wfn.org | Concern for Workers Task Force

[owner-umethnews@ecunet.org]

"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3451 notes).

Note 3451 by UMNS on Feb. 24, 1997 at 16:22 Eastern (4796 characters).

SEARCH:   Workers, unemployed, underemployed, United Methodist

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Joretta Purdue                       97(10-30-71B){3451}
          Washington, D.C.  (202) 546-8722           Feb. 24, 1997

Concern for Workers Task Force
organizes, sets goals, names leaders

     KANSAS CITY, Mo. (UMNS) -- The organizational meeting of the
United Methodist Concern for Workers Task Force, held here Feb.
21-22, will presumably be the only one held in 1997.
     The resolution passed by the denomination's 1996 General
Conference to create the group did not provide funding for its
work. As a result, the boards of Global Ministries and of Church
and Society are providing funds for meetings and conference calls
that were not expected at the time the agencies outlined their
budget needs for the 1997-2000 quadrennium.
     Money needed for specific projects will be sought by the task
force, which includes five members named by the Board of Global
Ministries, five by Board of Church and Society, and five at-large
members.
     The task force decided to seek funding for a consultation
tentatively slated for November 1998 on a theme having to do with
the church joining in the struggle for workplace peace and
justice. Such a conference was mentioned in the legislation passed
by the General Conference.
     Funds also will be sought to create a brochure and resource
packets for local churches and to hire a part-time consultant to
help conferences, districts and congregations enhance or establish
ministries with workers, the unemployed and the underemployed.
     The legislation creating the task force includes suggestions
that the group explore celebration, education and advocacy with
workers.
     At the meeting, a theological and historical groundwork were
laid, goals listed and a timeline sketched out.
     An immediate task will be creating a data base or network of
individuals, congregations and larger church bodies already
involved in these ministries.
     Several members expressed the hope that their work would not
be what one called "a big paper chase." Discussion of the national
consultation grappled with several issues, including the design of
the consultation and how to make it "a safe place" for minimum-
hourly-wage workers if middle management workers or business
representatives were included. 
     As with any diverse group, task force members discovered that
although they used the same words, they did not always intend the
same meaning.
     Members selected Bishop Fritz Mutti, Topeka, Kan., chairman;
Katie Foster of the Atlanta metropolitan area, vice chairwoman;
and Jeanette Bartz of the Detroit area, recorder. 
     Thirteen of the 15 task force members attended, joined by
consultants Jerry Meszaros, director of the Religion and Labor
Council of Kansas City, and the Rev. Michael Szpak, religion-labor
coordinator for the AFL-CIO.
     Included among task force members are United Methodists who
work with Asian immigrant women, Puerto Rican and Mexican farm
laborers, migrant workers, janitors, electronic assemblers, and
organized labor and community-based labor organizations, as well
as church or interfaith organizations in labor-related ministries.
     Work of the task force is being coordinated by Mark Harrison,
a staff member of the Board of Church and Society. In addition,
three staff members of the Board of Global Ministries
participated.
     The task force decided to add two youth and young adult
representatives if funding could be found to sustain their
membership. Likewise, depending on obtaining financial support,
the group will extend an invitation to each of the denomination's
Pan-Methodist partners to send one participant.
     The members of the task force named by the Board of Global
Ministries are Bishop Jonathan Keaton, North Canton, Ohio; Mutti;
Marilyn Outslay, Aloha, Ore.; the Rev. Olga Suarez, Arecibo, P.R.;
and Alejandrino Valera, Baguio City, Philippines. All but Mutti
are currently directors of the board. Mutti was a director last
quadrennium.
     Members named by the Board of Church and Society are the Rev.
Minerva Carca¤o, Dallas; the Rev. Theodore C. Collier, Kansas
City, Mo.; Scott Douglas, Birmingham, Ala.; the Rev. Pharis
Harvey, Washington; and the Rev. Darren Cushman Wood,
Indianapolis. Collier is a director of that board.
     The at-large members are Bartz, Foster, Nelson Carrasquillo,
Glassboro, N.J.; Chuck Deppert, Indianapolis; and Young Shin,
Oakland, Calif.
     The next meeting of the full task force is being planned for
February 1998.
                              #  #  #

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 To make suggestions or give your comments, send a note to 
 umns@ecunet.org or Susan_Peek@ecunet.org

 To unsubscribe, send the single word "unsubscribe" (no quotes)
 in a mail message to umethnews-request@ecunet.org

-----------------------------------------------------------------------