Bush, Sirleaf invited to address 2008 General Conference
Jun. 5, 2006 News media contact: Linda Green * (615) 7425470* Nashville {329}
NOTE: Photographs and related reports, UMNS stories #328 and #330, are available at http://umns.umc.org.
TAMPA, Fla. (UMNS) - The Commission on the General Conference is inviting the president of the United States and the president of Liberia - both United Methodists - to address the denomination's 2008 General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas.
"It would be an honor to hear from United Methodist heads of state," said the Rev. Gail Murphy-Geiss, chairwoman of the commission. "It would be fitting to hear from President Bush as we are meeting in his native Texas. President Johnson Sirleaf is an extraordinary woman leading the effort to rebuild a country ravaged by war."
The 2008 General Conference meets April 23-May 2. About 1,000 delegates from the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia meet every four years to decide issues of church law and polity.
George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, are members of Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, where both taught Sunday school prior to his election. He is the third Methodist to serve as U.S. president. The others were William McKinley (1897-1901) and Rutherford Hayes (1877-1881).
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is an active member of First United Methodist Church in Monrovia, Liberia. Before her inauguration in January, she participated in a worship service led by Liberian United Methodist Bishop John Innis and Bishop Peter Weaver of Boston, who was then president of the Council of Bishops. The United Methodist Church has been active in Liberia since 1822 and is the largest Protestant denomination in the West African nation. In 1977, Liberian Bishop Bennie D. Warner was chosen to be vice president of the country.
While the Commission on the General Conference traditionally invites the president of the United States to address the assembly, this will be the second consecutive conference where two United Methodist heads of state will be invited to speak.
In 2004, President Bush and Macedonia President Boris Trajkovski were invited to address the conference. Bush did not appear, though Laura Bush sent personal greetings to the assembly. Trajkovski, who had been scheduled to address the delegates, was killed in a plane crash that February. In 1996, United Methodist Hillary Rodham Clinton, wife of then-U.S. President Bill Clinton, addressed the General Conference in Denver.
News media contacts: Linda Green, UMNS, (615) 742-5470, or newsdesk@umcom.org; or Stephen Drachler, Public Information, (615) 742-5411, or sdrachler@umcom.org.
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United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org
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