|
Dear Michelle,
I finally got around to planting my
garden two weeks ago. I think I was inspired by a late-night
British movie with a sub-plot involving gardening! This is my
first year graduating from annuals and perennials to real
vegetables. I decided to plant my edible garden in big pots
and grow tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, rosemary and
basil. I have one empty planter pot and I'm
contemplating a few plantings of lettuce and cucumbers to
finish out my salad ingredients.
I'm sure my Dad would have been proud.
He farmed about a 3 acre garden in North Carolina every
summer. My heritage in gardening is unavoidable. My
grandmother lived near downtown Greenville, S.C. and to the
amusement of her neighbors, plowed up her front and back yard
each spring and grew every vegetable imaginable. I always
returned home from summers in South Carolina a few pounds
heavier.
As I contemplate my garden this spring,
I can't help but draw an analogy to the Church. We plant and
water, but God brings in the harvest.
"So neither he who plants nor he
who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose and
each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9For we are
God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building"
(1Cor.3:7-9).
I'm having problems right now with
ladybugs and cicadas nibbling on my leaves, not to mention the
squirrels continuing to dig for acorns! I'm awaiting a reply
from my hero the Garden Rebel to find out his home-made tonic
to thwart their attacks!
Change the names to protect the
innocent and some of our challenges in Church growth are the
same. What we do for the sake of the Kingdom is hard work and
brings with it daily attacks. From lack of vision to
antagonists . . . we are challenged as we seek to grow the
"Garden" we call the Kingdom.
I was reminded once again what
Christ-followers need to be about when I read the article "Who
Owns a Congregation?" by Dan Hotchkiss, Senior Consultant with
the Alban Institute. Hotchkiss writes:
The specific mission of a
congregation is its answer to the question, "Whose lives do we
intend to change and in what way?" A congregation that limits
its vision to pleasing its members falls short of its true
purpose. Growth, expanding budgets, building programs, and
such trappings of success matter only if they reflect positive
transformation in the lives of people touched by the
congregation's work.
I need to be reminded that the
Gardner's Mission is not limited to the aesthetic beauty of
the Garden, but the nourishment of body and soul that the
garden provides. May our churches be more than beautiful
buildings and impressive programs, may we be the fertile soil
that feeds the Kingdom and transforms lives.
I Love Being Your District
Superintendent,
Wayne
P.S. The Winner of the "Easter Egg
Hunt" in April's EC News is Bo Terry. Congratulations
Bo! Call the District Office to claim your $25 Gift
Certificate from Cokesbury.
Next clue . . . read through the newsletter and find my pooch
Marley, e-mail me where he's hiding at ds-ec@flumc.org
and you'll be entered to win a basket of "human" treats.
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." |
|
Let's
Stay Connected!
Florida Conference Clergy
E-mail
Communicating with our clergy is very
important to us. We are aware that many of our East Central
District Clergy have experienced challenges in converting to
the new Conference Clergy E-mail system. As recent as
last Sunday morning Janet sent an email to all active EC
District Clergy from Wayne regarding the clergy moves within
our district. We have learned that more than 50% of you
did not receive this e-mail. It was sent to your new
first name.last name@flumc.org
address; therefore, if you have not properly set this up - you
didn't receive the email.
We urge you to please contact the
Conference IT Department at your earliest to access your
assigned flumc.org address. If you want to forward the
flumc.org address to your preferred e-mail service provider,
IT staff will walk you through the process. We are
trying to make everyone responsible for keeping up with their
own email address changes. You can imagine with 83 Missions
and Churches, over 161 Clergy, not to mention all of our
Laity, that the workload in the EC office could be consumed
with changing email addresses. The IT Department can be
reached by emailing ITHelpdesk@flumc.org and someone will contact you or as follows:
We are counting on your
participation. Hope this information is helpful . . .
|
| Thanks from: Wayne Wiatt (DS) & Janet
Kelley (Business Admin) |
Pre-Annual
Conference Forums
May 5th
& 6th
[Led by Janet Kelley, Dist. Lay Leader
and Wayne Wiatt, Dist. Supt.]
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
PM
1125 E South Street, Orlando, FL
32803
Tuesday,
May 6
Lake Helen UMC - Lake Helen, Sanctuary, 6:30-8
PM
111 W Delaware Avenue, Lake Helen, FL
32744 |
|
EC District
Annual Conference Breakfast
May 30, 2008 7:00
AM |
All Lay and Clergy Members to Annual
Conference are invited to attend.
Location:
Trinity UMC - 715 Cornelia Ave. (located one Mile from the
Lakeland Center)
Contact Pam Price for information and
reservations: flumc-ec2@flumc.org
|
| Reservation Deadline: Friday, May 22,
2008 |
|
Minister's Mates Tea at Annual
Conference
 If you are a Minister's Mate, you are cordially
invited to an Afternoon Tea honoring our Florida Conference
Minister's Mates Friday, May 30, 2008 3:00 PM-4:30 PM Sikes
Hall Lobby, The Lakeland Center.
|
|
Pre-Annual Conference classes on
"Living the United Methodist Way"
Fifteen pre-Annual Conference classes--including two in
Spanish and one in Creole--designed to take Florida Conference
United Methodists deeper in their understanding of The
Methodist Way will be offered Wednesday, May 28, at the
Lakeland Center, the day before the opening of the Florida
Annual Conference session for laity and clergy. Below is the
schedule.
