wfn.org | Children make appeal to Mississippi lawmakers

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

Feb. 17, 1999        Contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-71BP{091}

NOTE: A photograph will be available with this story.

By Mary Clay Wadlington*

JACKSON, Miss. (UMNS) - Seeking to be heard by legislators, some 200 United
Methodist children gathered on the steps of the state Capitol and raised
their voices - in prayer.

The prayers were part of a service of celebration held Feb. 15.

"We want to tell you about our world. Will you listen?" read Will Gary, 11,
from Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church. "We can tell you what it's
like in our classrooms, on our playgrounds and in our churches. In the
grown-up world, we have no voice. Will you be our voice?"

The service was led by children, who read prayers written by their peers
from across the state, quoted Scriptures and led the crowd in singing Jesus
Loves the Little Children. Carrying red balloons and homemade posters with
slogans such as "Treat children the way you want to be treated," the group
covered the Capitol steps. The children also made Valentines for the
legislators, with hopes and prayers for the future written inside the cards.

The service gave children an opportunity to be heard, said Angie Williams,
children's ministry coordinator for the conference. "Adults talk a lot about
what children need, but we don't ask them enough. Today we went straight to
the source."

"We are here to show support for the children of Mississippi and to raise
awareness for children's issues as legislators consider bills that affect
their future," said the Rev. Pat Roseberry, superintendent of the
denomination's Starkville District. "We are especially concerned with health
care. All children should have good health care. No one should be left out."

Others attending the event included Bishop Marshall L. Meadors Jr., chairman
of the Council of Bishops' Initiative on Children and Poverty and head of
the Mississippi Annual Conference. 

The service addressed children's issues in general and did not support
specific legislation.

The children's message reached at least one lawmaker, state Sen. Terry
Burton of Newton.

"We consider ourselves to be representatives of children. We often hear from
different organizations, which speak on behalf of them, but today I enjoyed
hearing from the children themselves," said Burton, vice chairman of the
legislature's Appropriations Committee and a United Methodist.

Churches from across the state brought groups of children to participate in
the service.

"I think it is important for children to know that someone thinks they're
important," said Jean Bice, a VISTA volunteer at St. Andrew's Mission in
McComb, Miss. "It's good for them to see people praying for them."  

"We want to be a 'Church for All God's Children,' " said Dianne Harms of
Madison United Methodist Church. "We are in a privileged community, but we
want to care for all children - those with 'stuff' and those without
'stuff.'  We want to raise the consciousness of the legislature because
sometimes children don't have a voice."

Williams said she hopes the service will become a regular event for the
Mississippi Conference.  "We want to give our children more opportunities to
be leaders and to shape the face of our church and our state."

# # #

*Wadlington is a staff writer for the Advocate, the newspaper of the United
Methodist Church's Mississippi Annual Conference.

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