Click here for the July 15 printable version of GPconnect.
In this edition of GPconnect:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Road construction limits access to conference’s Topeka office
Root on the Royals on United Methodist Family Night
UMC Market gets upgrade, relaunches
EQUIP DISCIPLES
Lay servant retreat to be at Camp Comeca
Palmyra UMC celebrates 150 years of witness and ministry
Teaching to give with gratitude and compassion: Part 1 of 3
Think outside the box for youth ministry
MERCY AND JUSTICE
Basic Disaster Response training to be held in Parsons, Kansas
Micah Corps: Getting at the roots of injustice
Help feed the hungry by assisting with potato drop
Jurisdictional mission academy offers wide range of courses
OTHER NEWS
Newsletters
Classifieds
Editorials
Press Clips
Help get word out about your mission or organization
Road construction limits access to conference’s Topeka office
Road construction near the Great Plains Conference office in Topeka is limiting access points to the building at 4201 SW 15th St.
Beginning, Thursday, July 16, visitors to the Topeka office will need to take Huntoon Street and turn south onto Woodhull, a street that ends at the entrance to the office’s parking lot.
Watch the weekly GPConnect email for updates on the construction project around the Topeka office.
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Root on the Royals on United Methodist Family Night
United Methodists across the Great Plains are invited to root on the Kansas City Royals when they play the Cleveland Indians on Sept. 25 at Kauffman Stadium for United Methodist Family Night at “The K.”
This event is hosted by the Great Plains and Missouri United Methodist Men. Tickets are $17 each. Include an additional $2 handling fee for 25 tickets or less in a block. Churches that do not turn their order in at the same time cannot be guaranteed that seating will be together.
For more information, contact Don Crim at 913-334-6214 or 816-898-6446, or via email at dcrim@kc.rr.com. Or contact Warren Livingston at 913-631-6818 or 913-302-6115, or via email at whlivingston@gmail.com.
Sept. 25 will feature hot dogs, small soft drinks and peanuts for just $1 each. Parking passes paid for at the time of the ticket order are available for the reduced cost of $10.
To see more and for the order form, click here.
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UMC Market gets upgrade, relaunches
The General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) has upgraded and relaunched the online shopping portal UMCMarket using more advanced technology and faster delivery of donations. Working with Tribute, Inc. the re-launched UMCMarket will provide an enhanced user experience, quicker access to status reports, regular distribution of micro-donations and the addition of hundreds of savings offers for participants.
“We are very excited to support GCFA’s vision for church members to have the ability to make micro-donations that benefit United Methodist church ministries,” said Doug Spear, Tribute president. “Tribute’s product platform is ideally suited to enable and enhance UMCmarket.org, and we look forward to providing a program that benefits the ministry of local churches.”
Moses Kumar, top executive for GCFA said when the church launched UMCMarket in 2012, leaders were confident that the people of the church who shop online would support and utilize it as an innovative way to raise funds for the ministries of local United Methodist churches.
“We have collaboratively worked with Tribute on this program that will help local churches make a difference in their communities with the funds that are raised,” Kumar said.
With the new program, each church or ministry will start with a new account. All donations generated prior to July 13, 2015 on the previous platform will be paid out before the end of 2015. GCFA will begin working immediately on issuing checks to the various ministries until each church or ministry is paid their total amount due from the previous provider.
The look of the new site for micro-donations has changed, but the foundational functionality and benefits remain the same – United Methodists who shop the thousands of retailers available can generate donations to support their local churches. Existing users will sign up to establish an account with the new provider and designate the ministry they choose to support. All users will be able to watch an overview video and review frequently asked questions prior to signing up.
An online marketing toolkit is provided to help participating churches communicate the opportunity to their ministries, which includes how-to videos, PowerPoint slides and bulletin inserts.
Sign up for free and designate which church will receive proceeds from items you purchase at https://umcmarket.org.
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Lay servant retreat to be at Camp Comeca
Oct. 23-24, 2015 will find course leaders and lay servants gathering at Camp Comeca for a 24-hour retreat and course study. Four courses will be offered; each participant will choose one course from these:
- Accountable Discipleship — This course focuses on the concept of the household of God, the importance of scripture as divine revelation, Wesleyan understandings of grace and the importance of the office of class leader in the development of the Methodist movement. You are encouraged to look at your own faith community and see how it is (or is not) a reflection of genuine Christian community.
