Month: May 2008

Posted on

Voice Mail

I know that everyone would prefer to talk to a real person rather than a machine (I prefer a real person as well). For that reason, let me clarify the use of the church’s answering system. When you call the church office and get the answering system it means that Linda is not in the office. If you get the machine please know that it is only because Linda is not available. I mention this now because Linda is going to physical therapy at the hospital for the next few weeks and you may get the machine during regular office hours while she is gone.

Posted on

$5 Million Grant to Fight Malaria

From United Methodist News Service:

“To fight malaria and other diseases of poverty, The United Methodist Church will receive a $5 million grant from the United Nations Foundation with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bishop Thomas Bickerton has announced.”
…
“Bickerton also announced that the Nothing But Nets anti-malaria campaign has raised more than $20 million since it began in 2006. The United Methodist Church is one of the founding partners of the campaign, which fights malaria by purchasing and distributing insecticide-treated sleeping nets in Africa. A donation of $10 covers the cost of delivering one net and teaching a family how to protect themselves from malaria-carrying mosquitoes.”

The whole story is here at http://www.umc.org.

Posted on

Divestment from Israel Rejected

From United Methodist News Service:

“United Methodists have rejected attempts to have the denomination endorse divestment from Israel as a way of addressing the Israel-Palestine conflict.”

Since the United Methodist pension plan alone has $17 billion, divestment probably would have had a significant impact.

Posted on

"Witness" Added to Membership Vows

From United Methodist News Service:

“FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS)—People who join United Methodist churches henceforth will promise to be faithful in ‘their witness’ as well as in their ‘prayers, their presence, their gifts and their service.’

The 2008 United Methodist General Conference voted April 30 to add the witness phrase to the liturgy the church uses when a person makes a profession of membership.”

As the article noted, congregations repeat these vows along with new members. I think this is a welcome development.

Posted on

A View From the Pulpit

Article for the May edition of The Parish Visitor:

As many of you know, last week marked the beginning of the 2008 General Conference of the United Methodist Church. This year General Conference is being held in Houston, Texas with the theme, “A Future With Hope.” General Conference is the top governing body of the church and lasts for 10 days. Decisions made at General Conference, and only decisions made at General Conference, speak as the voice of the church. General Conference meets every four years and after each General Conference there is a new United Methodist Book of Discipline published with the changes that have been made.

As a connectional church, the decisions made at General Conference affect us. General Conference is made up of lay and clergy delegates from every Annual Conference in the United Methodist Church around the world. If you have access to the internet, there are updates throughout the day on the various proceedings and worship services that are going on. For daily updates as well as live coverage of some events, go to: http://www.gc2008.umc.org. Also, two of our younger alternate delegates have a blog in which they are detailing daily events, often as they occur to help keep folks updated on what is going on. Their blog site is: stephandjanatthegc.blogspot.com/. From their blog you can also reach the blogs of several other Kansas East delegates.

One highlight I noticed today on the General Conference website was an appearance by a young girl who had raised $10,000 for the “Nothing But Nets” campaign to wipe out malaria by giving mosquito nets to protect people from the mosquitoes while they are sleeping.

As United Methodists we are a connectional people. Through our church structure we can visibly see the body of Christ in action. As we work together, we can do so much more than we can do alone. Please join with us in prayer for the delegates to General Conference as they prayerfully consider the many pieces of legislation brought before them. And may the strength that comes from such a great gathering be felt back here at home, as we benefit from so many people coming together in worship and prayer to discern the future direction of the church. The folks at General Conference are immersing themselves in the theme, “A Future with Hope.” It is that future that they are helping to shape: a future with hope for you and for me and for our children and our children’s children.

May you know that the future that God has in store for us is in fact a future with hope. And may we work to discern that future here in our local United Methodist Church, while delegates are discerning that future for the church as a whole.

Posted on

New Hymnal in 2012?

General Conference has created a “hymnal revision committee” according to United Methodist News Service. That committee will bring a proposed new hymnal to the 2012 General Conference. Some of the fiercest theological battles in the UMC are battles over the hymnal so this revision will not be an easy task, and I’m wondering how much of an effect, if any, it will have on local congregations. We can already introduce new hymns via the screens and so can many other congregations. Will it be worth it for this congregation to purchase new hymnals?