e-HUM mid-June 2003

Mid June 2003

e-HUM is a free service of Indiana Area United Methodist Communications, www.inareaumc.org. Subscribers will receive late-breaking news, announcements and Church resources via e-mail. We welcome your comments, please direct to e-HUM editor at ehumeditor@inareaumc.org.

Five Indiana UM clergy receive Lilly renewal leaves

Five Indiana pastors and their spouses will be heading for Europe or South Korea during a Lilly funded retreat.

These pastors and their congregations have received a 2003 National Clergy Renewal Program grant from the Lilly Endowment based in Indianapolis. This is the fourth year of the program which funds congregations whose pastors and parishioners, working together produce compelling plans for an extended sabbatical time for the minister and a complimentary set of activities for congregational renewal.

This year's Hoosier United Methodist recipients are: Frank J. Beard, Michael R. Beck, Stephen A. Beutler, Dennis A. Shock and John Keith Wortinger.

Each grant is worth between $38,000 and $45,000.

The Lilly Endowment shared with Hoosier United Methodist News how each of the pastors plans to spend his sabbatical.

Frank Beard, senior pastor of Walnut Creek UMC in Warsaw, will be traveling with his wife Melissa to Seoul, South Korea in November to observe firsthand the ministry of Dr. Paul Younggi Cho, whose ministry is based on using prayer as a key catalyst for home cell groups. They also will be spending family vacation time in the Caribbean and at Oakwood Retreat Center.

Michael Beck, pastor of Grace UMC in Franklin, plans to spend time with his wife Mickey at Asbury Seminary, travel through the West, join a Wesley Heritage Tour of England and retreat three days with 12 staff and laity from the congregation to explore core values of the Wesleyan movement.

Stephen Beutler, pastor of The United Methodist Church in New Haven, plans to travel to England with his wife Jayna to visit Oxford University, where John Wesley was a student, and to relax, read and write at Glacier National Park.

Dennis Shock, pastor of the First UMC in Crown Point, will be traveling with his wife Diana in the steps of the Apostle Paul in Greece and Turkey, visiting Christian sites in Italy, relaxing at a vineyard villa, as well as read books under the palm trees in Rio Mayo, Mexico, and hike with family members in the Colorado Rockies.

John Keith Wortinger, senior pastor of St. Matthew UMC in Frankfort, will be traveling with his wife Linda to Italy to visit Rome, Assisi, Florence, Turin, Milan, Venice where they will celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary by riding a gondola.

Each of the pastors has chosen a religious theme to set the pace for his retreat time. The deadline to receive renewal leave grant proposals is July 18, 2003. Notification of grant awards will be made by December 2003.

For more information about the program, log on to www.clergyrenewal.org, call 317-916-7302 or write Lilly Endowment, Religion Division, 2801 N. Meridian St., PO Box 88068, Indianapolis, IN 46208.

Hoosier volunteers say McCurdy in bad financial straits

A Hoosier volunteer at the United Methodist-related McCurdy School in Espa?la, New Mexico reports that the school is "desperate straits financially."

According to the Ralph Miller, a former 20-year staff member at McCurdy, "the school must have funds to pay its outstanding bills and to keep this ministry going. Plans are to continue for at least one more year and hopefully for another 90 years."

Miller encourage each Hoosier United Methodist to give at least one dollar per member per year to keep this vital institution open for ministry in this very needful community. Contributions can be send to the McCurdy School, 261 McCurdy Road, Espanola, NM 87532.

For more information about McCurdy School, log onto www.mccurdy.org.

Indiana churches at risk on gambling issues

By John Wolf, coordinator of
Indiana Coalition Against Legalized Gambling

With announced plans to turn northwest Indiana into the Las Vegas of the Midwest and spread gambling into the lucrative market areas of Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, United Methodists and other opponents of gambling will be tested severely during the next few years.

If Orange County approves of a boat in the moat casino this year, there will be eleven casinos in Indiana. The South Indiana Annual Conference encouraged Orange County United Methodists to oppose this expansion by voting against the casino in an upcoming county referendum.

The citizens of Indiana never endorsed casinos but they are here anyway. They came when the Indiana General Assembly passed in 1993 the Riverboat Casino law to help Gary's depressed economy.

