January 2011 Edition of the Michigan Area Reporter

Two SectionsSection A079000Vol. 157 No. 35December 31, 2010

Social JusticeHuman Relations Day raisesawareness of ills, issues | 3A

Africa UniversityThe school of dreams in the valley of hope? | 8A

Haiti—One year laterChurch’s role then and now | 4A & 5A

See Winds of change . . . on page 2A

by Bill Dobbs, Clergy Assistant to the Bishop

A Star, A Gift and Slide 59

Bishop’sColumn

By RJ WaltersEditor

The 2011 West Michigan Annual Conference isstill five months away, but the Program Commit-tee can hardly contain its excitement about howthe 43rd annual get-together will be unique to anyprevious rendition.

With a focus on “engaging in ministry with thepoor “ the theme is “Take My Hand”, but it couldjust as easily be “Take the Wheel” for SaturdayJune 4.

For the first time annual conference is hostinga “drive-in day” where each local church is beingasked to invite a dozen members to come andshare in the worship, workshops, fellowship andfood.

Program Committee Chair Rev. Bill Johnsonsaid 1,000 extra people would be “exciting to see,”but he believes the potential to fill Van NoordArena at Calvin College is there.

“We are asking each church in the conference to bring 12 dis-ciples from their congregation to fill the arena for Rev. Rudy(Rasmus) and just have an outstanding worship service thatmorning. We’re going to serve 5,000 we hope—that should ringa bell with some people,” Johnson said jokingly.

The festivities will kick off with Rasmus, a renowned hu-manitarian and the pastor at St. John’s United Methodist Church(over 9,000 members) in Houston, Tex.

Rasmus comes highly recommended by Bishop JonathonKeaton according to Johnson, and he is known for his tirelesswork to fight hunger and homelessness, as well as his adeptnessof crossing social, ethical, and racial and class bridges.

For the past three years Rasmus contributed to Oprah Win-frey’s O Magazine in an ethics column entitled “Now What Do IDo,” and he is currently featured monthly in Epitome Magazineand has regular speaking engagements on Sirius XM radio.

His vision on how to best engage the poor is only the begin-

ning of “drive-in day.”Johnson said up to 80 workshops focused around local mis-

sion projects, as prescribed by district superintendents, shouldhelp people become more aware of different ways UMCs areworking with the poor—providing hope and excitement fromacross the west side of the state.

One workshop that some leaders are already buzzing about isa “poverty simulation” course that will be put on by ACCESS ofWest Michigan—a faith-based leader in linking congregational,individual and community resources to eliminate hunger andreduce the impact of poverty in Kent County.

For a small fee, annual conference attendees can sign up for aworkshop that is designed to help participants begin to under-stand what it might be like to live in a typical low-income familytrying to survive from month to month.

There will be two session of the two- to three-hour simula-

See A Star, A Gift . . . on page 2A

Winds of change sweep over 2011 West Michigan Annual Conference

This is the season of Epiphany. It is a time marked by our remembrance that wise ones of

old left home to follow a star and to honor a king. I’ll not retell the story; you likely know it well. It is enough, I think, to remember that these learned as-

trologers caught a vision that changed their lives. It inspiredthem to set out on a journey that took them far from home, farfrom their “comfort zone.” It was a journey that may well havecost them as much as four or more years out of their lives.

All because they believed that God was doing something spe-cial in history and they needed to respond, to “pay homage.”

They brought gifts—precious gifts—and gave them as awitness that God’s sign had been seen and responded to.

People are still seeing signs of God’s activity in our time,signs of God’s saving grace at work in our world. And wise onesare still responding with gifts—gifts that are precious tothem—as a witness in our day and time.

Gifts like time and treasure and even their very lives, all be-cause they have been captured by a vision that will not leavethem in their comfortable places. A vision that summons themto leave home and even safety to go and tell others what theyhave seen.

To be captured by a vision of Jesus, and Jesus’ great commis-sion to all who call themselves disciples, is to be invited—evencompelled—to leave the places where we have become comfort-able in order to give our witness to what God is doing now andin the New Year.

Our routines are, for many of us, comfortable. They are “theway we have always done things!” The day-to-day business ofour ministry—wherever that is—can lull us into thinking thatwe are following Jesus. But then something happens that causesus to look again or, as was said to young Simba in Disney’s greatmovie The Lion King, “look closer” at what we are doing so thatwe become uncomfortable with the status-quo.

For me, it was a presentation by Jim Salley, General Board in-terpreter for Africa University, to the area appointive cabinet.

He was speaking about recent research examining the rea-sons why people do and do not give to mission projects in theUnited Methodist Church. It was interesting information, but itwas not until he got to slide 59 in his presentation that the“wake-up and pay-attention” call arrived.

Slide 59 said it is the vision that catches and empowers theleaders—Bishops, Superintendents, pastors and lay leaders inlocal congregations alike—that makes the biggest difference inthe churches’ level of support.

When leaders share their vision or give witness to whatmoves them and grips them and challenges them to do some-

Detroit Annual Conference 2011Check out the February issue for all of the details on the Detroit Annual Conference, being held May 19-22 at Adrian CollegeTheme: “When did we see you Lord?”; focused on

engaging in ministry with the poorKeynote speaker: Bishop Minerva Carcaño of the Desert

Southwest ConferenceProgram Committee Chair Rev. Marsha Woolley on

possible local service opportunities at annualconference: “We’re still working through the Boardof Global Ministries and Volunteers in Mission projectsto see what kinds of hand-on stuff we can do. Habitat(For Humanity) has what’s called ‘A Brush WithKindness,’ which are smaller projects on a cityblock.”

West Michigan Annual Conference 2011When: June 1-4, 2011

Where: Calvin College, Grand Rapids

Theme: “Take My Hand”; focused on engaging in ministry with the poor

Keynote speaker: Rev. Rudy Rasmus of St. John’sUnited Methodist Church in Houston, Tex.; check him out at www.pastorrudy.net

Registration: Will start in March or April online and through the mail, checkwww.westmichiganconference.org for updates

The invigorated West Michigan Annual Conference has visions of filling all of Van Noord Arena at Calvin College with a special ‘Drive-In Day’ on Saturday, June 4.

DECEMBER 31, 2010THE UNITED METHODIST REPORTER2A

Continued from front page

Continued from front page

The United Methodist Reporter (USPS 954-500) is published weekly by UMRCommunications, 1221 Profit Drive, Dallas, TX 75247-3919. Periodicals PostagePaid at Dallas, Texas and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send addresschanges to The United Methodist Reporter, PO Box 660275, Dallas, TX 75266-0275.

By RJ WaltersEditor

Rev. Julie Dix’s desire to bringhope and joy through spreading themessage of Jesus Christ in the citymade her a natural fit as the new ex-ecutive director for Grand RapidsMetro Ministry in July.

Half a year later her leadershiphas sparked creative ideas through aministry outlet that has addressedissues such as church development,affordable housing and hunger since1954 in a city that is home to nearly20 United Methodist congregations.

“What is so marvelous about thisparticular call and particular roleright now is that I am able to be in aplace where Metro is connected withmany congregations all working to-ward the same goal,” said the or-dained UMC elder and deacon.

Making urban ministry strongerThere’s plenty of strategic plan-

ning to be done in Grand Rapids tocreate more efficient, cost-effectiveministry models.

Dix said she is working closelywith the Grand Rapids district officeto determine which declining con-gregations are in buildings too largeto support in the future and viceversa.

“Are these big old buildings serv-ing as tools for ministry now or havethey become just burdens that areleaking the energy and joy out of

ministries that are really bubblingand just waiting to happen?” shesaid.

She said with the help of theUrban Ministry Task Force the dis-trict is looking at the possibility ofimplementing a two-year urbantraining course developed by theGeneral Board of Global Ministries(GBGM).

The training would focus on top-ics such as urban theology, urbanevangelism, eradication of racism,leadership development and com-munity economic development.

