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BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMConnection Staff

In their heyday, Methodists were builders. They built - from scratch - educational, medical and cultural institutions that shaped a nation.

In this region, American University, Sibley Hospital and the Board of Child Care stand as some of the institutions created by the faith, efforts and energies of Methodists.

Today, United Methodists continue to serve as trustees of these institutions, working beyond the walls of their churches to ensure society is well-served.

Bishop John R. Schol serves on each of the boards and is excited about some of the area?s 'best and brightest' people becoming more involved in these types of ministries.

At Sibley Hospital, for instance, the board is working to identify a United Methodist with the skills of a certified public accountant who could serve as its treasurer. In addition, they are looking for a person to serve on the 27-member board, which oversees and gbwc_superuseres the 328-bed acute care community hospital in Washington, D.C.

American University is also undergoing a recruiting process for trustees to serve the school, which educates 11,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students from 49 states and 145 countries at its campus in Washington. The board is paying particular attention to enhancing its racial diversity.

In Baltimore, United Methodists also serve on the board of directors of the Board of Child Care, which provides life-changing services to nearly 1,700 abused, abandoned and neglected children, youth and families each year at a variety of sites and programs in the region.

At each of these institutions, volunteers who have reached some acclaim in their own professions, take a lead role in long-range planning and institutional renewal, Bishop Schol said.

In doing so, they are building on a legacy of ministry laid down by Methodism?s founder, John Wesley, who advised every baptized believer, 'Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal you can, as long as ever you can.'

The founding of American University was an example of this. On Christmas Day in 1889, Bishop John Fletcher Hurst purchased a 90-acre tract of land at Nebraska and Massachusetts avenues. The Baltimore Conference and the denomination?s General Conference endowed the institution, which was charted by the U.S. Congress, under the auspices of the Methodist Church in 1893.

Affiliated with American University, and under the sponsorship of the Methodist Woman?s Home Missionary Society, Sibley Memorial Hospital, in Northwest Washington, was started in 1895.

During this same era, from 1865 to 1920, the Baltimore Conference, and the racially segregated, former Washington Conference, were also pivotal in the formation of Morgan State University; Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College); Westminster Theological Seminary (now Wesley Seminary); Goucher College; Maryland General Hospital and the College of Dentistry (now part of the University of Maryland); the Lucy Webb Hayes School of Nursing; six nursing homes for the aging, including Asbury Village in Gaithersburg and The Wesley and N.M. Carroll Home in Baltimore; and three homes for orphaned children that have grown into today?s Board of Child Care.

The Rev. William Holmes, a retired pastor in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, has served on the Sibley Memorial Hospital Board for 14 years.

In his experience, the work of the laity on that board is a 'reclaiming of United Methodist heritage.'

Lay people moving beyond the pews to use their gifts in service to the world is an indelible part of who we are, Holmes said. 'It?s woven into our Methodist history.'

Holmes, who resigned from the board at its last meeting, organized and chaired the hospital?s ethics advisory committee for 12 years. He also worked on the pensions and pastoral care committees and opened each meeting with prayer.

He was impressed by the moral integrity, intelligence and abilities of the lay people serving on the board, which often dealt with complex financial and medical issues. 'They brought a real expertise in accounting and executive managerial abilities,' he said.

The same is true of the Board at American University, where the 27-member board boasts CEOs, senior vice-presidents and chairmen of international corporations and institutions.

Bishop Schol has expressed the belief that many people with gifts of this caliber now worship in United Methodist pews and he is excited about the opportunity for them to put their gifts to work in ministry in these unique settings.

As the Baltimore-Washington Conference undergoes the nominations process for its own committees, the bishop also anticipates the laity using their gifts to take discipleship beyond the walls of their churches in a variety of ways.

Author Frederick Buechner describes this sense of vocation or call as that moment when 'your own greatest joy intersects with the needs of the world.'

As new visions evolve, new dreams are being crafted and United Methodists have the potential to shape and build them.

If you would like more information or would like to nominate someone to serve on the boards of trustees for Sibley Memorial Hospital, American University or the Board of Child Care, please send an e-mail to or call (800) 492-2525, Ext. 300.