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THIS WEEK'S NEWS
Enroll now for healing ministry study led by Bishop Saenz
Some videos for Christmas season ready; Dec. 24, 27 elements coming
Christmas story narrative in audio, video form available by Dec. 20
Podcast: Joy is more than fun or being among loved ones
Church pageants go virtual during a COVID-19 Christmas
Black United Methodists want changes in denomination
CLERGY EXCELLENCE
Neighboring Movement holding virtual version of Good Neighbor Experiment
O&F will be virtual in 2 sessions in late January, early February
All episodes of 'At the Threshold' are available to catch up online
EQUIPPING DISCIPLES
History is as important to churches as it is to families
UM Men planning Watch Night service for Dec. 31
Second Great Plains Laity Summit is scheduled for March 20
DISASTER RESPONSE
A year-end message to volunteers from Hollie Tapley
ADMINISTRATION
Nebraska UM Foundation plans new round of COVID-19 emergency grants
RESOURCES
UMC agency provides insurance-buying guide
ACROSS THE CONNECTION
In other news
Newsletters
Blogs and commentaries
Classifieds
Enroll now for healing ministry
study led by Bishop Saenz
Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. invites United Methodists from Kansas, Nebraska and beyond to join him for a book study on healing ministry to start 2021 off on a healthy note.
Titled “Offering Christ’s Healing Ministry in a Hurting World,” the study will familiarize participants with the adventurous healing ministry of Christ and renew your practice of healing prayer and whole-person ministry. Bishop Saenz — whose doctoral dissertation topic was “Healing Prayer and Rite: A Necessary Evangelistic Activity for Hispanic Ministry” — will help you will explore your personal questions and concerns as they relate to the healing ministry in a safe, encouraging, and open atmosphere.
The class will take place on the BeADisciple.com platform and will cost $35, with the proceeds after costs are met going to EmberHope Youthville in Kansas and Epworth Village in Nebraska.
Participants who complete the course will earn 2 CEUs.
The book to accompany the course, “An Adventure in Healing & Wholeness: The Healing Ministry of Christ in the Church Today,” by James K. Wagner, is required for participation and comes at an additional cost, usually less than $12 from such websites as Amazon, AbeBooks.com, DiscoverBooks.com and eBay.
The course starts Monday, Jan. 11, and concludes with an online communion experience Feb. 8. The four-week class will include short readings each day and participation in BeADisciple’s online discussion board platform. Participants can take part in the class at any time of day, and each lesson will be available by 5 a.m. each weekday during the class.
Register for the bishop’s course.
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Some videos for Christmas season
ready; Dec. 24, 27 elements coming
The Great Plains Conference now has a special page dedicated to worship videos you are free to use throughout the Christmas season. The link is located just beneath the main photos on our home page.
All of these music elements are public domain songs, so you do not need a CCLI or streaming license to use them. However, we have found that if you have both CCLI and streaming licenses prominently displayed at the start of your broadcast on Facebook and YouTube, there is a far lesser chance that your service will be muted or flagged in some way by the bots that monitor for copyright infringement online.
As a reminder, full worship services will be compiled for Christmas Eve and Dec. 27. They are largely duplicated, so you likely will need to choose which you want to use. Only a couple of hymns and a doxology are different between the two. We also will provide a compilation of all the worship components prior to and after the bishop's sermon for both Christmas Eve and Dec. 27, so you can easily use those pieces in conjunction with you or someone else providing the sermon.
The full compilations are anticipated to be ready on or just before Dec. 19.
What you will see on the website are the individual pieces we already have available. You are free to use any or all of these starting this week and going through the end of the Christmas season. The Christmas Eve version includes a candlelighting invitation from the bishop and a virtual candlelighting by our district superintendents.
We have provided bulletins with the components for both services as Word documents. This way you can add or subtract as necessary for your worship services, whether you are worshipping in person or make such a document available to people online.
