Front Page

Bishop, Other Protesters, Arrested near White House

March 27, 2003, WASHINGTON - Nearly 70 people, including a United Methodist bishop and dozens of other religious leaders, were arrested near the White House March 26 during a peaceful demonstration against the war with Iraq. Demonstrators gathered in Lafayette Park, in the shadow of a statue honoring Revolutionary War-era military engineer Thaddeus Kosciuszko, singing songs, offering prayers and carrying signs protesting the war. Those arrested included United Methodist Bishop C. Joseph Sprague, Chicago Area; Jim Winkler, top staff executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, based in Washington; and Linda Bales, staff executive with the Louise and Hugh Moore Population Project, part of the Board of Church and Society.

Second Round of All Our Children' Supplies to Benefit Nearly 15,000 Iraqi Children

March 31, 2003, AMMAN, JORDAN - A shipment of badly needed personal hygiene soap and laundry detergent for Iraqi children was expected to arrive in Baghdad today (March 31) as part of the U.S.-based All Our Children campaign, a multi-agency effort. The truckload of hygiene supplies originated in Amman, Jordan, and crossed the border into Iraq this morning, reported Church World Service (CWS), a founding member of the campaign. CWS is the global ecumenical humanitarian agency of the National Council of Churches US (NCC), also an All Our Children founding member. The 5.5 metric tons of soap- enough to support the hygiene needs of 14,688 Iraqi children for six months - and 5.8 metric tons of laundry detergent will be distributed by CARE Iraq to support UNICEF'S child nutrition program in Iraq

Churches 'Need to Know' about Biochemical Threat: Doctor

April 1, 2003, WASHINGTON - When church disaster-response officials gathered recently to review emergency preparedness plans, they also began a task that was a grim sign of the times: developing a resource for congregations on biochemical terrorism. Representatives from the Baltimore-Washington Conference Disaster Response Committee met March 28 to review plans already in place for natural disaster assistance. Dr. Chet Clarke, a biochemical expert and member of Bethany United Methodist Church in Ellicott City, Md., attended the meeting. He brought news that was at times chilling, at times encouraging. "My greatest fear is a lack of education," he said. "Churches need to know what the six major biochemical agents are. We need to know what are contagious and which are not. Panic in an uneducated populace can be used as a weapon; it can kill." Clarke, an expert in researching the incubation period of pneumonic plague and smallpox, told the group about substances that could be involved in a bioterrorist attack.

General News

Prayer Requested Amidst Virus Outbreak

March 27, 2003, VALLEY FORGE, Pa. - American Baptist International Ministries is calling for prayer for those living in uncertainty about the dangers of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a pneumonia-like illness that has already sickened hundreds in Hong Kong, China and elsewhere. The number of cases is spreading rapidly in several countries and the global death toll is increasing daily. According to news reports health officials are taking unprecedented steps to stop the spread of the potentially deadly virus amid fresh fears that air travel is worsening the outbreak. On Tuesday officials asked some 245 passengers and crew on two Air China flights between Beijing and Hong Kong to contact the Department of Health immediately and to remain in Hong Kong. Some schools are closed, and surgical masks are being distributed to those using public transportation.

Digital Store Provides Music Through the Internet

April 1, 2003, NASHVILLE - A new digital store allows customers to hear and buy United Methodist music selections any time through a home computer. Digital Music@cokesbury.com, launched by the United Methodist Publishing House, makes music available from several categories: anthems, children's songs, congregational hymns, hand-bell music, instrumental parts, instrumental solos, miscellaneous choral music, organ solos, piano solos and vocal solos.

Conference Explores Challenges Facing Marriage, Family

April 2, 2003, ATLANTA - Modern families, sex in the scriptures, the role of religion in marriage and numerous topics in between were discussed by scholars from a variety of religious disciplines for three days at Emory University. "Sex, Marriage, and Family and the Religions of the Book," was an intense discussion by more than 70 scholars on research papers with titles ranging from "Happily Ever After? Sex Marriage, and Family in National and Global Profile" to "Trends in Dating, Mating, and Union Formation Among Young Adults." More than 600 participants, including over 200 students, attended the event, supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts and convened by the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion at United Methodist-related Emory. The center was created in 2000 with a five-year, $3.2 million grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts. "Sex, Marriage, and Family and the Religions of the Book" is the result of its first two-year project.

