The Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) says he sees nothing in President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan that would benefit the Palestinian community. The Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, issued a statement to Presbyterians Friday denouncing the plan.

“This ‘deal’ is little more than a cynical rephrasing of the conditions that have kept the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation for decades,” he writes. “It codifies Israel’s egregious theft of Palestinian land and would continue Israel’s military rule, even over the areas allocated to the so-called Palestinian state.”

Nelson said that from the perspective of past Presbyterian General Assemblies, the plan is a “consummate violation” of the most basic principles required for peace in the region.

“We must speak out on behalf of the Palestinian community, residents of this land for generations,” the statement reads. “Their land has been stolen. Their holy sites have been denigrated. Their homes and businesses have been destroyed and they all live under the iron fist of Israel’s continuing military occupation.”

The president unveiled the 80-page plan at a news conference earlier this week.

Read the Stated Clerk’s full statement below:

OFFICE OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
THE REVEREND DR. J. HERBERT NELSON, II
STATED CLERK OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Dear Presbyterian Sisters and Brothers,

As the impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump continues, it seems the president has tried to change the subject by announcing his “deal of the century” for bringing to an end the long-standing struggle between Israelis and Palestinians in the “Holy Land.” This “deal” is little more than a cynical rephrasing of the conditions that have kept the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation for decades. It codifies Israel’s egregious theft of Palestinian land and would continue Israel’s military rule, even over the areas allocated to the so-called Palestinian state. It lacks any evidence of a true willingness to include the interests of the Palestinian community.

From the perspective of decades of Presbyterian General Assemblies, it is a consummate violation of the most basic principles required for peace in “The Holy Land.” Our church has consistently condemned the creeping encroachment by Israel on land recognized by the international community as Palestinian territory. Israel has confiscated massive swaths of this land in the establishment of illegal settlements and in the military occupation of Palestinian land throughout the West Bank of the Jordan River; moreover the Trump administration has embraced the will of Israeli leaders in declaring the Holy City of Jerusalem the unique, undivided capital of Israel and has relocated the U.S. Embassy there. The historic claim on the deep religious importance of this city to Christians and Muslims has been ignored, and damaged, if not destroyed by theses unilateral acts.

We must speak out on behalf of the Palestinian community, residents of this land for generations. Their land has been stolen. Their holy sites have been denigrated. Their homes and businesses have been destroyed and they all live under the iron fist of Israel’s continuing military occupation. This would not change under this “deal” proposed. As Christians, concerned for our own roots in this “Holy Land,” we cry out in anguish and anger as a kind of social and religious “ethnic cleansing” is occurring under these efforts of current Israeli leadership and of our own president.

One of the deep ironies of the impact of the ongoing illegal taking of Palestinian land and the draconian control on the Palestinian community by Israel and its military is the potential for feeding the growing antisemitism in Europe and the U.S. that we so abhor. More violence is the inevitable fruit of a “deal” such as the one proposed. And the Israeli Jewish community should understand, better than anyone, the tragedies of sustained oppression.

I call on all Presbyterians who yearn for peace in The Holy Land to demand of our president a better

“deal.” We must make clear to our political leaders that the “land of Israel” will never be at peace until justice is done for all her people, not just members of the Jewish community.

May God’s call “to do justice” motivate us to demand that our own politicians work toward an equitable future for Muslims, Christians, and people of other faiths or none, as well as our Jewish sisters and brothers.

In the Faith that we share,

The Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Source: PCUSA News

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The Presbyterian Church of Kabuga, Rwanda, has two primary schools — Kabuga (with 310 students) and Muyumba (with 192 students). Parents, students and teachers are celebrating the fourth consecutive school year that students in Primary 6 in both schools have achieved a perfect score on Rwanda’s national examination.

Each school was built to show how small actions can be of great importance. They have become the high-quality schools they are today by building one classroom a year.

It is a blessing to have high-quality education among schools in our educational system. Our students, as early as nursery school, learn how a small action, like planting a tree, can be of great importance to our environment. This way of education contributes to the protection of biodiversity.

We plant trees to create a space for creative thinking and a source of inspiration for our students. Trees are an effective sound barrier and can limit noise pollution. Recent research shows that trees also help reduce the stress of modern life. To many people, a tree is the ultimate symbol of prosperity. Frank Lloyd Wright, an American architect, writer and educator, once said, “The best friend on Earth of man is the tree.”

