wfn.org | Talbert, Powers receive honors

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (2886 notes).

Note 2886 by SUSAN PEEK on April 22, 1996 at 15:22 Eastern (2732 characters).

SEARCH: Talbert, Powers, MFSA, United Methodist, General
Conference, homosexuality, segregation, discrimination, gay,
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025 {2889}                                          April 22, 1996

General Conference '96

Talbert, Powers
receive MFSA honors

     DENVER (UMNS) -- An African-American bishop who triumphed
over the bitter pain of segregation and a United Methodist
clergywoman who publicly revealed her lesbianism last year were
honored April 20 by the Methodist Federation for Social Action
(MFSA).

     As part of its special event during the 1996 United Methodist
General Conference here, the unofficial church-related
organization presented the Lee and Mae Ball Awards to Bishop
Melvin G. Talbert of the San Francisco Area and the Rev. Jeanne
Audrey Powers of New York.

     Talbert, currently president of the National Council of
Churches, recalled a trip to Lookout Mountain in Georgia that he
took with his wife early in their marriage. When they approached
the water fountains at the tourist spot, they noticed two signs.
One fountain was marked "for whites only." The sign over the other
fountain read "for dogs."

     "I know what it means to be put down," Talbert said. "But I'm
here tonight by the grace of God."

     The Rev. George McClain, MFSA's executive director, paid
tribute to Talbert's untiring fight for social justice. He
remembered a time when Talbert, serving as bishop in Seattle,
greeted a United Methodist Board of Pensions meeting there.

     "You urged them to take the next step in joining the
ecumenical movement toward divestment in South Africa," McClain
said. "That meeting was a turning point in that board's attitude."

     Powers -- honored as a "courageous clergywoman" for her
witness against church policy on gays and lesbians -- herself
saluted the 15 United Methodist bishops who released a statement
on the issue this week.

     She called their expression of personal pain about the
denomination's discrimination against gays and lesbians "a
historic moment for the church."

     Powers compared their situation to action taken about 20
years ago when three Episcopal bishops ordained a group of women
as priests, "at great risk and considerable cost." Today, she
noted, there are a thousand female Episcopal priests.

     Seven of the 15 bishops signing the statement attended the
MFSA event and received a standing ovation after their
introductions.

     Entertainment for the evening was provided by Harmony: A
Colorado Chorale, Denver's oldest gay chorus, and Paula
Westerfield, an HIV-positive singer and songwriter who helps raise
funds for AIDS service organizations.

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