Please check back soon for current issues of Newscope. Until then, you can view them here. To visit the member area, click here.Newscope
A Newsletter for United Methodist Leaders
Vol. 27, No. 41/October 8, 1999 Commission Wrestles with Use of Native-American Sports SymbolsThe racial monitoring agency of the UMC is wrestling with how best to protest Native-American names and mascots of professional sports teams. The General Commission on Religion and Race tabled two recommendations on the topic when the 41 voting members were not able to reach agreement at their Sept. 23-26 meeting in Little Rock, Ark. One recommendation from the commission's Native-American Concerns Committee would bar holding meetings of the commission in metropolitan areas where professional sports teams have Native-American mascots or names. The other would ask that church policy prohibit other denominational agencies from meeting in these cities. Some of the concerns voiced included whether the small size of agency meetings would matter to city and sports officials, whether it would be more effective to go to such cities and engage in protest while meeting there, and whether it would send a mixed message to boycott a city for meetings a few days annually and still have offices there that function throughout the year. At its 1998 meeting, the 41-member commission voted to ask the Commission on General Conference to move that assembly, scheduled for May 2-12, 2000, from Cleveland, where the Cleveland Indians have a logo called "Chief Wahoo." The Commission on General Conference considered the request but because of contracts and other arrangements, decided that the gathering would remain in Cleveland. In other business, the commission: 1) installed Chester R. Jones, a clergymember of the Little Rock Conference, as general secretary; 2) asked General Conference to add a paragraph on racial justice to the church's Constitution; 3) denounced hate crimes and suggested counter measures; 4) supported the Bishops' Initiative on "Hope for the Children of Africa" and the continuation of "Strengthening the Black Church"; 5) supported requests to General Conference that would continue support for Africa University at $20 million; 6) awarded 28 grants from the Minority Group Self-Determination Fund totaling $552,500; and 7) gave more than $3,500 from their own pockets to allow a student to attend Africa University for one year. -- UM News Service
Kosovo Refugees, Hosted by UMC, Hope to Stay in Michigan Some 13 Albanians who are being hosted by First UMC in Mason, Mich., are looking forward to staying in the U.S., while two other senior members are planning to possibly return to Kosovo. The 560-member congregation is now providing rent ($1,850 per month for three homes), utilities, clothing, food, and educational experiences for three families. Some 40 church members take turns meeting the needs of the family, including transporting them to English-as-a-Second-Language classes at the Wesley Foundation at Michigan State University in East Lansing, some 12 miles away. Wayne G. Reece, pastor of First Church, told Newscope that the congregation was instantly open to help people whose homes had been destroyed and who had been living in a refugee camp for five months. However, some members were less certain when they learned the families were Muslim. "Hospitality is taking care of whoever is in need," explained Reece. While the families hope to secure jobs, their first task is to learn the language, and First Church is supporting them through that process. Reece said that what the families appear to appreciate most is the ability to walk the streets without the fear of being shot.
Everyone Has a Doctrine, Says Author
"Everyone has a doctrine," J. Ellsworth Kalas told the UM Publishing House board. "Somewhere in our psyche is a section left for believing and that section hates a vacuum; it will be filled with something," the professor at Asbury Theological Seminary told a Sept. 28 meeting in Nashville. Kalas, author of the participant's manual for Christian Believer -- Knowing God with Heart and Mind, said the 30-week course is designed to help participants come to an understanding of classic Christian doctrines that is deep enough to affect how we think, how we worship, and how we live. "The study is not intended to be cutting edge," said Kalas. "It's the oldest thing, not the newest." A total of 1,026 people attended one of six training events to learn how to teach the series on Christian doctrine. Randy Smith, chair of the 38-member UM Publishing House board, said he expects this series will have an "even bigger impact on the church than DISCIPLE."
Alliance Asks Candidates To Respect Diversity of Religious Voices
The Interfaith Alliance, an organization of politically liberal and moderate religious activists, says it will push political candidates to sign a "civility code" for the upcoming campaign. "In the last six months, we have heard almost all the leading presidential candidates express their faith as a matter of personal conviction and belief," said J. Philip Wogaman, alliance president and pastor of Foundry UMC in Washington, D.C. "We are not here to question or judge those expressions of faith," he added. "We are here, however, to call on those seeking the highest office in the land to put their faith in action by either embracing our `Framework for Civility' or providing their own." The code calls on politicians to "talk honestly" about their beliefs, motivations, and purposes in running for office and "refrain from using deception, half-truths, falsifications, or innuendos in describing your opponents." But at the heart of the civility code is a call to respect the dignity of others and the diversity of religious voices in the public arena.
