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Radical hospitality Joseph House regularly welcomes students of all walks of life from McKendree University BY TINA NAPPER
BISHOPS URGED TO PERCEIVE GOD’S ‘NEW THING’
the Philippines – could set their own standards for ordination and marriage rites in line with local laws. The General Conference also moved forward the plan for regionalization – which would transform the U.S. and each central conference into regional conferences with equal decision-making authority. To take effect, the regionalization plan will need to be ratified by at least two-thirds of the total voters at the denomination’s 131 annual conferences – church bodies consisting of voters from multiple congregations and ministries. Bishops preside but have no vote at General Conference. Nevertheless, they have committed to supporting the ratification of regionalization. The bishops plan for all annual conferences to hold votes on regionalization and other amendments to the denomination’s constitution by the end of next year. Malone said United Methodists witnessed a profound display of God’s power, goodness and steadfast love at this year’s General Conference. “The United Methodist Church no longer has any statements, policies or ‘othering’
BY HEATHER HAHN
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (UM News) – On the eve of a nail-bitingly tense U.S. presidential election, Council of Bishops President Tracy S. Malone reminded her fellow bishops that God’s deliverance is a theme that runs throughout Scripture. She also spoke of how she sees God’s deliverance already at work as The United Methodist Church begins anew after years of internal rancor over the status of LGBTQ people. “The United Methodist Church is moving forward choosing the pathway of love,” Malone said Nov. 4 in her first presidential address to the bishops. “And it is this love that we embody and multiply and witness in our communities and in the world.” Some 100 active and retired bishops gathered this week at the United Methodist- related Epworth by the Sea Conference Center to discuss the denomination’s future and role in the world. Malone, who also leads the Indiana Conference, is the first Black woman the
LEBANON – The front door squeaks gently as a handful of curious students, weary from their classes and practices, steps over the threshold. Warm voices greet them graciously as they enter, directing them to help themselves to an abundance of homemade food. With full plates, the students sit amongst one another at one of the many tables inside, in a circle on the back porch, or downstairs near one another, basking in each other’s presence. This is what Monday nights at Joseph House look like. Located next to St. Joseph Catholic Church in Lebanon,
Photos courtesy of McKendree University McKendree students are welcomed with warm, home-cooked meals and fellowship on Monday nights in a partnership between the school and St. Joseph Catholic Church. The ministry has grown from 70 to 130 in the past year. In turn, these students are giving back to the community. They’re serving as Parish School of Religion teachers for the church’s children, teaching them about Jesus and inspiring them with their passion for their faith. They also volunteer in the community each year during Into the Streets in August, beautifying spaces within local communities. It’s amazing to watch these students interact with one another and people of all ages in the community.
Chow,” the initiative started with six students. Now, it isn’t uncommon to see well over 100 students walk through the doors of Joseh House every Monday evening, seeking meaningful conversation and companionship. Deb Kuth, St. Joseph’s pastoral associate, took inspiration from her alma mater, Saint Louis University, and their Campion nights, which include celebrating Mass, enjoying dinner, and holding small group discussions, to facilitate a similar program for McKendree’s students. “We asked ourselves, why are we here at St. Joseph’s? We’re here to serve, to make a positive impact on the community,” Kuth said. “Then we asked ourselves, wouldn’t it be nice to do something for the students at McKendree?” Homesickness is also something that many students contend with, whether they’re half a world away or even a few towns away from home. However, they often find comfort within these warm walls just a block away from campus. These students, who also come from all sorts of different religious backgrounds, congregate under one roof together for what the Reverend Beverly L. Wilkes-Null, university chaplain at McKendree, calls “radical hospitality.”
