| UMMA Update, April 20, 2002 |
- Dear Readers by editor pro tem
- UMMA Gathering Postponed
- UMMA to Prepare a Leaflet of Information for Retirees
- 65 and Out for Japan Missionaries
- Prayers for Israel and Palestine
- Listening Session Excerpts
- GBGM Financial Pinch Hits Missionaries in Japan by George Gish
- From the Spiritual Nurture Task Force by Carolyn Cowen
- Missionary Gatherings
| 1. Dear Readers |
by Gilbert Bascom
Richard Schwenk, the regular editor, is traveling, so I'm doing the sifting, editing and mailing this time. Always an overwhelming task of trimming, this month seems even more so. Email me for more information, questions or suggestions. Happy reading, Gilbert Bascom, U.M.M.A. Coordinator/ editor pro tem
| 2. UMMA Gathering Postponed |
In recent years the UMMA GATHERING has been held in proximity to the Global Mission Personnel Conference, which has been canceled for financial reasons this year. Therefore, the UMMA Steering Committee has rescheduled the GATHERING for Monday through Wednesday, October 21-23 at a location to be announced near Stamford, CT to coincide with the fall GBGM Director's meeting. This will allow UMMA members to attend the retirees' banquet and have exchanges with Directors.
Interested? Let the Coordinator (gbascom1467@earthlink.net) know soon to help our planning. Watch for details next month.
| 3. UMMA to Prepare a Leaflet of Information for Retirees |
As requests for information about retirement and contact addresses in New York have increased at the UMMA office lately, it has been suggested that UMMA prepare a brochure with advice based on the experiences of recent retirees. We would welcome input from those with advice, experience or questions about retirement. Send to the Coordinator (gbascom1467@earthlink.net) or Gene Matthews (genematt@mchsi.com).
| 4. Sixty-five and Out for Japan Missionaries |
Four missionary couples serving in Japan were unexpectedly notified by email in early March that their PLACEMENTS will be discontinued as one spouse of each had reached an age that qualifies for full social security benefits. The missionaries are protesting this unilateral policy change which disregards the stated retirement age at seventy.
These letters were sent without prior consultation with the receiving Christian bodies in Japan [the Christian schools, the United Church of Christ in Japan and the Korean Christian Church in Japan]. One couple does pioneer evangelism work among Koreans living in Japan, three husbands are full time professors teaching content courses in Japanese, wives are involved in programs at various local churches and in district and national level programs. As the school year in Japan begins in April and ends the following March this removal at mid-year will create serious curriculum problems for the schools involved.
Christian leaders of the receiving institutions and churches have written to protest this violation of the partnership in mission concept and to ask for a reconsideration of this arbitrary decision.
| 5. Prayers for Israel and Palestine |
Please lift up special prayers for the families of the many killed and those who are hungry and without homes as a result of the recent Israeli incursion into Palestine as well as the victims of suicide bombers and their families in Israel.
Pray that God's love and comfort be known to those who are desperate in the face of oppression, humiliation and cruelty - a desperation that leads to further death and agony.
And pray especially for strength, wisdom and safety for the Christian, Jews and Palestinians who are reaching out to the angry crowds to bring true peace and understanding in this dangerous and stressful situation.
Do not forget a prayer for wisdom and insight for those charged with leadership of all those nations caught up in this agony. AMEN
| 6. Listening Session Excerpts (03/02/02) |
From Official Report of the Search Committee
[Ed. note: Last month we had our UMMA representatives' report. The following excerpts are from the official report of the Listening Event. The Apr. 24 edition of the UM email newsletter, Newscope, reports that there are twenty-seven candidates for the GS position.]
From Small Group Discussions [Five of six groups reporting]
Questions, A.M.
1. Where do you see the mission of the UMC in the next decade and beyond as it relates to GBGM?
Need to... 1) strengthen young adult ministries, 2)improve partnership with African American groups, 3) be in partnership with, not management of, constituents, 4) partner with other denominations, 5) show interfaith sensitivity, 6) recognize that mission begins within local churches, 7) listen to grass root voices, 8) function for the purpose of mission rather than self-preservation and survival, 9) do more in mission education...
