Proposed new hymnal will go to 2012 assembly

The Rev. Thomas A. (Andy) Langford III of North Carolina presents a petition to develop a hymnal for The United Methodist Church. The petition was approved by delegates to the 2008 United General Conference. A UMNS photo by John C. Goodwin..

By the Rev. Kathy Noble*

United Methodist congregations in the United States could have a new United Methodist Hymnal within five years.

Delegates to the 2008 General Conference set part of the agenda for the 2012 assembly late in the evening of April 28 as they approved creation of a hymnal revision committee. The committee will bring a proposed hymnal to the next session of the denomination's top legislative body. Delegates from around the world also approved a four-year study of issues around developing an Africana hymnal with findings to be reported to the 2012 session.

Authorization of a committee to develop the new hymnal came 20 years after adoption of the first official United Methodist Hymnal. The final vote of 450-336 to create the committee came after debate in which younger delegates both supported and spoke against a new book of hymns and other worship resources. While the hymnal to be developed during the next four years is primarily for U.S. congregations, the work is to be a "prologue" to future work in other regions of the worldwide United Methodist Church.

The benefits of a new hymnal will include the incorporation of "new expressions of worship ... to engage all persons, including new, younger and diverse people," according to the petition to create the committee.

Shannon Meister, a delegate from Missouri, countered that a "new book isn't going to make more young people come to our church. Relationships will." Stating that young people prefer to sing from words on a screen rather than in print, she added that a book that is supposed to contain new music would be "outdated" when it was produced.

Supporting creation of the hymnal revision committee, Matt Kuzma, another young adult and reserve delegate from Northern Illinois, agreed that "new technology is very important in music ministry, but nothing (about a new hymnal) precludes the church from using new technology."

Music study

A four-year joint music study by the United Methodist Board of Discipleship and the United Methodist Publishing House led to the request to create the hymnal revision committee.

"United Methodists teach our faith as we sing our hymns," said the Rev. Karen Greenwaldt, chief executive of the discipleship agency and a General Conference delegate. She added that while a new hymn book will be brought for adoption to the 2012 General Conference, "the hymnal revision committee will bring additional plans for ways the new hymnal can be delivered through electronic and visual means."

If a future General Conference approves developing it, an Africana hymnal would incorporate music and liturgy from African as well as Caribbean, African-American and other traditions with African roots.

Neil Alexander, top executive for the Publishing House, said the study "is a way to solicit and learn from the opinions of a cross-section of persons whose life experiences and ministries we want to serve faithfully now and in the future."

*Noble is editor of Interpreter magazine and Interpreter OnLine, publications of United Methodist Communications, serving on the newsroom team during General Conference 2008. Jeanette Pinkston, director of media relations for the United Methodist Board of Discipleship, contributed to this report.

Upper Room Ministries offers hope and prayers in multiple languages; targets persons suffering with serious diseases

FORT WORTH, Texas, April 28, 2008 /GBOD/ --As delegates and visitors to the United Methodist General Conference arrived at the Fort Worth Convention Center on the first-ever World Malaria Day, April 25, volunteers passed out a small, but powerful book of prayers published by Upper Room Ministries, a ministry of the Board of Discipleship, and written by real people suffering with serious diseases.

Prayers for Encouragement: Hope for Persons Living with HIV and AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis and Other Serious Diseases is available in French, Spanish, Korean, Portuguese, Kiswahili, Xhosa and English.

According to the Rev. Karen Greenwaldt, top executive for the Board of Discipleship, “the motivation, compassion and perseverance to care for those infected and affected by serious diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria must come from prayer as we look, ultimately, to God for a solution.”

At an April 25 press conference announcing a $5 million grant from the United Nations Foundation with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bishop Thomas Bickerton, said that the grant funds would support a fundraising and educational campaign to help end deaths of children from malaria, with an ultimate goal of raising $100 million over the next several years for programs in Africa to fight malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and to support the Global Fund.”

Responding to a question about the inclusion of faith and spiritual formation resources like Prayers for Encouragement in the up scaling of Nothing But Nets, Bickerton said “we ought to have a posture of expectation that really can result in something as simple as issuing a challenge to this General Conference and to the people of the United Methodist Church to get involved and find their expression in the midst of the global health campaign.

