e-HUM -- Oct. 2003

October 2003

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Bishop White to join Candler as Bishop-in-Residence next year in retirement

ATLANTA - Emory University's Candler School of Theology has announced that Bishop Woodie W. White will be bishop-in-residence at the UM-related seminary beginning in September 2004 for a term of four years.

"Candler has enjoyed wonderful tutelage from and had a great tradition of bishops-in-residence," said Russell E. Richey, dean of Candler. "We are pleased that Bishop White will sustain that heritage, be available to students for counsel, join the United Methodist studies faculty, and teach in one of the several areas in which his witness has been so powerful - the church and race relations."

Elected bishop in 1984, White served the Illinois Great Rivers Area prior to coming to Indiana. He was president of the General Board of Discipleship from 1988-92 and president of the Council of Bishops in 1996-97. He has served here since 1992 and will retire next August.

NIC leads jurisdiction in missionary support

The North Indiana Conference leads the nine-state North Central Jurisdiction in missionary support through Covenant Relationships and designated giving, according to a recent report from the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries. The North Indiana conference reported giving $185,510 through August 2003; that's the highest in the jurisdiction and third highest across the church. Gina Riendeau, Missions and Global Outreach coordinator for the NIC Council on Ministries, thanks the churches of North Indiana "who love and support our missionaries."

For information about becoming a Covenant Relationship church in the North Indiana Conference, contact Evelyn Taylor at evelyn@nicumc.org

General Conference petition deadline nears

The deadline for United Methodist Church members to submit petitions to the 2004 General Conference is Saturday, Nov. 29.

General Conference, the top legislative body of the 10 million-member worldwide United Methodist Church will meet in Pittsburgh, Pa., April 27 - May 7, 2004. General Conference is the only body that speaks officially for the church and are held every four years.

Agency proposes racial justice fund named for White

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - A United Methodist agency is seeking permission to start an endowment fund that would support racial justice work.

The fund, proposed by the United Methodist General Commission on Religion and Race, would be named for Indiana Bishop Woodie W. White. A civil rights activist and friend of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., White was the commission's first top staff executive.

The commission, which works for the elimination of racism in church and society, is seeking approval for the Woodie W. White Endowment Fund for Racial Justice through the United Methodist Church Foundation board and then through the General Council on Finance and Administration. More than $25,000 was promised to the fund at the commission's meeting Sept. 17-21 in Bloomington, Minn., near the Twin Cities airport.

The idea for the endowment originated with three commission members who attended a stewardship conference held by the United Methodist Church Foundation in Atlanta in February, said James Salley of Nashville, Tenn., a member of the commission and the chief development officer for Africa University.

Area publication to return to newspaper format

INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana Area Communications Commission has decided to return to a newspaper format in order to increase the frequency of its publication beginning with a January/February issue.

During an e-mail ballot following a two-hour task force meeting Sept. 24 to consider whether or not to return to a newspaper format, the Indiana Area Communications Commission decided that the frequency of the magazine did not fulfill the needs of the publication's readers, according to the Rev. Chet Mayflower, chairman of the commission.

After publishing three issues of the Hoosier United Methodists Together magazine, the commission discovered that many older readers did not use Internet communication and complained that they were not receiving the news being published online twice a month. The magazine is distributed to more than 19,000 United Methodist homes and congregations.

The frequency issue was presented to the area communications commission during its fall meeting Sept. 10 in the form of two resolutions from the South Indiana Conference Cabinet and the South Indiana Conference Sessions Committee. Both favored a return to the newspaper format.

Having no budget to increase magazine frequency from four to nine times a year, the commission voted (7-yes, 3-no) to return to a less costly newspaper format which would permit nine issues a year.

Editor Daniel R. Gangler, said he would make the switch following the winter issue of Together magazine scheduled to be printed in mid-November. He said he has experience as both a magazine and newspaper editor and can edit either form of publication. He told the commission, he plans to include feature articles, like those found in Together magazine, as well as news of both North and South Indiana Conferences in the newspaper.