2. What type of leadership in the position of General Secretary would be most helpful to the church as we proceed into our mission together?
A leader sensitive to justice in the midst of crises in the world, able to build a team which can 1) respond to requests from diverse groups in ministry, 2) recognize the difference between urban and rural concerns and respond to both, 3) be aware of mission personnel on location, their needs and respect and draw on their expertise for decision making.
A leader who 1) is concerned about accountability within the leadership team so that trust can be rebuilt, 2) is collegial and courageous, articulate, inspiring and affirming, be able to relate to persons in all levels of mission and the church, a visionary and a good listener always, 3) listens to the non-western world and facilitate mission there, 4) works collegially and dynamically energizing the church worldwide around mission, 5) encourages staff in their work, is a strategic thinker and practical without following a business model (especially in firing processes), 6) is a prophetic voice who can speak to and reconcile issues within the church and beyond.
3. How do you see mission changing in the next few years and how should our church respond to such changes?
Methodology and context will be changing more than mission itself. The impact of urbanization on rural areas and towns and on the exploited and marginalized in world communities will continue to grow. Recognizing that 60% of Christians are not in N. America or Europe requires mutual respect. More attention must be paid to the impact of U.S. financial policy on the world. Need to take yet stronger stands on world peace,create more Shalom Zones, to have the GBGM play more of a program role vs. being the "Bank" that collects money and dispenses it. Recognize 10) conditions in rural U.S. and how they are impacted by global situations, 2) Globalization and how it impacts people and dollars, 3) increasing number of volunteers in mission, 4) that local churches and communities have a vision for mission and ministry, 5) short term assignments, rather than lifelong ones must be valued and facilitated.
Concerns Expressed at Morning Wrap-up
Fear that only clergy will be considered for the job of GS, that the search will take too long.
Hope that the new General Secretary will be more in touch with the people in the pews.
Concern about 1) the process by which the board released employees in October, 2) the process for replacement of persons who retire or resign, 3) personnel problems such as deployment, frequent snarls with being paid, feeling disconnected, being treated as employees not as colleagues in mission, lack of responses from staff to letters and requests for help.
P.M. Session [Groups formed around common interests or affinity. The groups opted to answer the questions on an interrelated basis. Most of them presented a written paper.]
1. Group Representing Town and Country/Urban/Cooperative Ministries
Favors partnerships rather than management of constituants. Staff persons at GBGM are so overworked and lacking in support staff that the situation has become demonic. Supervisory staff needs to have capacity to encourage and affirm all who have skills in their area of responsible. How does a large multi-national corporation (i.e. The GBGM) live out mission in a world being destroyed by other large multi-national corporations? What does it mean for Town and Country ministry staff to work both nationally and internationally?
2. Mission Personnel Group Representing UMMA, CCW, NADAM
Presented their paper with additional comments at the end (ed. note: This report can be read here.)
Additional Comments: Need to be heard and insights valued; will to respond to concerns and needs of staff and mission personnel; importance of teamwork; inform and respond to local churches; relate to each other (no one seems to hear or respond); importance of morale among staff and mission personnel.
3. Responses from Mission Group 2 (those not included otherwise)
Commitment to economic justice and social justice should not be forgotten while emphasising evangelization. Need more missiology professors in United Methodist seminaries. Minorities are overlooked when communicating about programs. Concern about stewardship. Training of missionaries in Atlanta is costly and not always effective. Relationship between the board and Steven's Travel was questioned. It appears to be very expensive.
Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA) has good relationship with GBGM. Supportive to GBGM, worked hard to keep them in NY, advocate for, not adversarial.
Mission Intern concerns: communication, monetary support for housing, support staff, health issues not responded to, regional supervisors changed or fired.
Regional Specialists: Need responses to missionary needs and questions from Mission Context and Relationships unit. Specialists become resource for local churches as well as link to geographic area. Indigenous leadership need at work sites.
4. Group without Specific Affiliations
Tone of responsiveness; Staff breakdown on inter-connectedness leaves a feeling that the Board doesn't know what it is doing. GBGM is perceived as institutionally arrogant by congregations. Mission flows into the world, from grassroots, not from 475. Staff seems to be defensive and isolated from groups such as Mission Society, Autonomous Churches of Latin America, etc.