The GBGM would come in andinterview church leaders and helpthem articulate specific needs andhow to move forward.

“This will get (congregations) totalk more about their own struggles,their own successes, what workshere and there,” Dix said.

Difficult, but necessary progressOver the years Olivet UMC tran-

sitioned from an “all-Caucasianchurch” to one that caters mainly tothe African American and Hispanicpopulation.

The congregation was down toaround 20 people, still worshippingin a building constructed for a muchlarger audience.

Then through what Dix calls“prayer, discernment and the tenderloving care of their pastors” thechurch decided to disband as a wor-shipping congregation.

But they didn’t want the ministryof the building to be a thing of thepast — and that’s where GrandRapids Area Service Project(GRASP) stepped in.

GRASP Executive Director Mikeneeded more space and Olivetneeded time to consider new possi-bilities, so GRASP volunteers helpprovide upkeep of the building for acut of the building’s monthly rentcost.

Just a few blocks from the facilitythe LA Nueva Esperanza UMC, aSpanish-speaking Hispanic offshootof Olivet, is thriving but they areworshipping in a building that Dixsaid is in very poor shape and thepossibility of moving the ministryto the Olivet building has been gain-ing steam.

LA Nueva Esparanza offerseverything from health education toEnglish as a second language classesto guitar lessons, and Dix said inthis time of “great transition” it isheartwarming to see people workingtogether.

Finding fundingWhere there are great plans,

there is inevitably a great need formoney.

With big visions for urban min-istry and plenty of programs alreadyin place to help with hunger andhousing issues, Dix said she is learn-ing more about grants and UMCprograms.

“One of my most pressing chal-lenges and goals right now is to fig-ure out where else we can get somemoney,” she said.

Most of the funding for Metro’swork comes from ministry sharesand the trustees of Metro also man-age the Urban Ministries Fund,which is money from the sale ofOakdale UMC. That money cannotbe used for day-to-day operations,but is utilized for things such as theHands Across the City park con-struction and cleanup initiative thattook place last summer.

While Dix continues to scour allavenues for donations, Metro actu-ally has money available to help in-dividual churches.

Metro has an endowment fundhonoring the late Rev. Ron Fassett,the United Methodist MetropolitanMinistry director from 1983-94.

“The fund itself is available forjustice related ministries like educa-tion, training, etc,” Dix said.“Churches or organizations canapply for funding to help with min-istries that are related to peace andjustice issues.”

Breathing some life into the city throughGrand Rapids Metro Ministry

tion, where 50-75 participants as-sume the roles of different familiesfacing poverty.

Some are newly unemployed,some are recently deserted by the“breadwinner” and others are recip-ients of Temporary Assistance forNeedy Families (TANF), either withor without additional earned in-come. Others are disabled or aresenior citizens receiving Social Se-curity. The task of the “families” is toprovide for basic necessities andshelter during the course of four 15-minute “weeks”.

Johnson said the spirit of thesimulation is what West MichiganConference Director of Communica-tion Mark Doyal was talking aboutwhen he started sharing ideas ofwhat a potential “drive-in day”might do to build relationships andshare the message of the conference.

“We’re hoping to change the cul-ture and make annual conference anevent that people actually leave feel-ing super feeling about the connec-

tion, but also that there’s some hopefor them in their local churches,”Johnson said.

Johnson said people can checkout the conference website,www.westmichiganconference.orgin the coming weeks for annual con-ference updates and online and mailregistration will begin by April andpossibly as soon as March 1.

thing different, the church responds.And when leaders are silent, thechurch still responds.

If I am not willing to give wit-ness to what Jesus is calling me todo, if I am not willing to step out infaith and make “disciple making” aneven larger priority in my ministry,if I am not willing to give my en-ergy to that which truly does trans-form this world, I should not besurprised if others are reluctant.

But I am willing and, God will-ing, I will! How about you?

One of the things that has cap-tured our Bishop, and I have cometo discover as well, is the vision ofwhat we can do together as the peo-ple of The United Methodist Churchwe cannot do separately.

We see needs, like stars on thehorizon, and we are able to respondin life-changing ways. These needsdo not always have dramatic namesor eye-catching videos, but they aremaking a difference.

They are the things we do con-nectionally to multiply our “loavesand fish” into bread for the worldand answers to prayers.

Things like The World ServiceFund, which helps build newchurches and pay the salaries ofmissionaries and provides leader-ship for youth ministries and more;The Black College Fund which helpsthe 11 historically Black UnitedMethodist-related colleges and uni-versities maintain solid, challengingacademic programs, strong faculties

and well-equipped facilities; TheMinisterial Education Fund, whichenables our church to continue itscommitment to recruit and educatequality pastoral leadership by help-ing defray the steep costs of gettinga seminary education as well asequipping our annual conferenceswith continuing education for localpastors; and The Episcopal Fund,which pays the salaries and officeand travel expenses for 50 activeU.S. bishops and 19 active interna-tional bishops, as well as pensionand health benefit coverage.

They are all ways that our pen-nies can become hundreds and eventhousands of dollars that are chang-ing lives.

We have all seen what six millionUnited Methodists in the UnitedStates can do when disaster strikes,whether it is New Orleans and theGulf Coast or in Haiti. What youmay not have seen or heard asclearly is the difference you aremaking in the lives of people every-day through our shared ministriesas a connectional church.

We join hands around the Con-nectional Table and literally hun-dreds of ministries areunderwritten and scores of peopleare employed here, in the UnitedStates, and to the far corners of theworld. We are transforming theworld. Forgive us for not saying sooften enough.

But what you are doing is “a lighton a hill” or a “star in the sky” and itis time we said so, loud and clear!

A Star, A Gift and Slide 59

Winds of change

While annual conference is fullof legislation and worshipping,there are plenty ofopportunities to share heartylaughs as well.

The new home ofDetroit

ConferenceCamping

DECEMBER 31, 2010 THE UNITED METHODIST REPORTER 3A

By Ang HartConference Director of Youth and Young Adults

Imagine you have taken on the leadership role of an event. For this event you must find a band, a speaker, and food to

feed the entire crowd, put together games for everyone, do it allon a tiny budget, and entice people to come.

Oh yeah—and you have four months to do it in. This year at Conference Youth Assembly (CYA)—a camp for

the youth leaders of our conference, the Conference Council onYouth Ministries (CCYM — the group who puts on conferencewide Youth events, with Youth being the ones in charge) had adilemma. Due to unforeseen circumstances, both the chair andthe assistant chair of the Fall Rally had to step down.

This is the first time this has ever happened in the more than10 years that the event has been running. Usually, the assistantchair helps for their first year and is in charge their second year,so they have had time to watch this huge event take place.

Then, of course, the chair is the big person on campus, run-ning the whole show.

But this year, the CCYM had no idea what was going to hap-pen until camp came around. We were all praying that a strongleader would step forward, and one did—Taylor Pryde.

She is a junior at Hartland High School and on her Facebookpage her Religious Views read “Jesus Freak and proud of it!” Sheis highly involved in her church, her community and now, on theCCYM.

She had four months to pull off a huge event and she did itbrilliantly.

The band: Definition Plexis. The speaker: the Detroit Conference’s own Jeremy Peters.And the food order overwhelmed a small Subway in Grand

Blanc. This year we had over 150 youth and youth workers playing

icebreaker games including one where 10 youth came to the

front and stuck an Oreo to their forehead. And true to the natureof a conference youth event, they came from all over the greatstate. The event was a huge success. Not only because it went offwithout a hitch, but because lives were touched and people drewcloser to Jesus Christ because of it.

Fall Rally is all about touching lives, and that is an extensionof what CCYM is really all about.

It strives to build up youth to their strongest leadership pos-sibilities so that they can serve the Lord with all their heart,mind, strength and soul.

Pryde is one incredible success story out of the hundredsthat have come and gone through CCYM, and we celebrate herand her ministry.

