TENNESSEE CONFERENCE REVIEW June 12, 2009
Articles in the June 12, 2009 Edition of The Tennessee Conference Review
1. Faith calls us to love neighbors, pastor says.
2. Local Clergy Tour Metro General Hospital on May 18 and 19
3. Centertown United Methodist Church moves to newly constructed church building.
4. Clarksville Urban Ministries: Offering Hope to Children in Crisis
5. UMC Foundation partners with Nashville Area Foundation for planned giving training
6. Nashville to Malawi: An Expanding Mission Partnership
7. Friesen Family Honored with a going away party
8. Sager Brown: Helping Communities with home repair
9. He's still talking about love of his life--John Meadors
10. Sherry Cothran Woolsey Receives Harkness Scholarship
______________________________
Faith calls us to love neighbors, pastor says
By Kathy L. Gilbert*
June 1, 2009 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) When President Barack Obama opens the debate on immigration with Democratic and Republican legislators June 8, the Rev. Sonnye Dixon will be doing what his faith has taught him: praying for his neighbors.
The Rev. Sonnye Dixon says his faith calls him to pray for his neighbors. UMNS photos by Mike DuBose
Dixon, pastor of Hobson United Methodist Church, joined with community, business and faith leaders at a press conference June 1 to launch a national campaign to reform immigration for America. Similar press conferences were held across the country.
“I have been taught by my faith to welcome the stranger and to love my neighbor even if that neighbor is an enemy,” Dixon said. “I am praying for that conversation because an epidemic of xenophobia is infecting our nation.”
The Reform Immigration for America campaign is an effort of 200 national, regional and local organizations representing labor, faith, education, business and community working for comprehensive immigration reform.
“The June 8 meeting is an extension of Obama’s pledge during the election campaign,” said Avi Poster, president of the Coalition for Education on Immigration in Nashville. “Comprehensive immigration reform is long overdue.”
Remziya Suleyman says, “America doesn’t want families torn apart.”
“America doesn’t want families torn apart, it is time for practical and common sense reform,” said Remziya Suleyman, policy coordinator for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.
Praise for conversation
United Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcaño applauded Obama’s decision to start the conversation on immigration and work toward reform in 2009.
“As United Methodists, we believe that immigration is a human rights issue that needs serious attention,” Carcaño said in an April 13 statement thanking Obama for putting immigration reform on his agenda for 2009.
Carcaño, also the chairwoman of the United Methodist task force on immigration, said the church stands “firmly in believing that the inherent value of all immigrants means that all of their civil liberties should be respected and maintained regardless of their legal status. We believe, however, that our present immigration policies violate these basic rights.”
The United Methodist Council of Bishops expressed their commitment to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform and to stand in solidarity with “our immigrant neighbors” at the conclusion of its spring meeting May 13.
“I am praying for success,” Dixon said. “How we deal with reform is how we will be viewed in the world.
“God puts people in our paths so we can learn to love them.”
*Gilbert is a news writer for United Methodist News Service in Nashville, Tenn.
Local clergy tour Metro General Hospital on May 18 and 19
Matt Kelley, Pastor of Bethlehem UMC; Dr. Valerie Montgomery-Rice, Dean of Meharry School of Medicine; Rev. Brian Fesler, Church of Scientology; Ken Edwards, Sr. Pastor, Belmont UMC, David Lay, Pastor, St. John's UMC; Dr. Reginald Coopwood, Chief Executive Officer of the Nashville Hospital Authority.
Nashville, TN -- The Metropolitan Nashville Hospital Authority and Nashvillians for Metro General invited area faith leaders to become more familiar with the services and programs of Metro General Hospital during "clergy tours" on Monday, May 18, and Tuesday, May 19. The tours were conducted at 10:00 a.m. each day. The tours were designed to help clergy in their work by familiarizing them with how the hospital can assist their ministries. Each tour concluded with a luncheon with Dr. Reginald Coopwood, the Executive Director of the Hospital Authority, who shared his vision for the future of Metro General and also spoke on the challenges faced by the hospital.
"Metro General is a gift to our community that many people don't know about," stated the Reverend Jay Voorhees, coordinator of the tours. "We wanted to help area faith leaders become more familiar with our community hospital. We think that they would be surprised by the level of service and the number of ways Metro General is working to help our city."
Access for Everyone
“In a city known around the world as a center for health-related businesses,” Voorhees continues, “General is evidence that as Nashville grows, it has not forgotten to make sure that everyone has access to good care. In a city with a reputation for unmatched hospitality, our public hospital is testimony that Nashville does not neglect its own. Conversely, as my friend the Rev. Henry Blaze regularly tells me, a city that fails to care for its sick is a sick city. That is not a description of the Nashville that I know and love. “
The Rev. Jay Voorhees moderates a luncheon discussion with Metro General Hospital and Meharry Medical School leaders.
“Nashville is also known as a center of education. General Hospital serves as the principal teaching facility for Meharry Medical College students. Meharry is the largest private, comprehensive, historically black institution for educating health professionals and scientists in the nation. Without an accredited, strong General Hospital, we could see a long-term impact on our national health infrastructure. “
“More than 75 Nashville clergy have united with others in Nashville to voice our concerns regarding threatened cuts in public funding for Nashville General. Conversations are under way to find ways to strengthen General’s role as our city’s “safety net” facility at a time of deepening need. “
Centertown United Methodist Church moves to newly constructed church building
A sign outside the old church building tells the whole story.
Late in the afternoon of May 24th members and friends of Centertown United Methodist Church gathered in the church’s rather bare sanctuary. The altar table and pulpit had already been removed from the sanctuary as the congregation prepared to move to its newly constructed church building, an estimated quarter of a mile away. After delicious snacks in the old fellowship hall and a brief service “decommissioning” the old Centertown Church, the group--adults and children--prepared for the march to the new facility. Each person carried with him/her a part of the old church—cross, candle sticks, offering plates, hymn books.
The sound of a shofar heralded the beginning of the journey, and the periodic sound of the shofar moved the marchers along. Great hymns of the church were sung along the route, and the Centertown Fire Department stopped traffic along a busy stretch of highway as the procession moved on to the new Centertown facility, a strikingly beautiful structure with a large modern fellowship hall and a inspiring sanctuary. Through a service of consecration led by District Superintendent Jay Archer and Pastor Maurice Moore – the new building, the sanctuary, the altar, the pulpit, the baptistery, the baptism font, and a brand new grand piano were consecrated and blessed.
Photo #13, caption: District Superintendent Jay Archer closes the consecration service with a prayerful benediction. The churches new grand piano is in the background
History of Centertown United Methodist Church
Taken from Centertown United Methodist Church History compiled by Dianne Page, church historian.
