Welcome to our New Ecumenical Officer

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1 The Council of Bishops Ecumenical and Interreligious Ministries Fall/Winter 2016 Benjamin Michael Watson was born Welcome to our New Ecumenical Officer BISHOP B. MICHAEL WATSON Benjamin Michael Watson was born into an active Methodist family in Dothan, Alabama in the United States of America. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and real estate from The University of Alabama, a Master of Divinity degree from Emory University's Candler School of Theology, and earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Vanderbilt University. He was ordained deacon by Bishop W. Kenneth Goodson and elder by Bishop Carl J. Sanders. As a member of the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference, Mike Watson served as pastor of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Molino, Florida, and as pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Milton, Florida. He was appointed to start a new congregation in his hometown, where he served as founding pastor of Covenant United Methodist Church from From 1990 until his election to the episcopacy in 2000, he served as the pastor of Dauphin Way United Methodist Church in Mobile, Alabama. Dr. Watson also served as chair of his conference Board of Ordained Ministry, chair of the conference Covenant Community for Spiritual Formation, chair of the steering committee of the Southeastern Jurisdiction's larger church consultation, a member of Emory University's Clergy Advisory Council, and member of several educational and civic organizations. A delegate to World Methodist Conferences in Singapore (1991) and Brazil (1996), he is currently a member of the World Methodist Council and was recently elected as the Council Parliamentarian. Benjamin Michael Watson was elected to the episcopacy by the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference in 2000 and was assigned to the South Georgia Area. He served there until 2008, when he was assigned to the North Georgia Area. In 2016 he retired from active service and was elected to serve as the denomination Ecumenical Officer. He will supervise the ecumenical staff and serve as the denomination s ecumenical and interreligious representative. Margaret Lee married Bishop Watson on June 16, 1973, at First United Methodist Church, Dothan. Margaret and Mike have two children: Benjamin (Ben) Lee Watson and Elizabeth Margaret Watson and three grandchildren.

2 2 YOUR NEW ECUMENICAL OFFICE AND STAFF NEW STAFF THERE WILL BE TWO PROGRAMATIC STAFF PERSONS MAKING UP THE COB ECUMENICAL STAFF BEGINNING NOVEMBER 1, The United Methodist Building 110 Maryland Avenue, NE Suite 301 Washington, DC USA +01 (202) As of mid-november 2016 the office for the Council of Bishop s ecumenical staff will be located in Washington DC, in the United Methodist Building. The United Methodist Building is the only non-government building on Capitol Hill in the capital city of the United States of America. In addition to its architectural beauty, the building is significant for the role it has played at turning-points in the nation's, and denomination s, history. These include the 1963 March on Washington led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; the 1968 Poor People's March, the farmworkers' boycott; years of protest against the Vietnam War; ERA marches, the 1978 Longest Walk of Native Americans; and the 1989 Housing NOW! March. Its adjacent apartment complex, constructed in 1931, has been home to scores of congressional representatives, Methodist bishops, and Supreme Court Justices, men and women in leadership roles who have shaped the fabric of American society. The ecumenical staff office will be located in this addition. REV. DR. JEAN HAWXHURST WILL BE THE ECUMENICAL STAFF OFFICER FOR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT. HER RESPONSIBILITIES WILL INCLUDE ASSISTING THE BISHOPS IN THE TRAINING OF UNITED METHODISTS IN ECUMENICAL AND INTERRELIGIOUS MINISTRIES, CONNECTING WITH ANNUAL CONFERENCES AND REPRESENTING THE COB AT ECUMENICAL AND INTERRELIGIOUS GATHERINGS. DR. KYLE TAU WILL BE THE ECUMENICAL STAFF OFFICER FOR THEOLOGY AND FAITH AND ORDER. HIS RESPONSIBILITIES WILL INCLUDE STAFFING THE OFFICIAL DIALOGUES OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, STAFFING THE COMMITTEE ON FAITH AND ORDER, AND SERVING AS THEOLOGICAL CONSULTANT AND ADVISOR TO THE COB..

