wfn.org | Issues of violence underlie exuberance at student forum

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

June 3, 1999 News media contact: Thomas S. McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville,
Tenn.    10-21-71BP{313}

NOTE: This report is accompanied by two sidebars, UMNS #314 and #315.
Photographs are available. A list of UMSM steering committee members is at
the close of the story. 

By Tom McAnally*

OKLAHOMA CITY (UMNS) -- The foot-stomping, hand-clapping exuberance of
high-energy young people attending the annual United Methodist Student
Movement (UMSM) Forum May 27-30 was tempered by issues of violence at home
and abroad. 

Brief "factoids" highlighting information about violence punctuated the
four-day assembly, attended by 326 students and campus ministers from the
United States and six other countries.

One of six resolutions adopted by the group expressed grief for acts of
violence, and one of 21 workshops during the Memorial Day weekend event
dealt with the issue. 

The shooting of students at U.S. schools and the NATO bombing of Kosovo were
often mentioned, particularly during times of prayer. 

The location of the 1999 forum was significant because the UMSM was created
at United 
Methodist-related Oklahoma City University in 1996. Oklahoma City was also
significant as the site of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building on April 19, 1995, the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S.
history. Students and campus ministers worshipped at First United Methodist
Church, across the street from the bombing site, and contributed nearly $100
toward a  pennies campaign to build a memorial to the victims.  

Even the violence of nature provided the backdrop for the 1999 Student
Forum. Thousands of residents in the Greater Oklahoma City area were trying
to put their lives back together after one of the most destructive tornadoes
in history tore through the region May 3-4.  Students spent an afternoon at
a Salvation Army warehouse sorting clothes and foodstuff that had been
donated for distribution to tornado victims (see UMNS story #315). An
offering of nearly $1,200 was also taken by the students for tornado relief
in the Oklahoma and Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conferences.

Violence was designated by the previous Student Forum in 1998 as the UMSM
theme for study, prayer and action. 

"It's time to stop dialoguing about violence and do something," declared the
Rev. Patricia A. Spearman, leader of the workshop on violence. Spearman,
director of the Wesley Campus Ministries at the University of Louisville
(Ky.), said Christians already have the power of God to make changes.

It is not hard to understand why violence among students occurs when parents
are too busy making a living to care for the needs of their children, she
said. She was also critical of churches so caught up in meaningless programs
that they miss the potential of children and young people.  

"A child raised in church is seldom brought up in court," Spearman said. 

In many instances, she said, gangs have stepped in to do what the church
wouldn't do. She told of a young, gun-toting gang member who explained that
he was left as the sole support for his small sister and HIV-infected
mother. When all seemed hopeless, he said he was recruited as a drug dealer
by a gang that paid his mother's medical bills and helped provide essentials
for his sister.  When Spearman asked why he hadn't turned to the church for
help, the young gang member told her he would have felt out of place and
unaccepted. 

"We expect people to come into the church 'fixed' already," Spearman said.
"People feel they can't come to church and admit they have a problem. The
church is the place where people can come as they are. Jesus met people
where they were. If we want to get rid of shameless killings and hatred, we
have to meet people where they are."

In their resolution on violence, the college students expressed grief for
acts of violence in America, the world, "our hearts" and "our faith." 

"We . . . are keenly aware of the sad fact that America has become a violent
society," the students said. "We are painfully reminded of this when our
young people take to violence, killing persons because of the color of their
skin, because of their sexual orientation or for no reason at all." The
students also expressed concern at the "lack of civility in our nation,
especially acts of terror in our schools."

Urging the church to be in ministry to a "grieving nation," the students
called on United Methodists to provide environments free of violence where
young people can share their joys, concerns, fears and aspirations. They
also called on the Council of Bishops to "be a voice of hope for our nation,
working with members of Congress to support funding for programming that
give youth alternatives to violence and criminal activity."

The students also expressed grief for violence in other countries. Looking
within, the students acknowledged violence in their own hearts. "We seek
forgiveness for the injustices we have ourselves committed to each other,
our friends and family, and the larger community. Whether it be our actions
or our thoughts, our words or our deeds, our violence or silence, if we have
done wrong, we seek forgiveness. We pray for mercy as we seek to walk more
humbly with our God, with our family and friends, with our community and
with ourselves."

