wfn.org | Reconciling Congregations Convocation

[owner-umethnews@ecunet.org]

"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (245
notes).

Note 245 by UMNS on July 29, 1997 at 15:46 Eastern (3297 characters).

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

CONTACT: Linda Bloom                              433(10-71B){245}
          New York (212) 870-3803                    July 29, 1997

Reconciling Congregations
plan new regional focus

                    by United Methodist News Service

     A new regional strategy emerged from the fifth national
convocation of Reconciling Congregations July 24-27 in Atlanta.
     Executive director Mark Bowman pointed out that the program -
- which now encompasses 127 congregations, 18 campus ministries,
six annual conferences and various other groups -- has grown far
beyond the capabilities of its small national staff.
     Last year's "Open the Doors" campaign, for example, enrolled
12,000 individuals as Reconciling United Methodists. "To continue
the movement, we really have to develop and empower local
leadership," he explained.
     During regional strategy sessions at the convocation, "a lot
of plans came out ... for regional gatherings and an increased
presence at annual conferences," he said. Eight leadership
training events also will be offered in the coming year.
     But the Atlanta event, where nearly 500 participants focused
on worship and Bible study, was more about coming to God's table,
as the theme emphasized, than setting strategy.
     "The message that was heard again and again and again is that
everyone is welcome at God's Table," Bowman said. "In some ways,
it's like an old-fashioned revival but with a love- and justice-
centered (approach)."
     Members of the Reconciling Congregations Program welcome the
full participation of all people, regardless of sexual
orientation. The convocation is a way "to really model what the
church can be as a body of Christ," according to Bowman, and
energize participants to use that model locally.
     He was pleased at the diversity of this year's event, which
included 30 to 40 college students and seminarians and the same
number of people of color. 
     For the first time, preconvocation forums were offered to
four groups: youth, students and seminarians; clergy; persons of
color; and parents of lesbians, gays and bisexuals.
     The Saturday night banquet honored the 15 bishops who spoke
out on the inclusion of homosexuals in the church during the 1996
United Methodist General Conference. Retired bishops C. Dale White
and Melvin Wheatley Jr. attended and several others sent
greetings.
     In a July 29 telephone interview, White told United Methodist
News Service that he considered the Reconciling Congregations
movement to be "similar in many respects" to the civil rights
movement of the 1960s.
     By "pushing the church to look again at its identity and its
theological convictions," he said, the movement is "raising basic
questions" about the nature of the church and whether it is truly
inclusive.
     White added that he believes congregations "ought to make a
public commitment" in declaring their inclusiveness of homosexuals
and noted their important role in providing pastoral support for
those who still feel "excluded from our fellowship."
                              #  #  #

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

 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

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