- Devotional Life in the Wesleyan Tradition — Structured around Wesley’s “Means of Grace,” this study covers, among other topics, prayer, scripture, the Lord’s Supper and fasting — major features in John Wesley’s devotional life. Participants will learn how they can apply Wesley’s ministry to their own life.
- Planning Worship — This course builds on the course Leading Worship, and it is grounded in the principles and practices of worship planning. Leading Worship is, however, not a prerequisite for registration for this course. Readers, liturgists, worship leaders and members of church worship committees will all benefit from understanding the concepts included in this course.
- You Can Preach! — This course is designed for those who have not completed formal preaching training, for pastors seeking a basic refresher course and for others who are called upon to preach in a pastor’s absence.
All of these count as advanced courses toward certification as lay servants or lay speakers. Anyone can take a course whether he/she has attended the required basic course or not.
Built into the 24-hour retreat are worship, recreation and study — all are offered in a relaxing setting away from daily routines and responsibilities. Course leaders and classmates will contribute to your spiritual life and learning.
For more information or to register for a class, contact Peg at the Gateway District office at pmccollough@greatplainsumc.org or Ardith Davenport, Gateway director of lay servant ministries, at a.r.davenport@gmail.com.
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Palmyra UMC celebrates 150 years of witness and ministry
Current and past members and pastors of Palmyra (Nebraska) UMC celebrated the congregation’s 150th anniversary on Sunday, July 12.
On Sunday, the church attendance was 70 persons which filled the sanctuary for morning worship led by the Rev. Lyle Schoen, pastor at Palmyra UMC, with a sermon by the Rev. Bill Ritter, Blue River District superintendent, titled “The Other Side” based on Mark 6:45-51. More than one hundred persons attended a dinner at the Palmyra Activities Center, catered by the women of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church of Palmyra. A slide show and table displays showed members, church activities and hundreds of people the congregation has served over the last four decades.
In the afternoon a “Service of Celebration and Sharing” was held where greetings and memories from eight past pastors were heard. Those eight pastors (see photo) represented 29 years of ministry with the church since 1958. Special music for the day included solos by Teresa Whitehead and songs by the Celebration Quartet: Al Cochrane, Arlyn Rawson, Andrew Tipton and Tom Tipton. Reminiscing continued during the fellowship time that followed at the Activities Center.
Photos: Greetings were received from nine of the many pastors who have served the Palmyra United Methodist Church since 1958. Back row: Lyle Schoen (current pastor), Lowell Gaither, Bill Armold, Wes Ballard. Front row: Chuck Leypoldt, Sally Ruggia-Haden, Pat Norris, and Bob Neben. In addition to those present, a letter was read from Roger Eschliman (1975-1980) when Palmyra UMC was part of a four church parish. (Photo by Sheila Lienau)
Palmyra United Methodist Church building, first constructed in 1890, showing the historic bell that once rang in the belfry of the of tower, the accessibility ramp added in 2004 and recent improvements to the front side including the United Methodist cross and flame added above the front doors this summer. (Photo by Tom Tipton)
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Teaching to give with gratitude and compassion: Part 1 of 3
United Methodists support missions around the world. You can find the cross-and-flame logo on schools, universities, community centers and seminaries across the United States. The United Methodist Church name is on the side of hospitals, retirement homes and a university in Zimbabwe, Africa. Men and women trained and commissioned by the denomination serve in mission in most nations around the globe.
But, guess what?
While it takes significant funding to support denominational ministry, on average only 2 cents of every dollar given to local churches in the United States go to fund this expanse of ministries. Those pennies combine in seven apportioned funds, the budgets of which for 2014 totaled $150,078,000, to support the worldwide ministries and mission of the denomination and operations of the general agencies, 13 seminaries, 11 historically black colleges, bishops, the Judicial Council, ecumenical and interreligious ministries, and Jurisdictional and General conferences.
Of the remaining 98 cents, 7 cents supports jurisdictional, annual conference and district ministries, and 6 cents goes to The Advance, World Service Special Gifts, Special Sundays and other recipients designated by the giver. The bulk of every dollar – 85 cents on average – stays in the local church.
