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BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMCONNECTION STAFF

Building on what has been called 'an unprecedented partnership,' the Baltimore-Washington Conference and the American Cancer Society brought together more than 50 people Dec. 2 to continue the work of preventing cancer and eliminating suffering.

'Every person in our country today has been affected by cancer, either personally or through the life of someone they know,' said Sandy Ferguson, director of justice ministries for the conference. 'The church must be involved.'

Dr. Colin Weekes, of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, reinforced Ferguson?s claims with statistics that he shared at the symposium, held at the Conference Center in Columbia.

'One in every three American women and one in two American men have cancer during their lifetimes,' Weekes said. 'About 1.4 million people are diagnosed with the disease each year in the United States. A quarter of all Americans will die of cancer.'

The Cancer Society has a vast array of resources available, most of them free of charge, to address the concerns of cancer patients, while the church has a large connection of people that can come out of the pews and take action. 'It?s a partnership that builds on the best of both organizations, said Gretchen Derewicz, the society?s state mission director of Delaware/Delmarva, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

There are any number of ways United Methodists can become involved in this issue, Ferguson said.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death so far in 2006, Weekes reported, with 31 percent of cancer deaths among men and 26 percent of cancer deaths among women being attributed to this form of cancer.

'And lung cancer is something we can wipe out,' said Weekes.

Churches have already been a part of these efforts to address cigarette smoking, the leading cause of lung cancer, with their advocacy efforts in Maryland. They also lobbied in Washington, which will become a smoke-free area Jan. 2.

The American Cancer Society also offers a number of smoking cessation programs that churches can tap into for their members and communities.

'We have the potential to do so much, to be real agents of transformation in this arena,' Ferguson said.

Addressing inadequate exercise and poor nutrition would also substantially decrease the possibility of cancer by one-third, said Weekes.

A handful of United Methodist churches in the conference have already taken advantage of the American Cancer Society?s Heart and Soul program, a free program that can be custom designed to meet the needs of a congregation as it works to improve the health of its members and prevent a variety of cancers.

In addition to praising and encouraging churches to be agents for information and good health, Derewicz also applauded United Methodists for their willingness to speak out for those who don?t have medical insurance or access to adequate health care.

'We don?t just want to have kind words for those who suffer with cancer,' said the Rev. Valerie Barnes, the chairwoman of conference Health and Welfare Ministries. 'We are people of action. We can be advocates. Like the hymn says, ?there is a wounded world that cries for healing.?'

During the symposium, a panel of three Baltimore-Washington Conference members shared insights from their bouts with cancer.

Darlyn McCrae, a church secretary at Ames UMC for 25 years, shared how, in 1995 at age 41, she was in good health but was experiencing some discomfort. A doctor?s visit revealed that she was suffering from stage-three colon cancer.

Even with radiation and chemotherapy, McCrae was certain she would survive. She advises other United Methodists to 'take control of your bodies,' and if they do receive a diagnosis of cancer, to 'find someone they can walk through the experience with.'

For conference missionary Nan McCurdy, who serves in Nicaragua and is a survivor of breast cancer, the lack of mutual support groups in hospitals is 'a real gap.'

Women especially tend to find benefit from such support, and churches could make a real difference in the creation of these groups, she said.

The Rev. David Roberts of Carroll?s Gills UMC, whose daughter died of a rare form of cancer, is himself a survivor of prostate cancer. He contracted it at age 51 and it was caught early, he said.

Roberts is an active advocate of regular testing for prostate cancer. Because there is no initial pain to alert men, the testing is essential, said Roberts, who is part of a support group to help other men who are living with the disease.

During the afternoon portion of the symposium, Derewicz walked members through the comprehensive listing of programs and resources available on the American Cancer Society?s Web site at www.cancer.org.

'People do not have any idea what is available to them for free,' Ferguson said. 'Every local church has an opportunity to open its doors and impact any number of lives.'