wfn.org | Black church coordinating committee names final vital congregatio ns

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Black church coordinating committee names final vital congregations

Sept. 23, 1998  Contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
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NOTE: This story is accompanied by a sidebar, UMNS #544.

By Shanta M. Bryant*

WASHINGTON (UMNS) -- The remaining 12 of 25 African American
congregations have been  recommended to become Congregational Resource
Centers (CRCs) for a $1.3 million United Methodist effort that seeks to
strengthen black churches.

The program creates partnerships between growing congregations, or CRCs,
and churches seeking revitalization of their ministries. 

The coordinating committee of the Strengthening the Black Church for the
21st Century Initiative made the recommendations during a three-day
meeting, Sept. 18-20. The proposed CRCs, also called vital
congregations, will be notified individually and will undergo an
accreditation process. The final selection will be announced before a
November training session for vital congregations, said East Ohio Bishop
Jonathan Keaton, the committee chairman.

The first 13 CRCs were approved in September 1997.

The initiative will establish 25 congregational resource centers in all
five jurisdictions of the
United Methodist Church. The CRCs, located in urban, suburban and rural
communities, are expected to train 10 to 15 partner congregations
annually. The centers will serve as places where black congregational
leaders and members can receive help in becoming more effective in
Christian ministry in their own communities. The 1996 General
Conference-approved initiative calls for 400 to 600 partner churches to
be linked with vital congregations by the year 2000. 

"We are ready to make a dent in the goals of the initiative," Keaton
said.

He added that he hopes the work will continue in the next quadrennium. 

"It is valuable work that we are doing," he said. "The task is not going
to be accomplished in
four years. We're not frustrated about it. The goal is attainable, but
just not in four years."

Congregational partnerships have already been formed at two CRCs, Hoover
United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Ark., and St. Mark's United
Methodist Church in Wichita, Kan. Several other partnerships are
scheduled before the end of the year. 

The CRCs enter into covenant relationships with partner congregations to
provide assistance in
areas such as outreach ministries, effective Bible study, developing
budgets and creating
ministries to the unchurched.
  
Andris Y. Salter, the initiative's coordinator, emphasized that the
effort has focused strongly on the needs of partner congregations.  

"In all we do, we try to keep the partner churches in mind," she said.
"We have to build around their needs. Partner churches are the lifeblood
of the church and are really struggling."

Keaton stressed that the initiative's objective of developing covenant
partnerships between congregations is essential for the future of the
black church. 

Partnerships have extended beyond the vital and partner congregations to
include churchwide
agencies. Representatives of denominational agencies have assisted the
committee by providing resource materials and helping shape and develop
content for the CRCs.

"The agencies have been critical in talking about what resources are
available and how the CRCs
could be involved,"  Keaton said. 
 
During the committee meeting, the Rev. Neal Christie, a seminar designer
for the United Methodist Seminars on National and International Affairs,
shared ways that black churches can become involved with The United
Methodist Institute for Faith and Social Action (TUMI) and Children of
Peace in Action (COPIA), two programs of the United Methodist Board of
Church and Society.

TUMI and COPIA would provide a forum for local pastors to explore the
connection between faith and social action, Christie explained, and they
would enable lay and clergy of all ages to participate in leadership
development seminars to strengthen their ministry and mission. 

"This would allow church people to share powerful stories outside of
their normal parameters and make connections in the United Methodist
system," he said.

A pastor of a "revitalized" black church in a crime- and drug-ridden
area of Washington
told the committee members how within a year the church almost doubled
its attendance and expanded its outreach ministries to serve more than
100 people daily.

Congress Heights United Methodist Church was once on the brink of
closing the church doors, said its pastor, the Rev. Sandra Green. Today,
through the Mission Disciples, a mission program of the
Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, volunteers are helping the
church grow in
membership and in serving the community, particularly its children.

The church is now in the process of starting a school to educate the
children in the community.  The school will begin with preschool and
kindergarten classes and will eventually expand into higher grade
levels.

"We made a promise to serve the community," Green said. "We are not
going to stop at
Congress Heights United Methodist Church until we are open 24 hours,
seven days a week to
serve."

The committee also visited John Wesley United Methodist Church in
Baltimore and Emory United Methodist Church in Washington to learn more
about their ministries and worship styles.  

The coordinating committee's next meeting is set for March 4-6, 1999, in
Cincinnati.

For more information on the Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st
Century Initiative or to become a partner congregation, contact Salter
at (937) 227-9400.

# # #

*Bryant is program director of communications and associate editor of
Christian Social Action, the magazine of the United Methodist Board of
Church and Society.
United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
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