December 6, 2002

Inspired by the words of the hymn ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem,' a United Methodist church in Berkeley, Calif., wants to collect the hopes and fears from people around the world and turn them into an art display for Advent and Christmas.

"We met and talked about all the troubles in the world and what we should do for the Advent season," says the Rev. Ron Parker, pastor of Epworth United Methodist Church. "The words to the hymn ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem' inspired us: ‘the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.' Sharing hopes and fears is something personal that bridges people of all nations and faiths."

The Epworth congregation is gathering the expressions of hopes and fears by e-mail, postal service or personal delivery to the church. Contributions will be displayed for public viewing from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 14 and 21 in the church sanctuary at 1953 Hopkins St. The church's Web site, www.epworthonline.com, will also display the installation in progress.

"Your hope and fears can be in any form: written, photographed, drawn, sewn, silkscreened," the church says on its Web site. "They can be expressed in a sentence, a quote, a poem, a postcard, a painting. They can be in any language. We will incorporate all contributions into the artwork."

So far, contributions have ranged from sentiments such as: "FEAR of continued violence before HOPE of understanding and tolerance are realized," from John in Alabama. "My hope is that someday everyone will realize that the world is too beautiful and that life is too short. My fear is that dreams will always be given up for reality," Amy in Missouri. "I have little hope that the denomination will change anytime soon ... I just hope that it might agree to disagree," Andrew in California.

Parker says more of the entries deal with personal fears than hopes.

"You can take your hopes and fears to city council, where they may be heard and debated and tabled until next year," writes Parker. "You can take your hopes and fears to your stockbroker, where they may be listened to and hedged. You can take your hopes and fears to your doctor, where they may be drugged or dismissed. Or you can bring your hopes and fears to church."

Details on submitting a contribution are available at the church's Web site.

United Methodist News Service

Epworth United Methodist Church, which turns 100 next year, serves the area around the University of California.