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Christmas story narrative in audio,
video form to be available by Dec. 20
A special telling of the Christmas story will be available for churches to download by Dec. 20 as a special video episode of Todd Seifert’s ”In Layman's Terms” podcast. This story will be available as a podcast in audio form or as a video that will premiere at 7 p.m. Dec. 23 on the conference Facebook page. However, you are free to post to your church’s Facebook page, YouTube channel or website as soon as it is available.
It is a narrative reading of the Christmas story, using photos, graphics and some background music to help bring the story of our Savior’s birth to life. It uses all four gospels to tell the story, and it is obviously appropriate for all age levels.
Download Christmas in a Box for family ministry.
Download Advent in a Box for family ministry.
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Podcast: Joy is more than
fun or being among loved ones
We often think of joy as a feeling we have after a fun activity or an emotion to be felt when we’re among loved ones. But Jesus explained that joy is something much deeper than that. It’s a state of being, an enduring trait. Learn how Jesus explains how we find joy and how we maintain it, even amid difficult circumstances on this third Sunday of Advent edition of Todd Seifert’s “In Layman’s Terms” podcast.
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Church pageants go virtual
during a COVID-19 Christmas
This year, the Christmas pageant at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection went online, with several adjustments being made through technology to help tell the story of Christ’s birth.
The Leawood church was one of several profiled by the Religion News Service in a story about changes being made to Christmas traditions in light of the pandemic.
Read more here.
Churches in the Great Plains make adjustments for Christmas in 2020.
Atchison Globe: Atchison UMC introduces luminary Prayer Path.
Emporia Gazette: Saffordville UMC debuts drive-thru nativity.
Bishops call for optimism, hope in 2021.
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Black United Methodists
want changes in denomination
Black United Methodists are pushing for change in the denomination — changes they believe are both long overdue and overshadowed by the debate about LGBTQ people in the church. A new book — “I”m Black. I'm Christian. I'm Methodist.” — features essays from 10 Black United Methodists. It was edited by the Rev. Rudy Rasmus of St. John’s Downtown Church in Houston.
Read more here.
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Clergy Excellence
Neighboring Movement holding virtual
version of Good Neighbor Experiment
The Neighboring Movement is hosting a virtual version of the Good Neighbor Experiment (GNE) which will start in January.
All Great Plains churches are invited to participate for free in the cohort as a part of the Healthy Congregations Program of the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund.
GNE is a nine-month training process including workshops, small group materials, and coaching for your congregation. During GNE your church will learn the concepts of Asset Based Community Development while engaging your actual, literal neighbor.
If you'd like to participate in the cohort find more information at neighboringmovement.org/goodneighborexperiment.
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O&F will be virtual in 2 sessions
in late January, early February
The author of “Preaching in the Purple Zone” will be featured at the 2021 Orders & Fellowship clergy gathering.
Dr. Leah Schade will speak at two sessions. All of the gathering will be online.
“Preaching in the Purple Zone” is available in hardback, paperback or eBook at a 30% discount at rowman.com or by calling 800-462-6420. Use code RLFANDF30.
The Orders & Fellowship sessions will be Jan. 27-28 or Feb. 2-3. To keep an even number of persons attending each, the following districts are recommended to register for the corresponding dates below:
- Jan. 27-28: Prairie Rivers, Dodge City, Great West, Salina, Hutchinson, Elkhorn Valley, Parsons, Flint Hills, Hays, Five Rivers. Register here.
- Feb. 2-3: Kansas City, Missouri River, Wichita West, Wichita East, Topeka, Gateway, Blue River. Register here.
You may register for either date, but must attend both days of the week you choose.
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All episodes of 'At the Threshold'
are available to catch up online
Since May 7, the Rev. Ashlee Alley Crawford and the Rev. Shelly Petz have hosted 14 episodes of "At the Threshold," a biweekly conversation that takes place both as a webinar and podcast, as archived here.
"At the Threshold’s" conversations has covered quite a bit of ground —from hearing from some of our own clergy about their experiences in this season, to grief, kids ministry, educational partnerships, lament and ecclesiology! You can find video of each conversation with each episode description or, you can listen to the audio of the podcast. Search for ”At the Threshold” on Podbean or Apple Podcasts.
