WASHINGTON (UMNS) - A United Methodist delegation from Ohio flew to the nation's capital two weeks after the disastrous terrorist attacks on America to carry a message of restraint to members of the state's congressional delegation.
In a Sept. 26 meeting with Sen. George V. Voinovich, the trio from the West Ohio Conference delivered a message on behalf of Bishop Bruce R. Ough and his cabinet.
"I think we did connect with him," said the Rev. John W. Edgar, superintendent of the Columbus South District. He said he believed Voinovich heard their message about the need "to maintain that creative tension" in finding a faithful response to the events of Sept. 11.
Stanley T. Ling, a conference council director, and Sue Wolfe Schoener, a local church consultant with the conference, also expressed appreciation for the senator's moderate stand during the Balkan conflict. They were accompanied by Linda Bales, a new Board of Church and Society staff member, also from Ohio. Voinovich's legislative aide, Joni Crosley, a member of St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, talked with the group while they waited for the senator.
Edgar told Voinovich that he was hearing United Methodists express, first, a desire to help rebuild the lives of those people who were directly harmed, and second, a desire for justice through a measured and controlled response.
"These folks are criminals," Edgar said of the terrorists. "We American people know how to deal with criminals," he said, mentioning courts and trials. "That's not the same as saying we are going to make war on Afghan peasants."
Ling mentioned that United Methodist churches had been offering care to people through special worship services and through contributions to the church's aid agency, the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
Bales said she was glad the United States was paying its dues to the United Nations and that perhaps a positive result of these events would be a lasting effort to address critical issues throughout the world collaboratively.
"I believe terrorism is a prelude to Armageddon," Voinovich, a Roman Catholic, told the United Methodists. "There are a variety of things we need to do."
He named actions to promote peace, such as actively pushing for equitable compromise in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and getting the Middle Eastern nations to use some of their vast wealth to address the poverty in their own nations and that part of the world.
"We have to be very patient," Voinovich said. "There is going to have to be some military action taken, but there are other things that are just as important."
Afterward, Edgar expressed gratitude that the meeting with the senator ended with a prayer. Ling agreed and went on to note that what is said from the pulpits at times such as these is important.
"The words we choose are almost as important as the actions we choose," Schoener said.
"We need as a nation to be self-reflective," Edgar said. He views President Bush's reference to being at war as "more a metaphor," he said.
After the face-to-face conversation with Voinovich, the group went on to visit with staff in the offices of Mike DeWine, the state's other senator, and U.S. Rep. Tony Hall. Edgar said DeWine's aide reported that the senator's constituent mail is evenly divided between people urging peaceful solutions and those urging military actions.
The hastily arranged trip to Washington resulted from plans made by the bishop and cabinet at a Sept. 19 meeting, where they discussed opportunities for leadership and service in response to the recent events.
They decided on a message to area church members through the conference newspaper. In it, they deplored the devastation of Sept. 11 and condemned war as being incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ. They shared the same message with their congressional representatives through the delegation and letters.
An Oct. 5 worship service at the conference center will feature Jamal Sadoun of Columbus, representing the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The service will include an opportunity for participants to write postcards to decision-makers in Washington.
A third component of the cabinet's plans involves developing a six-week study on being people of peace and overcoming evil with good, Ling said. # # #
