C O M M E N TA RYA study inpover tyWhen the Rev. Katie B.Cooch told me thatshe had invited two otherchurches for a joint studyon poverty, I was afraid ourmot ives wou ld be mis in

terpreted. It was September Z014. A year before,Reveille UMC, RichmondDistrict, had been carefullyseeking out a relationshipwith two predominantlyAfrican-American churchesin the Swansboro area ofsouth Richmond. KoinoniaChristian Church and LoveCenter of Unity Full GospelChurch were welcoming butc a u t i o u s .

It was a first for all of us,and we did not know howour congregations wouldreact. We were no strangers to Swansboro, having

had volunteers at Swansboro Elementary School foralmost 20 years. Now, wewere seeking to expand ourministry to the rest of thecommunity. The most important step to breaking intothe greater community wasto sponsor and participatein building a Habitat for Humanity house in Swansboroin 2013, That summer. Reveille youths spent a missionweek in the community,building a raised garden thatresidents could use to growtheir own vegetables.

Although we had madegreat strides with Koinonia,such as helping them to create a kids' music program onMonday nights, we still hadnot made the connec t ionsand relationships that wefelt God calling us to seek.

Reveille decided to do achurch-wide study on poverty in fall 2014, using thebook When Helping Hurts:

How to Alleviate PovertyWithout Hurting the Poor...and Yourself by Steve Cor-bett and Brian Fikkert. Wefound the book an interest

ing but weighty read andoften referred to the studyguide, which gave a briefoverview of the book and

accompanying video.For a period of six weeks,

we invited our partnerchurches to eat Wednes

day night supper with us.followed by the video. Wethen broke up into threegroups to discuss what wehad seen and heard. To mygreat surprise, both congregations showed up in force.At least 40 percent of theircongregations attendedalmost every session witharound 20 people fromeach church participating.Reveille's participation wasless enthusiast ic when 10-20 people came in a givenweek. Nevertheless, these

Letters to the editor ere printed on aspace^vaitable basis. Letters way bee-mailed to MadelinePiUow@vaunic.orgby the hrst of the month.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTIONS

4 - 5 C o m m e n t a r y

6 - 8 V i r g i n i a N e w s

9 Equ ipp ing f o r M in i s t r y

1 0 Te c h n o l o g y T i p s

1 1 L o c a l C h u r c h N e w s

1 2 - 1 3 E v e n t s

26-27 Living the Word

28-29 Clergy 8. Diaconal

3 0 F r o m t h e B i s h o p

3 1 O n e L a s t W o r d

F E A T U R E

14-25 The least of these: United Methodists' focus on poverty

N E W S

6

8

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Middle schoolers encouraged to be disciplesNew location announced for 2016 Ministers' convocation

Tips on giving and receiving criticismlearn to use memes in church communications

C o r r e c t i o nIn the October issue, under the commentary, "Leove a trace," it shou/d benoted that the BSA has never hod a checkbox on its opplicotion askingobouc sexual identity or preference.

Scan this code to go to thec o n f e r e n c e w e b s i t e :

w w w . v a u m c . o r g

Above: Members of Warwick Memorial UMC in Newport News care for their neighbors in theCourthouse Green neighborhood by doing yardwork.

The y^rginia Advocate StaffLinda S. Rhodes j Virginia Conference Director of CommunicationsMadeline Pillow j EditorCathryn Huff [ Graphic DesignerPair Culler I Administrative SecretaryBoard of Directors of Virginia United Methodist Communicatiohs, !nc; Keri Marston, chair. TVie Virginia UnitedMethodist Admcate uses die services of United Mediodist Communications and United Methodist News Service, The reporting of news regarding any person or event, of the placement of any advertisement within thesepages, does not constitute endoreement t>y the VLiyinia Advocate or any eriSty of The United Methodist Chufcb.Opinions of writers are sdely those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication.

VIRGINIA ADVOCATE I JANUARY 2016 VIRGINIA ADVOCATE I JANUARY 2016 3

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SERVICE woRJf/iP ATBRAWOCR STREET l/M(SENPS MEMBERS ToWORK IN (oMMI/NnyBy loanna Dietz

Four times a year, members of Braddock Street UMC,Winchester, gather somewhere in the community.They call it service worship. It happens on a Sunday

morning while the three worship services are occurringand lasts into the early part of the afternoon. A lead teamprepares the site for workers, so when they arrive they canjump right into the work. People are encouraged to comefor worship and then Join the church family out in thecommunity caring for specific agencies.