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Equipping Disciples
History is as important to
churches as it is to families
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Kirk Pemberton says he's done a lot of digging to find information on his personal family tree. His church family tree, though, is a little more complicated.
Those with an interest in history like Pemberton are needed in Lay Servant Ministries.
"Lay Servants come in all shapes, sizes and interests. (Remember, we are not all called to fill a pulpit)," Pemberton, Topeka District director of LSM, writes in the newest blog. "If your interest falls to a curiosity of history, maybe you have found your niche in the world of Lay Servant Ministries. (Even if your charge has a designated historian, they will probably be thrilled for assistance in finding and keeping these records.) Jump in!"
Read more here.
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UM Men planning Watch
Night service for Dec. 31
Your Methodist Men are planning a Watch Night Service for Dec. 31.
Why Watch Night? What is Watch Night? Why is because we are all feeling the isolation of being physically separated and many of the activities we had planned for 2020 were forced to be cancelled. I am embarrassed to say that has forced us to emphasize prayer. Yes, I know we should always start with prayer but we confess we have been guilty to giving in to the “busyness” of ministry life. Men are so much better at “doing” then simply “being” and we forget God most wants us to just be with our Trinitarian God and with each other. Prayer is a way to do that. That brings us to what is a Watch Night Service.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the tradition of Watch Night may be traced to the early 18th century in Moravian churches, when churchgoers began marking the occasion with a vigil to reflect upon the year past and to contemplate the one to come. John Wesley adopted the practice for his Methodist followers, who held similar vigils monthly with the full moon. It was given new significance among African Americans on Dec. 31, 1862, when, according to tradition, slaves in the Confederate states gathered in churches and private homes on the night before U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was expected to go into effect.
Methodist Men has decided to offer services for our international sisters and brothers as well as a separate service for the U.S. Our National service will begin at either 10:30 or 11 p.m. Eastern time and end at midnight in each of the U.S. times zones. Each time zone may join at 11 p.m. their time. The service will be pre-recorded (we are working on it this week). For more information, contact me at ummwbb11@att.net or 316-573-8359. For now, set aside 11 p.m. to midnight Central time as our time together for Watch Night.
May our Christ child be born again in each of our hearts and may the Holy Spirt strengthen and guide us into a better 2021.
--George Houle, UM Men President
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Second Great Plains Laity
Summit is scheduled for March 20
The Laity Summit will take place virtually on Saturday, March 20, 2021 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This is for lay servants, speakers, ministers, leaders and anyone discerning a call to leadership. It will be a one-stop virtual leadership event for church and community leadership.
Conference Director of Lay Servant Ministries Mary Feit, Conference Lay Leader Lisa Maupin, Gateway District Lay Leader Kathy Pierce, and Conference Coordinator of Lay Leadership Shane Warta have been planning this gathering since the first Laity Summit in March was complete.
The planning team is aiming for 300 people walking away with learning and resources for lay leadership. The overall theme for the gathering is “Building a New Normal.” The keynote speaker is Rev. Dr. Junius Dotson, General Secretary for Discipleship Ministries.
Registration details are available here.
If you have questions about Great Plains 2021 Laity Summit contact:
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Disaster Response
A year-end message to
volunteers from Hollie Tapley
Just saying the words “thank you” does not begin to express my appreciation to each of you for your continued dedication during this challenging time. You have devoted creative ways to be the church and to connect with one another. Yet, I know the past 10 months have been extremely hard.
The physical year is about to end. We have journeyed and pressed up and we’ve made it to the top of the mountain. The other side is like nothing we have ever seen before. Yes, it will be 2021, yet we will continue to have challenges with COVID. Looking at the CDC’s proposed guidance for the vaccines, it will be mid- to late summer before everyone will have received it.
In worship, a few Sundays ago, as we were singing, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” these words hit the core of my soul: that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appears. We are in exile. This Advent and Christmas will be like no other we have ever experienced. For 10 months we have walked a path unknown. We are tired! We are exhausted!
