[Dialogue] Fwd: [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 301-Delegates affirm leasing land for Bush center (revised)

[George Holcombe]

Well, we lost on the land, though a small caveat was thrown the way of  
the dissenters and our old friend Tex Sample, among others, made a  
prophetic remark about the vote and some retired Bishops voiced their  
opposition, though none of the actives said a word except Scott Jones  
who is part of the right wing-nuts, who helped engineer the deal.

There still may be a lawsuit, but here's the report.

George Holcombe
14900 Yellowleaf Tr.
Austin, TX 78728
Home: 512/252-2756
Mobile 512/294-5952
geowanda at earthlink.net


Begin forwarded message:

> From: NewsDesk <NewsDesk at UMCOM.ORG>
> Date: July 17, 2008 10:03:31 PM CDT
> To: UMNS-ALL-NEWS at UMCGROUPEMAIL.ORG
> Subject: [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 301-Delegates affirm leasing land for  
> Bush center (revised)
> Reply-To: NewsDesk <NewsDesk at UMCOM.ORG>
>
> Delegates affirm leasing land for Bush center (revised)
>
> Jul. 17, 2008    News media contact:   Linda  Green * (615)  
> 7425470*  Nashville {301}
>
> A UMNS Report
> By Linda Green*
>
>
> DALLAS-The owners of Southern Methodist University say a regional  
> mission council was authorized to give the university permission to  
> lease land to the President George W. Bush Presidential Center.
>
> On July 17, the delegates to the South Central Jurisdictional  
> Conference affirmed their  Mission Council's action but also  
> approved a petition protecting the integrity of both SMU and the  
> jurisdiction itself by indicating that a proposed institute "does  
> not speak" for either.
>
> The South Central Jurisdictional Conference, which owns the  
> university, says that it is "essential that the President George W.  
> Bush Institute function in a manner that maintains the integrity of  
> Southern Methodist University and the South Central Jurisdiction of  
> The United Methodist Church."
>
> The public policy institute is to be one of three parts of a  
> presidential center that will also include a library and museum. The  
> institute has been opposed by United Methodists across the country  
> who fear it will be a partisan think-tank. Supporters have said it  
> would be an independent research facility.
>
> The delegates note that the South Central Jurisdiction and The  
> United Methodist Church are dedicated to academic freedom. The  
> conference instructed the university to give a status report to its  
> 2012 meeting about its relationship with the both the Bush  
> Foundation and the institute.
>
> "We will gladly give the report in four years … with an emphasis on  
> the institute," said SMU president Gerald R. Turner. "That fits well  
> with what we would normally do anyway."
>
> The 297 jurisdictional conference delegates from eight states have  
> differing views on locating the Bush Institute at United Methodist- 
> related SMU. Opponents argued that the Mission Council did not  
> follow church procedure and that the South Central Jurisdictional  
> Conference is the entity to approve land use.
>
> On July 16, while members of the opposition held briefings for  
> delegates and the media, a petitions committee met for hours  
> perfecting and rejecting three petitions about the policy institute  
> and its relationship to the university and the jurisdiction.
>
> In February, SMU officials approved giving the George W. Bush  
> Foundation a 99-year lease to build a presidential library, museum  
> and policy institute on school property. The lease is renewable up  
> to 249 years.
>
> That action came 11 months after a closed executive session in March  
> 2007 when the Mission Council voted 10-4, with one abstention, to  
> allow SMU to lease up to 36 acres on the southeast side of campus to  
> the foundation. The policy institute - over which the school would  
> have no control - would be run by an independent board. The library  
> and museum will be operated by the National Archives and Records  
> Administration. The entire project is to be financed with a private  
> fund drive conducted by the George W. Bush Presidential Library  
> Foundation. Cost estimates hover around $500 million.
>
> "Nearly every presidential library is created in controversy," said  
> Turner, adding that the university and the Bush Foundation followed  
> procedures in getting approval for leasing the land and "we acted in  
> good faith."
>
> President Bush and his wife, Laura, are United Methodists, and the  
> first lady is a 1968 graduate of SMU.
>
> Kansas Bishop Scott Jones, an SMU trustee, applauded the  
> conference's affirmation for the Mission Council. He also  
> acknowledged the concerns United Methodists in the jurisdiction and  
> across the church have about the relationship between the Bush  
> Institute and the university.
>
> "I believe the leaders of SMU, both the trustees and university  
> administration, carry the same concerns and, from my point of view  
> as a trustee, this petition is very welcome."
>
> But the Rev. Tex Sample, professor emeritus of church and society at  
> Saint Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, Mo., said the South  
> Central Jurisdiction made both a "big mistake" and "a serious  
> transgression" in subsidizing "the political goals of George W. Bush."
>
> During a press conference after the hand vote, Sample said the South  
> Central Jurisdiction "will live to rue the day this happened." He  
> expressed disappointment in the conference's position, saying  
> President Bush's policies conflict with church teaching.
>
>
> Copy of the petition's recommendation:
>
> "The South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church  
> understands that the institute does not speak for the South Central  
> Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church or Southern Methodist  
> University. The South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist  
> Church is dedicated to academic freedom and instructs Southern  
> Methodist University to report back to the 2012 South Central  
> Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church on the  
> relationship with the institute and its impact on Southern Methodist  
> University and the level of compliance of the foundation and the  
> institute with the covenants of agreements protecting the integrity  
> of Southern Methodist University and indirectly the South Central  
> Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church. Furthermore, the South  
> Central Jurisdiction expects the institute to function in a manner  
> that protects the integrity of both Southern Methodist University  
> and the South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church.
>
> # # #
>
> *Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in  
> Nashville, Tenn.
>
> News media contact: Linda Green, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk at umcom.org 
> .
> ********************
>
> United Methodist News Service
> Photos and stories also available at:
> http://umns.umc.org
>
>
>
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