| Simple act can save lives On July 4th my wife's cousin lost her 19-year-old daughter in a tragic automobile accident. Micah Heckman had everything going for her: a strong Christian faith, hours in the youth mission field and an acceptance letter to a college in Nebraska. She lost her life by getting behind the wheel of a car while she was emotionally distraught and not wearing a seat belt. Now she is gone and all the hopes and dreams she had and her parents had for her have been ended. I want to share this message with all people, everywhere: 'Wear your seat belts!' It does not matter if it creases your suit or dress, or doesn't feel good. Please protect yourself in every way while traveling in a hunk of flying metal. The life you protect is precious to so many others. I think this may even be a matter of good stewardship ... using wisely that which God has blessed us with. Rev. David A. Coakley
Pastor, Lewistown UMC Rookie is the wrong word I must take issue with your choice of wording for your indelicate depiction in the July 28 UMConnection of our newly-elected bishop, Bishop John R. Schol, as a 'rookie bishop.' In the dictionary that I have on my desk, 'rookie' is defined as slang for either 'an inexperienced army recruit' or 'any novice.' Such a designation, along with the subsequent sentence, 'In the past, the Baltimore-Washington Conference had received the senior eligible bishop,' seems to impugn the capabilities and calling of our new episcopal leader. I have never heard the term 'rookie' used positively in any context, let alone with one trusted with so austere a position as bishop, and I would add that such use of colloquial slang has no place in a newspaper as highly regarded as the UMConnection. As for Bishop Schol's being anything other than 'the senior eligible bishop,' I hope that we would trust the work of God's Holy Spirit to provide us with a competent episcopal leader. Rev. Amy Sarah Lewis
Pastor, Emanuel UMC, Catonsville Who better to minister? I am responding to Michael Burdick's July 28 letter to the editor, where he writes that Jesus' perfect image is not one of a homosexual clergyman. In fact, Jesus never spoke of homosexuality negatively in the Bible. Like everybody else, GLBT people have a duty to respond to God's calling to enter the ministry. Indeed, who better to minister to the joys and needs of a congregation, than one who has felt the sting of society's cruelty and prejudice? I agree that there are gay people who have fallen into the self-destructive behaviors mentioned in Mr. Burdick's letter. But likewise there are heterosexual people who have fallen into these same patterns. Unlike Mr. Burdick, I think social intolerance plays a primary role in these maladies, and Jesus was very critical of intolerant people who would cast the first stone. Before Michael ventures into the ministry with his current views, I would like to personally invite him to attend Foundry UMC to see for himself how happy, well-adjusted and dedicated gay people build a life of dignity and dedication to God. Greg Wright
Foundry UMC, Washington, D.C. | 
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