wfn.org | UMNS Weekly Digest July 26, 2002

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

NOTE: This is a digest of stories from United Methodist News Service for
July 22-26, plus additional news briefs. The number in brackets at the end
of each item is the chronological number for finding the full-length version
in the "United Methodist Daily News" at http://umns.umc.org/dailynews.html.
An asterisk {*} indicates a photo or art is available.

Stories:
United Methodists join Amity teachers in China {306}
At the Roots of Methodism: Wesley would have liked unity plan {307*}
Extremism threatens peace in South Asia, world, speakers say {308}
Agency prepares to canvass church on health care issues {309}
Board sticks to long-term outlook in turbulent stock market {310}
Macedonian intern assists World Methodist Council {311*}
Churches confront post-war Angola's humanitarian crisis (312*)
Angola's former rebels face uncertain peace {313*)
New Jersey church members put 'heart' into Sept. 11 response {314}
Global youth conference goes on, despite world's unrest {315*}
Irish Methodist president welcomes IRA apology {316}
Mideast peace depends on end of occupation, delegation told {317}
Angola's displaced emerge from the shadows of war {318*}
Landmines cripple peace in Angola {319*}
Relief group encounters trauma, hope in Sierra Leone {320}
United Methodist board denounces family planning fund stop {321}
Leaders  "race" toward single adult ministry ideas  {322*}
Black College endowment gets first director {323*}
Judicial Council's fall docket poses new questions {324}
New Jersey United Methodists to help uninsured children {325}
National Council of Churches revives financial health {326*}

Plus:
News In Brief
* * *

United Methodists join Amity teachers in China

NEW YORK (UMNS) - Six United Methodists are among 14 English teachers
leaving Aug. 1 for two years of service with the Amity Teachers Program in
China. Church World Service, the humanitarian aid agency of the National
Council of Churches, coordinates recruitment of Amity teachers on behalf of
U.S. churches. Sponsored by their member denominations and the United Board
for Christian Higher Education in Asia, the new volunteers will join 21
teachers already working with Amity in China. Volunteers serve at Chinese
universities and colleges, instructing prospective teachers in English as a
second language. The Rev. John McCullough, United Methodist and Church World
Service executive director, called them ambassadors of "the goodwill of the
people of the United States toward the people of China." {306}
* * *
At the Roots of Methodism: Wesley would have liked unity plan

John Wesley would have approved of the possibility of a unity covenant
between the British Methodist Conference and the General Synod of the Church
of England, according to John Singleton in "At the Roots of Methodism," a
regular feature on the church's history. Singleton is a writer for the
Methodist Recorder newspaper in London and administrator of Methodist
churches and projects in the Tower Hamlets area of East London. (307*)
* * *
Extremism threatens peace in South Asia,  world, speaker says

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - Religious extremism and the threat of nuclear war are
two of the biggest challenges to peace in South Asia, according to experts
familiar with that region. In a July 18 symposium co-sponsored by the United
Methodist Board of Church and Society, Admiral L. Ramdas, retired head of
India's naval staff, said various kinds of extremisms are at work in the
world and many of them use violence, but the tendency since Sept. 11 has
been to treat virtually all terrorism as Islamic terrorism or Islamic
fundamentalism. He urged the United States to be a "ringmaster in the peace
arena" by opening up discourse on historical, cultural, religious,
scientific and ecological realities, while resisting the tendency to be a
powerbroker. Other speakers noted that trade might help reduce or end the
conflict within South Asia. {308}
* * *
Agency prepares to canvass church on health care issues 

CHICAGO (UMNS) - Providing health care coverage for active and retired
employees of the United Methodist Church is becoming increasingly difficult
for the church's annual (regional) conferences. Rising costs are forcing
many conferences to reduce coverage, pass more costs on to participants or
drop people from their plans altogether. Health care coverage topped the
list of concerns at many of the yearly conference meetings held in May and
June. Each of the church's 65 annual conferences is responsible for
providing coverage to its own active and retired employees and about 32
conferences, agencies and other church-related employers offer coverage
through the United Methodist Board of Pension and Health Benefits'
HealthFlex program. The program is expected to incur an $11.2 million loss
for 2002 and rates in 2003 are expected to rise 5 to 10 percent. The pension
board will conduct focus groups around the United States this fall to
discuss plans for addressing health care problems. {309}
* * *      
Board sticks to long-term outlook in turbulent stock market