3 3 ECUMENICAL & INTERRELIGIOUS NEWS 500 th Anniversary of the Reformation It was 500 years ago, in 1517, that Martin Luther nailed his theses to the Wittenburg door in Germany. This move for change will be commemorated in many ways in the coming year. The above photo was taken in Wittenburg when several of our bishops gathered to plant a tree on behalf of The UMC to commemorate the Reformation anniversary. National Workshop on Christian Unity and UMEIT: USA The next opportunity for United Methodist Ecumenical and Interreligious Training will be May 1-4, 2017 in Minneapolis, Minnesota during the National Workshop on Christian Unity. The themes of the 2017 UMEIT: USA will be reformation and dialogue. Registration will be available at after the first of the year, but you can hold those dates now. Episcopal United Methodist Dialogue committee members, along with staff from each church, shared in conversation, meals, prayer and a celebration of the Eucharist. Co-chairs for the dialogue were Bishop Frank Brookhart and Rev. Margaret Rose of The Episcopal Church and Bishop Gregory Palmer and Dr. Glen Messer of The United Methodist Church. The third session of the dialogue was intentionally a time for building relationships between representatives of our two sibling churches, and this fourth session built on that foundation. Work at this meeting included completion of an informational document (FAQs). The dialogue committee brought a statement for full communion called A Gift to the World: Co Laborers for the Healing of Brokenness, nearer to completion. We noted numerous examples places where United Methodists and Episcopalians are already working in mission together, most recently in our ecumenical solidarity at the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation. Our efforts of working toward full communion have progressed over many years. We are convinced the time is now to move forward toward legislation and church wide engagement. Commission on Faith and Order studies commissioned by the General Conference in matters related to faith, doctrine, order and discipline of the Church, and 3) to prepare and provide resources and study materials to The United Methodist Church as deemed appropriate" (2016 BOD, pa. 444). The CFO met to plan its work for the upcoming quadrennium. This work will include engaging the Church in a study of its ecclesiology based upon the draft document entitled "Wonder, Love and Praise." The goal of this work is to produce an official statement on United Methodist ecclesiology to parallel similar statements on baptism and Eucharist. Additionally, the committee is preparing a teaching resource on the basics of United Methodist identity, belief and practice to be published by the Council of Bishops upon completion. In the last quadrennium the CFO engaged in a study of "Christian Conferencing" that produced a report to the General Conference of In the next quadrennium the CFO will continue to reflect on this theme and provide resources to appropriate bodies as requested. The CFO will also continue in its advisory role with the Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters as it continues its work on a General Book of Discipline. Finally, the CFO recognizes ways in which its work, particularly on ecclesiology, may have implications for the Commission on a Way Forward and will be in communication with the moderators of the Commission to establish any connections that may assist its work. The membership of the Committee on Faith and Order for the next quadrennium is as follows: Bishop Scott Jones (chair), Bishop Michael Watson (Ecumenical Officer), Bishop Rosemaire Wenner, Bishop David Yemba, Dr. Edgardo Colon-Emeric, Rev. Patricia Ferris, Rev. Matthew Laferty, Dr. Gladys Mangiduyos, Rev. Dr. Michael Nausner, Dr. Hendrik Pieterse, Rev. Dr. F. Douglas Powe, Rev. Dr. Russell Richey, Rev. Dr. Samuel Royappa, Dr. Sondra Wheeler, Rev. Dr. Rena Yocom. Dr. Kyle Tau will be staffing the CFO in his new position with the Council of Bishops. Episcopalians and United Methodists met in Chicago, Illinois, for the fourth round of the Episcopal Church United Methodist Church Dialogue on Full Communion. The dialogue was held October 26-28, The ten The United Methodist Committee on Faith and Order (CFO) met October in Atlanta, GA. The CFO was created by the action of General Conference in 2008 to be a site for ongoing and intentional theological reflection on behalf of the Church. It's principle tasks are 1) to resource the Council of Bishops as it carries out its teaching responsibilities, 2) "to lead and coordinate

