June 14, 2002
Worship, songbook designed for older adults
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) – The United Methodist Church has published a new, large-print ecumenical songbook and worship guide for use in nursing homes, retirement communities, hospitals, homes and other older-adult settings.
Rock of Ages, published by Discipleship Resources, features hymns and songs, and orders of worship and prayers are printed in large type for ease of reading. Familiar hymns from The United Methodist Hymnal, as well as The Baptist Hymnal, The Presbyterian Hymnal, and the Lutheran Book of Worship are included.
"This is one resource that will help rekindle and restore the faith of older adults as they sing again, in large print, the songs of faith that inspired them when they were young," said the Rev. Richard H. Gentzler, director of the Center on Aging and Older Adult Ministries and a contributor to the book. Other contributors are the Rev. Daniel Benedict and Dean McIntyre, directors in the Center for Worshiping Resources at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship.
The book includes a service for a person moving from independent living to nursing care, a room blessing for a new resident, a basic order of worship with or without Holy Communion, and a memorial service. An index directs users to the pages where the hymns and songs can be found in the hymnals of the different faith groups.
The resource is designed for local church leaders, chaplains, lay volunteers and staff who lead worship in nursing homes, retirement communities or other long-term health care settings, as well as the residents who participate in the worship.
The book can be ordered from Discipleship Resources or Cokesbury. Cost is $15.95. For more information, contact Gentzler at the Center on Aging and Older Adult Ministries, P.O. Box 340003, Nashville, TN 37203-0003; (615) 340-7071; or rgentzler@gbod.org.
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June 18, 2002
United Methodist churches will remember Sept. 11 in services
By Nancye Willis*
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) – As the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks nears, United Methodist churches across the country are preparing to hold "Remembering 9/11" services Sept. 8, the Sunday nearest the anniversary.
During annual conferences this summer, many United Methodist bishops are encouraging congregations to set aside Sept. 8 in conjunction with proclaiming September "United Methodist Open House Month." The request for the bishops' actions came from Igniting Ministry staff at United Methodist Communications, which established Open House Month in 2001, as part of the debut of the denomination's TV advertising effort.
"Open House Month, and especially 'Remembering 9/11,' allows United Methodist churches to live out the promise of Ôopen hearts, open minds, open doors' made by the television messages," said the Rev. Steve Horswill-Johnston, executive director of Igniting Ministry and a UMCom staff executive. "Their 'Remembering 9/11' services provide their communities a place to gather to remember the events and those affected by them, and to pray for wisdom, comfort, healing, peace and recovery."
A number of resources for planning "Remembering 9/11" services are available from UMCom. A brochure suggesting how to prepare for Open House Month and encouraging "Remembering 9/11" services is being provided to each annual conference delegate, along with a sample door hanger.
In the next few weeks, the denomination's www.umc.org Web site will feature a "Remembering 9/11" page with available resources, including a free sermon outline and worship liturgies from the back-to-school edition of Igniting Ministry's ToolKit 1-2-3, targeted for shipment in July. The timing of Open House Month and the "Remembering 9/11" effort coincides with Igniting Ministry's back-to-school flight of TV, newspaper and outdoor ads.
Igniting Ministry's national cable TV ads premiered just one week before the tragedy of Sept. 11. As the disaster unfolded, the Igniting Ministry team translated the Council of Bishops' pastoral message of healing and call for prayer into a new television spot, completed that same day and transmitted via satellite to 13 cable networks.
Igniting Ministry also erected an outdoor billboard with the theme, "Fear is not the only force at work in the world today," one block from Ground Zero in New York. It remains in place. Companion print, outdoor, direct mail, radio and TV resources were made available to local churches within weeks.
"Amen," a second new TV commercial, aired exclusively in October and November during "Breaking News on CNN," extending the promise, "No matter how you pray, or where, the people of the United Methodist Church are praying with you."
More information on "Remembering 9/11" is available from the Igniting Ministry Web site www.ignitingministry.org or by calling, toll free, (877) 281-6535.
*Willis is a writer and editor at United Methodist Communications in Nashville, Tenn.
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June 20, 2002
Young people share dreams on new Web site
A UMNS Feature
By Kathy L. Gilbert*
Young people are dreaming about a future for the United Methodist Church, and they are doing it in cyberspace.
Shared Mission Focus on Young People, a global initiative of the denomination, recently launched a new Web site, www.idreamachurch.com, designed to give young people a forum for sharing their hopes and dreams about the church.