The commission will retain the name Hoosier United Methodists Together. The contents of the newspaper will be posted online. The area communication's two-person staff also will continue to offer online news at least twice a month and news alerts when news happens.

Chesterton church adds 25 Ukrainian youth to its youth ministry long distance

Chesterton United Methodists support the work of two youth groups, one here in Indiana and a second group at Ushgorod United Methodist Church in the Ukraine.

This past summer Chesterton First UMC raised more than $8,000 and sponsored a two-week July 17-30 mission trip to Ushgorod to make renovations on the church's 80-year old building and interact in the lives of Ukrainians. Florian Stecuich, a member at First and a first-generation Ukrainian born in the United States, led the team with five United Methodists from Chesterton and two Presbyterians from Creston, Ohio.

Stecuich, a bonds trader and volunteer missionary, said the team not only repaired the Ushgorod sanctuary and Sunday school room, but also carpeted, laid flooring, replaced an outside wall and bought tools to equip the church's woodworking shop where it trains youth in a trade and earns money to finance the church's ministries.

One of those ministries leads 25 teenage orphans into a closer relationship with Christ as they attend and participate in the life of the Ushgorod church. The Chesterton church is seeking ways to raise $500 a month needed to cover the expenses of this ministry and the salaries of four youth workers. Stecuich said the average salary in Ushgorod is $25 a month.

While in the Ukraine, the mission team also conducted Vacation Bible School for more than 50 children and youth both in Ushgorod as well as in Kamya'nets ten miles away. The Ushgorod church also visits an orphanage each Sunday ministering to the 70 kids that live there.

Chesterton Pastor Terry Rhine told Hoosier United Methodist News that the effects of the trip have been very positive. Some member who went on the trip have become much more active in the life of the congregation. The congregations has become excited about missions beyond the United States.

"We have received a new family into our church because they were impressed with the missions involvement of the church when they read a newspaper report of the trip," Rhine said.

Stecuich said during their two weeks there, "we developed a strong bond with the church and its Pastor Sergi Bogomazuk." He asked prayers especially for the 25 youth in their new found faith in Christ.

Next year Rhine said the church plans to add a couple of youth to the Ukraine mission. Organizers planning that trip hope to focus both on the church in Ushgorod and an orphanage run by the church.

For more information contact Florian Stecuich at 219-929-1787 or by e-mail at stecstec@yahoo.com.

Syracuse church to host youth leader event

Worship, a praise band and 24 high-powered workshops by conference leaders, and a bookstore highlight the North Indiana Conference youth leadership event. Steve Handy, Chris Danieson, and Ritch Hostetler are scheduled to be keynote speakers.

Empowering Youth and Youth Leaders 2003 is scheduled for Oakwood Park United Methodist Church in Syracuse, Ind., Oct. 31, 7:30-10 and Nov. 1st, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The cost on the is $50 for adults and $20 for youth. The registration fee includes choice of three workshops and lunch, if your registrations is received by Oct. 20.

Workshop descriptions and fliers are available by calling 800-783-5138.

Hoosier youth smoking rates down 26 percent

INDIANAPOLIS - Young Hoosiers are making healthier decisions about tobacco use, according to the Indiana Youth Tobacco Survey, issued from November 2002 to February 2003. The survey indicates a 26 percent reduction in the number of Hoosier high school students who are lighting up. This overall decline is from 32 percent who reported smoking in 2000 to 23 percent in 2002.

For more information about Indiana's youth movement against tobacco, Voice, log on to www.voice.tv. For information and resources for Hoosier adults who want to quit or want more information about tobacco, log on to www.whitelies.tv.

Center aids Carolinians in hurricane survivor relief

CHATHAM, Ill. - More than $12,000 worth health kits, mops and brooms were recently sent from the Midwest Mission Distribution Center here to North Carolina for use in the relief efforts following Hurricane Isabel. The United Methodist-supported center located near Springfield called disaster response contacts in both Virginia and North Carolina to offer aid and items requested were sent.

