July, 2002 Update
Bits and Pieces from across the United Methodist Church
The acrostic “Grace”
means:
God’s
Redemption
At
Christ’s
Expense
- Focus on
the Family radio broadcast
* * * * *
Of
Interest. Members of Missouri's two annual conferences
have voted to merge and create a new regional body in the United Methodist
Church. The merger will reduce the total number of U.S. conferences, or
regional units, to 64.
- United Methodist News Service (UMMNS); by Fred Koenig as reported
by Linda Green; Nashville, Tenn.;
10-71-71BP{251};
June 12, 2002.
(UM) General Board of Pension and Health
Benefits.
The General Board of Pension and Health
Benefits, based in Evanston, Ill. [has] the largest pension fund operated by
any denomination. [It has] more than $11 billion in its investment portfolio…in
about 2,500 companies in the United States and elsewhere.
- UMMNS; Tim Tanton;
Nashville, Tenn.; 10-71BP{176}; April 22, 2002.
The
Good Stuff.
* More Lenten Fasts and Feasts
[Note:
Even though Lent is over, the information in this is good throughout the whole
year.]
Last
week I shared some thoughts from Rev. George Matheson of Auburn, Alabama UMC
about the fasts and feasts of Lent. Here are some:
FAST from problems that overwhelm; FEAST on
prayer that sustains
FAST from criticism; FEAST on praise.
FAST from self-pity; FEAST on joy.
FAST from resentment; FEAST on contentment.
FAST from jealousy and envy; FEAST on love and
acceptance.
FAST from pride; FEAST on humility.
FAST from selfishness; FEAST on service.
FAST from the uncertainties of the world; FEAST
on the certainties of faith.
- This was sent to us
by our good brother and friend, Rev. Ira Dent of the Waycross District in the
South Georgia
Conference.
* Pastor uses watches to make disciples
SAN ANTONIO (UMNS) - Time is of the essence in winning souls for Christ. That's
why an area pastor offers free wristwatches - along with a gospel message - to
people who don't know Jesus as savior. "People become so thankful to
receive a watch for free," says the Rev. Antone Dykes, pastor of Sanford
Chapel and Jones Chapel United Methodist
churches in San Antonio. "I tell them that God's gift is free, too. The
watches are a great witness tool." Dykes, 77, has been giving away watches
on street corners, in malls, in grocery stores and in schools for 18 years. He
carries timepieces in his briefcase, pockets and car trunk. "To be a soul
winner, you need to be able to communicate with others," Dykes
says. "If you can get the attention of a person, they'll stay to listen.
"When I present the person with a watch, it gets their attention right
away. That is my opportunity to tell them about the Lord."
- UMMNS; by Julie A. Wiley as
reported by Linda Green; Nashville, Tenn.; 10-31-71BP{252}; June 13, 2002
Homosexuality.
* Transgender clergywoman raises new issue
for church
WASHINGTON (UMNS) - Rev. “Rebecca Ann Steen,” a clergy member of the
Baltimore-Washington Conference, wants to receive a pastoral appointment for
the year that begins July 1. Others in the conference have said they do not
believe a transgender person should be a pastor. Although the church's
rulebook, the Book of Discipline,
forbids ordination or assignment of "self-avowed, practicing
homosexuals," it is silent on the issue of transgender clergy.
The “clergywoman's” efforts have
been blocked, at least for the time being. A complaint has been filed against
her during the conference's annual gathering, June 6-9. The complaint's content
is confidential, but Bishop Felton Edwin May said on June 8 that it could
affect Steen's availability for appointment. In addition, a hearing will be
held later this month on whether Steen should be placed on involuntary leave.
Steen is the former Rev. Richard A. Zomastny. “She” has been on voluntaryleave
since October 1999, when she underwent what she terms "gender
reassignment," becoming the first known transgender clergy person in the
United Methodist Church. [“Her”
reasoning is that] The need comes from an understanding at an early age that
one's spiritual and mental gender do not match one's physical gender, “she”
said. Some people undergo the counseling and decide not to have medical
procedures. [Note the reasoning used.]