The formation of the Centertown United Methodist Church was an outgrowth of a tent revival organized by Dr. L. B. Gilbert, a doctor in Centertown. For nineteen years Dr. Gilbert transported his family by buggy to McMinnville to worship. Desiring a place closer to worship, he persuaded Rev. Bruce Lyles, then pastor of First United Methodist Church, to conduct a revival in Centertown. After several day and night services, Dr. Gilbert, Alex Tassey, Harmon Fennell, and W.C. Lorance, as the main organizers, set about to start the church.
On August 10, 1930, the church was organized with 33 members. Within a year new members were added when Danniels Chapel in Cannon County, Pleasant Hill, and Hickory Grove Methodist churches closed.
Regular church services were held in a garage owned by Gilbert with the Rev. P.A. Kirby as the first pastor. As membership approached 60 in 1931 the church was officially chartered. In the next three years, the Reverends W.F. Burden, A.T. Judkins, and Roy Clarke served the church (Faulkner Springs Charge in the Murfreesboro District). Services were held once a month on the second Sunday.
In 1944 Gilbert bought two lots on the north side of Highway 70 from Robert Deberry and gave them to the congregation as the site for a church. The footing and foundation were laid for a 30x36 concrete building. A year later, Ray Baxter laid the blocks for 8 cents a block. All other labor was free.
The first services were held in the church in the fall of 1944.
The congregation and friends prepare for the decommissioning service in the old sanctuary
The sounds of the Shofar echoed through the hills as the congregation started its walk to the new Centertown United Methodist Church.
Everyone carried something from the old church buildings—cross, candle sticks, offering plates, hymnals
The congregation sang great hymns of the church as it walked to the new building.
There was a feeling of profound joy as members entered the new church home.
Pastor Maurice Moore was surprised at the consecration service by membership in the Nashville Area Order of St. Andrew – an award honoring his ministry at Centertown. Maurice’s wife Nancy, was in on the surprise, but received a surprise herself when Vin Walkup called her forward to receive her own membership in the Order of St. Andrew.
Each worship element in the new sanctuary was consecrated—here water is poured into the new baptistery as it and the baptismal font are consecrated.
Artist’s rendering of the new Centertown United Methodist Church
Clarksville Urban Ministries: Offering Hope to Children in Crisis
By Beverly Dycus, Director United Methodist Urban Ministries/Clarksville District
Have you ever heard the joke about the kid who came home from school and their family had moved? Well, that actually happened in our family. To make matters worse, it happened on my ninth birthday. To be fair to my parents, I need to share “the rest of the story.” They had decided it was time to sell the farm and move to town, and the buyer wanted to move on the farm right away. So when my siblings and I came home from school, the trucks were loaded and ready to go.
Now let me tell you about Brad. Brad is eleven years of age and one day when he came home from school, he discovered his family was moving and things would never be the same. When he stepped from the school bus that spring afternoon, Brad saw his mother, along with his baby sister, sitting in the car. Through the car window, Brad could see bags of clothes, toys and a few household items.
It had been a few weeks since Brad’s mother was beaten by her husband and without the father’s income, rent was due and the electricity had been disconnected. Because of the violence and unpaid rent and utilities, the landlord had asked Brad’s mother to move from the home.
Brad’s story is much too common. In every community within our Tennessee Conference, families are in crisis and, as a result, our children are at risk. Statisticians tell us if all the homeless youth were in one city, it would be the seventh largest in the United States. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, twenty percent (20%) of children in Tennessee live in poverty.
Urban Ministries Grace Assistance Program in the Clarksville District has been offering hope and healing to thousands of families like Brad’s for almost twenty-five years. In addition to placing Brad’s family in safe temporary shelter, Grace Assistance provided nutritious food, personal hygiene items, baby supplies and prescription medications. Immediate contacts were made with appropriate service agencies in the community to assist the family in securing safe affordable housing and to aid them in their journey to recovery.
Throughout our Conference, there are thousands of children at risk because of numerous societal issues: child abuse, family violence, unemployment, medical challenges, lack of health care, educational barriers, and other crises. As the church, we must reach beyond the walls, and beyond our comfort zones, and minister the love of Jesus Christ with those who suffer.
*United Methodist Urban Ministries is located at 217 South Third Street, Clarksville, TN 37040
UMC Foundation partners with Nashville Area Foundation for planned giving training
The United Methodist Church Foundation, a ministry of The General Council on Finance & Administration (GCFA), recently partnered with the Nashville Area United Methodist Foundation and Alpha Omega Family Services in hosting a half‐day seminar on estate planning.
The goal was to assist pastors in understanding the importance of estate planning and how to make gifts of assets to continue their own charitable intent as they distribute real and personal property. In addition, estate planning is the process by which an individual or family arranges the transfer of assets in anticipation of death, such as living trusts, charitable remainder trusts and donor advised funds. By partnering with the Nashville Area Foundation, the UMC Foundation furthers its commitment to work with donors and congregations with and through conference‐related foundations as partners.
“By providing these seminars we can educate congregations about various money matters so vital to families and church life. When recessions come and go we want our people to be grounded in knowledge and faith, not fear and despair,” say Sharon Clapp, Director of Giving and Development of The United Methodist Church Foundation, a ministry of GCFA.
The Rev. Vin Walkup, President and CEO of the Nashville Area United Methodist Foundation, indicated that the partnership will continue. “This is the first of what will be offered by the two foundations as they seek to work together to enhance estate and endowment planning for churches and ministries within the Nashville Area.”
Nashville to Malawi: An Expanding Mission Partnership
By Elliott Wright*
The hymn says, "blessed be the tie that binds," but ties in Christian mission can also expand.
"Growing stronger" is perhaps the best way to describe a mission partnership between a United Methodist congregation in Nashville, Tennessee, and the denomination's Malawi Missionary Conference in central Africa.
The collaboration between the Belmont United Methodist Church and Malawi United Methodists is taking a new turn as a lay couple from Belmont prepares for a year of service in Malawi as Individual Volunteers in Mission. Jeff and Kara Oliver, both 35, will represent on the scene the deep commitment to Malawi that has become part of life at Belmont.
Kara Oliver speaks at a May 9th Belmont UMC concert and fund raiser for the ministry in Malawi
Mission seeds that have grown into the strong partnership were sown in 2004 when the first volunteer mission (UMVIM) team from Belmont visited Malawi, according to the Rev. Herb Mather, a retired pastor in the Tennessee Annual Conference and a Belmont communicant who has played a leading role in the Belmont-Malawi story.
Village Churches and a Miracle Offering
UMVIM teams went again in 2006 and 2008. More than 20 persons were in the 2004 and 2008 groups. Participants visited many villages and engaged in what Mather terms a "ministry of encouragement." The visitor became interested in the development of village churches. Belmont would subsequently make Malawi a mission priority.
