wfn.org | Native church established in Albuquerque

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Feb. 6, 2002  News media contact: Linda Green7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
10-34-71B{040}

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (UMNS) - The appointment of a pastor this spring will
bring the dream of a United Methodist church for Native Americans in
Albuquerque a step closer to reality.

The 19-member task force of the denomination's Native American Comprehensive
Plan (NACP) celebrated the creation of the All Nations United Methodist
Church, the first United Methodist native ministry in the city, during the
group's Feb. 1-3 semi-annual meeting.

Local Native Americans attended the meeting and a celebratory dinner on Feb.
1 to express appreciation to the task force and Bishop Max Whitfield of the
church's New Mexico Area for responding to their request for a native United
Methodist ministry.

"We have been after a church here for nearly 10 years and praise the Lord it
is finally going to be here," said Fern Lemry of Albuquerque. "I saw the
need for a new United Methodist Church here where we could pray and sing in
our own tongues and feel closer to the Lord.  Our prayers have been answered
after so long." 

Lemry, a pianist, said she would volunteer to be the church musician because
"I am so anxious to sit at the piano and play a blue note."

Albuquerque is home to more than 35,000 Native Americans, said Sheri Lynn,
an employee at the city's Indian Health Service facility. "Everyone is
excited about the notion of a church becoming a reality. There is also
excitement of the plan and others working together throughout the state on
Native American issues."

Noting that many tribes are represented in Albuquerque, Casey Church
anticipates the new native church fostering "relational evangelism" to build
trust in the community and acceptance from traditional or "non-churched"
Native Americans. Church has been attending a church of another tradition
because no native United Methodist presence has existed in Albuquerque. 

The All Nations church will have strong support because of the large number
of Native American United Methodists who have relocated to the city for
government jobs or to be near family, he said. 

"I am excited about establishing a new congregation to minister to native
people here," Whitfield said. "There is a large number of native people in
Albuquerque, and we don't presently have a United Methodist church to meet
the needs. I am excited about the opportunity to establish a congregation
that will not minister to one tribe but to all nations represented in
Albuquerque." The bishop is attempting to appoint an ordained native
clergyperson by the end of March.

The Rev. David Wilson, chairman of the task force, sees the new church as a
sign of the plan's work for the past year coming to fruition. "The seeds
have been sown and they are blossoming in Albuquerque," he said. 

In addition to the task force's 19 voting members, 12 nonvoting members
attend NACP meetings at various times to provide support and guidance.

Created by the 1992 General Conference, the NACP emphasizes Native American
spirituality, congregational and leadership development, and involvement in
the life of the United Methodist Church. The denomination has 19,000 Native
Americans among its 8.4 million U.S. members.

Native people in the United States represent 554 federally recognized tribes
or nations and a significant number of state-recognized tribes, all with
distinct languages, cultures, history, religious traditions and economic
bases. The census reports that 1.9 million American Indians live within the
boundaries of the 65 United Methodist annual conferences, and nearly 63
percent live in urban areas. The denomination has 200 Native American
churches, ministries and fellowships in the country, and 28 are in urban
areas.

Establishing native ministries is a responsibility of the plan's
congregational development committee, and a goal for the 2001-2004
quadrennium is to establish or assist in creating 10 native ministries,
fellowships or churches in the denomination.

NACP members were jubilant at the news of a pending appointment for a pastor
for a new ministry in Albuquerque because starting ministries in urban areas
is a major goal of the plan.

The statistics are a reminder of the tremendous task the plan and the United
Methodist Church have to reach Native Americans in urban areas, Wilson said.

While the Albuquerque ministry has taken root, the NACP is looking at
Phoenix and Dallas in hopes that a Native American ministry could begin in
one or both of the cities by the end of the 2004. The plan also will begin
demographic studies for establishing native ministries in Portland, Ore.,
Minneapolis, Green Bay, Wis., Detroit, and Kansas City, Mo. A ministry has
been established in Raleigh, N.C., and United Methodists in Denver are
considering creating a ministry there.

"The culture of developing Native American churches is different from the
way Anglos do it," said Ann Saunkeah, executive director of the NACP. "It is
different because past history and events that have happened to Native
Americans through and by religions and individual representatives have
created some mistrust."

Many native ministries begin as cottage ministries and small groups, led by
a layperson and sometimes taking the form of a ministry of presence or
fellowship. "The ministry may not take the form of a church structure as
Anglos are accustomed," Saunkeah said. "Our ministries may remain
fellowships or ministries of presence." 

The creation of native ministries is based on economics, she said.  In
addition to finding the economic base, a challenge is finding key leadership
that will be sensitive to native cultures in urban settings.

Saunkeah expressed appreciation for those United Methodist bishops who are
sensitive to native concerns and are open to developing native ministries in
any form.

In other actions, the NACP:
7	Planned for a Feb. 7-9, 2003, Native American Lay Speakers School
with the theme "Native American Lay Ministers: Discovering and Exploring Our
Gifts" at Scarritt-Bennett Center in Nashville, Tenn.
7	Implemented a three-year scholarship encouraging Native American
students up to 25 years old to attend seminary.
7	Funded the Far East Russian Initiative to help the Siberian Yup'iks
provide quality of life necessities throughout the villages in and around
the Aleutian Islands and portions of mainland Alaska.

# # #

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