wfn.org | Contribution enables mission initiatives to enhance ministry

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Jan. 28, 1999	Contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-31-71B{048}

By United Methodist News Service

Two United Methodist initiatives focused on young people and strengthening
black churches have received $120,000 in donations, enabling each program to
more effectively carry out its mission.

The Shared Mission Focus on Young People has received an anonymous
contribution of $50,000, which will enable the quadrennial program to more
effectively listen to the voices of youth and young adults around the world,
specifically in the Philippines, Africa and Europe.

The four-year Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century effort has
received $70,000 in grants from the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries. The $20,000 and $50,000 grants will help fund resource center
development and scholarships for partner churches.

"One of the benefits of being part of a connectional church is the network
found within the connection," said Andris Salter, executive director of
Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century. The Board of Global
Ministries has shown its connection through its support of the black church,
she said.

Linda Bales, director of the young people's emphasis, agreed that the
"connection is our lifeblood." The connection supports the Shared Mission
Focus on Young People financially and programmatically, she said.

The connection is also evident in the involvement of general agency resource
people, said Salter and Bales. Denominational agencies such as the Board of
Global Ministries, Board of Discipleship, Council on Ministries, United
Methodist Communications and the United Methodist Publishing House have
helped the initiatives by offering in-kind services, office space, training
materials, consultations, workshops, promotion and interpretation.

The young people's initiative was created by the 1996 General Conference.
The program encourages local churches, annual conferences and the general
church to ask the difficult questions regarding their involvement with young
people, Bales said. Every local congregation has been urged to intentionally
meet and greet youth and young adults in their community and respond to
their needs. 

"The church too often works independently of the neighborhood in which it
sits," Bales said. "We need to move beyond the four walls of the church and
become much more proactive in addressing the challenges faced by younger
generations, for their sake and the sake of the church as a whole."

Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century is addressing the needs
of African-American churches and offering solutions to help them grow.
Mandated by the 1996 General Conference, the $1.3 million initiative seeks
to reconcile and revitalize the denomination's 2,500 African-American
churches.

A 19-member committee has the task of providing models and mentors. The team
selected 25 black churches that are strong, cohesive, consistent and
community-oriented as teaching churches to provide other black congregations
with skills, resources and examples for development.

When the initiative was implemented, its objective was to train 10 to 15
teams from local churches each year, so that 400 to 600 congregations may be
trained and strengthened during the four years. 

"We are working as hard as we can to meet the goal of training 400 to 600
black churches," Salter said. The initiative has worked with 47 churches so
far, and plans are in place for those churches to have two training sessions
this year, making a total of 150 of 200 trained churches. "Our goal is to
make sure we have a quality ministry and by doing so we have really tried to
concentrate on program more than numbers," she said. 

African-American churches are attempting to covenant with and be supportive
of one another across geographic lines, and more annual conferences are
doing more intentional work specifically with black churches, Salter said.
These conferences have hired staff persons to work with black and ethnic
congregations and have been developing ways to bring African-American
pastors together to address common concerns, share skills and network. 

The exciting thing about the black initiative, Salter said, is that it
builds on the culture and experiences of the African-American church while
continuing to ground the church in cultural roots and history.  

"Black churches have been able to make a way out of no way. We have been
able to use what we have had to make a difference within our church and our
community," she said. "This initiative builds on that experience, reminding
us that we have talent and skills within our midst to do what we must to
make ends meet."

Making ends meet has been a challenge for the focus on young people. "We've
faced barriers on the implementation of this initiative," Bales said. Even
though the General Conference allocated $3 million for the effort, she said,
it is not a significant amount when talking about a global initiative and
one that has a lot of money earmarked for pilot projects. The initiative has
been exploring additional funding to support some of its proposed
components. 

"People in the local congregations that contribute financially are a
godsend," Bales said. "The bulk of the money generated though apportionment
giving to support this initiative goes toward the implementation of the
pilot projects."

In two years, the focus has supported 27 three-year projects in local
churches or annual conferences and 12 mini-grant projects. The projects are
in the United States, Africa, Europe and the Philippines. Each responds to
local issues confronted by youth and young adults.

The generosity of a businessman will enable the Shared Mission Focus on
Young People to sponsor issue forums on relevant topics to young people
around the world, said Jeff Quick of Bryan, Texas, and co-leader of the
initiative.

"The task before us is formidable, and one thing we've realized is the
challenge of getting the word to local churches about the need to be present
with young people," he said.

Numerous local churches "don't have a clue as to our existence, and that is
a challenge to be faced," Bales said. "Although we are intentionally
listening to young people, we have a distance to go yet."

Salter said that while networking within the denomination is beneficial, "we
have not limited ourselves to resources found within our doors." The
initiative is also contacting other churches "that may not be United
Methodist but have a gift that can be used by United Methodists," she said.

"We have been able to come together to rejoice and celebrate in a worship
style that is our own using that celebration as a way to help each other."

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