1Hoosier

UnitedMethodists

togetherwww.inareaumc.org

open hearts, open minds, open doors.The people of The United Methodist Church

May/June 2006Volume 36Number 5

www. inareaumc.org

HOOSIER UNITED METHODISTS

As air conditioners began towhirl and shower filled withsteamy water, the final 30 volun-teers in mission celebrated thebirth of the Seashore District Vol-unteer Center at D’Iberville,Miss., a joint project of the NorthIndiana and South Indiana Unit-ed Methodist conferences.

Time of delivery was Thursday,April 27, 4 p.m.

“Praise God!” wrote the Rev.Greig Crowder, pastor of the Roy-al Center UMC in Kokomo Dis-trict and the last of eight reporterswho almost daily updated theprogress of the center build on theIndiana Area Web site.

“We turned on the water and airconditioning this afternoon (April27). The water heaters were turn-ing out hot water within an hourand the ice maker produced itsfirst ice in about 30 minutes,”wrote Crowder. “We began mov-ing mattresses out of the churchbuilding this evening, and evensome of our volunteers spent theevening in the volunteer centerbuilding last night.”

Crowder continued, “To those255 volunteers in mission who gavetheir time and talent to the project,thank you so much. To those whogave of their resources to make thedream a reality, thank you as well.And to those who will use the Sea-shore District Volunteer Center

DEGONIA SPRINGS, Ind. – “We want to celebrate new life,” preachesthe Rev. Jerusha Franz on Easter Sunday morning to members of theBaker’s Chapel United Methodist Church in the parking lot of thechurch. “It’s about finding life from death.” She told news reportersthat members are committed to rebuilding, celebrating Easter this yearwith a renewed understanding of the holiday’s message of hope andrebirth in the face of tragedy. Baker’s Chapel building was leveledNov. 6 by a tornado. The same storm claimed the lives of 20 people ina mobile home park in nearby Evansville. The congregation hopes tobreak ground this summer for a new building. The South Indiana Con-ference will be assisting the congregation in building its new facility.For more information, call 800-919-8160.

Bishop Coyner to dedicate center May 15Seashore District Volunteer Center completed

while working on the homes of peo-ple in the community, HeritageUnited Methodist Church is look-ing forward to your arrival.”

Dedication May 15Bishop Mike Coyner will join

Heritage UMC Pastor DavidCumbest and other church lead-ers in the Mississippi Conferenceto dedicate the new Seashore Dis-trict Volunteer Center inD’Iberville, on Monday, May 15at 3 p.m.

Before the project was com-pleted, the North Indiana Confer-ence formulated plans to take avolunteer in mission team com-posed of pastors and pastors’spouses to use the new SeashoreCenter in April 2007 to assist hur-ricane recovery efforts in the GulfCoast region.

Pictures and journals of theproject are available online atwww.inareaumc.org. Click onSeashore District Volunteer Cen-ter VIM project.

The center is open and tak-ing reservations, if your congre-gation is planning a mission tripto D’Iberville and want to usethe Volunteer Center, pleasecontact the Rev. David Cumb-est, pastor of Heritage UMC, bye-mail atbiscuitman@bellsouth.net. Hewill complete the necessary ar-

“To those 255volunteers inmission who gavetheir time and talentto the project, thankyou so much.”

– Greig Crowder

rangements with congregationsby e-mail.

Partnered with SeashoreDistrict

Hoosier United Methodistspartnered with the United Meth-odist Seashore District of the Mis-sissippi Area and Heritage UMCto build the facility on the proper-ty of Heritage. It houses 40 vol-unteers and includes six bunkrooms, rest rooms with showers,a kitchen, manager’s quarters anda gathering room.

The 50-by-75 foot steel struc-ture matches Heritage’s currentbuilding. The Indiana Area agreedto raise $200,000 needed for theproject. By building the facilitywith volunteer labor, according toorganizers 50 percent of the cost

of having a facility like this builtwas saved.

Organizers plan that after fiveyears of use as a volunteer center,the building will become part ofHeritage UMC.

Now completed, the SeashoreDistrict Volunteer Center will cutconsiderably the cost of VIMteams’ room and board and end thedisruption of church programs thatare now adjusted due to volunteersliving weeklong at Heritage UMC.

Coordinating this buildingproject were volunteers Al Dalton,Ken Hollis and John Street, con-tractors and members of SaintLuke’s United Methodist Churchin Indianapolis. The project beganon schedule the week of March 6and continued on or ahead ofschedule for eight weeks through

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Photos courtesy of the volunteers.D’IBERVILLE, Miss. – The completed Seashore District Volunteer Centerin D’Iberville, Miss., was built by 255 volunteers from seven states underthe direction of Indiana Area volunteers. More pictures are available on-line at www.inareaumc.org, click on Seashore.

Baker’s Chapelreturns to churchsite leveled bydeadly tornado

April 28. More than 30 volunteersper week construct the volunteercenter. Each volunteer workweekbegan Sunday evening with ori-entation and worship, and endedon Friday afternoon.

The response was so great andvolunteers so dedicated, thatsome teams spent time workingon damaged homes in the areawhen the volunteers workedahead of schedule.

Project organizers estimatethat the facility will be used to ca-pacity during the next five yearsas the Biloxi area recovers fromthe devastating affects of the2005 hurricanes.

For more information or res-ervations, contact HeritageUMC by e-mail at biscuitman-@bellsouth.net or call thechurch office at 228-392-4288.(See page 2.)

May/June 2006

HoosierUnitedMethodists

together2 FROM THE BISHOP

MISSION STATEMENT: To reflect the teachings of Christ throughstories and pictures, thereby sharing key moments and concerns inthe life of his Indiana church and its people. To share joy, to sharepersonal faith, to share challenges, and to refresh the spirit.

www.inareaumc.org

Steve Bahrt, chairmanChar Harris Allen

Bishop Michael J. CoynerIda Easley

Mark EutslerChip Gast

Donald Griffith

Members of the Indiana Area Communications Commissionand Editorial Advisory Group:

Jack HoweyBruce PalmerScott Pattison

Cindy ReynoldsRobert SharpPaula ShrockBert Talbott

May-June 2006 Vol. 36 No.5

Indiana Area Bishop/Publisher: Michael J. Coyner

Editor: Daniel R. Gangler

Editorial Assistant: Erma Metzler

Printed by: HNE Printers, Columbus with soy-based inks on recycled/recyclable paper

Editorial Offices:Hoosier United Methodists TogetherIndiana Area United Methodist Church1100 W. 42nd St., Suite 210Indianapolis, Indiana 46208Phone: 317-924-1321Fax: 317-924-4859e-mail: editor@inareaumc.org

Hoosier United Methodists Together (ISSN-1544-080x) is a monthly (except June,August and December) publication ofIndiana Area United MethodistCommunications, 1100 W. 42nd. St.,Indianapolis, IN 46208, for clergy, laity andseekers. Periodicals postage paid at

Indianapolis, IN. Printed in the U.S.A.copyright 2005 Indiana Area of The UnitedMethodist Church.

Postmaster: Send address changes to HoosierUnited Methodists Together, 1100 W. 42ndSt., Suite 210, Indianapolis, Indiana 46208

Subscription Information: Call 317-924-1321.One-year subscription, $12, single copy $1.50

Change of Address: Send the mailing labelwith your new address to:Erma Metzler, Together, Indiana Area UMC,1100 W. 42nd. St., Suite 210, Indianapolis,Indiana 46208 or e-mailemetzler@inareaumc.org

Commentaries and letters provided byIndiana Area United MethodistCommunications do not necessarily representthe opinions or policies of Bishop MichaelCoyner, the Indiana Area or The UnitedMethodist Church.

Permission is hereby granted to United Methodist Congregations to reprint stories not previ-ously copyrighted in church newsletters. Together is supported by connectional giving.

HOOSIER UNITED METHODISTS

One of the most common ways that weunderstand a local church is byits size, and so we keep all kindsof statistics about our 1,265United Methodist congregationshere in Indiana. We measuremembership, worship atten-dance, total budget, new mem-bers received each year, num-bers of small groups, plus muchmore.

All of our pastors know about these mea-surements as they annually complete theirTable I, II and III reports for their church’s

Indiana Area Bishop Coyner and theRev. Jim Gentry, executive director of theIndiana Area United Methodist Foundation,thank these congregations (in order of ser-vice) who have sent volunteers to build theSeashore District Volunteer Center inD’Iberville, Mississippi during the monthof April.

Included in April were 41 congregations(church and city): McGrainsville, Amboy;Pendleton; Cromwell; St. Luke’s, Indy;St. Mark’s, Bloomington; First, Decatur;Huntertown; Butler; Zion, Kokomo;Yorktown; Elk River; Largo; First,Bluffton; Santa Claus; First, Oak Park,Ill.; Newburgh; Maple Hill, Indy; Avon;Asbury Chapel, Montpelier; Irvington,Indy; St. Malachy Catholic, Brownsburg;Grace, South Bend; Christ, New Castle;Cicero; First, Mishawaka; Galveston;Bethany, Fort Wayne; Chapel Hill Chris-tian, Alto; Cornerstone, Oak Park, Ill.,First, Plainwell, Minn.; St. Luke’s, Wind-mier, Fla., North Webster; First Baptist,Warren; Meridian Street, Indy; St. Mat-thew, Anderson; Emmanuel, West TerreHaute; Royal Center; First, Plymouth;Trinity, New Albany; First, Noblesville;and Speedway, Indy.

Coyner and Gentry also extend theirthanks to these 49 congregations and groupsfor their generous contributions to finan-cially support the Seashore District Volun-teer Center during the month of April topress time. They include (church and city):Acton and Acton UMW, Indy; AlphaClass, Centenary, New Albany; Brush-wood, Rensselaer; Burns City UMW,

How big is your church?annual charge conference meeting.

But I wonder, how does onebest measure the size of achurch? All of those statistics areimportant, but how do we mea-sure the heart or the vision or thelove of a local church?

I have encountered some largechurches which seem rather smallin terms of having a limited un-derstanding of their ministry.Likewise I have encountered

some small membership churches whichhave an enormous heart for missions and glo-

bal outreach. Many of our largest congrega-tions also are very generous, but some areself-focused. Some of our smallest congre-gations are in-grown, but many of them havean outreach which extends far beyond theirnumbers. How does one measure the size,impact and effect of a church’s ministry?

Here are some suggestedmeasurements:♦ A church is small if its focus is upon

survival, the comfort of its own mem-bers and just paying the bills.

♦ A church is small if its budget is largelycomposed of paying for its own build-ing, programs for its own members andinadequate, or one might even say“cheap,” amounts of giving for others.

♦ A church is small if it does not welcomeeveryone in the name of Christ, seekingto share the Good News with all.

♦ A church is small if its worship is bor-ing, if its members are not growing spiri-tually, and if no one’s lives are changedand transformed by its ministry.

♦ A church is small if its lifestyle is char-acterized by criticism, tearing down its

pastor and lay leaders and destroying anygood ideas offered by anyone.

On the other hand,♦ A church is large if it is a place where

people’s lives are expanded, where loveis stretched and where ministry is out-ward-focused.

♦ A church is large if it provides a safeplace for people to disagree in love.

♦ A church is large if people come forworship really expecting to find an en-counter with God.

♦ A church is large if its people and itspastor know that they are a part of theglobal movement and ministry of God’speople.

♦ A church is large if its lifestyle is char-acterized by grace, forgiveness, peace,encouragement and of course love.So, let me ask, how big is your church?

Bishop Michael J. CoynerIndiana Area of

The United Methodist Church“Making a Difference in Indiana

and around the world”

Bishop, Foundation thankcongregations for supportingvolunteer center build in Mississippi

Loogootee; Carbon; Christ, Indy; Cice-ro UMW; Colfax; Cromwell; Edin-burgh; Edwardsville, Georgetown; First,Elwood (March listed as Elmwood); Fish-ers; Freedom; Franklin United Method-ist Community; UMC of Galveston;First, Gas City; Goldsmith; JeffersonCenter, Warren; Zion-Circle of Love,Kokomo; Zion, Kokomo; Maple Hill,Wanamaker; McGrawsville, Amboy (2ndcontribution); Memorial, Terre Haute;Newburgh; North, Indy; North MiamiCounty, Chili, Deedsville, Denver, Eben-ezer, Emmanuel, Erie, New Life, Paw Paw,Pleasant Hill; Park Place, Jeffersonville;Patronville, Rockport; West Street, Shel-byville; St. Andrew, Anderson; St. Mark’s,Bloomington (2nd and 3rd contributions);St. Mark’s UMW, Carmen; St. Matthew,Frankfort; St. Paul’s Mission Fund, Evans-ville; Trinity, New Albany; UniversityHeights, Indy; Community, Vincennes(donated materials, tools, etc.) Wall Street,Jeffersonville; and Zoar, Huntington.

