wfn.org | Federation Celebrates 90th Anniversary

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
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Note 398 by UMNS on Oct. 21, 1997 at 16:32 Eastern (5298 characters).

CONTACT:	Ralph E. Baker						  586(10-71BP){398}
		Nashville, Tenn.  (615) 742-5470			Oct. 21, 1997

EDITORS NOTE: Photo available.

MFSA marks 90 years of working
for social justice, peace, reconciliation

by Robert Lear*

    WASHINGTON (UMNS) -- Early on a chilly, gray October Sunday morning a band
of United Methodist activists gathered on a downtown street corner here to
mark 90 years of work for social justice by what is said to be the oldest
organization of its kind in any Protestant denomination.
    It was on Dec. 3, 1907, that 25 individuals, including some of the
best-known names in the church of that day, gathered in the Ebbitt hotel to
found the Methodist Federation for Social Service (MFSS).  Long only a memory
to Washingtonians, the Ebbitt stood on the site now occupied by the National
Press Club.
    The Rev. Herbert Welch, later to become one of Methodism's most revered
bishops, was elected first president of MFSS.  Other notable names associated
with the founding include Harry F. Ward, Worth Tippy and Frank Mason North,
author of the hymn long standard in denominational hymnals, "Where Cross the
Crowded Ways of Life."
    Those individuals, and others, associated with the frequently
controversial quest for social justice, were remembered by their spiritual
descendants Oct. 19 in the brief prayer service held as a part of this year's
convention of what now is the Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA).
    Along with remembering the past, the litany on the street corner included
a rededication "to the calling . . . given us, to help the church be:  A
beacon for justice, a catalyst for peace, a champion of creation, a model of
reconciliation."
    From the National Press Building, the MFSA members walked three blocks to
the White House for more prayers.  Unlike the MFSS founders in l907, this
year's activists had to settle for the sidewalk in front of the President's
residence.
    In l907, the MFSS founders were received by President Theodore Roosevelt
inside the White House.  That recognition has not been repeated, mused the
Rev. George D. McClain, MFSA executive director.
    Moving quickly into action, the fledgling organization in l908 drafted the
first Social Creed and got it adopted by the Methodist Episcopal General
Conference.  That conference gave MFSS formal recognition, and more than 1,000
people attended an information meeting.
The MFSS's fortunes prospered under the direction of Bishop Francis J.
McConnell, Harry F. Ward, Winifred Chappell and others until the late l940s
when it became the object of charges of Communism in some popular newspapers
and mass-circulation magazines, and a target of the U.S. House Committee on
Un-American Activities.  At the height of the McCarthy era in the nation the
l952 Methodist General Conference repudiated the MFSA.
    From that point its fortunes sank and it almost passed from the scene
until in l960 the Rev. Lee H. Ball began 13 years as the federation executive.
 His vigorous work, and that of his wife, Mae, led an upswing in membership
and activity.
    Today an independent organization not officially connected to the United
Methodist Church, the federation has about 2,000 members in 30 chapters.  Its
activities and pronouncements continue to be controversial.
    The federation's founders were a "company of brave and farsighted men and
women . . . [whose] dream seemed too grand to be taken seriously," the Rev.
Jeanne Knepper of Portland, Ore., told the approximately 100 people present
for the opening of the MFSA convention.  "We must recapture a grand vision,"
she declared, "because now is the time when the world needs prophetic voices."
    The opening session was held at Capitol Hill United Methodist Church and
Knepper, and other speakers, noted ruefully the large memorial window in the
sanctuary marking the site as the birthplace of J. Edgar Hoover, head of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation during some of MFSA's most painful years.
    In the 90th anniversary celebration's closing session at Foundry United
Methodist Church, the Rev. J. Philip Wogaman, said "there needs to be a
rallying point for individuals who approach the issues courageously –- an
umbrella under which people can gather."  The church, he said, is ignoring
"hurting people and the contribution they can make."
    MFSA presented four Lee and Mae Ball Awards for work in behalf of social
justice.
    Lynda Ann Ewen and John Taylor, Rand, W.Va., were cited for more than two
decades of community activity.  She is a teacher and sociologist and he is a
labor attorney.
    Barbara Ricks Thompson, general secretary of the United Methodist
Commission on Religion and Race, was recognized for a variety of major roles
in the church's work in behalf of racial and ethnic minorities and women.
    Memorial United Methodist Church in Petersburg, Va., and Petersburg Urban
Ministries were cited for many activities in education, medical care,
community rehabilitation and other work.  The United Methodist Board of Church
and Society was honored for its leadership of the church in social justice
issues.
#  #  #
	* Lear is retired director of the Washington office of United Methodist News
Service, now living in Wernersville, Pa.
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