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Bishop Violet L. Fisher/ preaches April 30 to the 2008 United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas.
Image by:Paul Jeffrey
Source: United Methodist News Service
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Fort Worth, TX, April 30, 2008--Bishop Violet Fisher of Western New York issued a call for "radical hospitality" toward immigrants, people of color, and all people during a morning worship at General Conference. She helped set the tone for a day focused on diversity and racial justice.
Devotional music enhanced the day's theme. The assembly heard moving songs from
- the Africa University Choir
- the delegates from Zimbabwe
- the Spiritual Image--the Philippine Heritage Foundation Chorale--of South Hayward United Methodist Church of Hayward, California
- a group doing a "holy hip-hop" version of "Christ My Foundation"
Preaching from John 4:1-14, Bishop Fisher said that Jesus modeled the work set out for The United Methodist Church in his encounter with the Samaritan woman.
"Brothers and sisters, Jesus didn't take the easy way out," Bishop Fisher said, adding that many Jews of that day avoided traveling through Samaria. "Samaritans were the 'others.' Today, they'd be referred to as multiracial, a mixed group. Their ethnicity, their diversity was not appreciated or valued. However, the text indicates it was necessary for Jesus to go to Samaria. Jesus had a mission: it was time for the gentiles to hear the good news! Jesus was on an anti-racism campaign!"
Jesus, Bishop Fisher said, took time to sit and talk with the woman, not letting her color, culture, or past life deter him. Jesus neither condemned nor ridiculed the woman but offers her living water, setting the stage for the transformation of the woman and the entire Samaritan community, she said.
"Jesus looks beyond and sees the child of God," she said. "This is a 'salvation moment.' This is a 'Jesus moment'. ... This is a call to action. This is a call to the future ... for The United Methodist Church."
Bishop Fisher, who is also a director of the General Board of Global Ministries, challenged delegates to examine their local churches, annual conferences, and denominational agencies to see how welcoming they are to immigrants, people of color, and people of other communities. She told them that if the church is serious about eliminating racism, "some tables will have to be overturned. ... Some barriers must crumble in the name of Christ."
"We must begin with examining ourselves in terms of ... just what it means to open our hearts for the transformation of God's world and be the gospel," she said.
Worship closed with a traditional congregational singing of "The Church's One Foundation." Afterward, the assembly heard a report on Africa University, an institution in Zimbabwe that has students from 24 countries.
*Yvette Moore is an executive secretary for communication for the Women's Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.
Date posted:
Apr 30, 2008
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