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June 4, 2004 News
N. Ga. to
address higher education, insurance
Methodist
membership rapidly growing in Cuba
Obituaries: Mary Jane Strauss Cochran | Decatur Thomas Alexander White Jr. | Gordon Memorials: Lucille Cooper Fletcher | Jenkinsburg
N. Ga. to
address higher education, insurance Support for student interns at college campus ministries and a new plan for funding retiree health insurance are chief among the issues that will come before the North Georgia Conference when it gathers in annual session June 15-18 at the Classic Center in Athens. In addition to conducting conference business, the 2,700 delegates will gather for soul-stirring worship, fellowship with other United Methodists, some of whom they haven’t seen for a year, and gather for special events, particularly around meal times. Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue will greet delegates on Thursday afternoon and then be the guest speaker at the United Methodist Men’s dinner that night. North Georgia Bishop Lindsey Davis, who will be presiding over his eighth North Georgia Annual Conference, will be the guest speaker at the annual Laity Luncheon on Wednesday. Preachers for the week will include the Rev. Bill Hinson, a South Georgia native and retired pastor of Houston First UMC now living in Alabama, who will speak at the ordination service on Tuesday night and the celebration of evangelism service Wednesday afternoon; the Rev. Donn Ann Weber, pastor of Cokesbury UMC in Atlanta and conference secretary who will preach at the opening Holy Communion service on Tuesday afternoon; Dr. Stuart Gulley, president of LaGrange College, who will preach at the Wednesday night service celebrating United Methodist higher education; and the Rev. Ed Tomlinson, executive assistant to the bishop, who will preach at the memorial service Thursday afternoon remembering pastors and pastors’ spouses who have passed away in the past year. In addition to Gulley, several other worship leaders at the conference will represent UM higher education. Early morning Communion leaders Wednesday through Friday will include the Rev. Bob Beckwith, director of the Wesley Foundation at the University of Georgia; the Rev. Steve Fazenbaker, director of the Wesley Foundation at Georgia Tech; and the Rev. Bridgette Young, associate dean of the chapel at Emory University. Others associated with United Methodist campus ministries will give prayers during business session. The speakers at the laity service on Thursday night will be David Bachman, a member of Mt. Pisgah UMC in Alpharetta and a student at Vanderbilt University, and Amanda Giordano, a member of Wesley UMC in Evans and a student at UGA. A conference-wide offering is being taken to establish an endowment for a new Student Servant Internship Program, which will provide a $1,000 stipend to students serving internships in campus ministries at both UM-related and non-UM related colleges. Churches are asked to collect the offering at home and then bring it to the conference for the Wednesday night service. A student servant stipend, said the Rev. Bill Griffin, director of the Georgia Commission on Higher Education and Campus Ministry, “is not a lot of money, but it’s money that is going to be shared with these young people at an important time in their lives and is a wonderful way to plant seeds.” While the internships are not being limited to those planning for full-time Christian service, Griffin believes the program will have a significant impact on recruiting candidates for ordained ministry. “When I went through LaGrange College, there was a class for pre-ministerial students, and that was true all over the church,” he said. “That’s not true anymore, but that doesn’t mean that young people at these schools aren’t considering ministry. Where the call is repeatedly happening is on college campuses and in some unlikely places.” He pointed out that over the last 10 years some 120 students who participated in the Wesley Foundation at the University of Georgia have heeded the call to ministry and that Georgia Tech has a strong record in this regard as well. “It’s happening all over the country,” Griffin said, “and we just feel like it [the internship program] is an honest-to-goodness golden opportunity to have an impact on the future of the church in the North Georgia Conference.” Another mission emphasis at the conference will be the collection of school supplies for the Hands to Honduras program. Items being solicited are boxes of chalk, chalk erasers, boxes of pencils, 100-sheet spiral notebooks and Spanish reading books. Cash is also welcomed, and checks should be made payable to North Georgia Conference “Hands to Honduras.” The proposed North Georgia budget for next year is slightly over $23 million, a 3.3 percent increase over 2004 but the smallest increase in 10 years. The small increase is due primarily to a proposal to change how a retiree medical plan is funded, said Keith Cox, conference treasurer. The proposed insurance plan is intricate, and presentations on its details are being made in pre-conference briefings, while the full plan is included as well in the handbook given to each delegate. Those retiring before 1983 will continue to receive coverage at no cost, while those retiring between 1/1/83 and 12/31/2004 will fall under one formula and those retiring after 1/1/05 into still another category. Under the plan, all retirees, excluding those prior to 1983, will be paying a greater cost for health care coverage, and for those retiring after Jan. 1, 2005, the amount a clergyperson pays will be calculated according to years of service. Clergy will also be paying part of the cost for coverage of spouses and dependents, who in the past have received free coverage. The proposed plan was developed over the past year by an insurance task force headed by the Rev. James Cantrell, pastor of St. James UMC in Atlanta. The overall goal, he said, is to continue to provide a retiree medical plan but at the same time reduce unfunded liability (what it would cost to pay for health insurance for all employees throughout their lifetimes). According to Cox, unfunded liability for the retiree insurance is now $63.5 million and would be reduced to $46.5 million under the new plan. The next challenge for the insurance task force, Cantrell said, is looking at coverage for active pastors to see if premium costs can be reduced while maintaining adequate coverage.