'Loving Cup' Commemorates John Wesley's 300th

March 27, 2003, JACKSON, Miss. - One of Mississippi's most widely recognized artists and businesswomen is helping a United Methodist mission and celebration. Gail Pittman, known for her hand-painted dinnerware and accessories, has created a piece of pottery to benefit St. Andrew's Mission in McComb, Miss. The piece is not part of her regular line - it's not a plate, platter or bowl. Instead, it's a two-handled "loving cup." John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, designed the first loving cup in the 18th century for use at "love feasts." Christians gathered for the feasts at house churches or small groups, praying, reading Scriptures, encouraging one another and testifying to God's love in their lives. They ate a simple meal of bread and water. Not to be confused with Holy Communion, the love feast, or agape meal, recalled the meals other than the Last Supper that Jesus shared with the disciples and others.

Close Up: the Death Penalty - What Would Jesus Do?

April 1, 2003 – Capital punishment, legalized killing by the state, has always been a deeply troublesome issue for religious and non-religious people alike. Debate on the issue has intensified in recent years, particularly in the United States, where an unprecedented number of people have been executed. Most church groups officially oppose capital punishment, but individual support has increased following such horrendous events as the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, high-profile child abduction cases, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and last fall's chain of sniper killings in the Washington, Maryland and Virginia area. Well-meaning people of faith weigh in on both sides of the debate. Some argue the death penalty deters crime and protects society. Others contend that it has not proven to be a deterrence, is biased against the poor and African Americans, and isn't something Jesus would "do." The death penalty is currently legal in 38 U.S. states.

Official Church Statements on Capital Punishment

April 1, 2003 – United Methodists have adopted several statements on capital punishment over the years. The church's Social Principles, found in its 2000 Book of Discipline and Book of Resolutions, spell out its opposition to the death penalty. Additional statements in the Book of Resolutions also speak to that issue. The church's top legislative assembly, General Conference, meets every four years to revise the books.

Longtime Death Penalty Opponent Optimistic about Change

April 1, 2003 – Harmon Wray, a longtime advocate for eliminating capital punishment in the United States, is more hopeful than he has been for many years. He gives several reasons for his optimism.

Justice System Treats Women Unfairly, Pastor Says

April 2, 2003, CLAREMONT, Calif. - Ten thousand women currently are incarcerated in three California prisons. In a forum titled "I Was in Prison and You...," about 90 women and a few men gathered to discuss issues facing imprisoned women, as well as the need for improving the criminal justice system. The March 29 forum at Claremont United Methodist Church raised concerns that could apply to the prison system of any state. The Rev. Rosemary A. Davis, program minister of the church, outlined the purpose of the forum. "The criminal justice system is not working, especially for women," she said. "Our church has been doing acts of mercy such as writing to women on death row, tutoring and taking children to visit their mothers.

Archives Agency Warns of Drawbacks to Electronic Records

April 1, 2003 – Saving official church records is not always as simple as it may appear, according to the United Methodist agency charged with preserving the denomination's historical documents. The churchwide Commission on Archives and History, with offices in Madison, N.J., is particularly concerned that some annual (regional) conferences are considering publishing their annual journals electronically as a cost-cutting measure. "Our basic suggestion is that regardless of the publication process, the conference should still create a limited number of paper copies of the conference journal on acid-free paper," according to a March 27 letter to all conference secretaries.

Ecumenical News

Episcopal Church Continuing its Commitment to Ecumenical Dialogue

April 1, 2003 – The Episcopal Church's patient participation in and commitment to ecumenical dialogue, with the stated ultimate goal of full communion, continues on several levels with different partners. Progress is sometimes slow but participants eagerly mark each successful marker along the way. At the national and international level, Episcopalians and Anglicans regard dialogue with the Roman Catholics as very important - and quite successful over the years in sweeping away some of the dead timber of misunderstanding and stereotypes.

Hunger Ministry Finds Growing Need Hard to Meet

March 31, 2003 – The Society of St. Andrew hunger relief organization looks back on 2002 as a qualified success. Like most charities, the Society of St. Andrew experienced a decline in revenue, but the ministry had its third-best year in two decades of getting food into the hands of hungry people. Cash donations dropped in 2002 from almost $2 million in 2001 to a little more than $1.8 million. This reduced the amount of produce the society could ship from the fields to where the food was needed. In addition, drought in some areas of the United States meant smaller or no yields from some of the regular producer-donors.

