The Community Developers

Ruth M. Lawson, executive secretary, Community Ministries/Development, Community and Institutional Ministries, reviewed the history of the Community Developers Program. Almost 30 years ago, the Black Community Developers program was born as The United Methodist Church was challenged with social upheaval, racism, and its merger with the Evangelical United Brethren Church. In 1970, Indigenous Community Developers was formed to provide resources for the Hispanic and Native American communities. In 1972 the General Conference approved the Special Sunday, "Human Relations Day." This offering provides the funding for the Community Developers Program. A founding principle of this Special Sunday and this program is that to be liberated through Jesus Christ, one must live out the gospel by building bridges of understanding and cooperation.

The structure of the Community Developers program is that the local racial or ethnic congregation becomes a site that directs itself to the needs of the community as determined by a group comprising 50 percent community members and 50 percent church members. This group becomes its own driving force -- developing strategies and policies with an organizer whom they hire. The organizers often set an agenda that reflects their own experiences.

For example, in Little Rock, Ark., an organizer who was a recovering addict made substance abuse a major part of the ministry of the site. By reaching out to the homeless, drug-addicted population, the ministry grew. Substance abusers themselves became providers of housing and resources for other recovering addicts. The ministry built halfway houses for people who were just released from rehab. This housing offered an alternative to returning to the environment where their lives had been destroyed. For example, a single mother on welfare could live in a safe and new place after treatment, thus helping her start her new life with her children away form the lure of drugs or alcohol.

Another example Ms. Lawson cited is in Detroit. A community developer whose office was located across the street from a school noticed that many kids hung out during the day on the street. The developer and the pastor created an after-school program called ASPIRES to tutor kids at risk of dropping out. The program gave the kids encouragement and hooked them up with United Methodist-related Adrian College. The first class of kids has just graduated from Adrian with the financial help of local folks. They are preparing to work in schools, churches, and businesses.

During the weekend of January 17, 1999, in connection with Human Relations Sunday, 102 young people from community centers and local churches have been invited for a weekend to San Antonio, Tex., to empower youth for leadership in mission. Ms. Lawson said one of 10 program goals must be met to participate in the Community Developers program. Among the goals are:

• to ensure the empowerment of racial ethnic minority communities for witness and mission;
• to mobilize men in churches and communities as mentors and reconcilers in mission;
• and to engage and facilitate constructive social change.

Ms. Lawson stressed that the Community Developers Program always welcomes additional congregations of all racial and ethnic identity to participate in its program of community involvement and empowerment.

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General Commission on Communications

Barbara Dunlap-Berg, client services executive, Division of Program and Benevolence Interpretation, the General Commission on Communications, began her briefing with a quote from the Book of Discipline 1996, "...The administration of the money thus set aside for promotion shall be the responsibility of the General Commission on Communications." With this mandate, UMCommunications (UMCom) promotes 15 funds, among them General Apportionments and Special Sundays.There are also the Mission Initiatives Fund, Advance and World Communion, Native American Awareness, and Hope for Children of Africa.

Ms. Dunlap-Berg described the process of publishing and promoting resources, citing a sample project for the Advance. Elsie Cunningham, P&BI director of print production and distribution, secures bids from three printers per project and determines the best bid. The staff improves and edits the copy. The marketing team, with no designer on staff, secures a designer after securing bids from three freelance graphic designers. Working with GBGM multilingual resources staff, the P&BI client service associate, Sara Perez-Poland, obtains translated materials into Spanish and Korean. Proofs are discussed with Dr. William T. Carter, director of the Advance, and Russell Scott, executive secretary, Advance coordination. The resource is then designed, approved, given to the printer, and finally assembled and delivered to pastors and other church leaders.

Ms. Dunlap-Berg also read accounts from 14 colleagues with whom she works at United Methodist Communications. These accounts describe the cooperative nature of UMCom's work with the General Board of Global Ministries. The following are excerpts from many of UMCom's staff:

Raymond Buckley, director, Native American Communications Office, "As part of the Leadership Development Committee, I assisted with the Gatherers II event and the Native American AIDS Symposium... I also serve as a member of the task force preparing the Native American School of Evangelism for March 1999."

M. Garlinda Burton, director of publications/editor, Interpreter, "I spent two days with the General Board of Global Ministries staff in September, drumming up stories and cultivating contacts for Interpreter and the other program journals... In addition, GBGM submits mission ideas which are included on our online pages as well as in 'Idea Mart.'"

Sang Yean Cho, editor, United Methodists in Service, Korean-language resources, "The communications office of the General Board of Global Ministries buys a one-page advertisement in every issue of United Methodists in Service."

Diane Cristina, manager of customer relations, EcuFilm, "When videos such as the 'Why We Care' series are produced by GBGM, they are placed with us for distribution."

Thomas McAnally, director, United Methodist News Service, "It is always helpful for people to understand that we are a news agency, not a promotional agency...We're looking for that which is unusual and out of the ordinary, something the readers of conference newspapers would find appealing." Linda Bloom, reporter/writer for UMNS, is located at 475 Riverside Drive, New York, and provides continuous news coverage of GBGM as well as other agencies and events in New York.

Kent McNish, marketing director, Division of Program and Benevolence Interpretation, "The General Board of Global Ministries is paying production costs for promotional resources for the Advent 1998 and Lent 1999 'Hope for the Children of Africa' offerings. Already a poster, an offering envelope, a newsletter and a theological statement have been produced jointly by our staffs."

Susan Peek, manager, on-line services, "Internet Services works closely with the Webmasters at the GBGM, promoting the free Web hosting service GBGM provides and linking to GBGM sites from the denominational homepage, especially the 'Faith in Action' section."

Lety Perez, assistant editor, el Interprete, "GBGM also works with el Interprete in promoting and interpreting the national Hispanic Plan."

Mike DuBose, photographer, has contributed services at Global Gatherings and United Methodist Women's Assemblies.

Ms. Dunlap-Berg reported that 33,000 church leaders receive a quarterly mailing formerly coordinated by the General Council on Ministries and now handled by UMCom. The mailings include promotional materials related to the 15 general church funds for which UMCom carries responsibility. GBGM has utilized this service to reach local churches.

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Interpretation of GBGM Financial Services

Bruce O. Bergquist, general comptroller, Financial Services, described the responsibilities of the department as receiving, safekeeping, and disbursing mission funds of The United Methodist Church; data processing and record keeping; shipping and duplication services; and property, insurance, and legal matters. Mr. Bergquist reported that the offices of the Financial Services Department occupy almost the entire 14th floor of the Interchurch Center and the staff totals nearly 100 people.

Mr. Bergquist lifted up and offered the reports that are produced by the department as available for perusal. Among the reports, there are: Report of the Treasurers; Disclosure Report; Monthly Budget Controls; Monthly Net Assets Reports; and Monthly Financial Statements. Additional resources to understand the work of the Financial Service Department include the Report of the Treasurer in the GBGM annual report (also available separately); remarks from the General Treasurer given to the Board of Directors, Spring Board Meeting, 1998; and New Funds for Mission: A Statement from the GBGM General Secretary.

Mr. Bergquist acknowledged that to understand accounting and finance requires learning another "language"--that of accounting-- difficult to translate in a brief amount of time. The possibility of a "talking points" information sheet that interprets key questions about mission dollars in the GBGM was raised as being helpful for staff and constituents.