CHICAGO (UMNS) -Managers of the United Methodist Church's pension fund
remain true to their strategy: Invest for the long term. The Board of
Pension and Health Benefits' largest pool of investment dollars, the
Diversified Investment Fund, has performed well compared with its
benchmarks, but it hasn't emerged unscathed. After the Dow Jones industrial
average lost 390 points on July 20, board officials estimated that the fund
was down to a little more than $10 billion in assets. Since the beginning of
the year, it has lost about $1 to $1.2 billion. Staff executive Dave Zellner
estimated that the board's reserves for the Diversified Investment Fund were
at minus 11 or 12 percent, leaving it with 88 cents for each $1 of
liabilities. The board is urging the New York Stock Exchange to adopt a
policy mandating that companies make public their business code of conduct
and corporate governance guidelines. {310}
* * *
Macedonian intern assists World Methodist Council

LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. (UMNS) -- Magdalena Petreska, a United Methodist
student from Macedonia, is learning more about the history of her faith as
she interns this summer at the World Methodist Council's museum. She is
working on a database. The rising junior at church-related High Point (N.C.)
University junior is majoring in international business and computer
information systems, with a double minor in German and economics.
Eventually, she plans to return to her country and work with Macedonia's
developing economy and perhaps establish an Internet presence for the
country's United Methodists. {311*}
* * *
Churches confront post-war Angola's humanitarian crisis

LUANDA, Angola (UMNS) - After a quarter century of war, Angola is at peace.
Yet an immense humanitarian crisis has emerged in the wake of the armed
conflict, leaving international aid organizations struggling to meet the
urgent needs of the war's many victims. Four million people - almost a third
of Angola's population - have been displaced by the conflict, according to
officials with Action by Churches Together, the international alliance of
churches and church agencies, including the United Methodist Church, that
responds to disasters. {312*}
* * *
Angola's former rebels face uncertain peace

LUCUSSE, Angola (UMNS)-While the war is over for many of Angola's soldiers,
officials of relief organizations are uncertain if peace will last. Action
by Churches Together (ACT), the international alliance of churches and
church agencies responding to emergencies, is working to ensure a better
future for the former fighters and their families, thus helping to lay the
foundation for a lasting peace in Angola. The United Methodist Committee on
Relief is a major ACT member. {313*}
* * *

New Jersey church members put 'heart' into Sept. 11 response

ELIZABETH, N.J. (UMNS)-- The Rev. Christopher L. Miller, who had been pastor
of Pemberton United Methodist Church, was appointed July 1 to help United
Methodists in New Jersey respond to those suffering directly or indirectly
from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.  As the coordinator of outreach
ministries for the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference, he will direct the
Healing, Encouragement and Advocacy in Response to Tragedy (HEART) unit for
the conference's long-term response. {314}
* * *
Global youth conference goes on, despite world's unrest 

NEWTOWNABBEY, Northern Ireland (UMNS) -- The suspicion and fear resulting
from global unrest, a war on terrorism and failed diplomacy kept 50 official
representatives from Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Cameroon, Angola, Mozambique,
Kenya, the Philippines, Pakistan and India from attending the 7th
International Christian Youth Conference on Evangelism held July 17-23. The
purpose of the meeting was to help break down the barriers between cultures.
The conference, held every four years, hosts people ages 17 to 30 from all
over the world in a weeklong exploration of faith and mission. The theme of
this year's conference was "Christ Jesus, God's Way." With the reality of
the world's divisions so close at hand, the Rev. Grace Imathiu, a
Kenyan-born pastor and international speaker, challenged the 276
conference-goers to "cross the seas" that divide people from one another.
{315*}
* * *
Irish Methodist president welcomes IRA apology

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (UMNS) - The president of the Irish Methodist
Church, the Rev. Winston Graham, welcomed news of an apology from Irish
Republican Army paramilitaries for the suffering caused to civilians and
their families in 30 years of violence in the region. "As others in the past
have already shown, it is only when we acknowledge pain and hurt caused to
each other that we are enabled to find the freedom needed to move forward,"
Graham said.  In a July 16 statement, the IRA made no apologies for actions
against police or other security forces but did acknowledge the suffering of
their relatives. Critics of the statement point out that the apology
prioritizes civilian lives over those of the police and military.  {316}
* * *
Mideast peace depends on end of occupation, delegation told

