Gathering will put spotlight on international mission
1/16/2003 News media contact: Linda Bloom · (646) 369-3759 · New York United Methodist News Service Church
leaders from around the world will share their stories and challenges
during the United Methodist's "Global Gathering" April 10-13 in
Birmingham, Ala.
Sponsored by the Board of Global Ministries, the
denomination's mission agency, the event will feature morning and
evening worship services, daily Bible study, panelists and keynote
speakers discussing mission, a choice of 43 different workshops and a
"global village" area with exhibits and performances.
The opening
worship at 7:30 p.m. April 10 will celebrate partnership with churches
of the South Pacific. The preacher will be the Rev. James A. Forbes Jr.,
senior pastor of Riverside Church in New York. A former professor at
Union Theological Seminary, Forbes is well known for leading his church
in mission outreach both in New York and around the world.
Methodist
Bishop Nelida Ritchie, Evangelical Methodist Church of Argentina, will
lead the morning Bible study sessions April 11-13.
Morning
keynote speakers for April 11 and 12 will be the Rev. Elizabeth Tapia, a
theologian and ecumenical leader from the Philippines, and Janice Love,
a United Methodist lay person and professor from South Carolina who has
been active in the World Council of Churches. "Witnesses" from various
countries, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Russia and
Cambodia, will talk about the need for global mission.
The April
11 evening worship will be a service of baptismal remembrance,
celebrating partnership with churches in Africa. The Rev. R. Randy Day,
new chief executive for the Board of Global Ministries, will preach.
Morning
worship April 12 will focus on prayers for wholeness and mark
partnerships with churches in North America and Europe. The Montana
Logging and Ballet Company, a performing group whose satirical
commentary on current events is heard regularly on National Public
Radio's "Sunday Weekend Edition," will provide the evening's
entertainment.
The four members of the group, who met as students
at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Mont., 27 years ago, are Tim
Holmes, an internationally acclaimed sculptor; Steve Garnaas-Holmes, a
United Methodist pastor and poet; Bob Fitzgerald, a business manager;
and Rusty Harper, a musician, writer and seminar instructor.
The
closing Palm Sunday worship service April 13 will celebrate partnerships
with churches in Latin America and the Caribbean. Members of two
Birmingham churches will lead a procession to the service, where the
Rev. Randolph Nugent, the board's recently retired chief executive, will
preach.
Events connected to the Global Gathering include the
April 9-10 "Youth Go Global" conference, drawing young people from every
continent to share their diverse faith journeys in seminars, workshops
and fellowship; three planned tours of national mission agencies and
institutions in Birmingham and North Alabama immediately following the
gathering; and projects for mission volunteers, such as the construction
of a Habitat for Humanity house.
The Global Gathering
registration fee is $150 per person. Those registering will receive
information about hotel reservations, which are being coordinated
through the Birmingham Convention Bureau. More information, including
event registration forms, can be found at http://gbgm-umc.org, the
board's Web site.
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