If you or a youth you know is interested in becoming moreinvolved in youth or young adult ministry in our conference,please contact Ang Hart at [email protected].

PHOTO BY ANG HART

More than 150 youth shared in food, fun and games,while drawing closer to each other and God in theDetroit Conference’s annual Conference YouthAssembly.

Fall Rally showcases leadership skills of Detroit Conference youthMaking room for moving Christmas trees

In 2008 we had no Christmas tree or festivedecorations since we were in the midst of amove on Dec. 19.

In 2009 we had to determine where itwould go since we were now in a different par-sonage.

Now, in 2010 it was placed downstairs inthe family room instead of “where it’s alwaysbeen” (one year, ha!) in the living room.

My point?Lots of change.Not to mention graduations, weddings,

surgeries, a new phone contract, the IRS TaxCode, all those cables down the center of the expressway, theSpartans as Big Ten football co-champs…get the point?

The changes just keep going on and on…Seriously, I believe that as Christians, change is simply the

healthy characteristic God inspires in us and expects of us. TheScriptures are full of images and stories of changed hearts,changed lives, new futures and ultimately our Eternal Life as atransformation of our human death.

We can choose to be nostalgic about “how it used to be,” butthat eventually leaves us in de-nial of the current reality fac-ing us.

In his book, Good to GreatJim Collins points to the im-portance of the “brutal facts”that need to be faced in orderfor healthy change to move for-ward.

Others may describe it asthe importance of “selling theproblem” and therefore setting up the possibility to be able tocast a vision for the solution. The three-year-old that constantlyasks “Why?” actually gets it.

Too often when a new idea has failed to move forward, onekey reason has been the failure of those initiating the change.

They have likely been insufficient or unconvincing in theirrationale for what is leading to this transition.

In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, after being carried to a newtime and place, speaks the “brutal facts” to her faithful caninecompanion in the often quoted phrase: “Toto, I don’t believe weare in Kansas anymore.”

Scriptures have told us the same “brutal facts” in a variety ofways.

One primary testimony is Isaiah 43:19 “Behold, I am about todo a new thing…I will make a new way.”

As we enter the New Year, I invite us to expect change, to en-vision change, work for change, be changed, “do a new thing” forthe sake of Christ and His Church.

I have my own personal list of changes I would like to make,information I would like to learn, skills I would like to acquireand visions I imagine being accomplished.

Some of those possible changes will be articulated in thisspace and others are personal.

I encourage you to do some personal assessment and con-gregational visioning about to whom and for what purpose isGod calling you.

The unique perspective we have as Christians is that our fu-ture need not be determined by Wall Street, Hollywood, ESPN,network TV, or endless commercial marketing.

We can claim as our personal truth, God’s word spokenthrough the prophet Isaiah, “I am about to do a new thing…”

I like stable, predictable, organized, but I trust God far moreexplicitly than my need for what is comfortable.

“So, God, whatever wild new thing you have in store for meand your people called United Methodists, I am watching andwaiting in anticipation for you to reveal and set it in motion!”

Let me know where God is “moving your tree.

BENTON HEISLERWEST MICHIGAN

CONFERENCE DIRECTOR OF

CONNECTIONAL MINISTRIES

Human Relations Day raises awareness of social ills, social justice issuesBy RJ WaltersEditor

The first Special Sunday offering of the New Year is an oppor-tunity for United Methodists to recognize the right of all God’schildren to realize their potential as people in relationship witheach other.

The Sunday immediately following Martin Luther King Jr.’sbirthday (January 16) celebratessocial justice issues and workingwith at-risk youth with a HumanRelations Day offering that sup-ports the global church’s Commu-nity Developers Program, theUnited Methodist Voluntary Serv-ices Program and the Youth Of-fender Rehabilitation Program.

Focused on raising awarenessto heal social ills of the UnitedStates, the special offering has av-eraged $603,210 in giving on a na-tional level since 2006, including acontribution of $456,879 in 2010.

In the past the offering hashelped provide money for every-thing from special housing pro-grams in Arkansas to JustUsYouth—a nationwide youth leader-ship initiative, to community devel-opment projects all across the states.

The Detroit Conference raised$63,812 on Human Relations Day from 2006-2009, including$12,720 in 2009 and the West Michigan Conference pooled to-gether $63,401 in that time span, including $14,861 in 2009.

The 1972 General Conference established Human RelationsDay to promote support for Community Developers, United

Methodist Voluntary Services and Police-Community Relationsprograms. In 1989, the Youth Offender Rehabilitation Programreplaced the Police-Community Relations Program.

Part of this year’s offering will go to the United MethodistChurch Redemption Kids Ministries in Oklahoma.

“Statistics show that children of prisoners are six times morelikely than other children to be incarcerated at some point in

their lives,” the ministry’s websitesays.

As a ministry already focusedon prisoners and ex-prisoners, itwas natural for Redemption toreach out to children and families.

Youth leader Equandre Woffordis active in Redemption Kids andshe believes many of these chil-dren feel alone in their strugglesand meeting children in similarcircumstances helps them to cope.

“I felt angry. I know I shouldn’t, because it’s not you thatlocked my parents up,” said Wof-ford, who has worked with theprogram for more than six yearsafter being mentored in it duringher younger years.

Joy Block, youth director forthe Redemption Youth programat Redemption Penn AvenueUnited Methodist Church, was

incarcerated herself, and she believes strongly in the program’smission.

“I want our (youth) to . . . follow God first. That’s numberone,” Block said. “That’s going to be their strength—always—inlife.”

‘I like stable,predictable,organized, but I trust God far moreexplicitly than myneed for what iscomfortable.’

Haiti

DECEMBER 31, 2010THE UNITED METHODIST REPORTER4A THE UNITED METHODIST REPORTER 5A

One year ago catastrophe struck Haiti in the formof a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that killednearly a quarter of a million people and left an-other million displaced, provoking an incredi-

ble response from the United Methodist Church,internationally and locally.

A succession of horrors continues to set the countryback, but it’s not due to a lack of assistance or shortage ofheart.

80 United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM)teams totaling 712 volunteers arrived with help forHaitians from May through December, the continuationof a long-standing covenant between the Michigan AreaUMC and Haitian UMC. The North Central Jurisdiction,which includes the Michigan Area, sent 18 VIM teams to“earthquake priority projects” in 2010 and 20 moreteams worked on other projects in Haiti.

VIM estimates its volunteers have had an economicimpact of $1.25 million dollars in Haiti since the earth-quake and more money is on the way. After an initial$565,000 investment, the General Board of Global Min-istries (GBGM) and United Methodist Committee on Re-lief (UMCOR) Board of Directors recently approved athree-year plan for continuation, funded at $3,094,500.

Still, North Central Jurisdiction VIM CoordinatorLorna Jost said the last year has “been a rollercoaster ofemotions” and the earthquake deflated a population thatseemed to be on the cusp of moving forward.

“I’m watching as the hope gets restored and as thepeople go down there to help. But I’m very worried,” shesaid. “This could have been a time where the govern-ment, the church, everything…could have really grownfrom this experience and that’s still a great possibility,but there’s also the possibility they’re just going to beturned into a state and country that is just going to re-quire our donations.”

Rev. David Morton, a VIM coordinator out of ChapelHill UMC in Battle Creek, was a member of one of thefirst emergency response teams to visit Haiti and he saidAmericans should consider the Haitians’ resiliency.

He remembers visiting the Ninth Ward of New Or-leans shortly after Hurricane Katrina and the thing thatsurprised him about Haiti was how many street vendorswere already back up selling fruits, coal, and other sup-plies at the same time people were being dug up from thewreckage.

Rev. Don Gotham, pastor at St. Clair FUMC, was lead-ing a VIM team in Jeremie, Haiti when the earthquakestruck on Jan. 12. He echoes Morton’s sentiments, notinghis experience with the Haitian people is vastly differentthan the video footage of riots and political upheavalshown on national television.

