East Central District
Newsletter
March 2008
| |
|
|
|
Dear
Michelle,
 As the Lenten Season comes to a close and Holy Week
approaches, I find myself in the midst of follow-up from
Cabinet Meetings, confirming projected appointments, Board and
Committee Meetings, and an endless list of administrative
details . . . like getting the EC News out. (I'm only 2 weeks
behind schedule!) Sometimes it's hard to be HOLY even during
Holy Week.
To overcome some of my "unholiness" during this Holy
Season, my wife Ramona and I made a commitment to attend a 7
week Lenten Study. I have to confess I've already missed
two of the sessions due to "DS Stuff!" To my great surprise,
we have been studying Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell.
Several years ago, my daughter Taylor recommended that I read
this book.
This past week at our study, we read and
discussed 'Movement Four' of Bell's book, entitled Tassels. (A
reference to the healing symbol on the Rabbi's prayer shawl.)
As we discussed the challenges of ministry/life, and the sin
of trying to be "Super Pastor" or "Super Mom/Dad", the message
of the Cross came into focus for us all. Bell writes,
"Salvation is living more and more in harmony with God, a
process that will go on forever.
When we understand salvation from a legal-transaction
perspective, then the point of the cross becomes what it (the
cross) has done For Us . . . but let's also use a slightly
different phrase: the work of the cross In Us. There is
Jesus' death on our behalf once and for all, but there is the
ongoing work of the cross in our hearts and minds and souls
and lives. There is the ongoing need to return to the cross to
be reminded of our brokenness and dependence on God. There is
the healing we need from the cross every single day."
John Wesley called that kind of life as
one of "holiness, sanctification, or going on to
perfection." Bell goes on to say, "It is one thing to be
forgiven; it is another thing to be more and more and more and
more the person God made you to be."
As you journey with Christ from Palm
Sunday to Maundy Thursday, to Good Friday to Resurrection Day,
it is my prayer that the "unholy" will not detour you from the
Way of the Cross. I will be praying for you this week as
you seek and lead others to become more and more and more and
more like Jesus . . .
As you discover the empty tomb this
Easter morning, may you join in the Hallelujah's with all the
Saints, past and present, who "know that they know that they
know" that The Lord is Risen; The Lord is Risen Indeed!
I Love Being Your District
Superintendent,
2 Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit
of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of
self-discipline.
P.S. Find the hidden Easter Egg in the EC
News. Click on "Reply" and let me know where the Easter Egg is
hiding. Give me your name in the email response and I
will put your name in the "basket" to draw for a
Cokesbury Gift
Certificate |
| |
|
|
|
 |
Registration: First
Conference on "The Methodist
Way" |
 "Passionate Worship: Divine Inbreaking,"
will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church in
Gainesville, April 11-12, 2008, and repeated at
Church of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, April
14-15.
Both locations will feature four
presentations based on the different movements of
worship plus 21 breakout groups featuring topics such as
basic worship planning, worship as spiritual formation,
worship in the emerging culture, care and feeding of a
praise team, and connecting worship to the outside
community. There will also be opportunities for you to
meet with other worship leaders and pastors to have a
time to network and share resources.
We are encouraging pastors,
worship leaders, worship teams and anyone else involved
in making worship happen at their local church to attend
this conference. Registration online by click the icon.
If you have questions, please contact the Office of
Connectional Ministries at 800-282-8011, Ext. 183. For
more information on The Methodist Way, visit Connectional
Ministries. |
|
| Community Arise Basic
Disaster Ministry
Training | 
Saturday March 29th,2008
Pine Ridge Fellowship
UMC, Deltona
The faith-based community plays a unique role during
disaster. Churches can often get things done that
government agencies and others cannot, and they do it
quickly and efficiently when they . . .
- understand the system
- know how to navigate the process
- recognize the abilities and limitations of their
church and
- cooperate with emergency management and other
responding organizations
This training provides a general overview of
disaster. Churches leave with a basic understanding of
how to protect their church as well as how to develop a
disaster ministry that serves their community and
beyond.