Belmont remembered its mission partner in 2005 when the 1,650-member Belmont Church, located in an older neighborhood of Nashville, near Vanderbilt University, decided to raise $3 million for a new community center. The campaign, Mather says, included $50,000 to begin construction of a United Methodist conference center in Malawi.
"We had a special Christmas Miracle offering last December with a goal of raising $30,000 in hopes of building 10 village churches," Mather stated in an email. "We received over $52,000. Fifteen village churches and one city church will be built with these funds. We are now working on linking Sunday school classes and individuals with the 'miracle' churches, so there is communication between our people and the Malawian people." He continued:
Part of the Christmas Miracle offering was an offering of prayers. People in the congregation were invited to write prayers for Malawi and to bring them to the altar. Around 200 prayers were brought to the front of the church and placed in African baskets. These prayers were taken to Malawi ... [and] some were read at a pastor's training event and all were distributed to the 22 pastors in attendance to take back and share with their congregations.
Across the last five years, the people of Belmont have sent Bibles in the Chichewa and Tumbuka languages, paid for the drilling of 12 deep wells (boreholes) in Malawi, upgraded two parsonages, and sent 12 bicycles, a motorcycle, an automobile, recreational equipment, livestock (goats and pigs), and treadle irrigation pumps to the African country.
United Methodist Women at Belmont are very much a part of the partnership with Malawi, contributing funds for treadle and electric sewing machines and providing training in sewing and funds for 11 literacy classes for village women.
Malawi: A Young Church
The United Methodist Church in Malawi is fairly young. Started some 21 years ago by indigenous leaders, it was for 20 years a district of the episcopal area based in nearby Zimbabwe. In April 2008, the United Methodist General Conference, the denomination's legislature, recognized Malawi was a Missionary Conference, with special ties to the General Board of Global Ministries. Today, there are about 100 congregations organized into 22 circuits.
Malawi is a land-locked country of 10.5 million mostly rural people east of Zambia, west of Mozambique, and south of Tanzania. Like Zimbabwe, it was colonized by English-speaking Europeans in the 19th century. It gained its independence from Great Britain in 1964 and become a democratic republic in 1994. Lilongwe is the capital city. The annual per capital income is $800. Some 80 percent of the population is Christian, 55 percent of those Protestant.
Bishop Eben Kanukayi Nhiwatiwa of the Zimbabwe Area has visited Belmont to cement the partnership and express appreciation for Belmont's commitment.
A UMVIM Couple
Jeff and Kara Oliver were in the delegation that took the prayers to Malawi and now they are devoting a full year to service there as Individual Volunteers in Mission, a program linked to the General Board of Global Ministries. They will work with the leadership of the Malawi church in a variety of ministries, bringing their considerable skills and the strength of their faith to the work. While Jeff is trained in information technology (IT), Kara is a freelance writer who has written for The Upper Room, the international daily devotional guide at the Nashville-based General Board of Discipleship.
Jeff & Kara Oliver check out the local market with Bishop Nhiwatiwa of Zimbabwe. Image by: Jeff & Kara Oliver/blog.oliverville.org
On May 9, a benefit raised $14,000 for the purchase of a used 4x4 vehicle that the Olivers will use during their ministry in Malawi and then leave for the church there. From a base in Blantyre, the couple plans to visit each of the 22 circuits, working under the direction of the Rev. Daniel Mhone, the mission superintendent. The departure date for Malawi is July 6.
"They are a terrific couple," Mather says, "and their commitment has caught the imagination of our large contingent of young adults, who form a major part of our congregation." The Olivers have sold their house in Nashville, put their careers on hold for mission, and spent a great deal of time preparing their children, Carter, 3, and Claire Marin, 9, for the adventure ahead of them.
Support for the couple during their Malawi year is not part of the Belmont budget, but Mather said that they anticipate considerable support from individuals and small groups. "This practice has worked in the past. All of our funds for Malawi have come in response to stories of how God is working among the people of Malawi."
The Olivers' faith journey to Malawi can be followed on an internet blog that goes back several months, and includes the productive time the couple and their children spent in individual mission volunteer training last April. The web address is http://blog.oliverville.org/.
Mather's Personal Story
Retired pastor Herb Mather has played a leading role in the Belmont-Malawi story.
Rev. Mather is himself one of the best advertisements for mission partnership and mission volunteer service within the United Methodist connection. He has spent much of his life building bridges between diverse peoples and cultures in the name of Jesus Christ.
He first went to Malawi in the year 2000 as part of a team from the General Board of Discipleship, where he then worked, leading a training seminar for clergy and laymen. He returned the next year. Following his retirement in 2003, he was asked by Belmont to organize the UMVIM team that went to Malawi in 2004.
Mather and his wife Sue have traveled to Malawi many times in recent years.
Belmont Church
While an older United Methodist congregation in Nashville, Belmont is one of the most vibrant and diverse. It includes members of 25 different nations of birth. There is a group of 150 men, women, and children who are refugees from Myanmar. The congregation has made a successful transition from a mostly older to a young adult membership. It partners with a sister congregation in a low-income neighborhood only a mile from the Hillsboro Village community where it is located.
Belmont Church is strongly connectional and has paid its United Methodist apportionments in full for the last five years. The current pastor is the Rev. Ken Edwards.
Others Can Help
Funds from Belmont to Malawi go through The Advance, the United Methodist designated giving mission channel. The Olivers can also be assisted through The Advance account for Individual Volunteers. Donations can be sent to Advance GCFA, PO Box 9068, GPO, New York, NY 10087-9068. Make checks payable to Advance GCFA and on the memo line write, "Advance #982465, for Jeff & Kara Oliver."
* Elliott Wright is the information officer of the General Board of Global Ministries.
Friesen Family Honored with a going away party
Ed Friesen enjoys his gift from Brooks and Dunn – autographed drawing of the duo as M&M candy
There was a Going Away Party for Brentwood Liberty United Methodist Church’s Pastor Ed Friesen and Family May 31 at a member's home. Ed and his wife, Mickie McCorkle, are full members of the Kansas East Conference and are being appointed back in their home conference this summer. Ed has served Liberty Church and Mickey has served the General Board of Discipleship for four years. Ed was presented a pictorial gift from Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn – a cartoon of Brooks and Dunn in performance dressed as colorful M&M peanut candy. Kix Brooks is a member of Liberty.
A drawing of historical Liberty United Methodist Church, framed and signed by church members, was given to Friesen.
Fred Mindermann, Administrative Council Chairman, presented two gifts from the congregation after fellowship and food at the Hardin’s home -- a hand drawn sketch of the Liberty UMC signed by church members and a love offering.