“I think what’s important for folks to realize is thatwhile (the Haitian people) are faced with un-imaginablestresses and hardships in their lives, for the most part thepeople of Haiti—aside from some political unrest youwill see—are gentle, loving people,” he said. “Just like inthe U.S., the people who end up being the splash on thenews are not representative of most of our people. It’s thesame in Haiti.”

Making a DifferenceThe losses of Rev. Clint Rabb and Rev. Sam Dixon,

who were in Port Au Prince at the time of the earth-quake, forced UMC leadership to re-organize itselfquickly and efficiently.

Rabb was head of the office of Mission Volunteers ofthe GBGM and Dixon was in charge of UMCOR.

Jost said VIM jurisdictional coordinators carriedsome of the load, but a strengthened relationship withRev. Paul Gesner, the president of the Methodist Churchin the Caribbean and the Americas, has been vital.

She said Gesner helps determine what projects aredeemed “earthquake priority” ones and VIM teams at-tempt to send workers to the places of most dire need.

Jost maintains regular contact with conference VIMcoordinators and she said networking and open lines ofcommunication from her level all the way down to localchurches continues to improve as action plans for Haitiare put into place.

Jost also said the number of leaders who are qualifiedto take teams to Haiti has increased as people come backfrom trips eager to undertake official training measures.

In 2010 10 VIM teams from the West Michigan Con-ference visited Haiti and four from the Detroit Confer-ence made the trip. Jost said four teams from the WMChave already committed to work in 2011 and two fromthe DAC have done the same.

Live and LearnUnfortunately with foreign aid there are always a few

missteps and plenty of opportunities for learning.Jost said people need to rely heavily on UMC direct

lines like VIM and UMCOR because some people “expectto just go down there and find places to live, transporta-tion, food and people to take care of them.”

Those expectations are far fetched and can be verylimiting, she said.

Morton said it’s important to consider what kinds ofaid churches are sending down, because not every goodintention has an equally good impact.

“Say we sent out rice, then what happened is the mar-ket price on rice went down to where a lot of the Haitianfarmers couldn’t sell their rice,” he said. “We would’ve

been better off and got more for our buck if we boughtthe rice from the Haitian farmer.”

Morton and Gotham also insist mission efforts be di-rected all over Haiti, not just in Port Au Prince.

Morton said Jeremie has gone from being home toroughly 17,000 people to catering to the needs of morethan 80,000.

Gotham said there are plenty of on-going UMC proj-ects at churches, schools and medical facilities in the“suburbs” of Port Au Prince that are just as important torevitalizing Haiti as the “earthquake priority” ones.

The role of the Michigan Area Haiti Task ForceJost said it was smart for the Disaster Response min-

istry teams of the West Michigan and Detroit Confer-ences to join hands 14 years ago to create the MichiganArea Haiti Task Force.

The task force was dealt a blow with the unexpecteddeath of one its primary leaders Rev. Paul Doherty inJuly, but other clergy members have stepped up to tryand pick up where Doherty left off.

“I just think as a task force we’re re-organizing and Ithink that we’re going to see instead of one person kindof overseeing everything, different people will becomethe champions for housing, health, the Methodist Chil-dren’s Home, etc.,” Morton said.

Morton said working closely with UMCOR and VIMare advantageous for the task force because it providesopportunities for matching fund grants, as well as com-munication with people who are actually on the groundin Haiti.

The task force utilizes a web site atwww.stovern.net/haiti to keep Michigan AreaMethodist’s apprised of what’s going on with the area’sresponse in Haiti.

The Haiti School Hot Lunch Program and Bio-SandWater Filter Projects have been ongoing missions of thetask force for a long time, and those are as important asever Gotham said.

“Because of UMCOR’s stronger involvement on theground in Haiti, things have shifted. Paul had been theUMCOR consultant for the Haiti Hot Lunch program,” hesaid, “But now because UMCOR has staff on the groundthey are giving oversight to that program in Haiti, which istremendous because it takes the burden off the (United)Methodist Church of Haiti and also frees us up back hereto continue to beat the drum of supporting the programwithout people having quite as much on our end.”

Gotham said once task force members are plugged intomore official roles, communications about mission oppor-tunities, supplies needed and donation efforts will funnelthrough the communications offices of both conferences.

UNIQUE PERSPECTIVESWest Michigan Conference Executive Assistant and OfficeManager Valerie Mossman-Celestin has some uniqueinsights into Haiti. She has been going there since 1998,she is the U.S.-based executive director for HaitianArtisans for Peace International and she is married to aHaitian man, who had relatives in the country at the timeof the earthquake.

Observations of American interaction with HaitianAmericans don’t always ask questions but come

across as having the answers. They see things that make no sense and assume the

solutions are simple, when in fact they are complex. For example, we might say, “Preventing cholera

should be easy. Wash your hands and drink cleanwater.”; simple in the American context, but not so inHaiti.

How many times a day will you wash your hands longenough to sing the alphabet when you have to walk longdistances and haul the water in five-gallon jugs that sup-ply all your water needs?

Do you have a filter for clean water? How do you boilwater without money for charcoal or bleach?

The poor of Haiti are survivors How can you think about future generations when

your children are at home crying for dinner? Also, it is tough to really know where someone stands

on an issue, especially political. They want to be on thewinning side because they fear for repercussions.

For example, my friend was on President Aristide’steam after his first election.

He had a team of people working with him to assesselectrical needs for communities.

The day the coup happened, his team removed theirAristide t-shirts, put on the colors of the new guy, andtried to chase down my friend to hurt him to prove theirloyalty to the new person in power because they wereafraid of being killed or losing their jobs if it was per-ceived they supported Aristide.

Haiti is a collective vs. individual society. The earthquake did not have to kill “my” mother for

me to grieve and develop symptoms of depression. Ithappened to “all of us.”

The poor are daily “looking for life.” They understand the misery and what it is like to

heap more misery on top of what already exists. This sol-idarity can lead to violence or vigilante justice.

But it can also work for good; if everyone in the com-munity knows of a family that has absolutely nothing toeat, the community members will drop off food from theirown meager servings.

Sharing is absolutely expected, to the point of beingpart of one’s personal security system.

If you are perceived as “selfish”, you can endangeryourself and your family. Larger communes are dividedinto very small community zones and people tend to beloyal to their zone. They try to get as many people fromtheir zone into jobs or other distributions.

These folks are then the funnels that return cash andgoods back to their zone families. This is part of the rea-son the earthquake was so damaging to Haiti. Ruralzones emigrate people into Port au Prince, the DominicanRepublic, US, Canada and France. These people are typi-cally the ones with money that travels back down thepipeline to the rural family that is living off of an agricul-tural system that can be wiped out in one rainy or dryseason.

You think we are ‘connectional?’ This is a connec-tional system.

Online Haiti ResourcesMichigan Area Haiti Task Forcewww.stovern.net/haiti

North Central Jurisdiction Volunteers in Missionwww.gbgm-umc.org/northcentralvim/

NCVIM/Home.html

Earthquake in Haiti: The Church Respondswww.umc.org/haiti

UMCOR Health Kitswww.umc.org/haitihealthkits

Haiti mission opportunities/resourceswww.gbgm-umc.org

PHOTOS BY LORNA JOST

The church’s role then and now in an overwhelmed nation

Haitione year later

Haiti

DECEMBER 31, 2010THE UNITED METHODIST REPORTER4A THE UNITED METHODIST REPORTER 5A

One year ago catastrophe struck Haiti in the formof a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that killednearly a quarter of a million people and left an-other million displaced, provoking an incredi-

ble response from the United Methodist Church,internationally and locally.

A succession of horrors continues to set the countryback, but it’s not due to a lack of assistance or shortage ofheart.