From worship four Sundays ago, from John 1:35-39, the disciples asked Jesus where He was staying. Jesus replied, Come and see. From the top of our mountain, looking at more COVID, more deaths, more challenging times, more opportunities to connect and to be the church, right in the mess of our current lives -- there is Jesus. He is inviting us to Come and see. See the new opportunities in the midst of the mess.
From Steven Charleston: Come stand over here, just a step or two beyond the place you have occupied for so long, where you have worn the earth smooth with your pacing, where you have spent so many hours fighting the problem you cannot seen to solve. Take a break. Catch your breath. Come stand here, where you can catch a freshening breeze and see far into the valley below. Let the distant clouds carry your worry for a while, see how the sun empties the world of shadow. The answer you seek may be just a step beyond, a higher place where the view is clear of all obstructions. (From “Sacred Ordinary Days”)
Clergy and laity -- I’m challenging us for the rest of December to:
- Take a break
- Catch our breath
- Sit at the top of the mountain – relax, refresh and renew
You deserve it. Give yourself permission. Just do it!
--Rev. Hollie Tapley
Disaster Response Coordinator
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Administration
Nebraska UM Foundation plans new
round of COVID-19 emergency grants
The Nebraska United Methodist Foundation is announcing a 2nd round of COVID-19 Emergency Grants to Nebraska United Methodist churches. Due to the generosity shown through its Gifts from the Heart Endowments, the Foundation will make available $55,000 to commemorate the Foundation’s 55th anniversary.
These grants are available to support Nebraska churches as they continue to navigate through this pandemic. Any Nebraska United Methodist Church in need is welcome to apply. You do not need to have an account with the Foundation to be considered.
There grants are available to support:
- Mission and Ministry: to include, but not limited to mission and ministry line items in a church’s general budget, i.e. Christian education or youth group, choir, Bible study, etc.
- Greatest Needs: to include, but not limited to, operating costs and technology needs
Only one application per church will be accepted. The grant application is available at www.numf.org and will be due by Jan. 29, 2021. Applications not postmarked by Jan. 29, or received by this date electronically, will not be considered.
Grant checks will be mailed by March 1, 2021. The Foundation appreciates the generosity and vision of United Methodist individuals for making grants like these possible. If you would like to donate to this fund or create an endowment of your own to support churches and ministries through the Gifts from the Heart Program, call 402-323-8841 or visit its website for more information.
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Resources
UMC agency provides
insurance-buying guide
The United Methodist Insurance Program has put together a buying guide to help congregations choose adequate insurance coverage for the risks they face. The program is part of the General Council on Finance and Administration, the denomination’s finance agency.
Download Insurance Buying Guide or see a PDF.
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Across the Connection
In other news
Newsletters
- Camp Chippewa, December 16, 2020
- Communication Essentials, December 16, 2020
- Nebraska United Methodist Foundation, December 16, 2020
- Song Select, December 16, 2020
- GCORR, December 16, 2020
- Leading Ideas, December 16, 2020
- Discipleship Ministries: Offertory Prayers, December 15, 2020
- Church and Society, December 15, 2020
- A Sermon for Every Sunday, December 15, 2020
- The Source, December 15, 2020
- Immigrant Legal Center, December 14, 2020
- Kansas Area United Methodist Foundation, December 14, 2020
- Discipleship Ministries: Worship Planning, December 14, 2020
- United Methodist Now, December 14, 2020
- Leading Ideas Talks, December 12, 2020
- United Methodist Communications – Korean, December 11, 2020
- Ministry Matters, December 9, 2020
Blogs and commentaries
- The church is not yet a ‘great multitude’: Sharing instances of racism he saw committed by the church throughout his life, retired Bishop Joel Martinez – who served the former Nebraska Conference from 1992-2000 -- feels we still have much work ahead to resemble the inclusive choir from the Book of Revelation.
- Our public discourse should model the life of Jesus: Divisive rhetoric and actions following this year's presidential election caused Greater New Jersey Bishop John Schol to reflect on the role our faith can play in resolving conflict.
Classifieds
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