Diana makes
United Methodists, Georgians proud Diana DeGarmo may not be the next “American Idol,” but she’s certainly made Zoar UMC, her hometown of Snellville and the state of Georgia proud. The 16-year-old United Methodist was runner-up in the months-long singing competition that started with 70,000 hopefuls. “She’ll still go far,” said her pastor, the Rev. Dana Everhart. “She is a shining light, and that has come through on television.” Diana first showed her true colors when she traveled 6,000 miles to audition for “American Idol” in Hawaii even though there was an audition held in Georgia. She had made a previous commitment to sing at a Wal-Mart grand opening the same day as the Idol audition in Atlanta. Even though she dreamed of being on the show, she would not break her promise. Instead she found a way to get to the next city in the line-up-Honolulu. She conducted herself with the same level of integrity throughout the televised show-and viewers responded. Though she had ups and downs in the competition, she advanced each week until the May 26 results show that crowned Fantasia Barrino of North Carolina the next American Idol-a title that comes with a recording contract, “fame and a lot of money,” according to the show’s producer and judge, Simon Cowell. Diana’s “Idol” time won’t end yet though. She will step right into a 50-city tour with the other 11 finalists that will run from June through September. After that she’s planning to start recording an album. “But we hope she’ll be back in Snellville sometime after the tour,” said Everhart. The young United Methodist brought a lot of attention to the denomination. When she visited Atlanta three weeks ago with a Fox television crew, fans, family and friends gathered at Snellville UMC. “It was a great day for United Methodism,” said the Rev. David Jones, Snellville’s pastor. “A lot of people were there that day that might not have stepped into a church otherwise.” A community-wide viewing party was held at Zoar UMC May 25 to watch Diana’s final performance on the show. A crowd filled the church gym and television and newspaper reporters were on hand to get the reaction of her hometown fans. “I remember seeing Diana in a talent show when she was five years old,” said church member Melinda Rahm “She was as poised in kindergarten as she is today.” Diana received a standing ovation at Zoar along with squeals of glee from the kids that admired her even before she was a TV star. “We’re proud of her, regardless,” Everhart said.