NEW YORK (UMNS) - A 13-member delegation, representing 12 different United
Methodist annual (regional) conferences, arrived July 19 in the Middle East
as part of a continuing effort to broaden the denomination's advocacy for a
just and lasting peace in Israel and the Palestinian lands. The Rev. Janet
Horman, an executive with the United Methodist Board of Church and Society,
said the group has witnessed both the psychological toll and physical
destruction caused by the long-term occupation of the Israeli military in
the Palestinian territories.  Palestinian and Israeli partners have told the
delegation that ending Israeli occupation is the only path to peace in the
Middle East. {317}
* * *

Angola's displaced emerge from the shadows of war

KIMASINQUE, Angola (UMNS) - After three years of living in crowded,
miserable conditions with displaced people in the Angolan village of
Mazzami, Feliciana Alfonso walked for four days through the jungle with her
husband and six children to return home to find only ashes.  She, like
one-third of Angola's 13 million people, was displaced as a result of three
decades of civil war. Alfonso returned to her village in the northern
Angolan province of Uige and planted a few salvaged cassava plants. She is
waiting now for the rains to begin in September. Her children are hungry and
wear only rags, yet she says she is content to be home. "If we are going to
die of starvation, I'd rather die at home than somewhere else," she said.
{318*}
* * *
Land mines cripple peace in Angola

LUENA, Angola (UMNS)-- Ester Cagila, 16, enjoys dancing. She is part of a
theater and dance troupe in the Moxico province of Angola that dances to
educate rural villagers about the dangers of land mines, a brutal tool of
war that continues to kill and maim Angolans even though their country is
now at peace. The group, called "Havemos de voltar" ("We will return."),
Cagila and the other group participants are people displaced by Angola's
long civil war. {319*}
* * *
Relief group encounters trauma, hope in Sierra Leone

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (UMNS) -- Members of the Church World Service
delegation to West Africa traveled throughout Sierra Leone July 9-15, to see
for themselves how the country is faring in the aftermath of a brutal
11-year civil war. The visit was the third in a tour of the troubled Mano
River region that includes the West African countries of the Republic of
Guinea, the Gambia, Sierra Leone and Liberia. "Peace has come to Sierra
Leone," the delegation concluded. "But the struggle to recover goes on."
{320*}
* * *
United Methodist board denounces family planning fund stop

WASHINGTON (UMNS) -- The United Methodist Board of Church and Society has
decried the Bush Administration's decision to withhold funding from the
United Nations Population Fund for 2002, calling it a politically motivated
act that serves to increase oppression, poverty and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Opponents of the $34 million allocation to the U.N. fund urged the president
to withhold the funding and asserted the United Nations Population Fund
supported practices in China that sometimes resulted in forced abortion or
sterilization. "This decision will severely impact the well-being of
thousands of women around the world, will increase the number of abortions
and the spread of HIV/AIDS," said Jim Winkler, staff head of the Board of
Church and Society. "We view this as a frontal assault on women and the
United Nations. It is unfortunate that the administration is caving into
extremist forces in society." {321}
* * *
Leaders  'race' toward single adult ministry ideas 

INDIANAPOLIS (UMNS) - United Methodist leaders of single adult ministries
came together for "Race to Indy," a July 18-21 national conference for
leaders of single adult ministries to learn about new ideas and resources
and meet colleagues in ministry. Harold Ivan Smith highlighted several
issues affecting churches' ministries with single adults. He said people
live with a level of stress that is so ungodly and so unhealthy that they
will not be able to keep up, and churches must find a way to help singles
and others find time and space for spiritual and personal development.
Another presenter was Lyn St. James, one of the first women to win national
recognition as a race car driver. She used the speedway theme in her address
to participants titled, "The Ride of Your Life," and stressed the need for
determination and persistence, both in offering ministries with singles
adults and in living as a single person. {322*}
* * *

Black College endowment receives first director

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)-Rhonnie Hemphill, who most recently served as chief
development officer at Church World Service, has been named as the first
director of the United Methodist Church's Historically Black Colleges and
Universities Endowment. He will help the 11 historically black higher
education institutions related to the denomination move a step closer in
their campaign to raise an endowment of at least $300 million. {323*}
* * * 
Judicial Council's fall docket poses new questions