To register or for more information, including future
training dates, please follow this link: Community Arise Basic Disaster Ministry
Training
|
|
Spiritual Gifts-Oriented
Ministry
By Rev. Linda K. Mobley
According to the research done by Natural Church
Development, one of the 8 Characteristics that vital,
growing churches have in common is that those who do
ministry - laity and clergy - choose their ministries
based on what their Spiritual Gifts are. What does
that mean? [Read More]. |
|
|
Five Day Academy for
Spiritual Formation |
March 30 to April 4, 2008 at the LEC in Fruitland
Park, FL. Many have found this Academy a pivotal event
in their spiritual journey. This year's topic is
"Journey to a Thankful Heart". Being grateful is
more than saying "thank you." Explore the beliefs,
barriers, bridges and becoming of genuine Thanksgiving
as you learn how to develop a thankful heart. This
year's faculty includes Graham Standish, author of
"Becoming a Blessed Church" and "Humble Leadership"; and
Linda Douty, author of "How Can I let Go if I don't know
I'm Holding On-Setting Our Souls Free". For more
information and/or registration, go to [website].
|
|
An Invitation to Reimagine the Way You
Preach:
2008-09 Institute of Preaching at Duke Divinity
School
Twelve pastors from Florida and six from Western
North Carolina will be chosen to participate in three
retreats and a congregational training day between
August 2008 and April 2009.
Further information about the program is available
at [CLICK HERE]. |
| Offer Expires: March 28,
2008 |
|
Clergy Email address
changes by April
1 |  All clergy get a Conference
email address beginning March 3
Email coming from
the Florida Conference to its clergy will be sent to
their new Conference email address. However, to give
clergy time to make the switch from their current email
address to the new, conference-provided e-mail address,
emails will be sent to both the "old" and the "new"
address for four weeks. On April 1, however, ALL email
sent from the conference will go only to the new account
[MORE]. |
|
Pre-Conference Forums for
Lay Delegates and Clergy Members of the 2008
Annual Conference |
Workbook materials will be distributed and key agenda
items for the 2008 Florida Annual Conference will be
discussed. A brief recap of General Conference
Decisions will be shared. All Lay and Clergy
Members are expected to attend one of the two
events.
Monday, May 5
Trinity UMC - Orlando.
Fellowship Hall, 6:30-8:00 PM
1125 E South Street,
Orlando, FL 32803
Tuesday, May 6
Lake Helen UMC - Lake
Helen, Sanctuary, 6:30-8:00
PM
111 W Delaware Avenue, Lake Helen, FL
32744 |
|
2008 FLORIDA CONFERENCE SUMMER MISSION
INTERNS
Join us to work in ministry with children at day
and overnight camps this summer! You will share
your gifts for nine weeks June 8-August 8 at various
settings throughout Florida. We are seeking
college students and high school graduates with an
aptitude for ministry with children and youth and
enthusiasm for sharing our Christian faith! You
will be placed in groups of 2-5 to work in United
Methodist outreach agencies or with our summer camp
ministry at the Life Enrichment Center and Riverside
Retreat. Training, weekly stipend and room and
board will be provided. This is a partnership of
the Florida Conference's Outreach Ministries, Camp and
Retreat Ministries, Campus Ministries and Justice and
Spirituality Ministries. For an application or
further information e-mail the Rev. David Berkey at dberkey@flumc.org. You can call
for an application at 1-800-282-8011, ext.
140. |
| Deadline: April 15,
2008 |
|
Annual Conference
Offering |  The 2008 Florida
Annual Conference Event will focus on the five elements
of The United Methodist Way: Passionate Worship, Radical
Hospitality, Intentional Discipling, Salty Service and
Extravagant Generosity.
At the event, as is our tradition, an offering will
be taken that supports the mission of making disciples
of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Obviously, this special giving is an opportunity to
practice Extravagant Generosity. It is also an
opportunity for every church to put into practice all
five areas of The United Methodist Way. Every
congregation in the Florida Conference is invited to
collect this offering and bring it to the 2008 event.
The amount collected is secondary to the prayer and
faithfulness with which it is supported.