Two United Methodist-related colleges in Georgia have announced high appointments: Dr. Stephen Gunter, currently associate professor of evangelism at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, will assume duties July 1 as Young Harris College president. Bishop Marion Edwards, who is retiring from the episcopacy in August, will be bishop-in-residence at LaGrange College, a newly created position. Gunter, who has 27 years experience in college administration and teaching, is a clergy member of the North Georgia Conference. As the college’s 19th president, he succeeds Dr. Thomas Yow III, who left the position last fall; since then Dr. Clay Dotson, a retired faculty member/administrator has been serving as interim president. Gunter said he had long admired “from a distance” Young Harris’ “wonderful tradition of shaping and educating young people, forming them for life. That [kind of] formation is something that’s high on my list of priorities.” He came to Candler 10 years ago from Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Okla., where he held both administrative and teaching positions for 14 years. He received a master of divinity degree from Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas, City, Mo., and a Ph.D. in theology from the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. Gunter praised Young Harris for its visionary board of trustees and the “marvelous fiscal and physical condition” of the college, which has close to $100 million in its endowment. He also praised his experience at Candler, although he said he had a “sharp learning curve” when he moved from the small, 2000-member student body at SNU, where he served as dean of Bethany College, to a major university setting which placed more emphasis on original research and publication than he had been used to. At the same time, he said he had been welcomed and affirmed at Candler in “wonderful ways.” While he feels a sense of poignancy at leaving Emory, “that’s overmatched by a sense of excitement and the opportunity and challenge of giving shape and direction to Young Harris as a whole.” His goal and that of the board of trustees, he said, is to be “the benchmark liberal arts college in North America.” There has been some discussion of making Young Harris a four-year college, but at this point, Gunter said, “we prefer being the best two-year school in America over being an average or mediocre four-year school.” Gunter and his wife, Ruth Ann, who is assistant director of the evening MBA program at Emory, have two sons: Kirk, 29, who lives in Jones, Okla., and teaches at a college for massage therapists and athletic trainers, and Jeremy, a technician for Sprint Corporation. A Georgia native, Edwards began his ministry in the South Georgia Conference, serving congregations in Macon, Savannah, Valdosta and Columbus before being consecrated a bishop in 1996. Since then he has served as bishop of the North Carolina Conference headquartered in Raleigh. As bishop-in-residence at LaGrange, he will be involved in a variety of aspects of life at the college, including work inside and outside the walls of the institution. “The chance to become a part of LaGrange College will be a wonderful step in my ministry,” he said. “As I move into a new phase of my life, I look forward to the opportunity to help build the next generation of faith. What better way to have an impact than to become involved with tomorrow’s leaders?” In his new part-time role at the college, Edwards will work to strengthen ties with the church and will work directly with the students, particularly those pursuing a vocation in Christian ministry. The college is currently one of only eight institutions accredited by the United Methodist Church to offer certification in Christian education, and its religion major has also seen an upswing in enrollment in recent years. In addition to serving as a resource for students, Edwards will serve as a resource for the entire region, filling the role of guest speaker and preacher at churches in the area. Edwards has worked as a trustee on the boards of numerous church-related institutions of higher education and currently serves on the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. He attended Young Harris College, earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgia Southern University and a master of divinity and doctor of ministry degrees from Candler School of Theology.
Top of the News
Prison chaplains saved
Sugar Hill gets grant
Scholarships awarded
Methodist
membership rapidly growing in Cuba ATLANTA-”The Methodist Church in Cuba is alive and well,” reported Cuban Bishop Ricardo Diaz to the congregation at Ben Hill UMC May 2. “We are experiencing 25 percent growth every year, so that’s 100 percent growth every four years,” he said. “Our prayer is that it continues to grow that way.” Diaz met Ben Hill’s senior pastor, the Rev. McCallister Hollins, at an evangelical conference in Cuba in January. Though Diaz speaks little English and Hollins speaks no Spanish, the two were “kindred spirits,” according to Hollins. “We agreed that when he came to the United States he would visit Ben Hill,” said Hollins. “I needed [my church] to see this bishop, to see his passion and love for the Lord.” Though the Cuban Methodist Church is autonomous, it still feels a close tie to the United Methodist Church. Diaz was in the country to attend General Conference in Pittsburgh. “My church in Cuba declared 15 days of fasting and prayer for the United Methodist General Conference,” he said. As