Oct. 7, 2002
Churches pray for victims, peace in wake of shootings

ROCKVILLE, Md. (UMNS) – An estimated 100 people gathered for a candlelight prayer vigil on the front lawn of the Millian Memorial United Methodist Church in Rockville Oct. 5, to prayer for peace, healing and hope in the wake of a spree of area shootings.

Six people died as a result of the shootings, five in Montgomery County, Maryland, and one in Washington. A shooting of a 13-year-old outside a Middle School in Bowie on the morning of Oct. 7 was being investigated to determine if it was connected to the other shootings. The victims included a United Methodist layman.

"We felt a need to do something, to have the faith community make a statement," said the Rev. Marcus Matthews, Washington West District superintendent. Most of the shootings occurred in that district. "We’re a praying people, and this is what we have to offer: the power of prayer."

Matthews said he hoped this shooting spree would prompt people of faith to action. "With this happening in our own back (yard) now, I think people are beginning to react different. Reality is, we know this happens all over the world, and as a church we have been silent too long. I think it’s time for the church to speak out. When it happens to one, it happens to all of us."

Part of the reason for the vigil, said the Rev. Doug Sands, chair of the conference’s committee on drugs and violence and pastor of Simpson-Hamline United Methodist Church in Washington, is that God’s people need to come together.

"We are not only here to come in sympathy and accord for the loss of life in our communities, but also to remind ourselves that we are the church, the church of Jesus Christ," Sands said. "We are disciples of the one who has left us the commandment to love God, to love each other, and also that matchless commandment to love our enemies. We yearn for justice just as much as we yearn for mercy."

"I must confess, I had a genuine sense of outrage," said Tim Warner, director for Holy Boldness ministries for the Baltimore-Washington Conference, when he heard of the shootings. "I’m sure most of you probably shared in that sense of outrage."

Warner wondered what the response of the church should be. "Should we be in a hurry to go," he asked, "and each of us find a hunting rifle and go chasing after this person? Should we even be so concerned about lethal injection or electric chair in this kind of a situation?"

He said the Lord reminded him of 2 Corinthians 10. "We make war on the floor; God’s people pray," he said. "God’s people beseech the power that’s greater than any bullet, that’s greater than any gun. Power that transforms lives, power that raises people from the ‘gutter-most’ of life’s existence to the ‘utter-most’ of God’s glory. That kind of power, each of us has access to."

Gloria Williams, a member of the Millian Memorial United Methodist Church since 1974, came to the vigil because the shootings happened two blocks from where she lives, and the mobile police headquarters is set up a block from her house. "All of this is just so near," she said. "My faith is important all the time, but particularly right now. We just need all the prayer we can have."

"We’re not going to be a people of fear. We are a people of love and compassion who reach out. Love is stronger than any hate," said the Rev. Connie Paulson, pastor of Millian Memorial United Methodist Church since 1998. "It’s very inspirational to see people of faith come together."

The dead include James Martin, 55, an active member of Ashton (Md.) United Methodist Church. He was killed in the parking lot of a grocery store Oct. 2.

"My hope is that our response to this violence will be that instead of destroying community, we can have a renewal of feeling the pain of others," said the Rev. Jeff Jones, pastor of Ashton. "We need to help each other out; to move to being more engaged in our communities from being less engaged. Crisis and danger can happen at any time. All life is precious."

Martin was the vice chairman of the church’s board of trustees. According to Jones, Martin’s wife, Billie, teaches Sunday school and plays in the hand-bell choir. Their son, Ben, is in the youth group. Before joining Ashton, the Martins were longtime members at Glenmont United Methodist Church in Wheaton, Md.

Bishop Felton Edwin May of the Baltimore-Washington Conference issued a statement Oct. 4 in the wake of the violence. "On behalf of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, I extend profound sympathy to the family of James Martin for the senseless murder and untimely death of this exemplary United Methodist layman. I feel a personal grief at this loss of a precious life. Indeed, we grieve and express our sympathies for all the precious lives taken from us in these terrible shootings. They heighten our awareness and rub our sensitivities raw to the harsh reality of attacks and murders – both indiscriminate and intentional – that occur daily in communities throughout our region, our nation and our world.

"The commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ rings loud and clear as a call from God for us to refrain from and oppose violence – even the threat of pre-emptive violence – against human beings anywhere in the world," said the bishop. "It simply cannot and should not be tolerated by people of God. What we should all feel on this somber occasion is holy grief; that is, not merely sorrow but also the expression of love, compassion and active concern for the sacred lives of all human beings as an affirmation of our faith and obedience to God."

*Alsgaard is managing editor of UM Connection, the newspaper of the United Methodist Church’s Baltimore-Washington Conference.


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Oct. 8, 2002
Falwell’s words on Islam are ‘not Christian,’ NCC says

NEW YORK (UMNS) – The Rev. Jerry Falwell’s "hateful and destructive" statements about Islam and the Prophet Muhammed do not represent the views of most Christians, according to the National Council of Churches.