80 United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM)teams totaling 712 volunteers arrived with help forHaitians from May through December, the continuationof a long-standing covenant between the Michigan AreaUMC and Haitian UMC. The North Central Jurisdiction,which includes the Michigan Area, sent 18 VIM teams to“earthquake priority projects” in 2010 and 20 moreteams worked on other projects in Haiti.

VIM estimates its volunteers have had an economicimpact of $1.25 million dollars in Haiti since the earth-quake and more money is on the way. After an initial$565,000 investment, the General Board of Global Min-istries (GBGM) and United Methodist Committee on Re-lief (UMCOR) Board of Directors recently approved athree-year plan for continuation, funded at $3,094,500.

Still, North Central Jurisdiction VIM CoordinatorLorna Jost said the last year has “been a rollercoaster ofemotions” and the earthquake deflated a population thatseemed to be on the cusp of moving forward.

“I’m watching as the hope gets restored and as thepeople go down there to help. But I’m very worried,” shesaid. “This could have been a time where the govern-ment, the church, everything…could have really grownfrom this experience and that’s still a great possibility,but there’s also the possibility they’re just going to beturned into a state and country that is just going to re-quire our donations.”

Rev. David Morton, a VIM coordinator out of ChapelHill UMC in Battle Creek, was a member of one of thefirst emergency response teams to visit Haiti and he saidAmericans should consider the Haitians’ resiliency.

He remembers visiting the Ninth Ward of New Or-leans shortly after Hurricane Katrina and the thing thatsurprised him about Haiti was how many street vendorswere already back up selling fruits, coal, and other sup-plies at the same time people were being dug up from thewreckage.

Rev. Don Gotham, pastor at St. Clair FUMC, was lead-ing a VIM team in Jeremie, Haiti when the earthquakestruck on Jan. 12. He echoes Morton’s sentiments, notinghis experience with the Haitian people is vastly differentthan the video footage of riots and political upheavalshown on national television.

“I think what’s important for folks to realize is thatwhile (the Haitian people) are faced with un-imaginablestresses and hardships in their lives, for the most part thepeople of Haiti—aside from some political unrest youwill see—are gentle, loving people,” he said. “Just like inthe U.S., the people who end up being the splash on thenews are not representative of most of our people. It’s thesame in Haiti.”

Making a DifferenceThe losses of Rev. Clint Rabb and Rev. Sam Dixon,

who were in Port Au Prince at the time of the earth-quake, forced UMC leadership to re-organize itselfquickly and efficiently.

Rabb was head of the office of Mission Volunteers ofthe GBGM and Dixon was in charge of UMCOR.

Jost said VIM jurisdictional coordinators carriedsome of the load, but a strengthened relationship withRev. Paul Gesner, the president of the Methodist Churchin the Caribbean and the Americas, has been vital.

She said Gesner helps determine what projects aredeemed “earthquake priority” ones and VIM teams at-tempt to send workers to the places of most dire need.

Jost maintains regular contact with conference VIMcoordinators and she said networking and open lines ofcommunication from her level all the way down to localchurches continues to improve as action plans for Haitiare put into place.

Jost also said the number of leaders who are qualifiedto take teams to Haiti has increased as people come backfrom trips eager to undertake official training measures.

In 2010 10 VIM teams from the West Michigan Con-ference visited Haiti and four from the Detroit Confer-ence made the trip. Jost said four teams from the WMChave already committed to work in 2011 and two fromthe DAC have done the same.

Live and LearnUnfortunately with foreign aid there are always a few

missteps and plenty of opportunities for learning.Jost said people need to rely heavily on UMC direct

lines like VIM and UMCOR because some people “expectto just go down there and find places to live, transporta-tion, food and people to take care of them.”

Those expectations are far fetched and can be verylimiting, she said.

Morton said it’s important to consider what kinds ofaid churches are sending down, because not every goodintention has an equally good impact.

“Say we sent out rice, then what happened is the mar-ket price on rice went down to where a lot of the Haitianfarmers couldn’t sell their rice,” he said. “We would’ve

been better off and got more for our buck if we boughtthe rice from the Haitian farmer.”

Morton and Gotham also insist mission efforts be di-rected all over Haiti, not just in Port Au Prince.

Morton said Jeremie has gone from being home toroughly 17,000 people to catering to the needs of morethan 80,000.

Gotham said there are plenty of on-going UMC proj-ects at churches, schools and medical facilities in the“suburbs” of Port Au Prince that are just as important torevitalizing Haiti as the “earthquake priority” ones.

The role of the Michigan Area Haiti Task ForceJost said it was smart for the Disaster Response min-

istry teams of the West Michigan and Detroit Confer-ences to join hands 14 years ago to create the MichiganArea Haiti Task Force.

The task force was dealt a blow with the unexpecteddeath of one its primary leaders Rev. Paul Doherty inJuly, but other clergy members have stepped up to tryand pick up where Doherty left off.

“I just think as a task force we’re re-organizing and Ithink that we’re going to see instead of one person kindof overseeing everything, different people will becomethe champions for housing, health, the Methodist Chil-dren’s Home, etc.,” Morton said.

Morton said working closely with UMCOR and VIMare advantageous for the task force because it providesopportunities for matching fund grants, as well as com-munication with people who are actually on the groundin Haiti.

The task force utilizes a web site atwww.stovern.net/haiti to keep Michigan AreaMethodist’s apprised of what’s going on with the area’sresponse in Haiti.

The Haiti School Hot Lunch Program and Bio-SandWater Filter Projects have been ongoing missions of thetask force for a long time, and those are as important asever Gotham said.

“Because of UMCOR’s stronger involvement on theground in Haiti, things have shifted. Paul had been theUMCOR consultant for the Haiti Hot Lunch program,” hesaid, “But now because UMCOR has staff on the groundthey are giving oversight to that program in Haiti, which istremendous because it takes the burden off the (United)Methodist Church of Haiti and also frees us up back hereto continue to beat the drum of supporting the programwithout people having quite as much on our end.”

Gotham said once task force members are plugged intomore official roles, communications about mission oppor-tunities, supplies needed and donation efforts will funnelthrough the communications offices of both conferences.

UNIQUE PERSPECTIVESWest Michigan Conference Executive Assistant and OfficeManager Valerie Mossman-Celestin has some uniqueinsights into Haiti. She has been going there since 1998,she is the U.S.-based executive director for HaitianArtisans for Peace International and she is married to aHaitian man, who had relatives in the country at the timeof the earthquake.

Observations of American interaction with HaitianAmericans don’t always ask questions but come

across as having the answers. They see things that make no sense and assume the

solutions are simple, when in fact they are complex. For example, we might say, “Preventing cholera

should be easy. Wash your hands and drink cleanwater.”; simple in the American context, but not so inHaiti.

How many times a day will you wash your hands longenough to sing the alphabet when you have to walk longdistances and haul the water in five-gallon jugs that sup-ply all your water needs?

Do you have a filter for clean water? How do you boilwater without money for charcoal or bleach?

The poor of Haiti are survivors How can you think about future generations when

your children are at home crying for dinner? Also, it is tough to really know where someone stands

on an issue, especially political. They want to be on thewinning side because they fear for repercussions.

For example, my friend was on President Aristide’steam after his first election.

He had a team of people working with him to assesselectrical needs for communities.

The day the coup happened, his team removed theirAristide t-shirts, put on the colors of the new guy, andtried to chase down my friend to hurt him to prove theirloyalty to the new person in power because they wereafraid of being killed or losing their jobs if it was per-ceived they supported Aristide.

Haiti is a collective vs. individual society. The earthquake did not have to kill “my” mother for

me to grieve and develop symptoms of depression. Ithappened to “all of us.”

The poor are daily “looking for life.” They understand the misery and what it is like to

heap more misery on top of what already exists. This sol-idarity can lead to violence or vigilante justice.

But it can also work for good; if everyone in the com-munity knows of a family that has absolutely nothing toeat, the community members will drop off food from theirown meager servings.

Sharing is absolutely expected, to the point of beingpart of one’s personal security system.

