wfn.org | Shalom Program Continues to Grow

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (2998 notes).

Note 2994 by UMNS on June 6, 1996 at 16:28 Eastern (3860 characters).

SEARCH: Shalom, mission, community, evangelism, neighborhood,
ministry, United Methodist

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CONTACT:  Ralph E. Baker                       280(10-30-71){2994}
          Nashville, Tenn.  (615) 742-5470            June 6, 1996

by Jane Dennis*

     LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (UMNS) -- More than 800 people have
completed the Communities of Shalom Training Program since it was
launched by the United Methodist Church four years ago in response
to riots in Los Angeles.
     "Shalom has been a catalyst for a lot of ministry that would
not have happened otherwise," said the Rev. John R. Schol, Shalom
national director. The National Shalom Committee held its Spring
meeting here on May 29-31.
     The people who completed intensive training are at work at
103 sites in 24 annual (regional) conferences. Another 16
conferences currently are organizing Shalom ministries -- 260
congregations and 50 community organizations are involved.
     Communities of Shalom emphasize both congregational
development and community ministry as ways to achieve stable
neighborhoods of peace and hope. Economic development, health
services and church/community cooperation are included.
     Members of the national committee, which is related to the
General Board of Global Ministries, heard that Shalom in
Charleston, S.C., has received a $250,000 grant through the
combined efforts of religious and political leaders. 
     Communities of Shalom originated at the 1992 United Methodist
General Conference as a response to the civil disorder created by
the acquittal of police officers accused of beating California
motorist Rodney King.
     The Shalom concept "has exceeded our wildest expectations,"
said Bishop Felton E. May, Harrisburg, Pa., chairman of the
national committee. "The concept of anchoring a single community
in the name of Jesus Christ, of churches and communities
catalyzing to do mission evangelism, is a dream come true."
     Plans were laid at the Little Rock meeting to spread the
Shalom ministry even further. Committee members also visited new
local sites, and met at lunch with Shalom leaders from the Little
Rock and North Arkansas Annual Conferences.
     The committee approved two new annual conference Shalom
programs, in Kansas West and Central Pennsylvania. Final approval
also was given to Shalom sites in the Northern Illinois
Conference.
     Interest in Shalom has been expressed by annual conferences
in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Denmark, Schol reported.
     One reason for the broad appeal, according to May, is that
the lay people have developed a will to put into practice what
they have "studied and prayed about, believed and reflected about. 

     "They are ready to work and live out the gospel," said the
bishop. "They have come to the realization that social and
economic problems are really spiritual problems. Shalom can bring
wholeness and healing and well-being to families and relationships
through knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, while meeting
human need. We are moving people from mere survival to a full
life."
     The Rev. William R. Robinson, pastor of Theressa Hoover
United Methodist Church, a Shalom site in Little Rock, Ark.,
emphasized that the concept is not a "top down" program. Rather,
it is "something that grows out of the minds and thoughts of
participants and therefore allows the church and community to come
together and work together in new ways" that strengthen both.
                              #  #  #

     * Dennis is editor of the Arkansas United Methodist in Little
Rock.

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