Morris Hawkins, president of the conference United Methodist Men,
objects to the procedure, not the condition. "When you take that to the
ultimate conclusion of having sexual reassignment surgery, you're saying to
God, 'You
are making a mistake that I can correct.'" He views the surgery and
attendant procedures as "the ultimate sin of
selfishness." The sin occurs when one alters the physical form, an act
that amounts to saying "we're not willing to accept the will of God in our
life," he said. Hawkins said he
agreed with a two-page statement issued by eight conference
clergy on June 8. The Renaissance Affirmation, named for the hotel where the
conference was held June 6-9, states, "We expect to bring legislation
before our annual conference in the next year that will provide biblical,
ethical, theological and psychological reasons as to why someone suffering from
gender identity disorder does not fit the necessary criteria for the ordained
ministry." [Note: This is the next big issue in the homosexual arena.
Observe how it will increasingly make inroads into our church polity. It would
appear that this action with the reasoning is an affront to God.]
- UMMNS; by Joretta Purdue;
Washington; 10-21-28-71BP{249}; June 12, 2002.
*
A complaint against the Rev. Mark E. Williams in the Pacific Northwest
Conference was dismissed in late May. The complaint stemmed from a public
statement by Williams last June that he is a "practicing gay man."
The UMC prohibits "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" from being
ordained or serving as pastors. Williams was ordained in 1998 and is currently
appointed pastor of Woodland Park UMC in Seattle, WA. Following instruction
from the Judicial Council, Bishop Elias Galvan filed the complaint against
Williams last November. The complaint was for "practices declared by The
United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teachings." The
committee on investigation of the Pacific Northwest Conference took action to
dismiss the complaint after a closed hearing. The purpose of the committee was
not to determine guilt or innocence but to determine whether reasonable grounds
existed to support charges in a church trial. There is no appeal to the
decision of the committee.[Note: This reflects only the latest event in our
denomination’s refusal to enforce the Book
of Discipline.]
- Elaine J.W. Stanovsky, as reported in Newscope; June 7, 2002; Vol.30, No.23.
* * * * *
Results from the Annual Conferences
Detroit,
with Bishop Linda Lee presiding, met May 17-20 at UM-related Adrian College in
Adrian, MI. The conference focused on its partnership with the Liberia Annual
Conference, with Bishop John Innis as Bible study leader and preacher.
Conference members nearly filled a trailer truck with school supplies and
health kits for Liberian church members and contributed more than enough money
to send the container to Liberia. The conference also challenged its pastors to
contribute one-half to one percent of their salaries to help pay modest monthly
salaries to Liberian pastors. Conference churches are urged to match their
pastors' gifts. Bishop Innis told the conference that $25 a month for each
pastor would be "redemptive economically." Bishop Lee will preach at
the Liberia Annual Conference in 2004. The conference theme was "Blessed
to Be a Blessing," and Bishops Lee, Innis, and Bruce Ough, Ohio West Area,
preached on the Beatitudes. Conference members were surrounded by prayer, with
local church members praying for the conference in two-hour segments during the
four-day conference, daily prayer meetings, and daily prayer walks around the
conference site. In other business, the conference: 1) heard that special
offerings from conference churches would continue to provide one hot meal a day
for children attending Methodist schools in Haiti; 2) adopted resolutions that
opposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; 3) urged congressional
hearings on Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, called on Israel to
cease destruction of homes in those areas, demanded withdrawal of all military
forces to the pre-1967 "Green Line," and demanded that Palestinian
terrorist attacks cease; 4) condemned terrorism and called on churches and
Christians to speak out in favor of non-violent responses to violence and urged
opening channels for oppressed people to be heard and responded to; 5) urged
the end of the embargo and trade restrictions against Cuba
2
(Bishop
Linda Lee reported on her recent episcopal visit to Cuba and the effective work
of Cuba's Christian churches); and 6) urged each church to hold a
congregation-wide study on homosexuality and Scripture before the 2004 General
Conference, using existing United Methodist materials and inviting dialogue
from persons with different viewpoints on the issues. Conference membership is
103,994, down 370.
-
Ann Whiting, as reported in Newscope;
May 31, 2002; Vol.30, No.22.
Missouri
Area voted June 3 during a joint session to become
one conference. Missouri West Conference voted 360 for and 308 against the
merger proposal; Missouri East Conference voted 382 to 220. In other business,
the conferences participated in a sweet potato "dump" sponsored by
The Society of St. Andrew, who brought a truck to Columbia carrying 45,000
pounds of sweet potatoes, dumping them in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn
Executive Center. Beginning early in the morning and extending through lunch,
members from both conferences gathered together and turned the mountain of
potatoes into thousands of 15-pound bags. Missouri West Conference voted to
suspend rules regarding fundraising to allow a special, one-time second-mile
offering to be known as "100 Churches for Della Lamb." Della Lamb is
a Kansas City-based social services UM agency that turned down a $50,000
donation from a local casino.