Trees provide restful shade to humans and animals alike, and are home to numerous birds, insects and animals. Trees help us overcome fear, calm our bodies, and release our frustrations and anger. If you are dealing with issues from your past, use “green” to help bring harmony into any situation. Trees may even help to recompose unity among divided people, which is a challenge and vital mission in our society.

Green helps dissolve aggression in relationships or mend a broken heart. It helps release negative patterns and beliefs and can assist in centering yourself in stressful or shocking situations. Green replenishes your energy and helps you relax, meditate and heal.

Green helps revitalize the nervous system, heart, thymus, lungs and liver. It also stimulates growth and helps heal broken bones, build muscles and repair tissues. Green has the ability to purify the blood and restore health. It contains antibacterial qualities. On the shadow side, green has been linked to envy, jealousy and superstition. It is a color of fertility, truth, youthfulness and innocence.

In requesting students to plant trees, we are helping them to be aware of climate change and the rapid destruction of our planet. Trees absorb harmful carbon from the atmosphere and are key ingredients in 25% of all medicines. Trees provide jobs to more than 1.6 billion people.

Source: PCUSA News

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When Houston Northwest Church recently welcomed children and their families to the congregation’s newly constructed HNW Kids Building, it marked a milepost in recovery and rebuilding after Hurricane Harvey.

Harvey hit the Texas Gulf Coast in August 2017, flooding almost every building on the Houston Northwest Church campus and causing $14.5 million in property damage.

“Our worship center was the only one that didn’t take on three to four feet of water,” said Karen Stamps, director of connections and communication at the church.

In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, the worship center became the staging area for mud-out disaster relief teams and a distribution hub for supplies and assistance in the community.

The floodwaters caused extensive damage to the church’s adult and student facilities, but its children’s building was most severely affected.

Years earlier, the church’s original sanctuary had been converted into the building that housed the congregation’s children’s ministry. The 40-year-old building had not been constructed with reinforced steel beams designed to withstand severe storm damage. Structural damage was so severe, the building had to be demolished.

“The area where the kids’ building stood was repurposed as green space for community use,” Stamps said.

For more than two years, Houston Northwest Church offered limited children’s activities in temporary space on campus. Students relocated to a nearby YMCA. Adult Bible study groups either met in homes or temporarily suspended operation until the renovated adult building reopened in January 2019.

In mid-December, the church held a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the completion of its newly construction HNW Kids Building. The facility includes several worship venues, classrooms and multiple play areas.

Source: Baptist Standard

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Dalese Black was a volunteer children’s ministry director and a self-supporting collegiate missionary. She has a Masters in Christian Education, is a mother of two children and is married to Eric Black, executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily represent those of BCNN1.

How do you focus when life is too much?

• When the days seem to end before you can gather your thoughts?
• When the piles of dirty clothes don’t get smaller even though the washer and dryer run all day?
• When the dishwasher is full of clean dishes you can’t find time to put away while more dirty dishes fill the sinks and spill out on the counters?
• When one child can’t get settled and the other child can’t remember to be kind?
• When the bills are piling up and the money is short?
• When illnesses won’t stop?
• When the ache in your heart is disabling?
• When all is wrong in the world and the weight of the world seems to sit on your shoulders?
• When there seems to be no end to the arguing among adults who know better?
• When we can’t watch TV or see movies, billboards or social media without being bombarded with the objectification of people, all people—children, teens, women, men, all colors and races?
• When the cry of the people is dismissed?
• When the very heartbeat of the nation feels like a heart attack?
• When the followers of Christ appear to be more divided than unified?

In the midst of it all, how do we focus?

Jesus said, “Come to me, all who are weary” (Matthew 11:28).

Do we go to Jesus? Do we stop and find the words of Jesus and focus on them, find solace and peace in them? Do we take a moment actually to seek Jesus first, seek Jesus’ will, seek Jesus’ way, seek Jesus’ plan or call or kingdom?

Seek first his kingdom (Matthew 6:33). It’s not just an old worship song; it’s Scripture.

Let us not grow weary in doing good (Galatians 6:9) for our time here on Earth is to shine the light of Jesus and to be the salt of Jesus (Matthew 5:13-16). We must do more than just survive. We are called to live in the midst of it all as salt and light.

How can we be salt and light when we are so hard-pressed?

When we awake tired at the beginning of the day, let us thank Jesus for a new day and a fresh start.

