Dr. Riley’s body was donated to "Genesis of Life" Medical Research in Memphis, TN.

Surviving are his wife, Mary L. Jones Riley; one son, Mike Riley of Deland, FL; two daughters, Jan Riley Hunt of Kevil, Ky. and Ann Jones Quigley of Republic, Missouri; eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Correspondence may be sent to Mrs. Mary Riley, 539 Woodland Drive, Paducah, KY 42001.

Union University School of Nursing and Community Health Ministries of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis are now partners in offering a course designed to prepare registered nurses to function in the Parish Nurse role. The Parish Nurse is focused on health promotion and disease prevention within the values, beliefs and practices of a faith community. In the past three years, 154 registered nurses from 85 churches and 25 faith/denominations have completed the training offered through Community Health Ministries. The course, open to all faiths, provides 37.4 contact hours for full participation. Sessions are scheduled on:

May 30 - June 2 – Jackson, TN

June 20-24 – Memphis

September 19-23 – Memphis

To register, or for more information, call: Alma Abuelouf, (901) 373-1224. E-mail aabuelouf@cdom.org. Or Geri Smith, (901) 759-0029. E-mail gsmith@uu.edu.

On Saturday, May 18, the popular Gospel Singing Group "The Finchers," will be present at East Dyersburg UMC’s homecoming. On Sunday, a potluck dinner will follow 11 AM worship.

On July 18-20, Disciple Bible Study Training will be offered in Disciple I, II, III, IV and Youth. Enrollment fee for new churches is $750. Includes lodging for two nights, meals for one, leader’s materials, training and resources for first group of 12. Additional person is $300 (includes lodging for two nights, meals for one, materials and training). Scholarships (one per district) are available for lay persons. Contact your district superintendent for information. The Memphis Conference coordinator is the Rev. Deborah Suddarth. For more information or to register, call (800) 672-1789, FAX (615) 749-6049. Or go online: www.umph.org/disciple.

On June 4, the youth of the Memphis Annual Conference will meet in Paducah, Ky to pray. Yes. Pray.

Junior and Senior High youth will rally at Noble Park from 1:30 - 2:45 PM. Then, from 2:45 to 4:30 PM, the youth will hold prayer in the Four Corners of Paducah. At 6:30 PM, they will Prayer March through downtown Paducah to Broadway UMC.

After joining delegates of Annual Conference 2002 for worship at Broadway at 7:30 PM, the youth will have a second Rally at 9:00 PM at Broadway United Methodist church for an evening of praise bands, fun, games and snacks.

Broadway is opening their church for any youth groups to stay the night. Reserve a space by calling (731) 664-8480.

MEMPHIS–Jim Cooper, newly appointed as superintendent of the Paris District by Bishop William W. Morris, says he’s looking forward to getting to know the people and the churches in the area.

"I hope to help build on the strong work already going on, including the support of apportionments," said the man who early in his pastorate served two Paris District churches–Carter’s Chapel and Liberty All. He also worked for two years with Huntingdon’s First United Methodist Church while studying at Lambuth College.

Cooper says he is anticipating having the opportunity to become more closely associated with Lakeshore United Methodist Assembly which lies within the bounds of the Paris District.

A 1968 graduate of Lambuth College, Cooper received his master of divinity degree from The Divinity School, Duke University, in 1971. His first appointment after graduation from seminary was to the McLemoresville - Trezevant Charge.

While at Lambuth, Cooper met his wife, Arleen, who is also a 1968 Lambuth graduate. They married following their graduation.

Arleen has been teaching art in elementary schools for the past 17 years. She and Jim have two sons–Scott, who lives near Atlanta, and Christopher, who lives in Telluride, Colorado.

Jim and Arleen come to the Paris District following a 5 1/2 year pastorate at Trinity United Methodist Church in Memphis.

The Memphis Conference Area I Early Response Team answered a call for help after a tornado damaged 60 homes in the Tennessee Conference. Pictured above (L-R) are: Joyce Wiggins, Raleigh UMC; Myrtle Brown, St. Matthew’s; Byron Crain, Emmanuel; Jerry Morton, Collierville; George Hiatt, Emmanuel; Joe Crozier, Raleigh; Mike Perry, Somerville First: Bill Smitley, St. Luke’s; Jim Farris, Emmanuel; David Turner, St. Luke’s; and Larry Burke, Tennessee Conference disaster response coordinator.