NCC Faith and Order Commission Studies Rich Range of Issues

March 31, 2003 – Is salvation a moment in time or a process? Once a person is "saved," then what? By what authority do churches address public policy issues, and preach the Gospel to people not already part of the church? What is the role of the papacy in promoting unity among Christians? These are just a few of the issues being studied by the National Council of Churches' Faith and Order Commission - the most confessionally diverse theological dialogue in the United States - with participants from historical Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, Byzantine Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, African American, Pentecostal, Holiness, Evangelical and Peace churches.

Reception, Unity Key Topics of ELCA Visit to the Vatican

March 28, 2003, VATICAN CITY - Lutheran and Roman Catholic congregations must engage in a "reception" process for the agreement reached in the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), and the document should be presented in terms that members can understand, said Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, Vatican. In ecumenical circles, reception refers to how church bodies receive and implement elements of a theological agreement. Kasper was a central figure for the Vatican in developing and completing the JDDJ.

Lutheran-Anglican Progress Significant, ELCA Group Told

April 2, 2003, LONDON - Anglicans have made more ecumenical progress with Lutherans than with any other Christian tradition, said Bishop John Baycroft, director of ecumenical relations and studies, Anglican Communion. However, the ecumenical work may be confusing for some because Anglicans have reached regional ecumenical agreements versus international agreements, he said. Baycroft was among several leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Church of England, a member of the communion, who met here March 28 with a 19-member delegation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The 19 included ELCA leaders, bishops, Church Council members, pastors, staff and members. Leading the delegation was the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, who is also the church's chief ecumenical officer. The ELCA group traveled with Hanson as he met international church leaders in Europe during a 17-day "ecumenical journey."

ELCA Presiding Bishop Meets Archbishop of Canterbury

March 31, 2003, LONDON - The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), expressed hope that the ELCA may one day enter into full communion with Anglican churches with whom other Lutheran churches are in full communion. Hanson made the comment to the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury, and other Anglican and ELCA leaders in a luncheon address here March 28. Hanson and 18 other ELCA leaders, bishops, Church Council members, pastors, staff and members met here with Church of England, Anglican Communion and Lutheran leaders. The ELCA group is traveling with Hanson as he meets international church leaders in Europe during a 17-day "ecumenical journey."

At the Roots of Methodism: Wesley Discovers Field Preaching

March 28, 2003 – John Wesley would have certainly approved of the variety of ministries today that take Methodism out of the security of its buildings and into the communities that our worldwide movement serves. This includes our Methodist chaplains to the armed forces - a ministry currently in the spotlight during these troubled times and one staunchly supported by Wesley during his own day. Wesley's practice of taking the message to the people began April 2, 1739, a date of huge significance to the Methodist movement and one that, 264 years on, surely resonates very much with the challenges facing our church. Two days earlier, in response to fellow preacher George Whitefield's invitation, John Wesley had arrived in Bristol, England. Although Whitefield was an open-air preacher of great eloquence, who had built up a large following in the area, he wanted to return to America and was keen for Wesley to continue the style of work he had begun.

National News

Church Agencies Help NAACP Host Rally at Supreme Court

April 2, 2003, WASHINGTON - Tents filled the small yard at the United Methodist Building, providing support for the rally under way across the street at the Supreme Court. Inside the courthouse, the justices were to hear arguments in two cases - Grutter vs. Bollinger and Gratz vs. Bollinger - concerning affirmative action in University of Michigan admissions policies. The court's decision, expected this summer, will have implications for affirmative-action policies nationwide. Police lined up to keep the rally participants on the sidewalk, but the crowd grew to fill the four-lane street. Thousands had traveled great distances to express concern about the potential erosion of affirmative action.

National Ministries and Jimmy Carter to Build House in Georgia

March 27, 2003, VALLEY FORGE, Pa. - American Baptist National Ministries, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity International, will sponsor construction of a house in Valdosta, Ga., June 6-13. The construction is part of the Jimmy Carter Work Project 2003 in which both the former U.S. president and his wife, Rosalynn, will participate. The Carters have a longstanding association with the Habitat organization, a nonprofit ecumenical Christian housing ministry dedicated to eliminating substandard housing and making decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. The Carters have led annual weeklong work projects, building houses around the world, since 1984. Plans call for 77 houses to be constructed in Anniston, Ala., and LaGrange and Valdosta, Ga., during the 2003 project.