The Seashore District Volunteer Centerwas formally consecrated by Bishop MikeCoyner at D’Iberville on Monday, May 15.

Thank you for your generous contribu-tions to this now completed project. Atpress time, $113,760 has been received,leaving a balance of $86,484 to be raised.If each United Methodist congregation inIndiana would give just $100 to this projectduring May, the balance would be met eas-ily before the annual conferences in June.

Other contributions were received fromindividuals for this project, but because ofprivacy laws, names cannot be printed here.

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3Hoosier

UnitedMethodists

togetherwww.inareaumc.orgWELCOME

LETTERS TO THE EDITORMore oncompulsivegambling

Thank you for including the ar-ticle “What makes compulsivegamblers continue?” in the Aprilissue of The Hoosier United Meth-odists Together. There are threeclarifications that I wish to make:1. For greater success in recovery,

the combined approach ofboth treatment and GamblersAnonymous is recommended.

2. Magical thinking for the gam-bler is indicated when chasingone’s losses becomes part ofthe motivation to gamble. Thisdevelopment in thought oftenbegins to occur during the Los-ing Phase of disordered gam-bling prior to the DesperationPhase and still later Phase of

Hopelessness.3. Gambling Recovery Ministries

does not include treatment. In-formation and referral sharingis an important part of our out-reach; and individuals are verygrateful when they realize thatthere is real hope and help forthem to begin the steps towardrecovery, with the informationand the encouragement that wegive to them. There are clinicians who are

specifically trained and certified ingambling addiction counselingand, also, some very fine treatmentprograms in our country and Can-ada. Again, including treatment,GA, and Gam-Anon for the fami-lies is the recommended approach.Our GRM Web site provides linksto professional organizations andservices of help to problem gam-blers and their loved ones. The Web

By Judy Bradford

“I’m tired. I’m burned out. Iknow we were stubborn, decidingto rebuild, but I just can’t do italone anymore. My husband justwent back to work, and now I‘mhere alone, all day, working on it.”

Sugi, a petite woman in hermid-thirties, was the homeownerof a modest, two-bedroom ranchin Gulfport, Miss.

I met her while our UnitedMethodist Disaster Relief workteam, from northern Indiana, wasworking on her neighbor’s home.Sugi wanted to know if our teamcould work on her house, too.

When Katrina and its resultingsurge of seawater hit on Aug. 29,she and her husband evacuated.When they returned, they had tocrawl through rubble and thenbreak down the doors of theirhome. The wooden floors swelledseveral feet, blocking the door-

Reflections in the aftermath of Katrina recovery workThe things I worry about in life are unimportant

ways.Seven months later, they’ve

made many repairs. But they stillhave a lot to do, and their insur-ance claim money – $26,000 – hasbeen depleted.

Other homes we worked onwere far less advanced in the re-building phase.

One of them had mold so badin the drywall and ceilings that thesmell could be detected from thefront yard.

Many homeowners are still liv-ing in trailers. They cannot getcontractors to work on theirhomes because the contractors arealready too busy. Homeowners arealso discouraged with governmen-tal or insurance red tape to pay forlabor.

That’s why volunteer groupsare so important on the Gulf Coastright now. They do the work forfree, and will continue to be im-portant in the rebuilding process

for the next five years. Some offi-cials say ten.

Our week-long trip was spon-sored by Hope United MethodistChurch in Hoagland, Ind. PastorJohn Randall has taken severalgroups down since fall.

“It’s great to see walls go up,”he said, speaking to a lunch-timeLenten gathering for volunteersand church members at TrinityUnited Methodist, in Gulfport.“It’s great to see roofs go on. It’sgreat to see all that physicalstuff. But what I love is thatthere’s an invitation to Jesus at-tached to it.”

Trinity church served as ourbase camp for the week. Its churchmembers say their ministry haschanged. They “no longer worryabout the carpet” and instead takecare of some 100 volunteers ev-ery week. They’ve also hired arebuilding coordinator, who takesrequests from any homeowner af-

site is www.grmumc.org. I also canbe reached at 812-926-1052.

Janet JacobsDirector,

Gambling Recovery MinistriesDillsboro, Ind.

Volunteersto Gulfport

In reading the April 2006 To-gether, “Bishop, Foundationsthanks …” (on page 3), I noticedthat Chandler UMC in Chandler,Ind., was not mentioned. We havehad three volunteer groups go toMississippi, using our van totransport people and supplies tothe Gulfport area. Two of the vol-unteers were even able to con-vince a music store in our area toprovide a piano for one of thechurches and two of our ladies

made a special trip down to deliv-er it. The last trip was made thelast week of March by our youthgroup and their leaders using thechurch van and pulling a trailerwith more supplies.

Bettye Norrick,Church Secretary

Chandler UMC, Chandler, Ind.

For Pete’s sakeMy name is Gene Gilbreath. My

father, nicknamed “Pete,” was amental patient confined in institu-tions for 47 years. He was Rip VanWinkle II, twice over. Mental pa-tients today do not have to be gonethat long to be forgotten. Thestreets and jails are full of them. Infact, in spite of our acclaimed so-cial outreach, mental health is notone of our favorite emphases.

Every day is mental health day

fected by the storm.Individual pictures do not give

the whole story. When our 26-member work team first arrived ina bus, we took a “disaster tour”down Highway 90, which followsthe coastline.

The bus got quiet real fast. Thebeachfront still looks like the af-termath of a war, as if bombs hadpurposely destroyed every hotel,restaurant and historical home.There are piles of debris every-where.

Further inland, homes deemedworthy of rebuilding routinelydeplete local stores of sheetrockand roofing materials. An estimat-ed 38,000 homes in Gulfport alonewere damaged or destroyed.

The coastline is some 60 mileslong. To get a better picture of thescope of the disaster, just multi-ply that 38,000 times all the com-munities along the coast, includ-ing Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian,

Waveland, Long Beach andBiloxi.

What did we get out of this?Ruth Daring, of New Haven,

said it was wonderful to givesomeone else some hope, “thesense that they can continue on.”

Jordan Fisher, 15, of FortWayne, realized that “people canbe happy not with what they’velost, but with what they’vegained.”

Taylor Shirk, 17, of South Bend,said “I’ve learned to be more grate-ful for what I have, because it canbe destroyed in a second.”

As I handed Sugi the name ofour sponsoring relief organizationand its phone number, I thought ofall the things I cherish and oftentake for granted. I learned that thethings I worry about in my life –what to wear, what to eat – are re-ally, really stupid and unimportant.

Judy Bradford serves as afreelance writer.

“Where the Spirit of the Lordis, there is the one true church, ap-ostolic and universal.”

This preface to a Modern Affir-mation in our United MethodistHymnal (page 885) defines thechurch in relationship to God’sSpirit made known to us in JesusChrist.

The season of Pentecost, begin-ning this year on June 5 and span-ning throughout the summer, cel-ebrates the beginning of thechurch when the Spirit of the Lordfilled the lives of the 3,000 Jew-ish believers gathered for thewheat harvest, the first harvestseven weeks (50 days) after Pass-over. They were open to the Spiritof the Lord and God changed notonly their lives, but the lives ofmillions of believers during these

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is the one true churchpast 2,000 years.

The operative words are “theSprit of the Lord” – God’s pres-ence, Christ’s presence in ourmidst when we gather as a com-munity of faith.

The Sprit of the Lord waswitnessed in the parking lot ofBaker’s Chapel United MethodistChurch in DeGonia Springs, Ind.,as that community of faith cele-brated Easter in lawn chairs witha backdrop of pick-ups and SUVs.Their building was gone, blowaway by a November tornado, butthe Sprit of the Lord was in theirmidst and their congregation willgrow spiritually as well as numer-ically. See page 1.

The Spirit of the Lord waswitnessed during the eight-weekvolunteers in mission build at

D’Iberville, Miss., as 255 volun-teers gave shape to the vision of apermanent volunteer center tohouse and feed hundreds of vol-unteers who are coming to theGulf Coast region to help thou-sands of Hurricane Katrina survi-vors recover their homes and busi-nesses. See pages 1 and 2.

The Spirit of the Lord waswitnessed by the record numberof dollars in the millions givengenerously by Hoosiers to stormsurvivors in 2005. See page 5.

The Spirit of the Lord waswitnessed this year in the comple-tion and dedication of a surgicalsuite and ward at Kissy Hospitalnear Freetown, Sierra Leone. Seepage 7.

The Sprit of the Lord was wit-nessed during the Christmas Offer-

ing for Children of which more than$76,000 was given to children’sministries in Indiana,across the UnitedStates and around theworld. See page 6.

The Spirit of theLord was witnessedin the Recovery withChrist ministry in FortWayne which pro-vides a fresh start forpeople addicted to and dependenton anything. See page 6.

The Spirit of the Lord was wit-nessed by more than 7,000 UnitedMethodist Women including Hoo-sier United Methodists who justmet in Anahiem, Calif.for theirquadrennial meeting. See page 8.

The Spirit of the Lord was wit-nessed by the faith taken by the

North Indiana Conference in basingtheir connectional giving beyond

the local church on thebiblical tithe rather thanan apportioned amountdetermined by a formulabased on membershipand congregational fi-nances. See page 4.

As the annual confer-ences of both North In-diana’s and South Indi-

ana’s United Methodists prepare tomeet the first two weeks in June toconsider the merging of both con-ferences into a new conferencewith more than 1,200 congrega-tions they do so in the Spirit of theLord for it is only in the Spirit ofthe Lord that the church is one truechurch, apostolic and universal.

Welcome, Daniel R. Gangler

for patientsand families.

D e s p i t eJesus con-cern for thedisturbed andr e g a r d l e s sthat one outof five of us

will be affected by some kind ofmental problem in our lifetime, weact as if we would just as soon theyremained out of sight and mind.

It is strange why we never havehad the idea of the “lost” apply-ing to the mind and body as wellas the soul.

Check out the story of Pete inFor Pete’s Sake, by Gene Gil-breath at www.mentalhealthforpetessake.com or Gene atGilgeno@joink.com.

Gene GilbreathTerre Haute, Ind.

May/June 2006

HoosierUnitedMethodists

together4 INDIANA

By Daniel R. Gangler

The new North Indiana UnitedMethodist Conference TithingPlus program for connectionalgiving of congregations to confer-ence ministries launched in Janu-ary 2006 has had a bumpy take offbut is smoothing out as the church-es send monthly remittances andthe program gains altitude.

According to Brent Williams,treasurer of the North IndianaConference, “Receipts are aboutthe same, dollar wise, as2005. Percentage wise we are at19 percent of the 2006 budget,compared to 17 percent at thesame time in 2005. The tithes arearriving in our office later than(apportionments arrived) in 2005,as churches are tending to pay thetithe after all of the receipts fromthe prior month’s Sundays are tab-ulated.”

The Tithing Plus model was amajor shift for congregations fromthe traditional payment of confer-ence and general church appor-tionments. Instead of knowing inadvance what conference appor-tionments will be, each congrega-tion tithes, that is pays 10 percentof each month’s receipt of income.The plan was approved Oct. 8,2005 at a special session of theNorth Indiana Annual Conferenceheld at Granger Community (Unit-ed Methodist) Church.

Williams told Together, “Initialreadings (about the new TithingPlus program) are inconclusive. Itis working and many churches arebeing quite faithful. We have a fewchurches that have not paid anytithe through March.” He furtherstated that District Superinten-dents are working on contactingthese churches.

The North Conference treasur-er ’s office will continue tocommunicate information regard-ing the tithe process directly totreasurers and pastors.

Williams went on to say thatlike anything new, there hasbeen some confusion. Church-es need to do their own calcula-tion each month and send thetithe to the North Indiana Con-ference office.

Receipts ahead of 2005 by two percentNew tithing for connectional giving off to bumpy start

In the previous appor-tionment system, the trea-surer sent statements in-forming each congregationabout its apportionment andwhat to pay.

OptimisticWilliams is optimistic. He

said all but 50 of 565 church-es have paid some portion oftheir tithe. The ConferenceCouncil on Finance andAdministration is working withchurches that saw an increase intheir connectional giving as a re-sult of the movement to a tithe.

