United Methodist Missionary Association

UMMA Update, May 31, 2002

Dear Readers by editor pro tem
Japan Missionary Issue Update
Report on the GBGM Spring Board Meeting
Reminders
Information for Retirees
Missionary Gatherings

1. Dear Readers

by Gilbert Bascom

Dear Readers,
Again this month, I'm acting as editor pro tem until Ric returns so any questions or comments about this issue should be forwarded to me.

Our most important article this month is the report of the team of observers that represented UMMA at the spring GBGM Board of Directors' meeting. After reading their report below if you have more questions write to Howard Heiner at Heiner@jeffnet.org.

There is a brief up-date on the situation of the missionaries who were notified about the change in policy concerning their placement at educational institutions and age of retirement. We continue to monitor this situation and the effect it will have on the missionary community at large.

And finally there are some reminders about upcoming events this summer and fall.

Have a happy read, Gilbert Bascom, U.M.M.A. Coordinator/ editor pro tem

2. Japan Missionary Issue Update

We are able to report that letters from the Christian leadership in Japan and letters of the missionaries themselves have resulted in some modification to the notice four couples received in late March of their ineligibility to return to their assignments in Japan.

One couple has been invited to become pastor of a local church of the Korean Christian Church in Japan. This will allow them to stay in Japan and be paid locally - not by the GBGM. Two couples have had their termination date extended to the end of the current school year March 30, 2003, and the fourth couple has apply for an extension till March 2004.

Three questions remain to be addressed on this issue which may well affect the entire missionary corps: 1) Why weren't the Japanese receiving institutions brought into the discussion before the policy changes were announced? This smacks of the paternalistic board action that was supposedly left behind half a century ago.. 2) Why was the decision to not place missionaries in educational institutions in Japan arrived at without discussion with the colleague church there? 3) Is the policy to require missionaries to retire when they reach the age to receive full Social Security benefits (65) to be applied throughout the world including the U.S. This would replace the present policy which uses 70 as the age of required retirement. UMMA will keep looking for answers to these questions.

3. Report on the GBGM Spring Board Meeting
April 15-18, 2002

UMMA Representatives attending as guest observers: Norma Kehrberg, Beverly Reddick and Howard Heiner

The basic goals of the UMMA delegation were to:

be a missionary presence at the meeting and also to dialogue with directors concerning the work of the GBGM;
meet with selected directors to continue our request to establish an official communication procedure between a Committee of the GBGM Directors and the three Missionary Associations;
initiate dialogue with selected Cabinet members to prepare for the future under the leadership of a new General Secretary.

We have placed the report in a day-to-day format so that you might get a feel for the flow of meetings throughout the four days. We think this may be helpful for UMMA members as we plan for our Global Gathering in the fall in Stamford concurrently with the director's Board Meeting.

Monday, April 15

The official opening of meeting was at 2pm; however, the Woman's Division plus some other committees for directors are always held prior to the official GBGM Board Meeting during the weekend. The opening session is devoted to the welcoming ceremony and the President's address.

Prior to the Fellowship Dinner, in the evening there was a special session devoted entirely to welcoming one new church in Bermuda that has not officially joined the United Methodist Church. The leadership of the Bermuda church was present for the occasion and attended the meeting as guests throughout the week. It was formed many years ago by the Methodist Church of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. It has recently been a part of the United Church of Canada but after several visits and contacts has been welcomed into the United Methodist Church.

During the first day, UMMA representatives were able to have significant contact with selected directors to discuss the following issues:

Conversation with Bishop Joel Martinez, GBGM President, concerning: 1) Communication procedure with directors 2) UMMA Gathering to be held concurrently with Directors' Fall Board Meeting.
Breakfast and conversation with a Director on: 1) Communication procedure with directors 2) Missionary termination without due process, 3) GBGM financial problems.
Awards Dinner: Visited with a Director about the challenges facing the directors to address the Board's problems.

