wfn.org | UMNS# 05007-Church agency offers bulletin inserts to aid in relief

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

Church agency offers bulletin inserts to aid in relief effort

Jan. 5, 2005	 News media contact:   Kathy  Gilbert * (615) 7425470*
Nashville {05007}

NOTE: A photograph of the Rev. Larry Hollon is available at
http://umns.umc.org.

A UMNS Report
By Jan Snider*

Two church bulletin inserts are available to help United Methodist
congregations raise money for the tsunami relief effort and provide a
message of hope.

United Methodist Communications, in cooperation with the United
Methodist Committee on Relief, is making the inserts available.

"We do want people to contribute, but even more important is for the
church to deliver a message of hope," said the Rev. Larry Hollon, top
executive of the denomination's communication agency.

UMCOR has issued urgent pleas for funds to aid in the relief and
recovery efforts after the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami disaster in
the Indian Ocean. A dozen countries suffered devastating losses, with
death counts estimated at nearly 150,000. Many survivors are struggling
to get clean water, food, shelter and medicine. UMCOR is working with
partner agencies to respond to these needs quickly.

A national print ad from the United Methodist Church ran in USA Today
Jan. 3. The ad featured a photograph of weathered hands in prayer with a
simple appeal for donations. The bulletins also support this message but
provide detailed information on how to donate to UMCOR.

"It is a time that is unsettling," Hollon said. "It is a time when
people are in great suffering and other people want to respond. Through
the bulletin inserts and the print ad in USA Today, what the church is
saying is that, within the love of God, no one is alone."

Two bulletin inserts are available. One features the same image used in
the USA Today ad, and the other depicts a multitude of hands reaching up
toward relief workers. Both versions feature the same text, as well as
an image of a Thai girl playing between the candles during a candlelight
memorial service in Thailand.

In addition to UMC.org, the church bulletins are available through
Interpreter magazine's Web site at http://www.interpretermagazine.org/
and at IgnitingMinistry.org.

Donations to UMCOR's "South Asia Emergency" relief work can be placed in
local church offering plates or sent directly to UMCOR, 475 Riverside
Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Designate checks for UMCOR Advance
#274305 and "South Asia Emergency." Online donations can be made at
www.methodistrelief.org. For credit-card donations, call (800) 554-8583.

# # #

*Snider is a freelance producer for United Methodist News Service in
Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470
or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist News Service