| Great is their faithfulness... By Melissa Lauber
UMCONNECTION STAFF 'If youre going to live outside the box, youre just going to have to love the hell out of people,' Bishop Felton Edwin May told people from around the country who gathered May 29 to bid him farewell as he prepares to retire. More than 1,200 people, who filled two ballrooms of the Renaissance Hotel Saturday night, expressed their appreciation for that enabling love and the 42 years of the holy and bold ministry of Bishop May and his wife Phyllis.  | SARAH ALSGAARD/UMCONNECTION | Bishop Felton Edwin May and Phyllis May offer thanks to those who gathered during a celebration of ministry May 29. Behind them is a large quilt, a gift from each of the nine districts, depicting ministry initiatives with which Bishop May has worked. |
Throughout the evening, people shared stories of the Mays work with children, HIV-AIDS, economic empowerment in Africa, the creation of the churchs Shalom Zones and making disciples from Chicago to Wilmington, Washington, D.C., to Zimbabwe. The dinner celebration, hosted by Bishop F. Herbert Skeete, retired, featured two written tributes from prominent United Methodists. 'Throughout our Nations history, men and women of faith have helped shape the character of America,' read part of a letter from President George W. Bush. 'Today, individuals of moral conviction and religious belief continue to strengthen our Nation by inspiring acts of goodness and compassion in others. Your dedication helps to transform our Nation, one heart and one soul at a time.' Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich sent a citation honoring the bishop for his leadership and faith. Washington, D.C., Mayor Anthony Williams, speaking to the audience, told how, although Bishop May did not always make elected officials comfortable, he did consistently offer a prophetic word. Prince Georges County Executive Jack Johnson said, as a government leader, he was challenged to address a crime-ridden, poverty-plagued housing complex that even the police had abandoned. God, Johnson said, led him to Bishop May, and the pair visited the community. Bishop May went to work and 'holy boldness was born in that apartment complex.' Bishop May became an answered prayer to hundreds of children living there, who will never even know his name, Johnson said. Greeting Bishop May with a hymn sung in Shona, retired Zimbabwe Bishop Abel T. Muzorewa, thanked his colleague for his work fighting for justice and liberation. Similar sentiments were expressed by people from Maple Park UMC in Chicago, the Methodist Action Program in Delaware and by the Rev. Marcus Matthews, who shared his witness on behalf of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, which the bishop has served for the past eight years. Matthews, superintendent of the Washington West District, invoked Bishop Mays well-known query: 'What would it look like if' and thanked the episcopal couple for 'showing us how to be bold for Christ.' During the evening, Scripture and liturgies were read by conference leaders. The Ellington School of the Arts choir from Washington, the choir from Christ UMC of the Deaf of Baltimore, the American Chinese UMC Youth Orchestra from Cabin John and soloist Bonnie Burnett of Baltimore performed. The Mays received a number of gifts, including a memory book, a new computer and a quilt with a block from each of the conferences nine districts, depicting missional initiatives, stitched by the Rev. Ann Parsons Adams. In thanking the conference, Mrs. May turned to her husband and said, 'He has always been, for me, a Christ-person. He has shown me what it means to be Christ-like.' The bishop closed the evening with his own words of thanks, saying, 'If you can see it in your mind and believe it in your heart, it can happen.' In September, the Mays will begin a new ministry at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark. | 
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