News Briefs

Austin workshop explores creating culture of peace
La Vernia UMC to sell gifts during Dec. 2 holiday bazaar
UM youth groups can help with hurricane recovery
Dec. 4 lunch in San Antonio to answer seminary queries
Agency seeks nominations for 2006 M.L. King award
Board takes applications for older-adult ministry aid
UM billboard with ‘gift’ ad kicks off holiday season
Southwest Texan to lead bishop council during ’06
96 bishops sign statement decrying ‘unjust’ Iraq war
UMs respond to disasters in Mexico, Central America
Relief agency executive completes Pakistan visit

Austin workshop explores creating culture of peace
Southwest Texas UMs can explore how to create a culture of peace next month in Austin.
Wanda Holcombe, Southwest Texas Conference peace with justice coordinator, and Liz Yeats, a Quaker writer and educator, are leading a Dec. 2-3 session on peacemaking at Asbury UMC, Austin. It is titled “Creating a Culture of Peace: A Journey of Personal and Social Change.”
The session, which runs from noon Dec. 2 to 9 p.m. Dec. 3, is to explore violence, nonviolence, social change and community building and to suggest methods for fostering local action plans.
The curriculum is part of an international effort in conjunction with the United Nations “Decade for Building a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World (2001-2010).”
Registration fee is $65 per person, which includes three meals and snacks.
For information about scholarships for the registration fee, contact Holcombe at (512) 252-2756 or wholcombe@umcswtx.org.
For information about registration, contact Yeats at liz@2quakers.net.


La Vernia UMC to sell gifts during Dec. 2 holiday bazaar
Shoppers in La Vernia can hunt for bargain gifts at the La Vernia UMC Holiday Bazaar Dec. 3.
Doors of the church family life center are to be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Vendors will have booths.
The bazaar schedule includes a white elephant sale of “gently used” items, gift basket auction, bake sale, and arts and crafts demonstrations.
A Christmas Café is to serve soups, sandwiches, tamales and baked goods throughout the bazaar. The café is also selling wrapped gift trays of holiday cookies, candies and cakes.


UM youth groups can help with hurricane recovery
Southwest Texas Conference youth groups can now sign up to help with hurricane recovery work in Louisiana.
Susan Hellums, Southwest Texas Conference volunteers in mission coordinator, reports that the Louisiana Conference is recruiting youth groups for “Project NOAH” during 2006. NOAH stands for New Orleans Area Hope.
Information about mission opportunities is available at www.projectnoah.net.


Dec. 4 lunch in San Antonio to answer seminary queries
Church members considering a call to ministry can explore one option for seminary training next month in San Antonio.
Jason Pangiarella, director of recruitment and admissions for Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, is to attend an information lunch Dec. 4 at Laurel Heights UMC, San Antonio.
He can answer questions about theological education in general and the Perkins extension program in San Antonio in particular.
Pangiarella and other Perkins representatives are to return to San Antonio Jan. 9 for a more detailed program called “Inside Perkins.”
The Jan. 9 gathering includes a dinner with current students and faculty members as well as presentations on admissions requirements, scholarships and financial aid.
For information on the January program, check http://insideperkins.smu.edu.


Agency seeks nominations for 2006 M.L. King award
The Commission on Religion and Race has begun accepting nominations for the 2006 Martin Luther King Jr. Award.
Nomination deadline is March 1.
The commission presents the award yearly during the annual conference session to an individual whose life and actions follow King’s example of nonviolence and racial equality.
For information contact the Leadership Development Office, (210) 408-4500 or (888) 349-4191.


Board takes applications for older-adult ministry aid
The General Board of Discipleship in Nashville, Tenn., is accepting applications for grants to fund ministries with older adults. Application deadline is Jan. 15.
The grants are intended to help congregations, districts, conferences and UM-related institutions develop innovative ministries with older adults.
Grant applications are available at www.aging-umc.org.


UM billboard with ‘gift’ ad kicks off holiday season
NEW YORK—The UMC kicked off its holiday advertising campaign with a giant billboard screen above Times Square.
“The Gift,” a message about sharing one’s gifts with others, is expected to reach an estimated 2 million people flowing daily through Times Square. The 30-second spots are to be shown on the 30-by-40-foot screen eight times a day for two weeks, including during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
The denomination is running commercials on 18 cable TV networks Dec. 5 through Christmas Eve.


Southwest Texan to lead bishop council during ’06
LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. –A former Southwest Texas pastor is to lead the Council of Bishops during 2006, when the denomination marks 50 years of full clergy rights for women.
The council elected Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, 58, of Houston its next president and Bishop Gregory V. Palmer of Iowa as president-designate, effective in May. Both were elected during the council’s Oct. 30-Nov. 4 meeting at Lake Junaluska.


96 bishops sign statement decrying ‘unjust’ Iraq war
WASHINGTON—Ninety-six bishops have signed a statement repenting “of our complicity in what we believe to be the unjust and immoral invasion and occupation of Iraq.”
The statement confesses “our preoccupation with institutional enhancement and limited agendas while American men and women are sent to Iraq to kill and be killed, while thousands of Iraqi people needlessly suffer and die, while poverty increases and preventable diseases go untreated.”


UMs respond to disasters in Mexico, Central America
NEW YORK—UMs are helping provide relief to hurricane-stricken areas of Central America and Mexico.
At the beginning of October, Hurricane Stan caused flooding and landslides in Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. In Guatemala alone, more than 1,500 people were dead or missing.
Contributions to the UM Committee on Relief, designated for “UMCOR Advance No. 501300, Central America Emergency,” can be put into any church offering plate.


Relief agency executive completes Pakistan visit
NEW YORK—The UM who heads Church World Service completed a pastoral visit to earthquake-stricken Pakistan Nov. 12-13.
The Rev. John McCullough saw areas affected by October earthquakes in the North West Frontier Province.
Donations to the UM Committee on Relief, marked for “UMCOR Advance No. 232000, Pakistan Earthquake,” can be placed into church offering plates.