wfn.org | New JUSTPEACE center names director, elects president

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

March 8, 2000 News media contact: Joretta Purdue ·(202) 546-8722·Washington
10-21-71BP{124}

NOTE: A head-and-shoulders photo of the Rev. Thomas W. Porter will be
available. A complete list of JUSTPEACE's board members follows the end of
the story.

By United Methodist News Service

The United Methodist Church's new center for mediation and conflict
transformation has selected a lawyer-minister-mediator as its first
executive director and elected a bishop as its first president.

JUSTPEACE Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation was created last
fall by the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA), based in
Evanston, Ill. The center will help United Methodists address conflict in
the church and the world constructively and in a way that emphasizes
justice, reconciliation, preservation of resources and restoration of
community.

Meeting Feb. 23-24 in Rosemont, Ill., the center's board of directors named
the Rev. Thomas W. Porter, a professional mediator from Boston, to be the
first executive director of JUSTPEACE. The board also elected Bishop Susan
W. Hassinger, who presides over the New England Annual (regional)
Conference, as its first president.

Other newly elected officers are: vice president, Eric Galton of Austin,
Texas; treasurer, Jay Brim of Austin; and secretary, Josephine Harris of
Mentor, Minn.

Porter is an ordained elder of the New England Conference, a lawyer and a
teacher, in addition to being a professional mediator. A member of the
American, Massachusetts and Boston bar associations, he has served since
1977 as chancellor, first of the former Southern New England Conference,
then the merged New England Conference.

He was a founding partner of the trial firm of Melick & Porter LLP in 1983
and has been a trial lawyer since 1974, representing religious institutions,
universities, hospitals, professionals, nonprofit organizations and others.
After seminary, he was a pastor in Paterson, N.J.  He is chair of the
editorial board of the Journal of Law and Religion.

A Texas native, Porter still has family in the Lone Star State, including
his parents, sister and a brother, the Rev. Jim Porter, who is a district
superintendent in the Central Texas Annual Conference.

Porter's "dual credentials as a lawyer and clergy provide unique
qualifications," Hassinger said. "His theological perspective and
understanding of the church will be invaluable for this ministry. Tom
understands that simply going to court is not the best way to remedy
problems."  

"The board and I," Porter said, "are grateful to GCFA for its vision of
seeing conflict as an opportunity for growth and learning - transforming
conflict in ways that go beyond litigation - and for providing funds to
pursue this vision."  

Hassinger praised the composition of the 15-member board, which includes
United Methodists from the United States, ecumenical representatives known
for their conflict ministries and people with international perspectives. 

"One of our members directs a United Methodist conflict resolution center in
Mozambique," she said. "They all will have much to contribute as we begin
developing resources for the benefit of the church."

JUSTPEACE is in the early stages of planning a 2001 gathering for church
members who work with ministries of reconciliation, Porter said. He asked
that people in that type of work write to JUSTPEACE, 1200 Davis St.,
Evanston, IL 60201.

# # #

Members of the new board are:

Jay Brim, Austin, Texas;
Eric Galton, Austin, Texas;
The Rev. Richard Harrington, Honeoye Falls, N.Y.;
Josephine Harris, Mentor, Minn.;
Bishop Susan Hassinger, Lawrence, Mass.;
Frances Jett, Washington;
Kovach Kimberlee, Austin, Texas;
Sandra Lackore, Evanston, Ill.;
John Paul Lederach, Harrisonburg, Va.;
Mary Logan, Evanston, Ill.:
Bishop Donald Ott, Southfield, Mich.;
Joseph Palmer, Columbus, Ohio;
Paul Santillan, Georgetown, Texas;
The Rev. Karin Walker, Upper Falls, Md.; and
The Rev. Alfiado Laita Zunguza, Maputo, Mozambique.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org