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The Newspaper of the Western New York Conference of the United Methodist Church • Volume 12 • Number 5 • May 2009
WNY United Methodist SpectrumUSPS-014025
OUR MISSIONOUR MISSION — (WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO DO): Our mission for the Western New York
Annual Conference is to Recruit, Resource, Release, and Refresh spiritual leaders of excellence through connectional relationships, resulting in growth and
service in the world in the name of Jesus Christ.
OUR VISIONOUR VISION — (WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO BE): Our vision for the Western New York Annual
Conference is we are a community of healthy,disciple-making, growing, serving churches
following God’s will in transforming the world.
Resident Bishop of the Alabama-West FloridaConference to speak at Annual Conference session
The Rev. Dr. Paul Lee Leeland, Resi-dent Bishop of the Alabama-West Flor-ida Conference, The United Methodist Church, will speak during the 2009 An-nual Conference session of the Western New York Conference.
Western New York’s Annual Confer-ence session will be held in the Adams Mark Hotel, Buffalo, New York June 19 to 21 and lifts up the theme - Rekindled by Faith – In Prayer, in Heritage, in Joy.
Bishop Leeland will lead a Bible Study at 7 p.m. on Friday evening and bring the message during the Celebration of Life Service at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Bishop Leeland was elected Bishop of The United Methodist Church on July 17,
2008 at Lake Junaluska, NC and assigned to the Alabama-West Florida Conference on July 18, 2008.
He earned his Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) from North Carolina State University in 1990; Master of Theology (Th.M.) and Master of Divinity (M.Div.) from Duke Divinity School in 1975; and Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), North Carolina Wesleyan College in 1971.
He was ordained Elder, North Carolina Conference in 1976 and served as a Gen-eral Conference Delegate: 2000, 2004, 2008 and as a Jurisdictional Conference Delegate: 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008.
Bishop Leeland currently serves on
General Board of Church and Society.He served on the General Board of
Higher Education and Ministry, Division of Ordained Ministry from 2004 to 2008, as a Trustee, North Carolina Wesleyan College from 2005 to 2008 and on the United Methodist Foundation – Board of Directors from 2000 to 2008.
He served on the Conference Council on Finance and Administration (CFA) for 8 years; Conference Board of Pensions for 8 years, Conference Task Force on Clergy Effectiveness, Conference Task Force on Building Healthy Congregations, Confer-ence Pastoral Care Committee and Sexual Ethics Support Team.
Continued on page two
Several Districts have al-ready had an opportunity to meet with Bishop Marcus Matthews, however Mountain View and Central Lakes dates are later this month.
District DaysThere will also be conver-
sations with Bishop Matthews at each District Day.
Clergy will gather at 11:30 a.m. with devotions and lunch. There will be conversation with Bishop Matthews from 1 to 3 p.m.
Laity will gather between 6 and 6:30 p.m. with all laity welcome to attend, particu-
larly lay members to Annual Conference. There will be a time of devotions and conver-sation with Bishop Matthews from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Future District Days are scheduled as follows: May 18 Cornerstone at Sinclairville: Park UMC and May 19 Moun-tain View Clergy at Hinsdale UMC and laity at Belfast UMC.
;May 20 Central Lakes at Auburn UCM.
Bishop’s RetreatThe Bishop’s retreat is
planned October 14-15, 2009 at Camp Casowasco.
District Days continue
Bishop Marcus Matthews (L) and Conference Lay Leader, Scott Johnson (R) share conversations with the laity at the Niagara Frontier District Day held at Lincoln Memorial UMC on April 27. Photo by Ken Kasperek
Rev. Dr. Paul Lee Leeland
New ACT worships with youth from four conferences By Marilyn J. Kasperek
Exciting, energetic, dynam-ic, life changing worship was a vital part of the 2009 4Word gathering of youth from the Wyoming, Western New York, Troy, and North Central New York Conferences, and the New Area Conference Team experienced some of it on April 25.
New ACT purposefully scheduled time shared with youth attending 4Word into their time together, first at worship, and then some one on one time over lunch.
“We are here to listen to you,” Bishop Marcus Mat-thews told the youth as he
greeted them. The youth-led event included worship, work-shops, and many opportunities for community building. With excitement, an announcement was made that youth leader-ship from all four conferences will come together shortly to continue to look at what their journey together into the new Conference might look like.
Reluctantly, members of New ACT returned to their work following their time with these current and emerging young leaders in upper New York, to hear reports from sub-teams, update timelines, and prepare for reports at Annual Conference sessions. Conve-ner Bill Gottschalk-Fielding
lead the team through their work.
Safe spaceCreating safe space to lis-
ten to diverse voices is part of New ACT’s ongoing work. Under development is a model which allows serious listening among those with different perspectives. The model will be used by New ACT in their discussions, as well in sub teams, including those which will address a number of criti-cal questions. Guidelines for the conversations and guide-lines to insure that groups are diverse will be written, and training provided for critical question team leaders. New
ACT member Darryl Barrow noted the guidelines will de-velop “a posture of listen-ing,”
The foundation for this work will include informa-tion from “Building Inclusive Community,” a multi-Confer-ence Retreat in which some members of New ACT re-cently participated, with Eric H. F. Law of Kaleidoscope Institute. An overview of that training was shared with the entire New ACT at their April 25 meeting.
Team reportThe Asset Allocation Team
report brought a number of questions back to New ACT
regarding their work, includ-ing responsibilities, timeline issues, and budget concerns. Suggestions out of this sub-team included moving up the decision as to new AC con-ference center administrative office location and adding an Executive Director for camp-ing to the list of staff needed in place July 1, 2010.
Work on the Shared Minis-try Formula is moving in the direction of using local church income as opposed to expenses or use of membership/average attendance. The subcommit-tee looking at that suggestion is gathering the necessary data to determine what that would look like for local churches.
continued page 3
Page � • May Western New York United Methodist Spectrum
Western New York United Methodist SpectrumA Publication of the United Methodist ChurchWestern New York Conference©
Western New York United Methodist Spectrum Published Monthly by theCommunications Committee Western New York Conference of the United Methodist Church
Subscriptions $15.00 per year paid in advance.Marilyn J. Kasperek - Managing Editor and Publisher
7263 Downey Road • Akron, New York 14001 - Phone: (716) 542-9615
WNY Conference Phone: (716) 564-2316WNY Conference Fax: (716) 564-2365
PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID - AKRON, NEW YORK 14001 - USPS - 014025POSTMASTER:
SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO131 JOHN MUIR DRIVE
WEST AMHERST, NEW YORK 14228
WNY United Methodist SpectrumWestern New York Conferenceof The United Methodist ChurchThe Rev. Dr. Marcus Matthews
Resident Bishop of theNew York West Area
1010 East AvenueRochester, NY 14607
Director of Connectional MinistryRev. Dr. Lawrence E. Lundgren
Director of CommunicationsMarilyn J. Kasperek
Coordinator of Leadership &Congregational Development
Rev. Dr. Ronald V. [email protected]
CONFERENCE OFFICE131 John Muir Drive
West Amherst, NY 14228(716)564-2316
CONFERENCE WEBSITEwww.wnyumc.org
~DISTRICTS~
Niagara FrontierRev. Natalie Hanson
District SuperintendentDeborah Barnes
Administrative AssistantEmail: [email protected]
CornerstoneRev. Larry Baird
District SuperintendentKaren Christopherson
Administrative AssistantEmail:cornerstonedistoffice
@windstream.net
Mountain ViewRev. Dr. Cathy L. StengelDistrict Superintendent
Cheryl IsamanAdministrative Assistant
Email: [email protected]
Genesee ValleyRev. Ted Anderson
District SuperintendentBetsy O’Flynn
Administrative AssistantEmail: [email protected]
CONFERENCE OFFICES~Email Addresses~
Director of Administrative Services, Pensions Officer,
Treasurer, StatisticianBarbara A. [email protected]
Resource Center CoordinatorShelia Rader
Administrative Assistant Kandi Lehsten
Accounts ReceivableKelly Brown
Accounts PayableJennifer Trigilio
Clergy session planned for June 16Clergy of the Western New
York Annual Conference will gather on Tuesday, June 16, 2009, as required by The Book of Dis-cipline.
Who is to attend, who has voice, who has voting privileges is also determined by The Book of Discipline.
The clergy membership of an annual conference consists of deacons and elders in full connec-tion), provisional members, asso-ciate members, affiliate members, and local pastors under full-time and part-time appointment to a pastoral charge.
Full, provisional, associate and affiliate members either retired or in the effective relationship are considered clergy in the annual conference.
Local pastors must be appoint-ed. Supply pastors (hired by the district superintendent) and those serving from other denominations
or other annual conferences are not included unless they have an affiliate membership
Who can voteVoting privileges are as identi-
fied in The 2008 Book of Disci-pline
a) Clergy members in full con-nection have the right to vote on all matters in the annual confer-ence except in the election of lay delegates to the general and juris-dictional or central conferences and have sole responsibility for all matters of ordination, charac-ter, and conference relations of clergy.
b) Provisional clergy members have the right to vote in the annual conference on all matters except constitutional amendments, elec-tion of clergy delegates to the gen-eral and jurisdictional or central conferences, and matters of ordi-nation, character, and conference
relations of clergy. c) Associate and affiliate clergy
members have the right to vote in the annual conference on all mat-ters except constitutional amend-ments, election of clergy delegates to the general and jurisdictional or central conferences, and matters of ordination, character, and con-ference relations of clergy.
d) Full-time and part-time lo-cal pastors under appointment to a pastoral charge have the right to vote in the annual conference on all matters except constitutional amendments; election of delegates to the general and jurisdictional or central conferences; and matters of ordination, character, and con-ference relations of clergy.
Clergy session will be held at
the Clarence UMC, Greiner Road, Clarence, beginning at 2:00 pm.
Bishop Matthews announces appointmentsBishop Marcus Matthews announces the follow-
ing Appointments in the New York West Area:
Central Lakes DistrictRev. Suzanne Block is appointed full-time to
North Central New York Conference at Homer: First UMC effective July 1, 2009.
Genesee Valley DistrictRev. Kimberly Hines is appointed less than full
time to Adams Basin UMC effective 4/1/2009.Rev. Leanne Zeck is appointed full time to Leroy/
Stafford UMC effective 7/1/2009.Rev. Vonda Fossitt is appointed full time to Al-
bion UMC effective 7/1/09.Rev. Maidstone Mulenga is appointed quarter
time to Rochester: Wesley UMC effective 7/1/09.
