Online Archives

On-line

VOL. 14, NO. 12

Special dinners celebrate social justice, ecumenism

BY LINDA WORTHINGTONUMConnection Staff

Two Baltimore-Washington Conference groups held special dinners at annual conference where they listened to guest speakers and presented awards to those doing outstanding work in the fields of social justice and ecumenism.

At the Methodist Federation for Social Action dinner June 12, peace activist Dedrick McCurdy Dunbar, son of the Rev. Sheila McCurdy and graduate of Union Theological Seminary, spoke of his non-violent resistance among Israelis and Palestinians.

I wish I could say I went to Palestine and Israel and my work there contributed to an atmosphere of peace and justice, he said. But the passions of violence and revenge still prevail in this part of the world.

Dunbar used his journal entries to tell nearly 100 people meeting at Mt. Vernon Place UMC of traveling with the Rev. Al Sharpton in January 2002 to express humanitarian concern over the suffering of victims to Israeli terrorism.

During an extended question period after his remarks, Dunbar expressed dismay over Americans lack of knowledge of the situation in the Middle East and apparent bias by the U.S. government and the Christian Right.

More Americans are beginning to understand you can be Christian and have a more balanced opinion (on Palestine), Dunbar said.

The Rev. Anne Stewart presented the Gods Foolish One award to Jim Langworthy, a member of First UMC in Hyattsville and treasurer of the local chapter of MFSA for the past 15 years. The recipient of the award is kept secret until the annual banquet.

On June 14 at the Board of Ecumenical and Interreligious Lifes Seeds of Faith dinner, the Bishops Award on Ecumenism was presented to the organization SMILE.

BEIL chairwoman, the Rev. Mary Kay Totty, presented the award to SMILE representatives Betsy Campaign and Alice Hall. The award carries a $1,000 check.

SMILE is the acronym for Service Makes Individual Lives Exciting, said Hall, a retired schoolteacher, who is one of the volunteer staff at the southern Calvert County organization. She plans the ecumenical worship services SMILE holds four times a year.

Working entirely with volunteers, SMILE provides $6,000 to $10,000 of assistance each month. Food, clothing, cash assistance and household goods are available for over 650 families with more than 2,200 individuals in need.

We have never run out of food, Hall said as she described filling 200 to 300 Thanksgiving baskets. Whatever comes up, God will be there.

In addition to the 10 churches, of which five are United Methodist, many resources come from a Thrift Shop, described as the Lusby Mall, which volunteers run four days a week.

Speaking at the dinner was the Rev. Charles Sembley of Mt. Olive African Methodist Episcopal church in Annapolis. Sembley used as his theme the necessity to get a new heart repent and live.