wfn.org | Church must emphasize Africa in 2005-08, bishop says

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

May 5, 2003 News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn. 
10-31-71BPI{266}

NOTE: A photograph of Bishop Felton Edwin May is available.

DALLAS (UMNS) - When Bishop Felton Edwin May looks at Africa, he sees
widespread "weapons of mass destruction": HIV/AIDS, poverty, lack of
education.

That's why he wants the United Methodist Council of Bishops to make Africa a
mission emphasis for the church for 2005-08. May, chairperson of the Holistic
Strategy for Africa Team, will bring a report to the international council's
meeting next fall, detailing what the church is doing in ministry on the
continent and identifying areas of need. Its many programs include the
bishops' "Hope for the Children of Africa" appeal.

"I know where weapons of mass destruction are that are not hidden," May told
the bishops at their spring meeting, April 28-May 2 in Addison, Texas.
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, poverty and the lack of education - these
are weapons of mass destruction that are out in the open, he said.

May, who leads the church's Washington Area, wants the bishops "to affirm the
need to constantly lift up Africa as a missional priority" for the church.
"We dare not step back from our commitment to sub-Saharan Africa. Our
investment has been great, and the dividends are about to be realized through
the establishment of a strong United Methodist presence and witness on that
continent.

"The weapons of mass destruction can be dismantled and shalom can come forth
if we stay the course," he said.

The church's General Council on Ministries is voting on whether to affirm the
Holistic Strategy for Africa as a missional priority for 2005-08. It also is
voting on similar requests related to a Holistic Strategy for Latin America
and the Caribbean and an emphasis on Children, Poverty and Violence. The
voting, being done online, will end May 7. 

Besides missional priority status, the Council on Ministries also has the
options of supporting an emphasis as either a special program or a theme for
the church, said Daniel Church, top staff executive. After consultation with
the Council of Bishops, the ministries council would make its recommendation
to General Conference, the denomination's top legislative assembly, for the
next four-year period of work. The assembly convenes again next spring in
Pittsburgh.

If Africa becomes a missional priority, the church's boards and agencies
would be asked to prioritize their program work to support a holistic
approach to ministry there, May said.

The task force has identified more than $42 million in money committed by
those agencies for programs directed toward needs in Africa in 2005-08,
according to a report presented by May to the council.

While beset with staggering problems, Africa is also a continent where the
United Methodist Church is experiencing strong growth in membership. It
accounts for 16 percent of the denomination's total members, according to
2002 figures from the General Council on Finance and Administration.

United Methodists have a long history of ministry in Africa through churches,
hospitals, schools, orphanages and relief programs. Volunteers In Mission
teams provide hands-on help with health care services, building construction
and other ministries. The church's Africa University in Zimbabwe is training
future leaders for the continent. Other programs are aimed at resettling
refugees and getting rid of the countless landmines in countries recovering
from civil war.

The denomination's boards and agencies have cooperated "magnificently" in
programs for Africa, May told the bishops. The task force's meeting in Dakar,
Senegal, last September drew more than 55 people representing the top staff
executives, bishops and general church lay people to review the work being
done in Africa. 

He commended the general agencies' top staff executives and thanked the Board
of Global Ministries for its help in pulling together information for the
task force. The board would have administrative responsibility for the
mission emphasis, according to a report from May.

When the task force's report is presented to the council next fall, he said,
"it will stagger the imagination that we are doing far more in Africa than we
had ever dreamed or imagined."

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United Methodist News Service
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