wfn.org | Sabbaths provide time for all faiths to focus on children's needs

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

Sept. 16, 1999 Contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-31-21-71B{471}

By United Methodist News Service

Congregations will be encouraged to put their faith into action to improve
the lives of children during a national weekend observance next month.

The National Observance of Children's Sabbaths invites all churches to hold
programs and activities Oct. 15-17 to respond to the problems facing
children in their communities. 

The Children's Defense Fund in Washington sponsors the special weekend each
October. The churches, synagogues and mosques across the country are
encouraged to make a long-term commitment to help children and families
through prayer, education, service and advocacy.  More than 200 churches,
faith traditions and faith-based organizations have endorsed the Children's
Sabbaths weekend.  

The United Methodist Council of Bishops is calling on all churches in the
denomination to participate in the effort.

During past Children's Sabbaths, some faith communities have held individual
celebrations and observances, while others have held interfaith services and
activities.  Although the national observance has been designated for the
Oct. 15 weekend, churches may celebrate on a preceding weekend in the year.
In some areas, Children's Sabbaths activities occur throughout the year.

The United Methodist Church, through the Bishops' Initiative on Children and
Poverty, has encouraged participation in the Children's Sabbaths since 1995.
This year, for the first time, the observance will part of a pan-Methodist
campaign for children and poverty. This will be the first time the three
African-American Methodist denominations and the United Methodist Church
have collaborated in a pan-Methodist campaign to make a public witness as
Methodist partners.

Pan-Methodism includes the African Methodist Episcopal (AME), African
Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ), Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) and
United Methodist churches.  

"We are joining our pan-Methodist brothers and sisters in hopes that the
children's Sabbaths will be observed in every congregation of the four
denominations," said United Methodist Bishop Marshall "Jack" Meadors Jr. of
Jackson, Miss., chairman of a task force guiding the children and poverty
initiative.

The pan-Methodist campaign's twofold objective is to renew and empower
congregations that are serving children in poverty, and to challenge
churches not already involved in such work to establish poverty-related
ministries.

The four denominations already share a common commitment to children and
poverty, but collaborating in this campaign is significant because it
demonstrates possibilities for future work together, a goal of the
Commission on Pan-Methodist Cooperation. This commission was created in 1985
to promote cooperation among the four churches in areas such as publishing,
missions, social concerns and higher education. It also aims to bring
together the denominations, which share common heritage, concerns and
ministries.

"Many of us remember growing up in communities where people looked out for
each other and everybody looked out for all the children," said Bishop
McKinley Young of Atlanta, commission chairman and ecumenical officer of the
AME church. "This collective care and nurturing ensured supervision, safety
and acceptance. Today's children deserve no less."

 The opportunity for worship, study and fellowship, with emphasis on the
Children's Sabbaths, is "a response to Jesus' challenge to put children at
the center of ministry," Meadors said.  "The observance highlights our
Lord's call to respond to the needs of the frail and the weak."

One out of every four children in the United States lives with material
poverty, he said. Spiritual and moral poverty also exist across the country,
and increasing numbers of children suffer from "the demons" of violence,
neglect and inadequate health care, he added.

According to statistics from the Children's Defense Fund, a child is born
into poverty every 40 seconds; a baby dies every 18 minutes; a child or
youth is killed by gunfire every two hours; a child or youth under 20
commits suicide every four hours; a child is arrested every 16 seconds; and
a child is arrested for a violent crime every six minutes.

"The initiative is a response to those needs," Meadors said. "It is a
response to our goal to reshape and reform the church around ministry with
children and the poor."

As a way to assist faith communities in their Sabbath celebrations, the
Children's Defense Fund has produced numerous resources, including The
Children's Sabbath Resource Manual. The volume includes material for
Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and multifaith traditions, and it provides
planning tips, worship resources, lesson plans, activity ideas and more.
Also available is a 7-minute Children's Sabbaths video, featuring highlights
from past events and interviews with religious leaders.

For more information or to order a Children's Sabbaths manual or video, call
(202) 662-3652 or e-mail arhee@childrensdefense.org.

______________
United Methodist News Service
http://www.umc.org/umns/
newsdesk@umcom.umc.org
(615)742-5472