Don’t wait for someone to ask you to get involved and that may lead to spiritual formation resources-- books that are published from those who have the gifts of doing that,” Bickerton said.

Don Messer, author of Breaking the Conspiracy of Silence-Christian Churches and the Global AIDS Crisis and executive director of the Center for the Church and Global AIDS, believes that Prayers for Encouragement is an example of this “posture of expectation” and is helping to lead the way forward in this effort by this year adding Spanish and Korean to editions developed last year.

The Rev. Larry Hollon, chief executive for United Methodist Communications, says that upscaled efforts with Nothing But Nets will include an integrated program in Côte d’Ivorie that involves faith and spiritual formation information being shared with coordination of bed nets distribution through United Methodist Clinics at health systems that are in place, and in coordination with the Board of Global Ministries Health and Welfare Ministries staff.

“What we are hopeful of seeing is that we are so inclusive that those people who for reasons of prejudice or lack of information are excluded (particularly) because of the stigma of HIV/AIDS that the information that we provide is informing and changing attitudes to allow for the whole community to be served and to be included in the work of health and ministry in the church.

After discovering battered copies of the Upper Room Daily Devotional Guide in the waiting room of Maua Methodist Hospital in Kenya, Messer was led by God to contact Upper Room Ministries about publishing a special collection of prayers for persons suffering with HIV/AIDS and other diseases.

Realizing that people had repeatedly read the 10-year old devotional guides while seeking biblical counsel and strong spiritual advice inspired Messer to suggest to the Upper Room that a book like that would be helpful for all 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS.

“Where there is human suffering and crisis, Upper Room Ministries wants to provide openings to God’s healing and reconciling grace. When Dr. Messer contacted us, we knew this was consistent with who God has called us to be.

“The HIV/AIDS pandemic is bigger than our human capacity. We must make the very best use of medical research, medicine, social work and education… they all play a part in solving the crisis,” said the Rev. Stephen Bryant, world editor of the Upper Room.

Though many health and service organizations offer information and support regarding prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, resources from a Christian spirituality perspective are scarce.

“There are many different avenues of faith formation that will be a part of this program,” said Hollon.

“And there are indigenous religions on site that when they hear who we represent, who we call Lord move in our direction and say, ‘this is what we’ve been talking about all the time but we’ve been using a different name,’” said Bishop Felton May, interim top executive for the General Board of Global Ministries.

“I find that more often than not, we feel that we have to place in their hands exactly the way we do it…rather than discovering what is there indigenously and taking advantage of that.”

“I think you’re going to see a lot of planned events and a structure that will evolve but I would just also issue the challenge that one should feel it in your heart to help us develop the resources to meet the need,” Bickerton said.

What is unique to Prayers for Encouragement is that a number of meditations are written by persons who are HIV+…persons seeking God’s healing presence while living with stigma, discrimination, and rejection by family and friends.

Prayers for Encouragement editions in Japanese, Thai, Khmer, Setswana, Sotho, IsiZulu, and other languages are planned. The Spanish edition has been printed at several points in Latin America, while the Korean translation is printed in Singapore. African language editions have been printed in South Africa.

The United Methodist Global AIDS Fund has contributed over $30,000 to the total project and made possible all the funds to print Spanish and Korean language editions.

For more information contact, Dale Rust Waymack, Dale Rust Waymack, Upper Room Ministries’ Africa region coordinator for the US at 877-899-2780; ext. 7236 or dwaymack@gbod.org.

United Methodists in West Tennessee, Western Kentucky and Africa mourn loss of beloved pastor

By Cathy Farmer

Heartfelt prayers have been offered in church services and by thousands of people across the Memphis Conference and the continent of Africa for Dr. Mickey Carpenter, Superintendent of the Paris District, his wife, Marsha Dorgan, and their two daughters, Megan and Michelle.

Dr. Carpenter, 60, lost his life in an accidental drowning while fishing on Bush Lake in Carroll County, Tennessee on Friday, April 18.

Volunteers from more than six rescue squads as far away as Chattanooga, TN joined in the week-long search that resulted in the discovery of his body on Saturday, April 26. During the search, local churches and the Memphis Conference cabinet provided food and drinks for the search teams.

Marsha, though grieving and greatly missing her husband and the father of her children, has expressed great thankfulness to everyone who has been gracious and showed such love and concern for her and her family.