Church Women Plan Weeklong Vigil Outside White House

March 31, 2003 –United Methodist Women will take their prayers for peace to Washington during the week following Easter. The women will gather near the White House from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily, April 21-25, and continuously read from the more than 10,000 prayers that have been mailed to the organization from around the nation and world. The prayers have arrived at the United Methodist Service Center in Cincinnati as part of the UMW's prayers for peace campaign. Each individually written prayer pleads for peace.

Struggle Continues for Widow of Bombing Victim

April 1, 2003 – After her husband died in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, Anne Marshall began the long and painful journey of putting her life back together. She tested her own psychological resources, examined her spiritual values and sought to discern the will of God. As a faithful member and full-time staff executive in the United Methodist Church, she felt a special need to consider official teachings that condemn the death penalty. Her husband Raymond Johnson was one of the 168 victims, including 19 children, who died in the Oklahoma City bombing. Marshall is a staff member of the denomination's Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, with offices in New York.

International News

West African Church Leaders Looking for Partners in Search for Peace

March 27, 2003, Ending a two-week mission to the United States, a delegation of West African church leaders has told the United Nations and U.S. government that there can be no sustainable development for West Africa without an immediate end to hostilities and without durable peace. The March visit of the nine-person delegation of ecumenical and grassroots leaders from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, The Gambia, and Ghana was sponsored by the global humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS). They met with UN and U.S. government officials, church leaders, non-governmental organizations and public audiences, appealing for greater international support for the critical needs of West Africa's Mano River sub-region - and partners in the search for peace.

Government Engages Anglicans in Kenya on AIDS

March 28, 2003, KENYA - The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) and the Kenyan Government have now entered into serious negotiations on how to work together in the fight against HIV/AIDS. At a high level meeting held at the Limuru Conference Centre on Tuesday and attended by all the 29 Bishops and top Government officials, Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi expressed satisfaction at the commitment and goodwill that the new Government was showing in working with the Church. He said this commitment has shown lacking in the past.

United Methodists Witness Life after War in Angola

March 31, 2003, LUANDA, Angola - "We want you to be witnesses, and go back and share the reality here in Angola." That directive from United Methodist Bishop Gaspar Domingos set the tone for a recent 12-day visit by 17 volunteers from the denomination's California-Nevada Annual Conference to Western Angola. The visit marked the beginning of a new partnership between Cal-Nevada and the West Angola Conference. Bishop Beverly Shamana leads the Cal-Nevada Conference. J.P. McGuire, the Cal-Nevada Volunteers In Mission coordinator who spearheaded the February visit, said he "felt overwhelmed to see the needs facing this country."

Middle East News

Lutherans Prepare for Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq

March 28, 2003, CHICAGO - With the U.S.-led military campaign against Iraq now well underway, Lutherans prepare for a humanitarian crisis in Iraq. As the bombing campaign and ground fighting intensifies, especially in and around Baghdad, Iraq's capital, a humanitarian crisis is emerging there, said the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, director for international communication, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Division for Global Mission. "The United Nations estimates that several million people, many of them children under five and nursing mothers, may need emergency assistance in the coming months. A prolonged war could result in Iraq's civilians fleeing their homes, seeking refuge in other parts of the country or in neighboring countries," said Ishida.

United Methodist Stays with Peace Group in Baghdad

April 1, 2003 – Despite the war with Iraq, a United Methodist from Downers Grove, Ill., has remained in Baghdad as part of Christian Peacemaker Teams to make a witness with Iraqi citizens amid the violence. Scott Kerr, 27, has been in Iraq since early February. Previously, he has worked with the ecumenical ministry - started by Mennonite and Church of the Brethren congregations and Friends Meetings - in Chiapas, Mexico, and Colombia. United Methodist Bishop C. Joseph Sprague of Chicago noted that Kerr has put his "life on the line" in efforts to be a presence where people are threatened by violence. "Scott is a remarkable, remarkable young man, deeply committed to the holistic gospel," the bishop told United Methodist News Service.

United Methodist, Peace Group, Leave Iraq

April 2, 2003 – The United Methodist making a witness for peace in Baghdad has left Iraq along with other members of the Christian Peacemakers Teams and Iraq Peace Team. Scott Kerr, 27, a member of First United Methodist Church in Downers Grove, Ill., and the other team members managed to travel safely from the Iraqi capital to the Iraq-Jordan border, and they crossed into Jordan on April 1.