Mohawk DistrictRev. Bong Hee Sung is appointed full time to
North Central New York Conference, Oneida: First UMC effective 8/1/2009.
Niagara Frontier DistrictRev. Helen J. Hadley is appointed full time to
Western New York Conference, Eden UMC effec-tive 7/1/2009.
Northern Flow DistrictRev. Dena Stevens is appointed full time to North
Central New York Conference, Lowville/Martins-burg effective 7/1/2009.
Rev. Thomas H. Jones is appointed full time to Canton UMC effective 7/1/2009.
RetirementsBishop Marcus Matthews announces the following
appointments pending approval of the Clergy Session of Annual Conference, effective July 1, 2009:
Allan Ferguson to retired status.Elizabeth Mowry to retired status.Marcia Wickert to retired status.Michael Comer to retired status.
Bishop Leeland initiated a bi-annual meeting of executive committee of Board of Ordained Ministry and Conference Cabinet as well as a meeting of Duke Di-vinity School faculty and Board of Ordained Ministry.
He has served as Assistant to the Bishop / Director of Ministe-rial Relations in the North Caro-lina Conference and as a District Superintendent as well as served small, medium and large member-ship churches in rural and urban settings as evangelist, pastor and teacher and led a number of semi-
nars in areas of leadership, evan-gelism and stewardship for clergy and laity.
He initiated $1 million cam-paign for Hunger and Human Needs (exceeded goal by raising $1.4 million; a community-wide study on Racism; Lenoir County Congregations in Action (creat-ing partnerships between con-gregations of different ethnic backgrounds, resources, denomi-nations, and sizes). At two con-gregations served, built new sanc-tuaries and church facilities.
Formational Experiences in-
clude: Emmaus, Heart of Carolina Community, Walk #11; Emmaus Heart of Carolina Leadership Team; and Academy of Spiritual Formation (Upper Room), Acad-emy #16
Bishop Leeland has received numerous recognitions and Pro-fessional Certifications.
He married Janet Elaine Dow-ell from Washington, D.C. July 27, 1968 and has three children: Rebekah, Nora, and Paul and four grandchildren: Ryon, Joshua, An-drew, and Madeline.
Annual Conference speaker from page one
May �009 • Page �Western New York United Methodist Spectrum
Working Vision and Purpose Statement
for the New Conference of the Upper New York Area
Our vision (desired outcome) is:
• To live the gospel of Jesus Christ and to be
God's love with our neighbors in all places.
Our purpose (what we do) is:
Growing in our relationship with God,
Being the body of Christ within the world,
Living in accordance with the example
of Jesus Christ by:
• Engaging, equipping, and
empowering local churches
to be in ministry with and to
our Global Neighborhood;
• Encouraging and developing
leadership within the laity and
clergy that is diverse and engaged
with the vision of Christ and;
• Building relationships
with our neighbors
particularly with those who
have been disenfranchised
by mainstream society.
What this is and is not:● a first word, not the last
● for missionary planners, not potential converts● to help us prepare for the future, not define the future
NACT adopted Vision and Purpose Statement 2.21.09
Reservations due for Celebration of Ordained Ministry in June
A dinner and evening of celebration of Ordained Min-istry for members of the West-ern New York Conference who will retire, be commissioned or ordained, or otherwise re-ceived into membership this year will be held on Tuesday, June 16 at Samuel’s Grande Manor in Williamsville, New York.
A time of gathering and re-freshments will start at 5:30 p.m. with dinner served a 6:15 p.m.
Honorees include the Rev. Jeffrey C. Crawford who is retiring; Douglas Childress, David Cooke, Maidstone Mu-lenga, James Pegan, Michael Smith, Dena Stevens, Steve Taylor, Matthew Worley, and
Leanne Zeck who will be Commissioned; The Rev. Viv-ian Waltz who will be ordained as a Deacon; the Rev. Timothy Middleton who will be re-ceived as an associate member of the Conference; and Rever-ends Duane Bartz, Mary Kelly, Richard Koch and David Piatt who will be ordained as Elders in full connection.
Laity and clergy are invited to attend this event. The cost is $26.00 per person and space is limited. All checks must be received by Satruday, May 30, payable to WNY Conference.
Checks should be mailed to: Bill Emrick, 4217 Dry Brook Road, Scio, NY 14880-9625.
Questions will be answered by calling (585) 593-4847. No
The new Conference in upper New York has a new web site: www.uppernewyork.org.
Click on this site for the latest news and add your voiceto the on-going conversation. New features added often;
suggestions for improvements always welcome.
Add www.uppernewyork.org to your “favorites”list and invite others to do the same.”
Website launched featuring creation of new Conference
Key Dates
Closing sessionsNorth Central New York – June 12
Troy Conference – May 22, Christ United Methodist Church, Glens Falls, N.Y.Western New York – June 5
Wyoming – June 4 and 5
Final clergy sessionNorth Central New York- June 8
Troy Conference—May 21, Silver Bay, N.Y.Western New York—June 1
Wyoming Conference
Uniting ConferenceThe Pennsylvania churches of the Wyoming Confer-
ence and the Central Pennsylvania Conference--June 11.
The proposed name for the new conference inPennsylvania is the Susquehanna Annual Conference.
Uniting Session for the upstate New York areachurches:June 19, ON Center, Syracuse, N.Y.
Worship celebrationsThe Susquehanna Conference*—July 11,
The upper New York Conference*—Sept. 11, Empire State Plaza, Albany, N.Y.
*working names for these new Conferences
one can be accommodated at the door.
Menu includes: Italian Wedding Soup, Samuel’s Sal-ad (crisp romaine, tosse din a traditional Samuel’s dress-ing, topped with Mandarin Oranges, Italian croutons and Parmesan cheese), Chicken Cordon Bleu (stuffed hcicken breast with ham and cheese), Baked potato with sour cream and buter, vegetable du Jour, and cheese cake with straw-berries.
A vegetarian entrée is avail-able. Should you want to re-serve a vegetarian entrée, you must include a note with your check.
Clarification was requested on the responsibilities for de-velopment of the 2010 and 2011 budgets between Asset Allo-cations and New ACT. All of the suggestions were received with no action at this time.
Election determinesTeam membershipThe Joint Distribution
Committee is defined by The Book of Discipline and mem-bers will be elected by each of the six (Central PA, New Eng-land, North Central New York, Troy, Western New York, and Wyoming) Annual Confer-ences at sessions this spring. Until the election takes place, the appointed committee is gathering information such as service records of active and retires; looking at the possibil-ity of special grants for retir-ees; and gathering information on health care coverage so members have the information they need to begin work once elected. Timelines, equity, and justice questions impact this committee’s work.
Bishop Marcus Matthews (New York West Area) and Bishop Susan Hassinger (Al-bany Area) are meeting with the General Board of Health and Pensions this week to clar-ify some of the issues impact-ing the work of the Joint Dis-
tribution Committee. Bishops Matthews and Hassinger are also meeting with the Confer-ence Chancellors to discuss the actual date incorporation needs to take place.
BOOMA report from the Board of
Ordained Ministry sub-team indicated the primary con-cern currently expressed is who those in process should contact. The determination was to continue to talk to who they have been until notified a change has been made.
ProgramsQuestions around how to
care for initial programs and ministry in the New Confer-ence were raised and New ACT plans to address them later this summer.
SessionsA report from the interim
sessions team indicated a number of sub-teams will be in place to address financial planning, worship, agenda, details (including hospitality), technology related to worship and communications pieces for the new Annual Confer-ence sessions.
TeamsA Spiritual Formation team
was suggested to lead people in the new conference with prayer and study.
Communications Task Force is working on strategy, marketing, and IT resources needed. Timelines and a Strat-egy Document are being de-veloped and a newspaper will be distributed at Annual Con-ference Sessions. Communi-cators were asked to assist in the development of a report for Annual Conference.
Appointments to the Inter-im Leadership Development and Interim Personnel Com-mittee will be made by Bishop Matthews and Bishop Hass-inger. The names will be pro-cessed through the cabinet and efforts made to have diversity.
Thank YouBishop Matthews expressed
appreciation for the work of Convener Bill Gottschalk-Fielding and Administrative Assistant Anne Hutchins for their work on behalf of New ACT.
Uppernewyork.orgMinutes and other informa-
tion on the work of New ACT and others teams and commit-tees working on the creation of the new Conference in Upper New York can be found at up-pernewyork.org
New ACT contiinued from page 1
Name suggestions for new Conference to be collected online and at the Annual Conference Session
What IS this new confer-ence that is coming into be-ing? As United Methodists all across upstate New York
prepare to come together, there are hopes and dreams for our shared ministry and our journey into God’s future.
Here is your opportunity to distill some of those hopes into a suggested name for the new Annual Conference to be
formed in 2010.The New Area Conference
Team (New ACT) has dis-cerned a vision and purpose statement (see below). With that vision statement in mind, the Communications Team invites your prayerful input in the naming process. Please share your thoughts by going to www.uppernewyork.org and clicking suggest a name or www.wnyumc.org and click-ing on Help name the new Conference.
During May, a Communi-cations team will gather all the
information and review it, sur-facing a list of names to share with the New ACT. Further responses to the team’s selec-tions will be gathered at the 2009 Annual Conference ses-sions.
It is expected that New ACT will present a recom-mended name for the new conference area at the June 19, 2010, Uniting Conference in Syracuse, N.Y., with opportu-nities to allow the introduction of other suggested names, as the Holy Spirit moves.
Page � • May Western New York United Methodist Spectrum
Annual Conference offering to go to North Katanga UMC ProjectsWestern New York Confer-
ence has had a relationship of mutual encouragement with the North Katanga Annual Conference since 2006 and this year’s Annual Conference of-fering will go to four Advance Projects in North Katanga
Since 2006, Western New York and the North Katanga Annual Conferences have ex-changed conference preachers and had reciprocal episcopal visits. Numerous visitors from North Katanga have been wel-comed around our conference, as North Katanga has received several delegations from West-
ern NY.Individuals and churches
have contributed well over $100,000 to projects and min-istries in North Katanga over the years and these ministries are bearing fruit, particularly as peace takes hold in the Province of Katanga.