If you are perceived as “selfish”, you can endangeryourself and your family. Larger communes are dividedinto very small community zones and people tend to beloyal to their zone. They try to get as many people fromtheir zone into jobs or other distributions.

These folks are then the funnels that return cash andgoods back to their zone families. This is part of the rea-son the earthquake was so damaging to Haiti. Ruralzones emigrate people into Port au Prince, the DominicanRepublic, US, Canada and France. These people are typi-cally the ones with money that travels back down thepipeline to the rural family that is living off of an agricul-tural system that can be wiped out in one rainy or dryseason.

You think we are ‘connectional?’ This is a connec-tional system.

Online Haiti ResourcesMichigan Area Haiti Task Forcewww.stovern.net/haiti

North Central Jurisdiction Volunteers in Missionwww.gbgm-umc.org/northcentralvim/

NCVIM/Home.html

Earthquake in Haiti: The Church Respondswww.umc.org/haiti

UMCOR Health Kitswww.umc.org/haitihealthkits

Haiti mission opportunities/resourceswww.gbgm-umc.org

PHOTOS BY LORNA JOST

The church’s role then and now in an overwhelmed nation

Haitione year later

DECEMBER 31, 2010 THE UNITED METHODIST REPORTER6A

OverlookThe Lighthouse Let your light so shine…

Who: Christian NeighborsWhat: Food pantry, emergency financial assistance and counseling,

professional case management and support services,Medicare/Medicaid Part “D” assistance,

Where: 282 12th St., Plainwell, 49080UMC connection: Assistance and support provided by Otsego UMC,

First UMC Plainwell, Trowbridge UMC, Martin UMC andShelbyville UMC

Contact: www.christianneighbors.org / 269-685-4166

Where good neighbors are truly Christian Neighbors By RJ Walters, Editor

Terri Shaler is confident circles of influence are constantly reverberating around Allegan and Kalamazoo counties thanks to local churches and businesses.

What she might not directly point out is that she’s at the center of thosecircles as the executive director of Christian Neighbors in Plainwell.

An organization that began in 1983 with a paltry $3,500 annual budgetfunded by several local churches now boasts an annual budget of roughly$300,000 funded by non-profits, area businesses and more than a dozenchurches, including five United Methodist Congregations.

Otsego UMC, where Shaler’s husband Joe is the pastor, First UMC Plain-well, Trowbridge UMC, Martin UMC and Shelbyville UMC all contributed tothe more than 24,000 meals provided last year and the endless financial,medical and well-being support offered by Christian Neighbors.

One day the organization might be helping a single mother of two find aplace to live after she was served an eviction notice and the next they mighttrying to help a senior citizen find avenues to provide money for medical billsand prescription drugs.

Shaler is the only full-time employee, but four part-timers and severaldozen volunteers make meeting the increasing needs of people possible.

“What we do is make connections. It’s probably what we do well—we con-nect the needs with whoever can fill those needs. We can’t do everything butwe know there are people out there who are willing to help,” Shaler said.

For example, she said local grocery stores and food providers donatedmore than $115,000 to the Christian Neighbors food pantry last year.

And instead of just giving people a box of food, the pantry gives them alist of items they are eligible for and a “grocery store-like” setup to go “shop-ping in”, complete with carts and retail shelves.

“It is certainly about feeding the poor and taking care of those in need.Really isn’t that just what Christ wants us to do?” Shaler said.“To be his feet,to be his arms—and we love just being able to live out our Christian faiththrough this ministry.”

From January to June the organization helped more than 80 householdsavoid utility shutoffs and rental evictions.

In 2010 funding has come in from sources like the United Way, the Salva-tion Army, and even the American Recovery Act ($8,400).

The statistics are impressive, but Shaler said it’s the relationships beingfostered that make the biggest difference in people’s lives.

“We have a lot more of what you call ‘the new poverty people,’ people whohave never been in this position before,” she said. “People who are goingthrough foreclosures who have never had to deal with that….there is somuch of that type of stuff going on in Michigan.”

She said people seem warm to embrace the allowances of a faith-basednon-profit as opposed to state aid or social services.

The organization has a prayer chain that meets each Friday, a prayer boxfor requests and they can help set up meetings with local pastors.

Shaler and her staff are always looking for new ways to reach out to peoplewho have limited resources available.

“Like our Veteran’s Service Officer—what a neat thing to be able to havehim come on board; when our local veterans needed help in the past they hadto drive out to Allegan and now they don’t have to do that,” she said.

For more information on Christian Neighbors or to donate to their causecheck out www.christianneighbors.org or to sign up to volunteer or talk witha staff member call 269-685-4166.

Young leaders flourishing in DAC’s Mission Intern ProgramBy RJ Walters, Editor

A quick look at some of the top young leaders in theMichigan Area reveals many of them share a commonthread.

It’s not just the crazy hours they are willing to workor the ingenious ministry ideas they come up with—fora lot of them there is a mutual agreement of where theylearned to serve.

For the past 12 years the Mission Intern Program ofthe Detroit Annual Conference has utilized enthusiasticcollege-age adults to reach the poor and develop leader-ship qualities that apply to all facets of life. The onlytrouble, according to Conference Director of Disciple-ship Rev. Terry Gladstone—who helped construct theprogram—is that not enough people understand the vi-tality and importance of it.

As of 2009 four full-time conference missionarieswere Mission Intern alumni,two were deacons and plentymore were leading lives fo-cused on serving.

Detroit Conference Directorof Youth and Young Adults AngHart said the programchanged her life, social justiceadvocate and Newburg UMCDeacon Paul Perez was once anintern, and Gladstone’s sonCarl was an intern for threesummers before becoming thehead of the Young Leaders Ini-tiative, the Motown MissionProject and countless othercauses.

The only problem was Carlhad to relocate to Dallas, Tex.during the summers to be amission intern of the GeneralBoard of Global Ministries.

That’s when mom steppedin.

“When he got back from(Project Transformation) andwas telling me all about itthings just clicked,” Terry Gladstone said. “At that pointwe had a program called the Vocational Intern Program,VIP, but nobody was using it anymore. It was largely be-cause the places that wanted an intern couldn’t afford topay for half of it, which you had to.”

She saw some money sitting in a fund allocated forVIP and had ideas from her son’s Project Transforma-tion experience—thus the Detroit Conference programwas born.

The first year a handful of interns participated in theeight-week long summer internship, earning a stipendfor using their summer to engage in ministry withthose in need.

That number has ballooned to as many as 20 in-terns, but has been around 12-15 in recent years.

Each intern is paid $2,000 and they are placed inurban and rural areas around the state, stretching fromDetroit to the Upper Peninsula. The Leadership Devel-opment Committee selects interns from the group ofapplicants and solicits funding from a variety of av-enues.

As Terry Gladstone joked, “We just beg, borrow andsteal until we have enough.”

The intern’s home churches are asked to provide$1,000, but they don’t always have the money, and someinterns come from campus ministry programs or occa-sionally even outside of the denomination.

The Methodist Union of Greater Detroit, the Board ofChristian Education, the Detroit Conference CCOM, theUrban Alliance and the church’s Council of Ministrieshave all pitched in funds in the past. The Council ofMinistries actually supported two year-long internswho helped create and direct new programs at a pair ofchurches several years ago. Gladstone said doing thatannually would be ideal, but probably a pipe dream un-less funding changes drastically.

As of Jan. 1 Hart will take a more prominent role insearching for grants, making connections, and telling

intern’s stories as part of theLeadership DevelopmentCommittee.

Hart was an intern in 2005,splitting her summer betweenDetroit and the Upper Penin-sula. She said she made life-long friends and she distinctlyremembers a story a fellow in-tern shared with her.