Being connected through giving allows United Methodists to be a part of many ministries that few could do alone or even with several other congregations.
Appeal to compassion versus obligation
"The apportionment system is near and dear to my heart," says the Rev. Ken Sloane, director of stewardship and connectional ministries at Discipleship Ministries. "United Methodists work together to do what an individual can't. As a result, we make an enormous impact on our world, such as attempting to eradicate malaria."
Sloane says a common challenge for local churches is "getting the message out to people that apportionments are not just a tax or something taken away from them.
"Many older generations grew up in the church with the understanding that tithing is a duty, obligation and commitment," he says. "However, younger adults are inspired to give out of generosity, compassion and commitment."
Sloane says congregations should talk about money and stewardship throughout the year.
"Churches should also help members stick their toes in the water of generosity," says Sloane, who writes offertory prayers posted on the Discipleship website as well as umcgiving.org.
‘Deprogram' cultural mindset of needing more
"What the Christian faith teaches about giving is radically countercultural to an American society [that teaches to] value acquisition and consumption over generosity," says Ann Michel, associate director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary. "The most fundamental challenge in encouraging adults to give financially is deprogramming them from a cultural mindset that causes them to think they constantly need more for themselves."
People must understand why they should give before they are open to learning how much they should give.
Teaching about apportionments should stress mission and ministry, not institutional maintenance, Michel continues. "We need to find ways to inspire our church members to want to support a ministry that extends beyond their local congregation.
"In my experience, the congregations that do the best job of forming people as givers are the ones where there is a culture of generosity."
Heather Peck Travis is a freelance journalist living in Glasgow, Ky.This article originally appeared in Interpreter, July-August 2014. Interpreter, www.interpretermagazine.org, is a ministry of United Methodist Communications.
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Think outside the box for youth ministry
It was introduced in the U.S. after the Revolutionary War. Back then was called quadrille dancing, you might know it today as square dancing. Quadrille dancing was done to music with four beats, and one of the dancers called the moves. Today, a separate caller calls the moves to many genres including country western, gospel music. The caller moves the dancers within the square, and if the caller and dancers do all the moves correctly, dancers end up at “home” (where they started) when the music stops.
This activity is done by an estimated 30-40 thousand Americans in addition to most countries of the world with calls done in English, regardless of the country. Many can remember doing this an activity in 4-H or in junior high with probably five to 10 moves. Imagine adding another 80 moves to this. It is mentally challenging, and a great low impact work-out. If done at a club dance you will get about three and a half miles of walking.
If you would like to learn about square dance in your area call or email the contacts on the website, www.statefair.wesquaredance.com. To see what square dance looks like, there are many videos on YouTube.
If you can walk and hear, you can square dance.
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Basic Disaster Response training to be held in Parsons, Kansas
When disaster strikes often the early days following the impact are full of confusion and chaos in the affected area. As United Methodists, we seek to offer our hands, prayers and resources to those who are suffering and we can best do that by being prepared.
On Saturday, Aug. 22, Basic Disaster Response training will be offered at Wesley UMC in Parsons, Kansas. In this three-hour class you will learn about how the size of a disaster relates to the disaster recovery operations, how disaster recovery typically goes through stages or phases, who is in charge of the disaster response at each phase, and how we can offer our individual and collective selves as a part of the recovery efforts. There is no cost for this class. Safe Gatherings certification is required.
Register online. If you have questions, contact William Ellsworth at wm.s.ellsworth@gmail.com.
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Micah Corps: Getting at the roots of injustice
Thanks to the Great Plains Conference, ten young adults are learning more about walking with God, strengthening their leadership skills, connecting with churches and working for social change as Micah Corps interns. In this essay, intern Maddi Baugous compares social justice work to weeding in a garden.
This summer I have been focused on learning more about food security and how we can help those who struggle with getting enough food for an active healthy lifestyle. One of the organizations we have closely worked with is the Big Garden through United Methodist Ministries in Omaha, Nebraska, which helps create community gardens. While interning I got to see a variety of different programs and services the Big Garden provides from helping to start gardens to educating children on the importance of gardening.
