June 27, 2002
Volunteers celebrate decade-long collaboration with school
By Andra Stevens*
MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) – Hammers are swinging as United Methodist Volunteers in Mission push to finish 10 staff houses on the Africa University campus in time for the school's 10th anniversary.
Both the university and the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission organization want to celebrate with one house for every year the university has been in existence.
"Last time we were here, there was nothing," says team member Mary Stitt. " It was so exciting to drive in and see eight houses."
Stitt and fellow Illinois resident Carol Tredway worked on the first staff house on campus while on a Volunteers in Mission trip in 1995.
"There were only eight of – three women and five men – and none of us had any experience in bricklaying," Tredway says. "We paid two local laborers to work alongside us and direct us."us >
The two women are pleased by the chance to visit with the couple living in the house they helped build " music lecturer Patrick Matsikenyiri and his wife, Avis. They also like the way the campus has developed over the years. "The architecture is still striking, with the buildings sitting at the foothills of the mountains and all the landscaping," Stitt says. "The care and grooming of the campus is excellent."
Stitt and Tredway are members of an Iowa Annual Conference Volunteer in Mission team that includes Bishop Gregory Palmer. They're working with local contractors to get the ninth and 10th houses ready for November.
"UM Volunteers in Mission are strong and unwavering supporters of Africa University, and they've touched every aspect of our work and mission with their gifts and energies," says James Salley, Africa University's associate vice chancellor for institutional advancement. "We're proud of their significant contributions to on-campus housing for staff with these 10 houses, but there is much more than that to celebrate."
VIM team members have taught classes and provided workshops for students, laypeople and clergy from the local churches. They've offered care and comfort to the sick and to orphans at the Old Mutare Mission across from the university. Many have donated scholarships that help needy students attend the university.
And even as this Iowa group joins in the excitement of preparing for celebration events in November, its members are mindful that the university and its students still need their support.
"There were empty shelves in the library in 1995, and it bothers me to see that there are still so many shelves empty in this new library," Tredway says. "They need current books."
Each year, between 11 and 14 VIM teams visit Africa University and Zimbabwe. The teams have an average of 16 members and come from United Methodist churches all over the United States. Members pay their own way and raise funds for construction materials for the houses and other needs. Team members live in the student dormitories and interact daily with students, staff and members of the local community.
Africa University is inviting United Methodist Volunteers in Mission to visit Zimbabwe for the official 10th anniversary celebration. The many events scheduled for Nov. 15-17 include a naming ceremony for the 10 staff houses that Volunteers in Mission will have built so far.
*Stevens is coordinator for Africa University 10th anniversary celebration.
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June 27, 2002
Mission team returns to Africa University beginnings
By Andra Stevens*
MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) – A mission team from Iowa returned to where it all began – dilapidated farmhouses – to get Africa University ready for the masses coming to celebrate the school's first decade.
"For me, it's a privilege to work with the folks of Zimbabwe, whether it is using a striker to cut grass in order to paint a wall, or holding a baby in the Fairfield Orphanage or consulting with the Africa University Counseling service," says Bob Hoover, a retired pastor from Solon, Iowa.
Hoover, a member of a 15-person Volunteers in Mission team from the Iowa Annual Conference, is at work on the campus of the United Methodist-related university. He and about six of his fellow team members are back where the church's Volunteers in Mission support for Africa University began. They are sprucing up old campus buildings on the farm in readiness for the official celebration of Africa University's 10th anniversary in November.
"The old campus is where Africa University came to life in March 1992 and United Methodist Volunteers in Mission played such an important role in our beginning," says Professor Rukudzo Murapa, the school's vice chancellor. "They came to this valley when we had nothing but dilapidated farm structures, and they helped us turn them into classrooms and a lab and library so we could open our doors to that very first group of students."
Africa University has grown from 40 students studying in two faculties (departments) in 1992, to close to 800 students studying in five faculties today. A sixth faculty, for health sciences, will be launched this year with enrollment in 2003. It will include programs of nursing, environmental and public health and health sciences. Teaching and administrative staff members number more than 200, and the campus boasts 18 academic and other buildings.
The Iowa team is painting and doing minor repairs on the small thatched rondavel that used to be the registrar's office and on the buildings that once housed Africa University's first two faculties, agriculture and theology.
Though much of the teaching and research now take place in the newer, better-equipped facilities built during the past 10 years, those first buildings are still an integral part of the university's mission. The old agriculture laboratory, located on the university farm, serves as an outreach clinic for local farmers. Other buildings are used for student work and farm activities.