At the Awards Dinner, five distinguished Mission Service Awards were presented to:

Rev. Sandra Olewine (GBGM missionary)

The Anna Eklund Award which honors those who serve beyond the bounds of their own ethnic and cultural contest, are committed to ministries of healing, give selflessly of their lives in service among the poor, and seek to integrate the proclamation of the gospel with Christian service;

Posthumously to Kinmoth W. Jefferson (Former National Division staff person and GBGM consultant) and Euba Harris Winton (Lay person - Mallalleu UMC in Fort Smith, Arkansas),

The Frank Mason North Award for service in the most unlikely places to those in dire need, service without prejudice in the spirit of Christ, service as a means of grace, a life of prayer for Christ's presence among the throngs of earth, and unwavering commitment to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ;

Dr. Dora Ames Lee Wong (Lay person - St. Marks UMC in Stockton, California)

The Everell Stanton Collins Award for values associated with hard work, achievement, prudence, integrity, frugality, devotion to family, loyalty to the church, service to the community and generosity.

Dr. Randolph W. Nugent (GBGM General Secretary)

The Distinguished Peacemaker Award for the years of service and the courage and character as an advocate for peace throughout the world.

It was especially moving to have the first award presented to an active missionary - the Rev. Sandra Olewine for her work in Jerusalem, Israel/Palestine.

Tuesday, April 16

The General Secretary presented his address followed by a question and answer period.

Dr. Nugent began his address by stating: "the following reflections are intended to provide the perspective, to set the stage, to point to the arenas in which we should expect to be found in mission and expect to be ardently at work."

Dr. Nugent's address was lengthy, 17 pages in all, and he indicated at the beginning that he would not be able to give it to the Directors in full due to the lack of time.

He ended his speech with a section entitled "Our Primary Administrative Task" with the following key statements:

"To be an effective General Board of Global Ministries, we must understand what forms the basis of our work and the mission of the organization, and the understanding of its responsibilities.

"For us today as the General Board of Global Ministries, we must once again come to terms with the urgency of the mission to which God calls the Church and about which the denomination has given us responsibility. We dare not flag nor weaken because our financial resources are so limited in comparison to our recent past."

Day two was spent in meetings of the directors assigned to specific Mission Program Areas - Community and Institutional Ministries, Evangelization and Church Growth, Mission Contexts and Relationships, Mission Education, Mission Personnel, Mission Volunteers, Health and Relief.

Bev Reddick and Norma Kehrberg attended the session on Mission Personnel. There was only one action item on the agenda relating to the health benefit contribution of missionary spouses in the "10-10-10" program. Kathy Masters was asked to present information on the training curriculum in Atlanta. It has been seriously revised following the departure of Allen Kirton last October who was a part of the staff reductions. The session is now only ten weeks and was held in the last instance with no children present. There were ten participants with fifty percent from international persons in mission and fifty percent from North America.

Special conversations with Directors during that day included an unscheduled but fruitful meeting with one of the Cabinet Members over breakfast in regard to general issues related to the board, and particularly related to cabinet - board relationships.

Special time and concern was given to Curtis Henderson who is Chair of the Mission Personnel Committee. We apologized for some confusion in not relating directly to Curtis Henderson earlier. It became very clear that mission personnel concerns including all issues dealing with the Global Mission Conference, consultations etc., really come within his portfolio.

In the evening the UMMA representatives had dinner with a director to continue discussions from previous meetings.

Wednesday, April 17

A Special Report from the General Secretary Search Committee

Bishop Martinez introduced this session and indicated that there were 27 applications for the position of General Secretary. He also indicated that the board had contracted with an external group that assisted in searches for top executive officers and this has facilitated the work.

Bishop Martinez also gave a review of the process to be followed including the expected meetings of the Search Committee with each candidate for interviews then interviews with the entire Personnel Committee of the Board (the Search Committee is a sub-commmittee of this), and the final recommendation that will be given at the fall Board meeting for a vote.

Bishop Martinez then referred the meeting to Duane Sarazine who was responsible for setting up the details of the transition of leadership and Sally Dyck who reported on the Listening Events. A report from the Listening Event was given to Directors and Program Cabinet but it was not made available to others present.

Following this report, the Board's four Standing Committees - Mission Development Committee, Finance Committee, Policy and By-Laws Committee, and Nominations and Legislation Committee - met.

In the evening they had several special presentations on the Board Members' Responsibility for Fund-Raising, Middle East Issues and a Global Praise Program presentation. The Global Praise Program included many outside musicians who lifted up various musical publications and productions available for use with the Global Praise books.