General Church Ministries ap-portionments are being handledbeyond the conference tithe forconnectional giving. It’s the“Plus” in “Tithing Plus.” Williamssaid, these apportionmentsare being funded at similar levelsas 2005.

Williams said another posi-tive about the tithing program tofund conference ministries isthat the conversation about tith-ing has opened up some oppor-tunities to talk about stewardshipin new ways. He said localchurch leaders and clergy aretalking frankly with each otherabout church stewardship.

“Churches are talking to eachother about what is important todo and fund in our jointministry. These conversations arefiltering to conference leaders, aswell. We are being challenged tocommunicate better what our jointministries are and why they areimportant. We are being urged tofocus joint ministry and fundingefforts in those areas that the con-ference can do and needs to do,rather than what the local churchcan do better.”

Congregation viewpointFrom a congregation’s view-

point, the Rev. Paul Arnold, pas-tor of The United MethodistChurch at Columbia City andchair of the North Indiana Con-ference Council on Finance andAdministration said, “Tithing Plusis working fine here at ColumbiaCity. We have paid our apportion-ments at 100 percent for many

years so it was just a matter ofadjusting how we figure ourremittance. It is much easier toexplain to church members whatour share of conference ministryis by saying that we contribute atithe of our income.”

Arnold told Together that theywere one of those churches whoseapportionment estimate would in-

crease and that has notbeen a problem.

“I really think it is amatter of priority,” hesaid.

Arnold was not awareof a lot of confusion onthe part of churches fig-uring a tithe. He did feelthat where the programcame up short was thefact that “we did not think

to announce at the beginning ofthis change that districtapportionments were an addi-tional amount.”

He said CF&A tends to think onconference level, since it’s respon-sible for the conference budget.

When it comes to the generalchurch apportionment, “half ofthe general church amount is

above and beyond the tithewhich includes area and confer-ence support,” Arnold said. “Ourgoal from the beginning isalso to include the generalchurch amount within the tithe.I hope that we can reach that goalin the next few years.”

No matter what kind of systemthe conference uses to fund itsconnectional ministries, “Atrimmed down conference budgetis necessary. When the conference(membership) continues to getsmaller, we cannot continue to in-crease the budget,” he said.

“A giving method based on in-come or a percentage of incomejust makes more sense as to thestrength of a church than othercriteria we have used in the past,”Arnold concluded. (See sidebar.)

Wiredchurches.com announces strategicpartnership with outreachGRANGER, Ind. –WiredChurches.com, a ministry ofGranger Community UnitedMethodist Church, announces anew partnership with Outreach, anonline resource for church com-munication tools.

This partnership will makeGranger’s series graphics packag-

es available through Outreach’sWeb site and catalog. Outreachwill be able to print and custom-ize these promotional materials forindividual ministries.

Additionally, Outreach willbe able to provide banners, bul-letins and other pieces featuringthe designs from www.-WiredChurches.com.

Granger resources will still beavailable on WiredChurches.com– including message subscriptionsand transcripts, leadership down-loads, small group materials, mu-sic, graphics packages, multime-dia productions and more.WiredChurches.com, a ministry of

Granger CUMC, equips pastorsand other leaders to implementministry infrastructure that en-courages spiritual and churchgrowth.

Outreach, Inc., founded in1996, is one of the nation’s lead-ing providers of church marketingand communication resources.The mission of Outreach, Inc. isto further the kingdom of God byempowering Christian churches toreach their communities for JesusChrist. Products and services areavailable to churches nationwide,empowering leaders with cost-ef-fective, proven outreach methodsand tools.

Smile, South Conference clergy. Pictureswill be taken this session for directory

A note to let you know the hours that clergy will be photo-graphed during annual conference are: Thursday, June 8, from1:30-5 p.m. and Friday, June 9, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Three-year-old Harmony Smithstopped breathing and started to turnblue. Her mother came into theroom, thought the child was dead,and screamed as loudly as she could.

Thomas Smith, Harmony’s 14-year-old uncle, had the presenceof mind to call 911. The operatorasked a series of questions and toldThomas exactly what to do. TheTenderfoot Boy Scout followed theinstructions and was able to get

Scoutings Good Samaritan Awardgoes to Evansville teenwho saved life

Harmony breathing onher own before theparamedics arrived.

His actions savedHarmony from deathor brain damage due tothe lack of oxygen.The Methodist TempleUnited MethodistChurch of Evansville,Ind., will present Tho-mas with the Good Sa-

maritan Award in May.Since his rescue of

Harmony, Thomas hasreceived training in in-fant CPR, according toScout Leader VivianTaylor of Evansvillewho nominated Tho-mas for the award. Tay-lor is a member of Tem-ple Church which hoststhe Boy Scout Troop.

Smith

At the North Indiana AnnualConference in June, the Councilon Finaance and Administrationwill propose a $10 million 2007expense budget for the support ofthe church beyond its 565 congre-gations. This connectional givingwill be paid by all local churchesof the annual conference throughthe new Tithing Plus program for:

General and Jurisdictionalsupport – 30 percent of the NICbudget or $3 million. This includesNIC’s portion of The United Meth-odist Church’s worldwide out-reach. It also includes support ofthe North Central Jurisdiction($19,000), which has primarily re-sponsible for the election and as-signment of bishops, as well as

Tithing Plus funds general church,jurisdictional, conference and district ministries

ministries to women, men, youthand racial/ethnic ministries acrossthis eight-state area of the Midwest.

Annual Conference Sessionsand Indiana Area support – 4percent of the NIC budget or$401,107. This includes the bish-op’s and the area communicationoffices in Indianapolis includingthis newspaper, and the annualconference sessions held June 1-3 at Purdue University in WestLafayette;

North Indiana ConferenceProgram and Administration –28 percent of the NIC budget or$2.82 million. The North IndianaConference provides support min-istries to its 565 congregations ofNorth Indiana with Council on

Ministries programs (seminars,camps, conferences, continuingeducation, church developmentand other ministries to enhance theministry of the local church), theservice center in Marion includ-ing the media center, trustees,foundation and the Council of Fi-nance and Administration’s work.

Clergy support – 38 percent ofthe NIC budget or $3.83 million.This provides for direct and imme-diate support of nine district super-intendents and their offices whooversee districts and pastors, leadministries, programs and pastoralguidance; the Board of Ministry,clergy pensions, health care insur-ance, pastoral moving expenses,and pastors’ equitable salary.

5Hoosier

UnitedMethodists

togetherwww.inareaumc.orgINDIANA

Parish nurses stitch together thecolorful elements of their faithcommunities, creating a healthministry bound with love andbacked by years of experience.

What is parish nursing?Today’s world of health care

emphasizes wellness and preven-tion; however, not all people knowhow to maintain or improve theirhealth.The information from themedia or their doctor may over-whelm them. Parish nursing pro-vides a bridge between the frag-mented health care system andthose who may be medically un-derserved or just need help deci-phering.

Parish nurses are RegisteredNurses who work within a congre-gation to promote the connectionbetween health and the mind,body, and spirit.

What does a parish nursedo?

Parish nurses serve their con-gregations and clients in much thesame way as do communitynurses.They fill several roles:• Health educator,• Personal health counselor,• Liaison with community orga-

Parish NursingPiecing together faithcommunities and healthcare

nizations and• Facilitator or coordinator of

volunteers and support groups.These roles may take different

forms depending on the needs ofthe congregation/client base. Theparish nurse may facilitate a can-cer survivors’ support group orfield individual questions aboutcardiac rehab.The nurse mayscreen for high blood pressure ordiabetes after coordinating a lec-ture on health risks.The nurse maycoordinate an aerobics class. Orthe nurse may visit a congregationmember who has returned homefrom the hospital.The nurse maymaintain regular “office hours” or“float.”

Parish nursing derives its pro-fessional authority from the stat-utes and regulations of each StateBoard of Nursing and the Scopeand Standards of Parish NursingPractice.

How does parish nursinghelp the community?

Parish nurses often fill the gap,in their congregations’ or clients’health care needs. A parish nurseprovides a credible source of healtheducation and health resources forthose lacking adequate resources.

The nurse also provides to the con-gregation an increased access tohealth screenings and services.

The parish nurse often goesbeyond the church walls to reacha diverse population by creating ormaintaitling a partnership betweenthe faith and secular communities.

How does Clarian supportparish nursing?

The Clarian Health Partnersparish nursing program blend:mind, body and spirit for all peo-ple in faith communities in a tra-ditional way. No other hospitals inIndiana provides such a programin parish nursing.

Clarian Health-sponsored par-ish nurses are employees whohave completed an accreditedclass at the University of Indianap-olis (www.uindy.edu) or MarianCollege (www.marian.edu) andsearch for nursing. Clarian paysthe course tuition.

These nurses usually serve theirown congregations as volunteers,sharing their time and talents.

For more information, contact:Pat Thorlton, RN, Parish NurseCoordinator by calling 317-962-3412 or by e-mail atpthorlton@clarian.org.

INDIANAPOLIS – ClarianHealth Partners Inc. has appoint-ed the Rev. Cyndi Alte, an Elderin the South IndianaConference, as the Di-rector of Congregation-al Health Ministries, anew staff position with-in Clarian. Alte’s rolewill intersect with boththe health care and faithcommunities.

Dr. Steven Ivy, se-nior vice-president ofValues, Ethics, SocialResponsibility and Pastoral Ser-vices at Clarian told Together,“Clarian is committed to improv-ing the health of the communitiesthat we serve. And there are nobetter allies for health and well-being than the church. In addition,the historic and vital connectionbetween United Methodists in In-diana and Clarian Health Partnersallows us to deepen our commonmissions of service. Thus, Rev.Alte’s leadership will bothstrengthen the linkages betweenClarian and United Methodists, aswell as improve our capacities toserve those in need.”

According to Ivy, Alte will beworking in two primary areas: con-gregational health ministries andclergy wholeness programs. Thegoal of congregational health min-istries is to promote collaborationbetween the faith and health carecommunities in their efforts to bringhealth and wholeness to spirit, body

Alte

Clarian Health names ordained minister to new staff positionand mind. Alte also will work withparish nurse programs, wellnessfairs and parish nurse training to

help churches be cen-ters of wellness in theircommunities.

A long time advo-cate of collaborationbetween faith and med-ical communities, DanEvans, president andCEO of Clarian HealthPartners Inc., said, “Theimportance of the jointmissions of Indiana

United Methodists and ClarianHealth cannot be overstated. To-gether we can make a difference inthe health of Hoosiers. I look for-ward to Rev. Alte’s leadership inbuilding congregations’ capacitiesfor health and wellness ministries.”

WholenessThe importance of clergy

wholeness is of increasing con-cern to church leaders and healthcare institutions. Along with oth-ers at Clarian Health, Alte willwork with clergy to promote theintegration of spirit, body andmind to develop a closer relation-ship with God and strengthen theirleadership. In addition, she willoversee programs that help con-gregations to understand their rolein clergy wholeness.

Alte, an ordained pastor for20 years and registered nurse forthe previous 10 years, said, “In-tegration of body, mind and spir-

it is essential for wholeness. Wecan see that in the individual andwe need to see more of that inour congregations. Healthy con-gregations make for healthy pas-tors – and healthy pastors makefor healthy congregations.Whole and healthy congrega-tions and pastors can get on withGod’s work.

“I am grateful for the vision ofthe Indiana Area and Clarian

Health Partners that can make apowerful impact on the wholenessof our congregations and clergy.To be able to blend my congrega-tional experience with my medi-cal background in this unique wayis a true gift from God.”

Team approachAlte will be teamed with par-

ish nurse coordinator Pat Thorl-ton, R.N., and work as part of the

larger Clarian pastoral servicesteam of 30 chaplains and 10 pas-toral counselors.

The work of the Director ofCongregational Health Ministriesis distinct from the work of a hos-pital chaplain, who provides directnurture to patients and staff. It isalso unlike the work of the coun-selors of Buchanan CounselingCenter, a department of ClarianHealth, who counsel clients in in-dividual and group settings.

Alte is a graduate of UnitedTheological Seminary in Dayton,Oho, Coastal Carolina University,and the University of Evansville.She has served as pastor in UnitedMethodist Churches at TerreHaute, Indianapolis and in Ohio.

“To be able to blend my congregationalexperience with my medical background inthis unique way is a true gift from God.”