Rev. Ralph Clark of Rockport is hoping to find 100 churches that will each
donate $500 to make up for the money the agency turned down. Membership in
Missouri West Conference is 106,230, down 440 members.
- UMMNS; by
Fred Koenig; 10-71-71BP{251}; June 12, 2002; Newscope; June 14, 2002; Vol.30, No.24.
Minnesota met in its 148th
session May 29-June 1 in St. Cloud. The conference staffing structure, which
was reorganized in 1997, shifted to a somewhat more hierarchical scheme. The
new legislation: 1) replaces the title "steward" with
"director"; 2) creates a new position of director of ministries; and
3) establishes a leadership team chaired by Bishop John L. Hopkins and
comprising the director of ministries, the director of communications, the
director of finance and administration, the dean of the cabinet, and the lay
leader. Bishop Hopkins made an impassioned plea for evangelism and distributed
folded paper "prayer triangles" that would remind members to pray for
specific individuals they knew to become disciples of Jesus and to introduce
those individuals to Christ. In 2001, the bishop distributed $5,000 in
five-dollar bills to members and asked them to increase the amount 20 fold,
with money to be donated to the Kissy Eye Hospital in Sierra Leone, an Advance
project. Members raised $123,700. Members passed resolutions that: 1) urge the
Minnesota state legislature to raise the excise tax on cigarettes by $1 to
discourage youth smoking; 2) support the Council of Bishops' call for peace in
the Middle East and ask congregations to take turns observing a peace vigil
each day until next annual conference session; 3) oppose the easing of state
laws regulating the carrying of concealed handguns; and 4) require the conference's
five ministry areas to discuss the question, "What would our UM ministry
in Minnesota look like if our annual conference vision and goals included all
people, particularly those of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered
orientation?" and submit results of the conversation to 2003 annual
conference session. Members passed an apportioned budget of $6.2 million for
2003, the same level of operating expenses as 2002. No new congregations were
started; three congregations were closed. Membership is 90,900, down 2,169.
- Victoria Rebeck; as reported in Newscope; June 14, 2002; Vol. 30, No. 24.
Oklahoma
gathered
at Boston Avenue UMC in Tulsa May 27-30. Bruce Blake, resident bishop of the Oklahoma
Area, delivered three lectures in a series on Christian giving. The lectures
focused on three basic components of Christian giving: thanksgiving, freedom,
and sacrifice. A report on the new conference ministries center, given by Dick
Webber, chair of the building committee, said that the project is near
completion and within budget. Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference led the
Tuesday evening worship service. The conference: 1) approved a resolution that
relates to an Oklahoma statute that states, "No persons shall maliciously
intimidate or harass another person because of that person's race, color,
religion, ancestry, national origin, or disability"; the resolution calls
for the inclusion of sexual orientation, age, and gender as protected
categories in Oklahoma State hate crimes legislation; 2) approved a resolution
that supports Oklahoma State House Bill 2635, which prohibits the execution of
persons with severe developmental disabilities; and 3) adopted a conference
budget for 2003 with an increase of slightly over 3%. Membership is 252,467,
down 245. No new churches were started in 2001. - Boyce Bowdon; as
reported in Newscope; June 14,
2002; Vol. 30, No. 24.
South Carolina met at Claflin
University May 26-29. The conference board of pension proposed a change in the
healthcare benefits for retired clergy. The change would have required clergy
to have served a minimum of ten years in a local church prior to retirement in
order to be eligible for benefits. The controversial proposal was sent back to
the
committee while the majority of the insurance
changes were approved, including a 16% increase in the institutional
3
portion of insurance premiums and mandatory
participation of clergy. Outside the walls of the conference, advocates
from the Methodist Oaks carried signs protesting higher rates and other issues
with the administration and finances of the home. The conference: 1) approved
as much as $2 million to renovate and add on to the UM Center in Columbia; 2)
opposed predatory lending; 3) opposed guns on church and school property while
supporting the right to bear arms; 4) opposed plutonium storage in South
Carolina; 5) supported an increase in cigarette taxes to curb teen smoking; 6)
supported the existence of the General Board of Church and Society; and 7)
supported prayer and encouraged peaceful ways to end the war on terrorism.
