Posted on 02/20/2006 4:53:02 PM PST by Fiji Hill
Tampa, not Richmond, to host 2012 General Conference
United Methodists from all over the world will gather in Tampa, Fla., in 2012.
The Tampa Convention Center will host the United Methodist Church’s legislative assembly in 2012. The United Methodist Commission on the General Conference changed the venue from Richmond, Va., because the city is home to a minor league baseball team that uses a Native American name. The denomination discourages church meetings in such cities on the grounds that sports mascots and logos are demeaning to Native Americans. A Web-only photo courtesy of the Tampa Convention Center. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - The United Methodist Church's top legislative assembly won't be meeting in Richmond, Va., in 2012, as announced last fall, but will convene in Tampa, Fla., instead.
In making the change, the United Methodist Commission on the General Conference cited a church policy regarding meeting in cities that are home to professional sports teams with Native American names.
The 2012 General Conference will be held April 25 to May 4 in the 600,000-square-foot Tampa Convention Center.
At the time of the initial selection, commission members were unaware that Richmond is home to the Richmond Braves, a minor league baseball team affiliated with the Atlanta Braves.
The General Conference meets every four years to set policy for the church and adopt or renew resolutions on hundreds of issues and concerns. It draws nearly 1,000 delegates from around the world. The 2004 conference was held in Pittsburgh, and the 2008 gathering will be in Fort Worth, Texas. A resolution passed by the 2004 General Conference called for United Methodist agencies and organizations to avoid holding meetings and events in cities that sponsor sport teams using Native America names and symbols. "The United Methodist Church rejects the use of Native American names and symbols for sport teams, and considers the practice a blatant expression of racism," the assembly stated.
"We reviewed many issues when considering the finalists, but the name of the minor league sports team never came up in our discussions," said Gail Murphy-Geiss of Centennial, Colo., chairperson of the Commission on the General Conference. "We had earlier eliminated Atlanta from consideration because it was home to the major league baseball team, the Braves.
Participants at the 2004 General Conference gather for opening worship at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. The United Methodist Commission on the General Conference has announced a change of venue for the 2012 legislative assembly from Richmond, Va., to Tampa, Fla. The earlier choice of Richmond conflicted with a church policy that discourages meeting in cities that are home to professional sports teams with Native American names. A UMNS file photo by John C. Goodwin. Photo #06-162. Accompanies UMNS story #091. 2/16/06 "When the minor league Braves issue was quickly brought to our attention after the original announcement, we believed we were obligated to revisit the issue.
"We are sad for the great United Methodists in Virginia who were excited about hosting the General Conference but are pleased to take a strong stance against teams with offensive names. However well intended, sports teams named after Native Americans demean the heritage of native peoples. They perpetuate unhealthy and unfair stereotypes."
Murphy-Geiss said the commission is working with the Rev. Alan Morrison, the business manager of the General Conference, to develop detailed written procedures and policies to help the commission consider future sites of the General Conference, including reviews of cities' major and minor professional sports team names.
Tampa was a finalist in the original search process for the 2012 General Conference. When the commission reopened its search, negotiations resulted in Tampa offering the strongest proposal, Murphy-Geiss said.
In addition to the 1,000 or so delegates, the 10-day gathering is expected to attract about 4,000 other people to the Tampa area and will generate about $20 million in anticipated direct spending. Tampa is part of the Florida Annual (regional) Conference, which is third in membership size, behind Virginia and North Georgia. It has 728 local churches and a total membership of more than 329,000.
*This report was adapted from a press release by the Public Information Office at United Methodist Communications.
News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Blatant species-ism. Highly insulting to those of the Manta Birostris persuasion.
The Methodists have drifted so far from their origins. John Wesley would be appalled.
Go Braves!
Brave is not a demeaning word, except to lunatics.
Hooooooooooooooo boy. Where are the complaints about "Braves" coming from. Maybe they should change the name to "Cowards."
No doubt the United Methodists are not troubled by such thoughts.
Big whoop. At the rate the Methodist Church is declining, the bishops who hijacked the church - and all three of the delegates left to care - will be the only ones meeting for the conference...
Outside Hollywood and Disney, these were hardly the harbingers of peace and joy although I understand that they did not discriminate by race. What joy to learn the reason for the Methodist coming is such a pure one... /sarc!
I weep that such efforts can be moved on such minuscule logic that has a minor league team's name the cause for such distress. I can just see St Paul's epistle to the Virginians, "The names the thing" - sheesh!
Florida State is the Seminoles, and Tampa is in Florida. So why the hey are they having their convention in Florida? What a bunch of looneys.
It's sad that the YMCA bowed to political correctness in the case of the Indian Guides/Princesses. I'm a former Indian Guide--there were no Princesses at the time. The program taught appreciation and respect for Indians and their culture.
My Methodist parish is a hotbed of liberalism in conservative Orange County, Calif. The sanctuary is half-empty during services, and the vast majority of parishioners are over 50.
Thank God these phoney baloney false churches are dying out.
The United Methodists, like the Presbyterians (PC-USA) tend to have very liberal conventions that then alienate the vast majority of their congregations (and members) who are very traditional, if not conservative.
Both denominations have tried to split over the past 20 years, only to be held together by those who have the mo$t to gain keeping it together.
I'd suggest that such leaders read their church history, which shows that after a conservative - liberal split the conservatives always get stronger, and the liberals keep getting weaker until they petition the conservative group to join them.
When you read stuff like this it sure helps explain why Evangelical Churches are gaining members.
No Indian team names? They need to do more research. The hockey team in Fort Worth is the Brahmas. And that breed is from India, making Brahmas an Indian name. Fort Worth Brahmas here: http://www.brahmas.com/
Tampa has the Buccaneers, so they'll still be close to the rapin' and plunderin'.
According to Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tampa
"The word "Tampa" is an American Indian word used to refer to the area when the first European explorers arrived in Florida. Its meaning, if any, has been lost to the ages, though it is sometimes claimed to mean "sticks of fire" in the language of the Calusa, a Native American tribe."
Hmmm...
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