The council’s executive committee, meeting Oct. 7-8 in New York, voted unanimously to "condemn and repudiate" statements made by Falwell during an interview with CBS-TV’s "60 Minutes," broadcast on Oct. 6. The leader of the conservative Moral Majority group labeled the Prophet Muhammed a "terrorist."

Such inflammatory remarks have put the lives of Christians around the world at risk, the executive committee declared. "His statements about Islam and the Prophet Muhammed are not only factually untrue and offensive but are dangerous to the national security of every nation where Christians and Muslims are seeking a peaceful relationship," said committee members in a resolution. Such remarks "create ideal conditions for breeding terrorism among those who may not understand that he does not represent the majority of Christians or Americans."

The executive committee said Falwell also implied in the interview that he and his constituency control President Bush’s policies toward Israel and Palestine. The NCC group called upon the president to "repudiate and condemn Falwell’s remarks."

Representing 36 church bodies and more than 50 million U.S. Christians, the NCC leaders declared that Falwell’s words were "not Christian and shockingly uninformed."


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Oct. 10, 2002
United Methodist giving continues to grow
By United Methodist News Service

United Methodist giving to the churchwide budget for ministry and mission is up more than $1 million for the first nine months of the year compared with the same period of 2001.

The denomination’s finance agency reports that $62.6 million was given by Sept. 30 to the seven apportioned funds that support basic work at the churchwide level. Last year, the funds received just under $61.6 million during the same period, according to the General Council on Finance and Administration, based in Evanston, Ill.

The $62.6 million contributed during the first three-quarters of 2002 represents an increase of 1.7 percent, and it is 49 percent of this year’s apportionment. Apportionments are specific dollar requests made to the annual (regional) conferences, which collect contributions from the congregations. Last year, 48.4 percent of the annual apportionment had been received by Sept. 30.

Traditionally, the October-December quarter yields the largest giving amounts, as individuals and conference treasurers alike finalize their accounts at year’s end.

All six apportioned funds are up from last year. The largest of these, World Service, underwrites Christian mission and ministry around the globe. It has received $33.6 million, an increase of 1.3 percent over last year.

Three of the apportioned funds support outreach efforts. Africa University has received almost $1.3 million, up 1.8 percent; the Black College Fund, almost $5.3 million, up 2 percent; and Ministerial Education Fund, nearly $10 million, up 1.7 percent.

Administrative needs are met by three funds. The Episcopal Fund, supporting the bishops and their work, has received almost $8.7 million, a 1.4 percent increase. The General Administration Fund, which provides for such churchwide needs as GCFA and the church’s legislative assembly, stands at $2.8 million, up 8.6 percent. The Interdenominational Cooperation Fund, which supports ecumenical efforts, has slightly more than $1 million, an increase of 0.7 percent.

GCFA also reports special Sunday offerings totaling $4.3 million, a 2.3 percent increase over last year. This figure includes One Great Hour of Sharing, which supports the work of the church’s relief and development agency. It has received almost $3 million this year, a decrease of 2.5 percent.

The other special Sundays with their offerings and percentage increase so far are Human Relations Sunday, $537,316, up 5.8 percent; Native American Ministries Sunday, $309,671, up 23.2 percent; Peace with Justice Sunday, $175,878, up 17.4 percent; United Methodist Student Day, $157,256, up 17.6 percent; and World Communion Sunday, $143,096, up 29.8 percent.

Together, these two categories of giving – apportioned funds and special Sunday offerings – total $66.9 million so far this year, 1.8 percent more than the first three-quarters of last year.

Churchwide advance specials, in which 100 percent of the gift goes to the designated program, are not compared with other years because such donations vary with the need. So far in 2002, giving to the three categories of Advance Specials totals more than $23.8 million. The bishops’ appeals have received $853,420; mission programs, $11.7 million; and United Methodist Committee on Relief, almost $11.3 million.

Two other outreach funds account for $625,896. They are the World Service Special Gifts of $537,244 and the Youth Service Fund at $88,652.

"We are grateful that all (apportioned) funds reflect increased receipts from this time a year ago," said Controller Franklin SooHoo. He urged the church to keep up the good work.

The denomination has nearly 10 million members worldwide, including 8.4 million in the United States.


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Oct. 10, 2002
Choirs, dancers sought for 2004 General Conference worship

PITTSBURGH (UMNS) — Local church choirs and other United Methodist musical groups and sacred dance troupes from around the world are invited to send audition tapes for a chance to perform at worship services at the 2004 General Conference.

The Rev. Barbara Day Miller, music director for the conference, is seeking United Methodist choirs of all age groups, instrumental ensembles, liturgical dancers and Christian drama troupes to compete for a chance to join in the 10 scheduled worship celebrations and daily mini-concerts during General Conference.

Applications must be received by March 1, 2003. All groups (no soloists, please) must send an audiotape, videotape, CD or DVD recording of their performance. Dance groups must send a video or DVD. Apply online at www.umc.org/gc2004, or print out the form and mail or fax it to Barbara Day Miller, c/o Candler School of Theology, Atlanta, GA 30322; fax: (404) 727-2494.