Joseph House welcomes McKendree students every Monday evening from the very first day of class until the last day of class each semester, without exception. Not even Labor Day gets in the way of this all-encompassing hospitality. St. Joseph switches off each week with their partner parish, Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Shiloh, to provide food for anyone who may be hungry. It's not just local students making the journey a few streets away for some food and fellowship; Bearcats from all over the world take part in this weekly ritual. Walk into the home and you will regularly find Illinois students from O’Fallon, Belleville, and Carbondale; other American students from Tennessee, Colorado, and Washington State; and international students from Spain, Brazil, Japan, and Ghana, Africa. Inside the home on an eastern wall hangs a large world map adorned with several small sticky notes. These pops of color represent each student who attends the Joseph House nights, pointing to the places they call home. “Joseph House is one avenue in which we meet our students where they are and walk side by side with them on their journey. The safe, inviting atmosphere fosters fellowship, encourages them to break out of their shells, and, ultimately, helps show them that they truly are part of the McKendree family and the community,” said Daniel C. Dobbins, president of McKendree University. Nurturing Bearcats’ souls Joseph House came from humble beginnings, before the pandemic shuttered doors and compelled others to maintain distance from one another. Once called “Chapel and
UMNews photo by Heather Hahn Bishop Tracy S. Malone, who leads the Indiana Conference, delivers her first address as Council of Bishops president during the bishops’ meeting Nov. 4 at Epworth by the Sea Conference Center in St. Simons Island, Ga. She spoke of her hope for The United Methodist Church in moving toward a more inclusive future.
and deliver us, The United Methodist Church, from the brokenness and trauma experienced from the many years of fighting and division and separation that led to disaffiliations and the splintering of the church.” She reminded her audience that God has heard her and all people’s cries. Malone – a lifelong United Methodist born in 1968, the same year as the merger that created The United Methodist Church – said she has never been “more hopeful about the future of The United Methodist Church as I am today!” Earlier this year, General Conference – the denomination’s top lawmaking assembly – overwhelmingly voted to remove decades-old, denomination-wide stances against the practice of homosexuality, the ordination of gay clergy and officiation of same-sex weddings. The same assembly also passed explicit protections so no United Methodist clergy would be compelled to officiate at any wedding against their conscience. General Conference also instituted the policy that the denomination’s central conferences – church regions in Africa, Europe and
bishops have elected as their president. She and her fellow episcopal leaders hope to guide The United Methodist Church as it seeks to let go of past acrimony and move into a more inclusive future that also maintains unity across multiple nations, cultures and theological perspectives. In an address titled “Pressing Forward: All Things New Again!,” Malone preached on God’s promise of deliverance in Isaiah 43:16-21. In that familiar passage, God proclaims to the exiled and beleaguered Jewish people: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Malone pointed to that passage as one of many in the Bible showing God’s will for people’s deliverance. “It is God’s will for people to be liberated, to be free from bondage, despair and darkness – to live a free and an abundant life,” she said. Malone said she often found herself praying to the Holy Spirit that God’s will for liberation be done – including in The United Methodist Church. Among her prayers, she said, is her cry to “heal
practices within its polity that discriminates, regulates or excludes any person or people groups,” she said. “To God be the glory!” In addition to removing language that marginalized LGBTQ people, she pointed out, General Conference also committed The United Methodist Church to being anti- racist and justice-seeking. “God is doing a new thing,” Malone said. “The United Methodist Church is moving forward as a diverse worldwide church that celebrates theological differences, that celebrates diversity, and claims this rich diversity as God’s gift.” She also emphasized that in The United Methodist Church, no one will be “required to act contrary to their convictions.” Bishop Daniel O. Lunge, who leads multiple conferences in Central Congo, was among the bishops who was heartened by Malone’s message of unity amid the denomination’s diversity. “She gave an excellent address,” said Lunge, who speaks French, through an interpreter. “As bishop, I was
