wfn.org | Church & Society sets priorities

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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 (3215 notes).

Note 3215 by UMNS on Oct. 7, 1996 at 15:44 Eastern (6922 characters).

SEARCH:   Children, social action, Society, 
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Joretta Purdue                      501(10-30-71B){3215}
          Washington, D.C.  (202) 546-8722            Oct. 7, 1996

Concern for children
highlights board actions

     ALEXANDRIA, Va. (UMNS) -- "Children in Poverty," the United
Methodist episcopal initiative announced earlier this year, will
be the theme for worship and a priority for some work of the
denomination's social action agency over the next four years.
     Those decisions were two of many reached by the voting
members of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society at
their organizational meeting here Oct. 3-6, 1996.
     The directors authorized sending a letter of commendation to
the Council of Bishops, praising the group for prioritizing
children and poverty. 
     Board members endorsed a bill of rights for children's health
care that affirms comprehensive care -- including spiritual and
mental, primary and acute, extended and rehabilitative care --
"based on need, not on ability to pay."
     The board also ratified a statement of shared values and a
statement of shared responsibilities that call adults to work for
safe and loving homes and communities for all children.
     Members reviewed a plan to renovate the historic United
Methodist Building at 100 Maryland Ave. Northeast in Washington,
adopted by the previous board. Sue Sherbrooke of Seattle, Wash.,
chairwoman of trustees, reported that the initial phase of the
plan is "on schedule and under budget." 
     That phase includes creation of a project team, design
development, beginning the permit process, hazardous materials
testing and preliminary construction pricing.
     A consultant presented recommendations for a capital campaign
to support the renovation. The plan included a goal of $5 million
and is to be conducted in three phases. It can be modified at
stipulated points when the board will evaluate progress before
continuing. The campaign plan, including an amendment for
inclusive hiring, was approved unanimously and will be forwarded
to churchwide oversight bodies this fall.
     Trustees and executive committee members who were present
were unanimous in making personal commitments to contribute to the
campaign. The board received the first pledge, for $27,000, from
an anonymous donor.
     The previous board authorized proceeding toward renovation
with the understanding that self-financing was a possibility. 
     A board task force on the Hispanic Ministry Plan requested,
and board members approved, hiring a consultant to develop the
board's curriculum module for the plan. Money for that purpose
will come from unexpended funds remaining from the 1993-96
quadrennium.
     The board agreed to forward a request to the General Council
on Ministries' Contingency Fund for $20,000 to support a study-in-
progress of changes in alcohol use and related social and economic
problems in Estonia and Russia. The resulting data would be
available to help United Methodists there address this area of
concern.
     Another request will be made by the board to the contingency
fund for $90,000 to fund a two-year project to develop resources
and work with annual conferences and local churches about
immigration issues.
     The 66-member board -- reduced in size from 88 members during
the 1993-96 quadrennium -- elected Bishop Charles Wesley Jordan of
the Des Moines Area, president: the Rev. Kay Dillard, Chicago,
vice president; Faustina Lucero, Espanola, N.M., secretary; and
Dale Weatherspoon, San Francisco, treasurer.
     The board for the 1997-2000 quadrennium includes individuals
from the Philippines, Norway, Poland and Germany and three
members, including one bishop, from Zaire. 
     The Rev. Thom White Wolf Fassett, general secretary, told
board members "Christian witness is inseparable from the Great
Commission of Jesus."
     He spoke of ways the board and the denomination are
witnessing about gambling, Cuba, health, gun control, climate
change and many other topics. He recognized that the issues of the
Social Principles and Book of Resolutions are often divisive but
that they are the official stands of the church.
     On the issue of abortion, Fassett suggested that a church
adopt a woman who is making this difficult decision, offering love
and support to enable her to truly have a full range of choices.
     "As we implement the Social Principles, we will know that we
are nurturing the seeds of a new society in which God will feel at
home," Fassett said. "We not only feed the hungry but we also
influence public policy so that there are no hungry people."
     In other business, the Board of Church and Society:
     * called for all United Methodists to oppose the California
Civil Rights Initiative, Proposition 209, because it conflicts
with the denomination's stand on affirmative action;
     * passed a resolution calling for an end to shorter periods
of care and less reimbursement by insurance companies for mental
illnesses as compared to other illnesses;
     * affirmed two documents regarding gun violence, one
supporting federal legislation banning gun ownership to people
convicted of spousal or child abuse and the other supporting
legislation seeking to close the loophole that allows the
manufacture of "junk guns" or Saturday night specials in the
United States; and
     * welcomed to the board staff Liberato Bautista who will soon
be heading the U.N. ministry and bade farewell to Hilary Shelton
who leaves shortly for a position with the United Negro College
Fund.
     The board's next meeting will be March 6-9 at Gallaudet
University Conference Center in Washington. The fall meeting is
scheduled for Oct. 2-5 at a yet-to-be-determined location. The
board requested consideration of a meeting in New York to include
a visit to the board's ministry to the United Nations.
                              #  #  #

     NOTE TO EDITORS: UMNS sent a story dated July 30, giving the
names of people from your annual conference elected to serve on
churchwide agencies. However, that list did not include additional
members elected to assure representation by gender, race, age,
geography, church size and expertise.

The following are the additional members:

Brandi Dawn Gilbert, Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference
Courtney Goto, California-Nevada Annual Conference
Vada Harris, Southern New Jersey Annual Conference
Carla Hill, California-Pacific Annual Conference
Kaleauti (Kelo) F. Kaleuati, Nebraska Annual Conference
Faustina Lucero, New Mexico Annual Conference
Ivan Moreman, Western Michigan Annual Conference
Tom Roughface, Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference
Sue Sherbrooke, Pacific Northwest Annual Conference

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