A shake down cruise. That’s what Myrtle Brown, one of the coordinators of Area I’s Disaster Response Team, called the group’s recent trip to the Gum community just south of Murfreesboro, Tenn.

After an early Sunday morning tornado laid waste to 60 homes in rural Middle Tennessee, United Methodist leaders called for help cleaning up debris and sifting through belongings.

Jimmy Whittington, Memphis Conference disaster response coordinator, contacted Area I team leaders, Byron Crain, Joyce Wiggins and Brown. Area I draws volunteers from Shelby, Tipton and Fayette counties.

By Thursday, a team of 10 volunteers was on the road, hauling along in their caravan a completely outfitted Early Response trailer.

The eight men and two women spent all day Friday and most of the day Saturday clearing away downed trees, picking up scattered belongings, and listening to the stories of the survivors.

"This trip reaffirmed for us that the people are more important than the task," Ms. Brown said thoughtfully.

"When people want to talk, you stop what you’re doing and listen to them," she said, recalling that Billy Davenport, one of the victims, told everyone in the team about his miraculous escape when the tornado tore his mother-in-law’s house down around him.

Byron Crain said the outing served several purposes: "We got to meet the wonderful people at Fellowship UMC, our hosts; we met the victims and listened to their stories; and we got to know our team better."

"We found we need to make a few changes, too," Ms. Wiggins added, listing stronger crowbars, equipment for 12 instead of 10 volunteers and stouter boots as possibilities.

Helping tornado victims pick up the pieces of their lives is exactly what Memphis Conference volunteers trained to do.

Brent Salsgiver recently helped liberate 2435 slaves during a daring rescue mission in the Sudan, according to the American Anti-Slavery Group.

According to Jesse Sage, associate director of the Group which is an organization whose purpose is to abolish modern day slavery, the young Tennessean risked his life to bring freedom to women and children who have been abducted.

Salsgiver traveled into the war zone of southern Sudan for eight days in late March to assist in a slave rescue mission by the Swiss-based Christian Solidarity International.

Salsgiver said, "I went to bring back the stories of the survivors. Every day we do not act, another girl is raped, another woman branded, and another boy is clubbed. We need to demand that the international community pay attention and end this crime against humanity once and for all."

During his time in the Sudan, Salsgiver interviewed dozens of women and children.

"I sat in horror as people let me into their lives," Salsgiver said. "I met with Wal Garang, a 10-year-old boy who watched his sister brutally raped by seven men who then shot her in the head. Ajak Nomg Akol, a 27-year-old woman, told me about being kept in a thorn pen for three days with no food or water, let out only to be gang raped by up to 10 men at a time. She was then sold to a master, held as a domestic slave, and branded on the cheek."

Salsgiver added that people are largely unaware of what’s happening in the Sudan and need to know.

The young Tennessean lived in Nashville for seven years while his father, Dr. Thomas Salsgiver, worked on the staff of the General Board of Discipleship. He returned to Nashville in 2001 to work for the United Methodist Youth Organization.

For more information, call the Anti-Slavery Group at (800) 884-0719.

By now, most of you are aware that I am no longer at the Memphis Cokesbury Store. I would be remiss in leaving and not saying "thank you" to the Memphis Annual Conference for the last seven and a half years!

Your love and support were greatly
appreciated. I look forward to seeing you all at Annual Conference this year in Paducah, KY as the spouse of a United Methodist pastor and not in my usual role with Cokesbury.

Know that my prayers will be with you all, as well as with the staff of the Memphis store.

My prayer for the United Methodist Publishing House (UMPH) is that they keep the mission and ministry of our church, The United Methodist Church, first and foremost in all they do.

Lambuth students, Lambuth alumni, and Andrew Thompson, Associate Chaplain at Lambuth, will travel in July on a mission trip to Chincha, Peru. This will be the second year in a row that Lambuth students have visited Chincha.

The group will travel as part of a service mission to work with the Methodist Church Iglesia Metodista de Chincha. They will assist in the construction of a day school for disadvantaged children of the suburb in Chincha called Chincha Baja.

The trip to Chincha, Peru, is coordinated through the United Methodist Church’s Volunteers in Missions program. It is presented in conjunction with mission teams from other United Methodist Colleges which include Hendrix College in Conway, Arizona, and Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota.

Funds for the mission trip are being raised through local churches.

Individuals interested in contributing or obtaining more information about the mission trip may contact Andrew Thompson at (731) 425-3340 or e-mail thompson@lambuth.edu.