wfn.org | Hale to leave Methodist Council after 25 years as peacemaker

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April 18, 2001 News media contact: Linda Bloom*(212)870-3803*New York
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A UMNS Feature
By Jane Dennis*

When the Rev. Joe Hale steps aside as staff executive of the World Methodist
Council in July, he will leave behind 25 years of service as a peacemaker.

He has carried high the banner of Christian peace and justice -- whether
meeting with heads of state around the globe, conferring the council's
distinguished Peace Award on such leaders as South Africa's Nelson Mandela,
or praying for peace alongside Pope John Paul II.

The World Methodist Council is an umbrella organization that includes 74
Methodist and united churches. In some countries, such as Canada and Japan,
united churches represent a combination of former denominations, including
Methodists. Together, member churches within the council have almost 36
million members from congregations in 130 nations. The churches share common
roots in the Methodist movement, begun in 18th-century England by Anglican
priest John Wesley.

The council was organized in London in 1881. Its headquarters are at Lake
Junaluska, N.C., with a satellite office in Geneva.

Hale was elected general secretary at the 1976 World Methodist Council that
met in Dublin, Ireland. His successor will be elected in July when the
council meets in Brighton, England. The Rev. George Freeman, a United
Methodist from Virginia, has been nominated to the post.

The council's aim is to link member churches in a global communion through
concern for an array of topics, such as evangelism, education, worship and
world exchange of clergy. The organization not only works for greater unity
among all Christians, but also acts to support human reconciliation and
endeavors that further world peace. 

Major emphases of the council, Hale says, are world evangelism, a World
Methodist Peace Award program, a worldwide exchange program for pastors, and
dialogues with other religious groups, particularly the Catholic Church.

The organization's ongoing dialogue and relationship with the Vatican is one
of the most important aspects of Hale's work. "Increasingly, people outside
the Christian community, and those unfamiliar with Christians in general,
think of us as different religions. ... Yet, as Christians, all of us hold
basic beliefs that belong to the whole of Christianity.

"The danger is that the 'whole' may be discredited and undermined if we are
seen as totally separate and basically unfriendly to one another," Hale
says. "There will be places and times we take different paths, but that does
not mean we have no sharing in the Body of Christ. All of us hold [that] God
is the Creator, that Christ is the power and wisdom of God and the world's
Savior - or, as Pope John Paul has said, 'the fulfillment of every human
longing.'

"We believe, too, that through the Holy Spirit, God is present with us.
These are all shared beliefs. Certainly we would not insist on walking only
with those with whom we have 100 percent agreement. We do not behave this
way in any other area of life."

Hale's calm, even demeanor, as well as his clear understanding and grasp of
his faith in God, have served him well during his career, particularly in
the ecumenical settings where he finds himself daily. Never one to turn the
spotlight on himself, he maintains the humble stance that he "hasn't done
anything new," only built on the work of others.

"If the word 'nice' ever applied to anyone, it would be Joe Hale," says Tom
McAnally, longtime director of the United Methodist News Service in
Nashville, Tenn. "He is a genuinely nice Christian man who treats all people
with dignity and respect. He has embodied the best of being a 'connector'
between Methodist groups and between Methodists and other Christian bodies
and faith groups."

Hale often represents the council in formal dialogue with three Christian
world communions: the Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox churches through the
Ecumenical Patriarchate and the worldwide Anglican Communion. As a result,
he has met and talked with many world leaders of religion. In January, Hale
was in Rome for a worship service at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the
Walls, and he was greeted warmly by Pope John Paul II.

Hale has met with the Roman Catholic pontiff on many occasions. Four years
ago, however, a trip to Rome was short-circuited when Hale's wife, Mary, was
involved in an accident that resulted in a broken leg. The Hales canceled
their trip, but not before making arrangements with the Vatican to ensure
that their delegation of 200 people would have an audience with the pope.

While Mary recuperated from surgery, the Hales were surprised to receive a
deluge of phone calls at the hospital letting them know the pope had told
the crowd of 25,000 gathered in St. Peter's Square about Mary's accident and
that he was praying for her. Hale suspects his wife may be the first
Protestant woman to be prayed for by name by the pope in St. Peter's Square.
    
A medal for Mandela

The World Methodist Peace Award recognizes those who by their courage,
creativity and consistency make exceptional contributions to the cause of
reconciliation and peace. In a ceremony in Cape Town, South Africa, in
September, Hale presented the 2000 Peace Award to former South Africa
President Nelson Mandela.

"When I spoke to Dr. Mandela on the phone, he told me, 'I have been honored
in many nations of the world' -- he received the Nobel Peace Prize, of
course -- 'but the greatest honor of my life is to be honored by my church.'
"

The 1978 Peace Award went to President Anwar Sadat of Egypt. "He told me of
his desire to build a chapel on Mount Sinai for Christians, Muslims and
Jews," Hale says. That never happened. A year later, the Egyptian president
was assassinated.

"At the time I was in Oslo, and I was watching the television coverage of
the funeral procession," Hale says. "I saw two or three boys carrying his
decorations on pillows during the ceremony, and I saw the medallion I had
hung around his neck. That meant a lot."

