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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 (2905 notes).

Note 2904 by SUSAN PEEK on April 24, 1996 at 17:27 Eastern (2923 characters).

SEARCH: commission, men, United, conference, autonomy

043 {2907}                                           April 24, 996

General Conference '96

General Conference forms churchwide
Commission on United Methodist Men
     
     DENVER,(UMNS) -- The longstanding dream of United Methodist
Men to have an independent agency to advocate their concerns
became reality when the 1996 General Conference voted April 24 to
create a churchwide Commission on United Methodist Men.

     Accountable to the General Council on Ministries, the new
commission will oversee the coordination and resources for men's
ministries within the United Methodist Church. It will continue to
coordinate the church's office of scouting ministries and to 
support the denomination's telephone prayer ministry.

     The new men's organization also will retain maintenance of
the "Moving United Methodist" program, which tracks members who
move to new cities.

     The United Methodist Men's organization is currently a
program unit of the General Board of Discipleship in Nashville,
Tenn.

     Earlier this month, both the United Methodist Men's
Foundation and the National Association of Conference Presidents
of United Methodist Men called for creation of a separate agency
within the church where lay men can control their own programming
and decision-making. 

     "United Methodist Men have dreamed and worked diligently for
many years to achieve a level of ownership of their ministry
within the church that will allow them to fully express that faith
and their gifts," said Foye Webb, executive for United Methodist
Men at the Board of Discipleship. "This new General Commission is
the realization of that dream."

     According to Larry Powell of Las Vegas, presenter of the
legislation, the new men's agency would not add to the
denomination's budget, because the money designated for United
Methodist Men would be transferred from the Board of Discipleship
to the new commission. 
      
     Gilbert Hanke, Nacogdoches, Texas, said it has been a
longstanding goal of United Methodist Men to become financially
independent. As a freestanding agency, the commission likely will
receive more money from local United Methodist men's units, he
added. 
     
     He predicted that the Commission on United Methodist Men
would be financially solvent within four years, so that funding
received from the World Service Fund would be used elsewhere in
the church for ministry.

     The Rev. Ezra Earl Jones, general secretary of the Board of
Discipleship, congratulated the United Methodist Men on their new
commission. He said the Board of Discipleship will do all it can
to help make "transition" as smooth as possible and "We will
continue to support them through the next quadrennium." 

                              #  #  #

                                             -- Linda Green

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