wfn.org | Exploring the Call

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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 (3271 notes).

Note 3271 by UMNS on Nov. 4, 1996 at 16:17 Eastern (3232 characters).

SEARCH: discernment, ordained ministry, exploration, candidates,
millennium
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 Green                       557(10-30-63-71B){3271}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470              Nov. 4, 1996

Exploration event allows students
to consider ordained ministry

     DALLAS, (UMNS) -- More than 1,100 high school and college
students, ages 16 to 25, explored the ordained ministry as a
career Nov. 1-3.
     The students -- some away from home for the first time --
spent the weekend here at "Exploration 96" in response to feelings
about ministry in the United Methodist Church as a lifetime
calling. 
     Exploration is a biennial convocation sponsored by the
churchwide Board of Higher Education and Ministry to help youth
and young adults learn to hear, discern and respond to God's call
to a church vocation. This year's theme was "For Such a Time As
This! Discerning God's Call into Ordained Ministry for the New
Millennium." 
     Representatives from the 13 United Methodist seminaries in
the United States and other denominational agencies were present
to provide information on the church's ministry.
     According to the Rev. Rebecca S. Chopp, dean of faculty and
academic affairs and professor of theology at United Methodist-
related Candler School of Theology, Atlanta, ordained ministry in
the new millennium will take "courage" to participate in life, to
face the demonic forces of history, to affirm the good, to
celebrate life and take it head on. 
     Chopp used the stories of Ruth and Daniel to show what
ministry and the church will have to be in the next millennium. 
     The church must have ministers such as Ruth who can shape new
ways of worship, forge new relationships of community, work with
the oppressed and downtrodden, and move the church forward. 
     She said the church must have ministers such as David who can
keep alive the wisdom, faith and life of our ancestors. 
     According to Chopp, the church should have the courage to "be
God's face in the world." 
      Bishop Alfred Norris, Albuquerque, N.M., declared, society
needs to be transformed. When he asked who will do the
transformation, participants responded, "We will!"
     Although each generation tries to change the world, Norris
challenged this generation of youth and young adults to be the
ones to eradicate fear, hopelessness, homelessness, sexism and
racism from society.
     Adults in the church "are depending on you to lead us ... to
put more pep in our step," he said. 
     He invited each youth to listen to their hearts and find out
where God is leading them because the church and world need them. 
     For Kara Cooper, 18, a sophomore at the College of William
and Mary, Williamsburg, Va., Exploration '96 was an opportunity to
put some direction in her life. While she has questions about
being called into ministry, she believes that time and seminary
will provide some answers. "Exploration '96 cleared up a lot of
things for me," she said. "Things have gelled."
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