When we wash the mounds of laundry that never end, let us thank Jesus for clothes and washers and dryers.

When we sort out all the dirty and clean dishes—not to mention the rest of the mess in the house, let us thank Jesus for the food we eat and the people in our homes.

When the children have hard days, let us thank Jesus that we know what it’s like. We have been there and can offer the children grace, just as we have had grace lavished on us.

When the bills are never-ending, let us ask Jesus to calm our hearts and give us clear minds to address them, and let us never be too proud to seek out help.

Source: Baptist Standard

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What form The United Methodist Church takes next will remain unclear until the 2020 General Conference meets this spring.

In a gathering that emphasized the denomination’s uncertain future, United Methodists received a preview of some of the possibilities that will be before 862 delegates when they meet May 5-15 in Minneapolis.

“Minneapolis is likely to be our Massah, our testing place, and Minneapolis is likely to be our Meribah, our quarreling place,” said Minnesota’s Bishop Bruce Ough during an opening sermon based on Exodus 17.

But, he added, Minneapolis also “can be the place where God pours out God’s extravagant love and grace on a hurting, broken, anxious church and liberates us from our conflict.”

More than 400 delegates, communicators and other United Methodists who will be part of the 2020 General Conference attended the Jan. 23-24 preview event at the Omni Nashville Hotel. UM News and United Methodist Communications sponsored the event, with involvement and support from other agencies and ministries of the church.

Near the top of the agenda was an overview of various proposals to separate or, in one case, dissolve the denomination in hopes of ending the church’s decades-long dispute over how accepting to be of homosexuality.

The gathering also included presentations on other legislation that could affect United Methodist ministry.

This is a brief look at some of the issues explored. A number of topics covered in the briefing will be addressed in future stories by UM News. Those will include proposals affecting young people’s ministries, the status of women, the general church budget, ecumenical relationships and the future of ethnic-focused ministries.

Plans of separation

The rancorous special 2019 General Conference, by a 438-384 vote, tightened the denomination’s bans on same-sex weddings and “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy. However, those church rules have faced increasing resistance.

Confronted with what many see as irreconcilable differences, various groups of United Methodists have worked throughout 2019 on proposals to let the denomination split along theological lines.

Participants at the Nashville gathering heard from developers of four such proposals. These included “New Denominations of Methodism,” also known as the Indianapolis Plan; “New Expressions Worldwide” from UM-Forward; “Next Generation UMC” from UMCNext; and the “Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation.”

By far the plan that has grabbed the most attention is the protocol. The proposal is a mediated agreement among bishops and leaders of advocacy groups with differing perspectives on LGBTQ inclusion. The plan resulted from discussions initiated by Sierra Leone’s Bishop John Yambasu.

“The uniqueness of this conversation was that it was broad; it was diverse,” said the Rev. Junius Dotson, a delegate from the Great Plains Conference and top executive of Discipleship Ministries. “It was initiated by central conference leaders; and of course, this conversation morphed into a conversation that was mediated by the world-renowned Ken Feinberg.”

Developers of the Indianapolis and UMCNext plans both contributed to the protocol, and presenters for each plan announced their groups’ backing of the newest proposal.

The protocol does not ask anyone to leave The United Methodist Church. However, it allows traditionalist congregations and conferences to separate and form a new denomination, while keeping their properties and getting $25 million in United Methodist funds.

It also reserves $2 million to help other new potential denominations and designates $39 million over eight years to strengthen Asian, African American, Hispanic-Latino, Native American and Pacific Islander ministries, as well as Africa University.

Still, the Rev. Jay Williams — a leader in UM-Forward and delegate from the New England Conference — voiced concerns about how the protocol came into being. He noted that UM-Forward and leaders of the denomination’s ethnic caucuses were not at the table. He also said that the protocol developers were the only plan backers who had a United Methodist Communications “press conference.” 

UM-Forward developed the New Expressions Worldwide, or N.E.W., Plan that would dissolve The United Methodist Church and form four new global denominations instead.

“We believe dissolution is the faithful way forward,” said the Rev. Alka Lyall, one of the plan’s developers and a delegate from the Northern Illinois Conference.

Under the plan, the new denominations would align along traditionalist, moderate, progressive or liberation perspectives. UM-Forward, which seeks to center itself on people of color and LGBTQ individuals, sees itself in the last category.

The group’s vision of liberation, Williams explained, is “a spiritual and social way of living, a posture toward the future that is grounded in past struggle and present resilience that proclaims: We are loved into freedom.”