The group voiced regret for the "actions that we may have committed in the
name of faith that locked persons out of relationships with Jesus Christ and
the church. Whether it be because of differences, prejudices or through
ignorance, we seek forgiveness for acts of violence committed in the name of
faith."

The students listed the names of people who have lost their lives in recent
months because of school violence, hate crimes, terrorism and war. "While no
amount of rationalizing and legislating will bring back lives lost, we
believe that bringing forth a resolution calls us into action to address the
pains of violence," the students said. "By addressing it, we cannot deny it,
and by not denying it we can begin to overcome it."

Keynote presentations were made during the forum by the Rev. William J.
Abraham, a faculty member at Perkins School of Theology at Southern
Methodist University in Dallas; the Rev. Minerva G. Carcano, director of the
Mexican-American program at Perkins; and James H. Salley, associate vice
chancellor for institutional advancement for Africa University.

Noting that today's culture doesn't take God seriously, Abraham said the
students must learn how to think and operate differently as Christians than
did John Wesley, founder of Methodism in the 18th century England. 

"Do you know God for yourselves?" he asked. "Have you repented of your sins?
Have you opened yourselves to the Holy Spirit? Have you found your gifts in
the church? Have you come to Jesus Christ and accepted him as your personal
Lord and Savior? If you have, thank God.  If not, come on. If you are
sitting on the fence, get off it."

Today's young people are in a time not unlike that of the early church, he
said. "Christians have got to get serious and be more than chaplains to a
pagan culture."

"In a day of too much violence, we are called to witness to the saving grace
of Jesus Christ," Salley said. "None of us is worthy. If something is
hanging over your head, give it to God."

Carcano brought a similar message during a closing service of holy
communion. "It is God's power within us that will transform the world. We
serve a God able to redeem the world. God has the last word."

Fifty-three of the 66 U.S. annual (regional) conferences were represented at
the Student Forum.  Students were also present from Botswana, Liberia,
Sierra Leone, Russia, Zimbabwe, Congo, Japan and Mozambique.  

Forum participants contributed $535 toward the establishment of a UMSM
Mission Fund as a means of building partnerships with United Methodist
student organizations in other countries.

They also voted to develop a partnership with United Methodist students in
Russia. The partnership will encourage local campus ministry units to
communicate with students there, participate in cultural changes and pray
for the country. The UMSM Mission Fund will initially be given to student
ministry in Russia. Two students from Russia attending the Oklahoma City
forum were recognized.

The forum considered two resolutions addressing homosexuality. One received
the two-thirds vote needed for approval; another was not adopted (see UMNS
story #314).

The students also endorsed a resolution in support of Jubilee 2000, a
worldwide campaign to forgive debt of poor nations. 

"In the long run, all nations will benefit if the poorest nations are able
to improve their infrastructure and stabilize their economies and
governments," the statement said. "Forgiving debt is a crucial part of this
move forward for these nations and their citizens."

The Rev. Donald Shockley, retiring campus ministry staff executive of the
denomination's Board of Higher Education and Ministry, was honored during
the forum.

Elected to a two-year term as president of the UMSM steering committee was
Jen Dale, a student at Western Michigan University in Frankenmuth, Mich. She
succeeds Ben Heavner, a student at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma,
Wash.

Two students from each of the church's five U.S. jurisdictions were chosen
to serve two-year terms on the UMSM Steering Committee. Members for
1999-2000 are: Kyle Gruenkemeyer, Illinois State University, Normal; Motoe
Yamada, Michigan State University, East Lansing; Michelle Brooks, Drexel
University, Philadelphia; Ben Knepper, University of Maryland, Kensington;
Dawson Taylor, Centenary College, Shreveport, La.; Stephanie Arnett, Emporia
(Kan.) State University; Jack Blair, University of Tennessee, Knoxville;
Herbert Brisbon, Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta; Shawn Curtis, University
of Wyoming, Cheyenne; Alissa Bertsch, Washington State University, Spokane.

Five at-large members are: Leon Franklin, Tennessee State University,
Nashville; Sabino Humbane, University of Evansville (Ind.); Andrea Miller,
University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls; Giselle Remy, Princeton
Theological Seminary, Columbus, Ga.; and Deedra Tainpeah, University of
Oklahoma, Norman.

# # #

*McAnally is director of United Methodist News Service, official news agency
of the denomination headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., with offices in
Washington and New York.

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