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United Methodists have resource on life and death issues

 


United Methodists have resource on life and death issues

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Jim Winkler
March 23, 2005

WASHINGTON (UMNS) — United Methodists have a resource for considering the type of issues raised in the Terri Schiavo case, according to the chief executive of the denomination’s social action agency.

Schiavo is the brain-damaged Florida woman at the center of a long dispute between her husband and her parents over whether her feeding tube should be disconnected to allow her to die. After her husband prevailed and the tube recently disconnected, her parents continued their petitions in the court and Congress passed a law allowing federal courts to intervene in the case.

"The Terri Schiavo case is heart wrenching and it calls us to examine the difficult issues related to quality of life and our own participation in life with life decisions," said Jim Winkler, chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society.

"We extend our thoughts and prayers to all who are intimately involved with the decision knowing that God is sovereignty over life and death and God’s love for us is abundant."

Winkler said that a good resource for church members is the resolution, "Faithful Care for Persons Suffering and Dying," that was passed by the 2004 United Methodist General Conference, the denomination’s top legislative body. The resolution can be found online at http://www.umc-gbcs.org/issues/resolutions.php?resolutionid=194.

Congregations can make available to members the necessary information and forms about an Advance Directive, also known as a Living Will, Winkler noted. Forms are offered, free of charge, for each state by The National Hospice and Paliative Care Organization, a nonprofit organization based in Arlington, Va. Forms are available by sending an e-mail to consumers@nhpco.org or by calling (800) 658-8898.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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