wfn.org | United Methodists make $1.5 million gift to Bossey

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

Oct. 28, 1999 News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York
10-21-71B{574}

NOTE: This report is accompanied by a sidebar, UMNS story #575.

By United Methodist News Service

Making a substantial commitment to future ecumenical leadership, the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries is contributing $1.5 million to the
World Council of Churches' (WCC) Ecumenical Institute in Bossey,
Switzerland.

The money will be used to endow a chair in mission at the institute, which
is popularly known as "Bossey" from its location in the historic Chateau de
Bossey overlooking Lake Geneva.

Bossey has nurtured ecumenical leadership for half a century, noted the Rev.
Randolph Nugent, the board's top executive. The gift shows the agency's
commitment "to continue to serve global leadership needs of churches of all
faiths through the programs at Bossey," he said. 

The Rev. John Lindner, the institute's planning and development director in
the United States, said the Board of Global Ministries' gift is the second
largest in WCC history. It will bolster a five-year redevelopment plan
launched by Bossey this year that includes a goal of $6 million in new
endowments for faculty chairs and scholarships, a $4 million renovation of
facilities and a major program expansion.

The gift brings "a promising future for the ecumenical education and
formation of younger Christians," said retired United Methodist Bishop James
Ault, who was president of the Board of Global Ministries from 1984 to 1988
and a member of the WCC Central Committee from 1981 to 1991. Ault played a
role in securing the gift for Bossey.

As chairman of a U.S. committee on Bossey, Ault believes the $1.5 million
will inspire other denominations "to look at the possibility of doing
something similar."

Nugent also considers the gift an "important investment" for the future, as
more people from around the world prepare to become mission leaders in the
United Methodist Church and other denominations.  

One of those people is the Rev. Jean Hawxhurst, associate pastor of Christ
Church, United Methodist, in Louisville, Ky. A 1994 graduate of the Bossey
program, she believes the United Methodist gift is "hugely important" to
both the denomination and ecumenical community.

Hawxhurst learned about Bossey through her dean and others at Lexington
(Ky.) Theological Seminary, which has a long history of sending students to
the institute.

"The experience at Bossey changed my life and changed my ministry and my
whole view of who we are as a church," she said. As a local pastor, she
helps her congregation realize "we're just one part of a much larger body,"
she said.

Hawxhurst also values the relationships formed at Bossey. "The fact that I
have Christian connections all over the world is something that I cherish
now," she added.

The current class includes Denise Wood, who is director of youth ministries
at Trinity United Methodist Church in McLean, Va., and is studying for a
master of arts degree in Christian formation at Wesley Theological Seminary.
Wood is receiving scholarship support from the United Methodist Commission
on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns.

Other Methodists in the 48th session at Bossey include the Rev. Simon
Madhiba of Zimbabwe; the Rev. Timoci Naua, secretary for lay pastors, lay
preachers and church music, Methodist Church in Fiji; and the Rev. Prabhakar
Shadrack Tigadolli of the Methodist Church in India, who is studying for a
doctorate in ecumenical theology.

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United Methodist News Service
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