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| The Gulf Central District
Newsletter |
November
2008 | |
|
November
Birthdays |
|
7 - Christine
Hoffman
9 - Carolyn Rose
Vaughan
Joe Walker
10 - Richard Landon
11 -
Craig Hammond
24 - John Mayeux
26 - Jennifer
Alequin
29 - Daryl Allen
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|
November
Anniversaries |
|
5 - Mary & Don
Ringland
26 - Jerry & Pat Partney
| |
Greetings!
 As a
regular spiritual discipline, I do a periodic
gratitude list. I have always found it
helpful to reflect regularly on the positive,
grace-filled side of this mysterious journey of
life. With Thanksgiving approaching, I
thought I would share one of my lists with
you. Here is a random litany of things that
bring me a gladsome spirit: The commitment and courage of friends
in ministry in some very difficult
situations; the smell of salt air; babies
filled with excitement, wonder, and awe at
the world around them; adults who have not lost
that sense of excitement, wonder, and awe;
canceled meetings; Sharon's stir fried shrimp;
sunsets at Clearwater beach with Sharon;
the Clearwater Jazz Festival with Sharon; lunch
with Mark, our oldest, conversing about sports and
politics; attending a Robert Kennedy Jr. lecture
at USF with Steven, our youngest, then, a week
later attending a USF football game with him; the
commitment and enthusiasm of many Gulf
Central District clergy and laity; the
comradeship, dedication, and good humor of the
Cabinet; the Rays in the World Series; blues,
jazz, and rock music; the humanness of Jesus; the
poetic truth of I Corinthians 13 . . . and
on and on.
As I write, I find myself
digging deeper into my reservoir of
gratitude. Cicero said, "Gratitude is not
only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of
all others." I do not claim to be
particularly virtuous. But I do know that I
am a debtor, and by the grace of God, I know who
to
thank.
Blessings,
John | | | |
Open Enrollment for Healthcare begins
Monday
The period of open enrollment for actively working
participants-clergy and laity-in the Florida Conference health
care plan begins Monday, Nov. 3, and ends Friday, Nov. 14.
Clergy are especially encouraged to share this information
with any lay participants in the health care plan. Actively
working participants need to take the time to read the details
on the health insurance plan, dental plans, flexible spending
accounts, and the optional life insurance plan participants
may purchase for themselves and their family members for 2009.
A webcast is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 6, at 10
a.m. to offer information and opportunities for questions
and answers about the health care plan. Visit www.flumc2.org
and click on the "open enrollment web cast" button. The
benefits office is standing by to answer any questions during
open enrollment. Call 800-282-8011, or e-mail benefits@flumc.org
Open enrollment information and forms will be
available on the Conference website beginning
Monday, Nov. 3, by clicking on the "open enrollment"
button.
|
Prayer Concerns . . .
Please keep Riley Short's wife Claire in your
prayers, she has had a recurrence of cancer.
Keep Dwight McQueen and Fred
Bonsteel in your prayers for health
concerns.
 Around the District . .
.
Mason Dorsey at the Leadership Council Meeting showing
his Ray hawk - getting into the spirit of the World
series.
Rev. Riley Short is the new interim pastor at First
UMC of Tarpon Springs. He will serve until February,
when a newly appointed pastor will take over.
Rev. Henry Cribb is on leave of absence until
the end of the year and will retire at that time. He and
his wife Pam are planning to move to the Orlando area.
We wish them well and pray God's blessings on them as they
start a new phase of life.
|
Maggie's
Notes
For Pastors interested in "Pastor's Retreat
Network", I have brochures in the office or you can check them
out online at www.pastorsretreatnetwork.org (the
one in Wisconsin comes very highly
recommended).
Thank you the Charge Conference
data is coming in - as are the Local Church officers lists -
remember everything is due in to the district office 2
weeks following your Church/Charge
Conference.
The Clergy Meeting date has been
changed from January 29 to February 5 from 10 am - 2 pm
at St. Paul UMC in Largo.
New Officer Training
for Finance, Trustees, Staff Parish, Lay Leaders and Missions
will be held:
February 9 at First Bradenton
February 10
at Heritage in Clearwater
February 12 at First Spring
Hill
Please encourage your leadership to come and
attend.
As always if you have any questions
please call or email me at the district office:
|
Worship Workshop - November
9th
Many churches feel that to have
dynamic and vital worship, they must choose between
traditional and contemporary styles. They ask, "What do the
people want?" Though this is not an unimportant
question, there is a deeper question to ask, and it is an
exciting and challenging question: "What MUST we sing in order
to be the church God is calling us to be?"
Asking
that deeper question keeps our search for exciting church
music from being a popularity contest with winners and
losers.
The Rev. John Thornburg will help you
expand your awareness of the vast supply of interesting church
music and congregational song that is available in an
interactive, participatory workshop, "What MUST we sing?" to
be held Sunday, Nov. 9, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., at Wesley
Memorial United Methodist Mission, 719 N. Massachusetts Ave.