Earlier this year, the center responded to requests for flood and tornado relief items in Illinois, Missouri and Nebraska. So far in 2003, nine deliveries of relief items such as health kits, flood buckets and other clean up items were sent As a result of these deliveries, donations of mops brooms and health kits are needed.

For more information call 217-483-7911, or write to P.O. Box 56, Chatham, IL 62629. The email address is midwestmissionDC@aol.com.

Talbert takes interim position with commission

NEW YORK (UMNS) - Bishop Melvin Talbert will be the interim leader of the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns based in New York City.

Beginning in January, he will temporarily succeed the Rev. Bruce Robbins, who reached the denomination's 12-year term limit for general secretaries but received a one-year extension for 2003. In March, Robbins will be appointed senior minister of Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis.

Talbert, who lives in Nashville, Tenn., will commute to New York City when he is needed there.

Confessing Movement stands firm with Episcopalians opposed to homosexual practice

INDIANAPOLIS - In response to the decision of The Episcopal Church, USA to elect and consecrate a homosexual bishop, the Board of Directors of the Confessing Movement within The United Methodist Church says it "stands firmly with its faithful brothers and sisters in The Episcopal Church, USA, who strongly uphold the authority of Scripture and the Christian tradition on human sexuality and marriage and the family."

The statement was circulated by the Rev. Bill Hinson, president of the Indianapolis-based Confessing Movement, and Indiana State Senator Patricia Miller, the movement's executive director.

The directors also said that "within our own denomination, we too stand firm in our witness to Scriptural teaching on human sexuality." They also urged the bishops of the church "to oppose revisionist teaching and to offer strong leadership" to United Methodists "by emphasizing the teachings of Scripture and our Book of Discipline regarding homosexual practice and God's good gift of human sexuality."

Former church peace worker dies

Herman Will Jr., who spent 37 years working for peace and justice and wrote a history of Methodism's peace witness, has died. Will, 88, a former staff executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, was remembered Oct. 4 at a memorial service. He died Sept. 27 in Des Moines, Wash.

University of Evansville, Harlaxton College share Sesquicentennial

GRANTHAM, England - Two historical events, not noted in most history books yet having had a tremendous influence on thousands of students from across the nation and around the globe, were the founding of the United Methodist-related University of Evansville and the construction of what today is known as the university's Harlaxton College here in Grantham, England - both 150 years ago this school year.

At Harlaxton, that 150-year history was honored recently in an aaniversary convocation. As a part of the ceremony for the English manor house built by Gregory Gregory, the Great Hall - a grand hall nearly as big as two football fields and historically known as the aron's Hall - was renamed the Ridgway Great Hall in honor of William Ridgway. Ridgway, a member of the University of Evansville Board of Trustees, purchased the manor in 1978, six years after the EU began leasing the property and using it as a study abroad campus. He later presented the manor and property to the University for its use as a permanent study abroad campus.

Stephen Jennings, UE president, noted in his presentation in England how exciting it is to not only be celebrating the sesquicentennial of the completion of Harlaxton manor, but also the sesquicentennial of the University of Evansville. The kickoff of 18-months of celebration of the University's 150th year officially begins October 25 with The Big Event - a grand gathering with live entertainment, music, food, fun and a dash of history.

Church Federation offers environmental workshop

To help congregations make their buildings more environmentally friendly, the Indiana Faith Based Climate and Energy Campaign offers an environmental workshop "Caring for Your Place of Worship" on Friday, Nov. 7, from 8:30 am to noon in the Krannert Room at the Indiana Church Center, 1100 W 42nd St. (W. 42nd and Michigan Rd.) in Indianapolis.

Registration is $10 a person. A continental breakfast will be provided. To register, mail name, affiliation (denomination and congregation), contact information such as street address, city, state, phone number with AC and e-mail address. Send registration information to: Juli Van Wyk, The Church Federation, 1100 W 42nd St, Suite 345, Indianapolis IN 46208 or contact Juli at juli@iquest.net. Make checks payable to the Church Federation.

COSROW declines to re-nominate top staff

HOUSTON (UMNS) - The two top staff executives of the United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women will not continue with the agency.