Sharen Gromling, who began the idea of Service Worship with the encouragement of Braddock Street's leadpastor, the Rev. Kirk Nave, finds that the program is both aiesson and action together. "Service worship is a hybrid ofhearing a message and taking that message to the streetin the form of service to others," said Gromling. "instead ofjust going to church, we become the church - we go outinto the community and worship God and witness to others through our service."

Some Service Worships have included C-CAP (Congregation Community Action Project), putting together Ebolahealth kits for UMCOR and cleaning up at Henry and Wil-

liam Evans Home (a home for children).Braddock street's latest project occurred at our Health

Campus, an agency that provides support for non-profitsthat meet the needs of those living in poverty in Winchester. On Sept. 13, 2015,65 "Braddock Streeters" came topaint both inside and outside, landscape, create care bagsfor children who are in crisis, clean windows and spruceup the campus. The work they did saved the campus anestimated SiO.OOO which allowed them to use those fundsfor direct work with the poor.

Coming together helps the church learn more aboutwhat different agencies in the community are doing tomake a difference, but it also fosters deeper relationshipswith those agencies and those they serve. After workingwith the children and staff at Evans Home, many participants found other ways to continue supporting the homeand invited the children to join the church in mission asw e l l .

Braddock Street's next Service Worship will be on Sunday, Jan. 31. when they will have a Stop Hunger Now eventat the church, in April, they will participate in a build withHabitat for Humanity, which is working hard to provideopportunities for all ages, such as landscaping (Habitat'sgeneral rule is 16 years and up on worksites).

When people understand poverty and begin to formrelationships with the "other," suddenly, we don't seemquite so different from one another. Mission should beabout making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. This only happens when we learn moreabout one another and recognize the gifts that God hasgiven every single person to share, service worship helpsto make this reality, e

- Tfie Rev. Joanna D/'etr is Minister of Mission and Service ozBraddock Street UMC VWnchescer District

WARWICK MEMoRJALEXTENH 'HANHA(R.o« THE crryBy Gina Anderson-Cloud and Bert Cloud

• #hat can we do to care for our neighbors?" becamea question that worked in and out of conversationsamong the people of Warwick Memorial United

Methodist Church in Newport News.Already very active in a number of mission efforts

locally and abroad, a longing had been developing in the

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"And that is why you wi neverknow what it means to

when you are poor, yotin relationships. None cpeople you know can h

be poor:are poor

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elp you."long would it take for you i) to obtain 3 ur next meal, 2) tofind a place to sleep for tonight and 3) to get another job?"After a pause, he answered, "most of you were probablythinking it would take only a moment to obtain a meal,perhaps a few minutes to find a place to stay. And maybe.at most, a few weeks to find another joThis is because you thought of your frieily helping you. And that is why you wilit means to be poon when you are pooi

b of some kind,nds and your fam-

n e v e r k n o w w h a t

you are poor inrelationships. None of the people you kjrow can help you."

kable, but some-ared with hisa s t e r w a r n e d t h a ton to en ter in to

"Jesus replied, "nosters or mother ore gospel will fail

This takes us right away to the remawhat unexplored, wisdom that Christ shidisciples, who were aghast after their rrit is incredibly difficult for a wealthy per:the Kingdom of Heaven. "Truly I tell youone who has le f t home or b ro thers o r sfather or children or fields for me and tfto receive a hundred times as much in i his present age;homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields-alongwith persecutions-and in the age to come eternal life"(Mk. 10:29-30).

Clearly, the hundred-fold blessing to be enjoyed in thepresent age comes from becoming partlof a new community. one that regards relationship arid reckons wealthquite differently from the ways of the world.

What is the implication for us as we seek to "engagein ministry with the poor" as a renewedour connectional Church? It's not goingwho live at or below the poverty line -

area of focus of:o be easy. Thosemd it is more of

us all the time - are quite often barely ble to receive theise are focused on: t le res t f rom that

jedful, for them, isSo I would suggest.0 being in minis-

best of what the Church has to offer. Th

"fighting to survive," and find precious lifight-or-flight existence. What is most nthe shelter found in loving relationshipst h a t e a c h U n i t e d M e t h o d i s t c o m m i t t e d

try with the poor befriend a person wh(j) lives in a state ofdire financial hardship. That friendship may challenge bothparties. But its authenticity could bring otherworldly Grace,by which we may just forget who was the needy one andremember Who really is the Giver. C ,

- The Rev. Dave Rochford is ihe Stoijnfoi!) District superintendent

i0M€ KCy Poi|*mAFotn'poVEiay _Poverty and wealth are relative, vyeslcallyknow our own poverty or wealth^only in relations h i p t o o t h e r s . ^^ J ^Poverty occurs in all rades and countries. The

