News in Brief

From United Methodist News Service

Event to help young adults understand call to ministry set for Nov. 17-19

Preparations are under way for "EXPLORATION 2006," the biennial event designed to help high school seniors to 24-year-olds respond to God's call to ministry and explore their gifts for ordained ministry as a deacon or elder in the United Methodist Church. The churchwide Board of Higher Education and Ministry is sponsoring the event, set for Nov. 17-19 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Jacksonville, Fla. For details, go to www.gbhem.org/exploration/.

Winter makes life difficult for earthquake survivors in Pakistan

Winter weather has made life more difficult for the survivors of the Oct. 8 South Asia earthquake. The United Methodist Committee on Relief is assisting people in Pakistan and other affected areas through Church World Service and other groups. As of the end of November, UMCOR had received $373,355 for earthquake relief. Donations can be marked for "UMCOR Advance #232000, Pakistan Earthquake," and placed in church offering plates or sent to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, N.Y. 10087-9068. Contributions also can be made by phone at (800) 554-8583 or online at www.methodistrelief.org.

Evangelists name Mann, Morris recipients of Philip Award in evangelism

A renowned singer of sacred music and a scholar who has spent his life exploring the depths of the Christian faith are recipients of one of the highest awards in evangelism. Bill Mann and the Rev. George E. Morris are this year's Philip Award recipients, chosen by the National Association of United Methodist Evangelists. The association, affiliated with the United Methodist Board of Discipleship, presented the awards at the annual Congress on Evangelism, held in early January in Atlanta. The award, named for the apostle Philip, has been presented to two people annually since 1974. Mann, of Richardson, Texas, is an international artist who has performed in concert halls in England, Scotland and Ireland as part of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. An author and evangelist, Morris, of Canton, Ga., is the Hankey Senior Professor of World Evangelism for the World Methodist Council.

Liberian president asks United Methodists for help in three things

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf sent United Methodist Bishop Peter D. Weaver back to the United States with three requests. "I ask you to look at three things that might help us; although they are not strictly United Methodist preoccupations, we think you might be an instrument in getting them done," she said. The newly inaugurated president met Jan. 18 with a delegation of United Methodists that included Weaver, president of the denomination's Council of Bishops. Her three areas of concern include helping Liberia build more mission schools, supporting the country's appeal for rebuilding assistance from the United States, and supporting the country as it seeks settlement of the nation's debt.

Men's agency to move to new location

The United Methodist agency responsible for men's ministries will soon have a home of its own for the first time since its creation in 1996. The Commission on United Methodist Men will move to the Music Row area of Nashville, Tenn. Until now, the nine-member staff has occupied crowded rooms in a building owned by the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. The commission bought a $750,000 building formerly owned by the Nashville office of the General Council on Finance and Administration. The 4,200-foot structure became available when the finance agency moved to a larger space nearby, where it consolidated its Nashville operations and its main office from Evanston, Ill. The commission has renovated the building and plans to move into it in mid-February.

Pa. pastor helped bring joy to children in Iraq

U.S. Army Maj. Clyde Scott conducted an unusual military operation in Iraq during the Christmas holidays. Scott, a United Methodist pastor from the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, is chaplain with the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division. His military operation brought Christmas joy to 160 children in a Christian school in Kirkuk, Iraq, through "Operation Christmas Toys." Scott, deployed to Iraq since September, came up the idea after several local Iraqi clergy requested that the 1st Brigade Combat Team bring Christmas gifts to the children of two Christian churches. Scott contacted churches in the Southeast District of his annual conference, and the churches responded with toys. When Scott and the Iraqi soldiers delivered the toys Dec. 22, the children serenaded them with a traditional Assyrian Christian children's song. Photos and video can be viewed at www.epaumc.org/. To read Scott's journal, go to www.epaumc.org/News/NvOperationChristmas.asp.

Last updated on 25 Apr 2008

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