wfn.org | Dec. 4 set to celebrate 2000th anniversary of Christ's birth

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

Sept. 30, 1999  News media contact: Tim Tanton**(615)742-5470**Nashville,
Tenn. 10-71B{501}

NOTE: For additional reports on the World Methodist Council Executive
Committee's meeting in Hong Kong, see UMNS stories #478, 488, 496, 497, 498
and 500.

HONG KONG (UMNS) - Methodist churches are being encouraged to join in a
worldwide celebration of the birth of Christ on Dec. 4.

On that day, local Christians in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the West Bank and
Israel will observe the 2,000th year since the birth of Christ.
 
The heads of the Christian world communions, including the World Methodist
Council (WMC), have been invited to join the celebration. WMC Chairperson
Frances Alguire and top staff executive Joe Hale will attend.

Hale urged members of the WMC's executive committee to mark the day in some
way. The executive committee, which met Sept. 20-24 in Hong Kong, consists
of Methodist leaders from around the world.

"It is our hope that small groups of Christians will gather to identify with
this celebration in diverse places on that Saturday, Dec. 4," Hale said.

"We can connect Bethlehem to every place we come from," he said. 

The WMC is offering several ideas for Methodists to celebrate the day in
their own communities. They can tie their observance or celebration to a
special breakfast, mid-morning coffee, lunch or dinner gathering. The event
could involve a small group or the entire community.

The ideas, offered in a WMC brochure, include:

	*	Singing Christmas hymns. These could include "O Little Town
of Bethlehem," "O Holy Night," "O Come All Ye Faithful."
	*	Reading Scriptures. "Passages from the first chapter of John
and the Gospel narratives of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem could lead to group
reflection."
	*	Sharing petitions and prayers. This would be "a time to
express aspirations and hope for the new millennium and to draw strength
from each other, praying together in the name of the One born in Bethlehem,
Christ the Lord."
	*	Sharing testimony and meditation. People from many different
churches could gather "in a public service, with short testimonies by
witnesses, a message sharing what the coming of Christ means."
	*	Lighting a candle. The candle would symbolize Christ as the
light of the world for the new millennium. "The connection with Bethlehem
would be the candles that always burn at the traditional birthplace of
Jesus."

A pamphlet of Advent readings, The Messiah in the New Millennium, has been
prepared by the Rev. Denis Dutton, former bishop of the Methodist Church in
Malaysia, and the Rev. Ng Ee Lin, president of the Trinity Annual Conference
in Malaysia.

For copies of the pamphlet and more information on the Dec. 4 celebration,
contact the World Methodist Council, (828)456-9432, or P.O. Box 518, Lake
Junaluska, N.C. 28745.

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