Download the printable version of the July 5 issue of GPconnect.
In this edition:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Pastors train to coach fellow clergy, congregations
‘See All the People’ is a push for discipleship
Way Forward commission to meet this month in Chicago
CLERGY EXCELLENCE
Deadline is Friday for 2017-18 New Church Incubator sessions
CORE Crucible seeking participants for 2017-18
REACH Summit set for October in Michigan
Clinical Pastoral Education Center opened by GBHEM
EQUIPPING DISCIPLES
Young adult event set for October in Oregon
MERCY & JUSTICE
NUMB riders pedal for many miles to feed the hungry
Micah Corps interns take action in Washington, D.C.
Event looks at church’s role in politically, racially divided nation
ADMINISTRATION
Foundation’s interest rate for churches beats banks
Pastors have moved – have their business cards?
ACROSS THE CONNECTION
Forest Park in Topeka hosts free day camp
In Other News
Newsletter
Classifieds
Pastors train to coach
fellow clergy, congregations
Coaching isn’t limited to athletics. Clergy and congregations also benefit when a coach helps tap into creativity and helps boosts performance.
Twenty people gathered June 26-30 in Lincoln to train to coach peers and local-church groups. Of that mixture of United Methodists, Lutherans and Presbyterians, 15 pastors from Kansas and Nebraska took part specifically to help elevate the performance of clergy and congregations in the Great Plains Conference.
The Rev. Nancy Lambert, Great Plains Conference director of clergy excellence, said the conference wanted to develop coaches who will be skilled in working with peers.
“With our conference’s growing expectation of clergy helping one another and the collegiality and connection between clergy, all of the people being trained here understand our context – our history, our challenges and even our wide-open spaces,” Lambert said.
Learn more about the effort to develop coaches in the Great Plains with this story.
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‘See All the People’ is
a push for discipleship
Discipleship Ministries is up to something. The top executive of that United Methodist Church agency wants to be clear about what that something is.
And what it isn’t.
“'See All the People’ is not a program,” said the Rev. Junius Dotson, general secretary of Discipleship Ministries. “It really is an attempt to spur and ignite and inspire the spirit and movement of disciple-making across our denomination.”
Recent weeks have seen the rollout of “See All the People,” including a resource guide written by Dotson, a video, a website and a social media presence for the exchange of ideas.
Read more about "See All the People."
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Way Forward commission
to meet this month in Chicago
The Commission on a Way Forward will convene in Chicago on July 19-21 to continue its work concerning human sexuality and exploring options for the future of The United Methodist Church on the issue.
This will be the fourth meeting of the 32-member Commission, which was appointed by the Council of Bishops to assist the bishops in discerning a way forward.
After the last meeting in April in Washington, D.C., members indicated that were leaning toward a simpler structure with clearer processes for decision-making and accountability for the UMC in its mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Conversations at that meeting showed a commitment to finding a way forward that honors the complexity of the global denomination and the unity of a shared faith in Christ.
Since that time, the Commission members have received input from several advocacy and renewal groups who have strong interest in the outcome and from general boards and agencies of the church. Members of the commission have also received survey results from constituents such as large-church pastors and seminary students.
During annual conference sessions, members of the commission made presentations and hosted discussions on the work of the commission, and a video, capturing the commission at work, was shown.
In preparation for the July meeting, the team has started to prepare an initial draft plan for review at the July meeting. The commission’s ultimate assignment is to present its report to the Council of Bishops for action at the Special Session of General Conference set for Feb. 23-26, 2019, in St. Louis.
As part of sharing information, the moderators -- Bishops Ken Carter, Sandra Steiner Ball and David Yemba -- will be issuing a statement before the start of the meeting.
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Clergy Excellence
Deadline is Friday for 2017-18
New Church Incubator sessions
Great Plains New Church Development is glad to announce dates and speakers for 2017-18 Church Planter Incubator. This year’s planting experts include the Rev. Jacob Armstrong, founding pastor of Providence UMC in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Armstrong is the recent author of the book, “The New Adapters.” He will assist pastors and laity in attendance to begin their first 100 days as a planter by making connections in the community, faith sharing and staying connected to God while in the mission field. Potential planters, exploring senior pastors who’d like to plant a satellite congregation and lay people who would like to learn more about church planting leadership will leave with concrete goals to go back and work in their mission field.