This year’s Annual Confer-ence offering will be divided
equally among four Advance Projects in the North Katanga Conference. They are:
Wings of the MorningMeeting critical medical
needs through air transpor-tation for the needy in rural areas. The project started in 1960 by a missionary named Kenneth Enright, and current-ly has three airplanes.
A flight that can be made in two hours would take four days by train, or one month driving during the rainy season. There is a cholera epidemic along the Congo River every January
and February.United Methodist Commit-
tee on Relief (UMCOR) often calls and asks Wings of the Morning to distribute medi-cine and transport medical workers along the river to help victims. Every superintendent has a radio on which he can reach Wings of the Morning as needed.
When contacted, they fly to those areas and transport the sick to hospitals. Wings of the Morning serves everyone who needs help. It is the 9-1-1 of the Congo.
Kamina FriendsKamina Friends Enter-
prise Facilitation and Eco-nomic Development works to build economic growth and capacity, promoting male and female entrepreneurs in Af-rica. Through an established training and education-based approach, Kamina Friends is building a supporting network of community members in Kamina to coach, encourage, and help local entrepreneurs unlock their potential. This project is creating synergistic benefits in the community, including improved quality of life in healthcare, educa-tion, community infrastruc-ture, and self-governance; and greater opportunities for women, men, and children.
Lupandilo Nursing School
Lupandilo Nursing School provides support for nursing students in Kamina by offer-ing opportunities for service learning and to help students be informed on public health issues in the community, es-pecially in rural settings be-cause all students are from rural settings. This program helps the students to be aware of epidemics and find preven-tive measures. It also provides intensive working sessions, outside the everyday educa-tion schedule, to help students make healthy life choices.
Animal LivestockDevelopmentNorth Katanga Animal
Livestock Development pro-motes cattle, poultry and other livestock farming to boost nutrition and local economy. Agricultural development is a critical need in order to re-cover from years of civil war. North Katanga is a fertile re-gion and livestock can play a crucial role in revitalizing community stability and eco-nomic vitality.
ChangesThese projects differ from
projects previously supported as an annual conference. A change in the Advance Pro-gram at the General Board of Global Ministries has made it difficult for us to offer op-portunities to give to these projects with assurance of ac-countability through the struc-tures of the General Church.
The United Methodists of the North Katanga Confer-ence are eagerly and joyfully
spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. They are the fastest growing annual confer-ence in the connection. It is a privilege to be partners with them in this work. They are in the forefront of peacemaking ministries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
For over ten years the West-ern NY Annual Conference has had a relationship with the North Katanga Annual Con-ference. It began with our link-age through the Hope for the Children of Africa program in which individuals and church-es contributed to the build-ing of churches and parson-ages. When the civil war took its deadly toll on the region, this project was dramatically slowed and costs increased. Now that this relationship has revived as peace is taking hold, we continue to pray and reach out to build relationships of mutual encouragement with our enthusiastic sisters and brothers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Rev. Evariste Kimba and Rev. Douglas Wilson offici-ating at Holy Communion together at the Geneseo UMC in November of 2007
Students at Lupandilo Nursing School
Tagwira appointed Vice Chancellor of Africa Universityby Andra Steven 6 April 2009, Mutare, Zimbabwe—Professor
Fanuel Tagwira, (51), a distinguished researcher and former dean of the agriculture faculty is Africa University’s new Vice Chancellor. Tagwira was ap-pointed to the post by the Africa University Board of Directors following fifteen months as Interim Vice Chancellor of the pan-African, United Methodist-re-lated institution.
“He is the appropriate person—he knows and un-derstands the environment and the institution—and he is a seasoned leader who can take the University to the next level,” said Bishop Marcus Matthews, the vice chair of the board of trustees.
Impressed with his performance during difficult times—characterized by an unprecedented melt-down of the Zimbabwe economy which threatened the survival of many institutions, Board members expressed great confidence in Tagwira’s abilities. While other universities in the country—confronted with deteriorating infrastructure and inadequate hu-man and capital resources—shut their doors, Africa University remained open, providing effective teach-ing, learning and community service.
“He is the right person to continue what he has started,” said Bishop David Yemba, Chancellor and Chairperson of the Board.
“I applaud the Board’s decision to appoint Profes-sor Tagwira and I look forward to strong collabora-tive work with him in the partnership between the General Board of Higher Education & Ministry and Africa University,” said Dr. Jerome King Del Pino, general secretary of the General Board of Higher Ed-
ucation and Ministry, the lead church agency charged with the nurture of the University.
Under Tagwira, Africa University has made tough decisions that are transforming its enrollment and improving its prospects for sustainability. In March 2008, the institution launched its first distance learn-ing center and satellite campus in Maputo. It has also focused on improving student quality of life and implemented creative measures to bolster staff reten-tion and welfare.
Faced with an estimated inflation rate in excess of 230 million percent and the daily depreciation of the purchasing power of the Zimbabwe dollar, the University could no longer collect meaningful fees in the local currency. It moved to collection of fees in United States dollars from all its students, both national and international, and intensified its efforts to provide scholarship funds for needy students. The University’s Board affirmed these decisions as cru-cial to enabling the institution to grow and fully re-alize its mission and Tagwira’s contributions to the effort have earned him respect among students and faculty alike.
“In Prof. Tagwira, we have someone who has been tried and tested and found to be a good performer,” said Dr. Peter Fasan, a fellow academic and dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences. “He knows academic challenges and how to resolve them. Moreover, hav-ing been part of University since its inception, he has a stake in ensuring the continuing success of the in-stitution.”
“In spite of all the challenges we have faced, par-ticularly with the economy, we note improvements,”
said Bruce Chakatsva, president of the Students Rep-resentative Council. “Yes, with the fees in US dollars for everyone, it is expensive. But we have managed to pull through…as students, we appreciate his ef-forts.”
Going forward, Tagwira has signaled that he is strongly committed to Africa University’s pan-Afri-can ethos and to keeping the institution in the fore-front of higher education provision on the continent. Improvements to service delivery, particularly in the areas of information technology, e-learning and dis-tance learning, remain key priorities.
Zimbabwe’s problems are by no means solved; nonetheless there are glimmers of hope in the coun-try’s new inclusive government and its initial eco-nomic and social revitalization plans. Already, Af-rica University is positioning itself to take advantage of new opportunities by reviewing its programs—re-structuring some and articulating new ones—and working to attract accomplished African and interna-tional faculty who may have adopted a ‘wait and see’ attitude in the midst of Zimbabwe’s troubled times.
On accepting the appointment, Tagwira said “I am quite aware of the enormity of the task ahead of me and of the work that needs to be done. I draw strength from this Board which is extremely supportive, of-fering useful ideas and advice to me whenever I need them. I take comfort in the administrators, faculty and students who also support me very much.
I do not take this responsibility lightly. I take it as a calling from the Lord. I want to continue to serve in a faithful way so that one day it can be said of me as
Continued on page 5
May �009 • Page �Western New York United Methodist Spectrum
Lay Speaking Ministries training available in Genesee Valley
Lay Speaking Ministries training is available in the Gen-esee Valley District this spring.
“Concepts in Leader-ship 1” A Basic Lay Speak-ing Refresher Course is planned for May 16, 2009 from 8:30-3:00 p.m. at Pavil-ion United Methodist Chuch.
Led by Rev. Nilla Owen, pastor of the Pavilion and Wyoming United Method-ist Churches, this course,
“Concepts in Leadership I,” will enable participants to be able to understand the impor-tance of prayer in the life of a spiritual leader, formulate and lead prayer in a group, plan an agenda to ensure time for Christian conferenc-ing, and use small group dy-namics, including conflict transformation principles.
This course will fulfill the Local Lay Speaking require-
ment of a refresher course each three years. It may be taken by anyone interested in leadership development in any setting.
For more information about this course, please contact your pastor, a Lay Speaker in your church, or Bonnie Crich-ton - phone (585-243-2819) email [email protected]
Older Adult Ministry grant apps dueApplications for Older
Adult Ministry mini-grants are due May 30.
\For an application see the November Spectrum and/or
the Older Adult Link on the wnyumc.org website.
Please send your regis-trations to Winona Stone-braker, 16 Forbes Terr,, North
Tonawanda 14129 or email: [email protected]
Please plan to pay $5.00 per person at the door to help de-fray the luncheon cost.
Genesee Valley DistrictRev. Ted Anderson - Superintendent1100 So. Goodman St • Rochester, NY 14620Ph.: 585-340-9525 • Fax 585-340-9526E-Mail: [email protected]
it was of King David at the end of his life, that “with integrity of heart and skillful hands, he led them”.”
Prof. Tagwira will continue work closely with the Univer-sity’s Associate Vice Chancel-lor for Institutional Advance-ment, Mr. James H. Salley, in discharging his responsi-bilities. An expanded portfolio which includes church and ex-ternal/international relations, assigned to Salley during the transition period, has been made a permanent part of his job.
A pioneer staff member, Prof. Tagwira joined Africa University in August 1992 as the first full-time faculty mem-ber in the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources. He has contributed to the University’s growth and reputation through his teaching and his various research efforts, which are pri-marily aimed at improving soil productivity and livelihoods in the smallholder farming sec-tor. He is widely published and serves on a number of national and international committees, boards and organisations.
Born in 1957 in the Chiredzi district of Masvingo Province in Zimbabwe, Prof. Tagwira holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry and Biology from the National Uni-versity of Lesotho, an M.Sc. in Soil Chemistry from Reading University in England and a PhD in Soil Chemistry and Fertility awarded by the Uni-versity of Zimbabwe, but car-ried out in collaboration with Michigan State University in the USA.
Fanuel Tagwira is not only an excellent lecturer, leading researcher and keen environ-mentalist but is also a church elder. He and his wife, Mar-garet, are working with small-holder farming communities and local orphans on nutrition and food security in two dis-tricts of Manicaland Province, where Africa University is lo-cated.
The Tagwiras are have three daughters—Tendai (a medical doctor), Ruvimbo (who is pur-suing a B.Sc. in Actuarial Sci-ence) and Kudzai, (who is do-ing a B.Sc. in Pharmacy); and a son, Tapiwa (who is still in high school).