'.-ncdiflp.,of.a middl lass as a large segment of' TOcilS ts'a pfieridmenon of the past 100 years. In

the United States the largest group of individualsin povert^LiSHdnildren uhder the age of 18. If one

-{yimts' B umber of children in poverty or veryclose to it,'the number is clSse to 50 percent. Oneof the biggest misconceptions is the differencebetween percentages and numbers. The greatest

' number of children in poverty are white, but thegreatest percentage of children in poverty is by

n r o i ^ d r i t y . g g f t u p . \Generational and situational poverty are different.It generally takes two generations to make thetransition from middle classinto poverty. Whenan individual has been in povecW two generationsor more, then the patterns and habits are different Situational poverty is when there is a divorce,

•..deatf)-or-4llness-and resources are temporarilyreduced, but the mindset remains largely withm i d d l e - c l a s s n o r m s a n d v a l u e s .

For churches to be successful with the poor,m e m b e r s m u s t u n d e r s t a n d t h e h i d d e n r u l e s o f

generational poverty, as well as middle class, sothe transition can be more readily accepted. Forthe transition to occur, both sets of rules must beopenly acknowledged.

The fundamental reasons for poverty are-lack ofeducational attainment and the disconnection offamily and/or community.

Stay, a vision or goal, a key relationship or a special talent or skill

-Found In WhotEveri/Oiurcli Member Should Know about fwertg.

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Members of Werwick Memorial UMC help with yardwork during a "blitz workday.'

hearts of many to reach beyond our walls directly intothe lives of our immediate neighbors. Quite simply, ourhope is to offer hands-on service to help our community become a better place.

So, after a lot of prayer, some divinely inspired networking and many what-if conversations, we began anongoing, local mission project called Hands Across TheCity in the spring of last year. We drew the name froma mission campaign of the same name developed byRethink Church, but it has become our own as our local projects have stretched our hands across our city.

We first explored the needs and opportunitiesto serve which led to partnerships with the City ofNewport News and the Homeowners Association ofa sprawling residential community known as Courthouse Green .

This neighborhood has experienced a lot of culturaltransition along with economic stress and a spike incrime. With many residents that were sincere, hardworking people needing help with yard work andexterior home repairs, we canvassed the CourthouseGreen neighborhood and introduced ourselves andour church to the community in early May 2015. Bythe end of the month, we had gathered 35 volunteers,ranging in age from four to 75 with various skills, forour first "blitz workday" serving six homes owned bypeople with low incomes, older adults or persons withdisabilities.

Our second "blitz workday", held in October, putnearly 50 people to work serving seven homes ownedby our neighbors in need, our work also including amajor trash cleanup of a large wooded area done bya team comprised mostly of members of our confirmation class who were learning about living out their

f a i t h ."Blitz workday" projects included yard cleaning and

landscaping along with significant repairs to roofs, fences,doors, windows and shutters. Materials have been providedthrough a mission grant from our church's endowmentfund along with private donations, in addition to the sitecrews, "blitz workday" volunteers also prepared lunchesand managed supplies. Many volunteers were alreadyconnected to our church, but some were invited by friendsand just wanted to help make a difference.

We have also had smaller "Hands Across the City" workprojects in the Courthouse Green community, generally afocused repair project with a team of two or three.

While the courthouse Green neighborhood has beenthe focus of many projects, "Hands Across the City" volunteers have also partnered with Habitat for Humanity forprojects in the southern part of Newport News and staffeda summer feeding program for neighborhood children,among other projects. We also continue our support of alocal financial ministry, food banks and meal programs.

As satisfying as tackling these projects can be, it is therelationships that we are forming with our neighbors thatare so important and valuable, we have come to connectfaces and stories with each other as human beings andfellow citizens.

We have come to know a l i t t l e b i t more abou t t he

struggles and hopes of people like a dignified school custodian who will soon retire with a home that she has workedhard to maintain for many years but still needs help.

We have been honored by cautious, but distinctivelygracious, hospitality of a family coping with disabling illness while their home crumbles around them.

Certainly, we have been privileged to spend an afternoon cleaning a backyard only to witness a grieving homeowner step into it for the first time in four years becauseit held too many hard memories of a deceased familym e m b e r .

We dream of continuing this work, and we are excitedabout the development of leaders and new volunteers. Werecently participated in the Courthouse Green Communityday and brought along nurses to check blood pressure andpromote a healthy lifestyle. This Christmas, our youth willgo caroling at the homes we served. And, currently, we arepraying about more ways to foster relationships, possiblythrough mentoring, tutoring and sport camps.