Diaz spoke, an interpreter, the Rev. Jacqueline Leveron, translated. Leveron is pastor of St. Andrews UMC in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and is originally from Cuba. She mirrored Diaz’s inflections and his every move. It was easy to forget the language barrier. Although worship is restricted in Cuba, Diaz never mentioned hardships. Cuban Methodists are allowed to worship in sanctuaries, but are prohibited from worshiping in public. “Worship in Methodist churches in Cuba is for the people. It’s an attraction, an event,” said Diaz. And it has attracted a very young membership. “Seventy-five percent of our pastors are under age 30,” said Diaz. His goal is to have a Methodist church in every town and every area of the island. “We were so refreshed by the church in Cuba,” explained Hollins. “My prayer is that the Lord will do in Georgia United Methodist Churches what he is doing in the Cuban Methodist Church.” Diaz fit right in with Ben Hill’s congregation. He danced and clapped with the choir and got so involved that Hollins introduced him at the third service that day as the “dancing bishop from Cuba.” Diaz told the congregation at Ben Hill, “Cuba is your house and I hope you can come.” “We have teams from [United Methodist Volunteers in Mission] come every month,” he explained. “But for those of you who can’t come, we need your prayers that the church will continue to grow.” During the service, Hollins presented Diaz and his wife Maritza Proenza with a handcrafted glass key from the church and a framed letter from Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. “I want to tell you what a privilege it is to be here,” Diaz said. “I am having such a special day. I will never forget this beautiful day.” “When you open your heart to the Lord, barriers will fall down, obstacles will be broken,” he said. Preaching the gospel does bring opposition, but he says there is only one solution: “the Holy Spirit.” “Whatever you plant, that’s what you will grow,” he said. “Even if there is opposition.” He told a story about a man who was a spy for the Cuban government and visited a Methodist service. “The spies learn our prayers, they carry a Bible under their arm, and they look just like our parishoners. Then after the service, right away, they go and report what we have said and done,” Diaz explained. “One day one of them made a big mistake. He came down to the altar and we laid hands on him. Afterward he came to us and said ‘I was a spy, but now I want to be a member of your church.’” In building the church in Cuba, Diaz learned that theological preparation is not everything. “For many years I looked for people to come to my church, but still I didn’t have a prosperous church. Then, as I became filled with the Holy Spirit, people started coming. Wherever I am, I am speaking of the Holy Spirit. So now, if people don’t want to hear about the Holy Spirit, they don’t invite me,” he laughed. Ben Hill UMC’s members liked what they heard. They want to invite him back again and again.
Brunswick First UMC sends team to Honduras A group of 14 members from Brunswick First UMC recently traveled to Subirana, a small, rural community in the mountainous region in northern Honduras, to lead a Bible school and work on construction projects at a church. Some members of the team had been on previous mission trips and knew something of the poverty and basic needs of the people where they were going. Yet they were all shaken when they arrived in the area where they would live for a week. They knew they were seeing people who lacked so many of the material comforts they took for granted. Evidence of stark poverty was everywhere, and children were everywhere. The group set up a base in the home of the lay leader and met with the church pastor, a Puerto Rican woman sent to Subirana by the General Board of Global Ministries. They learned that one of their tasks would be to build a septic system for the church, which meant digging a six-foot by 10-foot hole that was six and one-half feet deep. A contractor in Georgia with a backhoe could have finished the job in one day, but it took the team most of the week to dig the hole and line the sides with concrete blocks. Other construction projects included building a sidewalk along the side of the church and building four bunk beds to accommodate volunteer workers. The interest in the Bible school was most rewarding. The team conducted two Bible schools, one at the Subirana church and the other at an indigenous native community. On the first morning about 26 children showed up at the Subirana site, and on the last day there were well over 100. Different members of the team led devotionals each morning, and the Brunswick UMs also worshiped with the local congregation at three different times. At first the Hondurans were a little standoffish, team members said, but as the week progressed their caution turned into open expressions of love and appreciation. Team members returned home knowing their work would make a positive difference in the lives of those living in Subirana, greatly affected by the poverty they had seen and determined to do more. Charlie Ratcliffe, one of the team members who is a registered nurse, is determined to create some way to provide basic hygiene education to the people of Subirana. Dr. Gene Barber, the team leader, said he felt that the group had accomplished its four goals: making a useful contribution; witnessing to people and sharing God’s love; receiving the love that the people gave back; and growing spiritually.