Indiana now ranks second only to Nevada in revenue receipts from gambling. New Jersey and Illinois are a close third. The Indiana Coalition Against Legalized Gambling believes this is the primary reason Indiana leads the nation in bankruptcies and foreclosures.

Last year it was dockside gambling; this year its 24 hour, seven-day-a-week gambling.

Meanwhile gambling addictions in Indiana are estimated at 50,000 citizens, according the Dr. William Thompson of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, who studies gambling's effects on society.

Thompson says, "Hoosiers show their dislike of gambling by placing casinos at opposite ends of the state." One Indiana State Senator said, "Indiana loves the revenue and hates the gambling."

Realizing the need for a statewide approach to the challenge of gambling, United Methodist Bishop Woodie White suggested in 1993 the Indiana Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. A year later the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling was formed, headed by the Rev. Tom Grey, an Illinois United Methodist pastor.

In The United Methodist Church, opposition to gambling rests only upon a strong Disciplinary statement and on the growing evidence that gambling destroys people. The National Governors Association even affirms that gambling "changes the very character of community."

Here is what United Methodist can do to curb gambling in Indiana. First, be informed of the growing information on the gambling industry including: lottery, tracks and casinos. Second, let Governor O'Bannon and your state legislator know how you feel about gambling taking over Indiana. For names and addresses of the governor and legislators, log on to www.in.gov/gov and www.in.gov/legislative. Third, support the work of the Indiana Coalition Against Legalized Gambling by sending a contribution to ICALG, 609 E. 29th St., Indianapolis, IN 46205.

Churches have been called "the conscience of the state." Our strength to oppose gambling in Indiana lies in the factual truth and grassroots pew opposition.

For more information contact John Wolf at 219-462-4851 or e-mail Jwolf18046@aol.com or by mail 456 W. Glendale, Valparaiso, IN 46385.

DePauw president tells graduates: 'You can make a difference'

GREENCASTLE, Ind. -- "Despite the cynicism of contemporary society, I hope that as you leave DePauw you continue to believe that individuals can still make a difference," DePauw University President Robert G. Bottoms said recently as 481 DePauw seniors were awarded degrees at the University's 164th annual Commencement on East College lawn.

"Today you leave your role as undergraduates in the past. As you prepare to leave, what is that we the faculty and the administration wish for this year's class? Quite simply we wish you joy and success," Dr. Bottoms added, during the two hour ceremony at the United Methodist-related institution of higher education.

Founder of Methodist church wowed contemporaries

A UMNS Feature by John Singleton

Celebrations to mark the 300th anniversary of John Wesley's birth on June 17 are raising the historical profile of the founder of Methodism around the world, but what was he really like as an individual, and how did he come across as a person whose fame went before him like wildfire?

We know that he sometimes had a mixed reception, but he cut an impressive figure both physically and as a person of faith, according to several eyewitnesses of his time.

One was an Anglican clergyman, John Hampson, author of the first biography of John Wesley, published in 1791, the year Wesley died. "His face, for an old man, was one of the finest we have seen," he wrote. Few had seen him without being struck with his appearance, said Hampson.

Another witness was Christopher Hopper, a young man from Ryton on Tyne, in the northeast of England, who worked on the local coal-mining industry wagon ways and later became one of the best of Wesley's assistant preachers. This is how he first heard of the man who was to have such a significant influence upon his life:

"In May 1742, we heard a strange report of one Wesley, a Church clergyman, that had been at Newcastle upon Tyne, and had preached in Sandgate to many thousands, who heard him with astonishment. . He made a short blaze, soon disappeared, and left us in great consternation."

In an age when the daily newspapers contained less information than now appears every morning on a half-page of USA Today or the Times in England, a brief paragraph in the late 18th century would have a greater relative importance than it would today.

In an assessment of Wesley's influence following his death, the Public Advertizer referred to "that well-known and celebrated minister and reformer, the Rev. John Wesley, whose eminent abilities in every branch of polite and sacred literature, being directed by the grace of God to the most important and valuable ends, not only rendered him the ornament of his own age and country, but will also endear his name to the latest posterity."

Another paper, the Morning Chronicle, said: "Whatever may be the opinions held of Mr. Wesley's divinity, it is impossible to deny him the merit of having done infinite good to the lower class of people. ... His history, if well written, would certainly be important, for in every respect, as the founder of the most numerous sect in the kingdom, as a man and as a writer, he must be considered as one of the most extraordinary characters this or any age has produced."