4 4 Announcing UMEIT:Ecumenical and Interreligious Plunge! UMEIT Ecumenical/Interreligious Plunge is a two-year formation opportunity for United Methodist young adults, age 21 to 35, who want to experience ecumenical and interfaith relationships on a practical level. The ecumenical staff will work with the Council of Bishops to organize this opportunity and provide some of the leadership as a part of their wider UMEIT (United Methodist Ecumenical and Interreligious Training) ministry. The first year will include a pilgrimage dedicated to the practical study of ecumenism. Each bishop is invited to recruit a young adult from his or her Annual Conference and provide the finances, $4,000. This first-year pilgrimage will take the young people on a two-week trip to the World Council of Churches headquarters in Geneva, The Ecumenical Institute (Bossey) also in Switzerland, and Taize in France. At each site there will be worship, formation and fellowship with the leadership present. The second year will include a pilgrimage dedicated to the study of interreligious relationships on a personal level. The young adult, who has previously committed to both years, will raise his or her own costs for this pilgrimage to someplace in the world where he or she will engage in interfaith study. While the young person will be responsible for arrangements and costs, our ecumenical staff will help with connections and study suggestions. Time will be given, after all participants have completed their second pilgrimage, to debrief. If this is something that interests you, please contact your bishop. He or she is currently considering whether or not to make a nomination from your annual conference. FIRST YEAR PILGRIMAGE The first year pilgrimage will include a trip to the World Council of Churches office in Geneva a trip to visit the ecumenical young adult center called Taize and a visit to the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey. FAST FACTS 348 The number of denominations or faith communities who are members of the World Council of Churches 80 The number of churches represented in the World Methodist Council FOR MORE INFORMATION While your ecumenical staff are transitioning to our new office, with new s and new phone numbers, the best way to get in touch with us may be through the following questions@ocuir.org Up-Coming Dates: *Nov. 8: Election Day *Nov : UMEIT: Young Adult Network meeting *Nov : NCC in the USA Governing Board Meeting *Dec : RC-UM Dialogue *Feb. 1-3: Christian Churches Together Plenary *March 16-19: Pan-Methodist Commission meeting *EVERY FRIDAY AT NOON, JOIN WITH US IN STOPPING FOR PRAYER FOR THE UNITY OF CHRIST S CHURCH.

5 5 UMEIT: Young Adult Network For eight months now ten exceptional young adults have been gathering via video conference call for a couple hours every month to be trained in ecumenical and interreligious ministry. These young adults represent five countries in which United Methodism is at work and represent some of the best young leadership in our denomination. They include: Vasylyna Babych - Ukraine Paul Brown NC, USA Soren Hessler MA, USA Philippe Lolonga DR Congo Matthew Laferty Austria Rachel McConnell-Switzer LA, USA Samuel Needham IN, USA Geoffrey Parker - TN, USA Paul Parker - Great Britain (member of the British Methodist Church) Katie Steele IL, USA Together, these young adults have covenanted to increase their discipleship of Christ, to read important documents of the ecumenical and interreligious movements, and to begin training networks in their own contexts to help raise up more young adult leaders for the ecumenical and interreligious movements on behalf of The United Methodist Church. They will be meeting together face-to-face for the first time in November in New York for a twoday retreat. Please pray for them and for the ministry they are working to give to the Universal Church of Jesus Christ. United Methodist Representative to Bossey Katye Dunn is now beginning her second month as they year s United Methodist representative to the graduate school program at the Ecumenical Institute known as Bossey. She is gathered with other young theologians from across the world to live together in Christian community for 4 months. You can follow Katye on her blog: RESOURCES The Council of Bishops ecumenical/interreligious website has a couple great resources in which you may be interested. We now have a direct link to Dr. Glen Alton Messer, II s book Perfecting Unity. We also have a resource page on which many excellent brochures and pamphlets can be found. Go to and follow the links.