Sager Brown: Helping Communities with home repair
(Even as this issue of the Review goes to press there are twenty United Methodist Women members from the Tennessee Conference serving at the Sager Brown depot in Louisiana. Conference UMW president Joy Lewter shares a note from two of the women: “Hello---from hot hot hot Louisiana. We helped pack over 220 cleaning buckets today. We are going to get to help load and send a container off to Armenia tomorrow. This is truly a blessed place. Katie and Wanda.”
A phone call revealed that the container was indeed sent out on schedule—and contained 8400 school kits, 84 bedding kits, 2724 layette kits, and 3360 sewing kits. Armenia is one of the places in the world where women and young girls hold subordinate positions in society and are at the bottom of the economic ladder. Because of this, they tend to be more susceptible to luring promises of financial opportunities and fall prey to “sheep in wolves’ clothing—traffickers who betray their trust. The sewing kits make it possible for women to learn an income producing trade, tailoring, and diminish the chance they will fall prey to the traffickers.
Some of the United Methodist Women’s group from the Tennessee Conference are volunteering at Chez Hope, a local women’s domestic violence center.)
Volunteers working at UMCOR’s Sager Brown campus in Baldwin, La., do more than prepare emergency relief kits, they help their community with home repairs.
Sager Brown volunteers helped Bobbie, a Louisiana resident who after colon cancer surgery had to use a walker. Bobbie’s doorway was too narrow to accommodate her walker, so the volunteers brought tools and materials and widened her doorway. The volunteers also replaced her front door.
Barbara Snell, who directs outreach ministries at UMCOR Sager Brown says there are approximately 80 applications from people in the community who are requesting home repairs—demonstrating a strong need in the Sager Brown community in addition to kit ministry that reaches around the world.
Barbara and Bob Snell have recently relocated to UMCOR Sager Brown from the Tennessee Annual Conference, Barbara on the UMCOR staff as Director of Outreach Ministries and Bob serving as a volunteer Project Manager for Home Repair. Both Barbara and Bob are retired Diaconal Ministers in the Tennessee Conference. The couple led one-week volunteer trips to Sager Brown and thought to themselves that it would be great to spend more than a week working at the Depot. They applied to be part of a 3-month volunteer program, “and we’ve been here ever since” Barbara noted with a laugh.
“We love it here,” said Barbara. “The staff is wonderful, and I enjoy meeting the people in the community, and assessing home damage.”
Individuals and churches wishing to support UMCOR Sager Brown Depot may do so by giving to Material Resources, UMCOR Advance #901440.
He's still talking about love of his life
By Claudia Pinto
Reprinted from May 20, 2009, THE TENNESSEAN, Copyright 2009, and used here by permission
1. Faith calls us to love neighbors, pastor says.
2. Local Clergy Tour Metro General Hospital on May 18 and 19
3. Centertown United Methodist Church moves to newly constructed church building.
4. Clarksville Urban Ministries: Offering Hope to Children in Crisis
5. UMC Foundation partners with Nashville Area Foundation for planned giving training
6. Nashville to Malawi: An Expanding Mission Partnership
7. Friesen Family Honored with a going away party
8. Sager Brown: Helping Communities with home repair
9. He's still talking about love of his life--John Meadors
10. Sherry Cothran Woolsey Receives Harkness Scholarship
______________________________
Faith calls us to love neighbors, pastor says
By Kathy L. Gilbert*
June 1, 2009 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) When President Barack Obama opens the debate on immigration with Democratic and Republican legislators June 8, the Rev. Sonnye Dixon will be doing what his faith has taught him: praying for his neighbors.
The Rev. Sonnye Dixon says his faith calls him to pray for his neighbors. UMNS photos by Mike DuBoseDixon, pastor of Hobson United Methodist Church, joined with community, business and faith leaders at a press conference June 1 to launch a national campaign to reform immigration for America. Similar press conferences were held across the country.
“I have been taught by my faith to welcome the stranger and to love my neighbor even if that neighbor is an enemy,” Dixon said. “I am praying for that conversation because an epidemic of xenophobia is infecting our nation.”
The Reform Immigration for America campaign is an effort of 200 national, regional and local organizations representing labor, faith, education, business and community working for comprehensive immigration reform.
“The June 8 meeting is an extension of Obama’s pledge during the election campaign,” said Avi Poster, president of the Coalition for Education on Immigration in Nashville. “Comprehensive immigration reform is long overdue.”
Remziya Suleyman says, “America doesn’t want families torn apart.”“America doesn’t want families torn apart, it is time for practical and common sense reform,” said Remziya Suleyman, policy coordinator for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.
Praise for conversation
United Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcaño applauded Obama’s decision to start the conversation on immigration and work toward reform in 2009.
“As United Methodists, we believe that immigration is a human rights issue that needs serious attention,” Carcaño said in an April 13 statement thanking Obama for putting immigration reform on his agenda for 2009.
Carcaño, also the chairwoman of the United Methodist task force on immigration, said the church stands “firmly in believing that the inherent value of all immigrants means that all of their civil liberties should be respected and maintained regardless of their legal status. We believe, however, that our present immigration policies violate these basic rights.”
The United Methodist Council of Bishops expressed their commitment to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform and to stand in solidarity with “our immigrant neighbors” at the conclusion of its spring meeting May 13.
“I am praying for success,” Dixon said. “How we deal with reform is how we will be viewed in the world.
“God puts people in our paths so we can learn to love them.”
*Gilbert is a news writer for United Methodist News Service in Nashville, Tenn.
Local clergy tour Metro General Hospital on May 18 and 19
Matt Kelley, Pastor of Bethlehem UMC; Dr. Valerie Montgomery-Rice, Dean of Meharry School of Medicine; Rev. Brian Fesler, Church of Scientology; Ken Edwards, Sr. Pastor, Belmont UMC, David Lay, Pastor, St. John's UMC; Dr. Reginald Coopwood, Chief Executive Officer of the Nashville Hospital Authority.Nashville, TN -- The Metropolitan Nashville Hospital Authority and Nashvillians for Metro General invited area faith leaders to become more familiar with the services and programs of Metro General Hospital during "clergy tours" on Monday, May 18, and Tuesday, May 19. The tours were conducted at 10:00 a.m. each day. The tours were designed to help clergy in their work by familiarizing them with how the hospital can assist their ministries. Each tour concluded with a luncheon with Dr. Reginald Coopwood, the Executive Director of the Hospital Authority, who shared his vision for the future of Metro General and also spoke on the challenges faced by the hospital.