Commission members, meeting Sept. 25-28 in Houston, decided during an executive session not to re-nominate the Rev. Raponzil "Ra" Drake and the Rev. Soomee Kim as co-general secretaries for 2004.

Top staff executives of United Methodist commissions and agencies must be re-nominated by their boards of directors each year, with final approval coming from the General Council on Ministries.

Drake and Kim had only been in office a year, succeeding the Rev. Stephanie Anna Hixon and Cecelia Long, both of whom had reached the denomination's 12-year term limit for general secretaries.

The commission declined to give any explanation for the decision to not re-nominate the pair but said its personnel committee would recommend an interim general secretary for 2004. Commission members expect to hire only one person to fill the permanent position of general secretary in 2005. Currently, the Evanston, Ill.,-based commission is the only churchwide agency with two general secretaries.

During their Sept. 25-28 meeting, COSROW members also voted to petition the 2004 General Conference to agree that their commission and the denomination's Commission on Religion and Race start planning and creating a single "Council on Inclusiveness." That planning would occur during the 2005-08 quadrennium, with the new structure to be submitted for approval to the 2008 General Conference. The work of the new Council on Inclusiveness would continue to include monitoring, advocacy and education on issues related to gender and race discrimination.

News In Brief

United Methodists respond to hurricane damage

GOLDSBORO, N.C. (UMNS) - The damage caused Sept. 18 by Hurricane Isabel kept workers busy from sunrise to sundown at the Marion Edwards Recovery Center of the North Carolina Conference. Within three days of the storm, the center gave away half of the 2,000 buckets of flood-relief supplies that it had received from the United Methodist Committee on Relief. People interested in helping with the recovery can call UMCOR's volunteer line, 800-918-3100. Check donations can be made out to UMCOR, designated for "Hurricanes 2003," Advance No. 982438, and placed in church offering plates or sent to UMCOR, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, N.Y. 10115. Credit-card donors can call 800-554-8583 or make an online donation at gbgm-umc.org/umcor/.

Pension agency considers investment plan changes

EVANSTON, Ill. (UMNS) - Not even its $10 billion in holdings can shield the United Methodist clergy pension system from the onrush of Baby Boomer-era retirements, particularly when exacerbated by a long-lived bear market. Boomers and older retirees are taking more money out of the system than current participants are putting in. The Asset/Liability Committee of the church's Board of Pension and Health Benefits has unanimously recommended that the board replace its reserve-based Diversified Investment Fund with the Multiple Asset Fund it established some 18 months ago. The recommendation will go to the board's Nov. 21-22 meeting in Chicago.

Casinos target senior citizens, gambling opponents say

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - A growing number of seniors are mounting buses to spend their free time gambling in casinos and playing other games of chance. They see casino trips as welcome social outings - a chance to get out of the house, be with friends and have a little fun. But experts say seniors, especially those who begin gambling late in life, risk becoming problem gamblers or even addicts. The United Methodist Church opposes all forms of gambling.

United Methodist Church struggling to reach youth

If the future of the church lies with its youth, things aren't looking bright. The United Methodist Church and other mainline denominations are struggling for new ways to reach young people. In the United Methodist Church, less than 10 percent of those attending church fall into the 12-30 age range, and other mainline denominations are in similar straits.

School kits delivered to Afghanistan children

KABUL, Afghanistan - United Methodist relief workers here have distributed school kits, prepared by church volunteers, to primary-school age children. The kits contain pencils, crayons, scissors, and more. Details on kits, including a school bag pattern, are available from the United Methodist Committee on Relief at gbgm-umc.org/umcor/kits.cfm.

Black churches need strength, healing, leaders say

ATLANTA (UMNS) - Six hundred African-American United Methodists gathered for the "Great Event," a Sept. 18-20 national training event from the denomination's Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century Initiative. The event brought together representatives of the initiative's 25 congregational resource centers and its 500 partner congregations to focus on growing the black church.

