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Men's agency seeks mentors for kids of incarcerated parents

Oct. 3, 2005

NOTE: Photographs and a sidebar, UMNS story #555, are available at
http://umns.umc.org.

By Rich Peck*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - Several regional conferences of the United
Methodist Church will begin recruiting men and women to serve as mentors
of children of incarcerated parents.

That is one result of a decision by the Commission on United Methodist
Men to accept Big Brothers Big Sisters as an affiliate organization.

Meeting Sept. 16-18, the 23-member commission was told that over 2.5
million children nationwide face a 70 percent probability of following a
parent to prison at some point. That percentage can be lowered if people
of faith mentor the children.

A recent study by the organization found that a child with a caring
adult is 52 percent less likely to skip a day of school and 46 percent
less likely to start using illegal drugs.

The Rev. W. Wilson Goode Sr., former Philadelphia mayor and champion of
the program, noted there are "many programs to help those in prison, but
there are few viable programs to address the specific needs of the
invisible children." He named the mentoring program "Amachi," an African
dialect word meaning, "Who knows but what God has brought us through
this child."

In the program, adults are to befriend the children with whom they are
matched; they are not to serve as counselors. They are not replacement
parents, "saviors," or "fixers" of the child. The relationships are
supplemental to the parent, caregiver, teacher, neighbor and Sunday
school instructor. The program is based on the idea that the child's
gifts and assets will be drawn out through a friendship and shared
experiences with an adult.

Larry Coppock, a staff executive with the commission, says that at least
one annual conference in each of the five U.S. jurisdictions will be
asked to launch an Amachi program. Following a background and reference
check of the volunteers, Big Brothers Big Sisters will match one adult
with one child.

In the affiliation agreement, the organization will work with local
United Methodist congregations in compliance with the procedures
established by a General Conference resolution designed to reduce the
risk of sexual abuse of children and youth through training and support.

In other business, the commission:

"	Learned that Gil Hanke, president of the commission, offered the
help of United Methodist Men to rebuild the U.S. Gulf Coast region. Ron
Sarver, president of the South Central Jurisdiction of United Methodist
Men, recommended that men work through the Louisiana United Methodist
Storm Center, housed in the Louisiana Annual Conference area offices in
Baton Rouge, or comparable centers in Mississippi and Alabama.

"	Learned that a May youth mission trip is set for the Philippines
and a second "Colors of the Church" 2006 trip might be switched from
Zimbabwe to Tanzania. Three more trips are scheduled for 2007 and 2008.

"	Agreed to extend the search for a new top staff executive until
Dec. 15 and asked Bishop William W. Morris to continue as the interim
general secretary.

"	Approved a plan to recruit district and local church
coordinators to raise funds to provide copies of Strength for Service to
God and Country, a book of daily devotions, to members of the armed
services prior to deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. The commission will
also give the books to United Methodist Volunteers-in-Mission teams and
Salvation Army emergency workers.

"	Received a final report from former top staff executive Joseph
Harris, now an executive with the church's Oklahoma Annual (regional)
Conference. Harris urged the commission to secure its own operating
budget and to use World Service monies for central conference and
specialized ministries. No action was taken on this recommendation.

"	Agreed to give a posthumous John Wesley Award to Scott Powell, a
United Methodist scoutmaster from Alaska who was killed when a dining
hall tent pole hit a power line during the National Scout Jamboree last
July.

*Peck is communications coordinator for the churchwide Commission on
United Methodist Men.

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

********************

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

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