"Metro General is a gift to our community that many people don't know about," stated the Reverend Jay Voorhees, coordinator of the tours. "We wanted to help area faith leaders become more familiar with our community hospital. We think that they would be surprised by the level of service and the number of ways Metro General is working to help our city."
Access for Everyone
“In a city known around the world as a center for health-related businesses,” Voorhees continues, “General is evidence that as Nashville grows, it has not forgotten to make sure that everyone has access to good care. In a city with a reputation for unmatched hospitality, our public hospital is testimony that Nashville does not neglect its own. Conversely, as my friend the Rev. Henry Blaze regularly tells me, a city that fails to care for its sick is a sick city. That is not a description of the Nashville that I know and love. “
The Rev. Jay Voorhees moderates a luncheon discussion with Metro General Hospital and Meharry Medical School leaders.“Nashville is also known as a center of education. General Hospital serves as the principal teaching facility for Meharry Medical College students. Meharry is the largest private, comprehensive, historically black institution for educating health professionals and scientists in the nation. Without an accredited, strong General Hospital, we could see a long-term impact on our national health infrastructure. “
“More than 75 Nashville clergy have united with others in Nashville to voice our concerns regarding threatened cuts in public funding for Nashville General. Conversations are under way to find ways to strengthen General’s role as our city’s “safety net” facility at a time of deepening need. “
Centertown United Methodist Church moves to newly constructed church building
A sign outside the old church building tells the whole story.Late in the afternoon of May 24th members and friends of Centertown United Methodist Church gathered in the church’s rather bare sanctuary. The altar table and pulpit had already been removed from the sanctuary as the congregation prepared to move to its newly constructed church building, an estimated quarter of a mile away. After delicious snacks in the old fellowship hall and a brief service “decommissioning” the old Centertown Church, the group--adults and children--prepared for the march to the new facility. Each person carried with him/her a part of the old church—cross, candle sticks, offering plates, hymn books.
The sound of a shofar heralded the beginning of the journey, and the periodic sound of the shofar moved the marchers along. Great hymns of the church were sung along the route, and the Centertown Fire Department stopped traffic along a busy stretch of highway as the procession moved on to the new Centertown facility, a strikingly beautiful structure with a large modern fellowship hall and a inspiring sanctuary. Through a service of consecration led by District Superintendent Jay Archer and Pastor Maurice Moore – the new building, the sanctuary, the altar, the pulpit, the baptistery, the baptism font, and a brand new grand piano were consecrated and blessed.
Photo #13, caption: District Superintendent Jay Archer closes the consecration service with a prayerful benediction. The churches new grand piano is in the backgroundHistory of Centertown United Methodist Church
Taken from Centertown United Methodist Church History compiled by Dianne Page, church historian.
The formation of the Centertown United Methodist Church was an outgrowth of a tent revival organized by Dr. L. B. Gilbert, a doctor in Centertown. For nineteen years Dr. Gilbert transported his family by buggy to McMinnville to worship. Desiring a place closer to worship, he persuaded Rev. Bruce Lyles, then pastor of First United Methodist Church, to conduct a revival in Centertown. After several day and night services, Dr. Gilbert, Alex Tassey, Harmon Fennell, and W.C. Lorance, as the main organizers, set about to start the church.
On August 10, 1930, the church was organized with 33 members. Within a year new members were added when Danniels Chapel in Cannon County, Pleasant Hill, and Hickory Grove Methodist churches closed.
Regular church services were held in a garage owned by Gilbert with the Rev. P.A. Kirby as the first pastor. As membership approached 60 in 1931 the church was officially chartered. In the next three years, the Reverends W.F. Burden, A.T. Judkins, and Roy Clarke served the church (Faulkner Springs Charge in the Murfreesboro District). Services were held once a month on the second Sunday.
In 1944 Gilbert bought two lots on the north side of Highway 70 from Robert Deberry and gave them to the congregation as the site for a church. The footing and foundation were laid for a 30x36 concrete building. A year later, Ray Baxter laid the blocks for 8 cents a block. All other labor was free.
The first services were held in the church in the fall of 1944.
The congregation and friends prepare for the decommissioning service in the old sanctuaryThe sounds of the Shofar echoed through the hills as the congregation started its walk to the new Centertown United Methodist Church.Everyone carried something from the old church buildings—cross, candle sticks, offering plates, hymnalsThe congregation sang great hymns of the church as it walked to the new building.There was a feeling of profound joy as members entered the new church home. Pastor Maurice Moore was surprised at the consecration service by membership in the Nashville Area Order of St. Andrew – an award honoring his ministry at Centertown. Maurice’s wife Nancy, was in on the surprise, but received a surprise herself when Vin Walkup called her forward to receive her own membership in the Order of St. Andrew. Each worship element in the new sanctuary was consecrated—here water is poured into the new baptistery as it and the baptismal font are consecrated.Artist’s rendering of the new Centertown United Methodist ChurchClarksville Urban Ministries: Offering Hope to Children in Crisis
By Beverly Dycus, Director United Methodist Urban Ministries/Clarksville District
Have you ever heard the joke about the kid who came home from school and their family had moved? Well, that actually happened in our family. To make matters worse, it happened on my ninth birthday. To be fair to my parents, I need to share “the rest of the story.” They had decided it was time to sell the farm and move to town, and the buyer wanted to move on the farm right away. So when my siblings and I came home from school, the trucks were loaded and ready to go.
Now let me tell you about Brad. Brad is eleven years of age and one day when he came home from school, he discovered his family was moving and things would never be the same. When he stepped from the school bus that spring afternoon, Brad saw his mother, along with his baby sister, sitting in the car. Through the car window, Brad could see bags of clothes, toys and a few household items.
It had been a few weeks since Brad’s mother was beaten by her husband and without the father’s income, rent was due and the electricity had been disconnected. Because of the violence and unpaid rent and utilities, the landlord had asked Brad’s mother to move from the home.
Brad’s story is much too common. In every community within our Tennessee Conference, families are in crisis and, as a result, our children are at risk. Statisticians tell us if all the homeless youth were in one city, it would be the seventh largest in the United States. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, twenty percent (20%) of children in Tennessee live in poverty.
Urban Ministries Grace Assistance Program in the Clarksville District has been offering hope and healing to thousands of families like Brad’s for almost twenty-five years. In addition to placing Brad’s family in safe temporary shelter, Grace Assistance provided nutritious food, personal hygiene items, baby supplies and prescription medications. Immediate contacts were made with appropriate service agencies in the community to assist the family in securing safe affordable housing and to aid them in their journey to recovery.
Throughout our Conference, there are thousands of children at risk because of numerous societal issues: child abuse, family violence, unemployment, medical challenges, lack of health care, educational barriers, and other crises. As the church, we must reach beyond the walls, and beyond our comfort zones, and minister the love of Jesus Christ with those who suffer.