The offering will be divided three ways. Sixty
percent will be directed to the East Angola/Florida
Partnership. Twenty percent will support the legal
immigration counseling ministry in Central Florida, and
20 percent will strengthen Florida children's ministries
with the Council of Bishops' Initiative on Children and
Poverty.
|
|
|
East Central District Annual
Conference Breakfast Friday, May 30, 2008
from 7:00 a.m. - 8:15 a.m. All Lay and Clergy
Members to Annual Conference are invited to
attend. Location: Trinity UMC, 715 Cornelia
Ave. (one mile from the Lakeland Center) Information
and Reservations: Pam Price at flumc-ec2@flumc.org or call the
District Office at (407) 896-2230. |
| Reservation Deadline: Friday,
May 22, 2008 |
|
Annual Conference
Awards | Two Denman
Evangelism Awards are given out each year: one for
clergy and one for laity. To nominate a person in either
category, visit [website]. After prayerful
consideration, please print out the appropriate form and
either fax it to 863-680-1912, or mail it to Rev. Jeff
Stiggins, Office of Congregational Transformation,
Florida Conference, 1140 E. McDonald St., Lakeland, FL
33801.
Deadline: Friday, March 21,
2008 |
|
BETHUNE COOKMAN CONCERT
CHORALE
Sunday, March 30, 2008 @ First UMC of
Winter Park
The Bethune Cookman Concert Chorale, under the
direction of Dr. Rebecca Steele will sing at all three
morning worship services 8:30 A.M., 9:45 A.M. and
11:00 A.M. Dr. Trudie Kibbe Reed, president of
Bethune-Cookman will speak. The church is located
at the corner of Interlachen Ave and Morse Blvd (2
blocks east of Park Ave). |
|
|
OC Volunteer of the Year -
Rev. Jose Nieves (Casa de
Paz) |  Every year OASIS, the
volunteer program of the Osceola County School District,
selects a community leader that has excelled in helping
the local schools to improve the education and
development of students. As a testimony of the ministry
of everyone at Casa de Paz and Peace UMC in the
community, our Pastor Jose Nieves was named Volunteer of
the Year for the Osceola County School District.
Over the last two years Pastor Nieves
has developed with Cypress Elementary School a
basketball mentoring program for students in 4th and 5th
grades. Through the hard work of Casa de Paz and Peace
UMC, ministry outreach events have included the
collection of school backpacks, recognition of teachers,
assistance for families in need, and toy drives for
students. Pastor Nieves will receive an official
recognition in a ceremony to take place at the Osceola
Heritage Park on March 27, 2008.
Congratulations
Jose! |
|
PREACHING WITH PRESENCE OFFERED IN
LEESBURG
The Center for Clergy Excellence has six slots open
for the April 21 - 23 Preaching With Presence Workshop
in Leesburg. If you are interested in attending,
please call the District Office. |
|
|
The UM Interpreter needs
your help! | In order
for local church leaders to receive the next issue of UM
Interpreter, please complete and return a UM Interpreter
enrollment form (remember, the pastor receives a copy
automatically, and does not have to enroll). Additional
copies are $8 if you refer to code: INMAIL0208. You may
complete the enrollment process by:
Email:
csc@umcom.org
Fax:
(615) 742-5499
Online: (Please contact Customer
Service at 1-888-346-3862, to obtain the customer number
and pass code for online enrollment.)
Mail:
United Methodist Communications, Customer
Service - Interpreter Enrollment P.O. Box 440229,
Nashville, TN
37244-0229 |
|
EC District Healthy Recipe
Winners
Congratulations to Ada Roper, First
Winter Garden and Julie and Cameron Lashbrook for being
last months Hidden Track Winners of the Healthy Recipe
Contest. They each won $50 Gift Certificates to Seasons
52 Restaurant. Keep watching the EC News for hidden
surprises! |
| Healthy Recipes Link
|
|
15 Passenger Van
Update |
The Department for Ministry Protection provided
recommendations on the ownership and use of dangerous 15
passenger vans at Annual Conference last June. As
a result of the increased cost to insure these vehicles
and due to the catastrophic risk inherent in them, the
2008 premium for 15 passenger vans has increased to
$4000 per vehicle, which was reflected on the most
recent property and casualty insurance invoices received
by our churches.