“She was working in thecity and there was this younggirl who couldn’t read and shewas working a lot with her,”she said. “And one day theywere at a sister church at a sortof Bible School and the kidswere doing crafts. The girlcame up to (the intern) andasked, ‘Why are we makingnecklaces with the letter ‘T’ onthem?’ It gave my friend thechance to explain to the girlthat it was a cross and the girlwas very interested in what itwas all about, and it is teach-ing moments like those that

make the program so special.”Terry Gladstone said the program is really an invest-

ment in the church’s future, considering the skills theinterns attain and the callings they often pursue.

Interns go through all kinds of training courses, in-cluding an introductory program at Lake Louise.

She said a past intern recalled the benefits of thetraining when she was hired on as music teacher inWashington D.C., as part of a program where peoplewith college degrees, but without teaching certificates,could teach.

“They didn’t give her any training and she told me, ‘Idon’t know what I’d do without the Sanctuary Trainingwe got, because it made me aware of all these issues andwhat to do.’”

Gladstone said she’d like to see more light shed onthe program because it fulfills plenty of denominationalgoals and provides a lot of bang for conference’s bucks.

Donations can be made to the Mission Intern Pro-gram through Ministry Jubilee. The program’s numberis MJ 1214.

Carl Gladstone, the Director of the YoungLeader’s Initiative in the Detroit Conference,was the beneficiary of the Mission InternProgram during his younger years. Hismother, Terry Gladstone, helped found theprogram for the Detroit Conference.

DECEMBER 31, 2010 THE UNITED METHODIST REPORTER 7A

Church leaders are facing growing finan-cial challenges as the sluggish economy im-pacts operational costs.

They are met with higher than projectedcosts for utilities, health care coverage, andoffice supplies and Finance Committees arepressured to cut costs.

As this pressure grows, finance leaderssearch for comparative statistics that will in-form their difficult decisions, often seeking apercentage comparison between total staffcompensation and the overall budget.

In other words, what percentage of thebudget should be designated for staff compensation and bene-fits?

The percentage comparison between total staff compensa-tion and the budget is largely dependent on the overall missionand vision of the church. It is not a practical approach toachieving fiscal stability.

Numerous variables—denominational support, buildingdebt, designated funds, endowment, and others—affect thebudgets.

Rather than searching to establish a comparative bench-mark between compensation and budget or focusing almostexclusively on trimming expenses, church leaders would bewise to pursue responses to broader questions that impactoverall giving.

Focused attention on increasing revenue by encouraginggenerous giving and by promoting the church’s mission and vi-sion will help alleviate some economic downturns.

If contributions are flat or have decreased recently, analy-sis of people’s giving patterns at the macro and micro level is

required.! What has precipitated a lower giving level?! Have a handful of particularly substantial givers moved,

died, or decreased giving?! Has the economy impacted people’s spending and giving

habits?! Is there some church conflict that has arisen?! Does the church culture embrace joyful giving as a

generous response to God’s love?People have primarily two “pockets” for giving—giving

from earned income and giving from assets.As congregations age or as earned income decreases, giving

through the offering or annual campaign often decreases.Churches that are thriving financially promote giving from

both earned income and assets. They promote annual gifts,major gifts, and estate planning gifts.

Annual gifts are primarily given from people’s earned in-come. Major and estate planning gifts are generated from peo-ple’s assets. So:

! Does the church have an effective approach to promoteand to receive gifts from all of these segments?

! Does the church regularly provide estate planningseminars?

People under age 50 pay most expenses electroni-cally. Giving to God is not to be equated with an expense.

However, if the church hopes to receive people’s first fruits,then it needs to position itself to be part of the primary familydiscussion when people are allocating money. For younger babyboomers and younger generations many money decisions aremade by authorizing electronic withdraws.

! Has the church promoted electronic giving through anElectronic Fund Transfer (EFT) program?

The number of non-profit, charitable organizations has in-creased dramatically in the past decade and many of thesecharities are very appealing to donors. So:

! Has some other charitable cause drawn people’s interestand gifts away from the church?

! Has the church positioned itself to educate thecongregation about its core values, mission, and vision?

! Do people know all the ways that the church is changingpeople’s lives?

Finally, the hyper-consumer lifestyle people have main-tained for the past several years has adversely affected theirability to give and save money. While recent studies indicatesome decrease in consumer spending, it may take years to turnaround their consumer debt.

Moreover, consumer spending may be down only becausediscretionary funds have shrunk.

When people have more discretionary money, they willmost likely return to their prior spending habits. Consider:

! Are people’s personal finances and consumer debtinterfering with a God-honoring lifestyle?

! Do they pay more in credit card interest than they give toGod through the church?

! Would a God-honoring personal budget course helprealign people with God’s abundance?

Church leaders will be engaged in a broader financial dis-cussion as they ponder these questions.

This broader discussion will most likely lead to new insightsand possibilities. As church leaders move away from a merediscussion of fiscal solvency to an implementation of year-round stewardship best practices, the church will be reposi-tioned toward vitality and overcome apparent financialdilemmas.

DAVID S. BELLVICE PRESIDENT OF

STEWARDSHIP OF THEUNITED METHODIST

FOUNDATIONOF MICHIGAN

The quest to fund ministry budgets begins now

Perhaps you’ve heard a conversation likethis:

“Do you know them?”“No, they don’t look familiar. I wonder if

they are just visiting from out of town or if theylive around here?”

“They are probably just curious during thistime of year. A lot of people are travellingthrough.”

I love Epiphany each year. Two wonderfulprofessors from my early college days, Drs.Linda and Dwight Vogel, had invited the reli-gion class to their home. The home had therich character of the late Victorian era and they had decoratedtheir home for the journey from Advent to Christmastide toEpiphany.

My young understanding of the length of time that is actu-ally suggested in the Gospels was given a visual image throughthe symbols in the Vogels’ home.

The shepherds and their flocks were still on the hillside inone corner of the room, a respectable distance from theinn/manger scene where Joseph and a pregnant Mary had re-cently arrived.

Then, at a distance, there were sojourners that had a particu-lar spiritual hunger and cosmic curiosity. They were the Magithat had seen an unusual star in the sky and undertaken a jour-ney to find the source of this mystery.

Had the Magi come to your local community would someoneknow where they might find the light that had shown in thedarkness?

While working as a Ministry Consultant a few years ago Itook a convoluted route through many back roads to find amodestly small town tucked into a rural community.

MapQuest could not identify exactly where the church was

located so I stopped at a local gas station/convenience store.When I asked where the United Methodist Church was in townthe two young workers looked at each other with a blank stare.

One of them named a couple of non-denominational or non-connectional churches she thought she knew about, but neitherhad any knowledge of or encounters with the local UnitedMethodist community.

Did you catch that?A local United Methodist Church was an unknown reality in

the community it was located in.While that was not true to those who were members of the

church or attended its public dinners, it was obvious there wassome growth in advertising, communica-tion and evangelism that needed to takeplace.

The people of that particular congrega-tion were good, likeable people. They lovedGod and one another, most of the time.

The challenge for them is not unique.In a post-modern, post-Christian world wecannot assume people know of our mes-sage just because we exist. Nor can we assume that they need tocome to us or be just like us.

This brings me back to the journey that is faith and leads todeeper faith. It is invitational and relational. I come into com-munity not simply on my own, community is created as I openmyself in relationship to others creating who welcome me.

Now let us bring it closer to our own places of worship.Prior to Advent 2010 I decided to explore which local

churches might be invitational in approach, and intentional inshaping Advent as a journey toward the deeper mystery, call andgrace of Christmas and Epiphany. Unlike some of you, I cur-rently have the freedom to travel about on Sunday mornings.Knowing that I would not have easy access to print materials

from the local communities, I decided to go online. I pursuedcyberspace for over an hour, only to be somewhat disappointed.That particular day I found only one church website that clearlyfocused on inviting the public to a spiritual exploration for theseveral weeks of Advent leading into Christmas. Their websiteinvited me without making it seem I would need to know thewhole story, though I have read it quite a few times. The churchwas a significant distance from my home, but it did sound good.

