‘Give until it heals,’ Oklahoma bishop advises April 28, 2004 By Suanne Whorl* | A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. Singers and dancers from Alpharetta, GA, lead morning worship at General Conference. | PITTSBURGH
(UMNS) – When Bishop Bruce P. Blake attended the funeral of the Rev.
Tom Roughface, a Native American leader in the United Methodist Church,
the Oklahoma bishop was struck by the Ponca Tribe practice of giving
gifts to friends and visitors. A
year later, the bishop returned for the end-of-mourning ceremony where
he again received symbolic gifts. Inquiring about this tradition, he was
told, “We believe you can accept death better by giving than by
getting.” The Poncas find healing in giving. Blake
shared that experience in an April 28 morning worship service at the
2004 General Conference. He suggested that the practice of “giving until
it heals” was more effective than following the age-old adage of
“giving until it hurts.” | A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. Music Director Barbara Day Miller directs singers leading morning worship. | Bishop
Blake explained that his process of sermon creation is to do a critical
analysis of the Scripture, then to “exegete” the congregation and
preach at the intersection of the two. As he read all the resolutions
and legislation coming before General Conference, it felt to him as
though “we were coming to Pittsburgh with the agenda to protect what is
important to us in the budget rather than to focus on raising the
standard of giving.” “Our
attitude is one of giving until it hurts, rather than heals. Everything
is focused on our limited resources when in fact, if United Methodists
would give until it heals, we would have so much money to facilitate
God’s mission in the world that conferencing would be a celebration of
sharing rather than our experience of divvying up a shrinking pie. “Could
it be that the crisis in our family of faith is a crisis of faith, not
of the pocketbook?” he asked. He suggested United Methodists have
somehow lost the connection between grace and giving. “It has become
more important for us to protect our standard of living than our
standard of giving.” | A UMNS photo by John C. Goodwin. Rev. David Wilson applauds a speaker addressing General Conference. | The
bishop encouraged the international assembly to follow the direction of
Jesus Christ in Matthew 23:23-26, when he says people must scour their
lives and rid themselves of gluttony and greed.He challenged the delegates to live a gospel of giving until it heals. Blake
presides over both the geographically based Oklahoma Conference and the
Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, which is composed of United
Methodist members of several Native American tribes. This is the first
time he has preached at a General Conference. The
morning worship service opened with praise music led by the Mass Choir
and Dance Ministry of St. James United Methodist Church in Alpharetta,
Ga., and ended with a dismissal in Choctaw by David Wilson of the
Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference. The service included songs in
English, Nigerian and Zulu, a traditional hymn, praise choruses and
African tunes. *Whorl is a correspondent for United Methodist News Service. News media contact: (412) 325-6080 during General Conference, April 27-May 7. After May 10: (615) 742-5470.
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