– Cyndi Alte

Dean Fanuel Tagwiraof Africa University willbe visiting Indiana thisspring. He will be in thiscountry from May 25 toJune 5 and will speak ina plenary session at theNorth Indiana AnnualConference on Friday,June 2 and at the AfricaUniversity breakfast onJune 3. Tagwira also is

Africa University dean to speak atNorth Indiana Conference

Tagwira

The North Central JurisdictionAdvance mission outreach, aboveand beyond Church World Serviceaskings, congratulated both theIndiana South and North Confer-ences for their excellent giving in2005 to The Ad-vance for Christand His Church.

North CentralJ u r i s d i c t i o nField Represen-tative WayneRhodes, Jr., ex-tended his con-gratulations tothe South Indiana Conference forincreasing giving to The Advanceby 253 percent in 2005 in which83 percent of its churches partici-pated to set a new conferencerecord of $2.34 million. South In-diana also lead the jurisdiction byhaving the highest percentage in-crease in number of churches giv-ing to The Advance. The confer-ence will receive two plaques tocommemorate their feat during theupcoming conference sessions in

North Central Jurisdictioncongratulates Indianaconferences on Advancerecord giving

scheduled to speak atthe Sunday morningservices (8:30, 9:45and 11 a.m.) May 28at Saint Andrew Unit-ed Methodist Church,333 Meridian Street,in West Lafayette.

Tagwira has servedas acting dean of theFaculty of Agricultureand Natural Resourc-

es since 2004. He is a soil scien-tist and joined Africa Universityas a senior lecturer in 1992. Heholds a bachelor’s degree in chem-istry and biology from the NationalUniversity of Lesotho, a master’sdegree in soil chemistry from theUniversity of Reading in England,and a doctorate in soil chemistryand fertility from the University ofZimbabwe, in collaboration withMichigan State University.

Bloomington June 8-10.Rhoades also extended his con-

gratulations to the North IndianaConference for increasing givingto The Advance by 139 percent in2005 in which 92 percent of its

churches par-ticipated to seta new confer-ence record ofgiving to TheAdvance in theamount of$2.57 million.The confer-ence will re-

ceive a Certificate for Excellencefor their accomplishment duringthe upcoming conference sessionsin West Lafayette June 1-3.

“Please accept my admirationfor being a conference where yourlocal churches’ extraordinary gen-erosity personifies John Wesley’sdescription of money as ‘an ex-cellent gift of God, answering thenoblest ends,’” Rhoades wroteboth conferences in his announce-ment letter.

May/June 2006

HoosierUnitedMethodists

together6

ROLLING PRAIRIE, Ind. – Stateauthorities have ruled a fire thatheavily damaged the Rolling Prai-rie United Methodist Church 20miles west of South Bend May 5accidental.

Once the blaze was brought

Rolling Prairie church burns, ruled accidental by authoritiesunder control, Jeffrey Roseboomfrom the state fire marshal’s officeled the investigation with twoagents from the Merrillville branchof the federal Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco, Firearms and Explosiveswere called to investigate.

According to The South BendTribune, they said the fire wasstarted by an electrical timingjunction box that is located in acloset on the main floor of thechurch. The box, which wasworked on earlier this week, turns

the lights in the church on and offautomatically.

Roseboom said the fire causedan estimated $400,000 in damage.

The ATF is routinely includedin investigations of church fires.

Authorities don’t believe any-

body was inside the building whenthe fire occurred.

Sunday’s worship service wasscheduled to be held on the par-sonage lawn.

Information for this story isfrom The South Bend Tribune.

INDIANA

By Nancy VendrelyThe Journal Gazette

Celebrate Recovery.Even the name of this outreach

program, recently started at Alder-sgate United Methodist Church,conveys the nature of this Chris-tian-based recovery program,which originated at Rick Warren’smega-church, Saddleback, in LakeForest, Calif.

Aldersgate senior pastor the Rev.Brian Witwer says of the recoveryprogram, “It emphasizes positiveaspects and doesn’t dwell in gloomand doom. It’s all in the name.”

“It’s not living in the past andour misery and where we failed,but accepting it and moving for-ward,” associate pastor Don Wis-mer says. “It’s about healing.”

Since Celebrate Recovery wasfounded at Saddleback 14 yearsago, 7,500 people have gonethrough the program there, and thechurch Web site says the programis now in 3,500 congregations inthe United States and 14 othercountries.

Wismer, in his role as small-group pastor, went to a seminar in

Church program welcomes communityRecovery with Christ ministry in Fort Wayne makes a difference

Michigan to learn about CelebrateRecovery and liked what he saw.When Ellen Rhoads was hired asa pastoral assistant to be in chargeof the program at Aldersgate, shewas sent to Saddleback for a train-ing seminar attended by 3,000people from across the U.S. and adozen other countries. Both areenthusiastic about the program.

“This is not just about drugs oralcohol,” Wismer says. “This isfor any hurts, habits and hang-ups- anything that comes along.”

That “anything” might bechemical dependency; co-depen-dence and relationship issues; sex-ual, emotional or physical abuse;guilt; shame; fear; anxiety; grief;relationship loss; sexual addiction;food addiction; eating disorders;gambling; even workaholism.

“We aren’t trying to be coun-selors or therapists,” Wismer says.“It’s about getting real, admittingyour issue and working it out in afaith environment.”

“We’re here to support one an-other; we’re not here to fix oneanother,” Rhoads says.

The recovery program is anoutreach of the church, and there-

fore, is open to the public. It isn’tnecessary to be a member of Al-dersgate or any other church, Wis-mer says. And, there is no chargefor the program. People can justshow up for the regular Wednes-day night program, or they can callahead for more information.

The evening begins at 7 p.m.with a group gathering for worshipand music. These half-hour ses-sions explore the eight recoveryprinciples found in the Beatitudesand a 12-step guide that includesScriptures. Then participantsbreak into small groups, separat-ed by gender and recovery issues.

“Small groups are supposed tobe issue-specific,” Rhoads says,“but when you first start out, theycan’t be. Eventually, all issues willbe in separate small groups.”

For now, the men are meetingin one group and the women inanother, and there may be as manyissues as people at this point.There have been only five meet-ings so far.

The sharing in groups remainsconfidential. The goal is to pro-vide a safe place where people can

talk about their issues, gain en-couragement from others, followthe Christ-centered steps and bib-lical principles, and grow spiritu-ally through recovery.

Each evening ends at the DayBy Day Cafe, where participantscan have coffee and refreshmentsand form friendships and account-ability relationships.

The mission statement says:“The purpose of Celebrate Recov-ery is to encourage fellowship andto celebrate God’s healing powerin our lives as we work our wayalong the road to recovery.”

“It is all based on God’s word,”Wismer says. “It is forward-think-ing, not dwelling in the past.”

Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life, says on Saddleback’sWeb site that the program has sev-en important features. Besides be-ing “based on God’s word,” it isforward-looking, emphasizes per-sonal responsibility and spiritualcommitment to Jesus Christ, usesthe biblical truth that people needeach other to grow spiritually andemotionally, addresses all types ofrecovery issues and produces lay

ministers “from people who havefound recovery in Christ.”

“It’s not a program that’s real bigyet in Indiana,” Rhoads says. “ButBob McDowell in Goshen is a statecoordinator, in charge of trainingand getting programs started.”

Interested churches can callAldersgate at 260-432-1524 formore information.

Of Indiana’s 30 existing Cele-brate Recovery programs, threeare in Fort Wayne. Besides Alder-sgate’s program, there is one atFellowship Missionary Church onThursday nights and one at GracePoint Church of the Nazarene onWednesday nights.

Aldersgate United MethodistChurch is at 2417 Getz Road.Meetings are weekly, 52 weeks ayear, even on holidays.

Clint Keller/The Journal Ga-zette: Aldersgate United Method-ist Church pastoral assistant EllenRhoads and associate pastor DonWismer are part of a team that hasbrought to the church a Christian-based community-outreach recov-ery program. Copyright (c) 2005The Journal Gazette.

“This is not just about drugs or alcohol. This is for any hurts,habits and hang-ups – anything that comes along.”

– Brian Witwer

A committee representing bothIndiana North and South Confer-ences met in Indianapolis April19 to divide the proceeds of theBishop’s Special Christmas Of-fering for Children received inDecember.

The committee, chaired by Ex-ecutive Assistant to the Bishop Dr.Donald Griffith, received $94,639in gifts and grants. North Indianachurches gave $43,815 and theSouth Indiana churches gave$42,730 to the offering. After ex-penses, the committee distributed$76,235. Divided into thirds, theofferings went to Indiana projects,Advance Special within the Unit-ed States and Advance Specialsoutside the United States.

In Indiana, $28,000 was divid-ed equally by the two conferences.North Conference projects includ-ed the Bridges (an inclusive, multi-sensory worship service for devel-opmentally disabled children) inSouth Bend; the NIC Children and

Christmas Offering for Children proceeds distributed

Poverty projects; Royal FamilyKids’ Camp; Northwest FamilyServices Children’s Programs;Charis House, a children’s programat the Fort Wayne Rescue Mission,the Lafayette Urban Ministrieschildren’s program and the Ander-son New Hope children’s pro-grams. South Conference projectsincluded: SIC Outdoor Ministries;Vida Nueava in Indianapolis;Brightwood Community Center,Fourteenth and Chestnut Commu-nity Center, SIC School of Chris-tian Mission; Camp Encounter andthe United Methodist Youth Homein Evansville.

Ten Advance children’s

projects in the United States in theamount of $2,800 each included:Children and youth ministries tohurricane survivors in Louisianaand Mississippi; Henderson Set-tlement in Kentucky; McCurdyMission School in New Mexico;Covenant Education Center inShiprock, N.M.; Red Bird Schooltuition in Kentucky; Tree of LifeMinistry for Native Americanchildren in South Dakota; WesleyChild-Care Center in Cincinnati;Jayuya Camp Ministries in Puer-to Rico; and Nome CommunityCenter in Alaska.

Ten Advance children’sprojects beyond the United States

in the amount of$2,800 each includ-ed: School HotLunch Program inHaiti; Maternal andChild Health Care,Maua Hospital,Kenya; ChristianCherished Projectfor Orphans andVulnerable, Congo;Ishe AnesauProject, Zimbabwe;Babyfold, Old Mu-tare Hospital, Zim-bawe; El Elohe,Home for Children,Galeana, Mexico;Grace Children’sHospital, Haiti;Warne Babyfold &Lane School, Ba-reilly, India; Minis-try with Children,Shade and Fresh Water Project,Brazil; Homeless and AbandonedChildren, Kamina, Congo.

Divided into thirds, the offerings went toIndiana projects, Advance Special withinthe United States and Advance Specialsoutside the United States.

Funds are distributed throughThe Advance, a part of the Gen-eral Board of Global Ministries.

7Hoosier

UnitedMethodists

togetherwww.inareaumc.orgMISSION NEWS

The Operation Doc-tor Area Committeemeeting April 7 ap-proved the establish-ment of the Bishop Le-roy Hodapp MedicalScholarship Fund.

The Rev. Joe Wag-ner, co-coordinator ofOperation Classroom/Operation Doctor,said, “As we continueto upgrade the medical services inLiberia and Sierra Leone, we needto upgrade the staff. This scholar-ship fund will aid in this goal toassist internationalmedical students.”

The first recipient ofthe scholarship is Dr.Dennis Marke, chiefmedical officer ofKissy Hospital in Sier-ra Leone. He will bepursuing a Masters ofScience Degree inMother and ChildHealth at the Instituteof Child Health, at the University

By Daniel R. Gangler

INDIANAPOLIS – Hoosiers dis-cussed the future of our partneredUnited Methodist hospital in Si-erra Leone with the United Meth-odist Bishop of Sierra Leone dur-ing a three-hour meeting at theIndiana Area office on April 7.

Bishop Joseph C. Humper metwith the Operation Classroom/Operation Doctor Area Commit-tee members to discuss the futureof the Kissy Health and Materni-ty Center located in a suburb ofFreetown, Sierra Leone. The clinichas now grown to the status of ahospital under the partnership be-tween the Sierra Leone UnitedMethodist Conference and Oper-ation Doctor.

According to Humper, theHealth and Maternity Center hasdeveloped tremendously under theleadership of Dr. Dennis Marke.History was made on Jan. 24 withthe completion and dedication ofthe operating room and ward andelevating the clinic to full hospi-tal status.