The school hopes to develop its own archive center on the site.
In preparation for the 10th anniversary celebration, the university is staging a series of events throughout the year. Those include:
* The Inaugural Africa University International Marathon on Sept. 28.
* A dialogue bringing African scholars and heads of colleges together with top officials of United Methodist-related colleges, universities and seminaries on Nov. 15.
* The dedication of the South Carolina Annual Conference-funded faculty of theology building and a three-story dormitory funded by the South Indiana Conference on Nov. 16.
* A naming ceremony for the 10 staff houses built by Volunteers in Mission teams on Nov. 16.
*Stevens is coordinator for Africa University's 10th anniversary celebration.
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June 25, 2002
Abingdon Press completes 'New Interpreter's Bible'
By Kathy Gilbert*
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) – A 12-year project will draw to an end for Abingdon Press when it releases the 12th and final volume of The New Interpreter's Bible in July.
Some 97 authors from 21 Christian communions have been involved in preparing this collection of commentaries on all the books of the Bible and the Apocrypha.
"The New Interpreter's Bible is probably not best thought about as being like a study Bible," said Harriett Olson, executive with the United Methodist Publishing House. "It is a whole shelf full of the best scholarly resource we could gather about the biblical text (the commentary sections), combined with discussions dealing with ways that the text can be viewed or applied in our contemporary settings (the reflection sections)."
Each of the biblical books is introduced by an article dealing with that book and its setting, as well as general articles on the different schools of biblical interpretation and the varied types of writings included in the biblical cannon. The entire Bible is reprinted in the New Revised Standard Version and the New International Version. Commentary and reflections on the Scriptures appear in each section.
"It contains a tremendous amount of material in a very accessible format," Olson said.
"The New Interpreter's Bible represents our strong and abiding commitment to find the intersection where deep faithfulness, superior scholarship, and practical service in support of the witness of the church all meet," said Neil M. Alexander, president and publisher at the Publishing House. The book will enliven the church's engagement with Scripture while fostering "vital teaching and preaching in congregations," he said.
Leander E. Keck, Winkley Professor of Biblical Theology Emeritus at Yale Divinity School, served as convener of the editorial board and senior New Testament editor. The project was launched in 1990, and the first volume was released in 1994.
"From the start, the aim of the NIB has been to make the best insights of current biblical scholarship accessible to a wide circle of readers without talking down to them," Keck said. Contributors have included scholars, pastors and lay people representing diverse traditions – Protestantism, Catholicism and Judaism – and roles in church life. The roster of writers includes 21 women, and is racially and ethnically diverse: six African Americans, five Hispanic Americans, a Native American and three Asian Americans.
Introductions to each biblical book address historical, sociocultural, and literary and theological issues.
"The NIB presents the user with the diversity of approaches and theological perspectives that characterizes biblical study today," Keck said. "If some consider this diversity to be a weakness, others will find it a strength because it invites the users to participate in the conversation about the meaning of Scripture in our time."
"The greatest virtue of the New Interpreter's Bible is that, unlike most commentaries, it witnesses to the indissoluble link between biblical study and preaching," said Richard Lischer, James T. and Alice Mead Cleland Professor of Preaching at Duke Divinity School. "The New Testament was the church's first sustained sermon, and it was meant to be preached in succeeding generations. The Scripture was never intended to be segregated from its practical and liturgical use among communities of faith. That is what makes it the lively word. The New Interpreter's Bible confirms that the most searching biblical scholarship can be done with reverence. Such scholarship does not inhibit proclamation but energizes it."
Though the new Bible has been well received by scholars and is being used in seminaries and other settings, it is intended primarily for the church pastor or teacher, Olson said.
"The commitment to participating ecumenically in biblical scholarship and making the best of that work available to the church is deep in our United Methodist DNA," she said. "United Methodists have a deep hunger to know more about the Bible and a desire to interpret it well – our work at the United Methodist Publishing House and Abingdon Press is to under gird that work."
"In the past dozen years, the United Methodist Publishing House has committed major resources to enhance the study of Scripture in the churches – the NIB and the Disciple Bible Study Program. This commitment should not be taken for granted; it is a major achievement that will bear fruit for years to come," Keck said.
Marking that achievement, Cokesbury is offering the entire set for $500 through July 31 (regular price is $780). It is also available on CD-ROM. Purchasers of previous electronic volumes can get credit toward the set by calling (800) 409-5346. The offer is available at Cokesbury stores, at (800) 672-1789 or www.cokesbury.com online.