Log onto the Web site and you can read dreams from people like Max from Moscow, Russia, who envisions a church "that has no boundaries for ministry with young people." Another writer dreams of a church "that invites young people into a relationship with Jesus Christ and walks with them through a lifetime of discipleship."
The Web site is being promoted during jurisdictional youth gatherings this summer and is "being linked as many places as possible," says Drew Dyson, executive director of the initiative in Nashville, Tenn.
Julie O'Neal, a student at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo., and a co-leader of the Shared Mission Focus team, says the site was born out of a desire to see what the church looks like now and what it could look like in the future.
"For me, the Web page encourages people to search their inner self, for through their dreams comes a spring of life that propels all of us to be faithful to the calling placed ahead of us," she says. "It reminds me that there is hope in challenging the church to change."
Gerald "Jay" Williams, a student at Harvard and the other co-leader of the Shared Mission Focus team, wants people to know the site is not just a suggestion box.
"Of course, we want suggestions, comments and feedback ... but mostly we want dreams," he says. "We want people to express some of the hopes and dreams that you don't normally express at a church council meeting ... some of the thoughts that you have for the church after you're leaving Sunday worship. ... You know, some of the ideas that you have for the Body of Christ when you're in the shower and there's no one to listen."
"I think that the dreams that we've collected so far have been honest and inspiring, and even a bit challenging to what people may be ready to hear," O'Neal says. "I hope that whoever looks at this Web site sees the validity in ministry with young people and reminds us all of how important it is."
Both O'Neal and Williams agree that they want young people to know the site is an opportunity for them to have a voice in the United Methodist Church.
"When you think the people in your local church aren't listening, post a dream to the dream page," Williams says. "When you want your voice to be heard loud and clear, log on to www.idreamachurch.com. The Shared Mission Focus on Young People was formed for this very purpose É to make a dream for the church a reality."
The bottom of the site's home page proclaims, "The SMFYP is a movement of the Holy Spirit calling young people to be world-changing disciples of Jesus Christ."
"With the Spirit of Pentecost that blows from every direction like the wind, we tell to all who will hear: ÔWatch out, God is about to do a new thing in the UMC and in the world,'" Williams says.
Rouse joins team
Besides launching the new Web site, the Shared Mission Focus is adding a staff member. Ciona Rouse joins the Nashville staff as the communications and project coordinator July 22.
"We are delighted to have Ciona joining our staff. She has extraordinary gifts in the area of communications as well as a passion for ministry for, with and by young people," Dyson says. "We really had an incredible pool of talented young people to choose from for this position," he adds.
A South Carolina native, Rouse has been active in ministries for young people since middle high school.
"I look forward wholeheartedly to working for the mission and vision of young people across the connection," she says.
Rouse was the recipient of United Methodist Communications' 2001-2002 Judith Weidman Racial Ethnic Minority Fellowship in religion communications, and she is a graduate of Columbia (S.C.) College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in English.
She moves to Nashville after spending her fellowship year working at the office of communications in the Baltimore-Washington Conference in Columbia, Md. During internships, she has also worked with an NBC affiliate in Columbia, S.C., and the U.S. Senate Recording Studio, and she produced a nationally syndicated radio program for older Americans.
In her new position, Rouse will be responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive communications strategy for the Shared Mission Focus. In addition, she will manage special projects such as a leadership-training institute for young people and comprehensive youth ministry training in the central conferences.
*Gilbert is a news writer for United Methodist News Service in Nashville, Tenn.
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June 20, 2002
Jehovah's Witnesses win case on registering door-to-door evangelists
By Adelle M. Banks
WASHINGTON -- An Ohio village violated the First Amendment when it required Jehovah's Witnesses, along with other solicitors and canvassers, to obtain a permit before knocking on the doors of residents, the Supreme Court ruled Monday (June 17).
"It is offensive -- not only to the values protected by the First Amendment, but to the very notion of a free society -- that in the context of everyday public discourse a citizen must first inform the government of her desire to speak to her neighbors and then obtain a permit to do so," wrote Justice John Paul Stevens in the high court's opinion.
The 8-1 decision was accompanied by a dissenting opinion from Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who said the ruling "renders local governments largely impotent to address the very real safety threat that canvassers pose."
The case stems from a requirement by the village of Stratton, Ohio, that Jehovah's Witnesses and other solicitors must fill out a form before knocking on the door of residents. The religious group argued that the 1998 ordinance is unconstitutional because it violates free speech.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court ruling that permitted the ordinance to be applied to the Witnesses.
Ohio government officials who argued for the permitting process said it makes the villages' 278 residents more secure and deters crime.
