Medical debt
iStock Photo by Andril Zoril
In these times of catastrophically high U.S. health-care costs, let’s hear it for First UMC, Franklin, NC. According to the Western North Carolina Annual Conference:
“Earlier this summer, First UMC Franklin held a campaign, Burn the Burden, to help alleviate medical debt for families in our region. We raised $31,394.27, which we were hoping would alleviate about $3.1 million in debt. We received our final report and with our funds, RIP Medical Debt was able to purchase $4,067,694.39 of medical debt for 2,837 families in NC, northeast GA and eastern TN! We were able to help 68 families in far western NC, and 7 right here in Macon County.
“What a blessing for those families to receive in the mail a letter that states, ‘We are sending this letter to share the good news that on behalf of your friends in Christ at First United Methodist Church, Franklin, NC, you no longer owe the referenced debt(s) because our national 501(c)(3) nonprofit, RIP Medical Debt, has bought and abolished the debt.’"
Imagine what a relief such a letter was to families struggling with medical debts! Thanks be to God for First-Franklin’s generosity.
Bishop’s installation to be livestreamed only
“An abundance of caution” about the coronavirus threat has prompted the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference to limit its celebration welcoming Bishop John Schol to live-streaming. Only those scheduled to participate in the welcome service will be present at the church. The service is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 18 at West Chester UMC.
Eastern Pennsylvania’s NEWSpirit newsletter reports: “The program will include a covenant service, presentation of symbolic signs of the episcopacy, Holy Communion, special music and an inspirational message in response by Bishop Schol.”
Bishop Schol is one of several U.S. bishops who have assumed administration of an additional annual conference until new bishops can be elected in 2022 after General Conference meets.
Click here to watch this livestream video on Youtube.
Click here to download the Welcome Service Bulletin.
Coronavirus update
Eastern Pennsylvania’s caution seems well justified judging from a story in the Sept. 15 Washington Post. Its newsletter reports: “The pandemic marks another grim milestone: 1 in 500 Americans have died of covid-19”
“The burden of death in the prime of life has been disproportionately borne by Black, Latino, and American Indian and Alaska Native people,” says the newsletter summary. Read more
Religion has ‘spiritual technologies’ going for it
WIRED magazine has an intriguing article for our hyper-stressed lives these days: Psychologists Are Learning What Religion Has Known for Years
David DeSteno, a professor of psychology at Northeastern University and author of “How God Works: The Science Behind the Benefits of Religion,” writes an an adaptation from his book:
“Science and religion have often been at odds. But if we remove the theology—views about the nature of God, the creation of the universe, and the like—from the day-to-day practice of religious faith, the animosity in the debate evaporates. What we’re left with is a series of rituals, customs, and sentiments that are themselves the results of experiments of sorts. Over thousands of years, these experiments, carried out in the messy thick of life as opposed to sterile labs, have led to the design of what we might call spiritual technologies—tools and processes meant to sooth, move, convince, or otherwise tweak the mind. And studying these technologies has revealed that certain parts of religious practices, even when removed from a spiritual context, are able to influence people’s minds in the measurable ways psychologists often seek.”
In other words, religious practice does a mind – and body and soul – good.
Media mentions as of Sept. 16, 2021
Climate conversations neglect an essential component of a healthy planet: the ocean – The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Pope calls on world to welcome refugees and immigrants - Religion News Service
Post-Trump, Christian nationalists preach a theology of vaccine resistance - Religion News Service
Gates and Rockefeller Warn World Leaders About Pandemic's Impact on the Lives of the Poor –
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Reporting on Climate Injustice in One of the Hottest Towns in America – ProPublica
When lack of power turns deadly – Canary Media
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011.