wfn.org | UMNS# 04523-Pastors of black congregations to focus on staying

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

Pastors of black congregations to focus on staying power 

Nov. 5, 2004	 News media contact:   Linda  Green * (615) 7425470* 
Nashville {04523}

NOTE: A photograph of the Rev. Vance Ross is available at
http://umns.umc.org.

By Linda Green*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - United Methodist pastors of African-American
churches will gather Jan. 4-7 in Atlanta to focus on how to sustain pastoral
power in their ministries.

"Tarrying for Power, Living in Power" is the theme of the national biannual
conference, which affords those who have primary responsibility for the
spiritual health of African-American congregations the opportunity to retool,
refocus and renew.

"The convocation is a gathering for information, inspiration and
encouragement of those who pastor African-American churches and those who
support them," said the Rev. Vance Ross, staff member of the United Methodist
Board of Discipleship, the event's sponsor.

"It is intended to give culturally authentic voice to the God-given visions,
desires, gifts and ministries of those who pastor and support
African-American churches in our predominantly Caucasian denomination," he
said. 

Initiated in 1999, the convocation has become a popular leadership and
training event that benefits the pastors of the more than 2,500 black
churches of the 26,000 United Methodist congregations in the United States.
This fourth convocation will augment the denomination's Strengthening the
Black Church for the 21st Century initiative through its focus on pastoral
leadership. 

The convocation affords pastors who are undergoing the same challenges a
venue of worship and acknowledgment that their circumstances are not
illegitimate but are commonplace. A pastor of an African-American United
Methodist congregation "stands in a unique place ... (and) in a very tenuous
position," Ross said, by being the representative minister of an "overlooked,
undervalued and often misrepresented population."    

Because genuine expression from an African perspective is so different from
that of other traditions, these "pastors are often maligned, ignored and
scorned," Ross said. However, this is not a gathering for those who view
themselves as victims, he said. "Privileged to be called by God, these
pastors come together to be recharged for ministry in the connection they
love." 

The theme of "Tarrying for Power, Living in Power" points pastors to the Holy
Spirit, the source of their ministerial strength, he said. "In these days and
times, growth that enhances the commonwealth of God can only happen when
leadership, especially pastoral leadership, is careful to get in a place to
receive the saving power God gives through the Holy Spirit."

Numerous people misinterpret the convocation as being an African-American
pastors convocation, when in fact it is convocation for pastors of African
American churches - a point that organizers constantly reinforce.  

Cross-racial appointments in the church have led clergy to experience ethnic
groups different from their own. "Caucasian and other pastors who have had
the pleasure of serving African-American churches testify to the loneliness,
the isolation and other unique challenges that come when they take on this
yoke," Ross said. The gathering provides all with instances to retool,
refocus and recharge, he said.

The convocation, hosted by Cascade United Methodist Church, will be held at
the Omni Hotel at Atlanta's CNN Center.

Registration information and other details are available from the Board of
Discipleship's Web site,
http://www.gbod.org/evangelism/events/african_american/default.html, or by
contacting Deborah J. Carvin at dcarvin@gbod.org or (877) 899-2780, Ext.
7051.
 

*Green is a news writer for United Methodist News Service.

News media contact: Linda Green, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service