Nov. 5, 2003
Bishops challenge church with vision for ‘beloved community’
By Tim Tanton*

WASHINGTON (UMNS)—Bishop Abel Muzorewa was eating at a restaurant in Harare, Zimbabwe, when a girl, about 12 years old, dashed in, grabbed all of his food and fled.

"I’ve been wondering what the Lord has been saying to me through that incident, and what the Lord is saying to us," Muzorewa told fellow members of the United Methodist Council of Bishops on Nov. 4, eight days afterward. "How many people, how many children, are represented by her out there?"

After he and others spoke, the council adopted a statement setting forth the vision of a biblically rooted "beloved community" that would lift up children and the poor. The document challenges United Methodists around the world to join in that vision.

"In the beloved community, young and old and all in between know themselves to be formed and empowered to love others by the grace of God in Jesus Christ," the council said in the statement.

"The beloved community is what the prophets longed for and what the bishops believe is the longing of the whole of the United Methodist family worldwide," the bishops said. "The council is convinced that it is God’s intention that societies be organized in such ways that the resources of everyone are understood as gifts from God for the building up of the entire community."

The bishops, who are the top clergy leaders of the 10 million-member United Methodist Church, are meeting Nov. 2-7 in Washington. Nearly 112 active and retired bishops from around the world are at the semiannual gathering.

The task force guiding the Bishops’ Initiative on Children and Poverty wrote the document, titled, "Our Shared Dream: The Beloved Community." It is the third foundation statement adopted by the council since the initiative began in 1996. In addition, the task force distributed talking points for the bishops to use for Nov. 5 meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

The bishops will share the statement with their regional delegations to General Conference, the church’s top lawmaking assembly, and with people in local churches. The document will be translated into six languages, said Bishop Don Ott, coordinator of the initiative.

Bishop Ann Sherer of Missouri, task force chairperson, said the statement offers a context for thinking together at next spring’s assembly in Pittsburgh. "It might be out of this understanding of who we are that we think about legislation at General Conference."

This emphasis is needed in the life of the church, said Bishop Timothy Whitaker, who leads the denomination’s Florida Area. "I believe we are at a point in history where if we persevere in this emphasis we will begin to see the fruits of our labors." However, if the emphasis sits on the shelf, the bishops will miss an opportunity to change the world and the church, he said.

The initiative’s future is unclear as the 2001-04 quadrennium draws to an end. Bishop Leontine T.C. Kelly, a task force member, made a forceful statement for continuing the effort. "I don’t see how the church ever can drop children and poverty, whether it’s an initiative or not. It’s God’s initiative for the church. It’s not in competition with whatever else you do. It’s something that needs to be funded and continued."

In the document, the bishops urged United Methodists to dream, pray and work for eight key goals (see UMNS # 533 ). Those include a more inclusive church; partnership and solidarity in global relations; the freedom of all people from "pride of self, group, tribe and nation"; and the commitment of every community to preventing violence. The bishops look for the day when every church conference asks, "How are we living for the impoverished?"

Selfless love for all people is necessary for the beloved community to exist, the bishops said.

The bishops acknowledged the importance of their roles as teachers and said the church has a "strong desire to be led by example into community with children and the poor."

The bishops hold themselves accountable as well. "It has become increasingly evident that the council, with the whole church, has fallen short" of the initiative’s goals, they said. Those include evaluating the church’s work in light of the impact on children and the poor; providing resources for responding to the crisis among children and impoverished people; evangelizing; and engaging the church in reflection for "reshaping the church in the image of Christ."

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. made the term "beloved community" well known, and the bishops said the vision for their statement came from Isaiah 65.

"I have a feeling that won’t leave me," Ott told the council. "I believe that our people in every land want to hear and especially see evidence of what Isaiah said the Lord had said: ‘I am about to create new heavens and a new earth. The former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating.’ "
*Tanton is United Methodist News Service’s managing editor. News media can contact him at (615)742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org .