wfn.org | Re: United Methodist Daily News note 3201

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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 (3257 notes).

Note 3257 by UMNS on Oct. 28, 1996 at 16:09 Eastern (4109 characters).

[BTITLE: UMCOR Retains Values 
SEARCH: UMCOR, U.S. State Department, relief, agencies, Bosnia 
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Linda Bloom                         543(10-21-71B){3257}
          New York (212)870-3803                     Oct. 28, 1996

(Part 2 of 2)

Relief agency retains church values
while using government funding

                         UMNS News Feature
                          by Linda Bloom*

     If a church-based agency manages government-funded projects,
does the line between church and state become too blurred?
     Not if the agency's work is still driven by religious values,
according to the Rev. Kenneth Lutgen, chief executive of the
United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), part of the
churchwide Board of Global Ministries.
     UMCOR has addressed the concern of government intrusion by
writing proposals in ways that allow it not to compromise its
values, he said.
     In the Republic of Georgia, for example, UMCOR has worked
with Save the Children, the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) and other sources of funding to assist a
people living under poor economic and social conditions. One of
the contracts called for the distribution of infant formula.
United Methodist policy opposes the promotion of formula over
breast-feeding.
     Upon investigating further, UMCOR officials found that more
than half the formula was designated for institutions where it was
critically needed for infant survival and also learned that
breast-feeding had been discouraged in the former Soviet Union.
The agency then proposed that a breast-feeding education program
be included in the contract, Lutgen explained. That condition was
accepted by the funding agency.
     UMCOR's strategy of setting up community-based models of
assistance, hiring local staff (about 80 percent) for the work and
using volunteers who put a face on faith appeals to both fund
donors and those being helped.
     The local people involved want to know more about United
Methodism "and it gives the opportunity to share our faith
perspective," he said. Bible study groups often form and worship
services occasionally are conducted, according to Lutgen.
     "We've never hidden the fact that we are a church-based
organization and that our mandate is to present the gospel," he
said.
     UMCOR also goes to bat for the community. Residents of the
Bosnian town of Gorni Vakuf, for example, had decided building a
cultural center where citizens could meet and reconcile again was
their first priority. But the U.S. State Department balked,
declaring that a new electrical system should be the priority.
UMCOR was able to act as go-between and persuade the State
Department to fund the center, he explained.
     Funds from government or U.N. contracts are kept separate
from donations to UMCOR by United Methodists. And denominational
funds -- although smaller than some of the big contracts -- are
considered just as important, Lutgen said.
     United Methodist money can provide different resources. It's
easy to get a USAID grant for computers or an English teacher for
the UMCOR-created "youth houses" in Bosnia, he said. But United
Methodists pay for the program staff. And in Georgia,
denominational funds paid for the breast-feeding education
program.
     "A lot of times, it's our funding that is the seed money that
attracts the other [funding]," Lutgen said.
     In Bosnia, UMCOR and Heifer Project International invested
$50,000 and $10,000 respectively to start a livestock replacement
project. A Swiss agency came along, liked the idea and contributed
another $1 million.
     Volunteers are another important and unique UMCOR asset,
although they face a risk when working in less-than-stable
environments. "But people have been willing to accept that risk
and it makes a real difference," Lutgen said.
                              #  #  #

     * Bloom is director of the New York office of United
Methodist News Service.

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