Stevens noted the court has thrown out restrictions on similar door-to-door activities for more than five decades, with many of the cases involving legal challenges by Jehovah's Witnesses. Members of the religious group believe they are commanded by Scripture to make door-to-door visits, he wrote.
"Moreover, because they lack significant financial resources, the ability of the Witnesses to proselytize is seriously diminished by regulations that burden their efforts to canvass door-to-door," he said.
Stevens said that although their consideration of the case stemmed from a complaint by the Jehovah's Witnesses, its outcome applies to "anonymous political speech and the distribution of handbills" in addition to religious proselytizing.
The permit requirement could infringe speech about religion or patriotism, he wrote, as well as prevent spontaneous discourse, such as a neighbor urging the person across the street not to vote for the mayor.
Rehnquist, in his dissent, cited a number of instances where canvassing door-to-door led to crimes, including the recent double murder of Dartmouth College professors in Hanover, N.H., allegedly at the hands of teen-agers who were allowed to enter their home under the guise of conducting an environmental survey.
"The ordinance does not prohibit door-to-door canvassing; it merely requires that canvassers fill out a form and receive a permit," the chief justice wrote.
Stevens differed with Rehnquist about the New Hampshire case, adding in a footnote that "the village's ordinance would have done nothing to prevent that tragic crime."
In a concurring opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer added that it is "intuitively implausible" to think the village ordinance prevents burglaries and violent crimes.
The village was formally supported by nine states other than Ohio as well as the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties. Groups that filed friend-of-the-court briefs siding with the Witnesses included the American Civil Liberties Union, the Independent Baptist Churches of America and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, hailed the decision.
"Whether it's the Jehovah's Witnesses asking people to join their denomination or an atheist group asking people to reject religion, Americans shouldn't have to get a permit from the government to spread their opinions," he said in a statement.
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June 20, 2002
New president, protests and prayers mark Southern Baptist meeting
By Adelle M. Banks
c. 2002 Religion News Service
ST. LOUIS -- A new president, protests and prayer were all part of the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, which concluded June 12.
But events during the two-day meeting were nearly overshadowed by remarks made by a prominent SBC pastor and former convention president, Jerry Vines of Jacksonville, Fla., at a convention-affiliated gathering of SBC pastors on the eve of the meeting. Vines called Muhammad, the founder of Islam, "a demon-possessed pedophile."
His remarks sparked an outpouring of criticism from Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders.
During the meeting, Jack Graham, a Dallas-area megachurch pastor, was elected as the new president of the nation's largest Protestant denomination.
Graham, senior pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, said he hopes to reach out to a younger generation as he leads the convention's initiatives to evangelize, foster spiritual renewal and preserve traditional families.
"I have the heart of an evangelist," he said. "Ultimately, it's my desire to encourage churches and strengthen the work of Christ in our congregations and across the Southern Baptist Convention."
Graham succeeded James Merritt, an Atlanta-area pastor who concluded his presidential term amid protests from Soulforce, a pro-gay, interdenominational group.
As Merritt condemned cultural support of homosexuality, pornography and adultery in his presidential address, protesters outside and inside the America's Center criticized what they viewed as anti-gay policies of the Southern Baptist Convention -- with close to 50 of them getting arrested.
"Southern Baptists, we are in a war," Merritt said. "We may be a denominational David standing against a world full of Goliaths, but we have the slingshot of truth in one hand and the Rock of Ages in the other and we are guaranteed to have victory in Jesus."
Vines' comments, which also distinguished the God of Christianity from that of Islam, were condemned by religious leaders in St. Louis as well as across the country.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations and Episcopal Bishop George Wayne Smith of Missouri condemned the statement and support of it as being "stomach-turning" and "hateful," respectively. Jewish leaders from a number of national groups also reacted with concern and criticism.
"Unfortunately, such deplorable, divisive rhetoric is not surprising coming from the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention, which has a track record of denigrating and delegitimizing other religions," the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement.
More than 9,500 messengers, or delegates, attended the meeting of the 16-million-member denomination.
They affirmed "Empowering Kingdom Growth," a new initiative for spiritual renewal, and endorsed plans of the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life to hold a rally after next year's annual meeting that will kick off a new focus on strengthening families.
Messengers voted to refer a motion to the denomination's mission board requesting that missionaries not be required to affirm the 2000 version of the denomination's statement of faith. Critics say the latest version of the Baptist Faith and Message is creedal, a charge SBC officials deny.
Graham said he supported asking missionaries to affirm the latest statement.
"The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 is an instrument of accountability and in the business world, places where you work, there are instruments of accountability," he said. "And we believe that even more so in the church and in the ministry ... there ought to be accountability."
