wfn.org | George Todd addresses Urban Ministry gathering

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #6075 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

GA00122
June 29, 2000

George Todd addresses Urban Ministry gathering

by Sue Boardman

LONG BEACH, June 29 – In a gathering that felt much like a family reunion,
pastors and lay leaders from across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) broke
bread and shared stories at the Urban Ministry luncheon during the 212th
General Assembly.

	The Rev. Trey Hammond, member of the Urban Ministry Staff Team, welcomed
participants to the event and introduced the Rev. George Todd, who was the
featured speaker. Hammond enumerated Todd's many ministries throughout the
years, from participation in the East Harlem Protestant Parish in the
1950's, to his stint as director of the Urban Ministry Office during the
turbulent years from 1963 to 1972, and on to an era as head of the Urban &
Industrial Missions for the World Council of Churches, completed in 1982.
Hammond is also the compiler of several books of hymns and liturgical
resources for ministry in urban contexts. He received the Distinguished
Alumnus Award from Yale Divinity School in 1998.

	Todd told listeners that public speaking was not among his skills, "though
I might be a storyteller." He went on to make reference to the fourth act of
King Lear in which a "retired and slightly dotty Lear" was found wandering
in a meadow with ringlets of flowers in his hair. When his friends brought
him in and gave him medicine and a place to rest, said Todd, Lear told them
"You do me wrong when you take me out of the grave."

	Amidst much reminiscing, Todd recounted his mission to enlist Harvey Cox,
author of "Secular City," as speaker for the event. Cox told Todd he wasn't
ready to say anything about urban ministry in the 21st century but felt sure
that whatever the future holds, "we have a lot to learn from the
Pentecostals. We're going to have to learn how to be in multi-faith
engagement."

	Todd concluded his address with a response to a question concerning his own
priority for the future of church in the city. "I want the church to be the
church," claimed Todd.

"We need communities of worshiping Christians across lines of age and race
and economic circumstance where people are stopping to reflect and pray and
meditate, where we baptize children and create families in the context of
the Christian faith," he said. "We need the regular celebration of the
Eucharist, where we give our lives and put them on the table, receiving the
body and blood of Christ, forgiven and made whole and sent out to make the
Kingdom."

_______________________________________________
pcusaNews mailing list
pcusaNews@pcusa.org

To unsubscribe, go to this web address:
http://pcusa01.pcusa.org/mailman/listinfo/pcusanews