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"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 (386
notes).

Note 383 by UMNS on Oct. 14, 1997 at 16:05 Eastern (6102 characters).

CONTACT: Linda Green				   571(10-71B){383}
	    Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470	Oct. 14, 1997

Building global community is task of 
education and ministry, board members told

	NASHVILLE (UMNS) -- Building communities across the battlefields of
civilizations is the challenge facing the United Methodist Board of Higher
Education and Ministry, said the Rev. Roger Ireson, top staff executive, as he
addressed the boards 64 governing members here, Oct. 9-12.
	In his annual address, Ireson spoke of the churchs global nature and said,
the most pressing issue of the 21st Century will be the clash of communities.
The source of future conflict will be cultural, he said. He noted the rising
tensions between western and eastern Christianity such as those shown in the
recent passage of the Russian law restricting religious groups that are not
Russian Orthodox. 
	Consequently a challenge for the 21st century, Ireson said,  is for the world
to learn what it means to live together in fellowship and harmony side by side
with each other.
	The challenge for the Christian church, Ireson said, will be if
confrontations between civilizations will be exacerbated or meditated in ways
in that lead to understanding. 
	"Shared life is only possible when we understand the traditions and context
of others," he said. "Never has there been a more appropriate time in history
to educate a generation in the knowledge of other cultures." 
Ireson said the work and the mission of the board should be about preparing a
new generation for a world of multiplicity. He said the educational process
must be built on a global experience and a greater understanding of factors
that have shaped the world.
As examples of community, Ireson noted the denominations campus ministries
and its church-related institutions, which are "critical in helping a new
generation experience true community and become restless with a divided
church." 
He asked if students will know the richness of faith and tradition in order to
enter into dialogue with others, or if they will have a thin "Macfaith" to
sustain them. "This is the challenge to the teaching church," Ireson said.
Declaring that the boards mission is to prepare a context for faith and
community to serve new generations, he said the hallmark of the board is to
proclaim the Christian witness in ways that will enhance and fulfill
community. "Community is at the center of the task of education," he said. 
	As he talked about the 124 schools, colleges and universities related to the
United Methodist Church, Ireson affirmed the new churchwide study, "Education:
The Gift of Hope" as a resource to help the church see the issues affecting
local schools today. He said the document can inspire the church to embrace
the community through school.
	Continuing with the boards mission, Ireson said much of its work is to
create and enhance community, which undergirds education, personal growth,
spiritual development and ministry.
In order to  build a community of leadership, board members approved a
promotion to encourage more churches to pay their fair share to support the
Ministerial Education Fund, the financial lifeblood for 13 United Methodist
seminaries, the course of study, scholarships, and training and supporting
clergy leadership for the church. 
"Nothing is as important to the future of the church as its quality of
leadership," said the Rev. John E. Harnish, director of the boards Division
of Ordained Ministry. 
In the early 1970s, the Ministerial Education Fund provided 35 percent of the
cost of seminary education, today it provides about 17 percent and projections
indicate that after the turn of the century, it will drop to 12 percent, he
said.
 Noting that on any Sunday there are 40,000 United Methodist pulpits, Harnish
said, the fund is essential to preparing people to fill them and that is
critical to the whole future of the church. 
	In addition to  training clergy in the United States, Harnish said the
division, is preparing clergy for the rapidly growing church in Africa and the
emerging church in Europe.
	Building community on global battlefields is a mission of the boards Section
on Deacons and Diaconal Ministries. The unit has accepted an invitation from
the Rev. Elena Stepanova, a board member and Russian pastor, to conduct a
seminar at the Moscow seminary on the order of the deacon and diaconal
ministry. 
The section also is preparing to work with the council of bishops to sponsor a
forum on the meaning of the Disciplines mandate of "leading the congregation
in interpreting the needs, concerns and hopes of the world" and "expressing a
ministry of compassion and justice," which essentially is relating the altar
and the marketplace, said Paul Van Buren, director of professional ministry
development. 
 Other efforts at building community include a mission caravan to minister
next year in Haiti and in the Sand Mountain Parish of Alabama. 
Because of discrimination against ethnic minority students on college
campuses, the board requested the Division of Higher Education act to ensure
equal access for all people who apply to institutions of higher education.
Board members also learned:
7 that the new vice chancellor for Africa University,  to be selected in
November, will take office Jan. 1;
7 that a National Deacon and Diaconal Ministries Consultation will be held
Oct. 22-25, 1998, in Houston, Texas;
7 that Exploration 98, the biennial event for youth and young adults
considering the ordained ministry as a vocation, will be held Nov. 13-15,
1998, in Los Angeles;
7 that 1,057 endorsed United Methodist chaplains are serving throughout the
world;
7 that a letter describing the tax status of the new deacon is coming soon
from the Internal Revenue Service.
The board also sent a resolution of appreciation to the family of the late
Robert Davis, who served as a staff member of the agency from 1962-1967 and
went on to serve as the president of two United Methodist-related colleges.
Davis died of a heart attack Oct. 5.
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