wfn.org | Church initiatives address growing needs of ethnic groups

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

Feb. 6, 2004	   News media contact: Kathy Gilbert7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn. 7 E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org  ALL{042}

NOTE: Photographs are available at umns.umc.org. For related coverage of the
Pre-General Conference News Briefing, see UMNS stories #033-035, #040, #044
and #045.

By Kathy L. Gilbert and Linda Green*

PITTSBURGH (UMNS) - In diverse ways, five United Methodist initiatives are
leading the church's response to the growth of ethnic populations around the
world.

Responding to the growing needs of such cultural groups was a focus of "The
Ethnic Initiatives: Looking Ahead," a Jan. 31 panel discussion at the
Pre-General Conference News Briefing in Pittsburgh. The briefing, sponsored
by United Methodist Communications, brought together 280 church journalists,
first-elected delegates and others to focus on issues that will come before
the 2004 General Conference.

The Rev. Mark Nakagawa, panel moderator, pointed out that the 2000 U.S.
Census found three out of every four people in the United States is a person
of color.

"The growth edges for this millennium, for this century, will come from
racial-ethnic communities," he said. "Therefore, the growth edges of our
church will come from these communities as well. These initiatives are a gift
to the church."

The five ethnic initiatives will seek continued funding for the next four
years when the General Conference meets in Pittsburgh, April 27-May 7. The
programs, and the amounts they are seeking, are:
7	Native American Comprehensive Plan, $1.3 million.
7	Asian American Language Ministry, $1.8 million.
7	Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century, $2.27 million.
7	Korean American National Plan, $3.3 million.
7	National Plan for Hispanic Ministry, $3.8 million.

Instead of making individual presentations on each of their initiatives,
representatives of the five ethnic programs spoke about what their ministries
are accomplishing as a group.

"Together the ethnic initiatives of the United Methodist Church are putting
on the armor of light," said Cheryl Stevenson, coordinator of Strengthening
the Black Church for the 21st Century.

"Healing and rebirth in congregations and communities are the images of the
ethnic initiatives," she said. Each initiative is working to start new
congregations, revitalize existing ministries and serve as resources to
churches, she said. 

Leadership formation for lay people and clergy has been a priority of the
ethnic initiatives, said the Rev. Elm Rivera, director of the National Plan
for Hispanic Ministry.

Each initiative is responding to its constituents using the language and
culture understood by their communities, he said.

"One of the components of outreach in ethnic communities is producing
resources in different languages. Each ethnic plan is actively involved in
producing language resources," said the Rev. Jong Sung Kim, director of Asian
American Language Ministry.

Another important component of the plans is reaching out to young people,
said the Rev. Brandon Cho, executive director of Advancing United Methodist
Ministry Among Korean Americans.

"It has been said that if your vision is for a year, plant wheat, if for a
decade, plant trees, if for a lifetime, plant people. These five initiatives
are about planting people."

All the plans work closely with the United Methodist-related seminaries,
general church agencies and annual conferences to "plant our next generation
for Christ," he said.

"We are celebrating what has happened through these plans; the entire church
has embraced these plans as a creative phenomenon," said the Rev. Thom White
Wolf Fassett, representative of the Native American Comprehensive Plan.

The initiatives are creating new models of ministry, he said.

"We are the laboratories of the ministries of tomorrow, and we hope and pray
that these models can be picked up and used in the renewal and rebirth of the
United Methodist Church."
# # #
*Gilbert and Green are United Methodist News Service news writers based in
Nashville, Tenn. UMNS is a unit of United Methodist Communications.

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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