Kissy has become the mainhospital on the east end of Free-town, Humper told 12 committeemembers gathered for his visit.

“At this stage as Resident Bish-op, I deem it necessary to articu-late my visions and dreams for thenew hospital spanning the period2006 to 2011,” he said.

Humper said the present stateof the hospital needs renovation.It already has inadequate facilitiesto serve the growing patient num-

Future of Kissy Clinic projected in vision of Sierra Leone’s bishopber. Growing services calls forrepartitioning the facility to fulfillthose services and immediateneeds. Cubicle spaces for doctorsneed to be expanded into officespace.

Vision for infrastructuredevelopment

In Humper’s vision for Kissy’sinfrastructure, he foresees:♦ Construction of a guest house

building for visitors with itsown power sources,

♦ A maternity out-patient build-ing to accommodate 200 pa-tients at time including facili-ties for immunization and childhealth training, and

♦ A new two-story building in-cluding, emergency roomwith X-ray and administrativeoffices for chief medical of-ficer, financial area and a con-ference room for the Telemedprogram.In addition to the infrastructure,

Humper says the hospital willneed its own power system withsolar backup, a bus, two vehiclesfor doctors, a van for haulinggoods and materials and a ambu-lance.

On other parts of the hospitalcomplex, Humper foresees:♦ Hospital staff housing to pro-

vide for medical personnel oncall for midwives, surgeons,anesthesiologists and surgicalassistants, and

♦ A school of nursing whichwould include the cost of train-ing at least two RNs as tutors

estimated to cost $12,000 perperson per year.Future plans also call for a se-

ries of scholarships for trainingwithin and outside of Sierra Le-one, and volunteers to come toSierra Leone to train staff, repairequipment and “take back a first-hand account of not only the ser-vices offered at Kissy but also ofthe needs,” he said.

Two programs now growing atKissy are the HIV-AIDS testingand education, and the nutritionprogram. Humper said Kissy is theonly hospital involved in a pro-gram catering to the nutritionalneeds of malnourished childrenliving in the east-end communitiesof Freetown. Currently, Kissyfeeds 40 children at a time on highnutrient formula. The programsupplements a diet of rice threetimes a day.

“Again,” said Humper, “Myvision is to have this program rep-licated in our UMC clinics and inthe provinces. We need to make adifference in the lives of children.Our vision needs to be articulatednow.”

Beyond 2011“My visions and dreams can go

beyond the next five years. These

are achievable visions and dreamswith the production of a compre-hensive plan of action by Opera-tion Doctor,” Humper said. Goalsneed to be ranked as immediate,short term and long term.

In closing he said the future ofKissy Hospital is around this ta-ble – not narrowly but broadly.

During the question and an-swer session that followed, manycommittee members were con-cerned with the existing use ofproperty and where the hospitalcould physically expand. Ques-tions surfaced around the acqui-sition of land and locating thechurch building now on campusto a new location to free up spacefor the expanding hospital. One

concern is that the hospital is land-locked.

By the conclusion of the ses-sion, members felt that they need-ed to go Kissy to review the useof the property, requesting a haltto future leasing of property andwalk the plan provided in archi-tectural drawings that Humperbrought to the meeting.

Some of the immediate needsat the hospital include food andsupplies for the nutrition andAIDS/HIV programs.

For more information aboutOperation Doctor and Kissy Hos-pital, log on to www.-operationclassroom.org and http://gbgm-umc.org/health/kissy/ orcall 765-436-2805.

Photo coursteday ofDoug Ahlfeld, a general contractor (left), and Joe Wagner (right), co-director of Operation Doctor, discuss with Bishop Humper (seated) theuse of land at Kissy Hospital in Sierra Leone.

“We need to makea difference in thelives of children.”

– Bishop Joseph Humper

Medical scholarship fundnamed in honor of BishopLeroy Hodapp

College in London.Wagner said this

scholarship was estab-lished in the name ofnow retired BishopHodapp because hehelped to form the firstOperation Doctor pro-gram, guided the for-mation of OperationClassroom, recognizedthe leadership potential

of Marke and recommendedMarke to be the chief medical of-ficer of Kissy, and assisted in re-establishing Operation Doctor as

the medical componentof Operation Class-room.

Tax deducible giftsto assist Marke with thisnew scholarship can besent to the Indiana AreaFoundation of The Unit-ed Methodist Church,Bishop Hodapp Medi-cal Scholarship Fund,1100 West 42nd Street,

Suite 210, Indianapolis, IN 46208.

STAMFORD, Conn. (GBGM) –The United Methodist Churchneeds at least 20 new internation-al missionaries during the twoyears.

A recruitment effort – “The NextMissionary May be YOU” – waslaunched at the semi-annual meet-ing of the directors of the GeneralBoard of Global Ministries.

“We are extremely pleased tobe able to again actively recruitmissionaries for international ser-vice,” said the Rev. R. Randy Day,chief executive of the internationalmission agency.

Dramatic revenue shortfalls,primarily from a sharp drop in in-vestment income, resulted in amoratorium on new missionary

Mission agency issues call for new missionariesassignment in 2002. Internationalmissionaries placed during the lastthree years have filled emergencyneeds, Day noted.

“We are looking for mission-aries in 2006 and 2007 for servicein Africa, Asia, Europe, LatinAmerica, and Israel/Palestine,”said the Rev. Edith Gleaves, whoheads the Mission Personnel unitof the board. “We need mission-ary pastors, educators, health andsocial workers, children and youthworkers, administrators, and spe-cialists in rural and constructionministries.”

A typical missionary term isthree years in length and provideshealth benefits and educationalprovisions for dependent children.

The board currently providesfull support for 229 missionaries;179 in international services and50 in the United States. Partialsupport is provided to another 120persons, mostly in the UnitedStates. These include Church andCommunity Workers, Hispanic/Latino Plan missionaries, Alaskamissionaries, and short-termyoung adult missionaries.

Another 100 persons are “non-commissioned” mission person-nel, and the agency helps to sup-port 293 persons in mission select-ed by partner churches around theworld. There are 119 deaconessesand home missioners who arecommissioned by the board butfind their own places of service.

LIMBE, Cameroon (GBGM) –Pastors and lay delegates from 19congregations met here in Aprilfor the first Annual Meeting ofThe United Methodist Mission inCameroon. Ten lay and local pas-tors and 14 lay evangelists re-ceived appointments for 2006-2007. The Cameroon Missionwas established in October 2005,by action of the directors of theGeneral Board of Global Minis-

Cameroon Mission holds first annual meetingtries. Previously, the work of mis-sionaries and indigenous pastorsin the country were part of a“mission initiative.” Status as a“mission” puts Cameroon underepiscopal authority, namely thatof Bishop Benjamin Boni of Coted’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), who pre-sided at the annual meeting.

A Board of Ordained Minis-try for the mission was convenedand processed the first eleven per-

sons who seek ordination inCameroon. In accordance withthe action of the board, BishopBoni made the first official ap-pointments. Candidates for ordi-nation in the immediate futurewill be processed through theCote d’Ivoire Annual Confer-ence. The annual meeting heardpowerful stories of Christian wit-ness, evangelism, church plant-ing, and service to Jesus Christ.

Bishop Hodapp

Dr. Marke

May/June 2006

HoosierUnitedMethodists

together8 NATIONAL

NASHVILLE, Tenn.(UMNS) –More than10,000 United Method-ist youth from acrossthe world are expectedto converge on theGreensboro (N.C.) Col-iseum and Koury Con-vention Center forYouth 2007, the largestquadrennial youthevent of The United MethodistChurch.

The July 11-15, 2007, eventwill give youth an opportunity toexperience God in a multitude ofministry, cultural and spiritual op-portunities. Sponsored by the Di-vision on Ministries with YoungPeople at the United MethodistBoard of Discipleship, Youth2007 is about transforming livesand sending youth back to theircommunities as stronger disciplesof Jesus Christ, says the Rev. Lil-lian Smith, top executive of the di-vision.

“Youth 2007 provides UnitedMethodist youth with opportuni-ties to grow in faith and Christian

Youth 2007 expected to draw 10,000 young peopleleadership. Partici-pants will be chargedwith living our missionas world-changing dis-ciples of Jesus Christ,”Smith said. “Thisevent brings togetherthose who will guideour church into the fu-ture and help lead ourworld.”

“Youth 2007 is the most signif-icant experience we offer youth inthe Wesleyan tradition,” said theRev. Karen Greenwaldt, top exec-utive at the Board ofDiscipleship. “We areexcited to be the agen-cy of the church thatbrings this event tolife.”

“Splat! Seek, Pray,Learn, Act, Teach,” isthe theme of Youth2007. Led by a designteam of nearly 30youth, young adultsand youth workers from across thecountry, each day of the weeklonggathering will offer many types of

activities and experiences that re-inforce the theme.

Mornings will be for seekingGod and praying together in wor-

ship, engaging in largegroup Bible study andexperiencing music.Participants will belearning about theirfaith while hearingpreaching and teach-ing.

In the afternoons,groups will seek Godthrough workshopscovering topics rele-

vant to youth interests. In theevenings, the entire group willgather again for a time of wor-

ship and praise. One full eveningwill feature a concert for all par-ticipants. At the conclusion ofthe event, youth will be chal-lenged to return to their commu-nities and put their faith into ac-tion by teaching others whatthey’ve learned.

In addition to worship andworkshops, mission serviceproject opportunities will be avail-able around the Greensboro area.Individuals and groups can alsoparticipate in interactive destina-tions. These destinations offer ahands-on way to dive deeper intothe theme of Youth 2007 whilealso building community.

Beyond worship and workshop

opportunities, a full Expo Centerwill be open for youth and youthworkers to network, gather andbuy resources, and returnequipped to strengthen theirchurches and communities.

For people who register beforeDec. 1, the cost will be $165 perperson. Registrations received af-ter that date will be charged $200per person. Reduced registrationcosts apply for participants com-ing from the Western Jurisdictionand central conferences: $140 be-fore Dec. 1, 2006, and $175 after-ward. The event’s official Website, www.Youth2007.org, pro-vides full event information andregistration. Online registrationbegan May 5, 2006.

For more information, go towww.Youth2007.org or call theYouth 2007 event office, toll free,at 877-899-2780, Ext. 7190.

Information for this report wasprovided by the Rev. SteveHorswill-Johnston who serves asdirector of communications andbrand strategy for the GeneralBoard of Discipleship.

By Linda Bloom

ANAHEIM, Calif. (UMNS) – Ina “scary time” when war, terror-ism, environmental calamity andunchecked poverty and disease arelooming fears, United MethodistWomen can still make practicalexpressions of their faith.

That was the closing messagefrom Jan Love to participants atthe 2006 United Methodist Wom-en’s Assembly. Love is chief ex-ecutive of the Women’s Division,United Methodist General Boardof Global Ministries.

As a start, women can deepentheir understanding of their ownsalvation and express the joy oftheir faith. Then they can “makeevery day a mission day,” accord-ing to Love. “Continue with moredetermination to practice love,mercy, kindness and justice inyour home, neighborhood, ournation and across the world.”

New members can be recruitedand shown how United MethodistWomen “embraces all God’s peo-ple” and advocates for womenboth inside and outside the church.

“Tell them that you belong to anorganization that refuses to offerreligious excuses or legitimizationfor violence, vengeance, depriva-tion and discrimination,” Love said.

For more than 137 years, Unit-ed Methodist Women has offeredthe love of Christ and “literallysaved and served the lives of mil-lions of women, children andyouth” through its mission pro-grams, Love pointed out. Underthe theme, “Rise, Shine, Glorify

Faith, action converge at UnitedMethodist Women’s Assembly

God!,” about 7,000 members, in-cluding more than 150 Hoosierwomen from the North andSouth Indiana Conferences,gathered May 4-7 at the AnaheimConvention Center for worshipand workshops, exhibits and edu-cation, community building andcontemplation.

From the North Indiana Confer-ence, 87 United Methodist Wom-en joined NIC UMW PresidentJanis Bohnstedt of Fort Wayne.From the South Indiana Confer-ence, 70 United Methodist Wom-en joined SIC UMW PresidentVickie Newkirk of New Palestine.

The Assembly filled out “mon-ey transfer forms” to lobby Con-gress for a more just budget; raisedin excess of $20,000 for missionthrough an early-morning, 3.1-milewalk and delivered more than 2,000handmade prayer shawls for laterdistribution by mission institutions.

Love said she considered theassembly to be “a great big familyreunion,” strengthening communi-ty and “deepening people’s under-standing of their own faith journey.”

