In Memoriam

The Rev. Paul Harting died October 8, 2002 in Athens, Tenn. The funeral was conducted on October 10 at Keith Memorial UMC in Athens by the Rev. Mike Hubble and by Dr. J. T. Ford, a seminary friend of the Rev. Harting.

Harting is survived by his wife Mrs. Rachel Harting and two sons, Dr. Don Charles Harting and Mr. Larry J. Harting. Correspondence may be sent to Mrs. Harting, 707 Carmen Drive, Athens, TN 37303. Memorials should be sent to Keith Memorial Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 1, Athens, TN 37371. The scholarship is for students in ministry.

Pew cushions free!

Union Grove United Methodist Church in Brownsville, TN has pew cushions to give away. They have 22 yellow gold cushions which are 11 feet in length. There are also 3 cushions that are 8 feet 3 inches in length. If your church is interested, please call the Rev. Arnold Roberts at (731) 772-0755.

2002 Lenten World Hunger Offering supports local, national & international programs

To date, the 2002 Lenten World Hunger Offering received by Memphis Conference churches totals $72,340.48. The money, which is disbursed in July, is given to United Methodist Neighborhood Centers, Reelfoot Rural Ministries, three area food banks, Wesley Madison Tower, Heifer Project International, The Society of St. Andrew (Potato Project), the United Methodist Committee on Relief (World Hunger), Hunger in Appalachia, and to the seven Memphis Conference districts.

Cokesbury Christmas Open House, Nov. 22-23

Cokesbury Bookstore is feverishly planning and preparing for the annual Cokesbury Christmas Open House. Everything in the store will be 25% off on Friday, November 22, and Saturday, November 23. Cokesbury invites everyone to come enjoy the sale, the refreshments, and special guests including local harpist Anne Meredith Frey who will be playing in the store both days from 1 PM to 3 PM. Frey will choose selections from both of her CDs which will be available for purchase. In addition, Cokesbury is finalizing plans for several in-store book signings as well as having local church choirs sing carols to make the atmosphere extra festive. Finally, Cokesbury is extending its hours from November 1st - December 21 on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Our “Holiday Weekend Hours” will be Thursday - Saturday until 8 PM.

Are your church and youth programs “Safe Sanctuaries”?

Tragically, churches are not always safe places for children and youth. With this in mind, Joy Thornburg Melton has written a book: “Safe Sanctuaries: Reducing the Risk of Child Abuse in the Church.” The book outlines a process for developing policies and procedures to recognize and reduce the risk of child abuse. Included are:

• A step-by-step plan for developing policies and procedures to prevent child abuse;

• Theological understanding and biblical mandates;

• Forms for screening workers, checking references, and reporting suspected abuse;

• Suggested training session for all persons who work with children and youth;

• Sample worship celebrating the adoption of policies and procedures.

To order, call Discipleship Resources, (800) 685-4370 or order online at www.discipleshipresources.org. (DR220) ISBN 0-88177-220-8 -- 80 pages for $15.95.

For assistance, call the Rev. Lora Jean Gowan, Director of Children’s Ministries, or the Rev. Deborah Suddarth,  Youth and Age-Level Ministries at (731) 664-8480.

Over $60,000 donated for children of Kamina

     “We could empathize with these orphans who had no one to love them, to tuck them in at night, or to hold them close as they died from hunger, worm infestation and disease.”

What a glorious sight it was on June 2, 2002 as children, youth, young adults and older adults came down the aisles to contribute to a fund to feed the children of Kamina!

We were the church in action, responding to Christ’s message in Matthew 25: 35-41 to feed the hungry,  give drink to the thirsty and visit the prisoners.

Bishop Ntambo had preached and we had heard the cries of children who received only three meals a week. We could empathize with these orphans who had no one to love them, to tuck them in at night, or to hold them close as they died from hunger, worm infestation and disease.

Yes, we not only talked the talk but we walked the walk as we attempted to raise $100,000 for these children. The goal was not met but there are people still responding. The Paducah District Laity gave $1400 in their recent meeting which brings the total to over $60,000.

I am grateful, as are Bishop Ntambo and the children of Kamina, that we heard their cries, felt their pain and responded.

William W. Morris

Lilly Foundation grants Memphis Theological Seminary $1.9 million

Memphis Theological Seminary has received a grant for $1,920,145 to fund a three-year program to promote the ongoing theological development of pastors across the Mid-South.

MTS’ proposal, Sustaining Pastoral Excellence Through Scholarship, Piety and Justice, was one of 47 proposals nationwide to be selected from more than 700 applications.

Among the other grantees in this group are the Arkansas and North Alabama Conferences of the United Methodist Church, the Mississippi Conferences Center for Ministry, the Upper Room, Boston University, Princeton Theological Seminary and the University of Notre Dame.

MTS’ grant is part of $57.8 million that Lilly Endowment Inc. has committed nationwide toward creating environments for ongoing biblical study, theological reflection and spiritual renewal, as well as the development of sustained friendships and mutual support opportunities for sustaining pastoral excellence.

Craig Dykstra, Lilly Endowment vice president for religion, said, “Not surprisingly, we know that healthy, engaged, thoughtful, dedicated ministers go hand in hand with healthy, vibrant and effective congregations.”

About the program

The heart of the program will focus on 60 pastors and their families from various mainline denominations who excel in pastoral ministry. They will be linked together in ecumenical colleague groups for ongoing personal and pastoral development over the course of three years.

The program will provide resources for participating pastors and their families to explore creative learning, worship and service opportunities that will sustain them for a lifetime of Christian ministry. Pastors who reside within a 90-100 mile radius of Memphis will be invited into the program.