We believe that Christ, whose hands have been at workin Courthouse Green and throughout the rest of our city fora very long time, is indeed answering our heart's longing toput our hands to use. €

- T/ie Rev. Gina Anderson-Cloud and tlie Rev. Bert Cloud serve as co-

pastors ot Warwick Memoriol UMC in Newport News.

PANVIU-E P -T VWd(HVR(H0 To APPRESSIRVE of (m poVElOyBy Madeline Pillow

It was February 2012 when Danville District Superintendent Janine Howard sat down to write an article for thedistrict newsletter about United Methodist polity in light

of church transitions, a new episcopal leader and the approaching General Conference. For Howard, "This seemed tobe a good time to get started with an explanation aboutwho we are and why we do things the way we do."

But she was stopped in the middle of this act by somenews she read from Martinsville chat ranked the city ashaving the third highest child poverty rate in 2010 amongVirginia's IS'I counties. With a rate of 41.7 percent ofchildren under the age of 18, Danville had Virginia's highestchild poverty rate in 2010. (Article by Paul Collins, Mortins-vi/Je Bulletin, Jan. 19, 2012.)

In her newsletter. Howard urged churches to addressthe issue and combat the conditions. For her. it was about

combining The United Methodist Church's strong traditionof ministry with the poorest of society and living up to theMission Statement "for the transformation of the world."With a challenge and a call for action, Howard asked herchurches to meet about the issue and then let her knowhow they would respond.

This newsletter stirred the district on the issue andmany asked for resources and information. The book.What Every Churcfi MemberShould Know About Poverty

w a s r e c o m m e n d e d a s a

resource from which grewsevera l loca l church in i t iatives. Also "Bridges Out ofPoverty" workshops werestarted, and the district isin the beginning stagesof forming DiscipleshipCi rc les based a round

poverty as well as Church1 and Community Work-I ers ministry with GlobalI Ministries.

One o f t hose a f fec ted by the newsletterwas the Rev. Kameron

h a i ^ X M I• CHURCH MEMBER^ SHOULD KNOW

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Wilds, then pastor of Grace Design UMC in Danville."Grace Design has really been trying to seek out who

God is calling them to be in Danville, Virginia," Wilds said."In the four years that I was with them our goal was to follow Jeremiah's command to the Israelites who were heldin captivity in Babylon, to seek the welfare of the land, forin its welfare we will find our own. We tried to keep perspective though. Just as the Israelites were in Babylon, we,too, realized that finding the welfare of the city was notgoing to be easy, but nonetheless, every church is calledto try." In addressing the D.S.'s challenge to do somethingabout Danville's child poverty rate, the church set out ontwo mission projects.

One of these projects is the "Feed My Sheep" lunchwhere, once a month, volunteers from Grace Design pack200-250 lunches with a focus on the community of Cardinal Village, a Section 8 housing community.

The other project is a partnership with Trinity UMC,Danville, Chat resulted from a conversation between Wildsand Che Rev. Charles Wickham, pastor of Trinity UMC.

"One day, Kameron came to see me, and he said thathe had a crazy idea but he wanted to tell me all about it,"Wickham said. "He envisioned our local United Methodistchurches starting a thrift store together, and all the monieswould be used to help people with their utilities, rent andother needs. We talked about it for awhile, and then hesaid that he had even looked at a location."

Through one of Wilds' church members. Bobby Thompson, they were able to get a shopping center store in aneasily-accessible location. Talking with other clergy andtwo other churches, they were able to cover initial set-upcosts to create "The Helping Hands Thrift Store," a 501c3that sells donated goods and clothing. The store is staffedby non-paid volunteers which allows the monies chat areraised to be used for small overhead costs and to providefinancial assistance to people in the community in need.

After only a few months, they were out of space, andonce again Thompson helped them get a bigger space inthe same shopping center.

Wickham says the community has been very supportive of the efforts and many volunteer to help in the storewhich has allowed the store to provide financial assistanceto people in many ways.

"Since we have been open, we have assisted in utilities,rent, a funeral, purchased materials for a ramp, tokens forbus transportation for job interviews, prescriptions, glasses,dentures and other needs," said Wickham. "The relationships that have been built are wonderful. From the verybeginning, we have stressed to the volunteers chat whensomeone enters the front doors until they get in their carand drive away, we want them to meet Jesus." C

VIRGINIA ADVOCATE 1 IAPJUARY20T6 1 9 2 0 VIRGINIA ADVOCATE I )ANUARY2016