*Gilbert is a news writer for United Methodist News Service in Nashville, Tenn.
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June 25, 2002
Church, schools face challenge of campus alcohol abuse
By Tim Tanton*
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) – Religious beliefs can make a difference in helping young people avoid the worsening problem of alcohol abuse on college campuses, and United Methodists must be engaged in the issue "at every point of influence," according to a denomination executive.
Nationwide, drinking contributes to about 1,400 deaths annually of college students between the ages of 18 and 24, said Lynda Byrd, staff executive with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries' office on Substance Abuse and Related Violence. It also is related to 500,000 injuriesand 70,000 reported cases of sexual assault or date rape each year, she said, quoting statistics from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
"Alcohol is by far the most frequently abused drug in our society, college campuses notwithstanding," she said.
Byrd was a keynote speaker at the June 23-25 Institute of Higher Education, which brought representatives of United Methodist-related schools together to focus on the theme of "Changing the Culture: Alcohol on Campus." The institute was sponsored by the churchwide Board of Higher Education and Ministry, the National Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities of the United Methodist Church, and the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation.
The United Methodist Church has a presence among young people, with more than 120 affiliated colleges and universities, plus many more Wesley Foundations, Byrd noted. "We have access to hundreds of thousands of young people every day.
"At every point of influence, we must become intentionally and consistently engaged in addressing the issue of substance abuse," she said. "É The Sunday school class, the (youth) meetings, the Sunday evening and weeknight gatherings in the Wesley Foundation, and the many other captive audience settings continue to be unused and lost."
A Columbia University study, "So Help Me God: Substance Abuse, Religion and Spirituality," shows that a strong spiritual life can reduce substance abuse. The school's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse released a report on the study last fall. "It does make a difference when we embrace a belief in a higher power," Byrd said.
The study found that people who attend church once a week or more have "significantly reduced risks of drinking, binge drinking, smoking marijuana or using other drugs," she said. "Teens never attending church are twice as likely to drink; more than twice as likely to smoke; three times likelier to use marijuana; four times more likely to use illicit drugs."
Insurance executive Larry Deger noted in a later presentation that students who drink the least are those who attend religious institutions, two-year institutions and historically black colleges and universities. Deger is vice president for risk management with Educational & Institutional Insurance Administrators, a Chicago-based consortium that insures many small, religiously affiliated schools.
Participants at the conference shared common problems as well as solutions that are working on their campuses. Many described a "culture of alcohol" at their schools and the impact that peer pressure has on student drinking.
Several participants raised questions about what one person described as a "double standard" in the church. They noted that the United Methodist Book of Discipline calls for abstinence from alcohol while many church leaders drink, even if only in moderation. How can students be expected to abstain from alcohol when their teachers, church leaders, and college staff and trustees imbibe it?
The denomination's 2000 General Conference adopted several statements on alcohol abuse, which were placed in the Book of Resolutions. One, titled "Drinking on Campus," recognized problems related to under-age and binge drinking and urged church groups to work with school officials on reducing drinking. Another, "Keeping Children Free of Drugs and Alcohol," called on the church to support legislation that would curtail the use of drugs and alcohol by young people.
Forbidding alcohol on campus doesn't guarantee students aren't drinking. As far as students are concerned, "dry campus" status simply means "we're playing the church game," said one official. Another said that his school was a dry campus on paper but that drinking had been driven off campus. He told of a student who had been in a coma for 18 hours after binge drinking off campus; the young person survived.
"Consuming alcohol and drugs is not a behavioral phenomenon; it is a cultural phenomenon," said Sally Walker, dean of students and vice president of student affairs at United Methodist-related Albion (Mich.) College. The schools must help their students gain perspective on their culture and their own actions, she said, emphasizing that only students can change their culture.
Walker described a two-pronged approach built around policies and procedures, and intervention and prevention programs.
Campus officials must be sure their approach to the problem is in sync with the school's trustees and executive committee, she said. School officials should work with the students to review guidelines annually, and the school should talk continually about safety with students, she said.
Albion has a 10-point policy that bars students under 21 from having alcohol and forbids the provision of hard liquor to anyone. Kegs and party balls are not allowed on campus, and references to alcohol in event advertising are forbidden. Alcohol consumed at an off-campus event sponsored by a student organization must be provided by a third-party vendor with a permanent liquor license and liability insurance.
The school's intervention policy provides for the involvement of staff, faculty and, as a last resort, family members in addressing student substance abuse. Alcohol education is required in first-offense cases, followed by alcohol and drug assessments for second offenses. In serious cases, consultants and psychiatrists might be brought in.
