Agency postpones webcast, cancels Manila meeting
3/20/2003 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn. By United Methodist News Service A live, online discussion about the future of the United Methodist Church that had been planned for March 25 has been postponed.
The
Forum on the Future webcast was to have been broadcast from Manila, the
Philippines, in concert with the March 24-31 meeting of the United
Methodist General Council on Ministries there. However, the general
council cancelled its meeting March 18 after many of its members decided
in recent days not to make the trip.
"We had invited some of the
central conference (non-U.S.) members and the denominational leaders
and scholars scheduled to be at the GCOM spring meeting to be panelists
and engage in a conversation with ecumenical leaders from the National
Council of the Churches of the Philippines," said Craig This, director
of the general council's Office of Research and Planning in Dayton,
Ohio. "When the GCOM meeting was cancelled, we decided to postpone the
web cast because many of those participating were members of GCOM."
The
Forums on the Future, sponsored by the general council in cooperation
with the Inter-Agency Research Task Force, are focused on the theme,
"What in the World Are We Talking About? Strengthening Our Global
Connection and Ecumenical Relationships." They are designed to give
church members a chance to ask questions and offer comments by phone or
e-mail to a diverse panel of denominational leaders.
Nearly 500
people logged on during the first Forum on the Future webcast Feb. 26.
Originating from Nashville, Tenn., it focused on the theme from a U.S.
perspective. The second forum was to provide a central conference
perspective.
The scheduled panelists for the Manila webcast
included several people from the central conferences: Emma Cantor, the
Philippines; Solomon Chiripasi, Zimbabwe; Roland Siegrist, Austria; and
Sharon Rose Joy Ruiz-Duremedes, top staff executive of the National
Council of Churches in the Philippines.
In addition, four people
from the United States were going to participate: Bishop Alfred
Johnson, leader of the church's New Jersey Area and chairperson of the
Advance for Christ and His Church; Jan Love, professor, Department of
Religious Studies, University of South Carolina; the Rev. Bruce Robbins,
top staff executive of the United Methodist Commission on Christian
Unity and Interreligious Concerns; and Jay Williams, a Harvard
University student. Love, Robbins and Williams had participated in the
first Forum on the Future webcast.
Plans are already under way to hold the second forum later this year, This said.
He
recommended that people check the Forum on the Future Web site
www.gcom-umc.org/future or write to research@gcom-umc.org for updates.
|
Back : News Archives 2003 Main
|
|
“We believe in God and in each other.”The people of The United Methodist Church
Still Have Questions?
If you have any questions Ask
InfoServ
Purchase a $20 buzzkill t-shirt and help save a life
Buy a t-shirt
|
Korean News