Bishop Dick Wills, in statements to the media, said that though the death of Dr. Carpenter is a great tragedy, some good may yet come of it through memorials in his name to the Dream Farm Project at Africa University. The Dream Farm, a project originated by Marsha Dorgan, an agriculturalist, will serve as a model of sustainable agriculture for the impoverished small holder farmers of Zimbabwe. At the Farm, they will learn methods they can easily use and replicate.

Before flying back from General Conference at Fort Worth, Texas to be with Marsha and the girls, Bishop Wills reported Dr. Carpenter’s disappearance to his colleagues on the Council of Bishops. The entire Council offered prayers for the Carpenter family. The bishops from Africa shared the sad news about the Carpenters with the United Methodists in their Episcopal areas. Many of Marsha’s friends in Zimbabwe have called her home in Paris, Tenn. to express their grief for her husband’s death and to pray with her.

Dr. Carpenter was a cherished father and husband, beloved pastor and friend, and a caring district superintendent.

Bishop Wills said, “Mickey was first and foremost a loving husband, father and grandfather. He loved the pastors with whom he worked. He was one of the most conscientious superintendents every to occupy that office.

“Mickey was fishing the day he died to catch fish for a fish fry for the cabinet in May,” Wills continued. “I’ll never forget the twinkle in his eye when he would tell us he was going to do ‘lake ministry.’”

Memorials to the Africa University Dream Farm may be sent to: James Finger, Memphis Conference Treasurer, 24 Corporate Blvd., Jackson, TN 38305-2315.

Bishop Wills' Life Journal Entry for April 23, 2008 -- Our Assignments

S: Matthew 10: 5-6 (The Message)
Don’t begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don’t try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick………Vs 10 You don’t need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment…..

O: Many people want the renewal and growth of our church. The renewal of the church will begin when each of us goes out to be with lost people.

A: Most of the time the people in the church feel if only we had the right minister. Or the Pastors feel if only they had the right church. If both groups get their way then things will be better and our churches can grow. There is some truth in that way of thinking.

As I read the words of Jesus this morning I am aware a lot of people, including me, think if we only get the right match with the church and pastor then things will go well. This is a partial truth. When the right pastor is matched with the right church, then the church and pastor can enjoy this time of renewal and growth.

While what I have written above is true, Jesus says clearly each of us has a part to play. Jesus tells me to go to the lost and confused people in my own neighborhood. He also tells them to bring health to the sick.

This morning I am struck by these words so clearly spoken by Jesus. I know of a church in which a group of its members are doing exactly that. They go in teams in the neighborhoods around them. They pray before they go up to the door. If someone is home they ask if there is anything they can pray for that person and family. If the person says, “yes”, then they pray for that family and bring back to the church the prayer needs of that person and family. People in the church actually pray for these confused and lost people.

What they are finding is if the people have a church home, they thank God and do not go back. They are finding as they pray for people, new persons are beginning to show up each week at church. Their church has begun to grow!

What is happening this church has touched me deeply and I have asked to go with a team one Saturday morning. This morning Jesus affirms what each of us can do and should do if we are followers of Jesus.

P: Father, thank you for today. Thank you for the inspiration a group of people are making in one of our churches. So many thought this church would die, yet by your Holy Spirit, new people are beginning to come to this church because these people have taken your Son seriously. Thank you for the gift they have brought to me. May I have the courage to join with those who seek the lost, confused, and often sick people of this world. Love, Dick

Y I give up any feelings that the Lord will not honor our obedience and especially my obedience :in following Jesus

Discipleship Resources is new distributor for OSL Publications

NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 11, 2008 /GBOD/ --Discipleship Resources, a ministry of the United Methodist General Board of Discipleship, is the new distributor for OSL Publications, the publishing unit of the Order of Saint Luke.

An affiliate of GBOD, OSL primarily offers resources related to worship and the sacraments of the church.

“We are grateful that OSL has entrusted GBOD -- through Discipleship Resources -- with distributing their valuable content and materials that support and strengthen local churches,” said the Rev. Karen Greenwaldt, top executive for GBOD.

In an agreement forged a few weeks ago, Discipleship Resources will begin distributing OSL resources immediately.

W. Brent Sturm, OSL’s chancellor general, says that "OSL Publications has been able to do what few presses can: keep important theological texts in print that don't sell huge numbers of copies.