Albion also offers focused programs, such as a no-questions-asked cab service, and it fosters peer-education groups to train students to be positive role models on campus.
The college is working on a new building where students will be able to gather, dance and have fun, Walker said. Other conference participants described similar venues at their schools, as well as initiatives such as holding block parties.
Deger suggested additional ideas: coffee houses, root beer keggers, and a regular activity night that would be hosted by campus-sponsored clubs on a rotating basis.
He recommended that schools hold orientation training and alcohol 101 classes each semester. Classes should be scheduled on all weekday mornings to reduce late-night partying, and teachers should vary their testing schedule by having random test days.
Having lenient policies and procedures that are well enforced is better than having strict policies and procedures that are not enforced, Deger said. Plaintiffs' attorneys love cases in which schools have failed to enforce their own strict policies, he said. "If you're going to have a policy that bans alcohol on campus, it's important that you enforce that policy and stand behind it 100 percent."
*Tanton is news editor for United Methodist News Service.
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June 26, 2002
New study program aims for men's hearts
By the Rev. J. Richard Peck*
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) -- TQuest is exploring the final frontier Ñ the hearts of Christian men.
The churchwide Commission on United Methodist Men is launching TQuest for Men this fall. TQuest – short for "transformation quest" – is a weekly session for four to six men who seek a deeper relationship with one another, others and God. The meetings include prayers, devotionals, updates about "the condition of their hearts," responses to an "inventory and challenge," and prayer in groups of two.
"In our view, what needs to happen in Christian men today simply cannot happen anywhere except in their hearts," says Larry Malone, director of men's ministry for the international commission, based in Nashville.
The challenge is getting men to open up, Malone agrees. "It is the nature of men to avoid their hearts. The church is not lacking good men who know the Bible or men who do good works. The church is short on men whose heart beats as one with the Spirit that resides there."
During 2001, with the assistance of Bishop William Morris and the Tennessee Annual Conference, TQuest was tested and evaluated by more than 50 men. The program was slightly revised, and an updated version of TQuest was introduced at the United Methodist Men's Congress at Purdue University in July 2001.
Tim Harvey was one of three people from Wausau, Wis., who attended the Purdue event. On their way home, the men agreed they wanted to continue their spiritual journeys with one another. They recruited a fourth member. "We let the TQuest series open our hearts, and in came the Holy Spirit," Harvey says. "Wow!"
The four men invited 12 others to join them; six accepted the invitation. "Now there were two groups, and the experience was the same," reports Harvey. "Our hearts were strengthened, and spirits were refreshed."
"There is nothing that brings men closer than praying with them and for them," says Walt Folberg of the Wausau group. "Men will share if there is trust, need and want."
"Too many United Methodist men attend meetings where they leave as burdened as when they walked in," Malone says. "TQuest enables men to leave gatherings with a lighter load and a sense of forgiveness." Malone describes the program as a "spiritually rich experience that leads to healing and hope."
Three years of TQuest curriculum is in development. Representatives from the Commission on United Methodist Men have visited every district in the church's five U.S. jurisdictions to promote the program. All 7,500 United Methodist Men charter units have also been asked to promote it. Each district and charter group has been asked to find five churches or pastors to launch the program.
A sample session retells the story of how Adam and Eve tried to hide from God. Men are then asked how they hide out from God and others. "TQuest always asks questions you can't answer from your head and must answer from the heart," observes Malone.
Don Price, a United Methodist who experienced TQuest in the Louisiana Conference, describes the program as one that "opened my heart to fellow brothers in Christ. ... It also told me that it is all right for a man to express pain and to love another man as a brother in Christ." Participating in the same experience, Charlie Barnett describes it as "one of the most moving experiences I've had in my life."
TQuest was developed by Sage Hill Resources, a division of Providence Publishing Corp. in Franklin, Tenn. Participants' kits include 10 32-page study booklets designed for four sessions each. Also included is The Voice of the Heart: A Call to Full Living, a book by David "Chip" Dodd, written to help men understand they are emotional and spiritual creatures made in the image of God.
Dodd's "Spiritual Root System" consists of the five roots of feelings, needs, desires, longings and hope, but the book's emphasis is on feelings. "We cannot live in fullness without knowing these feelings," Dodd says. "The paradox is that if we choose fullness with our feelings, we also choose to experience pain." The feelings Dodd identifies are hurt, loneliness, sadness, anger, fear, shame, guilt and gladness.