Mission Education; Schools of Christian Mission give an excellent education. Children's Prayer Calendar, Mission Caravans, work with superintendents and seminary training are ways to do mission education. More funding to undergird mission education in seminaries should be considered.
If we are a connectional church than the Board needs be reconnected. The General Secretary creates the environment and the cultural climate of the institution through the staff. The G.S needs to recognize his/her limits and recognize and use the expertise of the staff.
Several expressed concern about the final sentence in the time line relating to Dr. Nugent serving as a consultant as "appropriate to his availability". Who would make this decision? Response from the chair: This is not determined, as yet. The new General Secretary will have a great deal of input in this decision; however, the personnel committee will make the final determination. It was pointed out that Dr. Nugent has a rich experience, particularly in global issues that should not be lost in the transition.
| 7. A Missionary in Japan Responds |
[Ed. Note: The following is excerpted from a letter of George Gish, one of the missionaries who is 65 and recently notified that there is no placement for him any longer in Japan. George Gish has been working with churches and schools in the Tokyo area for over thirty years.]
There are several things I would like to share as background to give a perspective on where we are in mission in Japan and where we can go from here.
The Mission Dilemma Today
I see a dilemma in the way the UMC looks at mission today. There is much confusion in the very concept of mission. This confusion is nothing new. However, in reading recent UMC materials and while relating to persons in local UMC churches and organizations, I feel what familiarly has been spoken of as missions is only a very limited sense of the word. What is missing is the more holistic meaning implied in the concept of mission of the Church as the missio Dei.
There is also a lack of understanding about the various concepts of mission throughout history. One concept, often referred to as the 19th Century model of mission, saw foreign missions as an extension of the North American or European churches. Later, once new churches had been planted overseas, there was more talk of overseas mission as being church to church in which the relationship was between the older and sending churches and the younger and receiving churches. This became the common 20th Century pattern. In this model, there was still the predominant sense that mission was from the wealthier churches to the poorer, have-not churches.
In the post-WWII period, the idea of mutuality in mission which sees world mission as mutual cooperation and involvement by Christian partners and colleagues wherever they are found around the globe. All are seen as having unique, God-given gifts to be shared with mutual respect irrespective of economic circumstances. This would seem to be the model that is needed as we move into the 21st century.
Looking at present reality, we recognize that most of these patterns of mission can still be found co-existing. The movement from one stage to another has not been universal or consistent. In our own UMC/GBGM we observe recent shifts of emphasis and priority similar to those found in the 19th Century model of extending the denominational entity of the UMC into areas where there is no established UMC body or where the UMC presence had been weakened or discontinued. We even see new UM churches being established in areas where historically the GBGM has cooperated with other Methodist-related bodies or affiliated ecumenical church bodies.
Japanese Mission History and Ecumenism
Almost from the beginning of the Methodist mission in Japan (1873), a vital part of mission strategy has been to train Japanese for leadership in the newly established churches and schools (e.g. By 1890 the leadership of a major mission school in Tokyo, Aoyama Gakuin, was in the hands of Japanese Christians, never to be relinquished.)
In 1907, under the influence of Yoichi Honda as bishop, three Methodist mission churches, the Methodist. Episcopal Church, Methodist Episcopal Church, South and the Canadian Methodist Church were united as the Japan Methodist Church.
In the early 1940's the war-time government of Japan forced all Christian religious bodies to be administered as one organization for purposes of control. At the end of the war, the former Japanese Methodist Church and churches of several other protestant denominations agreed to remain together as the new United Church of Christ in Japan with the cooperation and understanding of the related mission boards.
For several decades, the missionary role in Japan has been that of co-worker and colleague under the leadership of the United Church of Christ in Japan and related institutions and agencies. UM missionaries work side by side with other missionaries who have been requested and sent by other denominations with ties to the UCCJ. Ever since 1945, the Christian community in Japan has felt it was absolutely necessary to have the presence of international and ecumenical persons in mission as witnesses to the global nature of the church in a way that would prevent the Japanese church and society from reverting back to the narrow nationalism of the first half of the 20th century.