Courage
comes from faith, Barnes tells lay group SIMPSONWOOD-Being a leader isn’t easy, but faith supplies grounding and courage when times get rough, former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes told the second class of lay graduates from North Georgia’s Leadership UMC May 14. “Faith gives us a moral compass that allows us in times of trouble to touch a rock that does not move,” he said. “I have felt the hand of Jesus Christ...been surrounded by his presence...[and that] has strengthened me and given me peace that passes understanding.” Barnes and his wife, Marie, are long-time members of Marietta First UMC where Bernie Brown, chair of Leadership UMC, attends with his wife Snookie. In his introduction, Brown described how, when Barnes was governor, he and the First Lady would slip into the back pew for Sunday worship after the service had begun and then slip quietly out before it ended. “That was special,” Brown said, explaining that the couple did not want to draw attention to themselves but were there to worship like others in the congregation. Holding up a well-marked and well-worn Bible, Barnes talked about some leaders in the Bible, beginning with Moses. Noting that the Israelites complained rancorously after Moses had led them out of bondage in Egypt, Barnes told the United Methodist leaders-in-training that they can expect to be criticized and unappreciated. “It’s the price of leadership,” he said. “You have to accept it and go on if you’re going to be a leader.” Barnes also talked about David, the great Israelite king, Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and the Apostle Paul who was responsible for the wide spread of early Christianity. But the best example of leadership, he said, is Jesus Christ, who talked about turning the other cheek, forgiving one’s enemies, and being the servant of all - rich and poor, the elite and the outcast. Courage is the greatest attribute of leadership, he said, noting wryly “politicians are not a courageous bunch.” Yet in his last few years as governor, “I had to face something I couldn’t run from.” That was the question of whether Georgia should have a new flag to replace one with the Confederate emblem. Since polling showing that two-thirds of Georgians were opposed to changing the flag, “it was the last thing I wanted to do,” Barnes said. Deciding that a new flag was best for the state, he told his wife he could expect “heat” and possibly wouldn’t be re-elected. She responded, “You’re doing the right thing.” In the end, his words proved prophetic as he lost his bid for re-election. “It was a tough time,” he said. “Through it I found you can have strength in controversy. Courage requires you to take positions that are not popular.” Leadership UMC, established by the North Georgia Conference Board of Laity, is a program to identify, train and mentor emerging leadership in the conference. Over a period of several months, participants honed their leadership skills, learned about the theology and history of the United Methodist Church, took part in small-group projects and grew spiritually. Some Leadership UMC graduates indicate their desire to be involved at the annual conference level and are paired with a mentor who will help pave the way. Others feel their leadership is best utilized in their local churches or districts. The participants attend four weekend sessions at Simpsonwood and also work in small groups projects. James Wyatt, a member of Moore’s Chapel UMC in the Rome-Carrollton District, said his group studied the use of technology in worship, which is becoming increasingly popular. “We think it’s going to be a magnet for the youth,” said Wyatt. For John Crofoot, a member of Trinity UMC in Atlanta, one of the best parts of Leadership UMC was experiencing the United Methodist connection and meeting United Methodists of different ethnicities who are members of small- and large-membership churches from all geographic sectors of the conference. Another highpoint for Crofoot was hearing the presentation by the Rev. Herchel Sheets on Methodism from a historical perspective. “That’s very important, just his message that there is controversy [within the church] but it is God’s church and will always be God’s church,” Crofoot said. The Leadership UMC graduates will be important in the work of the church and advancement of the kingdom, the Rev. Jamie Jenkins, director of the office of ministerial services, told them. “God calls for the best from all of us, and it takes all of us to do the work of the church,” he said. “It really is a partnership between laity and clergy.”