Special Conversations During the Day

This is the time in the church calendar for members of the General Council on Ministries to visit the various boards and agencies for their evaluation. There was a four member team from GCOM including Dan Church, the General Secretary of GCOM. There was a conversation with Betty Ellison - GCOM Director and Member of the GCOM team reviewing the responsibilities of GBGM according to the mandate in the Discipline. UMMA material was shared with Betty at her request for their appraisal.

Meeting with Sally Dyck, Director, who is Chair of the Personnel Committee of the GBGM Board. Note that she is not the chair of the Mission Personnel Committee.

In the conversation we:

clarified the new understanding of the differences in issues and responsibilities of the Personnel Committee of GBGM and the responsibilities of the Mission Personnel Committee that relates to Edith Gleaves office and is chaired by Curtis Henderson.
Reiterated again the need for UMMA to establish an official communication procedure with directors;
Reviewed ongoing attempts by Sally to arrange a meeting among herself, Bishop Martinez, Curtis Henderson, Randy Nugent, Edith Gleaves and UMMA representatives.

Had lunch with a Director and discussed challenges facing the directors i.e. the installation of a new General Secretary does not address the board organizational, climate and structure.

Initiated a meeting with Youngsook Kang, Cabinet Member for Mission Contexts and Relationship to review:

Future Cabinet relationships and
Initiated dialogue on how to address the MARCHA charges concerning Honduras document and matters related to it. In this regard the documents were shared with Youngsook Kang

Dinner with Bud Carroll and UMMA representatives to plan strategy for the UMMA Gathering and for further updates on GBGM issues.

Thursday, April 18

The final morning was given to reports of the standing committees and Mission Program areas. A resolution on the Middle East was adopted after lengthy debate and urging by the Mission Development Committee.

At a breakfast meeting a Director indicated that he had not been receiving the UMMA UpDate and missed having that contact to understand the missionary perspective. He also indicated his desire to have UMMA address the board during their session this fall.

We also had an opportunity to meet Steven Feerrar, the new General Treasurer and shared UMMA material with him. We expressed concern over GBGM financial problems and our special interest in the Collin's program.

Summary Comments

At the 2001 Fall Board Meeting Sandra Olewine was invited to give a special report to the directors concerning the Middle East situation. It was wonderful to see her again as she received a special Service Award Sandra did have time to present issues related to the Middle East during an impromptu brown bag lunch and at the Mission Contest and Relationship meeting.

Subsequently there was a resolution on the Middle East but only after considerable debate about whether any resolution should be made. It was subsequently passed. This hesitancy is indicative of the change in thrust and direction the GBGM is taking on some of the critical issues that we have come to expect the GBGM to act prophetically toward.

We talked to Sandra about the possibility of a UMMA sponsored witness for peace tour to Israel the first quarter of 2003 in conjunction with directors and staff. More details will be furnished in another email.

There seemed to be a genuine interest on the part of many directors to listen to learn more about and actually speak with members of the UMMA representation. We found this very positive and hope it continues.

We appreciated the opportunity to work together as a team and to represent the missionary community in such a fruitful meeting.

We want to thank you for your prayer support for us as we attempted to represent the missionary community at the Spring Board Meeting and ask your continuing prayers for the directors and staff as they respond to the many challenges facing them in this year of transition.

Please share this Report with other missionaries in your area, plus any directors you may know.

4. Reminders

Due to the cancellation of the Global Mission Personnel conference this year the UMMA GATHERING will be moved to Stamford, CT in October in order that attendees may have an opportunity to visit the fall GBGM board meeting. The GATHERING will be Mon. through Wednesday, October 21-23.

Watch your next UpDate for more information. To be sure you receive information send an email note to gbascom1467@earthlink.net. Details as to price and place will be mailed to you as soon as available.

5. Information for Retirees

For those seeking information from the GBGM offices about pension and health benefits after retirement you should write to Betty Edwards in the controller's office.

If you have advice that you would be willing to share or questions about retirement please write Gilbert Bascom at gbascom1467@earthlink.net or Gene Matthews (genematt@mchsi.com), 3413 E. Court Street, Iowa City, IA 52245.

6. 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

We welcome your comments:
gbascom1467@earthlink.net