“We see students from all walks of life here,” Rev. Wilkes-Null said. “The Joseh House nights engage wrestlers with tennis players, athletes with non-athletes, and connect people who otherwise would have never met. This is also an excellent space for our international students to practice speaking English with their peers and gain more fluency in the language in a relaxed setting.” Love in its purest form in action
In dying to oneself in service to these students, an even greater love was born and is overflowing in the local community. Some of the students who attend the Joseph House Nights have chosen to serve as St. Joseph’s PSR teachers for 3rd, 5th, and 6th grade students. These students learn about Christ from young adults who are not only fun and approachable but are also passionate about their faith. “It’s astounding to witness how much this keeps growing, and it’s so exciting to see the kids enjoy PSR and tell their friends about it,” said Kuth. The love spills out past the house’s walls and affects surrounding communities as well. St. Joseph’s participates in the university’s annual Into the Streets, which is part of McKendree’s New Student Orientation program. During Into the Streets, hundreds of new students volunteer at several local sites, primarily in Lebanon, O’Fallon, Troy, and other surrounding communities. They get their hands dirty to plant flowers and beautify parks and cemeteries, clean local schools and churches, and breathe new life into police stations, fire stations, and local health and rehabilitation centers. “We all do the serving around here,” Rev. Wilkes-Null said. Hearts hungering for an abundant future Kuth hopes to not only continue providing a welcoming space for McKendree students on Monday nights, but she also wants to offer the house as a place for students to congregate, do homework, and study freely anytime they may need a change of scenery, no matter what time of the day. Additionally, she hopes the future holds more events for the students including a Bible study and Eucharistic adoration. “We are so grateful that everyone feels comfortable coming here, and we truly pray that it continues to grow,” she said. (Tina Napper is the lead writer for the marketing and communications department at McKendree University )
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Bishops hear call to be an ‘Ephesians church’
The bishops invited Katongole to address them as part of their anti-racism work. During the morning session, the bishops discussed efforts to confront racism, tribalism and colonialism, as well as the rise of authoritarianism around the globe. They also heard a sermon by their colleague Bishop Daniel W. Schwerin, who touched on many of those concerns. Schwerin, who leads the Northern Illinois and Wisconsin conferences, called for people to form kinship across racial and ethnic lines — just as the Bible says Ruth and Naomi did across tribal lines. “What will define our Christianity is whether and how we love our neighbors,” he said. “We must choose between hostility and hospitality.” Schwerin, preaching on U.S. Election Day, shared his con- cern about violent and hateful rhetoric during President- elect Trump’s campaign.
BY HEATHER HAHN ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (UM News) – If United Meth- odists want to combat racism and tribalism, they should follow the example of the early church in Ephesus. The United Methodist Council of Bishops heard that ad- vice from Father Emmanuel Katongole, a Catholic priest and theologian who spoke to the bishops Nov. 5 about racism, tribalism and Christian identity. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul was writing to early Christians living in what is now Turkey and what was then a crucial city in the eastern Roman Empire. The let- ter praised the Ephesians of Jewish and Gentile heritage for overcoming internal tensions to successfully worship and eat together as one community in Christ. “I want you to read again the letter to the Ephesians,” Ka- tongole said. “And see the number of ways in which Paul says we are sharing of one hope, one Lord, one faith, one people — because we are all children of one God, the Father of all.”
Photo by Rick Wolcott, Council of Bishops Father Emmanuel Katongole, a Catholic priest and theologian who previously worked at Duke Divinity School, addresses the United Methodist Council of Bishops, meeting this week at Epworth by the Sea Conference Center in St. Simons Island, Ga. At the invitation of the bishops’ Anti-Racism Leadership Team, Katongole spoke of the challenges racism and tribalism present to Christians.
Photo courtesy of Paul Newhall Despite the rain, the Wesley Foundation at Western Illinois University held its Fall Pork Chop Dinner Oct. 24 as a fundraiser for the ministry. Persons had the choice of a dine-in or drive-through experience as the Wesley Foundation continues to feed the bodies, minds and spirits of the WIU community in the spirit of its 60-year tradition.
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