1/15/2003 News media contact: Linda Green · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn
NOTE: Photographs are available with this story.
By Pamela Crosby*
Lively
music and dance were a major part of "Global Voices," a worship and
discussion session at Celebrate in Albuquerque, N.M. Students from
around the world expressed views on issues such as overcoming violence
and the effects of globalization. A UMNS photo by Pamela Crosby / United
Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry. Photo number 03-10,
Accompanies UMNS #019, 1/15/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
:
Millard Fuller, founder and president of Habitat for Humanity
International, gives the keynote address at Celebrate in Albuquerque,
N.M. More than 1,200 students and campus ministers attended to reflect
on the theme "Weave Us Together." "Extend your spiritual antennas,"
Fuller told his listeners. "God is broadcasting." A UMNS photo by Pamela
Crosby / United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry. Photo
number 03-11, Accompanies UMNS #019, 1/15/03
No Long Caption Available for this Story
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (UMNS) - More than 1,100 students
and 200 campus ministers and chaplains rang in the new year at
Celebrate, an ecumenical gathering for young adults to pray, worship,
play and learn.
Participants had opportunities to appreciate the
similarities and differences in their faith journeys through Bible
study, workshops, storytelling, liturgy, "global voices," small-group
discussions, creative caucuses and cultural celebrations.
The
theme, "Weave Us Together," evoked the mixed cultures of the Southwest,
and participants were invited from "all points on the compass to be
woven together in a new spiritual community." They came from around the
world - Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim, Europe, Latin America, North
America and the Middle East.
"Celebrate is an opportunity to
learn about our Christian heritage and how diverse it is," said Victor
Leon Franklin Jr., chairperson for the United Methodist Student Movement
steering committee. "I'm glad that we're here in Albuquerque because of
the Native American and Latino communities represented here. To be
exposed to that and to talk with these persons about their history,
culture and traditions is a blessing."
The Council for
Ecumenical Student Christian Ministry and the National Catholic Student
Coalition sponsors the event, held every four years. The Council for
Ecumenical Student Christian Ministry is a partnership of students and
national higher educational denominational staff from the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ), the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United
Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church.
The Dec.
28-Jan. 1 gathering, held at the Albuquerque Convention Center, opened
with worship featuring Native American chants and drums. Episcopal
Bishop Wendell Gibbs quoted Jesus' prayer that you "may all be one: as
you, Father, are in me and I am in you..." (John 17:21, NRSV)
Students
were encouraged to attend one of eight denominational worship services
on Sunday morning, and contributions from each were received for Habitat
for Humanity. United Methodist students met as part of the
Pan-Methodist communion, along with members of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and the
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
Speakers included Millard
Fuller, founder and president of Habitat for Humanity International, a
nondenominational housing ministry. Because students wonder how to know
what God wants them to do in a world of so many needs, Fuller encouraged
them to "open yourselves up to God."
"Extend your spiritual antennas," he said. "God is broadcasting."
Participants
heard a panel of "Global Voices," students and international guests
from the World Student Christian Federation who shared their worldviews
and discussed student life. They included students from Denmark,
Pakistan, Lebanon, and Ecuador who discussed HIV/AIDS, gender equality,
violence and racism, and globalization.
Co-chair people of the
Council for Ecumenical Student Christian Ministry's Celebrate planning
committee were Glen Sears, a United Methodist and student at the
University of Kansas, and Michelle Colby, a student at the University of
Maryland-College Park and the current chairwoman of the National
Catholic Student Coalition.
"The challenge is to allow all the
voices to be heard," Sears said. "You've got more things to contrast
against. But the beautiful thing is when you turn it over to God; that's
when it finally comes together, and ... we see a common ground, a
common vision."
# # #
*Crosby is assistant editor and
writer for the Office of Interpretation, Board of Higher Education and
Ministry, Nashville, Tenn.
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