University background:United Methodist-related
Africa University is a private, pan-African institution found-
ed in 1992. It is located in Zim-babwe and draws its student body from across the African continent without regard for race, ethnicity, social standing or religious affiliation. It was the first private university to open in the Zimbabwe and the only degree-granting institu-tion created in Africa by de-cision of the General Confer-ence of the United Methodist Church.
Africa University promotes inclusiveness and tolerance in all its programs and focuses on improving access to pro-fessional training for wom-en and other socially and/or economically disadvantaged groups. The institution has a current total enrolment of just under 1200 students. It offers programs in the areas of agri-culture and natural resources management, business and public administration, educa-tion, health sciences, the hu-manities and social sciences, peace, leadership and gover-nance and theology.
Prof. Fanuel Tagwira is Africa University’s third Vice Chancellor. He succeeds Prof. Rukudzo Murapa who left the University in December 2007. Prof. Murapa became Vice Chancellor of Africa Univer-sity in April 1998. He was the University’s second vice chancellor, taking over the post from the founding vice chancellor, Prof. John W. Z. Kurewa.
Africa University first opened its doors in March 1992, with 40 students coming from six African countries. It was officially opened by His Excellency, President Robert G. Mugabe on 23 April 1994.
There are 25 nationalities represented in the University’s current enrolment of 1163 stu-dents. Forty-nine percent (49%) of the students are female.
###
Story by Andra Stevens.
For additional information, please contact Andra Stevens or Sharai Nondo at the Infor-mation and Public Affairs Of-fice of Africa University. Tele-phone: (+263 (0) 20 66169; Fax: (+263 (0) 20 61785; E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]; www.africau.edu.
Golden Cross offering provides compassionate ministry for the elderly
Each year the Golden Cross offering on Mother’s Day helps make chaplains available to help extend compassionate ministry for el-derly in the Western New York Conference.
“The Golden Cross program began early in the history of Methodism in America, pri-marily to support church-related hospitals and long-term health care facilities,” Barbara Bruce, NEJ Older Adult Ministry representa-tive notes.
“Over the years United Methodist Churches have been in the forefront of community lead-ership in caring. Our local United Methodist churches express a compassionate ministry for the elderly through the Golden Cross offering to help Blocher and Beechwood Homes in Buffalo, and Wesley Gardens in Rochester.”
“Because of our commitment to providing a full-time chaplain, our residents have the opportunity to participate in weekly worship ser-vices and Bible study groups. Ser-vices and programs include hymn sings, counseling, hospital visita-tions, devotions, and memorial ser-vices,” Ms. Bruce said.
“Most everyone experiences times in their lives when they need someone to walk a faith journey with them. As we get older, this seems to happen more fre-quently – we wonder what it’s all about, have we made good choices and what happens next. There are trained and faith filled chaplains that walk this journey with folks in our United Methodist related nursing homes and long term care facilities.”
“This Mother’s Day, please prayerfully
consider your gifts given through the Golden Cross Offering,” Ms. Bruce encourages.
“I am grateful for the ministry to the resi-dents of Beechwood/Blocher Continuing Care Facility in Amherst, NY and The Wesley Com-munity in Rochester, NY through our chap-lains,” Barbara Gasiewicz, WNY Conference Treasurer and Chair, Beechwood Continuing Care Board of Directors said.
Weekly worship services are provided for the residents, Bible studies are conducted, monthly communion services, and individual visits are made on a regular basis. The chap-
lains go to the people where and when they are needed, giving comfort and joy and providing a presence to families in transi-tion.
“I’ve witnessed first hand the compassionate ministry provided through the chaplaincy program at Beechwood. My mother, who has Advanced Stage Alzheimer’s disease, has been a resident at Beechwood for almost 2 years. I have taken her to the weekly worship services where the turn-out is very good. I have seen the happiness on the residents’ faces when they participate in a famil-
iar hymn or enjoy a particular part of the ser-mon. It is a wonderful opportunity for them to be able to continue a part of their life that they might otherwise have had to leave behind due to physical or mental limitations,” Ms. Gasie-wicz notes.
“Please support the Golden Cross Offer-ing.”
www.wnyumc.org
Africa University Continued from pg. 4
Compassion, caution urged in response to swine flu outbreak
By Tom Gillem*May 1, 2009
There were no “hello, handshakes and hugs” dur-ing the worship service May 3 at Schertz United Methodist Church. Individual wafers and disposable cups will be used for communion at the church northeast of San Antonio.
Over at the United Meth-odist Committee on Relief, officials are talking with the 50,000 member Methodist Church of Mexico over ways to respond to the swine flu ep-idemic. Melissa Crutchfield, the executive in charge of in-ternational disaster response,
continued page 8
Page � • May Western New York United Methodist Spectrum
Cornerstone DistrictRev. Larry Baird - Superintendent15 Morris Lane • Jamestown, NY 14701Ph.: 716-665-2423 • Fax 716-665-3763E-Mail: [email protected]
Evie Sievert from the Laona United Methodist Church is looking for Vaca-tion Bible School material that has the Rainforest Theme.
Anyone with anything the church can borrow or
buy is asked to call or e-mail Ms. Sievert at, 716-673-1051 or [email protected].
They are using the F.R. O. G. theme in conjunction with the rainforest theme.
Rainforest DVBS materials sought
Cornerstone District Dates to remember:Saturday, May 2 – WNY Conference Di-
saster Early Response Team training at Clar-ence UMC from 9-4:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 2 – Lay Ministry Training at Panama UMC from 9-5 p.m.
Tuesday, May 5 – LDT at Dewittville UMC at 9:00 a.m.
Tuesday, May 5 – LDT at Sheridan UMC at 1:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 12 – District Laity Banquet at Ashville Fireman’s Training Center at 5:30 p.m.
May 15-17 – Friends of Findley Spring Work Weekend at Camp Findley
Monday, May 18 – Bishop’s Day at Sin-clairville UMC at11:30 a.m. Clergy and 6:00 p.m. Laity
Thursday, May 28 – Pre-Conference Brief-ing at 6:30 p.m. at Fredonia UMC. The Pre-Conference Briefing is an opportunity to hear about the key issues facing our Annual Confer-ence Sessions this June. It is very important for pastors and Lay Members to Conference (in-cluding Equalization Members) to attend, but all are welcome.
May 28-31 – Adult T.A.G. retreat at Camp Findley
May 29-30 – Caring for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma & Loss workshop at Vic-tor UMC 106 E Main St Victor NY
June 1-2 – Racial/Cultural Diversity Train-ing at Camp Asbury at 9:30 a.m. (required for all clergy to attend at least one workshop)
Sunday, June 7 – Cornerstone District Conference at 6:30 p.m. at Trinity Frewsburg. The District Conference is open to any member of our United Methodist Church to hear about what has been happening around our district through reports submitted and to vote on and approve the District apportionments and to approve District Officers. It is very important for pastors and Lay Members to Conference to attend, but all are welcome. Please make sure you note the date on your calendar!
June 7-12 – Camp Asbury Adult CampTuesday, June 16 – Clergy Session and Re-
tirement/Ordination DinnerJune 19-21 – Annual Conference 2009 at
Adam’s Mark in Buffalo.
Cornerstone celebrates May Birthdays and Anniversaries
BirthdaysMay 14 – Randy Davidson
May 19 – John BowenMay 19 – Ken SnyderMay 20 – Jaimee SpellMay 22 – Bruce Fish
May 26 – Karen AyersMay 26 – Valerie MillerMay 29 – JoAnn Snyder
AnniversariesMay 14 – Heather & Robert Allport-Cohoon
May 20 – Tim & Connie MiddletonMay 25 – Fred & Beverly Rowland
May 25 – David & Jenni PiattMay 27 – Alan & Lynne Jones
May 29 – Ted & Mary AndersonMay 29 – Christopher & Deborah Hamlin-Owens
Racial justice advocate to teach at WNY Cooperative School of Christian Mission event this July 23-25
July 23-25, 2009, elmira Nazombe will teach the new geographic mission study The Beauty and Courage of Su-dan, at the WNY Cooperative School of Christian Mission, at Daemen College, Amherst. She is a well-known educa-tor who lived and worked in east and southern Africa for ten years. She is the execu-tive secretary for racial justice of the Women’s Division of the General Board of Global Ministries. “We welcome this opportunity to have her
in our midst and to learn from her experience both in and out of the classroom,” School of Mission organizers note.
Dr. David J. Snyder of Ca-nisius College and Brockport United Methodist Church also will teach a section of the mis-sion study on Sudan. David has shared his knowledge of the global situation and his mission emphasis at School of Mission events in the past, and the planning committee is pleased that he can return.
David Lubba will lead the
spiritual growth study, Food and Faith. Genie Bank will lead the mis-sion study re-peated from last year, Giving Our Hearts Away: Na-tive American Survival. Time between classes provides a great opportunity to meet and share with oth-er United Methodists from around the Conference in a re-laxed and comfortable setting.
Susan Russell, youth pastor at Alexander United Methodist, will lead Camp Wes-leyan for teenag-ers. Camp Wes-leyan takes place on the Daemen campus as part of the School of
Christian Mission event, using an active approach, and youth versions of the mission topics.
Registration blanks for the School of Christian Mission
event, including Camp Wes-leyan, are available on the Conference web site under Forms, and also from units of the United Methodist Women. Jointly sponsored by the Con-ference Board of Global Min-istries and by the Conference United Methodist Women, this three day event introduces two new mission studies which are the mission education focus for 2009-10 in United Method-ist Churches. Scholarships are available. Men, youth, and pas-tors are especially welcome!
Family Life Weekend planned at Aldersgate Camp and Retreat CenterFAMILY LIFE WEEKEND
July 17 – 19, 2009Aldersgate Camp and Re-
treat Center7955 Brantingham Road
Grieg, NY 13345
Influence of media and technol-ogy subject of Family Life Weekend
Would Jesus own an ipod? How do media and technology influence our spiritual life? Rev. Jeff Long and his son, Bryan will help those pres-
ent at Family Life Weekend July 17 to 19 at Aldersgate Camp and Re-treat Center to examine this topic.
Jeff pastors the Farmington United Methodist Church, serving there begin-ning in 1998. Jeff and his wife, Beth have two sons, Bryan and Brent. Bry-an will bring the younger generation perspective to the weekend as he tag teams this presentation with his father.