WASHINGTON (UMNS)-When the United Methodist Church's "supreme court" meets
this fall, some of the 25 items on the docket relate to familiar issues,
such as restructure and fair process, but some are more unusual. The
nine-member Judicial Council will meet Oct. 23-26 in Baltimore and will
review concerns about clergy's involuntary leave of absence and the process
of assigning it to the bishop's ruling in the East Ohio Annual Conference
related to whether the bishop and conference were in violation of the
Discipline when they substituted the words "in the name of the Triune God"
for the words "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit" during the ordination service at last year's conference session.
{324}
* * *
New Jersey United Methodists to help uninsured children

TRENTON, N.J. (UMNS)-- United Methodist Bishop Alfred Johnson of the Greater
New Jersey Annual Conference and executives from two major health care
organizations have formed a partnership to increase the number of insured
children throughout the state. The partnerships with NJ Family Care, the
state's plan for providing health coverage for children, and Horizon/Mercy,
New Jersey's largest managed health care organization serving the publicly
insured, will provide community education on child health issues and
preventive medicine in accord with United Methodist Council of Bishops'
Initiative on Children and Poverty. {325}
* * *
National Council of Churches revives financial health

NEW YORK (UMNS) - The National Council of Churches is in its healthiest
financial state in the past 12 years, according to the Rev. Robert Edgar,
the ecumenical agency's chief executive. The United Methodist pastor pointed
to a balanced budget in 2002, a three-year, $500,000 grant from the Lilly
Endowment and the addition of $625,000 to long-term reserves as proof of the
agency's emergence from the financial cloud of the last few years. In the
NCC's $5 million annual budget, financial commitments from member
denominations amount to about $1.2 million, and "cognate" funds, given for
specific purposes, account for another $1 million, which leaves a financial
gap to be filled.  Edgar attributes the council's successful reversal of
fortune to its simple but clearer mission -- to create a "broader ecumenical
table" focused on addressing the needs of the poor. {326*}

News In Brief

The 22-member executive committee of the United Methodist General Council on
Ministries met July 23-26 for the first in Africa. The committee visited
Africa University, and in symbolizing the global nature of the church, teams
visited churches in Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. 

The prayer concerns of the Woodston (Kan.) United Methodist Church were
noted during         C-SPAN coverage of the National Press Club on July 19.
Harvey L. Pitt, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, was
speaking about corporate accountability when he quoted from the church's
July 14 bulletin. "Pray with the president for the CEO's of every company,
from the largest to the smallest, that they will serve their constituencies
honorably and with forthrightness, seeking the highest ethical standards
with absolute moral clarity."  Pitt learned of the church's concern from his
senior counsel, Consuelo Hitchcock, who had worshiped at the Woodston church
with her grandparents.

Leaders of the British Methodist Church welcomed the Most Rev. Rowan
Williams, Archbishop of Wales, who has been appointed as the 104th
Archbishop of Canterbury. The Rev. Ian White, British Methodist president,
said that Williams' skill "as a leader, communicator and teacher will serve
the church and nation well." The Rev. Konrad Raiser, chief executive of the
World Council of Churches, sent a letter to Williams acknowledging his
"considerable gifts of theological insight, ecumenical commitment and
pastoral sensitivity firmly rooted in a life of prayer." 

Nathan David Sincock, a junior at United Methodist-related Cornell College
in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, and Allison Leigh Smith, a junior at United
Methodist-related DePauw University, Greencastle, Ind., are recipients of
two $7,500 Verde Dickey Memorial Scholarships from the United Methodist
Higher Education Foundation. The scholarships are for students majoring in
education or physical education who plan to become teachers with an emphasis
in coaching.

One urban ministry program in each of 10 annual conferences in the
Northeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church has received the
2002 Kim Jefferson Award. The awards were presented by the jurisdiction's
urban steering committee, which is led by the Rev. Anthony A. Arrington,
pastor of Mother African Zoar United Methodist Church in Philadelphia. Since
the jurisdiction established the award in 2000, 29 urban ministries have
been recognized.

Discipleship Resources, an imprint of the United Methodist Board of
Discipleship, has released three books: El Significado de la Santa Comunion
en la Iglesia Metodista Unida; Each One a Minister; and A Pocket Story of
John Wesley. The books are available online at www.discipleshipresources.org
or by calling (800) 685-4370. The books also may be obtained from Cokesbury
bookstores.

The family of Gertrude Brown and Vandalyn Brown Barbee established the
Gertrude Brown and Vandalyn Brown Barbee Endowed Memorial Scholarship at
Brevard (N.C.) College.  The scholarship will not only provide financial
support to a female student who attends Brevard College.
# # #

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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