International Mission Board President Jerry Rankin told messengers that no missionary had yet been fired for failing to sign an affirmation of the 2000 faith statement, but several have chosen to resign or retire instead of signing it.
In addition to electing Graham, Baptists elected Paul Pressler, a former Texas appellate court judge, as first vice president. He was instrumental in the conservative resurgence that began in the denomination in 1979.
Spurred on by the Catholic Church's crisis with clergy sexual abuse, Southern Baptists overwhelmingly passed a resolution urging "sexual integrity" of their ministers and calling on churches to cooperate with authorities in the prosecution of abuse cases.
They also passed resolutions supporting Israel and criticizing the Today's New International Version of the Bible.
In an unusual move, they adopted a resolution from the floor urging passage of legislation banning so-called "partial-birth" abortion. The resolutions committee had rejected the proposal because a similar measure was passed in a previous meeting. But several messengers urged the need to reiterate their concerns, including one who compared abortions to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
ÒWe should not forget the thousands who are terrorized in the womb," said Rick Reeder of Princeton, Ky., who proposed the resolution.
Messengers also heard from President Bush, via satellite, Christian aid workers Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer, and Campus Crusade for Christ founder Bill Bright.
Bright, who is spearheading a Global Pastors Network to train millions of lay pastors across the world, urged greater Christian cooperation.
"God wants us to work together," said Bright. "Denominational barriers have hindered the mighty moving of God's spirit."
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June 20, 2002
After five years, assessing the Baptist boycott of Disney
By Adelle M. Banks
c. 2002 Religion News
ST. LOUIS -- As outgoing Southern Baptist Convention President James Merritt took one of his last turns at the podium, he made a crack about how he responds when asked what he planned to do when he concludes his presidency.
"I'm going to Disney World -- just a joke," he told Southern Baptists gathered at the America's Center on June 12.
But for the last five years, such a thought was not a joking matter for some Southern Baptists. In 1997, messengers, or delegates, of the nation's largest Protestant denomination voted overwhelmingly to boycott the Walt Disney Co.
"I think there are hundreds of thousands of Southern Baptists who are continuing the boycott very conscientiously," said Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, a division of the 16-million-member denomination that includes monitoring the boycott among its activities.
"We define the boycott as you don't take money out of your pocket and put it in Disney's pocket, which enables Disney to take that money to then subsidize the money-losing projects that they do that attack our values and our beliefs."
While there are no hard numbers to show the boycott's impact one way or the other, Land gives partial credit for some financial challenges at Disney to the work of boycotters.
"The fact that they have closed down significant numbers of their stores, Disney stores particularly in the Southwest and the Southeast is not unrelated to the Baptist boycott effort," he said. "The fact that ABC and others are losing money and viewership is not unrelated to the boycott."
Disney spokesman Ken Green said any economic difficulties are related to the economy, not the boycott.
"I think if you look at the overall economy, things have been tough all over," he said. "We see no connection between their activities and our business."
Green said during the first three years of the boycott, Disney's financial situation was "quite positive." He said the later years have been influenced by a recession and the Sept. 11 tragedy, which adversely affected advertising and travel.
Among the Disney policies that bothered Baptists was its providing of benefits to partners of gay employees and airing programs they considered gay-friendly.
"A lot of the issues that they initially raised seem to have gone away," Green said. "One of their concerns was the show `Ellen,' which is long gone."
He said many more companies have extended benefits to gay partners of employees.
"We have not sought to be in an adversarial situation with the Baptists or anyone else," Green said. "We have discussed their concerns, but it doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to allow them to set themselves (up) as censors of our films."
He noted that with its purchase last year of the Fox Family Channel, now the ABC Family Channel, a Disney-owned property is carrying Pat Robertson's "700 Club" program, a show he expects many Baptists would appreciate.
Dwayne Hastings, a vice president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said the boycott is not as high a priority as it was five years ago for the commission. But it maintains a Web site (www.erlc.com) that includes information on the boycott, such as links to other organizations concerned about the topic.
"It is an important issue, particularly an important issue for families," he said.
But families at the annual meeting of the denomination have different points of view on the boycott.
"It really hasn't affected us," said Matthew Buerhaus, a Cullman, Ala., youth pastor. "We do think about it when we buy Disney movies."
Although his father keeps a "Boycott Disney" bumper sticker on his car, Buerhaus said he appreciates what Disney has to offer.
"Disney overall seems to be wholesome," he said, pushing his six-month-old son Micah in a stroller.
Daniel Flynn, a minister of pastoral care in Fayetteville, N.C., is pro-boycott.