Jeff is a graduate of Hough-ton College and Asbury Seminary; Bryan received his youth minis-try degree from Eastern Univer-sity and is currently working on his
M.Div at Gordon-Conwell Seminary.Families of any shape and size,
young or old – and singles – are in-vited to come away for a time of spiritual renewal and relaxation this summer in the Adirondack setting, Aldersgate Camp and Retreat Center.
The weekend begins late Friday afternoon and concludes early Sun-day afternoon with a closing prayer near the cross overlooking Pleasant Lake. In between those times one can enjoy swimming, boating, sing-ing, archery, softball, volleyball, or just relaxing or fellowshipping.
Chapel in the Pines, Sunday fam-ily worship, family communion and devotions around the camp-fire enable participants to grow in and reflect on their faith journey. There are teaching times for each age group, nursery through adults.
A registration form can be down-loaded from the Aldersgate Camp and Retreat Center website www.aldersgateny.org. For more informa-tion please contact Glenda Schuessler (129 Rowley Street, Gouverneur, NY, 13642; [email protected]; 315-287-0746). See you there. . .
NCNY CCRM invites all to mark these important dates on your calendar5/9/09
Casowasco & Aldersgate Work Days 9am-4pm
5/16/09 Casowasco Work Day
9AM - 4PM
6/14/09 Consecration of Emmaus Commons at Casowasco -
Phase I6/20/09
Aldersgate Day at Camp/Open House
6/21/09 Casowasco Day at Camp/
Open House 6/28/09
First day of Summer Camp7/17/09- 7/19/09
Family Life Weekend - Aldersgate
8/2/09 – 8/7/09 Operation Purple Camp -
Aldersgate8/16/09 – 8/18/09
Family Camp - Casowasco9/25/09 – 9/27/09
Adirondack Fall Getaway - Aldersgate
12/28/09 – 12/29/09 DI Reunion - Casowasco
12/30/09 - 1/1/10 Camp Echo - Casowasco
12/31/09 - 1/1/10 Adult New Year’s Eve -
Casowasco
May �009 • Page �Western New York United Methodist Spectrum
Niagara FrontierDistrictRev. Natalie Hanson - Superintendent410 Minnesota Avenue • Buffalo, NY 14215Ph.: 716-832-3233 • Fax 716-837-0471E-Mail: [email protected]
District Conference plans underwayAmherst: Trinity United
Methodist Church has gra-ciously offered to host District Conference 2009. The date is May 14, 2009. Trinity UMC is located at 711 Niagara Falls Boulevard, Amherst, 14226 and is led by the Rev. Paul Emery.
A pot-luck supper is planned for 5:30 p.m. and those attending are asked to please bring a dish to share. Paper products, coffee, tea, and water will be provided. Worship in the sanctuary be-
gins at 6:30 p.m., with our business meeting at 7:00 p.m.
If you have Lay Speakers in your church – please make sure they plan to attend so they can be recognized and receive their Lay Speaking Certificates.
The pastors and lay mem-bers of churches who paid their 2008 District Shared Minis-tries in full will be recognized and called forward. Recogni-tion is also planned for those churches which have made significant improvement in
payment of Shared Ministries.The 2009 Vision Awards
will be awarded that eve-ning! Please remember to bring a display to highlight your churches neighbor-hood outreach ministry!
EVERYBODY is invited – but particularly pastors and lay members to confer-ence are obligated to be there. All are invited to “Load up the van! Come one and all!”
Equalization members selected for Annual Conference session
The Niagara Frontier Dis-trict will send twenty-one “Equalization Members” to Annual Conference Sessions in June. Equalization Mem-bers are lay persons who bal-ance the clergy/laity formula.
Those members include nine At Large Members: De-nise Barham (West Seneca: Covenant UMC), Sean Bro-sius, (Niagara Falls: St. James UMC), Rosemary Elliott (Wil-liamsville UMC), Pat Fiedner (Buffalo: University UMC), Lorrie Gammack (Alexander UMC), James Luss (Amherst: Christ UMC), Robert MacFar-lane (Wilson: Exley UMC), Kimberly Smith (Clarence Center UMC), and Carol Wei-dman (Akron: First UMC).
The four Ethnic Church Members are: Douglas Goston
(Buffalo: Metropolitan UMC), Young Jae Jee (Buffalo: Ko-rean UMC), Carmen Lanzot (Buffalo: Primera UMC), and Deborah Richardson (Buffalo: Lincoln Memorial UMC).
The six Youth Members are: Courtney Cataudella (Amherst: Christ), Garrett Gross (Eden), Katiel Landel, Jessica Lawson (Amherst: Christ), Grace Lowry (Ak-ron), Anna Malone and Erynn Sauerland (Eden). Two Young Adult Members are: Alonzo Wells (Amherst: Christ) and Mike Wirth (Alexander).
Your prayers are requested for these individuals as they represent the local church and Niagara Frontier District in worship and decision mak-ing for our annual conference.
Niagara Frontier District to present Vision AwardsThree churches of different
sizes who have lived out the Niagara Frontier District Chal-lenge (set in May of 2008) - that each church would find at least one new way to connect with their neighbors – will be recognized at District Confer-ence.
Churches were invited to send a one page description of their outreach initiative to the district office by April 29. Each church is invited to bring a display of your outreach min-istry to District Conference on May 14 at Amherst: Trin-ity United Methodist Church,
711 Niagara Falls Boulevard, Amherst, NY 14226. Dis-trict Council will select three honorees which will be an-nounced that evening.
The Large Church Hon-oree (Sunday worship atten-dance 250+) will receive a $500 credit toward their 2009 District Shared Ministries. The Medium Church Honoree (Sunday worship attendance 90-250) will receive a $300 credit toward their 2009 Dis-trict Shared Ministries. The Small Church Honoree (Sun-day worship attendance under 90) will receive a $100 credit
towards their 2009 District Shared Ministries.
The money used for the awards will come from the district emerging ministry line item in the 2009 District Budget.
“Often, and with good reason, our resources are tar-geted toward those churches that need it most, but in this instance we want to send a concrete message of thanks to churches that have put their faith to work in the commu-nity!” a District spokesperson notes.
Urban Ministries Coordinator soughtNiagara Frontier City Min-
istries (NFCM) is seeking ap-plicants for the position of ur-ban ministries coordinator.
NFCM seeks to provide hope and help to urban com-munities of the Niagara Fron-tier District by empowering and connecting city churches through Christ-like advocacy; providing reliable resources, financial and otherwise, to the communities it serves; and ad-vocating for social justice.
Primary responsibilities of the coordinator include: par-ticipating in meetings of the board of directors; serving as the public face of Niagara Frontier City Ministries; plan-ning, coordinating, and attend-ing benefit concerts and other fundraising events; soliciting and distributing VBS supplies for urban congregations; over-seeing website development;
facilitating grant awards to urban congregations; organiz-ing and coordinating volun-teer opportunities for board members; serving as liaison between the NFCM board and the Asbury Shalom Zone and Seneca Street United Method-ist Church; and processing ex-pense vouchers.
Both clergy persons and lay persons are encouraged to ap-ply for this quarter-time posi-tion, which is now open. Send resumes and expressions of interest to NFCM Personnel Committee, c/o Niagara Fron-tier District Office, 410 Min-nesota Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14215. Or send them electroni-cally to the Rev. Richard Neal, Personnel Committee chair-person, at [email protected]. Deadline for applications is Friday, May 15.
Important May dates for Church Leaders
May 14, 2009 Niagara Frontier District Conference
(5:30pm Potluck; 6:30pm Worship; 7:00pm Dist. Conf.) Location Pending
May 17, 2009 4:00 p.m. - Laity Banquet, Samuel’s Grande Manor
May 21, 2009 6:30 p.m. -Pre-Conference Briefing, Clarence UMC
Akron First sponsors 1st Annual HealthfairHealth Fair to reflect United Methodist focus
The First United Method-ist Church of Akron hopes to begin addressing one of the four areas of focus of The United Methodist Church with a Health Fair this month.
Global Health – from wip-ing out the diseases of poverty around the world to caring for physical and mental health in our own communities - is one of the four areas of focus for the next four years. Devel-oping New Leaders, Church Growth and Ministry with the Poor are the other three.
A Health Fair on May 16 at Akron First UMC will of-fer education, opportunities to experience good health habits, and demonstrations in a num-ber of health related areas.
How to help children cope
with crisis, how to help iden-tify and provide resources to those who may be suffering from memory loss or mental illness, how to eat better, stress reduction techniques through exercise and massage therapy, a free will offering healthy lunch, prayer center, informa-tion on “Nothing but Nets” and more is planned from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the church at 7 Church St., Akron, New York.
Akron First hopes to cross promote the event with a “Be Active!” Walk in Akron Falls Park sponsored by the Erie County Parks Department at 9 a.m. that morning, and a fund-raiser for cancer research at a local greenhouse (information will be available at the church).
All are invited to par-ticipate, making Akron your destination on May 16, as we work toward Global Health.
Page � • May Western New York United Methodist Spectrum
The Western New York Conference UMC Disaster Response Committee and the Brethren Disaster Ministries are combining to present a workshop, “COURAGE TO CARE”, a workshop on caring for children who have expe-rienced trauma and loss May 29 and 30, 2009 at the Vic-tor United Methodist Church, Victor, N.Y.
The leaders for this event are the Rev. Dr. Donald and Mrs. Barbara Weaver. Collec-tively the Weavers have over 40 years’ experience working with both children and youth affected by disaster through UMCOR and Church of the Brethren Disaster Ministries.
In addition to the Weavers, there will be resource persons from our conference who also have been involved in a vari-ety of National Responses.
The Workshop will begin Friday May 29, 2009 at 5 p.m. and go until 7p.m. on Saturday May 30 The purpose is to bet-ter understand the effect of di-sasters on children and how, as caregivers, we can help them back on the road to recovery. Those who satisfactorily com-plete the requirements will be eligible to be members of a Child Care Team that can be sent to work at disaster sights across the country.