Although the biweekly London Chronicle described Wesley's income as "prodigious" at not less than 10,000 pounds a year, it pointed out that he "appropriated no more to his own use than was sufficient to supply the necessaries of life." The money went to build chapels and pay preachers throughout the kingdom, it noted.

Wesley clearly got good press from his contemporaries, and his stature as a major figure in Christianity has only grown since those early days of Methodism.

Singleton is a writer with the weekly Methodist Recorder newspaper in London. He can be contacted by e-mail at john@towerhamlets.org.

Care of the sick made more complicated by privacy act

The church's ministry to persons who are hospitalized has just become more difficult according to the head chaplain at United Methodist-related Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. As hospitals have worked to shorten stays, visitation of the sick has shifted increasingly to home settings. But new regulations have made another dramatic change.

According to the Rev. Steven S. Ivy, senior vice president for pastoral care at Methodist, says "while the details of how hospital ministry has changed will vary between hospitals and communities, the core change is clear: Privacy of patient information now has a much higher priority with health care providers and administrative barriers between pastors and their congregants have increased."

The Federal law known as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) took effect April 14. Ivy said, "the law began as an effort to standardize data transfer protocols within the health care industry and to close loopholes that some persons fall through when changing insurance coverage."

The primary accountability regulations affecting pastors grow out of privacy protection. Hospitals are permitted to maintain a directory of individuals that includes the individual's name, the individual's location in the facility, a general description of the patient's condition and the patient's religious affiliation. However, they are not required to maintain a religious directory.

This directory information can be disclosed only to members of the clergy, explains Ivy. The information also can be shared with persons who ask for the patient by name, except religious affiliation will not be disclosed. Hospitals may develop restrictive rules on how they identify "members of the clergy" so as to not inadvertently disclose information to an unauthorized person.

In addition, patients now must be informed that they have the right not to have this information included in a directory. Should they object, or should they not be capable of giving their consent, their information will not be made available to any who ask, said Ivy.

For more information, log on to www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=2576

CBS to broadcast TV program on religious view of environment

This program was taped in Indianapolis in April

A World to Share: Religious perspectives on saving the environment, an interfaith religion special, will be broadcast Sunday, June 22 (7 a.m., EST) on the CBS Television Network. Check local stations for time in your area.

We share this universe with a wide variety of animals, plants and other forms of life, and if not careful, may cause harm to the world by degrading the environment. The program presents the voices of many religions that are now being raised about our natural world and man's role in protecting it.

The program visits scholars and activists who understand the effect of the Bible and our Constitution have upon our thinking about nature. The Bible suggests we subdue the earth and have dominion over all living things, while our Constitution gives rights to the human animal but is silent about all other forms of life. Today we are faced with learning anew to respect nature and to see the spiritual kinship we have with the entire universe.

Former Congressman, the Rev. Bob Edgar, a United Methodist and now General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, sees the population explosion and the suffering of the poor as warning signs we must not ignore.

Catherine Duck and Juli Van Wyck, who worked with the Indiana faith-based climate and energy campaign, speak out. And we see hybrid (environmentally sound) cars and hear from Larry Stammer of the Los Angeles Times, who thinks people are starting to listen about environmental issues. This well-illustrated broadcast presents insights and hope about an urgent human issue.

Fathers make important difference in kids lives

A UMNS Feature by Kathy L. Gilbert

Children living without fathers are more likely to be suspended from school, drop out, be treated for an emotional or behavioral problem, commit suicide as adolescents and experience child abuse or neglect, according to the National Fatherhood Initiative.

In 1960, less than 8 million children were living in families in which the father was absent. Today the number of children living in fatherless homes exceeds 24 million, which translates into one out of three U.S. children.

Millie Carter, coordinator for the South Carolina Annual Conference's Fostering Families program, believes deeply that every child should grow up with a loving father.

"I had a super dad when I grew up," Carter says. "He wasn't a perfect man, but as far as being a daddy, he was the best daddy in the world for me. I can't imagine a child not having that."

Carter has been working with the South Carolina Department of Social Services and the annual conference to make the Fatherhood Initiative possible.

