wfn.org | Jan Love is nominee for Women's Division post

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

March 8, 2004	News media contact: Linda Bloom7(646)369-37597New York
newsdesk@umcom.org 7  ALL-WI-I{094}

NOTE: A photograph of Jan Love is available at umns.umc.org.

By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK (UMNS) - Jan Love, a United Methodist laywoman active in ecumenical
circles, has been nominated as the new deputy general secretary for the
Women's Division of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

If elected during the division's March 19-22 meeting in Stamford, Conn., Love
would succeed Joyce Sohl, who is retiring at the end of July. The Women's
Division administers the United Methodist Women organization, which has local
units around the world.

An associate professor at the University of South Carolina, Love, 51, is
teaching courses on religion and world politics in the Department of
Religious Studies. From 1982 to 2001, she taught in the university's
Department of Government and International Studies.

"The Women's Division really launched my church involvement in ecumenical
life, so in many respects, it's like going home to those that nurtured me
very early," Love told United Methodist News Service.

She was only 17 years old when nominated by the United Methodist Alabama-West
Florida Annual Conference to serve on what was then the denomination's Board
of Missions. The Women's Division and United Methodist Women fostered an
interest in ecumenical relations that led Love to a long-term involvement
with the World Council of Churches. She was a member of the council's central
committee from 1975 to 1998.

The United Methodist Council of Bishops recognized Love for her "exceptional
leadership in ecumenical arenas" during the 2000 United Methodist General
Conference, the denomination's top legislative body, in Cleveland. She has
served as a member of the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and
Interreligious Concerns for the past four years.

"I think the Women's Division provides one of the best models in the church
of combining the Wesleyan heritage of evangelical witness and commitment to
the needs of poor people," Love said. "That's where I see my calling."

She lives in Columbia, S.C., with her husband, Peter Sederberg, and
16-year-old daughter, Rachel. An adult son, Per, lives in Boston.
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*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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