This first retreat will be at Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. Retreat dates and times are 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 21 and 8:30 a.m. to noon July 22.
Other dates and retreats include a Discipleship Launch Pad with Dr. Phil Maynard, which will be hosted by Christ UMC in Lincoln, Nov. 3-4. This retreat is open to teams participating to benefit the whole church as you will leave this session with a discipleship system idea in hand to impact your church and greater community.
For the second year, New Church Development will be hosting an opportunity for planters to pitch plant ideas during a Shark Tank on Dec. 12 in Salina. This is an opportunity for congregations and individuals with a dream to plant in one of the Great Plains mission fields to test their idea of creating a new faith community before panels that include current planters, entrepreneurs and New Church Development Board members. In order to pitch ideas, participants will need to have participated in a previous Church Planter Incubator or participate in this year’s incubator.
Other speakers this year include the Rev. Adam Hamilton, Church of the Resurrection, 2018 winter session; and Dr. Iosmar Alvarez (pictured here), Fuente de Avivamiento, Lexington, Kentucky, in March 2018.
Registration is free with room and board provided. Mileage is considered the registration unless there are extreme cases of mileage which can be partially reimbursed.
Contact the Rev. Nathan Stanton, director of congregational excellence, for more information or register online. Registration deadline is July 6.
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CORE Crucible seeking
participants for 2017-18
Great Plains New Church Development will be running the CORE Crucible process of planting new faith communities for the third year. The CORE Crucible provides new church leaders, Hispanic ministry leaders and Campus Ministry leadership the opportunity to forge and reshape the DNA of the church in a nine-retreat, year-long process. Participants in the CORE Crucible participate in a community of practice emphasizing the development of a core leadership team, covenant building, understanding the context of the community, assessing and developing values, vision and mission and transformation of the community in which you are planted or in ministry.
The CORE Crucible is meant to be a deep dive into the work of church planting, personal leadership development and care and accountability for the long challenging journey of community transformation.
This ministry is fully supported through New Church Development. Room, board and mileage will be provided. However, since this is a covenant community participants are expected to participate in the whole process when enrolled.
Each potential planter or pastor is invited to explore this process by checking with your district superintendent as well as connecting with the Rev. Nathan Stanton, director of congregational excellence, at nstanton@greatplainsumc.org or 316-684-0266.
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REACH Summit set
for October in Michigan
The 2017 REACH Summit will be Oct. 20-21 at the DoubleTree Inn by Hilton in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The REACH Summit is designed to spark creativity, inspire leadership and transform churches. If your church is ready to attract new members, make new disciples and take a leap of faith to become a vital and growing ministry, you need to attend this important weekend.
After the summit, subsequent REACH Network groups provide a year-long opportunity of learning and networking with other pastors and church leaders developing the same new ministry focus in their local churches.
The keynote speaker is the Rev. Olujimi Brown, lead pastor of Impact Church, a young congregation in the East Point community of metro Atlanta. Brown’s church has grown from a core team of 25 people to more than 2,000 attendees each Sunday.
The cost is $69 for clergy and $49 for lay members until Sept. 1, when it increases to $79 and $59. For more information and to register, go to reachsummit.org.
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Clinical Pastoral Education
Center opened by GBHEM
The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM) announced the development of a new center for clinical pastoral education (CPE) to meet the growing need for pastoral education resources within the United Methodist Church.
GBHEM’s CPE Center will offer creative and flexible programs, including hybrid units to local pastors, provisional and full connection deacons and elders in a variety of ministry settings throughout the global church, as well as training for CPE supervisors.
“Through the creation of an accredited CPE Center, GBHEM will provide increased access to leadership development resources that are effective and contextual,” said Shannon Conklin-Miller, assistant general secretary of Clergy Formation, Division of Ordained Ministry, GBHEM. “We are glad that technological advances allow us to support innovation and create new partnerships and resources for the development of pastoral leaders for the United Methodist Church.”
In planning for the CPE Center, the United Methodist Endorsing Agency at GBHEM has partnered with Centered Life CPE Center as the focal point for research on hybrid CPE programming. Initial results of this research have found the hybrid modality to be as effective as traditional residential CPE units. The hybrid programs at GBHEM will initially focus on licensed local pastors and other clergy who do not have access to residential clinical pastoral education.