Bishop Tuell Asks Delegates to Drop Prohibition against Same-Sex Services
A petition to delete the prohibition against UM clergy conducting same-gender services of union (Discipline Para. 65C) has been sent to General Conference by Bishop Jack M. Tuell (retired). After presiding over the trial of Chicago pastor Greg Dell, the bishop said he finds the prohibition, enacted in 1996, "was not good legislation and should be changed by the 2000 General Conference." Tuell argues that it isn't fair to send clergy into communities which may be made up of 30%-50% gay and lesbian persons and tell them to minister to all the people in their charge and then ask them to deny requests to bless existing relationships. The bishop also argues: 1) General Conference voted down efforts to include the prohibition as a chargeable offense; 2) we got along quite well for 212 years without the legislation; 3) administration of the prohibition is bound to be uneven, varying with the mores and views of different sections of the church; and 4) the provisions of Para. 65C are likely to hit some of our most able, conscientious clergy the hardest.
Short Takes
Twenty-four leading American Christian religious leaders, including Bishop William Boyd Grove, ecumenical officer for the Council of Bishops, urged President Clinton to support lifting the nine-year-old economic embargo against Iraq. The leaders cited "clear evidence that the embargo against Iraq is contributing to falling living standards and life expectancy. By almost every measure -- such as malnutrition, child mortality and overall morbidity -- the situation of most Iraqi civilians has deteriorated markedly over the past eight years." -- NCC
The second trial of Jimmy Creech for conducting a same-gender service of union will be held Nov. 17-18 in Grand Island, Neb. The presiding officer will be Bishop William Boyd Grove, chief ecumenical officer for the Council of Bishops.
The UMC has issued a churchwide appeal for funds to assist victims of Hurricane Floyd. The appeal also will cover victims of tornado damage last May in Oklahoma and Kansas (Hurricanes '99, UMCOR Advance No. 982460-1). ,
The next World Methodist Conference will be held July 26-31, 2001 in Brighton, England. Some 4,000 persons are expected to attend the assembly that will focus on "Jesus: God's Way of Salvation."
The World Methodist Council (WMC) hopes to raise $20 million for a new endowment fund to undergird its work in the next century. At a Sept. 19-23 meeting in Hong Kong, the executive committee created an "Achieving the Vision" steering committee to establish the fund. In other business, the committee: 1) agreed to seek a consultation with Lutheran and Catholic scholars to explore the doctrine of justification; 2) called for a moratorium on the death penalty by the year 2000; 3) supported former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his family upon the death of his wife Raisa; 4) encouraged churches to join in a worldwide celebration of the birth of Christ on Dec. 4; and 5) supported the Jubilee 2000 campaign to forgive the debts of poor nations. -- Tim Tanton, UMNS
A 250-hymn supplement to the UM Hymnal is due off the press in September, 2000. The UM Publishing House and the General Board of Discipleship have recruited 190 reader-consultants to review proposed hymns, songs, and choruses. To date, 70 song books have been reviewed.
National Council of Churches General Secretary Joan Brown Campbell is calling on President Clinton to open U.S. government files on Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay to help locate missing persons. The request comes some 25 years after nearly 25,000 people "disappeared" following actions by repressive regimes in the three nations. Campbell led a Sept. 22-26 delegation to Uruguay and Argentina to support the families, human rights organizations, and churches struggling to find the truth. Other delegation members went on to Chile. -- NCC
The UM seminary in Russia has a new home. Tobias F. Dietze of the Russian seminary announced by e-mail, Sept. 29, that the UMC had received the "right of ownership of a building" to house conference offices and the seminary. Dietze says there is a lot of work needed to be done, but he hopes to consecrate the building by next September.
The National Council of Churches in India is demanding that all criminal groups associated with Hindu fundamentalist organizations be banned from India. Noting a number of murders, the group alleges that `communal cleansing' is the national agenda of the fundamentalists. About 80% of India's one billion people are Hindus. There are 25 million Christians.
For information on the Oct. 16 satellite teleconference on ministry to the aging, call 212/870-3802 (www.umcom.org/umtc/aging).
Russian UMs have made contributions to assist victims of recent bombings in Moscow, according to Bishop Ruediger Minor (Eurasia) More than 280 people died in five different explosions over a three-week period, beginning Aug. 31. Terrorists are suspected of setting the explosives in Moscow and Volgodonsk, a city in southern Russia.
Edward Fry, a UM layman and retired education professor at Rutgers University, is giving $100,000 and his expertise to help establish a university press at Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe. Working in partnership with the UM Publishing House, Fry arrived at Mutare in September to test the viability of the proposed publishing arm. The cost of one book being shipped from the U.S. or Great Britain can equal one-third the cost of a semester in the dorm.
