Diversity marks 2006 United Methodist Women?s Assembly
Jan. 12, 2006
A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*
A
Bolivian organizer, Tongan women?s choir, Latino orchestra, Christian salsa band
and drummers from several cultures reflect the diversity to be found at the 2006
United Methodist Women?s Assembly.
The assembly, which has occurred every four years since 1942, will meet May 4-7
at the convention center in Anaheim, Calif. The theme is ?Rise! Shine! Glorify
God!? and an estimated 8,000 women are expected to attend.
Well-known assembly presenters will include Anna Deveare Smith, the actress,
playwright and writer, and Emily Saliers, a musician and one-half of the Grammy
Award-winning Indigo Girls.
For Jan Love, who is marking her first assembly as chief executive of the
Women?s Division, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, the event offers
an opportunity for United Methodist Women to educate themselves, ?discern the
future? and have fun. The Women?s Division is UMW?s administrative arm.
Love told United Methodist News Service that this year?s theme ?promotes
the long-standing commitment of United Methodist Women to the unity of
mission and evangelism across the country and the world. It will be
infused into the life of the assembly through performers, speakers,
testimonies and people.?
An
important element to the assembly is hearing stories of mission. ?We?ll also be
surrounded by mission projects and programs that witness to the love and grace
of Jesus in the lives of women and children,? she said. ?These were founded and
supported by United Methodist Women and have changed thousands of lives.?
A
carnival-like procession of 63 banners from each of the denomination?s annual
(regional) conferences, led by three huge puppets, will open the assembly at 7
p.m. May 4. Latino, Tongan, African and Native American drums will accompany
Kyung Za Yim, the Women?s Division president, in the call to worship. Japanese
Taiko drumming will be interspersed with Scripture readings as worship
continues.
Morning plenary sessions on May 5 and 6 will include Bible studies and
presentations on mission-related issues.
The keynote speaker for the May 5 morning plenary will be Wahu Kaara of Kenya.
Also featured will be representatives of New Entra Casa, a project of a prison
transitional program for women. The teenage children of these women have
developed their own gospel rock tunes.
A
reflection on ?music as spiritual practice? will be offered May 6 by Saliers and
her father, the Rev. Don E. Saliers, of the Candler School of Theology in
Atlanta, where he directs the Masters in Sacred Music Program.
A graduate of Emory University, Emily Saliers has
performed with Amy Ray as the Indigo Girls for 18 years. Her first book is a
collaboration with her father, titled, A Song to Sing, a Life to Live (Jossey-Bass,
2004).
Don Saliers is the William R. Cannon Distinguished
Professor of Theology and Worship at Candler and taught at Yale Divinity School
before moving to Atlanta in 1974. He has contributed to the development of
worship for the United Methodist Church for nearly 40 years, and has served as
president of the North American Academy of Liturgy and the Society for the Study
of Christian Spirituality.
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A UMNS photo by John C. GoodwinCasimira
Rodriguez Romero, who received the World Methodist Peace Award in 2003,
has led a long fight for the legal rights of household workers in
Bolivia. |
Casimira
Rodriguez Romero describes her long fight for the legal rights of
household workers in Bolivia during a meeting in New York with staff at
the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. Rodriguez became a
household worker at age 13 and quickly became an activist in the
movement to organize her nation's domestic help. When she began
attending Emmanuel Methodist Church in Cochabamba, Rodriguez realized
that "social justice and the gospels go hand-in-hand." Rodriguez
received the World Methodist Peace Award in 2003. A UMNS photo by John
C. Goodwin. Photo number 05-186, Accompanies UMNS #117, 2/25/05 |
M.
Garlinda Burton, chief executive of the United Methodist Commission on the
Status and Role of Women, will lead that morning?s Bible study, weaving stories
from the Gospel of Matthew with real-life stories from three women. The women
are Casimira Rodriguez of Bolivia, who has helped organize domestic workers
throughout Latin America; Kim Hallowell, a California teenager and advocate on
global child labor issues; and Christy Smith, a Tennessee writer involved in
disaster relief after the Gulf Coast hurricanes.
The plenary also includes the Tongan Women?s Choir of the United Methodist
California-Pacific Annual Conference.
On
the afternoons of May 5 and 6, participants can chose from more than 60
workshops addressing the issues of mission, theology, worship, UMW membership,
spirituality, politics and social concerns.
Sample topics include: Marketing Violence to Children; Charting a Course for
Racial Justice; Domestic Violence: Breaking the Silence; Being Christian in an
Age of Empire; Ministry To and With Troubled Teens; Water as a Human Right;
Building Interfaith Communities; the Ethics of NANO Technology; Hip Hop and the
Gospel; Finding God in Disaster; and Meditating with Body and Soul.
The evenings of May 5 and 6 are devoted to the arts. On May 5, a performance by
Deveare Smith ? known for combining journalistic interview techniques with
dramatic interpretations ? will focus on issues of social justice pertinent to
women and children. Latino Orquesta Jubileo also will perform with a 14-piece
Christian salsa band.
Deveare Smith?s play, ?Twilight: Los Angeles,? examined the civil unrest
following the Rodney King verdict and received two Tony nominations, an Obie
award, and a Drama Desk Award, among other honors. Her drama ?Fires in the
Mirror? examined racial tensions between blacks and Jews that culminated in the
1991 race riots in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She also has had a recurring role on
?The West Wing? television show.
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Jan Love |
Evening performances May 6 will feature the Clark-Atlanta University Steppers
and a choir from Seoul, South Korea.
The assembly will close with worship the morning of May 7, featuring dancers, a
house band and musician Jorge Lockward.
?Many United Methodist Women and others in the church report that previous
assemblies proved to be turning points in their lives, deepening their service
to Christ?s mission,? Love said. ?This one will be equally significant for the
organization and the church, and we?re very excited about putting the finishing
touches on the preparation.?
Registration information for the assembly can be found online at
www.umwassembly.org or obtained by writing to the Assembly Business Office
at 7820 Reading Road, Caller 1800, Cincinnati, OH 45222-1800. The registration
deadline is March 20.
*Bloom is a United Methodist
News Service news writer based in New York.
News media contact: Linda
Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Resources
2006 United Methodist Women?s Assembly
United Methodist Women
Women?s Division?s 135th Anniversary
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