The event opened with a grandprocession of banners represent-ing the 63 U.S. conferences of TheUnited Methodist Church. Threelarge puppets in rose pink, greenand blue – symbolizing the assem-bly logo – followed, swirling and

billowing up the aisles to the cen-tral stage.

Kyung Za Yim, Women’s Di-vision president, welcomed partic-ipants and guided them in a callto worship accompanied by Lati-no, Tongan, African and NativeAmerican drumming. ChikaraDaiko, a group from CentenaryUnited Methodist Church in the“Little Tokyo” neighborhood ofLos Angeles, received an enthu-siastic reaction for their Taiko –or classical Japanese – drumming.

Speaking with courageSocial justice issues were a key

focus of speakers May 5. WahuKaara, founder of the Kenya DebtRelief Network and a candidate inthe 2007 presidential elections,knows living examples of the fem-inization of poverty and told thewomen they must speak “withunflinching courage” on the injus-tices that divide the world into“haves and have-nots.”

Silvia Regina Lima e Silva, aLatin American theologian, calledattention to the U.S. immigrationdebate by condemning the pro-posed fence between the UnitedStates and Mexico and calling in-creased border patrols “a manifes-tation of a growing racism andxenophobia which are becomingpart of everyday life.”

Anna Deavere Smith, knownfor her performance art about con-troversial issues – such as “Twi-light: Los Angeles,” which fo-cused on the 1992 civil unrest fol-lowing the Rodney King verdict– gave an evening presentation

about her journalistic style of in-terviewing subjects and then in-terpreting their words.

She spoke warmly of her up-bringing in the Union MemorialUnited Methodist Church in Bal-timore – although she confessedshe is now an Episcopalian – andtalked about how she likes the rep-etition of words through the Bi-ble and prayer.

Her grandfather told her that “ifyou say a word often enough, itbecomes you.” By repeating thewords of the people she has inter-viewed and recorded on tape,Smith became a Jewish womandealing with a Sabbath dilemmain Crown Heights, Brooklyn; amale doctor talking to a meetingof traditional healers in Uganda;a female prison inmate remember-ing how domestic violence led tothe death of her daughter; and aKorean store owner bitter over theburning of her shop during the LosAngeles riots.

Shining the lightOn May 6, the Rev. Don Sa-

liers, a composer of sacred musicand professor at Candler Schoolof Theology, and his daughter,Emily, one half of the Indigo Girls,demonstrated through song howmusic “takes us to places wewouldn’t have expected to go.”

Three women – Casimira Ro-driguez Romero, the new minis-ter of justice for Bolivia; KimHallowell, a young adult and ad-vocate against child labor; andChristy Tate Smith, a disaster con-sultant for the United MethodistCommittee on Relief – providedpersonal examples of how Meth-odist women shine their light onthe world.

Their stories were incorporat-ed in a Bible study led by M. Gar-linda Burton, chief executive ofthe United Methodist Commissionon the Status and Role of Women,who urged assembly participantsto find their own way to shine.

“We’ve got the love of Christ,the chutzpah of the Holy Spirit andmore than 200 years of shiningbacking us up as Methodists,” shedeclared.

A UMNS photo by Mike DuBoseThe Rev. Don and Emily Saliers greet attendees during worship at theUnited Methodist Women’s Assembly.

“… make everyday a mission day.”

– Jan Love

Smith

Greenwaldt

“Youth 2007 is themost significantexperience we offeryouth in the Wesleyantradition.”

– Karen Greenwaldt

9Hoosier

UnitedMethodists

togetherwww.inareaumc.orgVIEWPOINTS

Outcalt

By Catherine Koziatek

According to the 2005 NorthIndiana United Methodist Confer-ence Journal, there are 40 womencurrently appointed as local pas-tors, and 51 women, if we countthe pastors listed as supply underthe “other pastors serving church-es” category. This is out of a totalof 147 local pastors both male andfemale or 228 pastors if onecounts supply pastors who may ormay not be a member of The Unit-ed Methodist Church, but fromanother denomination which ourdenomination recognizes.

The faith journeys are as var-ied and moving as the people serv-ing but a deep faith in God is thecommon denominator. The twostories below have been entrust-ed to me. I convey them as theywere given to me.

Sheri Rohrer serves KilmoreUMC as a part-time local pastor,and Ella Nickles serves as a part-time local pastor at MichigantownUMC. I befriended both of thesewomen while serving with themin the Lafayette District. My timethere was brief, but I hope thefriendships will endure.

Rohrer writes: “I felt the callto ministry when I was 16-yearsold. I always knew what I wouldbe doing with my life. After col-lege I attended Christian Theolog-ical Seminary in Indianapolis. In1993 I began seminary with a-six-week-old baby. How crazy, butwhen God calls God provides. Myhusband Robert was and remainsvery supportive. I could not havecompleted my degree without hisunderstanding, encouragementand support.

During the next several years,we added two more children to ourfamily, but I was still not done withseminary. So that I could be themother I always wanted to be, Idecided to take it easy and slowdown a bit.

“I graduated with my Master ofDivinity degree in 2000. That timeour youngest daughter was nine-months old and had obstructiveapnea. She was on a monitor andanticipating surgery. I was nervous

Different gifts – one bodyTwo women share their stories aslocal pastors in North Indiana

but took the leap of faith and toldmy District Superintendent that Iwould receive an appointment,however with the needs of thefamily and young children, Ichoose to be a local part-time pas-tor. I had prayed diligently forGod’s wisdom and guidance, andboy did God answer.

I was appointed to a smallcountry church. God provided theperfect place for me. I have beenable to serve God and God’s peo-ple and keep up the hectic butwonderful pace of motherhood.

“God has blessed me with awonderful husband, great kids andan awesome church to serve. Ibelieve there are seasons to min-istry and God has many avenuesfor each of us. When the timecomes I will take that leap of faith,but for now I will bloom where Iam planted.”

Another servantAnother wonderful servant of

God is Ella Nickles. Ella and Ibonded in a sense because sheserved the same church in theLafayette District a few years be-fore I served. We definitely hadthings to talk about.

This is Nickles’ faith story:My faith journey began at the

Evangelical United BrethrenChurch in Peru, Ind. In summercamp one year, I heard a nurse-missionary speak about theGrace Children’s Hospital in Hai-ti, and told God I would like to gofor Him and help care for His chil-dren.

Because of many home prob-lems, I married at 15 and thoughtI had thrown that desire out thewindow. That marriage lasted 12years. My husband left me and ourson for another woman. I marriedagain, this time to a good Chris-tian man whose wife had walkedout on him and their three chil-dren.

During a revival at TrinityUMC in Elwood, Ind. I was lead-

ing the choir during the altar calland felt God calling in the prom-ise that I had made years beforeto go to Haiti.

As I knelt at the altar and relat-ed the story to the Evangelist, hestarted praising God and tellinghow blessed they were to have acouple going into the ministry.Wondering who this couple mightbe, I leaned forward to look downthe rail. There was my husbandlooking back at me.

Within two months we enrolledto attend Local Pastor’s School inEvanston, Ill. We began servingtogether in Anderson at BaileyChapel. From there we went toGoldsmith.

My next appointment was solo,eight years at Fowlerton,Ind. Those wonderful peoplewalked with us through the lossof three children and a grandchild.We all learned what it was like tobe Job or his friend, but we allwere stronger in our faith. Nextwe went to Ambia and LocustGrove and three years later toFrankfort. I now serve the won-derful folks at Michigantown.

I also have come to realize I didnot have to go to Haiti to take careof God’s Children. I have taughtSunday school since I was a teenand Jim and I have been fosterparents since 1983 caring for morethan 50 children during thoseyears. When people ask how I canlet them go, I tell them the chil-dren belong to God; I was justbabysitting for awhile.

I truly believe God is my Fa-ther, Jesus is Lord and Savior andthe Holy Spirit is my guide andstrength. I have never felt I hadanything extra special to offer, butif God chose to use this vessel, Iwas willing to give it my best.

My God Is Good – All theTime!

The Rev. Catherine Koziatekserves as pastor of the New Sa-lem UMC in Granger, Ind., inMichiana District.

By Todd Outcalt

In more recent years it hasbecome apparent that the cler-gy ranks in most annual con-ferences, including North andSouth Indiana, haveswelled with retirees.In fact, we probablyhave more retiredclergy than “active”– although, as every-one knows, pastorsnever really retire,they’re just put out topastor. No doubt, re-tirees can often feellike second class citizensamong their fellow brothersand sisters, and as the ageinggame takes its toll, clergy re-lationships and years of ser-vice can often be forgotten, orworse, ignored.

But if the faithful readerswill permit me, I’d like to waxa bit thoughtful and emotion-al this time around and honorour retired clergy with someheartfelt words. There are sev-eral reasons for this, I suppose.First, given my age and stationin life, I’m closer to retirementmyself than to the beginningof my ministry. Also, becauseof my years of service in theSouth Indiana Conference, Ithink I know more of our re-tired clergy now than I do ouractive members. And finally,I think that our retired pastorsrepresent one of our greatestassets as a church.

Let me explain.In every congregation I

have served, there have beenother pastors, some retired,others who were colleagues,who taught me the art of be-ing a pastor, who offeredfriendship, support, or help.Some pastors – now retired –helped me during my semi-nary years. I doubt Jeff Davisis alive today, but back in 1983he told me that the secret tolongevity in the ministry is torise four hours before sun up,then take a one hour nap in theafternoon after forcing downa large meal.

BODY, MIND & SPIRIT

On retirementI have yet to follow his ad-

vice, but it worked for him. Heserved 50+ years in NorthCarolina. I have to thank JohnCheesman and Paul Kern forgreat years in Terre Haute and

Noblesville. AndI’m grateful tonow-retired dis-trict superinten-dents like LloydWright, DickArmstrong, andJim Gentry, whoalways gave methe benefit of thedoubt.

Likewise, I’ve so oftencalled on retired clergy in ev-ery place I’ve served to leadgroups, visit the sick, or fill thepulpit, or sometimes just lis-ten to my woes. Thank youWilma Allen, Gene Gilbreathand a host of many.

Where would we be with-out the foundations laid by ourretired brothers and sisters?No one inherits a congregationin a vacuum. Others have min-istered before us. I’ve alwaysbeen appreciative of the workaccomplished by those whohave come before me, whosefaithful service makes my (andyour) ministry possible. I’mgrateful for Lou Reynolds andHarold Leininger whose manyyears of service at Calvarynow makes my years some ofthe most exciting in the con-gregation’s 176 year history.And I’m thankful to clergylike Dan Stone and BrianPalmer-Smith who keep thefires burning and are alwayseager to help. And there arecountless others who could fillpages.

We owe an enormous debtof gratitude to our retired col-leagues who have labored longin the vineyard – and are stilllaboring! Let’s cherish theirwisdom, commitment, andservice. And let’s rejoice intheir ministry among us.

Todd Outcalt serves as se-nior pastor of Calvary UnitedMethodist Church inBrownsburg, Ind.

Minneitte Millard, wife of senior pastor Dr. Kent Millard of SaintLuke’s United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, has written a newbook due for release.

A Closer Look: A Theology of the Ordinary is a compilation ofvignettes from her life followed by her theological “closer look” at theincidents to show God’s work in the ordinary world. It takes her throughher childhood years on the prairies of South Dakota through her look-ing ahead to her own death. It is a blend of her mainstream theologicaleducation with more mystical views of the saints, and modern viewsof transpersonal theorists and quantum physicists.

The primacy of personal integrity and transcendent love are woventhroughout discussions of self worth, courage, adventure and relation-ship, to name but a few topics she addresses.

Publisher AuthorHouse (www.authorhouse.com) of Bloomington,Ind., has scheduled the book to be released the end of May.

New book by Millard looksat theology of the ordinary

May/June 2006

HoosierUnitedMethodists

together10 CHRONICLES

FRANKLIN, Ind. – The wellknown United Methodist-relatedretirement community in Frank-lin has become the first JohnsonCounty facility to receive accred-itation from CARF-CCAC. TheFranklin United Methodist Com-munity received the designationfor a five-year term through 2010.

Dr. Joe Trueblood, executivedirector of the community said,“It is an honor to have the nation’spremier accrediting body for con-tinuing care retirement commu-nities acknowledge that our Com-munity has met their best stan-dard and granted us their highesthonor, a five year accreditation

By Kathy L. Gilbert

WASHINGTON (UMNS) – Ev-eryday life in Iraq is becoming in-creasingly dangerous, an IraqiAmerican told the United Method-ist Board of Church and Society.