Students
travel far-but not to party-during break During spring break, some students at Georgia Southern University’s Wesley Foundation declined to join many of their collegiate peers on the Florida beaches and other popular destinations, and went instead to far-flung locations in Central America and in the United Kingdom. The popular campus ministry hosts about 340 at most Wednesday night worship services and 80-plus in weekly Bible study groups. This, according to the Rev. Jay Tucker, director and campus minister at the foundation, has led to an especially dedicated, driven group of students who have been willing and able to spend time doing construction, teaching and even preaching in foreign lands. This year saw the fifth trip to Costa Rica and the first to Cornwall, England. Students raised the money for their trips through the usual methods: families and friends, car washes, sending support letters to their home churches and the like. Once they reached their mission destinations, said Tucker, the student-missionaries buckled down to perform tough physical labor in the mornings, then spent some rewarding hours in the afternoons doing various vacation Bible school-like activities with children and adults of all ages. The groups found their mission destinations through connections in the UMC such as United Methodist Volunteers in Mission and the Rev. Eddie Fox, director of evangelism for the World Methodist Council. “Some days we were so tired that we could hardly stay awake for the evening devotional-we’d just fall in bed by 8:30 or 9 o’clock,” said Angie Roth, a recent graduate and now associate director of the foundation, who led the 11-member group to Rio Frio in Costa Rica. Roth also went on the 2003 mission trip as a student, and she said both trips were blessings, even though they involved grueling construction work such as mixing cement and laying tile. “We built relationships with the people there that are lasting,” she said. “They’ll remember us not as the college students who laid tile, but as the college students who played with their kids and ate meals with them. We were there to let them see God in us,” said Roth. The Costa Rica contingent worked in two different Methodist churches, putting the finishing beautification touches on churches. The Wesley group worked in the mornings, had lunch and worked some more, then turned their talents to putting on skits and puppet shows dramatizing Bible stories such as Noah and the Ark. Roth, who speaks Spanish, acted as interpreter as did another member of the team, GSU professor David Alley. Roth said that on the trip last year, one of the local pastors expressed disbelief that American college students would forgo tanning, club-hopping and the beach and choose to work instead. But, Roth said, “We’re not about the partying or anything like that.” The nine-member group that went to England was headed by Tucker. While some people think of mission work as only being needed in developing countries, the spiritual void in the comparatively affluent United Kingdom is equally in need of help, according to Tucker. “As we worked in the Padstow Methodist church there (in Cornwall), we felt the same frustration that Wesley felt in the Anglican church--there was very little life in the church there,” said Tucker. In addition to working in elementary schools, where they conducted programs for school assemblies, and doing construction and yard work, the group preached. On the day after they arrived, Sunday, March 14, all nine of them had an opportunity to preach before individual congregations, even though only two of the group are really considering the ministry as their profession. John Seaton was one of the Wesley “missionaries,” and although he didn’t know what to expect before he got there, he found the welcome warm and the opportunities to help great. Preaching, he said, was something he had never experienced before. “It definitely stretched me in my faith,” he said, about getting up before a group but somehow knowing that God was going to make everything come out all right. Seaton said that the “new ideas” brought by the American visitors also brought a kind of excitement to the somewhat stagnant (in membership growth) churches. Some of those new ideas included skits, contemporary music with guitars and drums, and one-on-one conversations, he said. “They have the same faith and the same God,” said Seaton, and the churches seemed ready to make some changes to make things better. Tucker agrees. “The people that picked us to visit them had a tremendous love for the Lord, but didn’t know how to go about it,” he said. The work won’t stop with this year’s mission trips: the Wesley Foundation has plans for a 2005 mission to Estonia next spring.
Georgians give leadership to UM Association Two Georgia health and welfare leaders have been elected to top positions in the United Methodist Association of Health and Welfare Ministries: Kenneth R. Weber, president and CEO of Wesley Woods Inc., Atlanta, who will serve a two-year term as chair of the board, and Steve L. Rumford, president/CEO of the Methodist Home for Children and Youth in Macon who is chair-elect. The association is a national, voluntary organization representing nearly 400 health and welfare ministries related to the United Methodist Church. Both Weber and Rumford have long been active in the association. Association members include retirement homes and nursing care facilities, residential child treatment centers and family service agencies, hospitals and health systems, community centers, local congregations and individuals concerned about holistic care. These ministries share mutual concerns for and commitments to Spirit-centered, faith-based and Wesleyan-focused quality care, programs and services. Weber has been on the staff at Wesley Woods, Inc. since June 1970 in a variety of administrative positions prior to becoming president/CEO in May 2001. He is active in other professional organizations and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Texas. He is married to the Rev. Donn Ann Weber, who is pastor of Cokesbury UMC, Atlanta, and secretary of the North Georgia Annual Conference. Their daughter, Kathleen Ann Weber, is assistant pastor at Blaine Memorial UMC in Seattle, a historically Asian American congregation. Rumford has been at the Methodist home in Macon for 21 years and is also active in other professional organizations. He holds degrees from the University of Louisville Kent School of Social Work and Asbury College and has been a leader in the South Georgia Annual Conference, serving as a delegate to the 2000 and 2004 General Conferences. Recently the Rumford Center was completed at the Methodist home and named in honor of his service to the home.