On Sept. 25, flood victims in the Bound Brook, N.J., area received 30,000 pounds of cleaning supplies donated by the UM Committee on Relief. To volunteer, call 800/918-3100 (Advance No. 982460-1).
A Sept. 24 Newscope story on the Confessing Movement says a prayer movement will be led by David Thomas. That movement will be led by Terry Teykle of Renewal Ministries, Muncie, Ind. Prayers will be offered every Thursday until General Conference.
Only 0.5% of an average congregation is engaged in evangelistic efforts (49.5% wish they could, but don't know how). Some 25% have negative feelings about evangelism, and 24% are apathetic. That's what Roberto Escamilla, a professor at Methodist Theological School in Ohio, told a mid-September workshop. He says the most effective way to get people to attend worship services is for members to invite their friends. However, he warns that once people are invited, the church must have something to offer them. Author of Come to the Feast -- Invitational Evangelism, Escamilla says the reason the UMC is losing members is because "we have failed to feed the deepest yearning of the human heart -- the spiritual side of life."
The "killing never stops" in Indonesia because of the replacement of a liberal Islam with a fundamentalist Islam in the government. That's the report of Maimunah Natasha of Jakarta. In an emotional report to the World Methodist Council, she said that unrest in Indonesia has resulted in killings, gang rapes, and other violence. More than 500 churches have been burned in the last two years, compared with about 367 church burnings in the previous 32 years.
The Methodist Theological Seminary in Gothenburg, Sweden, observed its 75th anniversary on Oct. 2. Eight students recently graduated from the seminary.
A year after his emotional apology for having sinned with Monica Lewinsky, President Clinton said Sept. 26 at a White House Prayer breakfast that he is still receiving spiritual counseling and has been moved by the forgiveness shown to him. J. Philip Wogaman, one of the pastors counseling Clinton, told Reuters, "I don't for one moment think that what he's been doing has been simply for the public relations effect. He's taken it far too seriously for that." Wogaman is pastor of Foundry UMC in Washington, D.C., where the President worships. -- Reuters
Leaders of the National Council of Churches commended President Clinton's Sept. 29 call for cancellation of 100% of the debts owed to the U.S. by many of the world's most impoverished nations.
UM-related Duke University Divinity School, Durham, N.C., received a three-year, $1.2 million grant from Lilly Endowment for a "Youth Academy for Christian Formation," a two-week on-campus summer program for juniors and seniors in high school. Designed to create Christian leaders, the program begins in 2001.
A 24-member committee created by the 1996 General Conference will ask the 2000 General Conference to create a National Council on Korean-American Ministry with a $3.2 million budget. The proposal has three foci: 1) developing leaders; 2) fostering and expanding next generation ministry; and 3) developing and nurturing new congregations. At present, there are 320 Korean churches, including 51 new mission congregations, and 20 English-speaking congregations. Total participation is estimated at more than 100,000 members and constituents.
Positions Available
Two faculty positions in church and society and congregational leadership at Saint Paul School of Theology. Contact Nancy R. Howell, SPST, 5123 Truman Rd., Kansas City, MO 64127. Two director positions with the General Board of Discipleship in proclamation evangelism and development. Contact Office of Human Resources, P.O. Box 840, Nashville, TN 37202-0840 (615/340-7100). Part-time director of development and resources for UM Ministries of Los Angeles District. Contact Odis Fentry, 3320 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018 (ummlad@earthlink.net). Youth ministries coordinator. Contact Susan Stover, Trinity UMC, 901 E. Neal, Salina, KS 67401.
Personalia
Richard J. "Dick" Wills Jr., pastor of Christ UMC, Ft. Lauderdale, has been endorsed for the episcopacy by Florida Conference delegates to the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. Colleen Perry Hogan, director of a capital campaign for Methodist Theological School in Ohio, has been named vice president for development of that UM seminary, effective Jan. 1. Lynda Wright, vice president of the Colorado Episcopal Foundation, has been named director of gift and estate planning at Iliff School of Theology. Velma Krebs Bradley, manager of employment and compensation for the General Board of Discipleship, has been named executive director of human resources, effective Jan. 1. She succeeds Jean Suiter, who retires Dec. 31.
Permission is granted to electronically download this newsletter. UM publications may also quote Newscope with credit without special permission. Any other electronic or mechanical reproduction and/or distribution of the entire newsletter requires prior permission from the UM Publishing House; Rights and Permissions Office, 201 Eighth Ave. South; Nashville, TN 27202. Rich Peck, Editor (rpeck@umpublishing.org) or (615-749-6007).
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