wfn.org | Student Forum brings walls tumblin' down

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

June 5, 2001 News media contact: Linda Green·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-31-71B{257) 

By Duane Ewers*

DELAWARE, Ohio (UMNS) - College students attending an annual leadership
training and spiritual formation conference over the Memorial Day weekend
allowed their walls to come down as they embraced diversity in themselves
and in faith traditions.

More than 400 students and advisers from 58 annual conferences, including 30
international students, spent the three-day weekend addressing cultural
divisions and other concerns during the 2001 Student Forum at Ohio Wesleyan
University.

The forum, held by the United Methodist Student Movement, is an annual
gathering that provides college students with spiritual formation,
leadership training, and opportunities to "find voice" in the church and to
experience the connection in a variety of ways. The Campus Ministry Section
of the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry sponsors the
event. 

Tying in with the theme of the forum, "Let the Walls Come Tumblin' Down,"
the weekend included a pre-conference conversation of the "pan-Methodist
family," as well as continued emphasis on relations among the Methodist
denominations during the general meetings and workshops. 

The students adopted a resolution supporting pan-Methodist dialogue. 

"Our words are only as good as our actions, and there is much work to be
done to heal the wounds of segregation that are still reflected in our
church and society," the students said. "Only through Jesus Christ may we
begin to tear down those gigantic walls of hate and open our arms in love
and fellowship."
 
The Student Movement steering committee and representatives of the
historically black Methodist churches -- three from the African Methodist
Episcopal Church (AME), two from the African Methodist Episcopal Church Zion
(AMEZ) and two from the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME) - spent
time learning about one another's traditions, issues and concerns.
 
Christina Dickerson, an AME student at Spelman College in Atlanta, said the
importance of the discussion is that "others are trying to understand who we
are and what our experience is. It makes me hopeful." 

"This conversation serves as a symbol of our ability to come together," said
Chris Crutchfield, a CME student at Morehouse College in Atlanta

Randolph Martin, an AME student at Morehouse, said the conversations helped
the students understand one another and enabled them "to be comfortable with
one another." 

The Rev. Lillian Smith, campus ministry staff person, facilitated the
pan-Methodist family dialogue. The students discussed the need for
forgiveness, and the need to continue the conversation to understand
distinct and shared heritages, she said.

The United Methodist Student Movement adopted the pan-Methodist dialogue as
the official study topic for the 2001-2002 school year. All other Student
Movement gatherings -- annual conference, statewide and jurisdictional --
are encouraged to include the pan-Methodist dialogue and reconciliation
efforts as a study topic, and all United Methodist-related campus ministries
are encouraged to explore and study pan-Methodist relations. 

The students' suggestions included:
·	Developing ongoing partnerships with congregations from one or more
of the historically African-American Methodist churches (not to the
exclusion of African American congregations within the United Methodist
Church).
·	Inviting speakers from one or more of the historically
African-American Methodist churches to lead campus ministry programs to
participate in the "Steps Toward Wholeness" or other similar programs that
study the churches' common heritage.
·	Developing a ministry that is intentional about affirming the
cultures and traditions that have risen from the African-American community
and that welcomes all students from various ethnic groups. 

Guest speakers at the event included the Rev. Helen Davis Bell, pastor of
Seay Hubbard United Methodist Church, Nashville, Tenn.; M. Thomas Thangaraj,
associate professor of World Christianity, Candler School of Theology,
Atlanta; and Richard B. Wilke, bishop in residence, Southwestern College,
Winfield, Kan.
 
"We are not separate because of doctrines. We are separate because of how
people treat and act towards one another," Bell told the students. In an
altar call, she invited people to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and
to "live as apostles who break down walls and who include." 

Thangaraj told participants that "the United States has difficulties
operating in the world because we think we are the world." He encouraged
listeners to "think of the global community." He reminded listeners that the
global village has become local. Products of the modern world have been
extended worldwide, he said.

"What does it mean to talk of unity in this kind of global community? It
comes only through a recognition, affirmation and celebration of our
differences, and an intense engagement to remove the disparities among us,"
he said. 

A delegation of students from Africa provided an example of Thangaraj's
theme. They said the theme was important to them because of Africa's many
divisions. "We live in a world torn by differences," they said. "Meetings
such as this give us the opportunity to know one another, to find out what
is going on elsewhere in the world, and to tell others about Africa." 

Speaking to the students at the closing worship service, Wilke said, "The
future of the church is right here, right in this room." 

Another opportunity to break down walls and put faith into action came when
students participated in one of more than 10 community outreach options.
Students spent hours cleaning, painting, sorting, visiting and building, and
reading to children. 

"Everybody needs love, and this is an opportunity to share some," said Robyn
Selder, a student at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La.

Kelly Laurtsema, a student at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.,
observed, "It is part of the Christian faith to spend time serving others.

"This weekend, these student leaders tackled some of the toughest issues
facing our church and our world," Laurtsema said. "In the midst of trying to
find solutions to daunting challenges, they are modeling a new way of
respecting differences and including all voices. The church would do well to
follow the example of these students, and let the walls come tumblin' down!"

 
The students approved resolutions on justice for farm workers; basic
recycling of aluminum cans, one-time-use drinking containers, and plastic
and glass bottles; and the Global Democracy Promotion Act of 2001.

Herbert Brisbon, a student at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, was
elected chairman of the UMSM steering committee.
 
Also elected to the 2001-2002 steering committee were Scott Carnes, Southern
Illinois University; Christina Wright, Northwestern University, Evanston,
Ill.; Karma Wood, West Virginia University; Victor Massaquoi, Centenary
College, Hackettstown, N.J.; Glen Sears, University of Kansas; Robyn
Selders, Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, La.; Karen Alley,
Montana State University; Rufaro Gwarada, University of California-Davis;
Lily Fawn White, Oklahoma State University; Erika Muñoz, University of
Texas, Pan Am; Larry Ineno, California State University at Long Beach; Kenia
da Silva Guimarez, Clark Atlanta University; and Paul Perez, Michigan State
University.
 
More information on the United Methodist Student Movement and the Student
Forum is available from the Campus Ministry Section, P.O. Box 340007,
Nashville, TN 37203-0007. Information is also available at the Student
Movement's Web site, http://www.umsm.org/, and at the Board of Higher
Education and Ministry's site, www.gbhem.org.

# # #

*Ewers is the staff executive of the Office of Interpretation of the United
Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry in Nashville, Tenn.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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