Issues for the UMC Today
Issue One: What is the UM Mission Today?
Since the restructuring of the GBGM in 1996, the trend has been to establish and develop new programs and projects that are not yet self-sustaining. Such programs and projects are of vital importance in many parts of the world including the U.S. and Japan. However, by ignoring the economic need to undergird these missions adequately, and in the face of the recent economic downturn, there is growing financial pressure to find the funds by eliminating or withdrawing from other forms of ministries even though they are practically self-sustaining or autonomous. Despite the importance of missions to overcome poverty and the injustices it creates, to reduce mission to economics alone defies our Wesleyan tradition of mission to the wholeness of each person as a child of God.
I recall a time when the theology of mission that provided vision for the former World Division was referred to as holistic. It encompassed all the ministries of the church regardless of economic need. It embraced evangelism, education, community development, health and welfare to mention the major endeavors. No area of human concern was outside the mission of the Church. This was a vision that offered the best of the Wesleyan social gospel with the theology of missio Dei and liberation theology which understood salvation as the saving acts of God working in history for the liberation of all persons through the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The GBGM needs to reclaim this holistic theology of mission as do all the General Boards and agencies of the UMC. Without this vision, there is little potential for restoring the mutual trust and integrity with historically related churches around the world.
Issue Two: Who determines the definitions and policies of Christian mission for the UMC?
We need to ask: What is the role of the General Conference and the General Council on Ministries vis-a-vis the various boards and agencies of the UMC?
For the GBGM, we need to feel assured that it is the directors who determine the guidelines and policies to be carried out by all the support staff from General Secretary down.
What is the role of colleague and partner churches as well as Christian communities historically related with the UMC in policy formation? What part do they play in determining missional priorities?
When partner churches such as the United Church of Christ in Japan and its related schools and agencies have come to a consensus as to which projects and mission personnel are a priority for the life and mission of the church in Japan, what should be the response of the GBGM and the UM church at large?
Further, when the Christian institutions in Japan have gone the second mile for almost 30 years in providing tens of thousands of dollars in funds to the GBGM and other mission boards to ally the high cost of living for mission personnel assigned to them, how should the GBGM respond?
Finally: Some Questions Which Need to be Addressed by the GBGM
How can trust be reestablished until the GBGM acknowledges the role of the Japanese institutions and churches in financing mission there? In several cases the amount of mutual support sent to the GBGM from Japan has totaled more than the actual costs of the missionaries' support and benefits provided by GBGM. However, when the Chancellor of Aoyama Gakuin asked GBGM to account for the use of the funds sent to the UMC, he received no reply.
How did GBGM get into the present financial crisis develop that has resulted in the firing of some 20% of the executive and support staff at 475 and the unilateral removal of several missionary couples from Japan?
Is it really a financial crisis or rather, a question of mismanagement resulting from a leadership crisis that has led to the violation of human rights of board employees and missionaries? There needs to be full disclosure on this issue in order to reestablish trust.
What has happened to the Consultation process that included Directors, support staff, colleague church representatives, and mission personnel?
What has happened to the individual Letters of Agreement that no longer treat each person with dignity and justice?
What is the status of the Collins pension fund since the reorganization of the GBGM? Is the seventy year age limit still considered legal under U.S. and New York state law?
| 8. From the Spiritual Nurture Task Force |
[Ed. Note: We thank Carolyn Cowen, our new Spiritual Nurture T.F. Chair for writing this article. She also places prayer requests on the web site and responds to the requests of others that are placed there. Have you a prayer request? Click on the Prayer page, fill in the blanks and your request will be circulated throughout the UMMA network.]
"Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" (Isaiah 6:8)
I recall those psychological examinations, interviews and pages of information-seeking when I began living as a missionary full-time. The mass of bravery that was called out of my soul was long overdue -- venturing out of a long germination. Those exercises caused my own faith-journey to find road signs and intersections and decision-making times to take on much needed stretching of Faith in the Mighty One.
One new-found road led to seminary, a Georgia Harkness Scholarship, became available for underwriting some of my finances for school. In that experience I realized yet another phase of growth in life's drama. This theologian [1891-1974] has such a profound yet plainly spoken truth in her writings. The funding she provided was important, but the richness of her teachings has made a longer lasting effect on me.