I have to believe that most of the local churches were plan-ning and preparing for such a movement, yet it was not beingcommunicated to people searching online. I will suggest thatperson-to-person invitation is still the best way to open the door

for people to connect with God and tobuild relationships that lead to Christiandiscipleship.

Perhaps all of these local churches hadcalled their active members to invite peo-ple to specific events (see the December2010 Michigan Area Reporter article andinvitation to share your best practices).Nonetheless, as a Christian in search of a

meaningful worship experience for the coming Sunday I wasless than satisfied.

Had I not already been a committed United Methodist, I mayhave either chosen another denomination or not gone at all.

That is the option that many de-churched and un-churchedpeople can consider every single day. Our calling is to invite, andto offer the opportunity for God to connect their lives to Christand community. Our challenge is to consider those not alreadywithin our fold, even as those within are discipled and sentforth.

Lent is but a few weeks away. What are your plans for invitingpeople to that journey of faith, community and discovery?

Share your ideas on our Detroit Conference website.

Reveal your good intentions to all who seek

JERRY DEVINEDETROIT CONFERENCE

DIRECTOR OF CONNECTIONAL

MINISTRIES

‘Lent is but a few weeksaway. What are your plansfor inviting people to thatjourney of faith, communityand discovery?’

Continuing our conversation about ques-tions that were raised at the Michigan AreaSchool for Pastoral Ministry:

Question: Who is the pastor to pastors? Willthe conference ever consider havingsomeone to confide in that doesn‘t haveconnection to (the) appointment process?

Dobbs: When I was serving as a local pas-tor, I always thought that my “pastor”—the one to whom Ilooked for spiritual guidance and support—was my District Su-perintendent. Sometimes that worked out well and sometimesnot so well. The “well” or “not so well” component was mostoften an indicator of the strength of our relationship.

Those superintendents that I could relate to—the ones thatwere open to having that kind of a relationship with me (and Icould always tell, no matter what their lips said)—were the oneswho really were my “pastor.”

I called out to them in times of illness or family hardship orchurch struggles, and they were there—by thought or word ordeed.

Words I have heard from others suggest that many of youhave had similar experiences with your DS.

And yes, I knew that they were sharing things that were hap-

pening in my family with the Bishop, but I always assumed thatthe Bishop cared for my family and I even if he or she did not al-ways know my name.

At the same time, I know that not all of you have had thesame kind of experiences, either with your DS or your Bishop.To you I would tell you that your pastor can be someone youchoose who will agree to provide spiritual guidance and sup-port, someone who will listen and offer helpful feedback as youseek to grow as a person and as a pastor.

Many of you may recognize that I have given you an incom-plete description of a Spiritual Guide or Advisor, and some ofyou have already established a relationship with your own Spiri-tual Guide. That can be a truly helpful thing, and I would en-courage you to continue building that relationship.

I cannot speak to what an annual conference might do in thefuture, but annual conferences can do whatever they wish re-garding the employment and job descriptions of personnel, solong as it is not specifically prohibited in the Discipline.

Question: How can Bishop Keaton’s pastors express both theirsupport and affection for him without appearing to simply becurrying favor (sucking up)?

Dobbs: As I serve in this office, I see and hear many thingsthat come across my desk or across the screen of my computer.

Perhaps you can imagine, but you might be surprised. I have come to believe that the most important thing clergy

and laity can do for their Bishop is to pray for him. Even as I saythat I know it sounds like a cliché and I don’t mean it to be so.

I believe in prayer! I believe in the power of prayer! I believe that Christians cannot be Christians without prayer

and I am convinced that Bishops cannot be Bishops withoutprayer either. If you are praying for Bishop Keaton and Godprompts you to send a note about something in your prayer,trust the Holy Spirit and send the note. Be honest. Rememberthat if it is from God, it will bear the fruits of the Spirit (Gala-tians 5: 22-23) and not the works of the flesh (Galatians 5: 19-21).

Next month, we will discuss whether “there any conversa-tions within the UMC regarding the time between sessions ofGeneral Conference and the inability of the church to respond toa rapidly changing culture” and “what I envision for future pas-torates trying to deal with the high costs of pensions, health in-surance, etc. for congregations.”

If you would like to submit a question, please write me:[email protected]. Thanks for letting me share this timewith you.

Blessings!

DECEMBER 31, 2010THE UNITED METHODIST REPORTER8A

By Rev. Laurie HallerGrand Rapids District Superintendent

“You are at the school of dreams in the valley of hope.”Our tour of Africa University (AU) in Old Mutare, Zimbabwe,

began with these words from administrator Andra Stevens.In early November six clergy and laypersons from the Grand

Rapids District of the West Michigan Conference met with uni-versity officials and students at AU. Our goal was to determinehow we might best partner with AU in order to sustain and en-hance university programs.

Why Africa University?Africa University is a vibrant United Methodist university

whose 1,200 students come from 25 countries and 85 percent ofwhom return to their home countries after graduation. The abil-ity of AU to nurture ethical servant leadership, peace, and pros-perity on the African continent is essential to the welfare of theAfrican people as well as world peace.

By investing in the success story of Africa University, we areengaging in the transformation of governmental structures andinstitutions on the African continent. AU graduates are pastors,doctors, attorneys, politicians, business owners, non-profit lead-ers, and educators who are bringing hope to their countries.

What is AU’s greatest need?AU has a compelling need for a gathering place on campus

where innovation and hope grow out of relationship building,dialogue, and holy conferencing among people from many na-tions.

The Africa University Ubuntu Gathering Center could hostVIM Teams, conferences, lecturers, MBA candidates, as well asdoctors, nurses, and volunteers from the nearby Old Mutare UMMedical Mission, thus dramatically reducing the AU’s accommo-dation-related costs.

The Ubuntu Gathering Center could be a visible sign of ourUnited Methodist connection as well as the African concept ofubuntu, which implies that we are one human family, fellowtravelers on this earth and therefore responsible for each other.

Why now?Both AU officials and the Grand Rapids District AU Task

Force believe that God has brought us together for this project atthis time.

While we are mindful of the US economy and the need tocontinue supporting Haiti, we must continually offer a variety ofopportunities for United Methodists to be in mission.

In contrast to mission projects that provide direct aid to peo-ple in need, the Ubuntu Gathering Center focuses on the justice,medical, theological, business, and agricultural ministry of edu-cation on a continent that desperately needs sustainable, collab-orative, and ethical leadership.

How much will the project cost?Construction costs have been capped at a maximum of

$500,000.In a recent speech to AU donors, Nontombi Naomi Tutu, a

human rights activist and the daughter of Nobel Peace Prize

winner Desmond Tutu, said, “When people are raising theirhands and asking, ‘Where is our dream?’ Africa University saysto the people of Zimbabwe and Africa that a functioning institu-tion is not simply a possibility here—it is a reality.”

This is our dream: the Africa University Ubuntu GatheringCenter, transforming Africa one student at a time.

The Grand Rapids District AU Task Force will beginfundraising in 2011. An Africa University Ubuntu GatheringCenter offering has been approved in all of our conferencechurches in 2011, and one will also be taken at West MichiganAnnual Conference, where Dr. Jim Salley will speak on Friday,June 3. Churches and individuals in both conferences are invitedto participate in this project.

If you would to learn more, please contact Ed Edwardson [email protected] or Rev. Laurie Haller [email protected].

Africa University: The school of dreams in the valley of hope

LEFT: Grand Rapids DS Rev. Laurie Haller visits with African children on a recent trip to Old Mutare, Zimbabwe tovisit Africa University. RIGHT: More than 1,200 students attend Africa University in Old Mutare, Zimbabwe and theWest Michigan Conference has stepped up its partnership to help the school succeed on a number of levels.

Burning Questions with BillClergy Assistant to Bishop addresses how to show kindness to the Bishop and who to seek wise counsel from

BILL DOBBS