The cost of the event is $45.00 (Scholarships available) for; an overnight at the church (in a simulated shelter), manu-als, meals and instruction. For further information and reg-istration contact Site Coordi-nators Tom or Linda Cooper (716) 785-0173 or (716) 785-0174 [email protected] or Dot Norsen (585) 924-7516 [email protected]
Workshop provides training on caring for children who have experienced trauma and loss
Mountain View DistrictRev. Dr. Cathy Stengel - Superintendent1801 West State Street • Olean, NY 14760Ph.: 716-372-8047 • Fax 716-372-0861E-Mail: [email protected]
Bishop Matthew to VisitMountain View District
Tuesday, May 19, 2009CLERGY
Clergy Gathering – 11:30- 11:45 at Hinsdale UMC11:45 – 11:50 Bishop Welcome Clergy
11:50 – Noon – DS welcome, announcements and grace12:00 – 1:00 – Lunch
1:00 – 1:20 Devotions led by DS, prayer 1:20 – 2:30 Time with Bishop
Closing Prayer by Bishop Matthews
LAITYLaity Gathering – 6:00 – 6:15 at Belfast UMC
6:15 – 6:20 – Bishop Welcomes Laity6:20 – 6:30 – DS Welcome and Announcements
6:30 – 7:00 Devotions Led by District Lay Leader and DS7:00 – 8:15 Time with Bishop
Closing prayer by Bishop Matthews
The final Western New York Conference Coop-erative School of Christian Mission event will be held July 23-25, 2009, at Dae-men College, Amherst, NY.
“Together at the Table” is the theme. Co-sponsored by the WNY Conference Board of Global Ministries and WNY Conference Unit-ed Methodist Women, these events are planned by the Women’s Division, General Board of Global Ministries.
The Rev. David Lubba, who lives in Henrietta, will lead the spiritual growth study for all participants Food and Faith. This study book was published in March and is cur-rently available from Women’s Division at 1-800-305-9857.
The Beauty and Cour-age of Sudan, a new mission study for 2009 and 2010, will be taught by elmira Nazombe, who works for the Women’s Division, and also by Dr. Da-vid J. Snyder of Canisius Col-lege and Brockport UMC.
This study book will be pub-lished in April for those who wish to order it ahead of time.
Popular former WNY-er Genie Bank, now living in Michigan, will return to lead the mission study Giv-ing Our Hearts Away: Native American Survival, which was taught last year by the author of the study book, Rev. Dr. Thom Whitewolf Fassett.
At this time no director has been found for Camp Wesley-an, the teen version of School of Mission, and without a di-rector this influential camp cannot take place. If God is nudging you to lead this group, please contact Leona Peter-son, Dean, at 716-985-4652.
Registration blanks and more details are available on the Conference web site under Forms, and will be distributed at each UMW Communion Breakfast, or contact Cathie Phelps, pub-licity chair, at 716-496-7573 or [email protected].
WNY ConferenceCooperative School of Christian Mission set
A Conference Youth Ad-venture Weekend is planned Friday May 29, 2009 to Sunday May 31, 2009
The event is planned at the group campground at Letchworth State Park.
Arrival is between 5 and 6 p.m. Friday with dinner served at 6 p.m. After din-ner there will be games, music and Bible Study
Saturday morning par-ticipants will do the high rope course at the YMCA
camp on Silver Lake.After lunch rafting on the
Genesee River is planed. Partic-ipants will return to the camp-ground for dinner then more games, music and Bible Study.
A service is planned Sunday morning with all headed home by 10 a.m.
Cost is $100 per per-son with reservations are due May 1, 2009. If you have questions please call Tim Reed at 716-983-5717.
Conference Youth Adventure Weekend planned in May
No one is leaving Troy Conferenceby Rebecca Clark“Are you staying with Troy
Conference, or are you going to New England?”
My clergy sisters and broth-ers, this is a question I have heard far too many times, and each one is like a kick in the gut. Yes, we are being asked to choose the Conference with which we want to affili-ate, and the dividing line can sometimes feel like the River Jordan cutting us off from the Promised Land (although we all know how God dealt with that particular boundary). Yes, we are deeply concerned about which of our colleagues will remain in the same Con-ference as us.
But staying with Troy Conference is not one of our choices, no matter how much we wish it was.
The new Conference being formed in New York State is not Troy Conference 2.0, and does not have a larger share of
the personality and identity of Troy (yes, it may have a larger share of the people, but num-bers can’t measure heart and soul). The churches and clergy in Vermont (and Vermonters in the New York mission field) who will join with New Eng-land are not leaving Troy Con-ference behind.
Troy Conference is dying to new life, and we are at least a little familiar with professing that dying to new life is not dy-ing at all. Still, none of us get to stay with Troy. All of us are becoming part of something new and exciting that God is doing. Newness and change come with pain, but we do not need to compound that sadness with the suggestion that some of us are remaining in connec-tion and others are walking away. Connection and con-nectionalism are bigger than where we live and work and are in ministry. You can take the pastor out of Troy Annual
Conference, but—well, I think you know the rest.
Listen, and I’ll tell you a secret, if not exactly a mys-tery. God doesn’t care where we draw our Conference lines. God is not contained by geo-political boundaries or even by which baseball team you think should win the Ameri-can League Championship Series. The connection, the collegial respect, the love as brothers and sisters in Christ that we all share—laity and clergy alike—is a God thing, and like God, is no respecter of silly arbitrary lines on a map.
So Troy stays with all of us, as we all go to new life and hope and friendship. You may be going into a new Confer-ence body in New York. And in case you wanted to ask, yes, I am going to be part of New England Annual Conference.
But I’m staying with you.
said the agency is working with both church officials and local authorities in Chihuahua on procuring face masks.
Throughout the country, United Methodists are re-sponding to the spread of the flu with a mixture of caution and compassion, implement-ing preventive measures in congregations and urging aid and prayer for the suffering throughout the world.
“We pray to God to bring
healing to our brothers and sisters who battle the effects of the H1N1 virus, and pray that God will extend His mighty hand to protect persons in its path,” said Bishop Gregory V. Palmer, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops.
Palmer urged United Meth-odists to follow recommended health guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and
local health departments, in-cluding common sense pre-cautions: such as good hand-washing practices, avoiding contact with those who are ill, staying home when sick and covering the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.
Show compassionBishop Thomas J. Bickerton
of the denomination’sWestern Pennsylvania Conference said
Flu continued from page 5
continued on page 11
May �009 • Page 9Western New York United Methodist Spectrum
Higher Ed board approves plan, cost cuts, scholarship fundBy Vicki Brown*
NASHVILLE, Tenn.(UMNS)
A revised strategic plan, budget cuts and a new schol-arship fund were approved by the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Min-istry’s directors, in a meet-ing focused in part on what it means to lead the church in developing principled Chris-tian leaders.
Also during the board’s spring meeting, held March 19-21, a panel discussion ex-amined the agency’s role in the churchwide Four Areas of Focus affirmed by the 2008 General Conference.
“The way we were able to engage in conversation about what it means to be the lead agency for developing prin-cipled leaders for the church and the world was important,” said Bishop Marcus Matthews, board president and resident bishop of the New York West Area. “We are totally commit-ted to giving all our energy to finding ways to be collabora-tive with other agencies.”
Budget cuts of 10 percent proposed by the staff and ap-proved by the directors are an indication that “we understand that we are all in this finan-cial belt-tightening together,” Bishop Matthews said.
In addition to the approved cuts, directors agreed the board’s executive committee should consider actual income from World Service Fund pay-ments through May and deter-mine if further cuts are needed at that time.
The Rev. Jerome King Del Pino, the board’s top staff ex-ecutive, called the cuts “a pru-dent response to an uncertain future economically.”
“We still intend to pursue robustly our mission of de-veloping principled Christian leaders for the church and the world with the resources we have,” Del Pino said. “We
have confidence that God will provide for that mission.”
Del Pino said the Board of Higher Education and Minis-try must be clear about what it brings to the table as the lead agency in leadership devel-opment. He said the agency primarily relates to institu-tions and annual conference boards, and it is through these networks that it develops lead-ers who have the expertise to find the systems and solutions to complete the mission set out in the Four Areas of Focus.
He pointed to the agen-cy partnership with United Methodist Communications to develop distance-education systems across Africa, using satellite and radio, as an ex-ample of the kinds of collabo-ration and technology that will be needed to accomplish that mission.
Panel on leadershipHenk Pieterse, the board’s
director of scholarly research and book editor, introduced the panelists.
Trudie Kibbe Reed, presi-dent of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla., one of the 11 historically black colleges and universities supported by the Black Col-lege Fund, said educators need to look at problem posing, not problem solving. “Problem solving locks us into tradition-al ways of thinking, whereas problem posing allows the Holy Spirit to enter in.”
The Rev. Ken Carter, chair of the Division of Ordained Ministry and senior pastor of Providence United Method-ist Church in Charlotte, N.C., spoke from the perspective of the local church. He talk-ed about how his work at the board has changed the way he does ministry, leading him to spend much more time with the youth and young adults of his church.
Lewis Parks, professor of Theology, Ministry, and Con-
gregational Development at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, spoke about teaching future leaders the practice of hospitality. “The young people who show up in seminary have a global con-science. That’s not the issue. The issue is what you do with that.”
Parks also said that most el-ders will be serving in small- or medium-sized churches and that theological education needs to answer that need.
The Rev. Ted Hill, a medical doctor and deacon who runs a clinic in Gallatin, Tenn., said leadership development must include learning how to em-power the laity to do the work of the church.
Seven prioritiesThe board’s revised strate-
gic plan sets seven strategic priorities:
Expand the agency’s sup-port of global higher educa-tion, leadership development, and theological education.
Strengthen the viability, quality and identity of United Methodist-related schools, col-leges, universities and United Methodist theological schools.
Strengthen campus min-istry and enhance The United Methodist Church’s commit-ment to campus ministry.
Support young people in identifying and form-ing their vocations as or-dained Christian leaders.
Lead The Unit-ed Methodist Church in clarifying and building consensus around the denom-ination’s ordering of ministry.
Enhance the effective-ness of theological education and training for ordained and licensed leadership in The United Methodist Church.
Provide an efficient and effective support in-frastructure for the deliv-ery of agency programs.
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Staff are now in the process of developing detailed work plans for carrying out the pri-orities.
New scholarship fundBoard members approved
a $20,000 Methodist Global Education for Leadership De-velopment scholarship fund named for Akiyo Ueda, a re-tired professor and dean of the College of Early Child-hood Education at Seiwa Col-lege in Nishinomiya, Japan, and Ken Yamada, the board’s special assistant to the general secretary for global educa-tion and new initiatives. Ueda donated $10,000 for the fund, and Yamada matched that do-nation. The fund will be used for scholarships for children in Africa.