As an incentive for churches that still own and
operate 15 passenger vans to transition to safer
transportation, the Conference is offering a full
"rebate" of the 2008 van premium ($4000), if the church
sells the van by June 1, 2008. After June 1
through the end of the year, the Conference will
"rebate" 50% of the van premium,
($2000). |
 |
Online E-Learning
Available
Have you checked out the E-Learning
Training available for your local church on our
Conference website? Training is available for
Staff/Parish Relations Committees; Finance Committees
(includes Stewardship); Trustees; and Membership
Secretary's. There is also an online Bible Study
available. Click on the "e-learning"
button. |
| New classes: Lay Leader
& Lay Member
Training |
|
2008 Apportionment Reports
are now online |
 Click on [this link] and when it opens
enter your GCFA # in the GCFA box and then click "review
report". If you have problems with what is on
the report, call Ivette in the Conference Offices
at ext. 108. ALSO, if you need to review a current
2007 Apportionment sheet, you can do so by going to the
Conference web site [click here]. Open up the link and
right at the top under Apportionments there is a link
that says "Click here to download your report".
Click on that link and enter your GCFA# twice.
Then go down to the next bar that reads "Make
Selection", click on it and pick "Apportionment Reports"
and there you are. The updated reports are usually
posted by the 15th of the month.
--Pam Price, EC District Financial
Administrator |
|
Managing Change: Special Offer to
Clergy FamiliesThis workshop will
be offered to clergy and scheduled immediately following
Annual Conference in Lakeland. It will be led by
Sally Campbell-Evans and will take place at Le Mans
Suites in Lakeland May 31 through June 2. There
are 5 spaces available. The cost of the retreat is $165
and includes everything but food. If you feel this
workshop would be helpful, please contact Trudy Rankin
at the Shade and Fresh Water [ website]. A DVD is also available
at the website and the Annual Conference table display
to support pastors by assisting SPRCs in understanding
the clergy culture. Shade and Fresh Water operates
through the financial gifts of those who have been
served.
|
|
|
2008 East Central District Event
Calendar
March 23: Easter Celebration! Christ is
Risen! Mar 29: Community Arise Training, 10a-4p Pine
Ridge Fellowship, Deltona Mar 30-Apr 4: Five Day Academy
for Spiritual Formation Mar 30-Apr 4: Children's Week
in Tallahassee [ click for details]
Apr 4-6: UMW SE Jurisdiction, Hampton, VA
Apr
11-12: Passionate Worship Event, Trinity UMC,
Gainesville
Apr 11-12: UMVIM Team Leader Training,
Riverside Retreat, LaBelle
Apr 12: UMW Spring day
apart at First UMC, Port Orange
Apr 14-15: Passionate Worship Event, Church of the Palm
Beaches, West Palm Beach
Apr 23-May 2: General
Conference of The UMC, Fort Worth, TX
Apr 25-27:
Created By God: Faith-Based Study of Human
Sexuality for 5th Grade Girls and Boys, Warren W.
Willis, United Methodist Camp, Leesburg
Apr
27: Announcement Sunday - Clergy
Appointments
May 5: Pre-Conference Forum, Lay and Clergy
Members to the Annual Conference, Trinity
UMC, Orlando
May 6: Pre-Conference Forum,
Lay and Clergy Members to the Annual Conference, 6:30-8p
Lake Helen UMC, Lake Helen
May 28: Pre-Conference
Training - The Methodist Way, Lakeland
May 29-31:
Annual Conference, Lakeland Center, Lakeland
May
30: East Central District Breakfast for Lay &
Clergy Members to Annual Conference, Trinity UMC,
Lakeland, 7-8:30 am
Jun 17: Conference Table - In Defense of Creation
II, Details TBA
Jul 1: Clergy Moving Day
Jul 16-19: SEJ
Conference in Lake Junaluska
Jul 22-25: UMW School of
Christian Mission week
Jul 25-27: UMW
School of Christian Mission weekend @ Florida Southern
College,Lakeland
Aug 21: Clergy Team Meeting, Peace Maker
Training, Ken Sande, Spring of Life UMC,
Orlando
Sept 6: EC District Welcome Party, UM
Children's Home
Sept 19-20: Speaker Training, Ocoee
Oaks UMC
Sept 25-26: East Central District
Clergy Retreat, Daytona Beach
Oct 14: Save the
Date! All Florida Clergy
Gathering, Lakeland
Oct 17-18: UMVIM Team Leader
Training, Lakewood UMC,
Jacksonville
| |
| |
|
| |