Research and goals

Working with the non-profit Grant Center of Memphis to write the proposal, United Methodist professors Lee Ramsey, Barry Bryant, and Virginia Lee gathered research by organizing conversation groups with area pastors, laity and church administrators. Their discussions included pastoral excellence in ministry, how to define ministerial excellence and how it can be sustained.

Among their findings were the following:

• Excellent pastors recognize the importance of the whole person as a child of God, and they cultivate a balance in life through attention to body, mind and spirit. They give proper attention to relationships within and outside of the congregations they serve, including family, friends and ministerial colleagues.

• Excellent pastors seek out colleague groups in which to extend and receive the grace of God and in which they can find accountability for the Christian life.

• They relish lifelong learning as central to the Christian ministry.

• They demonstrate visionary leadership whether serving in large, medium or small congregations.

The program’s goals and activities have been envisioned to support and strengthen these and other identified characteristics of pastoral faithfulness.

The program begins in 2004

Participants in the pastoral excellence program, which will begin in the summer of 2004, will commit to three-year colleague groups guided by carefully selected and trained leaders. They will engage in ongoing theological study, prayer, worship and servant ministry and will be provided substantial resources to develop their own programs of renewal through sabbaticals, retreats, conferencing and holistic health care.

Other partnership ministries that will provide support for the participants and their families are the Center for Hope and Healing, Methodist Healthcare’s Pastor’s Clinic, Samaritan Counseling Centers of the Mid-South, the School of Servant Leadership and the Metro Office of Urban Ministries.

 “There is a great deal of effective Christian leadership among our pastors and congregations, and Lilly Endowment is giving us the means for identifying and supporting some of these faithful pastors,” said Dr. Lee Ramsey, associate professor of Pastoral Care.

 “This grant will not only enable us to support excellent pastors and their families in their current ministries, but it will allow Memphis Theological Seminary to explore ways to sustain pastoral excellence over a lifetime,” he said.

Complete information regarding the details of Memphis Theological Seminary’s sustaining pastoral excellence program will be available in the fall of 2003.

Memphis Theological Seminary, an ecumenical Protestant seminary, is committed to providing theological education for church leaders throughout the world. The seminary is an institution of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. As a Christian seminary, it seeks to cultivate a love for scholarship, piety and justice. The institution fosters ecumenical cooperation, supports the full ministry of women and men of all races and cultures and provides resources for the church’s life and witness.

Contact:Susan Epperson

(901) 458-8232, ext. 112

Oldest concrete evidence of Jesus found in Israel

UMNS–The Rev. Ben Witherington III is in the middle of a whirlwind dating back to A.D. 63.

A New Testament professor at Asbury Theological Seminary and a writer for the Biblical Archaeology Review, Witherington, a United Methodist pastor in the Kentucky Conference, took part in the announcement Oct. 21 that a limestone ossuary recently discovered in Israel appears to provide the oldest archaeological evidence of Jesus Christ.The ossuary, a box used by Jews at the time of Christ to hold the bones of the deceased, has a simple but provocative Aramaic inscription: “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.”

“The inscription reads ‘James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus,’ not ‘James, brother of Jesus, son of Joseph,’” said Witherington. “We might have expected the latter if this was a forgery. Also, if we had the latter inscription it would raise some questions about Jesus’ relationship with Joseph. As it is written, it simply tells us James” relationship to two of his close relatives– his father and his brother.”

“This inscription is the most important extrabiblical evidence of its kind that James existed, was someone important, and was the brother of another early Jew who was very important— Jesus.”

It is unusual for the box to have an inscription that refers to a brother, he said. It was not the usual practice to put a brother’s name on the ossuary unless the brother was someone who was well known, he said.

“Since the Aramaic here clearly says brother, without qualification, the natural inference is that James had the same sort of blood kinship to Jesus as to Joseph.”

The limestone box was discovered several years ago after being purchased by an antiquities dealer in Jerusalem. It was kept secret while undergoing authentification tests. The next step for Witherington will be to co-write a book about the discovery with Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archaeology Review. The Discovery channel will air a special on the find next Easter and the book is scheduled to be published at about the same time.

“Everyone’s devoted to getting good grades and sharing their faith with others. We have so many leaders in our class, I really believe the whole campus will grow in faith over the next few years.” Lauren Roden

and A. C. Hassall

By Cathy Farmer

Full tuition scholarships don’t come easy, you have to earn them. And that’s just what Lauren Roden and Allen Christiansen “A.C.” Hassall did.

Lambuth University freshmen Hassall and Roden are the 1992 Bishop’s Scholarships winners. The full tuition scholarships are awarded to United Methodist students of good character who intend to enter full time ministry.

“Lauren, an active United Methodist from Cullman, Alabama, is looking at entering full-time youth ministry.

“I was very active in my youth group at Cullman First,” said the vivacious young woman. “Just about any time the door was open, I was there.”

Lauren described taking part in her church’s “Rake and Run.” The youth would rake the yards of the elderly then quickly run away.

“We went on a lot of mission trips, too,” she said. “To S.O.S. in Memphis, to Red Bird Missionary Conference, to soup kitchens and clothes closets.”

A.C., a member of Brentwood UMC, plans to be an ordained pastor. “And I’m really interested in philosophy right now, too,” he said enthusiastically.

Both students are high on the education they’re receiving at Lambuth.

“This has been the best experience,” A.C. confided. “The small campus gives everyone a chance to take a leadership role. Small class sizes means we have a good relationship with our professors, too.”

Hassall says the Lambuth student body is pretty much like him and Lauren: “Everyone’s devoted to getting good grades and sharing their faith with others. We have so many leaders in our class, I really believe the whole campus will grow in faith over the next few years.

“This is a strong, growing Christian community,” he said.