The initiative meets every other week at St. Matthew United Methodist Church in Camden, S.C. Among other topics, men talk about communication, anger management and expressing their feelings to their partners and their children.

The Rev. James P. Smith, founder and director of Fatherhood Initiative, says supporting and equipping dads is a rewarding challenge.

Smith says an equipped father is one who has committed to learn the skills necessary to be a positive role model to his child or children. The conference is working to expand the program to Lee County, one of the poorest counties in the conference. For more information call 803-786-9486.

Clarian West Medical Center CEO named

Clarian Health Partners recently named veteran hospital administrator Alfonso "Al" W. Gatmaitan to head its new facility under construction near Avon west of Indianapolis. He will become chief executive officer of the 76-bed Clarian West Medical Center.

He has been chief executive for 11 years of the Tipton County Memorial Hospital, which became a Clarian Health-affiliated hospital in 1998.

Daniel F. Evans Jr., president and chief executive of Clarian Health, called Gatmaitan an outstanding choice.

Gatmaitan has taken part in planning for the design and construction of the $125 million Clarian West, being constructed on a portion of 100 acres owned by Clarian at County Road 100 North and the new north-south corridor. It is to open in late 2004.

United Methodist-related Methodist Hospital is one of three Clarian partners.

Old Bethel dedicates new organ

INDIANAPOLIS -- Old Bethel UMC dedicated its new Shantz pipe organ on Sunday, June 8. Internationally known organist, Hector Olivera of Buenos Aires, Argentina, performed a recital on the new organ during the dedication service. The three manual, 35 rank pipe organ was interfaced recently with a Rodgers digital organ.

Portland pastor leads kids in mission by kissing a pig

The kids at Westchester United Methodist Church at Portland, Ind., were so excited about their pastor puckering up for a pig, they raised $100 for missions within a month.

Every Wednesday night beginning in September through the end of May, Westchester hosts a program for kids ages two through grade six called Kids Klub. Attendance averages 30 kids a week. As part of that program, the church receives an offering to send to a particular mission. This year it was Heifer International, an organization that buys farm animals and sends them to developing countries.

Last year, the Kids Klub offering for missions was less than $100, so leaders decided to hold a contest that would encourage kids to "give from their hearts." Kids Klub Director Carolyn Johnson and Mission Leader Missi Lynch came up with the "Kiss the Pig" contest. The goal was that if the kids could raise $100 in a month their Pastor Darrell Borders would kiss a pig.

The kids were so excited by the idea, they brought in more than $100 in the first month. So Borders, who kissed off, told the kids that if they raised a total of $200, Johnson and Lynch would kiss a pig, too. They raised $200 by the sixth week. The kids then asked if they could raise $500 would all of the adults, who help with Kids Klub, kiss the pig?

The Westchester kids raised $570. So on May 28, at the end of the school year party, all of the adult helpers lined up and one-by-one kissed the pig for the Heifer project.

Lynch commented that the same God who fed 5,000 people with a little boy's lunch still blesses and multiplies our gifts -- one pig kiss at a time.

Special speaker from Philippines available this summer

A pastor from the Philippines will be available this summer in Indiana United Methodist churches. The Rev. Rolland Bardoquillo Hayag, a pastor of the United Methodist Church in the Philippines serving as the Intercultural counselor at Camp Indi-Co-So, will be available each weekend of the summer to speak in local churches about the UMC and the culture of his native land.

Here is how the program works. A host family from your church would pick up Rev. Hayag, from Camp Indi-Co-So on Saturday, provide overnight lodging and return him to the camp on Sunday evening. For more information or to invite Rev. Hayag to speak call Nancy at the Outdoor Ministries Office in the South Indiana Conference at 1-800-919-8160.

McCoy named president of Saint Paul School of Theology

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (UMNS) -- The Rev. Myron F. McCoy, pastor of St. Mark United Methodist Church in Chicago, will become the first African American to lead a predominantly white United Methodist seminary when he takes the top post at Saint Paul School of Theology Aug. 1.

McCoy, 47, will become Saint Paul's fourth president since the school was founded in Kansas City, Mo., in 1958. He succeeds the Rev. Lovett Weems, who moves to Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington to become its distinguished professor of church leadership and founding director of the G. Douglass Lewis Center for Church Leadership.