*United Methodist Urban Ministries is located at 217 South Third Street, Clarksville, TN 37040
UMC Foundation partners with Nashville Area Foundation for planned giving training
The United Methodist Church Foundation, a ministry of The General Council on Finance & Administration (GCFA), recently partnered with the Nashville Area United Methodist Foundation and Alpha Omega Family Services in hosting a half‐day seminar on estate planning.
The goal was to assist pastors in understanding the importance of estate planning and how to make gifts of assets to continue their own charitable intent as they distribute real and personal property. In addition, estate planning is the process by which an individual or family arranges the transfer of assets in anticipation of death, such as living trusts, charitable remainder trusts and donor advised funds. By partnering with the Nashville Area Foundation, the UMC Foundation furthers its commitment to work with donors and congregations with and through conference‐related foundations as partners.
“By providing these seminars we can educate congregations about various money matters so vital to families and church life. When recessions come and go we want our people to be grounded in knowledge and faith, not fear and despair,” say Sharon Clapp, Director of Giving and Development of The United Methodist Church Foundation, a ministry of GCFA.
The Rev. Vin Walkup, President and CEO of the Nashville Area United Methodist Foundation, indicated that the partnership will continue. “This is the first of what will be offered by the two foundations as they seek to work together to enhance estate and endowment planning for churches and ministries within the Nashville Area.”
Nashville to Malawi: An Expanding Mission Partnership
By Elliott Wright*
The hymn says, "blessed be the tie that binds," but ties in Christian mission can also expand.
"Growing stronger" is perhaps the best way to describe a mission partnership between a United Methodist congregation in Nashville, Tennessee, and the denomination's Malawi Missionary Conference in central Africa.
The collaboration between the Belmont United Methodist Church and Malawi United Methodists is taking a new turn as a lay couple from Belmont prepares for a year of service in Malawi as Individual Volunteers in Mission. Jeff and Kara Oliver, both 35, will represent on the scene the deep commitment to Malawi that has become part of life at Belmont.
Kara Oliver speaks at a May 9th Belmont UMC concert and fund raiser for the ministry in MalawiMission seeds that have grown into the strong partnership were sown in 2004 when the first volunteer mission (UMVIM) team from Belmont visited Malawi, according to the Rev. Herb Mather, a retired pastor in the Tennessee Annual Conference and a Belmont communicant who has played a leading role in the Belmont-Malawi story.
Village Churches and a Miracle Offering
UMVIM teams went again in 2006 and 2008. More than 20 persons were in the 2004 and 2008 groups. Participants visited many villages and engaged in what Mather terms a "ministry of encouragement." The visitor became interested in the development of village churches. Belmont would subsequently make Malawi a mission priority.
Belmont remembered its mission partner in 2005 when the 1,650-member Belmont Church, located in an older neighborhood of Nashville, near Vanderbilt University, decided to raise $3 million for a new community center. The campaign, Mather says, included $50,000 to begin construction of a United Methodist conference center in Malawi.
"We had a special Christmas Miracle offering last December with a goal of raising $30,000 in hopes of building 10 village churches," Mather stated in an email. "We received over $52,000. Fifteen village churches and one city church will be built with these funds. We are now working on linking Sunday school classes and individuals with the 'miracle' churches, so there is communication between our people and the Malawian people." He continued:
Part of the Christmas Miracle offering was an offering of prayers. People in the congregation were invited to write prayers for Malawi and to bring them to the altar. Around 200 prayers were brought to the front of the church and placed in African baskets. These prayers were taken to Malawi ... [and] some were read at a pastor's training event and all were distributed to the 22 pastors in attendance to take back and share with their congregations.
Across the last five years, the people of Belmont have sent Bibles in the Chichewa and Tumbuka languages, paid for the drilling of 12 deep wells (boreholes) in Malawi, upgraded two parsonages, and sent 12 bicycles, a motorcycle, an automobile, recreational equipment, livestock (goats and pigs), and treadle irrigation pumps to the African country.
United Methodist Women at Belmont are very much a part of the partnership with Malawi, contributing funds for treadle and electric sewing machines and providing training in sewing and funds for 11 literacy classes for village women.
Malawi: A Young Church
The United Methodist Church in Malawi is fairly young. Started some 21 years ago by indigenous leaders, it was for 20 years a district of the episcopal area based in nearby Zimbabwe. In April 2008, the United Methodist General Conference, the denomination's legislature, recognized Malawi was a Missionary Conference, with special ties to the General Board of Global Ministries. Today, there are about 100 congregations organized into 22 circuits.
Malawi is a land-locked country of 10.5 million mostly rural people east of Zambia, west of Mozambique, and south of Tanzania. Like Zimbabwe, it was colonized by English-speaking Europeans in the 19th century. It gained its independence from Great Britain in 1964 and become a democratic republic in 1994. Lilongwe is the capital city. The annual per capital income is $800. Some 80 percent of the population is Christian, 55 percent of those Protestant.
Bishop Eben Kanukayi Nhiwatiwa of the Zimbabwe Area has visited Belmont to cement the partnership and express appreciation for Belmont's commitment.
A UMVIM Couple
Jeff and Kara Oliver were in the delegation that took the prayers to Malawi and now they are devoting a full year to service there as Individual Volunteers in Mission, a program linked to the General Board of Global Ministries. They will work with the leadership of the Malawi church in a variety of ministries, bringing their considerable skills and the strength of their faith to the work. While Jeff is trained in information technology (IT), Kara is a freelance writer who has written for The Upper Room, the international daily devotional guide at the Nashville-based General Board of Discipleship.
Jeff & Kara Oliver check out the local market with Bishop Nhiwatiwa of Zimbabwe. Image by: Jeff & Kara Oliver/blog.oliverville.orgOn May 9, a benefit raised $14,000 for the purchase of a used 4x4 vehicle that the Olivers will use during their ministry in Malawi and then leave for the church there. From a base in Blantyre, the couple plans to visit each of the 22 circuits, working under the direction of the Rev. Daniel Mhone, the mission superintendent. The departure date for Malawi is July 6.
"They are a terrific couple," Mather says, "and their commitment has caught the imagination of our large contingent of young adults, who form a major part of our congregation." The Olivers have sold their house in Nashville, put their careers on hold for mission, and spent a great deal of time preparing their children, Carter, 3, and Claire Marin, 9, for the adventure ahead of them.
Support for the couple during their Malawi year is not part of the Belmont budget, but Mather said that they anticipate considerable support from individuals and small groups. "This practice has worked in the past. All of our funds for Malawi have come in response to stories of how God is working among the people of Malawi."
