 45 years," Kreamer said. "By 2010, it will be 35 years; by 2015, it will be 31 years if the HIV infection rate isn't slowed.

"These countries need everything," she added. "From clean water, to medicine to schools and infrastructure, they need our help and without it they are going to die."

For Kreamer, a first-time Capitol Hill lobbyist, walking the halls of Congress and pressing her issue was somewhat unnerving. "I was a little intimidated," she admitted. "You are going into offices of people you haven't met."

Others were walking the halls of Congress as well. The Missouri United Methodists were competing for face time and legislative commitments with far more powerful lobbyists representing wealthy corporations.

Despite the competition, Kreamer was not deterred. "Ordinary people can advocate, and we are advocates for those who don't have power, who don't have money, and we think we've been heard," she said.

To learn more about Bread for the World or the Offering of Letters, visit the Website www.bread.org.
*Rogers is a writer and producer based in Washington.


top


June 23, 2004
Creator of United Methodist Cross and Flame design dies

Edward J. Mikula, 88, the artist who designed the United Methodist Church's insignia-the Cross and Flame--died June 20 at Meadows Manor North, Terre Haute, Ind.

Mikula, who retired from United Methodist Communications in 1979, was assigned the task of creating an insignia for the church after the merger of the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church in 1968.

Mikula and Edwin H. Maynard, editorial director, worked for United Methodist Communication's predecessor agency, the Commission on Promotion and Cultivation. Historical information about the Cross and Flame states that early on the two men decided the design "should be simple, bold, instantly recognizable, obviously Christian and uniquely Wesleyan."

Mikula was quoted as saying, "You can't have elegance without simplicity."

"Edward Mikula was a gifted artist who worked closely with Edwin Maynard in the development of an insignia that was to become the classic symbol of the United Methodist Church known around the world," said the Rev. Curtis Chambers, who retired as top executive of United Methodist Communications in 1984.

The Cross and Flame was formally adopted and registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1971. "The insignia can be seen wherever the church exists, in many different cultures and parts of the globe," he said. "It is a lasting legacy for Mikula."

Mikula was trained at the Art Institute of Chicago; he was experienced in the graphic arts and had created logos for the Illinois Farm Supply Company and the Associated Church Press before joining the commission. He was art director for The Methodist Story and later for The Interpreter, the denomination's program journal. He was also art director for the former Promotion, Benevolence and Interpretation Division of United Methodist Communications.

The funeral was held June 23 at Frist Funeral Home, Clinton, Ind. He was preceded in death by his wife, Clara "Mae" Strazzabosco and his brother, Walter Mikula. He is survived by his daughters and granddaughters.


top


June 22, 2004
Campaign aims to re-energize, promote Sunday school
By United Methodist News Service

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - Sunday school is for everyone, not just children.

That is the message of "Sunday School: It's for Life," a joint campaign between the United Methodist Publishing House and the United Methodist Board of Discipleship to encourage congregations to see Sunday school as a tool to educate people for faithful living and nurture them on their spiritual journey.

"We have been listening to pastors say in various ways they are not sure their congregation is accomplishing its purpose of helping members come to a truly transforming understanding of who God is in their lives," said Harriett Olson, vice president of publishing with the Publishing House.

She hopes "Sunday School: It's for Life" will re-energize Sunday school and promote it as "a vibrant teaching and learning setting."

The Publishing House has launched a new Web site, www.sundayschool.cokesbury.com, with information on resources, events and training sessions and articles about people involved in various Sunday school settings. It also invites congregations to share their concerns and their success stories with the larger church. A free video, produced by United Methodist Communications, is also available to United Methodist congregations.

"One of the things we have heard is that nothing is happening in Sunday school and that is just not right," Olson said. "There are some great stories. One of the things we hope to do with the Web site is share those stories."

Olson said the plan is "to join hands with leaders in annual conferences, districts and congregations to raise the profile of this important setting in the church." The North Texas Annual (regional) Conference, for example, has already launched a campaign to increase the number of Sunday school classes in its churches.