U.S. regional conference

Those at the Nashville meeting also heard about the proposed U.S. regional conference. The new structure would encompass the United States and maintain the current five U.S. jurisdictions.

The Connectional Table, a multinational body that coordinates money and ministry, began drafting the proposal long before GC2019 put the spotlight on church divisions.

The group’s goal is to have a body to take up matters that solely affect the U.S. church and ease the burden on the multinational General Conference. U.S. proposals often dominate the global lawmaking assembly.

Source: United Methodist News

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United Methodists were among those who opposed a resolution to close down Haran Mission Center in Davao City, a sanctuary to around 500 displaced Lumads in Mindanao.

Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib moved for the immediate closure of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines center due to “violations of indigenous people’s rights” committed inside the facility, according to the resolution issued by the Davao Regional Peace and Order Council Jan. 15.

Haran Mission Center is a temporary shelter for displaced Lumads from Davao del Norte, Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon and Cotabato who fled military harassment in their villages. Around 170 families — an estimated 500 individuals, mostly children — are housed at the center.

The Lumads are the largest indigenous group in the Philippines. The word “Lumad” is a Visayan term that means “born of the earth.”

Ten days after the closure order, the paramilitary group Alamara, which included some Lumad members, raided the compound, according to local news reports. That forced evacuees to take shelter in the main compound.

United Methodist Bishop Rodolfo A. Juan, Davao Area, condemned the closure and raid.

“It is unfortunate that the Lumad ministry at Haran is halted due to the forcible entry of armed men. These are indeed trying moments in the history of our church in our pursuit for peace among the indigenous people in Mindanao.

“I condemn in strictest terms this unlawful entry into the Lumad sanctuary and I call on the military and police to ensure safety in the whole facility. I join the (National Council of Churches in the Philippines) family in praying for the immediate restoration of peace and order in Haran and its ministry to the Lumads.”

United Methodists have been at the forefront in speaking out and defending the rights of the indigenous peoples, and the church continues its outreach with Lumads.

A United Methodist Board of Global Ministries Nationals in Mission project works with indigenous peoples in the Philippines.

“We have ministries in Makilala town and in Tacol, Magsaysay, Davao Sur and in Managic, Malaybalay, Bukidnon,” Juan said.

“A livelihood project on basket weaving is conducted with our Lumads to enable them to generate extra income. I also sourced out funds for a children’s classroom and library for Lumads.”

Source: United Methodist News

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The Sierra Leone Ministry of Lands has closed the door on a land dispute between The United Methodist Church and the Masantigie community, but not before issuing a stern warning about keeping the peace.

The Sierra Leone Conference and village community had been at odds over a United Methodist property in rural eastern Freetown until August of last year, when the conference agreed to give 60 acres of its 443-acre Pa Loko land to the neighboring community.

The Masantigie had lost at least two lawsuits concerning rights to the land over the course of the seven-year dispute.

United Methodist Bishop John K. Yambasu met with Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio in May of 2019 to ask for help after a dawn raid on the property during which five members of Mango Brown United Methodist Church were wounded, three seriously.

Bio established a committee to work on a resolution between the two sides. The culmination of that work was celebrated at a special ceremony Jan. 15.

Minister of Lands Denis Sandy spoke at the crowded event and recalled the cordial relationship that existed between the parties before the dispute. The denomination used to provide jobs and other means of livelihood for the Masantigie community, he said, and he hoped the parties would go back and build on that relationship.

In resolving the matter, Sandy said, the committee took into consideration population migration and other factors.

The ministry presented the site plan and “letters of offer” to both parties during the event.

The Rev. Solomon Rogers represented The United Methodist Church on behalf of the bishop, who was unable to attend. After signing the plan, he thanked God and President Bio for intervening.

“We have done this not only for the church, but the Scripture also says righteousness exalts a nation. If we are all righteous … and we are satisfied with what is happening around us, the country also will develop. We pray that the future will be bright,” he said.

Mohamed O. Kanu, headman of Masantigie village, also thanked the government for intervening to bring peace. He said the community would accept “what they have been offered for now” in the interest of peace and because the church has promised to build a university on the property.

He said, in his opinion, the 60 acres of land offered to his community was too small. The statement drew sounds of disapproval from the crowd, and deputy minister Alex Bhonapha issued a warning in response to his statements.

Source: United Methodist News

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