wfn.org | Bishops focus on worldwide crisis facing children

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

April 29, 1998	Contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
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NOTE: A logo for the Bishops' Initiative on Children and Poverty is
available with this story.

By Robert Lear*

LINCOLN, Neb. (UMNS) -- Singing, running, laughing children claimed the
attention of United Methodist bishops gathered here from around the
world April 28.
	
Led by a large banner bearing the words "Children and Poverty," the
youngsters trooped into the bishops' spring meeting, welcomed the church
leaders to Lincoln in a variety of languages, and set the stage for
several hours devoted to emphasizing the Bishops' Initiative on Children
and Poverty.
	
Colorful drawings by children decorated the walls of the Cornhusker
Hotel ballroom, and a large banner related the initiative directly to
Lincoln and Nebraska. After their greeting, the children fanned out
through the room, putting stickers on bishops and visitors. Later, after
dinner, a chorus of two dozen students from a nearby elementary school
sang for the bishops and their spouses.

The initiative on children is one of several topics on the agenda at the
Council of Bishops' semi-annual meeting here. The 100 bishops from the
United States, Africa, Europe and the Philippines are meeting through
May 1.
	
"At least 30,000 children die every day from poverty and malnutrition,"
Bishop Jack Meadors, of Jackson, Miss., told his colleagues. Noting that
the bishops had been in Lincoln since April 26, he said, "100,000
children have died in the time we have been meeting."

The bishops adopted the initiative in 1996 in response to the worldwide
crisis among children.

A summary of initiative-related efforts in the past year included
meetings with government officials, participation in local, state or
national planning councils and coalitions, and examining programs that
address the needs of children and the poor.
	
The bishops are also trying to raise $12 million during the next three
years through their "Hope for the Children of Africa" appeal. They have
pledged personally more than $100,000 to the effort. People can support
the drive through the denomination's Advance program of designated
giving.  	

"As we look across Africa north to south and east to west, we see
children who are endangered," said Bishop Arthur F. Kulah of Liberia.
"It is an emergency."

A generation of endangered children have a future because of work such
as this project, Kulah said.
	
The bishops endorsed a proposal to expand the initiative on children and
poverty to other denominations participating in the Commission on
Pan-Methodist Cooperation. The commission comprises bishops and lay
members in the United Methodist Church and the three black Methodist
traditions.
	
"Our society and church need a witness of solid support for children and
their families," said Bishop William B. Grove, the Council of Bishops'
ecumenical officer, in outlining the proposal.
	
The plan calls for observing the interfaith Children's Sabbath on Oct.
19 or another appropriate Sunday "to show our commitment to children
endangered by poverty," he said. A goal is to have the Sabbath observed
as widely as possible by 1999 in the African Methodist Episcopal,
African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Christian Methodist Episcopal and
United Methodist churches.

# # #

*Lear is a retired staff member of United Methodist News Service living
in Wernersville, Pa.

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/