Evangelism Foundation launches new Web site community

The Executive Committee of The Foundation for Evangelism, meeting at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo. recently announced the launch of The Witness Community Web site. The new Web site (www.evangelismwitness.com) is part of a developing network of evangelism ministries sponsored by the foundation. The Web site provides an online forum and community for participants in the study resource entitled Witness: Exploring and Sharing Your Christian Faith.

Witness is a 25-week small group study written by Ron Crandall and published by the General Board of Discipleship in cooperation with the Foundation for Evangelism to help create a culture of vital Christian witness. The new online community will parallel the study by not only providing information about Witness, but also offering testimonials from participants, video clips, links, lesson plans and a discussion forum for participants to talk about their experiences.

Lane Rees, chairman of the board of the foundation, announced that Jim Lane of Sherwood, Ark., is coordinator of the new site. "Jim is an accomplished writer and a former President of the Association of Annual Conference Lay Leaders," Rees said. "An active lay leader in the United Methodist Church, Jim has been involved since the early stages of the Witness initiative. He has developed lesson plans and other resources to enrich the study that are available on the site. We are fortunate to have him serve as the Witness Web site coordinator." Lane also will serve as the forum administrator for the community discussion boards on the site.

For additional information, log on to www.evangelismwitness.com or contact Lane online at jlane@evangelismwitness.com or by phone at 501-834-9492.

Research show parents responsible for kids spiritual development

VENTURA, Calif. -- Parents believe that they are primarily responsible for the spiritual development of their children, but few parents spend time during a typical week interacting with their children on spiritual matters. This finding, from nationwide research conducted by the Barna Research Group in Ventura, underscores the need for churches to help parents address the spiritual needs of their children more intentionally and effectively.

The Barna study found that close to nine out of ten parents of children under age 13 or 85 percent believe they have the primary responsibility for teaching their children about religious beliefs and spiritual matters. Just 11 percent said their church is primarily responsible, and one percent said it is mostly the domain of their child's school. Few parents assigned such responsibility to friends, society or the media.

UINDY to feature Russia in dinner, dialogue program

"Russia's Role in the World: Present and Future" will be the topic of a Dinner and Dialogue Forum to be held at the University of Indianapolis on Monday, June 30.

Lawrence Sondhaus, professor and chair of the university's Department of History and Political Science, will facilitate the dialogue and share his own expert insights on how today's Russian republic has fared since the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as possible future scenarios for the role of Russia in Europe and the world.

The program, in Stierwalt Alumni House at the corner of Otterbein Ave. and Windermere St. (one block south of Hanna Ave.), will begin with a cranberry juice social at 6 p.m., followed by a 6:30 p.m. dinner featuring an array of authentic Russian foods.

The speaker and dialogue will begin at 7:15 p.m., with wrap up at 8:45 p.m. Cost is $30 per person; reservations accepted through June 23. For more information or to register, contact Kaye Nave at 317-788-3393 or by e-mail at knave@uindy.edu.

Indianapolis church seeking organist

Epworth United Methodist Church, a suburban Indianapolis congregation of 600+ members, is seeking a church organist. Our active and varied music ministry provides for both traditional and blended worship services. Please send inquiries and/or a r?um?to the church: Attn: Lisa Powell; Epworth UMC; 6450 Allisonville Road; Indianapolis, IN 46220

News In Brief

United Methodist News Service

Indiana's North and South conferences joined United Methodist annual conference gatherings under way across the denomination. Reports on each conference are being posted at the United Methodist News Service Web site, umns.umc.org/acreports/index.html

Liberia's churches are urging U.S. Christians to provide emergency assistance for the war-torn west African country, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are living in camps. Citing United Nations sources, the U.S. National Council of Churches reported that fighting has rendered 80 percent of the country inaccessible to relief agencies. Checks to the United Methodist Committee on Relief can be designated for "Liberia Emergency," Advance #150300-7, and placed in offering plates or sent to UMCOR, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Credit-card donations can be made by calling 800-554-8583.

The United Methodist Church in Liberia is calling on workers, students and administrative staff to use caution and restraint following the recent looting by rebel forces of the Mission Station at Ganta. The church is trying to work with the government to assess the damage in the hope of restarting the operation. The Ganta United Methodist Hospital and church school, both at the Mission Station, were looted and damaged.