The Peace Award provides "a platform for the recipient to speak of his or
her urgent passion," Hale says. "We open a door; we erect a platform for
them to say what is on their hearts and minds."

Hale has presented the award to a host of other well-known proponents of
peace, including former President Jimmy Carter, activist and author Elias
Chacour, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and Argentina's
child-rescuing Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, the first "community" or group
to be so honored.
 
Meeting the queen

Hale has crossed paths with many notable figures during the past
quarter-century. He was part of a small reception held in connection with a
visit by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip to mark the completion of a
five-year, $2 million renovation of historic Wesley's Chapel in London. Hale
had called in his brother, Clay Hale of El Dorado, Ark., an expert at
rebuilding pipe organs, to help rescue the chapel's organ. At the reception,
Hale was introduced to the queen by a friend who explained, "Ma'am, this is
Joe Hale. His brother, Clay, came to London and spent a week in the bowels
of that organ." The queen responded: "They're beastly things, aren't they?"

"And that was my conversation with the queen!" Hale says, laughing.

One of Hale's most memorable encounters with a head of state was an extended
meeting with King Baudouin of Belgium. "He was the longest reigning monarch
in Europe, more than 40 years, and a devout Roman Catholic. He entered into
conversation in a very intense way," Hale says. "Yet, by the end of our
meeting, he asked, 'May I have a prayer with you?' I'll never forget how he
began: 'Lord Jesus, you know how much we love you ...' and he prayed in that
tone. It was an amazing experience."

Renowned evangelist Billy Graham is another world figure whom Hale has long
admired. Both were part of a delegation that celebrated the Russian Orthodox
millennium and met with then-Soviet President Andrei Gromyko in 1988. "It
was under the influence of Dr. Graham's preaching in 1951 that I was led to
commit my life to Christ, and as a result, the faith I had been taught from
childhood came to be meaningful and alive," Hale says.

They met in the mid-1950s, when Graham brought his famous crusade to Little
Rock's War Memorial Stadium. "I discovered he was staying at the Marion
Hotel, and I went to his room the afternoon before the rally. He came to the
door from the shower, dripping wet," Hale says with a chuckle. "Then he
graciously asked me in."

At the time Hale was preaching in small Methodist churches and camp meetings
in south Arkansas and seeking God's will for his ministry. "I told him what
had happened in my life. He took time to visit," Hale says. "And before I
left, he wrote a verse in a Bible I had with me and asked that we kneel in
prayer."

Since that time, Hale has on numerous occasions consulted and traveled with
Graham.
       
A family of ministers

Joseph Rice Hale was born in 1935 on the Texas side of Texarkana -- a fact
"adjusted" by his Arkansas-loyal father who carefully marked out "Texas" on
the birth certificate and replaced it with "Arkansas."

His middle name honors his great-great-grandfather, David Rice, a well-known
early Presbyterian minister and founder of Transylvania University in
Lexington, Ky.

Preachers run in the Hale family. Three of the four brothers became
ministers. In addition to Joe, his brother, Clay, is pastor of a Baptist
church in El Dorado; and Ralph served United Methodist churches in Arkansas
for 44 years before retiring to the family homeplace in Camden. Only David,
who died five years ago after a career with International Paper Co. at
Camden, took a different career path.

Hale attended the Fairview Schools in Camden. Fairview Methodist Church was
the center of family life. His mother, Bess Hale, was a strong influence.
She and Hale's father, A.C., taught Sunday school and were involved in all
aspects of church life. His mother was an English literature devotee who
read Charles Dickens to her sons and for many years kept a diary in French.

Hale's view of the world was broadened significantly when, after his
sophomore year in college, he lived in Thailand for a year with his father.
After completing 31 years as a teacher, his father embarked on a second
career with the U.S. State Department.

It was there that young Joe met his first head of state, the king of
Thailand. "He was young then," Hale says of the now 73-year-old monarch.
Hale recalls that visitors were instructed to keep their legs folded beneath
them so no one pointed a foot in the king's direction.

All told, Hale has been granted audiences with 25 heads of state.
    
Sleight of hand

Beginning at age 9, Hale developed a fascination for magic. By the time he
reached sixth grade, he was staging 30 to 40 shows each year at schools and
events in and around Camden.

When Harry Blackstone -- then considered the world's greatest magician --
scheduled a performance at Robinson Auditorium, Hale was thrilled.

"He had a huge show that arrived by rail, with carloads of trunks of
apparatus and a cast of 100," Hale says. "I was 13, and I went to Little
Rock alone and to his hotel hoping to meet him." The great magician was
impressed with the youngster's spunk and invited Hale to join him for
breakfast and later backstage during his two performances.

"It was a memorable day. I also learned how he could manage to disappear
from the stage and immediately walk in the back of the auditorium," Hale
says sheepishly. "He had a twin brother!"

As Hale's interest in magic grew, he realized he needed more money to invest
in new and larger apparatus. "One Saturday morning I went to see Edgar
Pryor, who owned the Chevrolet agency in Camden. He was well known and
greatly respected. I told him I needed to borrow $1,000 for additions to my
show and asked if he might help with the loan. He asked me to come back the
next Saturday."