What I want to say to the global community of missionary colleagues in the spiritual nurture context comes from Georgia Harknessā vision of making available that added dimension of equality. She sought ordination not specifically to have preaching rights but that the recognition of her academic posture could have influence on other women who might thereby be affirmed in their calling to preach and pastor.
My point in this example is that we in the mission business have the opportunity to take a stand at this time by giving courage to others in a lesser position of fortitude that they may speak clearly and boldly to issues facing them - issues that we are not in a position to address ourselves. To drive home that point, just think of cyberspace and how rapidly our communication exchanges move these days across denominational, ethnic and economic lines for the sake of Jesus Christ. We have immediate access not only to Scripture but spiritual strengthening through readings, music, prayers and shoring our souls via chat rooms for holy healthiness.
When we are on such time-warping tracks and points of witness in our callings, do we wonder where the track to God's presence and voice is? Do we provide ample space for solitude in the window of our soul for the Mighty One to penetrate through our busy-ness that has come about through fast-tracking our lives. For certain, God's timepiece is not paced by whether a letter reaches the mission field or a supporting church family in six months or an email getting there in two minutes. Perhaps it is more important for us to consider how we arrange our times to fit God's window to our soul. I would venture to guess that every missionary has experienced a sense of unwanted aloneness. Those times have ways of being diminished in numbers through grace of technology. We still, though, are responsible for initiating the desire.
Georgia Harkness taught me that I can be candidly kind about who I am and what I am about before others coming to the community of missionaries. New approaches, new ways of mission, new types of ministries, new programs, new populace -- with untapped sources are ahead for us. We can be forthright and honest for the sake of Jesus Christ. Some questions that I keep before me in Service are --
Do I take time to be alone with God, just to be in the Presence for listening?
Do I seek wise counsel or does pride limit my capacity for understanding that I am held accountable?
Are authenticity and sincerity a part of my soul's balance?
Jesus modeled this well in his great strength which he delivered through a gentle grace. Turmoil thrives on turmoil. Jesus delivered differently -- in gentle grace. Accordingly, we want to avoid delivering our message in sly and cunning ways. Georgia Harkness through her writings taught me that I can be straightforward.
Who is your favorite writer? Whom do you look to for shoring up your spiritual healthiness? Are you willing to write a few lines about what/who keeps you spiritually nurtured? If so please send to the Task Force at ccmission@cox.net.
Grace and Peace, Carolyn (Belshe) Cowen, Spiritual Task Force Chair
| 9. Missionary Gatherings |
July 12-14, Former Chilean Missionaries and Chileans in the USA
Alton L. Collins Retreat Center (32867 SE Highway 211, Eagle Creek, OR 97022), about 40 min. east of the Portland, Oregon Airport. Dinner on 12th to lunch on 14th at $99 each. Registrar: Dorothy Johansson (dorjo777@aol.com).
August 1-4, 2002, Korean Missionary Reunion, all denominations
Lake Junaluska, NC. Email Gene Matthews (genematt@home.com).
August 1-5, 2002, Philippine Missionaries Reunion at Scarritt College, Nashville
Merwyn and Barbara Mackey Nelson, 2100 Barberry Drive, Springfield, IL 62704-4117, 217.546.8930 Email: Barbara Mackey Nelson (bmackey36@aol.com).
Aug 9-11, 2002, Servants of Sierra Leone Reunion
Cottontree Inn and Convention Center, Mount Vernon, WA 98273. Email Winnie Bradford (Bradford@fidalgo.net).
Sept. 24-27, 2002 India Reunion at Epworth-by-the-Sea, St. Simons Island, Georgia
Dora Kennedy, Registrar, PO Box 75, Penney Farms, FL 32079-0075. Email: deekenn@webtv.net.
October 7-10, 2002 Reunion of 1948 J-3/K-3s at National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, Belleville, IL
Email to R. Paul Sims at psims@springnet1.com
November 12-14, 2002, 9th Agricultural Missions Conference ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization)
Ft. Myers, FL. Email Don Cobb (doncobb@echonet.org
.
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