News In Brief - Aug. 29, 2008
Brief items for use in local church newsletters
prepared by United Methodist News Service
Black Methodists for Church Renewal has
established two financial endeavors to encourage, connect and train African-American youth
and young adults in The United Methodist Church and to support the work of the church's
black caucus. A permanent endowment honoring Bishop James S. Thomas and his wife, Ruth,
will provide support for leadership of African-American youth and young adults. A second
financial endeavor is a planned giving program to support BMCR mission initiatives and the
caucus' work as an advocacy, ministry and leadership development organization in behalf of
more than 2,400 primarily black United Methodist congregations across the United States.
Once a week during the school year, members
of St. Mark's United Methodist Church in El Paso, Texas, cross the U.S. border into the
outskirts of the impoverished community of Juarez, Mexico. They provide food and medical
assistance to people in need and also operate a "Saturday school" to teach basic
reading and English to children and adults. The makeshift school operates out of three
tractor-trailers and has been in existence for three years. Organizers plan to break
ground for a school building in a few months on land being donated by a St. Mark's member.
With its goal to "help men know Jesus
Christ," the Commission on United Methodist Men must reach out beyond its chartered
local church chapters to connect with a wider range of men, say its leaders. "Our
goal is to help men grow in Christ so others may know Christ," said the Rev. David
Adams, who was re-elected top staff executive of the commission during the Aug. 22-24
meeting of its board of directors. "We need to be invitational and provide many entry
points for men," he said. These entry points include mission trips, teaching
opportunities, Bible studies, home repairs and scout troops.
United Methodist Bishop David Kekumba Yemba
has been re-elected to oversee the church's Central Congo Area after four years of
service. With his re-election, he is now a bishop for life. Yemba won Aug. 26 on the third
ballot by the Congo Central Conference, meeting in Kananga in the Democratic Republic of
Congo. "It was a great expression of joy to know the people have confidence in what
we have been doing and want to continue as far as the Lord is helping," Yemba said in
an Aug. 27 telephone interview with United Methodist News Service.
For children who cannot enjoy the smell of
freshly baked cookies at their own grandparents' home, Pat Frost and a band of
silver-haired volunteers in Florida offer the next best thing. G.G.'s House is a place
where children from underserved areas can learn to bake, play games and, most importantly,
find comfort and attention. Its initials stand for "Grandma's and Grandpa's."
Inspired by a sermon at her church, Ocklawaha (Fla.) United Methodist, Frost set out to
create a special place where at-risk children can feel special. Frost and other volunteers
renovated a rundown house owned by the church and opened the doors to neighborhood kids
last October. They estimate that more than 1,000 children and family members have visited
the center since. On the Web: http://ggshouse.org/
United Methodist Bishop Leo A. Soriano has
joined other religious leaders in calling for a cease-fire in the southern Philippines
between the government and Muslim rebels known as the Moro Islamic Liberation Force. The
violence erupted in early August on the island of Mindanao after the Philippine Supreme
Court blocked a deal that would expand an existing Muslim autonomous zone, according to
news reports. "Moro issues in Mindanao are legitimate issues of justice and peace
that require honest scrutiny historically, politically, economically and culturally,"
said Soriano, who leads the church's Davoa Area in the Philippines. In an Aug. 20 pastoral
letter, he emphasized that differences in religious beliefs are not to blame for the
fighting. The conflict, he said, is due to "economic, political and cultural
injustices."
Katrina Aid Today was successful because it
was a collaboration among voluntary social service organizations that "had a more
direct access to clients than the government does," according to the Rev. Tom
Hazelwood of the United Methodist Committee on Relief. UMCOR managed nine partners that
made up the consortium including Catholic Charities USA, the Salvation Army and Episcopal
Relief. Together, they used a $66 million grant to provide disaster-related case
management services to large numbers of Katrina survivors after the deadly 2005 hurricane
devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast. The consortium concluded its work at the end of March
after two and a half years of operation.
Three years and three churches later, the
Rev. Connie Thomas is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina-as is her flock. Katrina
slammed New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2005, devastating the two small churches she served in the
city's hard-hit 9th Ward. These days, Thomas is shepherding a third New Orleans
congregation-Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, where the sanctuary is still in ruins.
"My focus is on rebuilding the inner spirit of the people," she said. From the
ruins of Mt. Zion, a free clinic for the city's neediest residents has opened in the
church's activities building. Called Luke's House, the clinic sees about 15 patients every
Tuesday evening. "We love Luke's House," Thomas said. "It is a hands-on
ministry and is the heartbeat of ministry for New Orleans' recovery."
The Revs. Youngsook and JinHo Kang
delivered a benediction before 20,000 people at the U.S. Democratic National Convention in
Denver. The United Methodist clergy couple received the invitation from convention
organizers two weeks before the event. Their Aug. 26 benediction followed the speech by
U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton. She is superintendent of the Metropolitan District in the
church's Rocky Mountain Annual (regional) Conference, and he is senior pastor of Christ
Central United Methodist Church in Aurora, Colo. "It was a privilege for my husband
and I to express our belief in justice and peace through our benediction," she said
later.
United Methodist Bishop Ernest W. Newman,
the church's first African American elected bishop in the southeastern United States, has
died at age 80. Newman died on Aug. 28 in Atlanta, where he lived. He served as bishop
over the church's Nashville Area from 1984 until his retirement in 1992. "Bishop
Ernest W. Newman was our bishop-the first African-American elected from Southeast
Jurisdiction," said Pamela Crosby, executive director of Black Methodists for Church
Renewal, the denomination's black caucus. "…Our caucus lifts up the great work
of this man who served with distinction in the episcopacy and whose family remains at the
heart of Methodism." In 1984, Newman was elected to the episcopacy from the church's
Florida Annual (regional) Conference, where he was a district superintendent. There, he
also had been the conference's first black pastor of a large all-white congregation.
Funeral services are scheduled for Sept. 2 at Warren United Methodist Church in Atlanta.
As the damage is still being assessed from
Tropical Storm Fay, early response teams are on the ground in Florida and the United
Methodist Committee on Relief has sent a $10,000 emergency grant to the church's Florida
Annual (regional) Conference. Fay brought high winds and unprecedented rainfall and was
the first time in recorded history that a tropical storm made landfall in Florida four
different times. UMCOR urges congregations to send completed buckets, bulk materials or a
contribution to purchase supplies. To support the recovery efforts with a financial
contribution, give to UMCOR Advance #3019695, Hurricanes 2008, Tropical Storm Fay.
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United Methodist News Service
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