“Iraq is becoming unlivable,”said Andy Shallal, who has manyfamily members living in thecountry.

The General Board of Churchand Society passed a resolution in2005 calling on the United Statesto withdraw troops from Iraq.Shallal spoke to the board’s Peacewith Justice/United Nations andInternational Affairs work areaduring the agency’s April 20-23meeting. He is with the IraqiAmerican Alliance, a Washington-based group working to strength-en relations between Iraqis and

Iraqi American describesworsening conditions in Iraq

Americans.“One hundred and ninety-two

professors have been killed sincethe start of the war,” he said.“Three more have been killed inthe last three weeks.” Those whocan leave are leaving, he said.

The violence has touched Shal-lal’s family. One of his nephewswas abducted while going toschool. The 15-year-old was heldcaptive until his parents could pay$50,000 for his return. He cameback “bruised, cut and emotion-ally scarred. These acts are so bra-zen, and it does no good to go to

“The United States has to change itspolicy toward Iraq.”

– Andy Shallal

A UMNS photo by Kathy GilbertAndy Shallal, with the Iraqi American Alliance, addresses Church andSociety members on the status of his home country.

By the Council of Bishopsof The United Methodist

Church

Whereas, the prophet Micahreminds us that God calls nationsto “beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears to prun-ing hooks,” and that nations willno longer “lift up sword againstnation, and neither shall they learnwar any more” (Micah 4:3); and

Whereas, peacemaking is a sa-cred calling of the Lord JesusChrist; and,

Whereas, The Book of Disci-pline of The United MethodistChurch 2004 (Para. 165.C) states,“We believe war is incompatiblewith the teachings and example ofChrist;” and,

Whereas, the continuing loss ofIraqi civilian lives, especially chil-dren, and the increasing death tollamong United States and coalitionmilitary grieves the heart of God;and,

Whereas, the premises ad-vanced by the United States gov-ernment for engaging in this war,namely, the presumption of weap-ons of mass destruction and al-leged connection between Al Qae-da and Iraq have not been verified;and,

Whereas, the cycle of violencein which the United States is en-gaged has created a context for thedenigration of human dignity andgross violations of human rightsof prisoners of war;

Therefore, The Council ofBishops of The United Methodist

the police,” Shallal said.He described how general liv-

ing conditions have deteriorated.The price of gas is astronomicalin a country that only a few yearsago paid 10 cents a gallon. “Thecountry is one big gas station,” hesaid. “No one understands why theprices are so high.”

The lucky people get electrici-ty for about six hours a day, andin a country that once had one ofthe best health care systems in theMiddle East, getting medical careis almost impossible, he said.

“My uncle who has asthma

went to the hospital during one ofthe bad sandstorms. There were200 people waiting to use the oneoxygen tank,” he said.

A change in U.S. policy isneeded, according to Shallal.

“Americans can play a role,” hesaid. “Cities shouldn’t be put un-der siege. Instead, air drop in sup-plies of food, water and genera-tors. The United States has tochange its policy toward Iraq.”

Jim Winkler, top staff executiveof the Board of Church and Soci-ety, told board members “it is a sadfact that the people of Iraq are now

worse off today than they wereprior to the U.S.-led invasion. Per-haps as many as 250,000 Iraqishave died from violence or thebreakdown of basic health careand other infrastructures.”

The Board of Church and So-ciety is the social action and ad-vocacy agency of The UnitedMethodist Church. (See the Coun-cil of Bishops’ statement on Iraqissued in October 2005.)

Kathy Gilbert serves as aUnited Methodist News Servicenews writer based in Nashville,Tenn.

Resolution on the War in IraqChurch:1. Laments the continued warfare

by the United States, coalitionforces and the insurgents;

2. Prays for military personneland their families who havesacrificed as a result of this war,and for a swift end to the de-struction and violence raging inIraq;

3. Supports a CongressionalResolution stating that it is thesense of the Congress that it bethe policy of the United Statesto withdraw all U.S. militarytroops and bases from Iraq;

4. Calls on President Bush to im-mediately draw up and presentto the U.S. Congress and theAmerican people a plan andtimeline for the withdrawal ofall U.S. armed forces from Iraq;

5. Calls for the United Nations toappoint a Peace Envoy to en-courage and cooperate in talkswith Iraqi groups opposed tothe occupation to explore a po-litical settlement to the conflict;

6. Calls for the rebuilding of Iraqand other nations in the MiddleEast through a multinationaldevelopment plan that honorsthe participation of the peoplesof the region and gives themhope for the future.

7. Calls United Methodiststhroughout the world to prayfor peace and stand up andspeak out for public policiesthat promote peace, justice, andreconciliation among all na-tions.

October 2, 2005

Franklin Community receivedaccreditation from CARF-CCAC

period. We are just one of ten or-ganizations in Indiana to achievethis recognition.”

A facility receiving a five-yearterm of accreditation has volun-tarily put itself through a rigor-ous peer review process and dem-onstrated to a team of surveyorsduring an on-site survey that it iscommitted to conforming toCARF-CCAC’s stringent accred-itation conditions and standards.

The Commission on Accredi-tation of Rehabilitation Facilities(CARF) and the Continuing CareAccreditation Commission(CCAC) merged in 2003 andnow touch more than 5.1 million

individuals served in a widerange of human service organi-zations.

The Franklin United Method-ist Community, located at 1070W. Jefferson Street in Franklin,has operated as a not-for-profitcontinuing care retirement com-munity since 1957. The accredi-tation recognizes their quest forquality programs and services toseniors and their families.

For more information aboutthe Franklin United MethodistCommunity, contact AnjelaBrown, Director of CommunityRelations at 317-736-1100 or calltoll-free 1-87-RETIRING.

Boston University to honorHoosier as Distinguished Alumnus

BOSTON – Boston University School of Theol-ogy will grant the Rev. Dr. Henry L. Gerner, retiredminister of the South Indiana Conference and formerPastoral Counseling Director at the Buchanan Coun-cil Center at Methodist Hospital, its 2006 Distin-guished Alumni Award. He will receive the awardduring the Dean’s Luncheon during the Distin-guished Alumni/ae Awards Ceremony on Saturday,May 13 at the school in Boston.Greene County Chapel celebrates180th anniversary

Greene County Chapel (United Methodist Church)now serves in its third century as members celebrate180 years of history. They will celebrate with a Her-itage Sunday Homecoming May 28 at 1:30 p.m.. Thisday also will mark the congregation’s 116th AnnualMemorial Day. Greene County Chapel is located onHighway 45 southwest of Bloomington.

The congregation’s roots go back to 1826 whenfive men filed their names as trustees of the Eben-ezer Methodist Episcopal Church at the GreeneCounty Courthouse. The Greene County Chapelname appeared first in a 1914 conference journal.

The present building was erected by ThomasCook and Sons in 1870 following the destruction by

fire of the original log church.Current Pastor Ed Beedle serves both this church

and the Solberry United Methodist Church.Bloomington church children’schoir director killed in plane crashwith four other IU students

During worship services April 23, First UnitedMethodist Church in Bloomington remembered thefive Indiana University music students killed in a planecrash last April 20. First Church was home to one ofthe students, Zachary Novak, 25, of Anderson, Ind.,who directed the Children’s and Wesley Choirs at thechurch as a music student at IU in Bloomington.

The Rev George Purnell, senior pastor of the FirstUMC, told Indianapolis Channel 13 Eyewitness News,“It’s really unspeakable. All of these people are griev-ing enormously today. Zach Novak had a spirit thatwas contagious… His gifts were extraordinary.”

Other victims of the crash included: Garth A.Eppley, 25, Wabash, Ind.; Robert Clayton Samuels,24, Medina, Ohio; Georgina H. Joshi, 24, SouthBend and Christy Bates Carducci, 27, Monroe, Mich.

A memorial service for Novak was held April 27at Brown-Butz-Diedring Funeral Home in Anderson.

Eppley’s parents are members of LaFontaine Unit-ed Methodist Church, where he attended there whenhe returned home. His memorial service was heldApril 28 at the LaFontaine United Methodist Church.

INDIANA BRIEFS

11Hoosier

UnitedMethodists

togetherwww.inareaumc.orgCHRONICLES

Ten Hoosiers joined more than215 United Methodist office pro-fessionals for the 24th AnnualConference of the ProfessionalAssociation of United MethodistChurch Secretaries (PAUMCS)April 20-22 in Pasadena, Calif.

During the three-day event,Michelle O’Hare, of the TerreHaute District Office, receivedrecognition as a Certified Profes-sional United Methodist ChurchSecretary, after having attendedthe PAUMCS Institute at CandlerSchool of Theology at EmoryUniversity in Atlanta.

Hoosier members receiving re-newed certification include: LisaMorris of the Indianapolis Dis-tricts Office and Metro Ministries;Barbara Angotti, retired Bloom-ington District AdministrativeAssistant, Pat Sanders, MichianaDistrict, Elkhart and LindaFights, Elkhart New Hope UMC.

Those attending from the Indi-

Terre Haute secretary receivescertification during nationalsecretaries meeting in California

ana Area included: Nancy Cad-dick, Ridge UMC, Munster; Lin-da Fights; Linda Houge,Lawrence UMC, Indianapolis; EdMetzler Indiana Area, Indianap-olis; Lisa Morris; MichelleO’Hare; Pat Sanders; JaniceSelf, Speedway UMC, Indianap-olis; Pam Voss, Indianapolis WestDistrict; and Jenni Walker, Indi-anapolis East District.

Morris also was elected to theExecutive Committee of the na-tional PAUMCS association asmembership secretary. This is athree year term.

Kathy Slamp, of Vessel Minis-tries was a seminar speaker, Work-ing for the Church: Rose Gardenor Thorny Thicket?, as was theRev. Sara Armstrong, the authorof The Shattered Pearls, an ac-count of living ten years in Afri-ca. Dr. Philip Amerson, presidentand professor of church and soci-ety at Claremont School of The-

ology in Claremont, Calif. pre-sented a seminar on the holy workof encouragement and hospitali-ty. Passing Out Roses When Dan-delions Would Do. Jennifer Water-son led a program on safe sanctu-aries.

The PAUMCS Annual Confer-ence provides education and sup-portive professional network. Theorganization established in 1982and under the General Council onFinance and Administration of theUnited Methodist Church, fostersindividual growth, professionaldevelopment and spiritual enrich-ment for its members in the Unit-ed States, Russia, and Africa.

The North and South IndianaConference Chapters ofPAUMCS are planning a com-bined Continuing EducationEvent for all church secretariesand administrators, both paid andvolunteer, on August 29. Specificdetails will be announced.

Bishop Michael J. Coyner hasannounced the following changeswithin the Indiana Area. All dateseffective 2006 unless otherwise not-ed. These appointments are based onCabinet reports received by IndianaArea Communication during themonths of April and May 2006.

