Seventh-day Adventist Church world headquarters
June 24, 2008
In This Issue:
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Adventist Neurosurgeon receives U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom
Carson bestowed nation's highest civilian award in White House ceremony
June 19 Washington, D.C., United States
Want to change a church's culture? Empower the women
Women now serve as local church elders in Southern Mexico; 'not possible a decade ago'
June 24 Juarez, Chiapas, Mexico
Adventist chorale, Cambridge choir to release 'Sound of Freedom'
Burton song cycle blends African American, Anglican musical traditions; piece first performed to celebrate abolition bicentenary
June 24 London, England
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Adventist Neurosurgeon receives U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom
June 19, 2008
Washington, D.C., United States ... [ Elizabeth Lechleitner/ANN ]
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U.S. President George W. Bush, right, shakes hands with Dr. Benjamin Carson Thursday June 19 after presenting him with the 2008 Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Bush commended Carson for his skills in the operating room and his commitment to developing the nation's young people. [photo: David Bohrer/The White House]
A Seventh-day Adventist pioneer in pediatric neurosurgery who overcame childhood poverty and achieved worldwide renown received the highest civilian award bestowed by the United States government today.
Dr. Benjamin S. Carson Sr. was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom for his outstanding contributions to medicine and his motivating influence on America's young people, U.S. President George W. Bush said during a morning ceremony in the East Room of the White House.
Perhaps best known for his successful efforts in separating conjoined twins and controlling brain seizures in children, Carson is chief of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University Medical Institutions in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
Carson, an inner city Detroit, Michigan native, overcame a "grim future" of poverty, crime and violence to become "a scholar, a healer and a leader," Bush told the audience of cabinet members, Congressional representatives and medal recipients and their families.
"For his skills as a surgeon, his high moral standards and his dedication to helping others, I am proud to bestow this honor," Bush said.
The soft-spoken Carson later told Adventist News Network that while national recognition is "obviously very nice," he feels like he's "just along for the ride."
"You basically put everything in the Lord's hands, and he just guides your life," Carson said. "It's always been amazing to me, the things He's made possible."
During the ceremony, Bush singled out Carson's mother, Sonya, who -- seated near Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and former Senator Bob Dole -- stood to receive the president's welcome. "Some moms are simply forces of nature who never take 'no' for an answer," Bush said. "I understand," he added, alluding to his own mother and eliciting laughter from the audience.
Sonya, a single parent of two sons, Bush explained, required the young Carson and his brother to check out library books and write weekly reports on them. Never letting on that she couldn't read the reports, Sonya would mark and return them, knowing education was her sons' best opportunity, he said.
Bush praised Carson and his wife, Candy, for founding The Carson Scholars Fund, Inc., a non-profit national scholarship fund that promotes similar academic achievement by recognizing and rewarding students in grades 4-11 who demonstrate academic excellence and commitment to community.
"Our nation is falling so far behind technologically," Carson told ANN, adding that advocating education is his first priority these days. The medal, he said, gives him "a chance to promote not only academic achievement, but also the humanitarian qualities and values I think are so crucial to society. I've felt for many years that the Lord gave me this spectacular medical career as a platform for this."
"We congratulate Dr. Carson on this singular honor," Adventist world church President Jan Paulsen said in a statement. "His service to humanity models the values and quality of life expressed by our church around the globe."
Carson, 56, is also the author of four books: an autobiography, "Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story," "Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence," "The Big Picture: Getting Perspective on What's Really Important" and, most recently, "Take the Risk: Learning to Identify, Choose and Life with Acceptable Risk."
Medal recipients joining Carson included physician and medical researcher Dr. Anthony S. Fauci; the late human rights champion Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor to serve in the U.S. Congress; sixteenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.); scholar and teacher Donna Edna Shalala; and Judge Laurence H. Silberman.
Established by President Harry S. Truman in 1945 to honor service during World War II, the medal's purpose was expanded by President John F. Kennedy in 1963 to include leaders in medicine, government and the judiciary, as well as the military. The annual award is bestowed by the U.S. president to those who have made a "meritorious contribution" to the nation, a statement by the White House Press Secretary said yesterday.
Carson, who first intended to be a missionary doctor, told ANN he once worried switching to neurosurgery would mean an end to outreach. "I said, 'Lord, neurosurgeons are always in the operating room -- they don't talk to anyone,'" Carson remembered with a laugh. "But He worked it out."
Want to change a church's culture? Empower the women
June 24, 2008
Juarez, Chiapas, Mexico ... [ Ansel Oliver/ANN ]
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Marbella Ascencio is one of three elders at the Juarez Central Adventist Church in Juarez in the Southern Mexican state of Chiapas. Church leaders in the area say the possibility of a woman serving as a local church elder was not possible as recent as 10 years ago. [photos: Ansel Oliver/ANN]
Lupita Arenas, right, Women's Ministries director for the Adventist church in North Chiapas, says giving women leadership opportunities not only gives them self-confidence, but enhances the church culture as well. Her goal is to help women in the region, once marginalized, become aware of their importance in church life.