(at Parker Street), in Lakeland. John, a member of the United
Methodist Hymnal Revision Committee, will also offer
concrete methods to help your choir, band, praise group or
other ensemble be more effective in their leadership of a
congregation's worship experience. The workshop would be of
particular interest to choir directors, liturgical planners,
music leaders, choir members and anyone with a passion for
sharing the Gospel through music.
Cost of the
workshop is $10 per person, payable at the door. Light
refreshments will be offered. For more information, contact
the Wesley Memorial United Methodist Mission office at (863)
688-8543
|
Cuba and Haiti Hurricane Relief from the
Gulf Central District
The Leadership Council of the Gulf Central District
authorized sending $10,000 to Cuba and $10,000 to Haiti for
hurricane relief. As most of you know, Bishop Whitaker
made an appeal to Florida United Methodists to help our
brothers and sisters of our sister conferences of Cuba and
Haiti who were so devastated by recent hurricanes.
Continue to keep them in your prayers.
|
Clergy Kids Retreat 2009
Save the date . . . January
23-25 *This will be Number 9. How many have you
attended?
The annual Clergy Kids Retreat will be
here before you know it. So mark your calendars, because
we are planning a fabulous weekend. The dates are
January 23-25, at the Warren Willis Camp in Leesburg.
The cost is $80 per person; $230 max for family.
(Some scholarships are available upon request.) This is
the 9th year we've been doing this and there is no way to
describe the significance and meaning it has had on our
kids! There are very few things they would choose over
this; and right now we cannot even think of one
thing!
If you have never been, it's a great way
to meet other members of that "very special group" known as
Clergy Kids or Preacher's Kids. If you have missed a few
years, don't worry, we still play nine-square, that great band
of young musicians still come up from Miami, and everyone has
fun! If you have been coming, we want you to come back
because it's just not the same without
you!
Questions? Call Rhonda Kleckner
at 352-316-5582 or Sally Campbell-Evans at
850-766-0018.
|
Creative Ministry
Conference
January 6-8, 2009 at St. Luke's UMC
Orlando
If you're not used to seeing the words "creativity" and
"ministry" in such close proximity then you need to plan to
come to Orlando, Florida in January 2009 and learn from some
of the best creative and Christian people you'll ever get to
meet!
Leadership Nexus' third conference on creativity in
Orlando is being offered in cooperation with committed
Christian staff members of Disney and Universal Studios who
want to encourage and share the most creative possibilities
that can revitalize the local church.
Among those helping are Dr. Bill Barnes, Sr. pastor
of St. Luke's UMC in Orlando, Ben Adams, Director of Emerging
Arts at St. Luke's and former Disney and Universal employee,
Jennifer & Kevin Brassard, currently working as
entertainers at Disney, Alice Bass, actress and author of "The
Creative Life: A Workbook for Unearthing the Christian
Imagination", and other leaders and creative people who love
the church.
The cost of this conference will include a one-day
pass to the Disney parks for directed observation of the
creative elements used there and how they are effective and
transferable. We will also have group learning time with these
very creative church leaders, and workshops on various methods
of developing, adapting and using your creativity in a church
or ministry setting [See Brochure] |
|
LEC begins room renovations with
"new tile floors"
In an effort to reduce mold and
mildew in the overnight rooms at the Life Enrichment Center,
they are tiling floors, one room at a time. Last month,
I had an opportunity to preview the first renovated room and
it was beautiful - new tile floor, new paint, new furniture,
pictures on the wall. Simple and clean - very
refreshing. They have one room complete and the second
underway. The plan is to manage this project "one
room at a time" as donations come in to support it. If
you or a group in your local church would like to participate
in this project, it costs under $1,000 to remodel one
room . . . and they will accept donations of any amount.
Contact Rev. Jess L. Schload, LEC Director for more
information on how you can participate jschload@flumc.org or (352)
787-0313
|
SCREAM: Get Ready for the
Ride
An Event
for Young Adult Leaders Feb. 20-22, 2009
"The Center for Clergy
Excellence is sponsoring an event for young adult leaders
(ages 18-25) for the purpose of identifying, equipping and
encouraging emerging United Methodist leadership, and to
provide a space for God's call to be heard and
clarified. "Scream: Get Ready For the Ride" will include
workshops led by outstanding Conference leadership, powerful
worship led by Bryant Manning from our summer camp team and
J.D. Walt of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, and an
afternoon at Islands of Adventure. Young adults will
learn how to be more effective leaders, how to serve the
Church and the world, how to listen for God's call, and will
build community with other young adults from around the Annual
Conference. Scream will be held in Orlando, February
20-22. The cost is only $25! To register, visit www.screamumc.org. Please help
us spread the word and encourage your young leaders to
register early and attend. Space is
limited!" |
Adam Hamilton on the Current Economic
Crisis
On September 25, as the U.S. House of
Representatives was preparing to vote for the first time on
the proposed economic rescue plan, Adam Hamilton, pastor of
the UnitedMethodistChurch of the Resurrection, was speaking
not far away at a forum on faith and public life. Wesley
Seminary president David McAllister-Wilson asked Hamilton a
hypothetical question about what he would preach at his church
after an economic "worst case scenario" - a scenario that
did not differ much from the economic catastrophe that soon
followed.