Now, with the strength of Discipleship Resources' marketing and distribution network, more people will have access to those titles.”

This is a wonderful example of cooperative ministry, proving that one plus one can equal much more than two!" said Sturm.

OSL, which began in 1947, will continue editorial oversight and development of books in the areas of worship, liturgy, spiritual formation and prayer.

“I am delighted to see Discipleship Resources welcome OSL Publications in this new relationship. It has been a valued partner of GBOD for many years in developing worship resources our congregations can use and deepening the understanding of what we do in worship and why. I look forward to a fruitful partnership in the years ahead,” says Taylor Burton-Edwards, Director of Worship for the agency.

Burton-Edwards pointed out that two of OSL’s newest titles include study guides for “This Holy Mystery” and “By Water and the Spirit” that can help children and younger youth experience and understand United Methodist theology and practice of the sacraments.

Customers may order OSL Publications through Discipleship Resources’ customer service line (1-800-972-0433) and through www.upperroom.org/bookstore.

“Although the close relationship between the sacramental and liturgical life of the church and Christian discipleship has always been visible in the work of GBOD and the publications of Discipleship Resources, this new working relationship increases the visibility of that connection and emphasizes its importance,” said the Rev. E. Byron Anderson, Styberg Associate Professor of Worship at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

OSL titles will be included in Discipleship Resources’ catalogs and other marketing and promotions materials.

Bishop Wills' Life Journal entry for April 12, 2008, "Bitter or Better"

S: 2 Corinthians 12:7-8 (The Message)
Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I would not get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations.

O: Paul was afraid of getting too big a head as he went around preaching. So, his limitation was a thorn in the flesh to remind him all of his gifts are from God. In fact Paul was able to view his limitation as a gift rather than a curse.

A: I often meet people with limitations in the church. And, as with most painful things in life, the limitation makes you better or bitter.

I am touched when a person who has limitations becomes better rather than bitter.

As a child I had polio in my lower left leg and foot. But for many years I did with my crippled foot what most other people with two good feet could do. But then there came a time when my left foot became less and less useable. All this time I served the Lord with all my ability. God did not heal my foot because, like Paul, it has become a gift to keep me in touch with my limitations.

I get tired easily. I no longer can run. (I used to run 2-5 miles every day.) I can no longer play racquet ball. But rather than sink to depression, I have chosen to thank God for all those years I WAS able to play racquet ball, run every day, and do a host of other things I can no longer do.

God could have healed my foot. But what I found is that God’s grace is sufficient. I live with great gratitude for the times I was able to all those things I love so much to do.

P: Father thank you for today and thank you for the gift of my physical limitations. Your grace is sufficient always. Love, Dick

Y: I yield any bitterness in my heart for my physical limitations.

A Commentary by Dean McIntyre: Thinking about a new hymnal

NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 11, 2008 /GBOD/ --What might a new United Methodist hymnal for the USA look like? What will it contain? Will we sing or speak the psalms? What worship services will be included? Will we call God mother or father -- or both? Will “Onward Christian Soldiers” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” remain? Will it be another print book for the pew racks or will it be on a disc for projecting on screens? Or will we decide which songs and hymns we need for a particular Sunday and download them from a website? Will we have hymns and songs in many languages? Will a new hymnal include more contemporary praise and worship songs and choruses? How about some rap, responsories, revival songs, or reciting tones? Will it have more newly composed hymns in traditional style? Will we lose or gain Wesley hymns? Will the texts of Wesley be simplified and set to contemporary music? Will it have melody only, four-part harmony, or keyboard accompaniment with guitar chords? Will we project words only or words and music? Will old favorite hymns be dropped to make room for the new songs and choruses?

In 2007 the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD) and the UM Publishing House (UMPH) completed a four-year study of the music and worship needs of the UMC, primarily those associated with congregational song. (See the complete study report at www.gbod.org/worship/musicstudy.)

GBOD has recently completed a series of research surveys related to music and worship practices and our hymnal. (Results are available at www.gbod.org/hymnal.)

These studies and research surveys are valuable in finding out what the people, pastors, and musicians think about these and other issues related to worship, congregational singing, and our hymnal. They help agencies and editorial committees understand what are the practices, trends, desires and needs in the local congregation. They help agencies and publishers remain responsive to the present, anticipatory of the future, and faithful to the past as they plan new worship and music resources.