Dodd is the executive director and co-founder of the Center for Professional Excellence in Nashville, a multidisciplinary treatment center for licensed professionals with addiction, depression, burnout, anxiety and other behavioral problems. Previously, he was the clinical director of Bent Tree Counseling Center in Dallas, a service he co-founded in 1989. Dodd has a doctorate in counseling from the University of North Texas and a master's degree in English from the University of Mississippi.
"Picture your heart and its growth as a system of spiritual and emotional roots that needs spiritual and emotional nourishment," Dodd explains. "Out of sustenance and growth of the root system, you are made aware of and able to pursue abundant living."
The TQuest series was written by a team that includes Malone; Dodd; Stephen James, director of trade publishing at Providence Publishing; Jerry H. Mayo, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Murfreesboro, Tenn.; and Scotty Smith, pastor of Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tenn., and author of several books.
"Having participated in one of the pilot groups, I have personally experienced the power of TQuest for Men," says Andrew B. Miller, president of Providence Publishing. "TQuest for Men is an invitation for men to rediscover that which has been lost and to reawaken that which is asleep. It is a tool that will help men knock down the walls around their hearts."
Says Malone: "TQuest is a God-sized experience for this time, this place and these men."
More information is available at www.tquestformen.com online.
*Peck is communications consultant for the churchwide Commission on United Methodist Men
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July 9, 2002
Texas Conference offers Internet service to unite connection
By Nicole Benson*
HOUSTON (UMNS) – The Texas Annual Conference is seeking to strengthen the United Methodist connection by creating an Internet presence that will unite local congregations, annual conferences, missions and ministries.
The conference has launched UMCMail, a national Internet Service Provider, to provide family friendly, filtered Internet access to United Methodist churches, clergy and members.
UMCMail resulted from the doctoral research of David W. McKay, the conference's communications director, and was developed in consultation with United Methodist Communications and the United Methodist Web Ministries Guild.
"I believe that the United Methodist Church must actively use the Internet to fulfill our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ," McKay said. "With UMCMail, we are stating 'the Internet is our parish.' Our goal is to empower annual conferences to communicate effectively the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the digital age."
The conference venture offers filtered Internet access to United Methodists as a service and a ministry that will enable parents to control what their children see on the Web. Information packets about the effort were distributed to annual conferences on July 8.
Revenue from UMCMail will be shared with any annual conference that agrees to use the money for Web-based ministries, conference technological needs, budgets and technology grants to churches and ministries.
Subscribers will receive three e-mail accounts, personal Web space and content-filtering technology. UMCMail's service costs $13.95 a month, plus a one-time $10 set-up fee. UMCMail also offers its Web-filtration tool for those using DSL, cable or other ISPs for Internet access for $5 a month. For more information, go online to www.umcmail.net or call (866) 450-8933.
*Benson is communications coordinator of the Texas Annual Conference and editor of CrossConnection, the conference newspaper.
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July 1, 2002
Transgender clergy surrenders ministerial credentials
WASHINGTON (UMNS)-- The Rev. Rebecca A. Steen, who underwent gender reassignment while on voluntary leave from her duties as a clergy member of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, voluntarily surrendered her ministerial credentials and left the denomination in the opening minutes of a hearing June 28.
Steen had expressed a desire to return to active ministry. Had that occurred in the normal cycle of church appointments, she would have been assigned to a church by Bishop Felton Edwin May, with the appointment taking effect July 1. However, a complaint, the contents of which remain confidential, was filed against her. Separately, the district superintendents sought a change in her status to involuntary leave.
At the June 28 hearing to determine her status, Steen submitted her withdrawal in writing. Those conducting the hearing included Bishop May, the conference district superintendents and the executive committee of the conference board of ordained ministry. The Rev. J. Philip Wogaman, who served as her advocate, accompanied Steen.
In a statement issued later the same day, the bishop noted that because of the unresolved complaint against her, Steen's status falls under the designation "withdrawal under complaint" from the 2000 Book of Discipline, the denomination's rulebook.
May said that the complaint did not concern Steen's gender reassignment but issues of pastoral effectiveness prior to a voluntary leave of absence, when she was the Rev. Richard A. Zamostny.
Because the Discipline does not mention transgender clergy, conference officials who had assembled for the hearing decided to ask the churchwide Board of Higher Education and Ministry, as well as the Board of Church and Society, "to study, prepare appropriate legislation, and report to the 2004 General Conference on the issue of transgender clergy and their ability to serve within the United Methodist Church."
