10,000 United Methodist women meet in Florida
5/18/1998 News media contact: Linda Bloom · (646) 369-3759 · New York NOTE: This story is accompanied by two sidebars, UMNS #305 and 306. Photographs are available. By Linda Bloom and Linda Green* ORLANDO, Fla. (UMNS) - Combining music, dance and worship with calls for justice, nearly 10,000 women gathered May 14-17 for the United Methodist Women's Assembly.
The blowing of the Hebrew shofar, a ram's horn, signaled the start of the event, as the women gathered in the Orange County Convention Center beneath bright cloth banners of green, blue, purple, red, orange and yellow - the colors of the assembly logo.
United Methodist Women (UMW), with more than a million members, is an organization dedicated to spiritual growth, leadership development and social action. It is administered through the Women's Division, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.
God calls women to be visionaries today just as he called "our foremothers" to be in mission, said Sara Shingler of Spartanburg, S.C., Women's Division president.
During the three-day event, the participants took several actions related to their goals of care and justice for women and children around the world.
As a direct action supporting their commitment to justice, they completed letters to Congress urging support of the Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The U.N. treaty has yet to be ratified by the United States government.
The women also were encouraged to support child care and development block grants by calling a toll-free telephone number during the meeting and leaving a message for their representatives in Congress.
In another hands-on effort, the women came to Orlando bearing sewing kits, health kits, school kits and baby layettes, which were boxed for shipment to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) depot in Baldwin, La. From there, the supplies will be sent to people in need around the world, according to UMCOR executive F. Lloyd Rollins. "We have every single one of them committed already to project areas."
The work of women in mission, from the founding of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society in the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1869 to the present, was highlighted throughout the assembly.
Individual examples were provided by:
· Karen Anderson, a Lutheran missionary, who has trained women as health promoters in the shantytowns of Chile;
· The Rev. Maria do Carmo Moreira Lima, a Methodist clergywoman from Brazil, who works with street children and champions the empowerment of black women;
· Elmira Sellu, a United Methodist from Sierra Leone who, as a refugee in another country, helped develop enterprises to provide food, medical care, shelter and clothing for other refugees;
· Sonya Wu, who works with new immigrant families at the refugee program at All Saints Episcopal Church in Atlanta;
· Sarah Wilke, executive director of Wesley-Rankin Community Center in Dallas, who works closely with the local Hispanic community and children; and
· Ruth Bamela Engo-Tjega, a U.N. economics officer, who works with women in Africa.
They spoke about ministries that have historic roots for UMW: advancement for women, provision of health care for the poor, assistance to immigrants and refugees, commitment to racial justice, advocacy and care for children.
"We in the church speak a different language from one of quotas, boundaries and economic burdens," Wu said about assistance to immigrants. "The foreigner, the sojourner, is no longer a threatening stranger but one who brings richness and newness to our life together."
In an age of headlines blaring stories about child-killers, women must devote even more time to the needs and moral growth of children, Wilke said. "We cannot allow headlines to distance us from our children. The vast majority of children can be saved before their lives take that first disastrous turn."
Throughout the assembly, participants listened to Bible study leaders; attended focus groups on several topics; and heard a rousing concert featuring gospel singer Cissy Houston and Ulali, a group of three Native American singers.
During the closing worship, Joyce Sohl, chief executive of the Women's Division staff, told participants that belief, prayer and action are all needed to bring God's vision to the world.
"If we believe, pray and love the vision, we will be amazingly effective as agents of God's vision," she declared. "It's in our hearts. It's in our hands. We have the power. Let's do it."
# # #
*Bloom is news director of United Methodist News Service's New York office. Green is news director of the Nashville, Tenn., office.
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