One day all of interns were out in a garden helping to pull weeds. While pulling the weeds a thought came to mind that these weeds were just like the different problems we are focused on learning about in the Micah Corps. For instance if I just pull off the leaves of the weeds, it may look pretty but I know the roots are still in the ground and if I come back in a few weeks the weed will still be there. In our society this is often how we solve the issues of the world. For example, I can donate food to help someone for a week (pull off the leaves) but if I come back the next week there will be more of a need, more leaves to pull away. In order to fix the issues we have to start at the root of the issue and fix it from the ground up. As a Micah Corps intern we try to find the ways to fix problems from their source. Sometimes it is difficult because some issues have deeper roots than others. Just like when we were weeding in the garden some of the weeds’ roots were deeper than others, some have easier fixes than others. When working for social justice it is important to see that often the best solution is not the easy solution. We need to pull the roots of the weeds not just their leaves.
Consider becoming a gardener for social change by pulling at the roots of injustice. Check out UMCOR endorsed Bread for the World and United Methodist Women Action Alerts.
To learn more about what the Micah Corps is up to this summer go to Facebook.com/MicahCorps and MicahCorps.wordpress.com for their blog.
Photo: Maddie Baugous, Micah Corps intern, weeding in a BIG Garden
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Help feed the hungry by assisting with potato drop
You can help feed the hungry in Kansas by taking part in some way in the United Methodist Men’s Fall Potato Drop, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 19, at Bonner Springs United Methodist Church, 425 W. Morse in Bonner Springs, Kansas.
Each day, thousands of families throughout the Great Plains go to bed hungry, and this project is an effort to help, at least in part, address that problem. A large truckload of potatoes will be delivered to the church, and volunteers are needed to unload the potatoes and deliver them to local hunger relief ministries and to others who need assistance.
Some specific needs for this event include:
- Pickup trucks to help take potatoes to area soup kitchens and food pantries.
- People with refreshments such as coffee, juice, soda, doughnuts or bagels for the volunteers.
- People and businesses willing to sponsor the potato drop. Donations can be sent to SOSA, 5525 Crest Drive, Kansas City, Kansas, 66106. Financial donations help defer the cost of transporting and providing the potatoes.
For more information or to sign up, click here.
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Jurisdictional mission academy offers wide range of courses
The South Central Jurisdiction is offering a mission academy, during which courses ranging from disaster response to leadership to understanding poverty will be offered.
The academy is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 25 to 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27, at the Hobletizelle Camp & Conference Center, 8060 Singleton Road, in Midlothian, Texas.
The cost is $180 or less, depending on housing needs.
To learn more, contact Audrey Phelps, director of Volunteers in Mission and Disaster Response for the South Central Jurisdiction at 636-344-0389 or via email at vimphelps@gmail.com.
Register by going to www.scjumc.org/academy.
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Newsletters
Classifieds
View these and other classifieds at greatplainsumc.org/classifieds.
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Editorials
View these and other classifieds at greatplainsumc.org/classifieds.
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Press Clips
Congregations across the Great Plains Conference are making the news in their local newspapers. View our newspaper clipping reports to see if there are stories, ideas and ministry happenings you can learn from to use in your own congregation. Press clips can be found at greatplainsumc.org/inthenews. You can see education partnership ideas at greatplainsumc.org/education.
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Help get word out about your mission or organization
GPconnect magazine helps do what its name implies: It helps connect the people of the Great Plains Conference to the happenings of the worldwide church, the South Central Jurisdiction, the United Methodist Church in Kansas and Nebraska, and even the local church.
Published each quarter, this magazine provides highlights of events, a calendar for upcoming events and stories meant to inspire, educate and entertain.
With more than 15,000 readers, the magazine provides a great way to help get the word out about organizations affiliated with the United Methodist Church and its many missions via advertising. GPconnect is a nonprofit product, which means advertising money helps off-set the costs of production.
To learn more about how to promote your organization or mission via advertising and for our recently reduced advertising rates, contact Roxie Delisi in the communications department in the Lincoln, Nebraska, office at 402-464-5994, extension 107, or via email at rdelisi@greatplainsumc.org.
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Editorial Policy: The content, news, events and announcement information distributed in GPconnect is not sponsored or endorsed by the Great Plains Methodist Conference unless specifically stated.
To submit a letter to the editor, send it to info@greatplainsumc.org.
