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Top staff executives of the United Methodist Women's Division sing during opening worship at the 2006 United Methodist Women's Assembly in Anaheim, Calif. From left are: Jan Love, Sung-ok Lee and Andis Salter. May be reproduced by United Methodist Women and media with credit to photographer and source.
Assembly 2006
Image by:Mike DuBose/UMNS
Source: Women's Division
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ANAHEIM – Four days of soul-stirring worship and workshops and exhibits
on spiritual and justice issues at United Methodist Women’s Assembly
came to a finale of music and praise Sunday, May 7. Nearly 7,000 women and
some men then headed home from the once-every-four-year event in Anaheim, Calif.,
inspired to further their mission across the United States and around the world.
United Methodist Women’s Assembly is the largest gathering of United
Methodist adults in the denomination.
Each day, the worship services illustrated the three components of the Assembly
theme, “Rise! Shine! Glorify God!” through Scripture readings and
sermons; music from various cultures, languages and traditions; dance; and
even a light show.
Jan Love, chief executive of Women’s Division, at the closing worship
service urged United Methodist Women members to take what they’ve learned
at Assembly and create what the Book of Revelation calls a “vision of
a new heaven and a new earth.”
To create the new vision, Ms. Love encouraged Assembly participants to:
- Deepen the understanding of their salvation story and the stories other
United Methodist Women members;
- Make every day a mission day; and
- Recruit new members.
Assembly participants gained insight into women’s struggles worldwide
from international women leaders who spoke on the urgency of ending global
poverty and fighting for the rights of workers worldwide.
Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize nominee Wahu Kaara challenged United Methodist Women
to “stand up and speak to power” about economic injustices around
the world, particularly its impact on women.
“The challenge here is to confess to be the voice of this monumental
prophecy of our time as we are doing today and speak loudly to the early powers
of our world today that are taking us to doom and material worship of what
God has freely bestowed to us,” Ms. Kaara said. She is founder and coordinator
of the Kenya Debt Relief Network.
During the May 5 worship service on the theme, “Shine,” Bolivian
Minister of Justice Casimira Rodriguez Romero, testified about how her faith
helped her to rise from being a domestic worker at 13, to becoming a leading
advocate for workers’ rights and the country’s first indigenous
minister of justice.
Rodriguez, a Methodist Quechua, was one of three “ordinary” women
who shared inspiring stories of making a difference in the world. Other “Shine” testimonies
came from Kim Hollowell, an activist against child labor, and Christy Tate
Smith, an UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) worker who was part
of recovery efforts in response to Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast states.
United Methodist Women members committed to pressing their senators and representatives
to set aside sufficient funds in the federal budget for public education; the
environment; and international assistance for women, children and youth, while
ensuring defense and security.
Assembly participants signed a “money transfer request form” that
asks the U.S. government to invest more resources in programs that would benefit
women, children and youth in the United States and around the world. The forms
will be sent to congressional leaders.
Throughout Assembly, music, dance and drama helped to make a connection between
the arts and justice issues.
Award-winning actress Anna Deveare Smith performed a one-woman show of dramatic
stories she has gathered from more than two decades of advocacy. Her dramatic
vignettes were based on the voices and stories of thousands of people she has
interviewed, including from racially charged incidents in Los Angeles, Calif.,
and Brooklyn, N.Y., where she examined the civil unrest after police acquittals
in the Rodney King beating and the tensions between Blacks and Hasidic Jews
in New York.
Sanctified Souljahz, a San Diego-based teen and young-adult dance group for
children and grandchildren of ex-offenders, performed a liturgical dance demonstrating
their pain and hope for the future.
The dance group was started by the teen children of women living at New Entra
Casa, a transitional living community for formerly incarcerated women. The
rehabilitation program is supported in part by United Methodist Women.
A fashion show, “Fashion Resistance to Militarism,” illustrated
the subtle examples of militarism in popular culture, put a spotlight on how
clothing sends powerful messages. Young people attending Assembly modeled outfits
from three fashion lines: Militarism in Popular Culture; Gender, Race and Militarism;
and Visions of a Culture of Peace.
The fashion show models wore clothing that symbolized women’s roles in
a militarized society. A young woman wore a camouflage wedding dress and black
veil to represent prejudice against brides from other cultures who marry U.S.
military personnel.
Mission funds were raised for United Methodist Women’s programs, projects
and advocacy related to women, children and youth in more than 100 countries
around the world. More than 300 women participated in the “Walk for Mission” May
6, raising more than $30,000. The 5-kilometer walk started at the Anaheim Marriott
and looped two times around the Convention Center area. In addition, participants
gave $25,000 for mission programs through the World Thank Offering.
The exhibit area displayed included on display more than 2,000 handmade prayer
shawls created by United Methodist Women members in conferences, districts,
and local units and circles.
Women attending Assembly headed home with a new energy for mission with women,
children and youth. Jean Rupp of the Central Pennsylvania Conference plans
to take back the tools and skills gained at Assembly to get more children at
her church engaged in mission work.
“I learned that we really need to get more children involved in mission,” Ms.
Rupp said. “We let that area slide a bit, but I realized here that they
are the ones who will continue the mission.”
Some participants attending focus groups said they planned to advocate to their
state and national legislators on pressing issues such as public education.
“When I go back home, I know that I will work to get more people involved
in advocating for public education,” said Luz Mireya Airas, a member
of Juan Wesley United Methodist Church in Miami.
“I was given the tools to learn how to lobby and skills to prepare our
churches.” Ms. Arias, who attended the Spanish-language focus group on
public education, is the Hispanic coordinator for the Florida conference.
Anita Spann-Peeke, president of United Methodist Women at East Point-First
Mallalieu United Methodist Church in East Point, Ga., said she gained a wealth
of knowledge to help her unit expand their mission work. In fact, Ms. Spann-Peeke
said she’s have to send back boxes of resources.
Others learned new worship styles and songs from the daily worship services.
Date posted:
May 12, 2006
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