| Denial of parole evokes memories Parole has been denied the man who killed the Rev. Lewis F. Ransom, a retired minister and former district superintendent, in March 1987. Rev. Ransom, my husband, was returning from the University of Maryland Hospital when he was approached, robbed and shot to death. The Baltimore-Washington Conference churches he served and the clergy surrounded and supported me and my family in the days that followed the shooting and at the trial a year later of Timothy Rogers and accomplice Kevin Jones. They were convicted and sentenced to life plus 20 years. Five years later, on appeal, Jones pleaded guilty in exchange for a sentence of 20 years. He was released in October 2001. Rogers had his first parole hearing this August and the parole commission denied his parole. He will be reviewed again in 10 years. Many clergy and lay people of the conference wrote letters and signed petitions to block parole, which affected the action of the parole commission. A total of 2,700 signatures were collected. In the years that followed my husbands death, I have used my talents as an administrator and educator to assist other survivors of homicide. I continually thank the people who prayed for me and my family and ask that individuals and churches continue to support this vital ministry to those whose lives have been touched by violent crime. Sally Ransom Knecht
Towson UMC Debt relief would save lives In sermons and the pages of the UMConnection recently, Bishop Felton Edwin May has talked about weapons of mass destruction. One of these weapons is the overwhelming debt of impoverished African nations. The legislation for Debt Relief for Impoverished Nations has finally passed the U.S. Congress. However this is just the first step. The next step, which seems just as difficult as the first, is getting the U.S. Treasury Department to implement the legislation. This means our Treasury Department must negotiate with the IMF, the World Bank and other nations to whom the debt is owed. Implementation would mean more resources are available for health care, vaccinations against childhood diseases and the fight against HIV/AIDS. Without implementation many more children will die or be orphaned as they lose their parents to HIV/AIDS. I urge our pastors and church leaders to ask members to send a postcard to Treasury Secretary John Snow urging him to implement the debt relief legislation. How about a goal of sending 9,000 postcards by mid-September, before the fall meetings of the IMF and World Bank? Sunday School and youth groups can even make this a special project. Rev. Victor E. Sawyer
Chairman Conference Committee on Africa | 
Login/Register to leave comment