News Briefs

Houston service to feature Native American worship
Kids at 2 churches collect money for mission home
UMs need to welcome everyone, speaker says
Music professor to lead Jan. 26-27 choral event
McMurry University drops Indian names for teams
Appalachian commission closes after 40 years work
Methodists mark 150 years of ministry on subcontinent
Winter poses new threat to survivors of 2005 quake

Houston service to feature Native American worship
UMs can explore worship in the Native American tradition Nov. 19 in Houston.
Ray Buckley, storyteller, author and member of the Lakota-Tlingit tribe from Palmer, Alaska, is leading the service. It begins at 6 p.m. at First UMC—Westchase. A potluck meal with Indian stew and fry bread is to follow.
The service tops off a 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Native American cultural festival.
The service with Buckley, a UM, is an outreach project of the Texas Conference Committee on Native American Ministries.

Kids at 2 churches collect money for mission home
Children from at least two Southwest Texas congregations helped Methodist Mission Home in San Antonio raise nearly $4,000.
Youngsters at First UMC, Carrizo Springs, collected $16 in change during Vacation Bible School this summer. VBS students at University UMC, San Antonio, raised another $66.
The Southwest Texas children joined VBS students from 14 other congregations—13 in Texas, one in Missouri—to bring in $3,989.59 for the mission home.

UMs need to welcome everyone, speaker says
UM congregations need to be more intentional about welcoming everyone into their fellowships.
That was one message from the Rev. Troy Plummer during a Sept. 29-30 seminar at First UMC, Austin.
UM churches advertise “open hearts, open minds and open doors,” said Plummer, executive director of the UM Reconciling Ministry Network. But most gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people don’t think the message includes them.

Music professor to lead Jan. 26-27 choral event
A Houston Baptist University music professor is to be featured clinician for the Adult Choir Workshop Jan. 26-27 in Corpus Christi.
John Yarrington, a veteran church musician, is to lead the annual event. It begins at 6 p.m. Jan. 26 at First UMC, Corpus Christi, and officially concludes at 4 p.m. Jan. 27. Participants are invited to remain to sing in a mass choir at the 10:50 a.m. worship service Jan. 28.
The annual workshop is sponsored by the Board of Discipleship Worship and Music Committee and the Southwest Conference Chapter of the Fellowship of UMs in Music and Worship Arts.

McMurry University drops Indian names for teams
ABILENE—Trustees of UM-related McMurry University decided Oct. 13 to drop the Indian mascot and name from school athletic teams.
Instead, trustees decided not to have a name for the university’s teams but to refer to them as McMurry men’s basketball, McMurry swimming and so on.
The action keeps McMurry’s athletic teams in good standing with the National Collegiate Athletic Association. As a result, they won’t be subjected to sanctions affecting their participation in post-season tournaments.
In addition, McMurry conforms to UMC resolutions concerning team names.


Appalachian commission closes after 40 years work
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The UM-supported Commission on Religion in Appalachia closed Nov. 1 after 40 years of working for social, political and economic justice in the Appalachian region.
The commission decided to close during its annual assembly Oct. 13.
“The realities of a lack of funding from partners necessitated this action by the commissioners,” said N. Sharon Leatherman, executive coordinator of the UM Appalachian Ministry Network. “In recent years, United Methodist funding decreased, and for the past couple of years, no grant-making funds were provided.”


Methodists mark 150 years of ministry on subcontinent
LUCKNOW, India—Nearly 700 Indians and dignitaries from other nations celebrated 150 years of Methodist ministry on the subcontinent.
Meeting Oct. 20-23 at Isabella Thoburn College, delegates from the 12 regional conferences of the Indian church and Methodist leaders from other nations celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Methodist Church of India. The 649,000-member denomination separated from the UMC in 1981.
The Rev. William and Clementina Butler arrived in India in 1856 and began Methodist ministry at Bareilly near Lucknow. They later moved to Nainital.


Winter poses new threat to survivors of 2005 quake
MANSEHRA, Pakistan—As winter approaches the north of Pakistan once again, many of those left homeless by the October 2005 earthquake are growing increasingly frustrated and newly afraid.
That’s the word from Church World Service, which works with the UM Committee on Relief. Church World Service is serving isolated communities. The director of the agency’s Pakistan and Afghanistan country program said time is running out.
“There’s only a small window of time before winter hits, and there will be at least 200,000 people without proper shelter,” Marvin Pervez said.

Pastor goes on tour
The Rev. Dennis Thompson, pastor of New Hope UMC, Converse, prepares to leave San Antonio for Corpus Christi Oct. 7 on the Valero MS 150 motorcycle tour. Thompson joined other clergymen in blessing the riders before the two-day fundraising trip. Each rider received a small wooden cross. Thompson went on the tour as one of 50 safety marshals.