Wesleyan grad Monica Harper excels at accounting, music United Methodist Monica Harper, a recent graduate of Wesleyan College, received several honors during the annual Honors Day program. She is a member of Tifton First UMC and the daughter of Rondy and Maxine Harper of Ocilla. Harper was the recipient of the Academic Excellence Award from the Educational Foundation of the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants for achievement in accounting studies; the 2004 Chenery Prize for Excellence in Music, awarded by the college’s music faculty; and the 2004 Music Teachers National Association Student Achievement Recognition Award. In addition, she was recognized as a member of the Crown and Scepter Chapter of Mortar Board, a national senior honor society, and a member of Phi Kappa Phi, also a national honor society. Harper was involved in forming the first Accounting Society in Wesleyan’s history, and she and her peers prepared tax returns for students free of charge and promoted accounting at various events. But accounting isn’t her only strength, since she is a musician also. In fact, her degree from Wesleyan is a bachelor of arts in accounting, organ and piano. She sang in and accompanied the Wesleyan Concert Choir, accompanied several voice majors, sang in the Wesleyannes chamber ensemble of auditioned voices and provided music for weekly chapel services at Wesleyan. In addition, she serves as director of music at Park Memorial UMC in Macon and leads worship for weekly chapel services at the Methodist Home for Children and Youth. Harper has been accepted to the Baylor University Graduate School of Music and Master of Divinity Program at Truett Seminary in Waco, Texas, this fall. Baylor has awarded her a full graduate assistantship to pursue the master of church music degree. She will study organ with Dr. Joyce Jones, who is internationally known as a concert organist, composer, recording artist, and composer of organ music. Information in this story was provided by The Tifton Gazette and is reprinted with permission.
Chaplain
Marbury honored; scholarships survive Higher education in Georgia has a lot to be proud of this year. The Rev. Herbert R. Marbury, campus chaplain at UM-related Clark Atlanta University, received the Chaplain of the Year award from the Nashville-based United Methodist Higher Education Foundation. On a separate occasion, the national Double Your Dollars Scholarship program was given a boost from the North Georgia United Methodist Foundation.
Chaplain of the Year He also holds social issues in high regard on campus. In an article for the higher education edition of the Advocate last November, he said that his mission is “to empower students to become more socially responsible. That’s why projects like our recent AIDS walk, our hunger drives and our shipping of medical supplies to African countries are so important for character-building, and for students to understand the impact they can have on the world.” Marbury also teaches in the Clark Atlanta University Department of Religion. A native of Atlanta, Marbury holds degrees from Emory University, Gammon Theological Seminary at the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) and Vanderbilt University’s School of Divinity. As Chaplain of the Year, he received an inscribed sculpture and $5,000 to further develop programs sponsored by his office.
Scholarship funded An increase in applications and a slump in funds meant the foundation would have to decline 76 eligible applicants. That’s when the foundation’s board of trustees intervened. Fletcher, through a grant from the North Georgia United Methodist Foundation, provided a challenge gift of $25,000 to the program to support students from Georgia. “As a trustee, I wanted to be sure Georgia students would be taken care of,” said Fletcher. “The UM Foundation is not a grant-making foundation, but when there is a glaring need, we do take on that role.” Other trustees pledged an additional $25,000, for a total of $50,000, to meet the Double Your Dollars need and enable the foundation to fund all eligible scholarships nation-wide. Some information for this story was provided by UMNS.