The Weala District of the United Methodist Church's Liberia Annual Conference broke ground May 10 for the construction of a church, school and training center. The Rev. Alexander B. Matthews, district superintendent, said he hopes the school will be completed before the next academic year.

Happy Birthday Mr. Wesley. John Wesley has always been a venerated name among Methodists, but now he and the movement he founded are being accorded greater respect on the U.S. side of the Atlantic Ocean -- by other Christian churches and religious historians. That's the assessment of the Rev. Russell Richey, dean of Emory University's Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, as Methodists celebrate Wesley's 300th birthday. Wesley was born June 17, 1703. Wesley's increasing prominence is largely due to a "rewriting of American religious history that recognizes Methodism as a major force in the building of popular culture and democratic institutions and a society that cohered around significant values," says Richey, a church historian.

The Rev. Cecil Williams, chief executive officer of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco, will be featured in a PBS television series on the African-American religious experience through the last three centuries. "This Far by Faith: African-American Spiritual Journeys" is a six-part series that will air on PBS June 24-26 (check local TV listings for times).

Remember the young man who saved his life by sawing off his arm during a climbing accident? Now recovering at his parents' home in the Denver area, Aron Ralston, the 27-year-old of Aspen, Colo., has been surrounded by family and friends. They especially include members of his old youth group at Hope United Methodist Church in Greenwood Village. "Aron's story is a story of Christian hope," says the Rev. Margaret Rush Hankins, co-pastor of Hope. During five days with his right arm pinned under a boulder, Ralston analyzed his dilemma, took stock of his resources and made his decision. Freed the end of April with his arm stump wrapped, he rappelled down a 60-foot rock face and hiked six miles until encountering a search helicopter.

Nearly 300 young United Methodists committed themselves to taking the church to a new level in service, leadership and worship during an annual gathering of the Student Forum. Students, from colleges and universities around the world, met May 22-25 on the campus of United Methodist-related Albright College in Reading, Pa., to talk about "The Road Less Traveled." The Student Forum, held by the United Methodist Student Movement, is the only annual national gathering of young people in the church.

To provide mentoring support to young African-American clergy and head off a potential shortage of black pastors in the United Methodist Church, a new coalition has been formed to. Launched in March, the National Coalition of Young Adult African-American Pastors seeks "to be a support vehicle for young adult African-American clergy in a structure that is not exactly advantageous and that does not see their full talent," said the Rev. Troy Benton, associate pastor of Hope United Methodist Church in Southfield, Mich., and the coalition's vision leader. Details are available by contacting Benton at ncoumpaaap@hotmail.com or by phone at 248-547-3278.

A gathering of Iraq's religious leaders and meetings with heads of government in Lebanon and Iraq have led executives of the U.S. National Council of Churches to renew their call for nonviolent solutions to the Middle East's problems and for more humanitarian aid. The Rev. Robert Edgar, staff head of the NCC and a United Methodist clergyman, was among the religious leaders, intellectuals, diplomats and officials from humanitarian agencies attending a May 27-28 meeting in Amman, Jordan. The meeting of Iraq's religious leaders, including Shi'ites, Sunnis and Christians, to address the Iraqi crisis was held by the World Conference of Religions for Peace.

Joycelyn Elders -- former U.S. surgeon general and a United Methodist -- will present the keynote speech at a conference on "Suicide and the Black Church." The ecumenical conference will be June 26-27 at the Healing Center in Memphis, Tenn. For details, call 901-370-4673.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief is working in Iraq through its ecumenical partners. United Methodists can help through donations to UMCOR, earmarked for the Iraq Emergency Advance No. 623225-4. Checks may be dropped in local church collection plates or mailed directly to UMCOR at 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Credit-card donations can be made by calling 1-800-554-8583.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief needs 200 medicine boxes to provide health care support in Serbia and the Republic of Georgia. Each medicine box contains 18 essential drugs and medical supplies that will support 1,000 people for three months. The agency is encouraging churches and other groups to collect seven over-the-counter products and supplies and raise $375, which helps cover the cost of prescription medicines and delivery of the box to a hospital or clinic. Details are available online at gbgm-umc.org/health/medbox. Donations can be made out to Advance #982630-3 and given through local churches or sent to UMCOR, 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115.