GBHEM is in the initial application stages for accreditation for a CPE Center with the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. The new CPE Center will meet a need that has been both identified and requested across the Connection. Using innovative formats, the center will provide clergy leaders with access to pastoral education resources that otherwise would not be available to the global church.
The new CPE Center will be under the supervision of the Division of Ordained Ministry at GBHEM. Rev. Dr. Soomee Kim, who has years of CPE supervision experience, joined the agency on July 1, as the first director of Clinical Pastoral Education.
“Opening an already proven effective CPE model to the diverse ministry contexts of The United Methodist Church allows for limitless possibilities to enrich and strengthen our leaders and our communities,” Kim said as she described her excitement about joining GBHEM as the director of this new center.
The full support of GBHEM is behind the development of the CPE Center to further the mission of leadership development and training for future clergy leaders of the worldwide United Methodist Church.
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Equipping Disciples
Young adult event set
for October in Oregon
Registration for Exploration, a three-day event for young adults age 18-26, is now open. This biennial event is designed to help attendees listen, discern and respond to God’s call to ordained ministry as they explore their gifts for service as a deacon or elder in The United Methodist Church. Exploration is a program of the office of young adult discernment and enlistment at the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM).
This year’s event will be Nov. 3-5 in Portland, Oregon. Young adults who have a sense that God might be calling them to ordained ministry, who have wondered what ministry in the United Methodist Church is all about, who would like help sifting through issues involved in an ordained vocation, or who want to learn more about United Methodist seminaries and theological schools should attend this event. Exploration is part of GBHEM’s strategy to enable and resource leadership within the church.
“Exploration is an amazing experience where youth and young adults can gather, and in the midst of community, discern their calls together,” said Rev. Dr. Trip Lowery, director of young adult ministry discernment and enlistment at GBHEM. “The United Methodist Church does not have a shortage of youth and young adults feeling called into church leadership. Exploration is a space where those feeling called can continue to discern what their next faithful steps should be, even if they discern those next steps are not into ordained leadership.”
There are several ways to live into vocational ministry in The United Methodist Church. Speakers and workshop leaders from various ministry settings will facilitate discussion about the diverse ways of living into a call to church leadership.
Exploration seeks to respond faithfully and effectively to The United Methodist Church’s focus on increasing the number of young adult clergy in our denomination by creating sacred space to challenge the most gifted and promising young people of our denomination to hear God’s call to ordained ministry.
Exploration creates opportunities for young adults to be in meaningful fellowship, passionate worship, theological reflection, and practical workshops as they discern whether God’s call on their life is to ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church and what faithful steps they can take in response.
To register, or learn more about Exploration, visit ExploreCalling.org. More information about GBHEM can be found at GBHEM.org.
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Mercy & Justice
NUMB riders pedal for
many miles to feed the hungry
More than 125 bicycle riders explored the rolling hills and terrain of northeast Nebraska as part of the 22nd annual Nebraska United Methodist Bike (NUMB) Ride for Hunger. This event regularly draws bicycle enthusiasts from across the country to ride for 250 miles on a circuit within the state.
Over its 22 years, the ride has raised more than $854,000 to feed the hungry in the state and around the world. The annual event was founded in 1996 by the Rev. Bill Ritter, Blue River District superintendent, and Greg Bakewell, a member of the United Methodist Church.
View a video and read a story that provide more insight into what NUMB is all about and how the event has helped feed the hungry for more than two decades.
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Micah Corps interns take
action in Washington, D.C.
On June 26, during their time in Washington D.C., with the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS), Micah Corps interns prepared themselves to advocate on issues about immigration and health care. The interns split up into two groups, one representing Kansas and the other Nebraska.
During the morning, the interns planned what would be said about each issue so they could effectively voice their concerns. Melissa Bowe from National Justice for Our Neighbors and Jeania Ree Moore, director of Civil and Human Rights at GBCS, facilitated the session and shared effective ways to engage in conversation with our elected officials and their staff. Our visits were scheduled in the afternoon. To have the ability to work in the United Methodist Building was so empowering to the interns because the Senate buildings are right across the street.
“To have the experience of working right along with professionals on Capitol Hill to advocate with my voice to make our world a better place was the most purposeful time while in D.C. This time entailed welcoming refugees and allowing many to have affordable health care. I also strive to care for God’s Creation because it is my duty to do so,” said Paige Thompson, Micah Corps Environment Intern.