Membership is 242,190, down 619.
- Davie Burgdorf; as reported in Newscope; June 14, 2002; Vol. 30, No. 24.
New Mexico met May 29-June 1
at Glorieta Conference Center, with Northwest Texas/New Mexico Area Bishop Max
Whitfield officiating. Bishop Whitfield appointed the Rev. Raquel Mull, a
Navajo, as organizing pastor of an All Nations UMC in Albuquerque. The All
Nations church will be the first UM Native American congregation in the
Albuquerque area. Conference members: 1) adopted a Comprehensive Plan for
Effective Hispanic Ministries; and 2) adopted a Native American Comprehensive
Plan. In a continuing emphasis on "Making Disciples" as the
conference priority, conference members received a report from the Conference
Team for Making Disciples on "Ignite '03," an evangelistic rally
scheduled April 4-5 at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Membership is 42,133,
down 736.
- Julianne McAchran; as reported in Newscope; June 14, 2002; Vol. 30, No. 24.
Alaska Missionary Conference
met under the theme "A Light in the Wilderness--A Call to Ministry"
May 30-June 1. Bishop Edward Paup presided over the conference, held at First
UMC Anchorage, Birchwood Camp, Chugiak, and Chugiak UMC. The conference
celebrated outdoor ministry in Alaska through historical skits, written by Bea
Shepard; a day at Birchwood Camp with workshops, devotions, singing, and camp
food; and a slide presentation of camping
ministries. Members voted to discontinue St. Paul's UMC in Fairbanks following
a 60-minute debate and 18 months of study. Membership is 4,110, down 11. [Note:
The discontinuance of St. Paul's UMC is extremely problematic. The “study” was
questionable and The Book of Discipline’s
procedures were violated.]
- Brenda
Wingfield and Randy McCurdy; as reported in Newscope; June 14, 2002; Vol. 30, No. 24.
Rocky Mountain returned to Salt Lake City for the first time
in 51 years. Building on the spirit of being in a new place, the bishop led
conference staff and laity in offering a "general superintendent's
report" that included the treasurer, lay leader, cabinet dean and director
of mission and ministry. Highlights included news of two new church starts in
2001 and two more in 2002, plus a call to "mutual accountability" to
the purpose of the church in all of its connectional expressions. Conference
members: 1) took action to continue seeking the best possible health care
coverage within the limits of the budget; 2) affirmed the "inclusive
intent and spirit" of the Western Jurisdiction's "We Shall Not Be
Silent" declaration; 3) added funding to respond to the United Nation's
"Global Emergency of HIV/AIDs"; and 4) failed to adopt a resolution
for the deletion of Resolution #16, adopted by General Conference in 2000. The
resolution
defines how members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(Mormons) are to be received into membership in the UMC. The original petition
was an outgrowth of conversations initiated between LDS leaders and Salt Lake
City UM pastors. Membership is 72,389, down 679. - Gary Keene; as reported in Newscope; June 14, 2002; Vol. 30, No. 24.
Little Rock met May 29-June 1
in Little Rock, AR. A proposed plan of union for the Little Rock and North
Arkansas conferences took center stage at the 2002 session. The proposed new
Arkansas Conference would encompass the
entire state of Arkansas and contain nearly 143,000 lay members and 600 active
pastors serving more than 700 churches. Conference preacher was Bishop Mary Ann
Swenson (Los Angeles Area). In her Episcopal address, resident Bishop Janice
Riggle Huie celebrated "hopeful signs" across the conference,
including significant increases in professions of faith and worship attendance.
She also called for greater accountability among laity for the destructive,
manipulative behavior of those who create "a level of criticism in a local
church" that becomes "more than a pastor
can bear" (she called it "having roast preacher for Sunday
lunch"), resulting in instability within a parish. In other business,
conference members: 1) celebrated a variety of district ministries and growing
Hispanic ministries across the conference; and 2) endorsed proposed legislation
to increase Pell Grant funding and agreed to urge members of Congress to reject
the retooling plan for funding of federal work-study programs on college
campuses. Membership is 62,136, down 942.
- Jane Dennis; as reported in
Newscope; June 14, 2002; Vol. 30, No. 24.