A delegation of United Methodist leaders joined with Marshall Islands residents in calling for the U.S. government to apologize for the nuclear testing that it performed on the islands 49 years ago -- testing that is believed to have caused widespread health problems for the people there. The group traveled in May to the Western Pacific to work with local governments on peace and justice issues. They visited the Marshall Islands and Guam.

The election of Methodist Bishop Mvume Dandala as top staff executive of the All Africa Conference of Churches is great news for Africa and its churches, according to the head of Church World Service. Dandala"s election in May to the All Africa Conference of Churches" top staff position comes at a time "when many of the nations of Africa cry out for the voice of the church in favor of peace and reconciliation," said the Rev. John L. McCullough, CWS executive director and a United Methodist. Dandala, 51, is known for his efforts in conflict resolution in the 1980s, especially at the height of the apartheid era in South Africa.

The World Council of Churches is inviting people to suggest a theme for the organization's ninth assembly, scheduled to be at Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2006. "The theme of the assembly should be relevant for Latin America and for Brazilian churches," said the Rev. Konrad Raiser, WCC top staff executive, who visited Brazil May 11-17. The council is a fellowship of 342 churches worldwide, including The United Methodist Church. Its address is P.O. Box 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland; or log on to www.wcc-coe.org/.

Leaders Resources

Making God Real for a New Generation: Ministry with Millennials Born From 1982 to 1999 by Craig Kennet Miller and MaryJane Pierce Norton. Explore the world of the Millennials through a series of articles written by a variety of knowledgeable authors. Contents includes key characteristics of Millennials, their life cycle and the impact of their families on their values, beliefs and futures; their daily lives; and their spirituality. ISBN 0-88177-376-X 176 pages, $19.995. Promotion code Z125.

Director's Manual for Weekday Ministries by Barbara Snell McLain. With increased emphasis in the media, and following the mandate of the Bishops' Initiative for Children and Poverty, many congregations want to start a weekday ministry, expand current ministries, increase the congregation's involvement in weekday ministry, and/or find new ways to meet community needs through a weekday ministry. ISBN 0-88177-383-2 128 pages, $17.95 Promotion code Z122

To order these resources call Discipleship Resources at 800-685-4370 or order online at www.discipleshipresources.org.

The Upper Room Dictionary of Christian Spiritual Formation, a reference guide for pastors, seminarians, students and teachers was recently released by The Upper Room. For details, log on to www.upperroom.org/bookstore or call 800-972-0433.

A set of short videos highlighting the life and ministry of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, has been produced by The United Methodist Commission on Archives and History and GNTV, a United Methodist media ministry affiliated with the Macon District of the South Georgia Annual Conference. Methodists around the world are marking the 300th anniversary of Wesley's birth this year. Using material from the United Methodist Archives, the GNTV production team has put together a set of 12 video segments, each lasting about one minute and highlighting a different aspect of Wesley's life and theology. Videos are available in DVD or VHS format. Cost is $99. For details, contact GNTV, 478-745-2366 or tapes@gntvmin.org.

Technical Resources

United Methodist's online TechShop saving millions of dollars

Since launching two years ago, United Methodist Communications' online computer store has saved the denomination more than $8 million, an agency executive says. UMCom introduced TechShop, a 24-hour-a-day online store, as a service to enable United Methodist churches and organizations to buy computer technology at below retail prices.

The greatest share of the savings has come through sales of Microsoft products, the store's flagship product line, says Linda Saunders, TechShop manager. In most cases, those products are offered for 50 percent or less of retail cost, she says.

For more information: log on to https://secure.umcom.org/techshop/

Obesity may become top killer in US

Obesity and poor physical fitness may soon bypass tobacco as the largest cause of death in the United States, according to Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With regards to obesity, Gerberding suggested health officials take a community-based approach to the problem, by, for example, offering people more residential roads on which to walk. She also said people should not underestimate the large improvements made by small lifestyle changes.

Eliminating just 100 calories per day, or burning that much more through exercise, will prevent additional weight gain for most people, she said, and can be achieved with small changes like taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

Gerberding said the CDC's main approach in combating tobacco-related illnesses was to prevent children from starting smoking in the first place. But she conceded that strategy had seen limited success.

for more details and additional events, visit our Happenings page.

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