The studies and research, however, are only a part of the complete picture. There are numerous other considerations in planning a new hymnal and other resources. A survey is completed by one individual, but a hymnal is for millions of individuals and thousands of diverse communities. The church includes people of all ages and races, both genders, urban/rural, large and small congregations, and cultural backgrounds. What are the UMC’s membership demographics today and what are they projected to be over the next generation? What is the current state of technology and how does that compare with the technological capacity in the local church? What price will ensure affordability for customers, as well as ensure the publisher’s ability to recoup the hymnal’s research, editorial, and production costs and fund future publishing efforts?

The recent surveys, then, are an important tool in planning for the next hymnal, but understanding what worshipers, pastors, and musicians are thinking reveals only part of the picture. With that in mind, here are just a few of the statistics and findings from recent surveys.
.The top three favorites in the current UM hymnal are “Amazing Grace,” “Here I Am, Lord,” and “How Great Thou Art.”
.The top three favorite hymns from The Faith We Sing are “The Summons,” “I’ll Fly Away,” and “As the Deer.”
.The top favorite of under-30 UMs is “Be Thou My Vision.”
.The #1 requested hymn to include in a new hymnal: “Eternal Father, Strong to Save.”
.Top three requests to include not now in the UM hymnal or The Faith We Sing: “Love Lifted Me,” “Open the Eyes of My Heart,” and “God Bless America.”
.Most frequently sung non-Christmas hymns over the past three years: “Amazing Grace,” “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” and “Blessed Assurance.”
.Most frequent songs from The Faith We Sing: “Shine, Jesus, Shine”; “Sanctuary”; and “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love.”
.10% of pastors, worship planners, and chief musicians expressed interest in multiple languages in the Psalter.
.36% prefer the Psalter as it is now presented. 27% prefer not to include the chanting. 38% would like to have Psalms set as hymns and songs.
.75% would like to have Healing Services in the hymnal.
.The least-used worship service in the hymnal is Word and Table IV, unused by 34%.
.43% want more praise choruses in the hymnal; 34% do not.
.70% sing the melodies of our hymns; 61% will sing harmony when it is provided.
.70% are comfortable using male-only language for God. 25% are comfortable using female language for God. 42% are comfortable using male or female language for God.
.28% prefer to sing lyrics on a screen. 70% prefer to use a hymnal or songbook.
.65% prefer Wesley texts with their traditional tunes. 33% prefer contemporary tunes.

(NOTE: The GBOD and UMPH boards of directors have proposed to the 2008 General Conference that it is now time to begin production of a new United Methodist hymnal for the USA. They have also proposed a four-year study into the need for and possible publication of an official UM hymnal for African American and Africana congregations. Both hymnal petitions are available on the GBOD website at http://www.gbod.org/worship/musicstudy/part4.asp.)

The research and reports of the joint GBOD-UMPH General Conference Music Study and GBOD’s additional new hymnal research are available on the GBOD worship website:

2004-2007 General Conference Music Study, www.gbod.org/worship/musicstudy
2007-2008 New Hymnal Surveys, www.gbod.org/hymnal

Bishop Wills’ Life Journal Entry for April 6, 2008, “When I Feel Small”

S: I Corinthians 6:12-13 (The Message)
The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!

O: Paul is saying when I center my life on myself, my freedom diminishes and the life I live is constricted, anxious, fenced in. But when I set the Lord at the center of my life, I realize vast freedoms and spontaneities in an open and expansive existence.

A: This morning it is easy to feel my life small, constricted and fenced in. Believe it or not, even Bishops have days like this. What Paul tells me this morning is my smallness is self imposed by thinking about my own difficulties. Paul points me once again to the Lord God to be the center of my life. If I put God in the center of my life, then there is a vast freedom possible and my life can turn to being a servant rather than only consumed by my own feelings.

I yearn to live consistently with God at the center of my life. When I can live with God at the center of my life my feelings of smallness disappear. I think it is because my life becomes a servant to God who is so much bigger that my feelings of smallness get taken away of being part of serving to bring God’s Kingdom to this earth in the way I live my life.

P: Father thank you for this word today. I have been feeling helpless and small because of so many people suffering in and out of our churches. Give me the energy to live with you at the center of my life. Love, Dick

Y: I give God my feelings of smallness this morning.