wfn.org | Re: United Methodist Daily News note 400

[owner-umethnews@ecunet.org (United Methodist News list)]

Reply-to: owner-umethnews@ecunet.org (United Methodist News list)
"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 (403
notes).

Note 403 by UMNS on Oct. 22, 1997 at 15:57 Eastern (3050 characters).

CONTACT: Linda Bloom						  591(10-71B){403}
		New York (212) 870-3803				Oct. 22, 1997

Mission board launches
'Millennium Fund for Mission'

	STAMFORD, Conn. (UMNS) -- A "Millennium Fund for Mission," aimed at building
or rebuilding churches in Africa, Europe and urban America, was launched with
fanfare here Oct. 21 during the annual meeting of the United Methodist Board
of Global Ministries.
	Acting on a decision made last spring to implement a program to address
mission infrastructure needs, the board has created the fund "to remember the
birth of Christ by enabling the rebirth of the churches," according to the
Rev. Robert Harman, a deputy general secretary.
	The project has been labeled as a fund, he said, because the $9 million in
seed money from the board "is simply a down payment" for the monies needed to
sustain the global church.
	"We're not talking about balancing operating budgets ... the focus is on what
is needed to maintain ministries over the long term," Harman explained.
	Among the programs the fund will support are the purchase, recovery or
renovation of church properties; development of institutions to train mission
workers; improvements in the communications capacity of churches; provision of
temporary services related to the protection or maintenance of church and
mission properties, and development of new programs and ministries.
	The larger goal of the Millennium Fund is to involve the entire church in
giving money, time and material resources.
	Bishop Dan Solomon, board president, noted that the $9 million in seed money
sounds like a large sum "until you place it up against the enormity of the
need."
	It is enough money, however, to challenge United Methodists to join "a bold
mission march into a new millennium," he declared.
	With those words, board directors, staff and visitors literally marched out
of the meeting room, pinning pledge cards to cardboard doors as they passed
through.
	The Rev. Randolph Nugent, in his Oct. 20 general secretary's report to
directors, said, "a great mission moment is, indeed, possible" and urged them
to enable and mobilize all local churches for mission.
	"Local churches are the storehouses for mission ideas," he said, adding that
those ideas often involved low cost but high return.
	Joy Solomon, the bishop's wife, offered an example as she reported how the
Louisiana Annual Conference has collected 30,000 pairs of tennis shoes for
refugee children in Africa to protect their feet from sharp, lava rocks.
	In addition to money, that type of material resource is being sought for the
Millennium Fund, along with volunteer services and supportive partnerships.
	The fund is part of the General Advance. Overall contributions can be made to
Advance No. 9822200-0. More specifically, gifts for U.S. projects should be
directed to Advance No. 982701-2; for Africa, Advance No. 011111-0 XX and for
Europe, Advance No. 000396-OR-A.
	Gifts can be made through local churches or forwarded to Advance GCFA, P.O.
Box 9068, GPO, New York, NY 10087-9068.
#  #  #

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

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

 This article sent to both the umethnews list <umethnews-request@ecunet.org>
 and also to the Worldwide Faith News list wfn-news <majordomo@wfn.org>
 Look at the header files to figure out which this is.

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