United Methodist General Conference not moving from Cleveland
10/8/1998 by United Methodist News Service Editor's note: Eighth paragraph from bottom, starting with "On Nov. 29," corrected on March 20, 2012 to reflect that Col. John Chivington was a Methodist pastor.
The group responsible for planning the 2000 United Methodist General Conference has rejected an appeal that the large, 10-day gathering be moved from Cleveland to protest depictions of Native Americans by the Indians baseball team.
The church's top legislative body, including nearly 1,000 delegates from around the world, meets every four years. It is scheduled to meet next in Cleveland, May 2-12, 2000.
The 15-member Commission on the General Conference, chaired by Mollie Stewart of Valhermosa Springs, Ala., said moving the conference at this late date would be extremely difficult because of contracts and commitments. However, the overriding reason for staying in Cleveland seemed to be that presence rather than absence is the appropriate action for the church to take in such matters.
Meeting in Cleveland Oct. 1-2, the commission was responding to a United Methodist News Service story (UMNS #556) about recent action taken by the church's Commission on Religion and Race, which monitors racial inclusiveness in the church.
At a Sept. 24-27 meeting in Arlington, Va., the Commission on Religion and Race asked the planning group to:
· move the 2000 General Conference to another city;
· "denounce the Cleveland baseball team's abuse of Native American names" in letters to city and state officials and the team owner; and
· remove from the General Conference site-selection process any city that has professional sports teams with Native American nicknames, mascots and symbols unless the team is willing to discuss changing them.
The Commission on the General Conference took action regarding the relocation request, but said it would wait for an official letter from the Commission on Religion and Race before responding further.
Several members of the planning group expressed sympathy with the Native American issue but said moving out of the city would not contribute to change.
"There are other ways to make a statement than moving or not being present," said General Conference Secretary Carolyn Marshall, of Veedersburg, Ind., echoing the sentiments of several members. "Let's make our statement another way."
The Rev. Roberto Gomez, a pastor in Mission, Texas, said he objects to the name of the Texas Rangers baseball team, noting that the original Texas Rangers killed "in cold blood" the ancestor of one of his church members. Nevertheless, he said "there are other ways of dealing with it (injustice) " than moving.
Noting they were in charge of "planning, not policy," some members suggested that the Commission on Religion and Race be asked to consider an appropriate way to address the concern during the conference.
The Rev. Kenneth Chalker, pastor of Cleveland's First United Methodist Church, chairs the local host committee for the conference and is a voting member of the commission planning the event. "There seems to be an assumption by some that the people of Cleveland and United Methodists of this area have never thought about this issue," he said. "This city has been enormously divided over this issue for years, and our own East Ohio Annual Conference has struggled with it."
Noting that the Chief Wahoo logo has tremendous commercial value, Chalker said the only person who can change it is the team's owner, Richard Jacobs. A resolution at the last East Ohio Annual (regional) Conference sessions calling for elimination of the logo was defeated, Chalker said.
"Even the Native American community is split on the issue of name," Chalker added. "For some, it is not a pejorative term. The first Native American to play on a team early in the century was here. It was in remembrance of that that the team got its name."
Louis Sockalexis, a Penobscot, joined the Cleveland club in 1897 and played for three seasons, compiling a .313 batting average. A Cleveland newspaper held a contest in 1915 and the name "Indians" was suggested by a fan who said he was doing it to honor Sockalexis.
The location of the 1996 General Conference in Denver prompted Native Americans to ask for an apology for the deaths of more than 200 Native Americans caused by a Methodist lay preacher in the area more than 13 decades earlier. Delegates approved the statement of apology with little opposition.
On Nov. 29, 1864, a Cheyenne village camped on the banks of Sand Creek in Colorado was attacked by the 1st Colorado Cavalry led by Col. John Chivington, a Methodist pastor. More than 200 people, mostly women and children, were killed and mutilated. Chivington not only received a commendation for the attack but was honored as a hero and pioneer by Coloradans and Methodists at his death in October 1894.
In other action during their Oct. 1-2 meeting, the Commission on the General Conference selected the Rev. Cynthia Wilson-Felder as music director for the Cleveland meeting (see UMNS story #566); heard a report from the Rev. Mark and Laura Wharff of Modesto, Calif., who will be recruiting and coordinating about 150 volunteer pages and marshals; heard a report from a site-selection committee that visited Pittsburgh, where the 2004 conference will be held; met Jay Voorhees, a student at Emory University's Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, who will be the plenary producer for the conference; and approved tentative budgets for both the 2000 and 2004 assemblies.
The 2000 event is estimated to cost $3.9 million, and the expense is expected to swell to $5.1 million in 2004. Major costs are hotel and travel expenses for the 1,000 delegates. About 160 delegates from outside the United States are expected at the Cleveland meeting. Simultaneous translation in at least six languages is also a major expense.
The commission examined a budget with detailed line-item costs, which it plans to submit to the church's General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) and the conference delegates. The conference manager is GCFA staff member Gary Bowen; assistant manager is Steve Zekoff.
"We want to be accountable and thorough," Stewart said. "The General Conference represents a major expenditure of church resources, and we want everyone to have the facts when they are called on to make decisions."
In other action, the commission asked that representatives of the church's Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns join them at their next meeting, April 16-18, in Pittsburgh, to discuss a proposed "act of repentance" at the conference related to past racial injustices in the denomination.
The commission is also planning to ask each annual (regional) conference to submit one child's drawing reflecting the conference theme, "We who are many are one body." The art would be included in visual presentations during the event. Each annual conference will be encouraged to have some type of competition from which the final drawing could be selected.
The commission discussed how high school and college age delegates could be more meaningfully involved in the complex deliberations. One suggestion being considered is to request that each young delegate be paired with one or more mentors -- delegates, or possibly bishops, who have attended previous conferences. About 35 youth and young adult delegates are expected at the 2000 conference.
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