North Indiana met May 30-June
1. The conference: 1) celebrated the 15th year of Operation Classroom,
Indiana's West
4
Africa mission partnership program, and also
initiated a new fund drive and collection of hand tools and equipment
needed by vocational programs for ex-combatants in Liberia and Sierra Leone; 2)
approved a $1 million fund drive for construction of a new worship center to be
named in honor of Bishop Woodie W. White. The sanctuary is to be
a part of New Hope UMC in Anderson, IN, a holistic, multi-ethnic ministry to
the poor; 3) approved a $10.3 million budget for 2003 ; 4) renewed conference
commitment to work for elimination of legalized gambling in Indiana; 4) passed
a resolution by the Rev. Riley Case, "Support of the War Against
Terrorism," which also calls the conference to pray
for world leaders, world peace, and "for those who would hate us."
Bishop Woodie W. White declared September 2002 to be "United Methodist
Open House Month," to coincide with the denomination's national TV
commercials campaign.
The bishop also asked each congregation to set aside Sunday, September 8, for
"Remembering 9/11" services. Membership is 103,379, down 971. - Lynne DeMichele; as reported in Newscope; June 14, 2002; Vol. 30, No. 24.
West Michigan met at Calvin
College in Grand Rapids May 31-June 3, and heard retired Bishop Leontine Kelly.
The conference announced a new church start south of Rockford and voted to
raise $500,000 over the next eight to ten years for a UM church start in
Klaipeda, Lithuania. Conference members adopted a new plan for funding health
insurance for pastors, their families, and lay staff members. Participants will
share the cost of premiums--5-15%--on a sliding scale based on salary. The
change in funding is intended to relieve some of the financial burden on local
churches. The conference adopted resolutions: 1) promoting world peace and
justice; 2) designating a conference Week of Prayer for the Homeless, Nov.
17-23; 3) discouraging urban sprawl through several tactics; 4) encouraging the
conference and local churches to discontinue use of disposable cups and
tableware; 5) encouraging resolution of border issues between India and
Pakistan and that conference churches reach out in dialogue with Muslims and
Hindus; and 6) urging members to contact congresspersons and the president to
affirm efforts to reduce nuclear weapons and to condemn any serious
consideration of "first strike" use. The conference updated its abuse
prevention policy to clarify that an alleged abuser on the premises of a
program site must be isolated from the program and have no contact with
children, youth, or adults with special needs. It also accepted a
recommendation from a lay member that evangelism and social justice be named as
conference priorities. The conference voted against a resolution supporting the
Infact boycott against Kraft Foods, owned by the tobacco company Philip Morris.
Membership is 71,204, down 1,384.
- Ann Whiting; as reported in
Newscope; June 14, 2002; Vol. 30, No. 24.
Mississippi immersed itself
in mission at the annual conference meeting June 2-5 in Jackson. Energized by
the Rev. Janet Wolf's sermon on living out their baptism, delegates
participated in "Workday Witness" community mission. Retired Bishop
Clay F. Lee Jr. presided in the absence of resident Bishop Kenneth L. Carder,
who underwent heart bypass surgery May 17 and was recovering at home. New
committees were established for Native American Ministry, Rural Life, Urban
Ministries, and Christian Unity/Interreligious Concerns. Members approved
resolutions calling on the conference to pray for US military personnel and
affirming the use of male pronouns for references to the person of God.
Membership is 190,698, up 197.
- Gwen Green; as reported in
Newscope; June 14, 2002; Vol. 30, No. 24.
North Texas [had as its
theme] "Shout to the Lord" iin its Conference June 2-5 in Dallas,
Plano, and McKinney, TX. Presiding Bishop William B. Oden characterized the
daily worship services as "strong, exciting, and meaningful." Each
had its own opportunity for "shouting," none more so than the June 4
service of ordination and commissioning. Rev. Zan W. Holmes Jr. preached to the
ministry candidates and an overflow congregation at First UMC, Dallas, with his
final sermon to the conference, titled "Have We Checked Our Egos at the
Door?" He and ten others retired from the conference this year. Members
approved a new "shareholder" program with a goal to raise $1.6
million per year to supplement a 20-year-old program that had begun to dwindle.
A new funding schedule calls for the conference liability for ministerial
pensions to be eliminated by 2010 at the rate of $1.7 million per year, then
for the $1.7 million annual apportionment to be continued through 2017 to cover
liability for retirees' medical benefits. Eight new churches were started
during 2001: Tanglaw Filipino UMC Fellowship; Central Korean American UMC
Fellowship; Good Seed Korean American UMC; South Wise County Hispanic
Fellowship; Foundry Church, East Grand; Foundry Church, Bachman Lake;
Vietnamese Fellowship; and Creekwood UMC Fellowship. Membership is 160,029, up
2,266.