When Hale returned seven days later, Pryor handed him $1,000 in $20 bills.
"I paid every dime back with money I earned from the performances. How do
you ever forget people like that?" Hale asks.

The feeling was mutual, according to Pryor's son.

"My dad always thought the world of Joe Hale," says former Sen. David Pryor.
"I remember him saying several times that Joe paid him back like clockwork.
I always admired Joe. All the students and young people would flock around
him to learn some magic tricks. He was quite an entertainer and showman."

While he still has some of his magic show gear, Hale says he no longer
performs magic because he is busy with other interests.
    
'A great spirit'

An ordained United Methodist minister since 1958, Hale holds degrees from
Asbury College in Wilmore, Ky.; Perkins School of Theology at Southern
Methodist University in Dallas; and Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore.
He has received Asbury's Distinguished Alumni Award and an honorary doctor
of humane letters from Florida Southern College.

A mutual friend introduced Hale to Mary Richey, who was director of
Christian education at First United Methodist Church in Odessa, Texas.

They were married in 1964. A son, Jeff, was born in 1968. Today, Jeff is a
buyer for a large music store in Raleigh, N.C.

Despite a severe stroke in 1994 that confined her to a wheelchair, Mary
teaches Sunday school, volunteers at their church and continues to exhibit
"a great spirit," her husband says proudly.

Before joining the council, Hale was pastor of churches in Texas and for 15
years served on the staff of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship,
headquartered in Nashville. Ever the innovator, he spearheaded beach caravan
ministries in Florida and California, and led a pioneering "fair evangelism"
effort involving 600 young people at the 1968 HemisFair in San Antonio. It
was there that Hale last performed his Houdini-like escape from a
straitjacket while hoisted 100 feet above the crowd and dangling upside down
by his feet.

"I used to do several escape acts," he recalls nonchalantly. "One involved a
steel drum filled with water. In the one where I would be hanging by my
feet, I would escape from the straitjacket, then dive to safety below. Then
I would have a chance to do a [Christian] witness and explain that 
through Jesus Christ we can all be free."
    
A worldwide parish

Hale has traveled and preached all over the world, often in unstable regions
that have rarely heard Christian messages of peace and harmony. Hale led a
delegation that engaged in a controversial meeting with then-President P.W.
Botha of South Africa in the midst of the apartheid struggle. Hale preached
in the Soviet Union well before the fall of the Iron Curtain.

"Joe Hale has given his life to a ministry of worldwide hospitality," says
Arkansas United Methodist Bishop Janice Riggle Huie. "His life and his
ministry are blessings to the church and to Arkansas."

Through his work around the world, Hale has logged more miles than he cares
to count. "The thing about travel is it's not as glamorous as many suppose,"
he says. "There are three essentials involved in every travel assignment: 1)
preparation before going, 2) being there, and 3) follow-up after returning.
Without No. 1 and No. 3, you are just a tourist."

While in Vienna in 1992, Hale was surprised to receive the Great Cross of
Merit of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.  The award
recognizes his "long concern and various initiatives and activities on
behalf of the people of the Holy Land." It is rarely given to a 
non-Catholic. He considers it his "most cherished honor."

The ongoing struggle for peace in the Holy Land weighs heavily on the church
leader. "My greatest disappointment is that after a lifetime of concern, and
perhaps 35 visits to the area, the problems remain," Hale says. "It pains me
a great deal; I've given my life caring for both sides. I had hoped for
change. Without a greater measure of justice for those under occupation, I
see little hope on the horizon."

Closer to home, Hale is immersed in overseeing construction of a new
headquarters building for the council, next door to the current facilities.
The Queen Anne-style building will replicate one of Methodism's most
historic sites -- the 1685 home of the Wesley family in Epworth, England.
The new building, which is being built with the help of a $1 million gift
from Royce and Jane Reynolds of Greensboro, N.C., will house the World
Methodist Council offices, meeting rooms and the archives of the
120-year-old organization.

The gathering called the World Methodist Conference has been held at regular
intervals -- most recently every five years -- since 1881. Hale has helped
organize these Methodist conferences, each involving several thousand
delegates, at locations ranging from Nairobi and Rio de Janeiro to
Singapore.

The World Methodist Conference in July in Brighton will be Hale's last as
general secretary. The seven-day gathering, which will include presentations
by Roman Catholic ecumenical leader Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy,
astrophysicist David Wilkinson and South Africa Methodist Church leader
Bishop Mvume Dandala.

Hale is tight-lipped about his future plans, as if he has a bit of magic up
his sleeve. "I don't like the word 'retired' because I'm not sure that's
what I'll be," he says mysteriously. "Let's just say I will no longer be
general secretary of the World Methodist Council."

It's doubtful that Hale will fade from sight at world religious and
ecumenical events. More likely, he will follow closely Wesley's famous
admonition to consider the whole world his parish. For Joe Hale, that's
already familiar territory.
    
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*Dennis is editor of the Arkansas United Methodist newspaper.
    

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