| Council reports on challenges of disaster relief, urban ministry BY LINDA WORTHINGTONUMCONNECTION STAFF Africa, Isabel and new faith communities were high on the agenda of the fall meeting of the conference Council on Ministries Oct. 29. Approximately 30 conference leaders left with an air of accomplishment and the sense of job well done in spite of a difficult year as the staff moved three times and many personally had to cope with the toxic effects of the mold at the conference center.  God has done some great things in a difficult year for this annual conference, said the Rev. Vance Ross, pastor at First UMC in Hyattsville who chairs the council. We ought to be thankful and full of joy for our blessings in the midst of challenges, he said.
One of those blessings and challenges is the new faith community starting on a vacant lot, once occupied by a United Methodist Church, at Milton and Oliver streets in Baltimore, where the Saving Station tent has been pitched the past few years. A newly hired pastor, the Rev. Andre Johnson, expects to begin worship services in the depressed area Dec. 1, said Associate Council Director Tim Warner. Warner added that another piece of good news is that the Hesed House, a rehab center for drug addicts, will be dedicated Dec. 7. Also addressing growth in the conference was Sue Conway, chair of the Board of Congregational Life. One of the areas of growth is ministries with the Hispanic communities.  The newest Hispanic ministry, under the direction of the Rev. Willie Caraballo-Lopez, has formed a unique partnership with Asbury Village in Gaithersburg. Sixty Hispanic people began worshipping in the Asbury space Nov. 1.
We have a rich pool of candidates for seminary, Caraballo-Lopez added. There will be four entering next year, and four the year after that. Sandy Ferguson, associate council director, gave an overview of the response to Hurricane Isabel. (Isabel) is no longer in the news, but its not over, she said. There are still pockets in the state that are devastated. Some of the storms consequences are very long term. Before the hurricane, Ferguson met with the district disaster coordinators and put plans into action. They worked with the United Methodist Committee on Relief throughout the disaster, and provided training for those at the sites of the devastation. People are in stages of recovery. Were putting a system in place to deal with recovery, Ferguson said. The first phase will last 12-18 months, then well see whats next. With funds from UMCOR, the office has hired a case management specialist. The Rev. Andrea King is also working with the disaster response team. At the CCOM meeting, the Rev. Victor Sawyer told of observing vast hunger and starvation on his trip this past summer to Zimbabwe and South Africa. And AIDS is getting worse day-by-day, he said. Thanks to apportionment dollars, the Board of Global Ministries has given Zimbabwe $80,000 that has kept feeding programs going, Sawyer reported. Warner, who chairs the Zimbabwe Shalom Zone committee, added that the Shalom ministry is also providing considerable support to the conference partnership with Zimbabwe. In 2002, we sent more than $100,000 to Zimbabwe, he said. All the districts in the conference are providing funds.  In a brief budget report, Martha Knight, interim finance officer, said that apportionment receipts which provide the conferences operating revenue had lagged all year, but in September, almost caught up, bringing the budget to $40,000 more than last year at the same time. However, this year, because of budget increases, income still lags 3 percent behind 2002.
The bad news is that non-apportioned giving is 37 percent behind last year, Knight said. Because of the shortfalls and the considerable extra, non-budgeted expense of dealing with the mold that added tens of thousands of dollars in expenses, all conference offices are under a restriction to spend 80 percent of their budget in 2003, and probably 2004. Because of the Hidey amendment passed at annual conference last June, the budget increase from 2004 to 2005 cannot be more than 3.9 percent, said the Rev. Don Stewart, director of connectional ministries. I dont want to say well close two weeks of camp and there will be no Leadership Days, he lamented, but with the mandate to replace the reserve funds used to meet the medical expenses of those who suffered, and continue to suffer, from the mold, it may be necessary, he said. If medical expenses go up, (and they will) the amendment could mean dropping the conference budget by 12 percent, he said. The way out of the dilemma and challenge is to rescind the Hidey amendment at the annual conference in 2004, Stewart said. The 2004 CCOM budget will be decided at the spring meeting in March. The Rev. Wayne DeHart, superintendent of the Frederick District, urged members and their constituencies to put pictures behind the budget. He suggested that each department submit digitalized pictures that depict the budget as ministry, not just dollars. | 
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