During the afternoon sessions, the two groups of interns wearing their red Micah Corps polos proudly covered the four Senate offices. The Kansas group contained five constituents and all together represented the Great Plains Conference. They met with staffers from Sen. Pat Roberts and Sen. Jerry Moran. The Nebraska group had two constituents and the rest of interns representing the Great Plains Conference. They met with staffers from Sen. Ben Sasse and Sen. Deb Fischer. As part of their visits, the interns delivered more than 230 health care letters to their senators. These had been written by constituents from Kansas and Nebraska during the Great Plains Annual Conference mission lunch.
“It was such a fantastic experience to meet with staffers in our Nebraska Senators’ offices, primarily because the Micah Corps interns representing United Methodists of Nebraska did such a fantastic job relating their message of peace and inclusion to the change makers in D.C. Our interns are change makers too,” said Deb Metcalf, Micah Corps co-coordinator.
Later that same day, Micah Corps interns stood alongside others to rally against the injustice of the Supreme Court’s decision to partially lift the travel ban not allowing certain refugees from six countries to be welcomed on U.S. soil. The rally was located in front of the Supreme Court building. There were many different speakers from various faiths and other spectators that came together to support the effort to stand for justice against this ban. Jeania Ree Moore from GBCS and Austin Wall, one of our Micah Corps interns, were among the speakers.
“In all, I encourage you to engage with your senators and representatives to use your voice in what you believe is right for them to do to make God’s Creation safe for all within these issues. Each call to your senator or representative does make a difference,” Thompson said.
-- Paige Thompson, Micah Corps intern
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Event looks at church’s role
in politically, racially divided nation
Each fall, the Great Plains Mercy & Justice Team invites you to a day of engaging with different issues to better equip us as Christ’s followers to transform the world.
This year’s event, “For the Transformation of the World – The role of the church in a politically/racially divided nation,” is from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at Saint Mark United Methodist Church, 1525 N. Lorraine Ave., Wichita.
The featured speaker will be Jim Wallis, president and founder of Sojourners in Washington D.C., a non-profit faith-based organization, network and movement whose mission statement calls for “putting faith into action for social justice.” Wallis is also a best-selling author, public theologian, national preacher, social activist and international commentator on ethics and public life. Books by Wallis include “America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America,” “The (Un)common Good,” “God’s Politics” and “The Great Awakening.”
The event is free, but registration is requested.
If you travel from further away and mileage costs are a concern, please contact the Rev. Kalaba Chali at kchali@greatplainsumc.org or 316-684-0266.
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Administration
Foundation’s interest rate
for churches beats banks
Maintaining an aging church facility can be a daunting task. Throw in an aging HVAC system, inefficient windows, the need for exterior painting and wood-rot issue, this faith community is facing some serious financial challenges.
The church’s overall need was estimated at around $440,000 and a local financial institution offered a reasonable interest rate. The church knew that the Kansas Area United Methodist Foundation offered loans to churches and agencies so the church checked there as well. The Foundation’s Church Development Loan Fund Committee was able to offer the church a loan with a lower interest rate than the local financial institution. Without the services of the Kansas Area United Methodist Foundation’s Certificate of Participation program, none of this would have been possible.
When a church or individual invests in the Kansas Area United Methodist Foundation’s Certificate of Participation program, they are helping the Foundation loan money to churches with a financial need because funds brought in through the Certificates of Participation are then loaned out to churches needing a loan. Certificates of Participation are available to only United Methodists for a minimum investment of $1000. A church and/or an individual can help build a church without pounding a nail.
To learn more, go to http://www.kaumf.org or call 1-888-453-8405 so that you may know the various ways to partner with your Kansas Area United Methodist Foundation. Let us be a part of your ministry today.
July Certificate of Participation Rates
1 year – 1.20%
2 year – 1.50%
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Pastors have moved –
have their business cards?
If you are in need of business cards, send your name, church or agency affiliation, address, phone numbers, email and website to Roxie Delisi at rdelisi@greatplainsumc.org.
She will be placing a bulk order in the next few days, so now is a great time to place your order and receive your business cards quickly. The cost is approximately $35 for 500 cards.
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Across the Connection
Forest Park in Topeka
hosts free day camp
A day camp hosted at the Forest Park Conference and Retreat Center, affiliated with the Great Plains Conference, came to a conclusion last week in Topeka. Here’s a story and photos from Jessica Cole of the Topeka Capital-Journal.
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In Other News
