Congregation focuses on Portland's Native Americans Feb. 10, 2004 By United Methodist News Service* A
United Methodist Church located at the center of where Native Americans
in Portland, Ore., live and work has decided that ministry begins at
home. The
60-member Wilshire United Methodist Church wanted to reach out to the
Native Americans in the community, so the congregation worked with the
denomination's Native American Comprehensive Plan for two years to
develop a native ministry. "Our
congregation was already looking for a new focus, and we were the
church that had the most interest in Native American ministry," said the
Rev. Lois Wagner, Wilshire pastor. Nearly
250 tribes - and more than half of Oregon's native population - are in
the Greater Portland area, she said. That fact compelled the Native
American Comprehensive Plan to give the Wilshire church a $8,300 grant
to start an urban native ministry. "I
went to the church to ask that they consider their ministry outwardly
and found them to be ready," said the Rev. Minerva Carcano, Metropolitan
district superintendent. "They found a native ministry as the answer to
their prayers. They had been asking God for a vision for their
ministry, and they felt that this was it. "This
conference (Oregon-Idaho) has a commitment to becoming as diverse as
the population that we serve and we cannot do that without reaching out
in ministry to Native Americans. It has been exciting that God has
opened the doors. When we open the doors as well as our hearts and
minds, God makes ministry possible in exciting and new ways. He brings
the church back to life," Carcano said. The
Portland area ministry at the Wilshire church is the fifth Native
American urban ministry the plan has helped develop in the past four
years. The plan has provided consulting and financial support for urban
ministries in Albuquerque, N.M., Phoenix, and Greensboro and Raleigh,
N.C. It has helped develop new church/fellowship starts, assisted in
cooperative ministries, strengthened children's programs and developed
young leaders. "Our
goal is not to go to these annual conferences to tell them what to do,
but rather offer our assistance," said Ann Saunkeah, the plan's
executive director, based in Tulsa, Okla. "Since approximately 65
percent of Native Americans live in urban areas, the statistics are a
reminder of the importance of developing urban ministry across the
church." Created
by the denomination's legislative assembly in 1992, the plan emphasizes
Native American spirituality, congregational and leadership
development, and involvement in the life of the church. The United
Methodist Church has 19,000 Native Americans among its 8.3 million U.S.
members, and nearly 63 percent live in urban areas. The denomination has
more than 200 Native American churches, ministries and fellowships in
the country, and 30 are in urban areas. The
$8,300 grant will enable the ministry at Wilshire to connect with other
native groups in the area, provide a meeting space, support a Native
American Parent Group through child care and enhance the church's
involvement with Native American campus ministry in the area, as well as
support the Native American Youth organization. Wagner,
who is Anglo, said she has been surprised at how widely she has been
accepted by native groups in the area. "I had some hesitancy to attend
these meetings since I am Anglo, and I tried to be careful and not jump
in," she said. Because of her attendance at various Native American
functions and gatherings, native people have become interested and
intrigued with what is happening with Wilshire's ministry, she said. "Right
now, the ministry is integrated with the congregation at Wilshire
because that is what the Native Americans at the church wanted," she
said. "The Native Americans present and involved said they wanted to be a
part of the whole church." The
native ministry is important to the Portland area because it is a place
where native persons can gather and not be put down for their culture,
said Ed Edmo, a ministry member. "We can cook our own native foods,
enjoy fellowship and sing our songs." In
addition to the weekly gatherings, the Native American ministry has a
fifth Sunday service, where members meet for worship, fellowship and
food, all provided from a native perspective, Edmo said. "The church
allows us to do it our way. It might take a while to get the numbers,
but the feeling is good." The
Native American Comprehensive Plan's task force held its semi-annual
meeting in Portland, Jan. 29-30, and had an opportunity to see the
results of its funding. "We
witnessed a Native American community that has realized that the United
Methodist Church truly does have open doors, open hearts and open
minds," Saunkeah said. "Our funding of this ministry demonstrates to
both Portland's Native Americans and the Wilshire congregation that
ministry begins at home." *This
story was adapted from a press release by the Rev. David Wilson,
superintendent of the Oklahoma Missionary Conference and president of
the Native American Comprehensive Plan.
News media contact: Linda Green · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn
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