Board members also ap-proved policy changes for United Methodist loans and scholarships that were re-quired by General Conference 2008. In keeping with Gen-eral Conference action, U.S. citizenship or permanent resi-dence status is not required to apply for a scholarship, but in-ternational students from one of the denomination’s central conferences – regions in Afri-
ca, Europe and Asia – must be members of The United Meth-odist Church for a minimum of three years and be attend-ing a United Methodist-related school in the United States.
International students from an autonomous Methodist church must be a member of The United Methodist Church in the United States for at least three years and be attending a United Methodist-related school in the United States.
For loans, international students must adhere to all loan policies previously ap-proved by the board’s elected members and be a member of a central conference United Methodist church for at least three years. If the borrower is a member of an autonomous Methodist church, she or he must be a member of The United Methodist Church in the United States for at least three years to qualify.
More information on the board’s scholarships and loans and other programs is avail-able at www.gbhem.org.
*Brown is associate editor and writer in the Office of In-terpretation, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
A partnership agreement between the United Methodist Board of Higher Edu-cation and Ministry and the General Council of the Methodist Institutions of Education is signed March 19 in Nashville, Tenn. Signers include (from left) Bishop James Swanson, the Rev. Jerome King Del Pino, Wilson Zuccherato and Bishop Marcus Matthews. A UMNS photo by Donnie Reed.
Bishop Marcus Matthews, president of the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Minis-try, announces a new $20,000 scholarship named in honor of Akiyo Ueda and Ken Yamada (right). Ueda is a retired professor and dean of the College of Early Childhood Education at Seiwa College in Nishinomiya, Japan, and Yamada is the special as-sistant to the general secretary for global educa-tion and new initiatives. Photo #090195. UMNS
Bishop Marcus Matthews (left) and the Rev. Jerome King Del Pino lead opening worship during the Unit-ed Methodist Board of Higher Education and Minis-try meeting, held March 19-21 in Nashville, Tenn.
A UMNS photo by Vicki Brown.
Page 10 • May Western New York United Methodist Spectrum
Washington, DC: The top spiritual leaders of The United Methodist Church are rethink-ing the way they combat pov-erty and rolling up their sleeves in the process.
On May 5, 2009, many United Methodist bishops will embrace the plight of migrant workers by taking to the streets of the Washington, DC area to serve the workers breakfast. The bishops will participate in the effort as part of the launch of the denomination’s new Rethink Church campaign, the next evo-lution of The United Methodist Church’s “Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors” welcoming and advertising campaign.
Church leaders hope that reaching out and embracing migrant workers will inspire others to rethink church as an experience that extends beyond the church walls and into com-munities. By taking a hands-on approach, United Methodist leaders hope to demonstrate there are thousands of ways in which a person can engage with the church—many of them non-traditional.
Those opportuni-ties are highlighted at www.10thousanddoors.org, a new Web site to which The United Methodist Church is directing persons unaffili-ated with the denomination,
via Rethink Church advertis-ing. Aimed at being relevant to an 18 to 34-year-old audience, www.10thousanddoors.org en-courages exploration of the di-verse ways United Methodists are making a difference in the world, and invites participation, discussion, and action.
United Methodist bishops from the U.S., Africa, Europe, and Asia will be in Bethesda, Md. May 3-8 for the semi-an-nual Council of Bishops meet-ing. During the week, council members will attend planning meetings, workshops, and ple-nary sessions primarily held at the Bethesda Hyatt. However, on Tuesday, May 5, many of the bishops will go out at 7:00 a.m. to serve breakfast to day labor-ers at three locations in and around the city. The bishops will also pray with and talk to the workers.
“Migrant workers are among the most exploited groups in American society. Day after day, hundreds of those work-ers gather in parking lots or on street corners hoping some-one will offer them work for the day,” said Bishop Gregory Palmer, president of the Coun-cil of Bishops. “Many of them are struggling to support fami-lies they left behind in their na-tive countries.”
Also on May 5, The Council
of Bishops will visit with Con-gressional leaders on Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers to sup-port legislation consistent with the priorities of The United Methodist Church concerning children, health care, and pov-erty. Ministry with the poor and fighting diseases of poverty are both areas of long-term focus for the denomination.
The United Methodist Church will sponsor other Re-think Church launch events on May 6 in New York, Dallas, and San Antonio. New television commercials and other adver-tising began April 20.
“The United Methodist Church wants people to begin thinking of church as an active verb; people taking action to better the lives of others. While ministries vary from church to church, United Methodist churches offer thousands of services and opportunities in the United States and abroad,” said Palmer.
The 163-member Council of Bishops—which includes ac-tive and retired bishops world-wide—provides leadership and helps set the direction of the 11.5-million member church and its mission throughout the world. The United Methodist Church is the second largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.
United Methodist Bishops combat poverty head on during Rethink Church launch in Washington, D.C.
RegionalRethink Church Training Event is
plannedSeptember 11
and 12at Trinity
United Methodist Church in
Whitesboro, N.Y. (a little bit east of cen-ter of the new confer-ence in upper New
York).
Watchfor Details!!
rethinkchurch.org has an introductory course, resources, and much more. Training is avail-able at a church near you. Watch www.wnyumc.org and the SPECTRUM or contact Director of Communica-tions Marilyn J. Kasper-ek [email protected]
May �009 • Page 11Western New York United Methodist Spectrum
WNY CONFERENCE RESOURCE CENTER
131 JOHN MUIR DRIVEAMHERST, NEW YORK
14228716-564-2316
[email protected] Rader, Resource
Center Director
New resources available atResource Center
HOW TO ORDER:Any United Methodist
Church Group or individual may order and reserve materi-als from the WNY Conference Resource Center. Reservations can be made up to one year in advance. There are no rental fees. You are responsible for returning the videos promptly in person or by media mail. Please call the Conference Of-fice at 716-564-2316 or email [email protected] The catalog and updates are avail-able on the website www.wnyumc.org If you do not see what you are looking for; please call the Resource Cen-ter Director for assistance.
New DVD seriesfrom theHistory Channel
A&E: PROPHETSMysteries of the Bible
delves deeply into the origins and enigmas of the Scriptures to uncover the prophets, some of the Bible’s most captivating and enigmatic men. Their sto-ries resound through history,
the ecstatic voice of Elijah, the apocalyptic messages of Eze-kiel and Daniel, the haunting vision of Jeremiah.
BIBLE BATTLESDelve into the lives of some
of the Bible’s most complex figures, from shepherds and judges to warriors and skilled tacticians. Explore the capture of Lot in Genesis 14, Joshua’s invading Jericho, and the Judges battling with warring invaders. From rivalries with the Mesopotanians, the Phi-listines and the Mideonites, to the land of Canaan, Jericho and the Jezreel Valley.
BIOGRAPHY: DAVID AND GOLIATH
His arch rival was a terrify-ing giant who had never lost a battle - yet his unwavering courage made him one of his-tory’s most beloved kings.
BIOGRAPHY: PONTIUS PILATE
From his wealthy upbring-ing, to his army training and fierce reputation, each aspect of the governor’s life originat-ed from his predestined meet-ing with Jesus. His world was the Roman Empire and his ap-pointment was to manage the province of Judea where the Jewish people reluctantly lived under Roman rule.
MOSES AND THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Moses is one of the most compelling biblical figures. Through Moses, God declared His sovereignty over nations, nature and false gods. Moses entered into a covenant with
the Hebrew people, declared moral authority through the Ten Commandments and set the precedent of the sacrificial lamb in the Passover.
Through the life of Moses, one can learn the geo-political climate and locations of the Old Testament, the miracles which serve as a framework for the psalmists’ faith, as well as the character of the great “I AM”.
LOST WORLDS: JESUS’ JERUSALEM
Jerusalem was the center of the Judean world in the first century, and it continues to be the center of controversy today. The Gospels describe Jesus traveling to the city at key points of His life, includ-ing before His death and resur-rection.
Explore Jerusalem as it would have been in the time of Jesus. Scripture, visual re-creations and historians shed light on key locations, from the Temple Mount to the Mount of Olives, and from the taberna-cle to Golgotha.
Teaching Guide included.
The story of paul the apos-tle
He was originally a power-ful and implacable enemy of Jesus, determined to stop the spread of Christ’s message. His dramatic conversion changed the course of history.
From his education in Jeru-salem under the Rabbi Gama-liel to his exhortations on be-half of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean, this DVD explores the life and legacy of the greatest missionary of the
early church. Teaching Guide included
BIOGRAPHY: BILLY GRAHAM
He converts masses and makes non-believers believe. He is thought by many to be the voice of God, yet he walks among us today. The most fa-mous and followed evangelist ever, Billy Graham preaches and millions listen.
NEW ADDITIONS
HAVE A NEW KID BY FRIDAY BY KEVIN LE-MAN
DVD kit with six 30-minute video sessions.
How to Change Your Child’s Attitude, Behavior & Character in 5 Days
GO FISH - T.I.M.E. The first in the GO FISH!
SERIES of evangelism & out-reach programs. The T.I.M.E. DVD contains 5 videos for pre-sentation to the ministry teams and is integrated with the Workbook. Also on the DVD are 2 video clips for presenta-tion to the congregation when the program is introduced. Ad-ditional digital files include a color poster, a leader’s guide, and sermon helps. The vid-eos on the DVD provide the inspiration for introducing your entire congregation to the T.I.M.E. approach to evange-lism and outreach.
FEED MY SHEEP. En-courage congregations to be-come involved in supporting the hunger programs in their community by inviting these
Flu continued from page 8
WNY CONFERENCE
RESOURCE CENTER
community organizations to share their programs with the congregation and encourag-ing members of the congrega-tions to volunteer in serving these programs on short term basis (giving 90 minutes in 90 days) to discover if this is a way they want to serve long term. Includes stories of the feeding the hungry programs initiated by passionate per-sons in a congregation and the food collections which many congregations participate in.
TEACH MY SHEEP. Shows how to adopt a public school at the invitation of the Public School Superintendent in the community and how dozens of persons in a con-gregation volunteer as tutors, mentors, and provide support for the teachers and adminis-trators there as well as worked on improving the facilities. We would encourage congre-gations to support schools in their mission to educate the students in their communities as a service to the commu-nity.
HEAL MY SHEEP. En-courage congregations to be-come involve in the Global Health Initiative, the Nothing But Nets campaign and other initiatives which seek to pro-vide healing and comfort for people in need at home and around the world.