The Olivers' faith journey to Malawi can be followed on an internet blog that goes back several months, and includes the productive time the couple and their children spent in individual mission volunteer training last April. The web address is http://blog.oliverville.org/.
Mather's Personal Story
Retired pastor Herb Mather has played a leading role in the Belmont-Malawi story.Rev. Mather is himself one of the best advertisements for mission partnership and mission volunteer service within the United Methodist connection. He has spent much of his life building bridges between diverse peoples and cultures in the name of Jesus Christ.
He first went to Malawi in the year 2000 as part of a team from the General Board of Discipleship, where he then worked, leading a training seminar for clergy and laymen. He returned the next year. Following his retirement in 2003, he was asked by Belmont to organize the UMVIM team that went to Malawi in 2004.
Mather and his wife Sue have traveled to Malawi many times in recent years.
Belmont Church
While an older United Methodist congregation in Nashville, Belmont is one of the most vibrant and diverse. It includes members of 25 different nations of birth. There is a group of 150 men, women, and children who are refugees from Myanmar. The congregation has made a successful transition from a mostly older to a young adult membership. It partners with a sister congregation in a low-income neighborhood only a mile from the Hillsboro Village community where it is located.
Belmont Church is strongly connectional and has paid its United Methodist apportionments in full for the last five years. The current pastor is the Rev. Ken Edwards.
Others Can Help
Funds from Belmont to Malawi go through The Advance, the United Methodist designated giving mission channel. The Olivers can also be assisted through The Advance account for Individual Volunteers. Donations can be sent to Advance GCFA, PO Box 9068, GPO, New York, NY 10087-9068. Make checks payable to Advance GCFA and on the memo line write, "Advance #982465, for Jeff & Kara Oliver."
* Elliott Wright is the information officer of the General Board of Global Ministries.
Friesen Family Honored with a going away party
Ed Friesen enjoys his gift from Brooks and Dunn – autographed drawing of the duo as M&M candyThere was a Going Away Party for Brentwood Liberty United Methodist Church’s Pastor Ed Friesen and Family May 31 at a member's home. Ed and his wife, Mickie McCorkle, are full members of the Kansas East Conference and are being appointed back in their home conference this summer. Ed has served Liberty Church and Mickey has served the General Board of Discipleship for four years. Ed was presented a pictorial gift from Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn – a cartoon of Brooks and Dunn in performance dressed as colorful M&M peanut candy. Kix Brooks is a member of Liberty.
A drawing of historical Liberty United Methodist Church, framed and signed by church members, was given to Friesen.Fred Mindermann, Administrative Council Chairman, presented two gifts from the congregation after fellowship and food at the Hardin’s home -- a hand drawn sketch of the Liberty UMC signed by church members and a love offering.
Sager Brown: Helping Communities with home repair
(Even as this issue of the Review goes to press there are twenty United Methodist Women members from the Tennessee Conference serving at the Sager Brown depot in Louisiana. Conference UMW president Joy Lewter shares a note from two of the women: “Hello---from hot hot hot Louisiana. We helped pack over 220 cleaning buckets today. We are going to get to help load and send a container off to Armenia tomorrow. This is truly a blessed place. Katie and Wanda.”
A phone call revealed that the container was indeed sent out on schedule—and contained 8400 school kits, 84 bedding kits, 2724 layette kits, and 3360 sewing kits. Armenia is one of the places in the world where women and young girls hold subordinate positions in society and are at the bottom of the economic ladder. Because of this, they tend to be more susceptible to luring promises of financial opportunities and fall prey to “sheep in wolves’ clothing—traffickers who betray their trust. The sewing kits make it possible for women to learn an income producing trade, tailoring, and diminish the chance they will fall prey to the traffickers.
Some of the United Methodist Women’s group from the Tennessee Conference are volunteering at Chez Hope, a local women’s domestic violence center.)
Volunteers working at UMCOR’s Sager Brown campus in Baldwin, La., do more than prepare emergency relief kits, they help their community with home repairs.
Sager Brown volunteers helped Bobbie, a Louisiana resident who after colon cancer surgery had to use a walker. Bobbie’s doorway was too narrow to accommodate her walker, so the volunteers brought tools and materials and widened her doorway. The volunteers also replaced her front door.
Barbara Snell, who directs outreach ministries at UMCOR Sager Brown says there are approximately 80 applications from people in the community who are requesting home repairs—demonstrating a strong need in the Sager Brown community in addition to kit ministry that reaches around the world.
Barbara and Bob Snell have recently relocated to UMCOR Sager Brown from the Tennessee Annual Conference, Barbara on the UMCOR staff as Director of Outreach Ministries and Bob serving as a volunteer Project Manager for Home Repair. Both Barbara and Bob are retired Diaconal Ministers in the Tennessee Conference. The couple led one-week volunteer trips to Sager Brown and thought to themselves that it would be great to spend more than a week working at the Depot. They applied to be part of a 3-month volunteer program, “and we’ve been here ever since” Barbara noted with a laugh.
“We love it here,” said Barbara. “The staff is wonderful, and I enjoy meeting the people in the community, and assessing home damage.”
Individuals and churches wishing to support UMCOR Sager Brown Depot may do so by giving to Material Resources, UMCOR Advance #901440.
He's still talking about love of his life
By Claudia Pinto
Reprinted from May 20, 2009, THE TENNESSEAN, Copyright 2009, and used here by permission
Jon Meadors
The only thing John Meadors knew about the girl was she had the most beautiful brown eyes he'd ever seen.
It was 1971, 10 years since the Methodist minister had spied her in the audience of his Tennessee congregation. He had since moved to California, but that didn't stop him from trying to find the brown-eyed girl that he couldn't seem to forget.
"One morning, about 2 a.m., I awoke and the thoughts of this young lass entered my mind," Meadors wrote in a letter that he sent to The Tennessean. "I got on the phone and made several calls to people who know her and after a lengthy process I found out her name, where she lived and her phone number."
Meadors called the girl and told her that he was coming back to Tennessee and might stay.
"She didn't appear too excited about that," he wrote.
When Meadors moved back to town, the first thing he did after finding a job and an apartment was to call her. She reluctantly agreed to go to dinner with him that Friday.
Twenty-seven days later, they got married.
"We have had a wonderful 37 years," Meadors wrote.
John and Wanda Meadors
Meadors died of a stroke just a few weeks ago at the age of 81. His wife, Wanda Meadors of Goodlettsville, had never seen the letter her husband wrote and has no idea why he sent it to the paper.
But that was just like John, she said. Always wanting to tell a story. Talking all the time. Even on his funeral program, there's a picture of him in midsentence, mouth wide open.
"My Lord," she said. "Even after he's gone he's still talkin'."
