D.C. church named as national model BY LARRY HYGH JR.
UMCONNECTION STAFF Emory UMC in northwest Washington, D.C., has been selected as one of the five new congregation resource centers for the Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century Initiative. We are extremely excited about what God has done and is doing in our place and we hope we can share the blessing, said the Rev. Joseph Daniels Jr., pastor of Emory UMC. Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century is a program designed to assist United Methodist churches with predominantly black congregations become effective in mission and ministry. It does this by linking successful congregational resource centers with congregations that are in search of new ideas and revitalization. We believe we can offer urban churches a number of skills that we pray will help people out, said Daniels, who believes Emory can offer other churches skills for spiritual, community and economic development. He cites some of the churchs ministries as examples. They include a housing program working with transient men, a lay pastors ministry, prayer and fasting ministry and Disciple III and IV Bible Study. Daniels also said that the church has set up a non-profit organiation called the Emory Beacon of Light. There are currently 20 resource congregations in the United States. Three are in the Baltimore-Washington Conference. In addition to Emory UMC, they include A.P. Shaw UMC in southeast Washington, pastored by the Rev. Sandra Greene, and John Wesley UMC in Baltimore, led by the Rev. Alfreda Wiggins. Each of the congregation resource centers has various gifts they can share with conference churches, said Cheryl Stevenson, national coordinator for the initiative. The 20 standout congregations range in size from 150 to 9,000 members. They pursue a wide spectrum of ministries and hold training sessions in their areas of ministry expertise. Through training I hope partner churches receive hope, inspiration, encouragement and determination to go forward with the vision the Lord has given the church, Stevenson said. Congregation resource centers are selected based on criteria that are indicators of vital congregations. They include: - value clergy and lay leadership;
- foster partnership between clergy and laity;
- demonstrate a clear mission;
- enable and nurture all persons to grow spiritually;
- provide for education, Bible study and other faith-formation development;
- engage in vibrant and varied worship;
- engage in a cycle of planning, doing, evaluating and refocusing their ministry;
- value Christian hospitality and their Wesleyan and cultural heritages;
- engage their residential communities creatively and faithfully; and
- act on needs, problems and issues arising from social, political, cultural and economic aspects of life.
Churches qualify to be partner congregations if they demonstrate a willingness to change and be open and are eager to devote time and resources to making the training process a success. Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century evolved from an action of the 1992 General Conference. The conference directed and challenged the General Council on Ministries to design creative and new ways to further strengthen black churches in the United States. Stevenson attributes the success of the resource centers to their claiming the power of the Holy Spirit. God has equipped each church with the resources to do ministry, she said. Congregation resource centers help each church reach that potential in Christ. At the 2000 General Conference it was reported that 298 lay and clergy teams have been trained by congregation resource centers and more than 400 partner congregations have benefited from these training opportunities. Stevenson hopes that the Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century can leave a legacy of spiritual vitality and evangelistic growth and transformation. She also hopes the initiative can find more creative ways to empower churches to do ministry. | 
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