Congregants exit the Juarez Central Church after a recent weekly Women's Ministries meeting.
Gender may keep some 70 percent of the Seventh-day Adventist world church's membership out of many church leadership positions, but here in Southern Mexico altering that tradition is transforming some churches.
Though they're not ordained as such, many women are serving as elders in their local church -- an act that church leaders say wouldn't have been possible here a decade ago.
While the creation of Women's Ministries in some local Adventist churches has granted women the opportunity for leadership and self-development, church leaders say they've noticed that other changes often accompany the addition of the new ministry.
"This church didn't used to be so friendly," says Rocio Perez, a member of the Juarez Central Adventist Church. "Members were detached and didn't seem to care for each other but now they feel more connected. There's more care and concern."
A key factor is overcoming the prevalent shyness in the local culture. "It's been common in our churches for the adult women not to speak in public," says Marbella Ascencio, 38, one of three elders at the church. Women leaders address the issue at weekly regional prayer breakfasts, leading Bible studies of stories in which women played a role in church leadership.
"We've seen a change," Ascencio says. "We now see a more dedicated group of women."
Women's Ministries was originally launched at the Adventist world church's headquarters in 1898 by Sarepta Myranda Irish Henry. She died two years later and the department fizzled out. The ministry wasn't reestablished until 1995. Church leaders here say they began to notice its effects soon afterward.
Lupita Arenas, Women's Ministries director for the church in North Chiapas, says men in church now see women in a different way. "They are now aware that these ladies are able to lead and to teach," she says. "We have to accept that God has a purpose for us. What we're trying to do is make women aware of their importance and they're value and to exercise that leadership."
Arenas says the ministry also helps women enroll in literacy programs. The illiteracy rate is about 20 percent of the local population, even higher among women, she says.
Central Juarez Adventist Church member Nelly del Carmen Gomez, 53, says most women in the area are marginalized because many are required to work at home, making education impossible even if there's a school next door.
"When I was six years old I was fully involved in work at my house," Gomez recalls.
Now she encourages other women to take advantage of available education. "Getting a diploma is a way of affirming your self esteem and growing as a person."
Dulce Valdez is a living witness of what Women's Ministries is doing for Adventist churches. Originally from Sonora in Northwestern Mexico, she came to Chiapas to support her husband.
"When they asked me to be a leader I was surprised," she says, recalling that she didn't have much experience.
Valdez now organizes 300 women every month for Women's Ministries.
"You're working even harder than your husband," Arenas, the regional Women's Ministries leader tells her.
For more information, visit wm.gc.adventist.org.
-- additional reporting by Raul Lozano
Adventist chorale, Cambridge choir to release 'Sound of Freedom'
June 24, 2008
London, England ... [ ANN Staff ]
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Members of the London Adventist Chorale will release 'Let the Sound of Freedom' this summer. Recorded earlier this year in collaboration with the Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge, the work celebrates peace, justice and freedom. [photo: courtesy South England Conference]
Seventh-day Adventist chorale singers in London say collaborating with the Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge is a chance to forge both musical and spiritual bonds.
The London Adventist Chorale spent three days in April with the Cambridge University-based choir recording a choral work that merges the groups' respective African American and Anglican musical traditions.
"Let the Sound of Freedom," a 14-piece song cycle for two choirs composed by LAC principal conductor Ken Burton, was originally performed last year in celebration of the bicentenary of the abolition of the Slave Trade Act in the United Kingdom.
Then broadcast on BBC Radio, the collaboration drew the attention of English composer and chorale conductor John Ritter, among other musicians and record labels, said Trevor Johnson, LAC assistant manager for Projects and Promotions.
"It is not only the music that impacts," Johnson said, "but our lifestyle speaks to those with whom we interact both on and off the stage."
Blending spirituals, close harmony and gospel with English choral influences, the a cappella work features lyrics drawn from memorable speeches and quotes from historical and political figures associated with peace, justice and freedom. Words from Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi are among those quoted.
The record label EMI and St. John's Choir's own label, ARGO, have expressed interest in "Let the Sound of Freedom," Johnson said. A U.S. tour and other media opportunities may follow, he added.
Founded in 1981, the London Adventist Chorale was named Sainsbury Choir of the Year in 1994 and played for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 2002.
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ANN Staff:
Rajmund Dabrowski, director; Ansel Oliver, assistant director; Taashi Rowe, editorial coordinator; Elizabeth Lechleitner, editorial assistant. Portuguese translation by Azenilto Brito, Spanish translation by Marcos Paseggi, Italian translation by Vincenzo Annunziata and Lina Ferrara and French translations by Stephanie Elofer.
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