United Methodists have resource on life and death issues
|
Jim Winkler |
March 23, 2005WASHINGTON
(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.
|