Listen to Adam Hamilton's three-minute
response on this podcast: http://www.churchleadership.com/audio/101208.mp3.
You may also listen to the actual
sermon Adam preached on October 12 by going to the sermon
podcasts of Church of the Resurrection at [click
here] |
The Impact of Economic Crises on
Churches
By Lovett H. Weems,
Jr.
Recent economic developments have caused many
church leaders to ask what happened to churches at the time of
the 1929 market crash and the Great Depression. In the book In
Pursuit of the Almighty's Dollar: A History of Money and
American Protestantism (University of North Carolina Press,
2007), James Hudnut-Beumler turns a historian's eye to the
subject of church funding. His book provides some insight on
how churches have coped in times of severe economic challenge.
As one would expect, the Great Depression was a hard
time for churches. Church leaders thought things were already
tight, so the prospect of operating with even fewer resources
was hard to imagine. The depression hurt some church causes
more than others, notes Hudnut-Beumler, because "local
churches kept more of the funds they did get" (121). The first
things to suffer were ecumenical efforts, followed by
denominational work, and only then local churches. This may
turn out to be true today. A thoughtful student of church
finances recently noted that the timing of our current
economic distress is particularly troubling for some
denominations since a major portion of their funds comes in
from October through December.
The Great Depression
era gave birth to a debate that continues to this day about
the best approach to funding the church. Two Methodists were
leading advocates of the differing philosophies. William Leach
advocated using the best systems to generate funds for the
church's work. He championed the use of contemporary marketing
techniques and encouraged churches to replicate fundraising
plans that worked in other places. He promoted, for example,
the Belmont Plan (named for the Presbyterian church that
popularized it). This approach asked members to tithe but only
for two or three months. It worked so well because many people
were willing to try tithing for a short period. The financial
results came from the increased giving while members were
experimenting with tithing and also from a large number of the
people who continued the practice. (121).
At the same
time George Morelock encouraged churches to resist the use of
such techniques. He advocated a movement toward
"spiritualizing church finance" -shifting the entire focus to
the spiritual life of the individual. According to Morelock,
only this approach can lead a person to give cheerfully and
thus grow in their faith as they give.
Hudnut-Beumler
says these two Methodist leaders "were setting the terms of
the next half century's debate on church fund-raising. The
debate was between those who wished to talk about motives for
giving and those who were more interested in discussing the
means for attracting gifts to the church" (121). The author
notes that both had the church's mission at heart and were
convinced the money would come if only their approaches were
followed by everyone.
With the benefit of hindsight,
we have learned that neither approach, to the exclusion of the
other, will help move our congregations to where they need to
be. We have also learned that we must take into account the
context in place and time, and never more so than at this hour
of crisis, which is so unfamiliar to most of us. With so much
uncertainty and anxiety, no discussion of means will make
sense until we can be surrounded by the biblical assurances
that begin with "be not afraid." As we remember that God's
care is from everlasting to everlasting, and God has promised
never to leave us abandoned, then we can go on to put money in
its rightful perspective in God's universe (see Adam Hamilton
podcasts above). Then the "means" can also be examined in a
particular way for the current crisis - since, even with
motivation, some may not see how it is possible to raise or
give money. Church leaders in each place will need to discern
what is realistic and what is likely to engage people. While
never confusing the earthen vessels with the treasure, it is
important to draw wisdom from many sources to craft fruitful
means for this particular season.
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| Gulf
Central
District
Events
|
Nov. 3-14: Open Enrollment for
Benefits
Nov. 6: Live webcast Open Enrollment of Benefits,
10a
Nov. 10-11: Cabinet Meeting
Nov. 12-14: "The Gathering" at Anona UMC,
Largo
Nov. 17-19: Leadership Development
Training with Paul Ford at Anona UMC,
Largo
Nov. 26: Final due date for all
Charge/Church Conference materials to be in the District
office.
Dec. 2-4: Cabinet Meeting
District office closed December
24-July5
2009
Jan
14-15: Cabinet
Jan 19: Dr Martin Luther King Day
offices closed
Feb 5: Clergy meeting
Feb 9: District
training event at First Bradenton
Feb 10: District
training event at Heritage, Clearwater
Feb 12:
District training event First Spring Hill
Feb 16:
Presidents Day offices closed
Feb 25: Ash
Wednesday
|
| May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth,
bless you from Zion. --Psalm
134:3 | | | |
