Mission board commissions deaconesses, church workers April 18, 2005 By Elliott Wright* STAMFORD,
Conn. (UMNS)—Fourteen deaconesses and six church and community workers
were commissioned during the April 11-14 meeting of the United Methodist
Board of Global Ministries. Also honored were 18 retiring missionaries, eight of whom were present.
Deaconesses
are members of a lay order of service that dates back to the 1880s in
Methodism and much earlier in some Christian traditions. They serve in a
variety of church, community and institutional settings in the United
States. Church and community workers, another century-old service
category, are assigned to U.S. urban and rural ministries.
Before
the April commissioning, the agency had 495 people in mission service,
including 115 deaconesses and 45 church and community workers. The
largest category of service, with 245 people, is regular or
“standard-support” missionaries, with 189 in international service and
60 serving in the United States. Other mission personnel serve as
missionaries in Alaska, at the Red Bird Missionary Conference in
Kentucky, through the National Plan for Hispanic Ministries, and in
other capacities, including young adult short-term service. The
Board of Global Ministries has another 106 “non-commissioned” mission
workers, and helps support 266 people linked to units of the
denomination or partner churches in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The
Rev. R. Randy Day, the board’s chief executive, told directors that
mission personnel numbers are down about 100 people since last year, as
time-limited programs have ended and financial constraints have made it
difficult to replace all missionaries who are retiring or ending their
terms of service. New
deaconesses and their places of service include Lynn Barnes, Elkin,
N.C.; Margarette “Jeannie” Chaney, Abilene, Texas; Eun Mi Cho, Albany,
N.Y.; Charmaine Cothran, Chicago; Ann W. Farris, Arlington, Va.; Carol
Gullatt, Huntsville, Ala.; B. Lee Manns, Cherry Hill, N.J.; Patricia
Marks, Springfield, Va.; Robin Minick, Jackson County, N.C.; Anne M.B.
Robeson, Mobile, Ala.; Beverly Welch, Bath, N.Y.; Nazgul William, New
York City; Cherryetta Williams, New York City; and Diane Wood, Richmond,
Va. Church
and community workers and their places of service include Nancy
Daleney, New York City; Robbie Lonewolf, Norfolk, Neb.; Mary Z.
Longstreth, Indianapolis; Debra Price, Keyser, W.V.; Charissa Shawcross,
Detroit; and Victoria A. West, Connellsville, Pa. Retiring
missionaries who participated in the commissioning service in Stamford
included Charles and Pearl Arnett, who served 16 years in Nigeria; Larry
Asher, 35 years, Nepal; Phyllis Asher, 37 years, Nepal; the Rev. Don
David Cobb, 33 years, Kenya, Liberia, Malaysia and Tonga; Minioneti
Cobb, 31 years, Kenya, Liberia, Malaysia and Tonga; and Elizabeth and
the Rev. Yugo Suzuki, 28 years, Japan. Other
retiring missionaries are Maureen Carr, 39 years, United States;
Barbara Crouse, 37 years, United States; Randall Crouse, 43 years,
United States; the Rev. Hugh Johnson and Shirliann Johnson, 44 years,
Algeria; Judith Newton, 28 years, Japan; the Rev. Harold and Roberta
Smith, 10 years, Senegal; the Rev. William and Grace Warnock, 22 years,
Cameroon, Lithuania, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
*Wright is the public information officer for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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