wfn.org | Spiritual renewal needed to stop violence, youth say

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Aug. 8, 2001 News media contact: Linda Green7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
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INDIANOLA, Iowa (UMNS) - Participants in the biennial United Methodist Youth
Organization (UMYO) convocation here early in August insisted that spiritual
renewal is needed in the church and world to stop violence.  A good place to
begin, they added, is with young people. 

United Methodist-related Simpson College hosted the gathering of 260 teens
and adult leaders Aug. 1-5.

Several participants in Convo '01 stressed that change from within is
necessary if violence and other vestiges of hate are to cease. Among those
calling for a youth-led spiritual renewal movement was Lee G. Spencer IV,
Massillon, Ohio, youth ministry chairperson of the church's North Central
Jurisdiction. 

"Spiritual renewal can be applied in all situations and is needed
everywhere," he said. "It brings us back to faith and God is the reason we
are here. Spiritual renewal can be used everywhere and at all levels of the
church as well as in the personal lives of United Methodist youth and adults
around the globe."

Beth Cottrill, Charleston, W.Va., chairperson of the youth organization's
steering committee, said a movement to bring more people to Christ could
prove to the church that "our hearts are in this for God."   

"We understand that spiritual renewal is needed not only for ourselves but
for the world," she said.  "You cannot just fix violence and renewal from
the outside. Change had to start on the inside."   

The youth organization is administratively linked to the churchwide Board of
Discipleship but its work is governed by a 37-member steering committee.
Its programs include the biennial convocation and the churchwide Youth
Service Fund that raises more than $485,000 annually.

New chairperson of the steering committee, succeeding Cottrill, is Meredith
Humphrey, Fort Smith, Ark.  Other officers elected here for 2001-2003 terms
were Ashley Purnell, Berlin, Md., vice-chairperson, and Bruno Avitia, El
Paso, Texas, secretary.

The biennial convocation provides opportunities for youth, ages 12 to 18, to
discuss concerns, set priorities, worship, study the Bible, and enjoy
fellowship.  

In 1999, the convocation adopted  "Stopping All Violence Everywhere" (SAVE)
as the focus for the organization's work in 2001-2003, but the steering
committee later concluded that the topic was too broad for only two years.
"We found that it needed more focus," Cottrill said. 

After considering specific issues, convocation participants chose spiritual
renewal as their priority for the next two years and "Standing at the Cross:
Reaching higher, Reaching Deeper and Reaching Outward" as the theme for
their work.

"By reaching higher into our faith, reaching deeper into God's words and
reaching outward into our communities through personal growth, discipleship,
Bible Study, prayer and fellowship, spiritual renewal can be accomplished,"
Cottrill said.  

The 2001 UMYO convocation and legislative assembly provided opportunity to
explore the mission of making disciples through worship, work and play. It
also gave the teens opportunity to explore the Bible, promote God's will and
take their learnings back to their individual churches, conferences, and
jurisdictions. 

The purpose of the youth organization is to promote mutual respect and
understanding between youth and adults, resulting in ministry where
influence and worth are not limited by age or experience.

It provides a unique and necessary model for the church, demonstrating that
youth are creative, inspired, discerning and capable leaders, according to
the Rev. Angela Gay Kinkead, the organization's executive director.  "Youth
are not the church of tomorrow, but of the church here and now," she said.

The organization's name was changed from the National Youth Ministry
Organization in January in order to broaden its scope to include the world.
However, this year's assembly had difficulty reflecting that larger world
family. In 1999, the body passed a resolution calling for youth from the
central conferences outside the United States to be members of the steering
committee and have the right to participate and vote as members of the
legislative assembly and convocation. 

Enforcing the resolution has been fraught with difficulties related to
finances, politics and programming, Kinkead said. "The body recognizes that
we must do this, but we don't know how."  The steering committee formed a
task force on international participation and asked it to develop
recommendations for the 2003 legislative assembly and the 2004 General
Conference.

A petition for the 2004 General Conference was approved, asking that voting
rights be given to ethnic caucus members at UMYO legislative assembly.  They
currently participate but have no vote.  Anticipating approval of the
legislation, plans call for full participation of ethnic caucus
representatives at the next assembly in 2003.

The youth, like adults in the church, have struggled with the issue of
homosexuality for many years. By a nearly two-thirds majority, delegates to
the 2000 General Conference maintained the church's position condemning the
practice of homosexuality and excluding self-avowed practicing homosexuals
from ordained ministry.

During the legislative meeting here, Aug. 5, the teens and their adult
leaders narrowly defeated a resolution that called for full inclusion of
homosexuals in the church.  The resolution was authored by Jonathan Riss,
Smithtown, N.Y.
 
After much debate, the resolution was defeated 58-52. "The narrow margin of
defeat shows that we, the youth, are just as confused about homosexuality as
the rest of the church," Cottrill observed.  

In other action, the youth passed a resolution honoring the late Rev. Gordon
J. Shea, who devoted his life and service to young people and was the
guiding force behind the planning of the 2001 Convocation and Legislative
Assembly.  He died in May while leading a college-sponsored trip to
Zimbabwe.  The youth collected $300 toward a Shea memorial fund.

Preaching during the convocation was the Rev. Kathryn Bannister who urged
the youth to take their rightful place in the church, which would be
incomplete without them.  She is pastor of the Rush County United Methodist
Cooperative Parish in northwest Kansas and is one of eight presidents of the
World Council of Churches. 

Presenting a series of Bible studies was the Rev. Stephen Handy who urged
the youth make their voices heard and let Jesus assist them in making their
needs known. Handy is the assistant pastor of Gordon Memorial United
Methodist Church, Nashville, Tenn., and a staff member of the United
Methodist Publishing House.

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United Methodist News Service
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