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GA06093
PHEWA awards
Former director Rodney T. Martin remembered; ministries celebrated
by Shane Whisler
BIRMINGHAM, June 19 – The Presbyterian Health Education and Welfare Association used a video clip and personal recollections to honor former director Rodney T. Martin during Sunday's PHEWA awards at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Martin, who died last year at age 84, was a Presbyterian elder who led PHEWA from 1972-1990. He is credited with pioneering new models for social-justice work and mentoring countless young pastors and activists.
With gratitude, former GA moderator Rick Ufford-Chase recounted some of his experiences as a prot*g* of Martin.
"Rod took me under his wing as I discerned a place for myself in the world," Ufford-Chase said. "I still feel deeply connected to the church, in part because of who Rod was."
PHEWA president, the Rev. Bob Brashear of New York City, introduced a series of five presenters and four winners of awards in a variety of social-justice ministries from Chickasha, OK, to the Presbytery of the Cascades.
The four recipients who were present told stories of God's powerful call to serve persons with struggles who are often unseen or avoided by the majority of the population and many Christians.
The Rev. Jasper Keith of Greater Atlanta Presbytery, who earned the John Rea Thomas award for specialized pastoral ministries, received the honor on behalf of his teachers and colleagues. He said his teachers are the "saints who cry out in their suffering."
Keith recounted a pivotal moment in his ministry when a frail and disheveled woman in a residential-care facility stopped him in the hall and asked, "Does God love me?" When he reached in his pocket to read from Psalms, the woman stopped him with a wrinkled, arthritic hand.
Keith recalled her saying. "Don't pull the book on me. What I really want to know is, do you care for us?"
How people of faith respond to the questions "Does God love me?" and "Do you care for me?" from anguished persons reveals the true heart of their mission and ministry, Keith said. Many Christians are uncomfortable looking in the direction of the struggle to care for marginalized persons, he said.
A speaker on behalf of two small congregations in Indian Nations Presbytery cautioned congregations who invite the intentional process of transformation into their lives. The Rev. Barbara Hunt serves Oklahoma congregations in Chickasha and Anadarko, which together earned the Community Transformation Award. She traced the acceleration of community ministry and congregational revitalization following the national transforming congregations conference in 2004.
"When you make yourselves truly available and accessible to the will of God," Hunt said, "you better buckle your seatbelts."
Other PHEWA awards:
(1) Florence Iverson Kraft Award to Celebration of Life Presbyterian Church, Mesa, AZ
(2) Nancy Jennings Award to The Opening Doors Task Force of the Presbytery of the Cascades
(3) Margaret A. Fuad Award to Dr. George Perkins, Louisville, KY
PHEWA, created by the General Assembly in 1955, is an umbrella organization for 10 networks that provide resources and support to Presbyterians involved in social welfare and justice ministries.
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