Wanda Meadors, 69, couldn't help but smile as she read the letter her husband wrote about nearly missing out on the love of his life.
"I feel like it was just meant for us to be together," she said. "We both felt it was God's will.”
Sherry Cothran Woolsey Receives Harkness Scholarship
Sherry Cothran Woolsey at the 2008 session of Annual Conference
Sherry Cothran Woolsey from the Tennessee Annual Conference was one of 11 women chosen to receive a 2009-2010 Georgia Harkness Scholarship. The seminary scholarships go to women over 35 who are preparing for ordination as elders in The United Methodist Church as a second career. The recipients are chosen by a committee of United Methodist elders and GBHEM staff.
Woolsey has a B.A. in Recording Industry Management and has worked in the music industry for much of her adult life, both in management and as a performer. She is presently under appointment as student local pastor at West Nashville United Methodist Church, and will be continuing her seminary work toward an M.Div. at the Vanderbilt School of Theology. She is married to the Rev. Patrick J. Woolsey, also a United Methodist minister.
Her passion is working with communities and churches through synergistic partnerships and genuine relationships that exercise Wesley's "practical divinity."
"Christianity, for Wesley and for us,” says Sherry, “cannot be separated from the acts of charity and of hope that we do for others in the name of Jesus, this is how God's grace inhabits the lives of others and in turn, blesses the body of Christ."
The 11 women chosen to receive the 2009-2010 Georgia Harkness Scholarship will visit the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to advance their leadership development globally.
“They will meet with students and leaders of The Church of Canada, and will visit local churches.
They will also share their commitment to ordained elder’s ministry. In Canada, ordained clergywomen in the local church are still rare,” said the Rev. HiRho Park, the director of Continuing Formation for Ministry at the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
Park said there were fewer applicants this year and she believes the economy might be the reason for the decline in applicants.
“We suspect that working women might choose to remain at their job rather than starting full-time theological education,” Park said.
There was an increase of racial-ethnic applicants. “We were especially impressed to see applicants originally from Puerto Rico, Africa, and the Philippines,” she added.
Last year, the 11 scholars visited Honduras.
Harkness, the first woman theologian to teach in a Protestant seminary in the United States, dedicated her life to dismantling discrimination because of race and gender in The United Methodist Church and the world.
Harkness, who taught at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill., died in 1974. She was instrumental in the 1956 decision giving women full-clergy membership in The Methodist Church.
Park said the scholarship program is a valuable investment in the future of the church, especially in light of findings from this year’s Lead Women Pastors Survey, which found that one-fourth of senior women pastors who are serving churches with more than 1,000 members began ministry as a second career.
“It is evident that these women bring life experiences and professional skills that enhance their ministry,” Park said.
The only thing John Meadors knew about the girl was she had the most beautiful brown eyes he'd ever seen.
It was 1971, 10 years since the Methodist minister had spied her in the audience of his Tennessee congregation. He had since moved to California, but that didn't stop him from trying to find the brown-eyed girl that he couldn't seem to forget.
"One morning, about 2 a.m., I awoke and the thoughts of this young lass entered my mind," Meadors wrote in a letter that he sent to The Tennessean. "I got on the phone and made several calls to people who know her and after a lengthy process I found out her name, where she lived and her phone number."
Meadors called the girl and told her that he was coming back to Tennessee and might stay.
"She didn't appear too excited about that," he wrote.
When Meadors moved back to town, the first thing he did after finding a job and an apartment was to call her. She reluctantly agreed to go to dinner with him that Friday.
Twenty-seven days later, they got married.
"We have had a wonderful 37 years," Meadors wrote.
John and Wanda MeadorsMeadors died of a stroke just a few weeks ago at the age of 81. His wife, Wanda Meadors of Goodlettsville, had never seen the letter her husband wrote and has no idea why he sent it to the paper.
But that was just like John, she said. Always wanting to tell a story. Talking all the time. Even on his funeral program, there's a picture of him in midsentence, mouth wide open.
"My Lord," she said. "Even after he's gone he's still talkin'."
Wanda Meadors, 69, couldn't help but smile as she read the letter her husband wrote about nearly missing out on the love of his life.
"I feel like it was just meant for us to be together," she said. "We both felt it was God's will.”
Sherry Cothran Woolsey Receives Harkness Scholarship
Sherry Cothran Woolsey at the 2008 session of Annual ConferenceSherry Cothran Woolsey from the Tennessee Annual Conference was one of 11 women chosen to receive a 2009-2010 Georgia Harkness Scholarship. The seminary scholarships go to women over 35 who are preparing for ordination as elders in The United Methodist Church as a second career. The recipients are chosen by a committee of United Methodist elders and GBHEM staff.
Woolsey has a B.A. in Recording Industry Management and has worked in the music industry for much of her adult life, both in management and as a performer. She is presently under appointment as student local pastor at West Nashville United Methodist Church, and will be continuing her seminary work toward an M.Div. at the Vanderbilt School of Theology. She is married to the Rev. Patrick J. Woolsey, also a United Methodist minister.
Her passion is working with communities and churches through synergistic partnerships and genuine relationships that exercise Wesley's "practical divinity."
"Christianity, for Wesley and for us,” says Sherry, “cannot be separated from the acts of charity and of hope that we do for others in the name of Jesus, this is how God's grace inhabits the lives of others and in turn, blesses the body of Christ."
The 11 women chosen to receive the 2009-2010 Georgia Harkness Scholarship will visit the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to advance their leadership development globally.
“They will meet with students and leaders of The Church of Canada, and will visit local churches.
They will also share their commitment to ordained elder’s ministry. In Canada, ordained clergywomen in the local church are still rare,” said the Rev. HiRho Park, the director of Continuing Formation for Ministry at the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
Park said there were fewer applicants this year and she believes the economy might be the reason for the decline in applicants.
“We suspect that working women might choose to remain at their job rather than starting full-time theological education,” Park said.
There was an increase of racial-ethnic applicants. “We were especially impressed to see applicants originally from Puerto Rico, Africa, and the Philippines,” she added.
Last year, the 11 scholars visited Honduras.
Harkness, the first woman theologian to teach in a Protestant seminary in the United States, dedicated her life to dismantling discrimination because of race and gender in The United Methodist Church and the world.
Harkness, who taught at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill., died in 1974. She was instrumental in the 1956 decision giving women full-clergy membership in The Methodist Church.
Park said the scholarship program is a valuable investment in the future of the church, especially in light of findings from this year’s Lead Women Pastors Survey, which found that one-fourth of senior women pastors who are serving churches with more than 1,000 members began ministry as a second career.
“It is evident that these women bring life experiences and professional skills that enhance their ministry,” Park said.
posted by TN Conference UMC @ 7:46 AM
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