wfn.org | Magazine Theme Is Children

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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 (3466 notes).

Note 3466 by UMNS on March 3, 1997 at 16:43 Eastern (2802 characters).

SEARCH:   Children, poverty, child labor, Christian Social Action,
United Methodist, worship

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                      112(10-21-71B){3466}
          Washington, D.C.  (202) 546-8722           March 3, 1997

'Christian Social Action' March issue
looks at issues relating to children

     WASHINGTON (UMNS) -- Children -- children in danger, children
with hunger, children at work, children in and out of church --
are topics of the March 1997 issue of Christian Social Action, a
monthly magazine published by the United Methodist Board of Church
and Society.
     Bishop Marshall L. Meadors Jr., who heads the Bishops
Initiative on Children and Poverty, leads off with the thought "In
Each Child We Meet Christ." 
     Fulfillment of the initiative, he says, "will require nothing
less than reshaping the United Methodist Church in response to the
God who is among 'the least of these.'"
     Morten Giersing, writing about the work of United Nations
International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and the Rev.
Pharis Harvey, commenting about child labor, present international
perspectives.
     "At current levels, immunization saves more than 3 million
children's lives [annually]," said Giersing, a UNICEF staff
person. But, he notes, 2 million children die each year from
diseases that are preventable by vaccines, and diarrhoeal
dehydration kills 2.2 million more annually. These deaths, too,
can be prevented with oral rehydration therapy.
     Government programs and legislative protections for children
are addressed by the Rev. Eliezer Valentin-Castanon, whose work as
a program director with the Board of Church and Society is largely
focussed on children and poverty.
     Mary Alice Gran, director of children's ministries at the
Board of Discipleship, urges every congregation to engage in
ministry to children. But times change, so she also suggests not
putting energy into programs that are not working, but to keep
trying to develop one that is effective.
     Articles on child soldiers and children's health care issues
are also featured. Included in this issue are suggestions for
observing a children's Sabbath and an interfaith worship service
that presents a moral witness for children.
     As with every issue of Christian Social Action, a brief guide
for using the issue and a section of news from the nation's
capital is included.
     The magazine is available by subscription for $15 a year, or
single copies may be purchased for $1.50 from Christian Social
Action, 100 Maryland Ave. N.E., Washington, DC 20002.
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