wfn.org | Women's Division elects Jan Love as new leader

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

March 22, 2004	News media contact: Linda Bloom7(646) 369-37597New York7
E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org 7  ALL-WI-I{115}

NOTE: A head-and-shoulders photograph of Jan Love is available at
http://umns.umc.org.

By Linda Bloom*

STAMFORD, Conn. (UMNS) - During her long involvement with the World Council
of Churches, Jan Love has come into contact with women from many different
countries.

She has noticed the cultural peculiarities that make women different and the
similarities they share. She also has encountered situations when political
movements have misused religion in a way to limit opportunities and even
basic freedom for women.

What women need, she said, is the chance to thrive and gain leadership
skills. 

"A lot of women across the world are trying to carve out space where they can
not only pursue their own callings, but also stay more open to their gifts
and concerns," she told United Methodist News Service.

Love, 51, will take those findings with her as she assumes the chief staff
leadership position with the Women's Division of the United Methodist Board
of Global Ministries. The division is the administrative arm of the 1
million-member United Methodist Women.

She was elected to that position by division directors during their March
19-22 spring meeting in Stamford and will succeed Joyce Sohl, who is retiring
July 31.

Love paid tribute to both Sohl and Theressa Hoover, a former Women's Division
chief executive, in a brief speech after the election, which she called "a
high moment in my life."

Genie Banks, Women's Division president, said Love would be a creative and
determined leader who would guide the organization "into the future with
faith."

A "preacher's kid" and Alabama native, Love's interest in global issues began
early. In 1970, while in high school, she became a director of what was then
the denomination's Board of Missions. That involvement served as a
springboard for her attendance at the 1975 World Council of Churches in
Nairobi, Kenya, where she was first elected to that organization's Central
Committee.

Love remained as a United Methodist representative on the 158-member WCC
Central Committee until 1998, filling a number of leadership roles. From 1983
to 1991, she was part of the WCC's 25-member executive committee. She served
as moderator of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs from
1992 to 1998 and was part of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation
in the WCC from 1999 to 2002. She currently is moderator of the global group
that oversees the council's Decade to Overcome Violence.

The United Methodist Council of Bishops recognized Love for her "exceptional
leadership in ecumenical arenas" during the meeting of the 2000 General
Conference, the denomination's top legislative body.

United Methodist Women is involved in some of the worldwide ecumenical
networks with which Love is familiar, and she said she is looking forward to
connecting with other UMW contacts.

The organization has a long history of global witness, and Love wants to
strengthen that commitment to the Wesleyan notion of social holiness. She
hopes UMW "can build on the work they've already begun to embrace the energy
and skills and capacities and perspectives of young women."

Her academic career also has centered on a world view. After studying African
politics as an undergraduate at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla., she
received a master's degree and doctorate in political science, with a focus
on international relations, from Ohio State University in 1977 and 1983,
respectively.

She has taught at the University of South Carolina since 1982, serving as an
assistant and associate professor in the Department of Government and
International Studies. In 2001, she became an associate professor in the
Department of Religious Studies at the university, where she teaches courses
on religion and world politics.

Since 2000, she has been serving a four-year term on the United Methodist
Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns. She also is a
member of the board of directors of Church World Service.

Love and her husband, Peter Sederberg, live in Columbia, S.C., with their
16-year-old daughter, Rachel. They also have an adult son, Per, who lives in
Boston.
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*Linda Bloom is a UMNS news writer based in New York.

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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