Bishop Ward welcomes Terry Williams, Chairperson of the Multicultural Ministries Team, in this Connections video.
Bishop: Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Harvest. Today we give thanks to God for our mission with all people.
Terry Williams, pastor of Spring Hill United Methodist Church, is the leader of our Multicultural Ministries Team, and we give thanks for the leadership of this team in helping us all to include all God’s children.
Terry: Thank you Bishop. The mission of our multicultural ministries team is to serve as a catalyst between churches and congregations, and while most of our churches are Anglo, we have within our Conference, clergy and laity that are of African-American, Asian, Hispanic and Latino, and Native American heritages.
These churches are providing wonderful ministries throughout our entire Conference. We gathered here in Raleigh, in order to look at applications on different Multicultural Ministry-type ministries, that they were planning in their local congregations, and in this funding through the Comprehensive Plans of Inclusiveness grants, we awarded over $30,000 to six churches.
These six churches are setting the bar and being the hands, the heart, the feet, the eyes, the ears, of Jesus Christ, as they establish wonderful ministries like planning food pantries, engaging children in planning, nurturing, harvesting, and marketing vegetables from their own community gardens.
They are advocating for racial awareness and public policy; providing after-school care and leadership training for latch-key children. Providing instruments and training for musically-gifted, yet low income children, in churches that are already established; and then providing fabric for the crafting of prayer quilts, for those with debilitating sickness.
We’ve also developed support groups for the addicted in our local communities. So, wonderful ministries being seeded through the Multicultural Ministries team and we’re very proud of the churches that have received these grants and awards.
Bishop: We give thanks for this leadership. We are deeply committed to ministry with all people. As we are baptized, as we baptize our children, we promise to serve Jesus Christ, as Lord, the One who has opened the church of people of all ages, nations, and races. The Multicultural Ministries team is helping us to keep that promise.
We give thanks in this season of harvest, in this season of all saints, in this season of the reign of Christ, that we are indeed called to be in ministry with all people.
Our prayer is that you, in your congregation, will be a leader, as you reach out in ministry to all God’s children.