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July 2, 2002
Transgender clergyperson leaves church, keeps faith
A UMNS Feature
By Joretta Purdue*
WASHINGTON--The United Methodist pastor that brought controversy to the Baltimore-Washington Conference after undergoing gender reassignment calls her decision to leave the denomination painful.
"I've been a United Methodist all of my life," the Rev. Rebecca A. Steen told United Methodist News Service in a telephone interview just a few days after leaving the United Methodist Church. "To step away has been an extremely painful thing."
As a hearing on June 28 began that would determine whether or not she would be put on involuntary leave by the regional unit of the United Methodist Church, she surrendered her clergy credentials and withdrew her membership in the United Methodist Church.
"There has been a parting of the ways because I don't think the church is ready for me, and I'm sad to say that," Steen observed. "I will continue to seek to do the will of the Lord and to be active in ministry wherever God leads me."
Steen had sought voluntary leave from the Baltimore-Washington Conference in 1999 and subsequently underwent gender reassignment. Prior to that process, Steen, who was then the Rev. Richard A. Zamostny, had served churches in three Maryland communities during a 17-year career.
When Steen asked to return to the active ministry, her request sparked controversy. A formal complaint was lodged against her in early June. Bishop Felton Edwin May has said the contents of the complaint are confidential but that it pertains to ministerial effectiveness. Transgender issues are not named in the complaint, he stated.
Transgender issues were at the heart of a declaration written by eight conference clergymembers. Called the "Renaissance Affirmation," the document was circulated June 8 during the annual session of the conference.
Steen, 47, a parent and grandparent, said that prior to her withdrawal she realized the issue was going to become extremely divisive for the church, her family and herself. That's why she decided to stop the process.
"I don't think it would be a good thing for anyone, to make this a topic of heated debate and controversy," she remarked.
She expressed her appreciation to the many clergy and laity that supported her. At the same time she acknowledged that many others have opposed a transgender clergyperson.
"My theology is one that says you need to love everyone. If it's not an act of grace – if it's not an act of love, then you shouldn't do it," Steen said.
Instead, she indicated that she is going "to take some time to explore other faith communities and to see how I may be able to continue to serve the Lord in whichever faith community I am accepted."
She expressed amazement that "in general society, for most people, it's not an issue, but it is very much an issue for the church," she observed. She added that the church preaches protection for all people out in the world but does not want to extend those protections within its framework.
Steen said she hopes her experience has cracked open the church door for anyone in the future who is not accepted because of gender, race, or other conditionsÑthose who do not conform to "the norm of what the established church expects them to be." Some people in "our church . . . aren't quite open to others," she said.
"I am not angry or bitter over this at all," she stressed. "I really care about the church. I am going to continue to pray for the United Methodist Church, but I am called to minister and I am going to go to those who have been disenfranchised, those who have been pushed out.
"I am concerned about the family of God. The family of Jesus Christ extends to all people – not to a specific group," she said. "I am going to go on preaching and and go on loving in the name of Jesus Christ – wherever I'm called."
*Joretta Purdue is the news director of the Washington office of United Methodist News Service.
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July 8, 2002
Bishops receive awards for humanitarian efforts
RALEIGH, N.C. (UMNS) – United Methodist Bishops Marion Edwards and Ray Chamberlain have received the first leadership awards from Stop Hunger Now for their response to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
Edwards was presented his award during the North Carolina Annual Conference in Fayetteville, N.C., June 9. Chamberlain received his award during the Holston Annual Conference at Lake Junaluska, N.C., June 11.
The honors are significant because they represent the first leadership awards given by Stop Hunger Now, said the Rev. Ray Buchanan, a United Methodist clergyman and president of the Raleigh-based organization. It is also significant that both awards were presented to United Methodist bishops, he said.
"If hunger is going to be eliminated in our lifetime, the church will play a crucial role in making it happen," Buchanan said. "Bishop Edwards and Bishop Chamberlain both demonstrated the kind of leadership that saves lives."
The North Carolina Conference collected more than 142,000 blankets and donated more than $150,000 for food, medicine and shipping costs. The Holston Conference collected between 100,000 and 150,000 pairs of shoes. Together, the efforts of these two conferences have provided more than $2.5 million in aid for Afghanistan.
Stop Hunger Now receives support as a general Advance project of the United Methodist Church. Contributions may be made through local churches by designating them for Advance No. 982795-6. More details are available by contacting Stop Hunger Now at (888) 501-8440 or info@stophungernow.org, or by visiting www.stophungernow.org online.
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