eme
was a question. Participants are coming away from the event with lots of
questions. So, was the National Seminar of United Methodist Women a success?
The theme
was a question. Participants are coming away from the event with lots of
questions. So, was the National Seminar of United Methodist Women a success?
Two hundred twenty-five participants of the 7-day event in Nashville will probably say yes – it was a success. They’re coming away with the question, “If not now, when? If not me, who?”
Before coming to the event, participants elected to study one issue indepth. Their issue choices included:
- Education: A multiple choice or right?
- Ethics: Truth or consequence?
- Faith: Who’s Right? Whose right?
- Women’s Issues: Status of Women – Fundamentally Female
- Peace/War: Pushing Up Daisies
- Globalization/Economics: The World in Whose Hands?
- Racism: Faces at the Bottom of the World?
- Communications: Weapons of Mass Distraction
- Civil Liberties: Going, going, gone
- Environment: World for Sale?
- Health: Your Money or Your Life?
Participants came away from the issue groups asking a lot of questions.
Women’s Division vice president, Judy Nutter, who chaired the planning team for the event, told participants that each one of them was on a journey. Each journey was unique and the journey would invoke lots of questions, and doubt at times.
“Sometimes I wish my eyes had not been opened to all the cruel things we do to God’s children’s, our sisters and our brothers – the family God has given us,” she said in closing worship.
Then, she challenged participants to respond to the cruelties of the world:
“May we be open to new, risk-taking calls? God may be calling you, you, you, and me to intervene in the lives of stunned and wounded persons.”
The Faith issue group leader, Rev. Sonnye Dixon, says that we have to ask how it is that Jesus wants us to respond to certain issues. In this culture, there are people spending a lot of time and money trying to align our values with Caesar’s, then claiming they are Christian values.
“How do we challenge what Caesar wants and what Jesus wants?” asks Rev. Dixon. “We’re called upon as a church to look at inconsistencies and look at whether the issue at hand brings about life and reconciliation.” We can only do it through questions, according to Dixon.
Participants did just that. The Education issue group asked questions today about how they could advocate for children. Was there funding for the “No Child Left Behind” Act? Was there funding for breakfast for children in schools, since research shows that children who have breakfast perform better? What about funding for teacher testing or teacher training?
The Peace and War issue group dealt with how to honor differing perspectives and how to “pastor” peacemakers. They struggled with Biblical teachings of what it meant to be peacemakers, how the media influenced their views about unrest in the world, and the increasing threat to civil liberties. “Silence is not an option,” stated one participant, determined to ask questions relating to these issues.
The Communications issue group looked at accountability in non-biased reporting, the responsibility of the media to communicate all voices or sides of an issue, the corporate control of the media, and alternative sources for news and stories.
The Environment issue group struggled with questions about how to care for the earth and sustain a future for their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Once participants explored an issue and related questions about how to affect change in the world, they went into the community of Nashville to see how different organizations were responding to the issue.
Issue groups went to places like a rehabilitation center for women, an organic gardening project, a health center, a program started by youth to change their neighborhood, and much more. From there, participants went back to develop plans of action for their own United Methodist Women units, churches, and their communities.
Bible study leader, Aruna Gnanadson-- Justice, Peace and Creation coordinator of the World Council of Churches – shared a third-world woman’s perspective with her Bible studies during the week and gave participants a theological perspective. She began by looking at Jeremiah – an unlikely candidate for a prophet at the age of 20. God called Jeremiah to use words – not the sword or government leaders– to deconstruct evil and build a future of hope.
In the following Bible study, she looked at I Samuel and the story of Nabal, David, and Abigail. Ms. Gnanadson looked at the small, swift steps of Abigail to make peace, then stated, “small steps by each one of us can take us together to a transformed world.”
Finally, looking at I Peter, Ms. Gnanadson outlined how this lesson confronts us with what is required of us.
· We are to develop the qualities given to us – justice, mercy and utter devotion to God. “God provides nourishment necessary to grow in salvation and go out into the world,” says Ms. Gnanadson.
· We are to confess Christ and enter into sharing Christ’s life through “sacrificial love for the sake of human life and joy of creation.”
· We are chosen for God’s mission. “This doesn’t give us certain privileges over others, which leads to triumphalism,” she said, pointing to mis-uses of “election” and “chosenness,” which include apartheid, racist theologies, holy wars, and crusades.
God chooses the most unlikely to be in mission. The challenge: “If not now, when? If not me…who?” she said.
Throughout the event, participants dialogued and asked questions around issues. But on Wednesday night, they also shared a broad range of talents, theological perspectives, and backgrounds. Participants shared poetry, songs, languages, stories, and dances with the larger group – involving everybody – demonstrating the diversity of the group from around the United States.
The event left one answer for United Methodist Women participants. They now answer the theme question. “The time is now. The person is me.”
United Methodist Women –a one-million member organization -- fosters spiritual growth, develops leaders and advocates for justice. Members raise approximately $20 million a year for programs and projects related to women, children and youth in the United States and in more than 100 countries around the world.
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