Ecumenical seminar addresses ministry in difficult situations Just a few days after the Rev. Edwin Smith, pastor of Centenary UMC in Macon, attended the Front Line Ministry Conference sponsored by the Georgia Christian Council, he found himself in a situation where he put into practice what he had just learned. Smith attended a workshop at the ecumenical seminar, held April 28 in Macon, on domestic violence and battered women. Among the panel leaders were a police officer, a counselor and a woman, Celia Watts, who had been a victim of abuse. The mother of six children and a recipient of the Georgia Occupation Award for Leadership, Watts said that what she needed most during the years she was being battered was support and practical help. “I know there were people who really loved me during that awful time, but they were afraid to get involved,” she said. “What I needed most was someone to “butt in” and say, “you don’t have to live in this.” That’s the opportunity that came to Smith when a woman picked his name out of the phone book and called because she wanted a pastor to talk to. As the conversation progressed, Smith realized he was talking to a person who was describing the “classic symptoms” of a battered woman. “She was repeating back to me what I had learned in the seminar,” he said. “I suggested she call the Salvation Army’s battered women’s counselor as soon as she could. ... I have no idea whether she followed through ... [but I was able to] put into practice what I had learned [at the seminar].” One of the goals of the conference, said the Rev. Leland Collins, a UM pastor and executive director of the Georgia Christian Council, was helping people in local churches and denominational ministries find practical and effective ways of dealing with difficult situations. Some 40 to 45 people attended the conference, representing seven or eight different denominations, he said. A second Front Line Ministry Conference is planned Nov. 10-11 at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Phillip in Atlanta. In addition to domestic violence, participants were informed, inspired and challenged on other matters, including the need for ministry to persons who are developmentally disabled, and how churches deal with the thorniest of all social issues today, homosexuality. The workshop on “Homosexuality and the Church” was led by the Rev. Edwin Cooper, pastor of St. Paul UMC in Columbus, Father Michael Kavanaugh, priest of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Port Wentworth, and the Rev. Rick Parker, pastor of Perry First Baptist. A seminar on overcoming issues of race, denominational divisions, culture and apathy was led by the pastors and laity of the Swift Creek UMC and Swift Creek Missionary Baptist Churches in Macon, which have formed a working relationship and common witness to meet the needs of their neighborhood. For more information about the next Front Line Ministry seminar, contact the Georgia Christian Council at (484) 743-2085.
Many return to Kea’s UMC for homecoming Some spell it “Key” and some “Kea”-but there’s no doubt this family and its descendants from around Adrian have made a great contribution not only to Methodism but in other areas as well. Two brothers in the family-Billy and Jack Key-are retired pastors in the South Georgia Conference. Each year Kea or Key descendants gather at Kea’s UMC in Adrian for the annual homecoming festivities that include a worship service in the morning and a memorial service in the afternoon, with a covered dish lunch in between. The speaker for the worship service this year was the Rev. Don Adams, a Key in-law and the soon-to-be superintendent of the Valdosta District; his wife, Brenda, is the daughter of Billy Key. The afternoon speaker was Daniel Underwood, director of youth ministries at Liberty UMC in Macon who plans to attend Asbury Seminary. Music was provided by the “Key Notes,” a group from First UMC in Swainsboro whose director/pianist is Helen Key. Also this year, a limited edition print of Kea’s UMC by artist Mary Ann Vessey was available for purchase. Proceeds were donated to the Kea’s Church or the Key Memorial Foundation. “It’s amazing the connection the Key family has,” said Kea’s UMC pastor, the Rev. Tommy Veal. “There’s always a large crowd at homecoming.” A surprise presentation this year was the awarding of the Key Memorial Foundation Medal of Faith to the church’s pastor and his wife, Beverly. They are the only non-family members ever to receive the award. Kea’s UMC is located on the Adrian Charge with three other churches: Adrian UMC, Corinth UMC and Poplar Springs UMC. Just last month the churches were named “Charge of the Year” in the South Georgia Conference. The 21-member Kea’s church has services the fourth Sunday in each month. In 1984 a commemorative monument was dedicated recognizing Kea’s UMC as historic site number 128 by the General Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church and the South Georgia Conference Commission on Archives and History.
Obituaries
Rev. Oscar Floyd Feely Jr. | Lookout Mountain
Mary Jane
Strauss Cochran | Decatur
Thomas
Alexander White Jr. | Gordon
Memorial
Lucille
Cooper Fletcher | Jenkinsburg
Geneva Fletcher UMW
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October 20, 2006 |
| Inside Highlights |
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Touchdown: Buena Vista UMC wins over youth with Fifth Quarter event. Youth & Faith.
You are the clay: Well-known potter donates pieces to Trinity UMC. Christian Living.
Atlanta Braves player Brian Jordan will lead the annual Wesley Walk for Others around Stone Mountain. Inside Front.
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