HUG MY SHEEP. Imple-ment ministries that provide comfort and hope to families in the midst of grief. We pro-vide ministries which pro-vide a safe place for children throughout the community to work through their grief after the loss of a parent or other close relative and for husbands and wives who have lost their spouses.
HOUSE MY SHEEP. Pro-viding housing for homeless people in a community and support for Habitat for Hu-manity.
he is especially concerned about the effects of the flu out-break on the underprivileged.
“This pandemic is some-thing that affects all of us, but there are varying degrees in which it affects us,” said Bickerton, who is the spiri-tual leader of 900 United Methodist congregations in the Pittsburgh area. “Those of us in the faith community of the church need to recognize that when something like this affects us, it impacts the un-derprivileged—those who are suffering from poverty, those who don’t have proper medi-cal care—in a way that we can’t even imagine.”
Christians know that God is not the causal agent, but in-stead is the healing agent in endemic diseases like this vi-rus, said the Rev. Frank Trot-ter, senior pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Pasadena, Calif.
“We need to figure out a way, if people in our parishes contract this (virus), to stay in constant communication with
them and help to provide food services,” said Trotter, whose church has been serving Pasa-dena and the San Gabriel Val-ley since 1875. “If they are asked to stay inside by their doctors, I would want the church to be one of the first people who knocked on the door.”
Since the Centers for Dis-ease Control and Prevention announced the first con-firmed U.S. H1N1 flu cases in California and Texas on April 23, hundreds of schools have closed and activities around the nation have been curtailed as the number of flu victims continued to rise. The U.S. government declared a pub-lic health emergency, and the World Health Organization raised the global alert level to Phase 5, which is a “strong signal that a pandemic is im-minent.”
Residents in southwest Tex-as began taking precautions after two of the first H1N1 flu cases in the United States were confirmed in Guadal-
upe County, northeast of San Antonio. Health officials even asked Guadalupe residents not to leave the county.
The 437-member congrega-tion at Schertz United Meth-odist Church already had can-celed an abbreviated Sunday worship service and daylong faith-in-action community outreach program scheduled for April 26 as concerns es-calated over the spread of the flu from Mexico. The school district that includes the town of Schertz, northeast of San Antonio, closed all its schools when more students became ill after two swine flu cases were confirmed at Steele High School in Cibolo.
Reaching people in needThe Rev. Judith L. Sell-
ers, pastor of the church in Schertz, noted that because of their heritage, United Method-ists are called to reach out to people in need.
“We’re called not only to be in prayer for those people who have this virus, but also
for those who are trying to prevent it, those who trying to understand it, those who are trying to make the situation as easy as possible for all of us,” she said.“We are called to help our congregations and our communities become knowl-edgeable about the situation to alleviate panic. I think that we are to educate ourselves and to care for ourselves so that we are not a part of the problem, but a part of the solution.”
United Methodists always have been in the forefront with health, education and other community services, said the Rev. George Joehnk, director of spiritual care and church connections at Meth-odist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas in San Antonio.
“And this is certainly no different,” he said. “If any-thing, it’s a situation which once again calls us as Method-ists to be diligent, to be help-ful, to be supportive of our communities, of our commu-nity leaders, of our healthcare professionals, of the persons
who are constantly in harm’s way trying to divert any kind of a pandemic situation.”
The church needs to advo-cate for those affected by the crisis, according to Bickerton.
“I think it’s time to call on all of our churches to be mind-ful of those who are suffering from poverty and other injus-tices in their communities, to try to find ways to advocate for those people, especially as the possibility of this epidemic grows, and to provide avenues for proper healthcare, to pro-vide proper ways for people to find medical assistance when necessary,” he said. “It’s time for the church to really shine, taking care of the loners, losers and lost ones of the world.”
The United Methodist Board of Discipleship has posted information about hy-giene and Holy Communion.
*Gillem is a freelance writ-er based in Nashville, Tenn.
Page 1� • May Western New York United Methodist Spectrum
Adults are invited to Camp Asbury for - A time for relaxation, A time for service, and A time for fun,
Camp Asbury is located on beautiful Silver Lake, NY and Adult Camp lodg-ing is in the New Manor, in semi-hotel like rooms.
Adult Camp is planned Sunday evening, June 7 through Friday, June 12. The cost is $50 plus a little sweat and TLC for the Camp.
The idea: Experience Camp Asbury for 5 days or as long as you can stay, enjoy the fel-lowship of other adults of all
ages, and use whatever gifts you have to help prepare the camp for the summer season, and experience some stimu-lating evening programs.
What to bring: Yourself mostly, but if you wish, you could throw in a vacuum clean-er, chain saw, weed wacker, bush trimmer, work gloves, heavy duty extension cord, a hammer, and if you’re a real handy person, your tool box.
Job list: There will be jobs for every skill and physi-cal ability level. That could include raking, trimming, preparing the Snack Shack,
vacuuming cob webs, label-ing tee shirts for campers, painting, building fire rings, securing swing set, cutting wood and clearing brush, fixing screen doors, build-ing steps and several other items requiring real skill sets.
Interested? Fill in the registration form found on the conference web site.
Need more information? Contact the deans of this event: Paul and Ellie Robinson 716-773-3550 or email them at [email protected]
Early June Adult Camp offers time to relax and to help
“Adult Camp” at Camp AsburyJune 7-12, 2009
Registration Form
Name: ..........................................................................................................................
Address: ...............................................................................................................
Home phone: .................................... Cell phone: ...............................................
e-mail address: ...................................................... approximate age ....................... Choice of roommate(s) (one OR two): [note: spouses ~ please register separately, and name each other if you wish to room together.] (1) _____________________________ (2) ________________________________ We have 2 Handicap accessible rooms available, each containing 2 twin beds. Please check here if you are in need of a Handicap accessible room. .................................Health Concerns of which the camp should be aware (i.e., diabetes, somnambulism, chocoholism, etc.):
..................................................................................................................................... We are aware that some people cannot attend for the whole time.If you can come only part of the week, you are welcome to come! To help us plan meals, please let us know which meals you anticipate eating in camp:
Breakfast Lunch SupperSunday (not offered) (not offered)
MondayTuesday Wednesday
ThursdayFriday (not offered)
Registration fee: $50.00 (this is non-refundable) $ 50.00 Gift toward Matching Funds for New Manor: _____(this is optional, in any amount) TOTAL: _____ (make checks payable to: “WNY UMC” and note on them: “Adult Camps”. Please mail checks and this registration form to: Camp Registrar 131 John Muir Dr. Buffalo, NY 14228
P lease indicateon a separatesheet if you have anyspecial dietary needs.
Second Camp Asbury Work Day set for Saturday, May 9, 2009
A Camp Asbury Work Days was held Saturday, May 2 and a second is set for May 9 from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.
Help is needed raking up leaves, picking up sticks, cut-ting wood (men with chain saws), splitting wood, remov-ing the cover from the swim-ming pool and more!
As with last fall, any church
that sends a work crew will earn one free overnight per person working to go towards a Youth Retreat here at the camp next fall or spring 2010 in Mabuce or Batavia Lodges.
Please contact the Camp As-bury office to let us know how many people will be coming so we can provide lunch. Call the camp at: 585-237-5262.
“Lives Transformed on Holy Ground ... Stories from Camp & Retreat Centers”
The American Camp As-sociation (ACA) is a diverse community of camp profes-sionals who have joined to-gether to share knowledge and experience and to ensure the quality of camp programs so that children may have the opportunity to learn power-ful lessons in community, character building, skill de-velopment, and healthy living – lessons that can be learned nowhere else.
Casowasco and Aldersgate are proud to be accredited members of ACA, meeting over 300 standards for health, safety, and program quality. As a leading authority in child development, ACA is commit-ted to helping camps provide camp communities commit-ted to a safe, nurturing envi-ronment, caring, competent adult role models, healthy, de-velopmentally appropriate ex-periences, service to the com-munity and the natural world, opportunities for leadership and personal growth, discov-er, experiential education, and learning opportunities, and excellence and continuous self improvement.
Summer Camp at United Methodist camps provides children with a community of caring adults, who nurture experiential education that re-sults in self-respect and appre-ciation for human value. All of the outcomes — self-iden-tity, self-worth, self-esteem, leadership, and self-respect — build personal competen-cies reflected in the four “C’s” of the camp community: com-passion, contribution, com-mitment, and character! For years, campers’ parents have reported that when their chil-dren return home from camp they are more caring, under-stand the importance of giv-ing, are better equipped to stand up for what is right, and are more responsible.
Noted experts in child de-velopment have expressed their thoughts on summer camp as a valuable resource for giving children the value of belonging to a community of their own. ACA believes that the critically important sense of community for chil-dren is rooted in enabling and empowering children to be be-longing, cooperating, contrib-
uting, and caring citizens. Bruce Muchnick, licensed
psychologist who works exten-sively with camps, said, “Each summer at camp a unique set-ting is created, a community is constructed that allows par-ticipants to get in touch with a sense of life that is larger than one’s self. The camp commu-nity seeks to satisfy children’s basic need for connectedness, affiliation, belonging, accep-tance, safety, and feelings of acceptance and appreciation.”
Bob Ditter, licensed clini-cal social worker specializ-ing in child and adolescent treatment, added, “It is in the crucible of this community that children gain self-esteem with humility, overcome their inflated sense of self, and de-velop a lifelong sense of grace and wonder.”
Here is what some parents have said about their children’s time at summer camp:
Great camp! My son had a wonderful time. I don’t think it was easy for him, but he learned to get along with the other kids and he loved the counselors and staff. He will be back next summer.
Camp was a great opportu-nity for my daughter to learn independence in a controlled environment. She grew closer to God and I loved the God-ly influence of the staff and campers.
My daughter found out that she could go to a new place not knowing anyone and make in-credible friends. She saw that she could learn and have fun even though she was initially scared.
Our son was given the op-portunity to begin becoming an independent young man in a safe, friendly, fun and en-riching environment. He abso-lutely loves sports and requires a great deal of opportunities to expel his teenage energies and he thrived in the environment that you provided for him.
Registration is open and there are still spaces available in many of the Summer Camp Programs at Aldersgate, As-bury, Casowasco and Findley, . Registration is available on-line.WWW.WNYUMC.ORG