South Indiana ConferenceAhlemeyer, Tim from Odon,

Vincennes to Bedford First,Bloomington, 6/1

Chizmar, Nancy Harmon fromMadison Trinity, Columbus toTanner Valley, Columbus, 7/1

Cook, Beth from Rockdale,Rushville to Methodist TempleAssociate, Evansville, 7/1

Freeman, Kurt from Cloverdale,Terre Haute to Mooresville As-sociate, Bloomington, 7/1

Fulp, Paul A. from Muncie River-side, Muncie to Cloverdale, TerreHaute, 7/1

Gadlage, Christopher S. from noappointment to Pleasant Ridge,New Albany, 7/1

Harbeson, N. Jane from PleasantGrove, New Albany to no ap-pointment, 5/1

Haywood, Fred E. fromHuntingburg, Vincennes toWesley, Indianapolis West, 7/1

Hendrixson, Orville E. fromClarksville Harrison Ave., NewAlbany to Pleasant Grove andClarksville Harrison Ave. (not acharge), New Albany, 5/1

Hoehner, Thomas Carl from Mul-berry, Lafayette to Covington,Terre Haute, 7/1

Hurschell, Joslin from no appoint-ment (retirement) to Vallonia/Vallonia: Mt Zion, Bloomington,4/1

Jackson, Patrick M. from Method-ist Temple Associate, Evansvilleto Fairlawn, Evansville, 7/1

Jasper, Steven D. from St. Peter’sand Carborn St. John’s Charge,Evansville to no appointment,6/30

Kaetzel, Jill S. from New Hope, NewAlbany to attend school, 7/1

Kamman, Joe I. from ColumbusAsbury to retirement, 6/30

Marchal, Lisa from Columbus First,Columbus to attend school, 6/30

Mathura, Oscar J. from Covington,Terre Haute to retirement, 6/30

Payton, Daniel L. from Lanesville,New Albany to Zoar andLanesville (not a charge), NewAlbany, 7/1

Riggs, Glenda K. from Zoar, NewAlbany to Willey’s Chapel, NewAlbany, 7/1

Rowe, John G. from Mauckport,New Albany to retirement, 6/30

Scholl, Matthew from MooresvilleAssociate, Bloomington to attendschool (Asbury), 6/30

Slavens, Randall J. from ShelbyvilleWest St., Rushville to PerryCounty Group Ministry: Tell CityFirst, Evansville, 7/1

Smith, Steven L. from PleasantRidge, New Albany to no ap-pointment, 6/30

Striegel, Aaron L. from Willey’sChapel, New Albany to

APPOINTMENTSMauckport, New Albany, 7/1

Styron, Alvis H., Jr. from Indianapo-lis Wesley, Indianapolis West toColumbus Asbury, Columbus, 7/1

Turner, Michael W. from no appoint-ment to Bloomfield WesleyChapel, Evansville, 7/1

Wilson, P.T. from Elletsville,Bloomington to GreencastleGobin, Terre Haute, 7/1

North Indiana ConferenceBard, Steve from Liberty, Hunting-

ton to Harlan, Fort Wayne, 6/18Bishop, Fred from North Manches-

ter, Huntington to retirement, 6/1Brookshire, C. Wesley from

Monticello, Lafayette to retire-ment, 5/31

Bullick, Michael from Asbury, Hun-tington, to no appointment, 1/29

Butcher, Neil D. from Albany,Muncie to Anderson Bethel,Marion, 6/16

Cain, Steve from Purdue UniversityWesley Foundation, Lafayette toFort Wayne Trinity, Fort Wayne,6/16

Covington, Amy from South BendGrace, Michiana to Fairmount,Marion, 6/16

Frederick, Richard from WoodruffGrove, Michiana to retirement, 6/16

Fritz, Brenda T. from Fairmount,Marion to Goshen First,Michiana, 6/16

Fritz, Edward L. from Marion First,Marion to Goshen First,Michiana, 6/16

Garrett, D. Bradford from CenterChapel, Marion to WoodruffGrove, Michiana, 6/16

Gough, Mark from Goshen First,Michiana to Conference Staff,North Indiana Conference, 6/16

Jennette, Jared from South BendClay, Michiana to Center Chapel,Marion, 6/16

Jones, Dorothy from Tracy, Calumetto retirement, 6/1

Kumeh, C. Anne from South BendBroadway, Michiana to Ambia/Locust Grove, Lafayette, 06/16

Love, Daniel from Morris Chapel,Marion to no appointment, 6/15

Martin, James A. from Zanesville,Fort Wayne to Warsaw Trinity,Warsaw, 6/16

Motto, Daniel D. from Marion Dis-trict Superintendent, Marion toretirement, 5/31

Nichols, Nancy J. from St. Paul’s,Muncie to South Bend Broad-way, Michiana, 6/16

Patton-Ferguson, Kaye I. fromMarkle, Huntington to MarionFirst, Marion, 6/16

Roth, Veryl from Roanoke Seminary,Huntington to retirement, 6/1

Shoaff, Scott from Fort WayneSimpson, Fort Wayne toKendallville, Fort Wayne, 6/16

Thomas, Jerry from AlexandriaFirst, Marion to AtwoodOtterbein, Warsaw, 6/16

Toole, James O. from KendallvilleFaith, Fort Wayne to Osceola,Michiana, 6/16

Watt, Thomas A. from DeSoto,Muncie to Zanesville, FortWayne, 6/16

DONALD D. ABBEY, retiredpastor (NIC), died March 23,2006. A memorial service was heldon March 26 at the Pineville Chap-el of McEwen Funeral Services inCharlotte, N.C. Survivors include:wife, Dorothy; and daughters, Car-olyn Rearick and Donna Glass.Condolences may be sent to Dor-othy Abbey, 7110 Graburn Road,Charlotte, NC 28226 or onlinecondolences may be directed towww.lifeunwrapped.com. Memo-rials may be made to the ministryof the Rev. Abbey’s grandchildren:Life Unwrapped, c/o Dawn &Daniel Glass, P. O. Box 471342,Charlotte, NC 28247.

CHARLES WILLIAM(BILL) ASKREN, retired pastor(SIC) died March 20, 2006. A

memorial service was heldMarch 24 at Bethany UMC inNew Middletown, Ind. Memori-al contributions can go to Hos-pice and Palliative Care of South-ern Indiana, 624 E. Market St.,New Albany, IN 47150.

JUDIE GEYER, 55, theChurch Administrator of GraceUMC in South Bend, died sudden-ly on Sunday April 30. She servedon staff at Grace for 21 years invarious roles, the last 15 as churchadministrator.

W. LYNN HENRY, retiredpastor (NIC), died April 29,2006. Survivors include his sons:David Henry, Angola, Ind., andMichael, Charlotte, N.C. Condo-lences can be sent to David L.Henry, 1275 N. 290 W., Angola,

IN 46703.SHERRI KEENE, 46, daugh-

ter of Roselawn UMC’s PastorDee Keene (SIC), died April 5,2006 after a long illness. A me-morial service was held April 7 atthe Moeller Funeral Home in Val-paraiso, Ind. Condolences can besent to: the Rev. Delos Keene, 262Imperial Court, Hebron, IN 46341

KATHLEEN KLOSTER-MN, mother of the Rev. SusanBeckett (NIC), died Sunday, April2, 2006. A prayer service was heldat 10 a.m. on April 6 at the Miller-Long & Folk Funeral Home. Amemorial service followed at 11a.m. at the Holy Rosary Churchin St. Marys, Ohio. Condolencescan be sent to Rev. Beckett at P.O.Box 214 Brook, IN 47922-0214.

DEATHS

According to press reports, theJohnson County prosecutor’s of-fice filled a probable cause affi-davit May 1 against Aaron D.Kemp, 32, a former church admin-istrator at Greenwood UnitedMethodist Church. Police believeKemp, of Indianapolis, took morethan $200,000 during a 4-1/2 year

The Rev. William Sloane Cof-fin Jr., 81, a United Church ofChrist minister known globallyfor his peace and justice advo-cacy, died April 12 at his homein rural Strafford, Vt. Accordingto Associated Press, Coffin hadbeen suffering from congestiveheart failure and had been underhospice care.

Coffin, Legendary ‘pastor, prophet, poet’ dead at age 81

Authorities charge ex-church staff member with theftperiod which ended last June 7when the church fired him.

Greenwood Police DetectiveDoug Roller told The Indianapo-lis Star that Kemp essentially wasa one-man financial operation forthe 400-member congregation. Headmitted during the initial inves-tigation that he gave fake docu-

ments to the board of trustees tohide missing money.

Greenwood Pastor Bill Hoopessaid multiple people now are in-volved in church financial trans-actions so there’s more oversightthan from just one administrator.(See United Methodist Book ofDiscipline paragraph 259.4.)

Ordained in 1956 as a Presby-terian, he later sought ordainedministerial standing in the UnitedChurch of Christ, a relationship hemaintained until his death. Sinceretirement, he was a member of theUnited Church of Strafford.

From 1976 to 1987, Coffinwas senior minister of RiversideChurch in New York City. Dur-

ing the 1960s and -70s, heserved as chaplain at Yale Uni-versity where he spoke out infavor of Civil Rights and againstthe Vietnam War.

In the 1980s, Coffin headed theanti-nuclear SANE/Freeze cam-paign, where he became a majorvoice in opposition to the U.S.nuclear weapons buildup.

May/June 2006

HoosierUnitedMethodists

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North Indiana Conference United Methodist Church Post Office Box 869 1105 North Western AvenueMarion, Indiana 46952 Web address: www.nicumc.org e-mail address: info@nicumc.org 800-783-5138

South Conference Board of Church and Societymay have a grant for you

The Social Principles of The UnitedMethodist Church are guideposts fordiscussions of faith and life. Vibrant,life-changing ministries areborne out of studying andapplying these Principles in ourcommunities. Are you part ofsuch a ministry? Then yourSouth Indiana ConferenceBoard of Church and Societywants to hear from you! Applyfor a SIC-CBCS grant. SouthIndiana and the General Boardof Church and Society each receive50% of the SIC’s Peace with Justicespecial annual offering. From part ofthese contributions, both SIC and the

Domestic Violence ~ HIV/AIDS ~ Poverty ~ Genocide ~ Gambling ~ Death Penalty ~ Prison Ministry ~ Domestic Violence

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General Board can offer grants. Thisyear’s offering is called for June 11.We invite your congregations to

participate. Give freely. Apply foran SIC grant. Pray for ministriesto blossom. Beginning Aug. 1,contact the Rev. Chad Abbott(317-637-2716) for a grantapplication. The general thrustof Peace with Justice ministriescenters on systemic change inthe areas of war and peace/human rights and global poverty/

hunger. Specifically for SIC, grants areavailable for the areas of prison/jailministry, gambling issues and peacewith justice education.

Leading Beyond the WallsNovember 16, 2006 Thursday 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; Indiana Wesleyan University –Marion, Ind.Dr. Adam Hamilton, Sr. Pastor The Church of the Resurrection – Kansas City, Kan.Seating is limited – Clergy/Laity($60 NIC Pastors – all others $75)In Session 1, Rev. Hamilton will explore essential keys to leading churches to re-

newed vitality. He will present three questions every church must ask, ideas for un-derstanding the needs of un-churched people, and explore strategies for reaching theun-churched as well as strategies for effective follow-up.

In Session 2, Rev. Hamilton will discuss how effective leadership is essential to de-velop healthy, dynamic ministries. What are the qualities of an effective leader? Whatare the things effective leaders do? He will explore the qualities and practices of effec-tive leaders. You will leave this session with five qualities leaders cannot lead withoutand five practices of effective leaders.

Marriage as a Spiritual DisciplineThis seminar is designed for clergy and laity couples.October 16-17, 2006 Monday 10 a.m.-Tuesday 4 p.m. St. Joseph Conference –Tipton, Ind.Dr. David Hogue & Dr. Diane Stephens – Garrett-Evangelical Seminary – Evanston, Ill.($60 NIC pastors-all others $75)Marriage is God’s good gift, and at its best, marriage nurtures both partners to-

ward spiritual wholeness. Yet the stresses and strains of life, children, work and minis-try can threaten even the best of marriages – or leave us feeling that this life-givingrelationship has become parched. In this two-day workshop, we will have the oppor-tunity to refresh and renew the nature of marriage as a covenant relationship andhow marriage is grounded in God. We will examine strategies for couples who seek todeepen their spiritual intimacy and commitment as well as develop ways to managelife’s inevitable conflicts and frustrations.

Praying/Preaching in the Midst of Tragedy and SufferingOctober 30-31, 2006 Monday 10 a.m.-Tuesday 4p.m. St. Joseph Conference –Tipton, Ind.Dr. Tyron Inbody, Professor, United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio($60 NIC pastors all others $120) Clergy/LaitySuffering is the deepest challenge to our faith in an all-loving and all-powerful

God. Do we as pastors preach and pray for resignation, for protest, or for transforma-tion? Meaning and purpose are assured when pain, suffering, tragedy and evil areassigned to the will of an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God. This workshop willreview the strengths of such a view of God for preaching and praying. Special atten-tion will be given to intercessory prayer.

Clergy and HIV/AIDS PandemicJune 19-20, 2006 Monday 10 a.m-Tuesday 4 p.m. St. Joseph Conference – Tipton,Ind.Rev. Dr. Peter Mageto, Ph.D. Missionary-in-Residence Aldersgate UMC($60 NIC pastors all others $120) Clergy/LaityThis seminar will help clergy come to a better understanding the global pandemic

through examples of what many individuals, communities and churches are doing ornot doing. We will explore concrete ways the clergy may utilize to foster their congre-gations in embracing this crisis as a ministry and mission locally, nationally or/andglobally.

To register call Diane Kelley800-783-5138 ext. 13

e-mail diane@nicumc.org.

North Indiana Conference Ministry Development and Continuing Education Opportunities