God's Renewed Creation:
Call to Hope and Action
At a meeting at Lake Junaluska, N.C., on Nov. 4, the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church adopted "God's Renewed Creation: Call to Hope and Action." In a statement that says, "We cannot help the world until we change our way of being in it," the bishops of The United Methodist Church announced a significant call to all United Methodists, ecumenical and inter-religious partners and people of goodwill around the world."As bishops, we know that critical issues of the day have left people feeling fearful, cynical, hopeless and overwhelmed," said Bishop Gregory Palmer, president of the Council of Bishops. "'God's Renewed Creation' contains our pledges to work in hopeful and robust ways for transforming change as God's stewards of creation. We invite the church and our partners around the world to join us."
Stating that they "cannot remain silent while God's people and God's planet suffer" the 69 active bishops of The United Methodist Church addressed the pastoral letter and foundation document to the 11.3 million global members of the denomination.
The bishops recommended that the pastoral letter be read aloud in worship on the second Sunday of Advent, which fell on Dec. 6, in each of 42,600 UM congregations worldwide.
"We spent many months listening to the concerns and hopes of over 5400 United Methodists worldwide of every age and status," said Bishop Timothy Whitaker of Florida, Chair of the Task Force that brought the proposal to the Council. "We are building on a strong church tradition of seriously engaging public policy issues that most affect the human race--especially our young people."
The focus of the bishops' message was three interconnected global threats to God's good creation: pandemic poverty and disease; environmental degradation; and the proliferation of weapons and violence.
Nebraska Area Bishop Ann Brookshire Sherer-Simpson encourages all Nebraska United Methodists to take part in a Lenten study based on "God's Renewed Creation." The materials for this are being created and will be released in January 2010.
Visit www.hopeandaction for further details, resources and a time line.