Board of Church and Society cuts staff

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - The United Methodist Board of Church and Society has cut more than a third of its staff positions, becoming the latest church agency forced to reduce its work force because of financial pressure. The board terminated 11 positions during a period of several days, culminating Sept. 23. Just 26 people remain of what was a staff of 40 at the beginning of the year.

Africa University perseveres in Zimbabwe's hard times

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - United Methodist-related Africa University has managed to maintain its health and vitality despite the economic and social turmoil in its host country, Zimbabwe, school officials say. While acknowledging the school's resilience, Africa University's development committee is also confronting the need for increasing support from the denomination. Committee members, in a recent meeting, strategized about helping United Methodists understand that the denomination's original commitment of $20 million to the university for the quadrennium - $10 million toward the apportionment and $10 million toward the World Service Special endowment - has never been met. Local churches must give equally to both the apportionment and the endowment for the university to meet day-to-day needs, the committee said.

Reality TV can teach us about relationships

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - While reality TV shows can be "kind of pathetic," they are helping people see how relationships form and end, as well as helping people understand how to handle relationships, says the Rev. Leonard Sweet, a United Methodist author and futurist. "My frustration is the church ought to be helping people and showing people how to do relationships and be the experts on relationships." He emphasized the importance of being in relationship with Christ, who is the truth. "The culture ironically now is hungering for what is truly our understanding of truth, but we sold out to modernity and don't even know that we have it."

Council on Inclusiveness proposed

Could issues of gender and race discrimination be better handled by a single agency within the United Methodist Church? That is the question - or rather, suggestion - that members of the Commission on the Status and Role of Women will put forth when General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body, meets in April. During their Sept. 25-28 meeting in Houston, COSROW members voted to petition the 2004 General Conference to agree that their commission and the denomination's Commission on Religion and Race start planning and creating a single "Council on Inclusiveness."

Team chooses Sunday school lesson themes for 2010-2016

The Uniform Series Committee's Cycle Planning Team, representing nearly 40 denominations, recently met in Nashville, Tenn., to choose themes for 2010-16. The themes will revolve around God, creation, hope, justice, faith, community, worship and tradition/heritage.

Names in the news

Daniel F. Evans, Jr., president and CEO of United Methodist-related Clarian Health Partners of Indianapolis and a member of Meridian St. UMC, was recently named as a member of both the Board of Directors of the Indiana Health and Hospital Association and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

The Rev. Sungnam Choi, pastor of the Delaware Korean United Methodist Church in Hockessin, Del., will join the staff of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship as the director of Korean/Asian and Pacific Islanders Ministry Nov. 1.

Dolores G. Owens, a member of Mount Vernon UMC in Houston, established a $10,000 endowed scholarship at Africa University, in memory of her memory of her mother, Julia N. Owens, who died in 1998. For more information about Africa University's endowed scholarship and direct scholarship programs, contact the Africa University Development Office, P. O. Box 340007, Nashville, TN, 37203-0007; telephone (615) 340-7438; fax (615) 340-7290; e-mail address: audevoffice@gbhem.org.

The Rev. Harold "Hal" Hartley III, director of student ministries in the Division of Higher Education at the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, has been granted a cross-divisional appointment at the board to serve as director of Student Ministries, Vocation, and Enlistment for both the agency's Division of Higher Education and Division of Ordained Ministry, effective Oct 1.

United Methodist-related Huston-Tillotson College in Austin, Texas, has been awarded a $177,000 Department of Defense grant through the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institutions Infrastructure Support Program. The program aims at increasing the participation of minority institutions in defense research and of minority graduates in the fields of science, mathematics and engineering.

United Methodist-related Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn., was recently awarded three grants totaling $27 million by the National Institutes of Health to expand the college's work in medical research that fosters the elimination of health status disparities. The grants include $15 million to establish endowed chairs and professorships, $4.3 million to strengthen the school's research infrastructure, and $7.7 million to establish a center and recruit scientists to study health disparities in HIV/AIDS.

United Methodist-related Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minn., is among a group of institutions chosen to receive a three-year, $204,000 grant. The school will collaborate in developing international dispute-resolution curricula and take other steps to foster dispute-resolution education.

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