wfn.org | UMNS# 051-United Methodist Men's ministry gets new home

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

United Methodist Men's ministry gets new home

Jan. 26, 2006

NOTE: A photograph is available at http://umns.umc.org.

By Rich Peck*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - The United Methodist agency responsible for
men's ministries will soon have a home of its own for the first time
since its creation in 1996.

The Commission on United Methodist Men will move to Music Row, an area
populated by the country music industry. Until now, the nine-member
staff has occupied crowded rooms in the Kern Building, a structure owned
by the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. The building also houses
offices of the discipleship agency and the Board of Higher Education and
Ministry.

The commission bought a building formerly owned by the Nashville office
of the General Council on Finance and Administration. The 4,200-foot
structure became available when the finance agency moved to a larger
space nearby, where it consolidated its Nashville operations and its
main office from Evanston, Ill.

The men's commission received permission to buy the $750,000 building
from its 24-member board of directors, GCFA, and the denomination's
Connectional Table.

Following the purchase, the commission renovated the bathrooms to make
them handicapped accessible and established a large conference room with
a movable divider so commission meetings can be held in the one-story
building.

The agency also changed the entry door, bought new carpets and made
other repairs totaling about $100,000. The agency borrowed $600,000 from
the United Methodist Men Foundation, an endowment fund that receives
funds for scouting and men's ministries from United Methodist groups and
individuals. The balance was paid by commission reserve funds.

The commission expects to move into the building in mid-February.

The agency is also in the process of selecting a new top staff
executive. The Rev. Joseph Harris, general secretary since the birth of
the agency, resigned last June to become the assistant to the bishop of
the Oklahoma Area and director of communications for the Oklahoma Annual
(regional) Conference. A search committee, led by Bishop James King of
the Louisville (Ky.) Area, expects to nominate a new top executive in
the next few months. Bishop William W. Morris, retired, is serving as
interim general secretary.

*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.

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