- Joan LaBarr; as reported in
Newscope; June 14, 2002; Vol. 30, No. 24.
* * * * *
People who admit they’re wrong usually go
farther in life than people who try to prove they’re right.
-
The Navigator’s Daily Walk, August 31, 1996
5
Global Outlook
Caterpillars never become instant butterflies. – Saying on a
marquis in front of a gas station.
* * * * *
The
Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA).
Meeting April 18-21 in Chicago, the board of
directors of the unofficial United Methodist group MFSA…wrote a letter to
President Bush, calling for an immediate end to military action in Afghanistan
and urging him to "halt our military aggression in the region. To
facilitate the return to pre-1967 borders, the removal of all Israeli
settlements from the West Bank and Gaza and the establishment of Jerusalem as
an international city, the statement called upon Israel to withdraw all
military forces from the occupied territories. The organization urged the
United Nations to establish a peacekeeping
mission there and the U.S. government to support such a mission and refrain
from unilateral action. The statement also called upon the United States to
"stop military assistance and arms exports to the region." The Middle
East statement and Afghanistan letter were crafted as the MFSA board members
spent long hours in dialogue about world events, according to the Rev. Kathryn
Johnson, MFSA executive director. That dialogue included a presentation by
Bishop C. Joseph Sprague of Chicago. On other social justice issues, the
organization's board celebrated the recent release of former death row prisoner
Ray Krone of Arizona and encouraged members and the church at large to continue
working toward
abolition of the death penalty; affirmed the recent U.S. Senate vote to refrain
from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and condemned racism of
all kinds, especially the use of racial profiling. [Note: The MFSA is a problem
organization, having been cited by the House of Un-American Activities
Committee in the 1960s as a communist-dominated organization. Their public
positions are traditionally to the extreme left of center and are detrimental
to the interests of the United States. Their political positions seldom reflect
sound judgment.]
- UMMNS; Linda Bloom; New York; 10-21-71B{181};
April 25, 2002.
The National Council of Churches
(NCC).
The 12-day journey of the National
Council of Churches delegation to the Middle East is underway, and is
being documented in words and pictures daily on the NCC website, http://www.ncccusa.org. The itinerary
includes visits with top church and government leaders of Turkey,
Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel. The 14 participants are from Greek Orthodox, Episcopal,
United Church of Christ, American Baptist, Syrian Orthodox, Presbyterian,
United Methodist, Armenian Orthodox, National Baptist USA, and Evangelical
Lutheran churches. Their visit is at the invitation of the Christian churches
of the Middle East. [Note: This reflects a questionable use of church funds and
is more reflective of a junk. The NCC does not have a good record in
international political advocacy.]
- Received by e-mail.
Switzerland/France.
Autonomous churches to join Swiss, French United Methodists
The United Methodist Annual (regional) Conference of
Switzerland/France has agreed with a request from an autonomous group of French
Methodist churches to join the denomination. Meeting in early June in Basel,
Switzerland, the conference delegates voted to integrate the Methodist Church
in France into the United Methodist Church during the next three years,
according to the Rev. Peter Siegfried, a conference member. Representing nearly
1,000 members in nine congregations, the majority of the churches are in the
Cevennes Mountains in Southern France, along with one in the Rhone Valley and
one in Paris. The Rev. Pierre Geiser,
the French church's vice president, told conference delegates that the time had
come for his church to end its isolation and make a clear decision for
fellowship with other Methodists.
Besides its congregations, the French church brings seven Christian bookshops,
four senior retreat centers, and a retreat and vacation center to the
conference. Siegfried said the annual conference probably would have to
reorganize its districts, possibly dedicating one district to French-speaking
congregations - 20 in France, four in western Switzerland,
two Cambodian congregations and the United Methodist ministry in Algeria and
Tunisia.
- UMMNS; Linda Bloom; New York; 10-71B{254}; June
13, 2002.
* * * * *
The
road to happiness lies in two simple principles:
find out what it is that
interests yo and that you can do well,
and when you find it, put your whole should into it
- every bit of energy and ambition and natural ability you have.
- John D. Rockefeller III, as quoted from Chicken Soup for the
Preteen Soul, p. 188.
6