"We support it 100 percent," he said. "We just boycott Disney, Disney stores, the amusement parks, everything, as a church."
His 10-year-old son and his 15-month-old daughter do without the products without complaint, he said.
"We feel just as strongly as when we did the boycott that Disney is not promoting the family," Flynn said. "However big or small it might be, we're sending a message to them that we don't appreciate it."
Land estimates that his family has kept about $10,500 from Disney over the five-year period by not traveling to its amusement parks or going to any of its movies.
"And trust me, for a movie buff like me, that's a significant financial factor," he said.
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June 20, 2002
United Methodist network of clinics helps immigrants
By United Methodist News Service
At a time when immigrants and refugees face increasing restrictions by the U.S. government, United Methodists are expanding a national network of immigration clinics to provide assistance.
Justice For Our Neighbors, a program started in 1999 by the United Methodist Committee on Relief and the Just Neighbors Ministry in Virginia, got a financial boost this spring when UMCOR's board of directors approved funding of $600,000 over a three-year period. The money came from the agency's "Love in the Midst of Tragedy Fund," a response to needs created by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Lilia Fernandez, the UMCOR staff member who has shepherded the program and has been serving as its consultant since retiring, said the church can demonstrate its love for God by serving the most vulnerable, such as immigrants and refugees. "We are experiencing such a lack of shalom among the peoples of the world that only God can heal the brokenness," she said.
Many who come to the immigration clinics experience a sense of safety and sympathy that may be lacking in the outside community, particularly for those fearful of law enforcement agencies. "They not only need immigration counseling, but need to be with people who they know care for them as children of God," Fernandez explained.
The network of clinics is staffed by a combination of legal advisers, immigration specialists and local volunteers. "It's a unique project in terms of cooperation because it crosses jurisdictional and conference lines," said Alison Brown, a church and community worker and regional attorney serving clinics in the Des Moines and Sioux City, Iowa, and Omaha, Neb., areas.
The number of clients at the clinics Brown serves dropped temporarily after Sept. 11, when immigrants did not want to advertise themselves as such. "There's always a fear level, but it's definitely heightened," she added.
In a report to the UMCOR board of directors, Jacqueline Bradley Chacon, the program's supervising attorney in Washington, outlined some of the effects that response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has had on the rights and status of immigrants and refugees. For example, she said, the targeting of Middle Eastern men has made racial profiling a part of the national security policy applied to all non-citizens in the United States.
Changes in federal policy mean that the Immigration and Naturalization Service can detain any immigrant without a warrant or charges for up to 48 hours. Detention of asylum-seekers is expected to increase, along with the use of military tribunals and secret evidence, and eavesdropping is legally possible in some cases when immigrants consult with their attorneys.
"Immigrants are now vulnerable to investigation and deportation for even the most minor immigration violations, such as failing to file a change of address form within 10 days," Chacon wrote. "INS can use such a minor violation to initiate deportation proceedings as it is a reportableoffense."
That is why the church's assistance through the Justice For Our Neighbors clinics is more important than ever, Chacon told United Methodist News Service. "Our program, in general, before and after Sept. 11 is a response to Sept. 11."
In New York, for example, the program worked through the city's Family Assistance Center to help immigrants, both documented and undocumented, who were victims of the attacks. It assisted those who had lost family members, lost jobs, sought public benefits or who needed immigration counseling.
Because of the restrictions imposed after Sept. 11, immigrants feel a sense of urgency about improving their legal status, according to Chacon, who predicted "a resurgence in citizenship applications."
The core of Justice For Our Neighbors is its congregation-based volunteer service, according to the Rev. Nancy Lanman, manager for ministry development in the Washington office. Beyond the initial goal of providing trustworthy, accountable legal services, Justice For Our Neighbors focuses on education and advocacy, and reflects the theological underpinning of its positions on immigration issues.
At each clinic, Lanman noted, the purpose is not just providing a service but building a sense of human community.
Besides Iowa and Nebraska, clinics can be found in Decatur, Ala.; Laurel, Miss.; Brooklyn, Chinatown, and Flushing, N.Y.; Memphis, Tenn.; Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas; Roanoke, Va.; Camden, Asbury Park, Toms River and Keyport, N.J.; and Baltimore.
More information about the Justice For Our Neighbors and volunteer opportunities is available by calling Lanman at (202) 548-4867. The program also receives financial support as an Advance Special, No. 901285-1. Donations may be dropped into church collection plates or mailed to the United Methodist Committee on Relief, 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Credit-card donations can be made by calling (800) 554-8583.
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