Groups selected are responsible for their own housing and travel expenses while at General Conference. The United Methodist Church’s top legislative assembly will meet April 27-May 7, 2004, in Pittsburgh. The gathering is held every four years.

Questions about the application process can be sent to Day Miller by fax or e-mail at bdaymil@emory.edu.


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Oct. 7, 2002
2004 General Conference planners promise ‘holy conference’
By M. Garlinda Burton*

PITTSBURGH (UMNS) — Planners of the 2004 General Conference hope logistics for the upcoming legislative assembly of the United Methodist Church will allow more time for prayer, biblical reflection and non-political fellowship – and will foster less divisive politicking – than at previous global law-making sessions.

The 16-member Commission on General Conference said that the church’s top law-making gathering, held for two weeks every four years, should embody Christian fellowship, worship and face-to-face discussion about important church and social issues.

Instead, commissioners lamented, recent sessions of the quadrennial gathering have degenerated into a morass of dueling theological and political factions, exhaustive parliamentary quagmire and contentious caucusing and debate.

At their Oct. 3-5 meeting in Pittsburgh, site of the 2004 assembly, commission members said they hope to restore the spirit of "Christian conferencing" at the upcoming General Conference by recommending:

• Open seating in daily worship services. In past sessions, the 1,000 voting delegates to General Conference were seated by regional (annual conference) delegations.
  
  
• Bishops serve as chair people of the 11 legislative committees. Instead of electing delegates to oversee the work of the committees – which review, amend and forward petitions to the whole assembly – bishops would lead, with a secretary elected to report to the whole conference. (This suggestion was forwarded to the General Conference rules committee for final approval.)
  
  
• A single training session for delegates, instead of having separate sessions for U.S. people of color, women, youth and other affinity groups. (Those groups would still have the option of holding their own training or networking sessions.)
  
  
• Daily Bible study and time for meditation, discernment and conversation before voting on tough issues. (This was recommended by the church’s Council of Bishops.)
  
  
• Delegates be paired as prayer partners, before and during the assembly.
  

These changes would become effective at the next General Conference, set for April 27-May 7, 2004. The group also voted to move the Episcopal Address from 8 p.m. the first evening to earlier that afternoon, and to limit the address to one hour.

The group forwarded to the rules committee a recommendation about the 2008 General Conference requiring that individual petitions to change church law be filtered through an annual, jurisdictional or central (outside the United States) conference, or through a churchwide agency.

Gail Murphy-Geiss of Centennial, Colo., chairs the ad hoc subcommittee that suggested several changes in the way General Conference runs. Rancor and divisiveness marked the 2000 assembly, she said, with heated demonstrations and debate on the issue of homosexuality and other hot-button topics.

The tension, she said, was exacerbated by the increasingly grueling schedule of each General Conference and by-delegation seating, which left little time for celebrating worldwide mission and witness, community worship, group prayer and getting-acquainted.

"Yellowstone only had two delegates to the 2000 General Conference, so I was sitting between delegates from Liberia and delegates from Angola. The best part of the conference was worshiping with them, singing with them and praying with them," Murphy-Geiss said.

"We’re assuming that all people come to the conference with open hearts and that they want more dialogue and less political posturing," she added.

Allowing delegates open seating during worship services – starting with the opening service of Holy Communion April 27 – could allow the 1,000-person assembly to connect with people from other states, other countries and other perspectives. "We’ll be reminded that we are a Christian congregation, not just political delegations," said Murphy-Geiss, adjunct professor at Iliff School of Theology in Denver.

Likewise, commission members hoped assigning bishops to preside over the 11 legislative committees would de-politicize and ensure more consistent administration of the legislative process. (Currently, bishops preside only at the plenary sessions in the second week. Bishops still would have neither voice nor vote.)

The other recommendations for tightening the schedule will allow more time for daily Bible study, small-group discussion and prayer, providing voting delegates with more reflection time around decision making.

In other action, the Commission on the General Conference:

* Unveiled the 2004 General Conference logo, under the theme "Water Washed, Spirit Born." The emblem features the United Methodist cross-and-flame symbol centered in the globe, with Pittsburgh’s three converging rivers – the Allegheny, the Monongahela and the Ohio – flowing from the foot of the cross.

* Approved plans to translate the 2004 Advanced Daily Christian Advocate (containing petitions and reports to the General Conference) into German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and English, and to provide language interpreters on site to translate the proceedings into those languages plus Swahili to accommodate delegates from outside the United States.

* Set a 45-minute time limit for worship services and 15-minute limit for daily Bible study at General Conference, citing the financial and human costs of running over time.

* Agreed to study a suggestion that corporate vendors be invited to set up booths at future General Conferences.

* Set March 1, 2003, as the deadline to receive applications from choirs, dance and other United Methodist groups that would like to participate in worship in the 2004 General Conference.

* Recommended to the church’s fiscal agency a $6 million budget for the group’s work in 2005-08.

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