|
2:30 pm - 4:00
pm
Radical Hospitality
Passionate Worship
English Overview &
Next Steps
Intentional Discipleship
Extravagant Generosity
|
4:30 pm - 6:00
pm
Intentional Discipleship
Extravagant Generosity
Salty Service
Spanish Overview & Next
Steps
English Overview &
Next Steps |
6:30 pm - 8:00
pm
Spanish Overview & Next
Steps
Creole Overview & Next
Steps
Salty Service
Passionate Worship
Radical Hospitality
|
The classes are being led by
teams of lay and clergy persons whose congregations excel at
living into their practice. Each class runs 90 minutes and is
designed to both ground the practice in Scripture and help
participants imagine practical ways of effectively living into
the practice for their congregation and
community.
|
|
Congratulations to our EC District
Clergy
Licensed Local Pastor: Jose
Nieves
Probationary Deacon: Brian
Hurley
Probationary Elder: Jaime Faberlle,
Ryan Hall, Rebecca Hyvonen, Molly Warren
Elder in Full Connection: Kandace
Brooks, Britt Gilmore, Jay Therrell
We will recognize our Clergy at the EC
Breakfast on Friday, May 30th at Trinity UMC at 7:00 am. The
service of Licensing, Commissioning, and Ordination will be
held at 7:00 pm Friday night in the Lakeland
Arena. |
| New
Appointments
Announced |
Coming to the East Central District:
First Oviedo - James (Jim) Lake
First Ormond - William
(Bill) Owens
Community Casselberry - Brent Byerman
First
Port Orange - Tom Nelson
Tuskawilla - Dwayne
Craig
University Carillon Associate - Chris Akers
DeLeon
Springs - William (Willie) Reyes
Trinity Seville - Nikki
Johnson
Venetian Bay - Rebecca Hyvonen (New
Start)
Ebenezer Orlando - TBA (Part-time)
Leaving the East Central District:
Beth Fogle Miller - Director of Connectional
Ministries
Annette Pendergrass - North Central
District Superintendent
John Powers - Gulf Central
District Superintendent
Kim Joyner - St. James,
Sarasota
Charlie Reeb - Pasadena Comm. Church, St.
Petersburg
Margaret Kartwe Bradley - FAMU, Wesley Director,
Talla.
Michael Frazier - First, Tampa
Jay Therrell - First,
Cape Coral
Bill Beebe - Wesley, Marco Island
Cathy
Felber - First, South Miami
Ryan Hall - Associate, First,
Ft. Lauderdale
|
|
|
Get the latest General Conference
News The 2008
General Conference in Forth Worth, Texas, began April 23. For
the latest news on what's happening during the denomination's
quadrennial gathering, go to e-Review or the Florida Conference <Website> and click on the
General Conference graphic on the right-hand side of the
page. |
 Florida Prayer Ministry
to General Conference
FORT WORTH,
Texas -- Their purpose is singular: to pray for delegates
attending the 2008 General Conference and the work of the
entire assembly. The small group of members from Covenant
United Methodist Church in Port Orange began that ministry
weeks ago and has taken it to the quadrennial gathering,
attending General Conference as "prayer delegates." full story
<click here> |
| Nothing
But
Nets
Mission
Opportunity
|
Throughout April, visitors to the Nothing But Nets Web
site played an interactive game to deliver virtual sleeping
nets to Africa and, in the process, raise money to buy real
insecticide-treated nets through the malaria prevention
campaign.
Now, there's a renewed push for the United
Methodist-supported Nets campaign leading up to World Malaria
Day on April 25.
The
"Deliver the Net" game challenges players to deliver as many
virtual nets as possible before the sun goes down and
malaria-carrying mosquitoes come out to bite. Each time
someone plays and signs up at <website>, an anonymous sponsor will donate
$10 for a life-saving net. |
|
|
Annual Conference
Offering Bulletin Insert Available
The 2008 Florida Annual Conference Event will
focus on the five elements of The United Methodist Way. 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. 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.
A bulletin insert is now
available online for your church to duplicate and share with
congregation members as you promote this conference-wide
giving opportunity. <click here> |
 The Spirituality of the
CongregationBy Rev. Linda K.
Mobley
Passionate Spirituality is, according
to the research, the characteristic of a healthy congregation
that surfaces as the minimum factor in the majority of United
Methodist churches. But spiritual vitality is critical to the
survival of most turnaround churches and the key to bringing
people into a powerful relationship with Jesus Christ.
Without it, a congregation will dissolve into a social network
of people who care about one another but ignore the needs of
those in the communities around her. Passionate
Spirituality gives us the fervor and enthusiasm to love as God
loves. [MORE] |
|
NATIONAL CHURCH GROWTH SEMINAR COMING TO
ORLANDO
The School of Congregational Development is coming to
St. Luke's UMC, Orlando, Thursday, July 31 through Tuesday,
August 5, 2008. Go to <website>for further information
and registration details.
|
|
|
Check out this great chart to post on your
Refrigerator as an encouragement to eat healthy! (Contributed
by Linda Mobley)
|
Apples |
Protects
your heart |
prevents
constipation |
Blocks
diarrhea |
Improves
lung capacity |
Cushions
joints |
|
Apricots |
Combats
cancer |
Controls
blood pressure |
Saves
your eyesight |
Shields
against Alzheimer's |
Slows
aging process |
|
Artichokes |
Aids
digestion |
Lowers
cholesterol |
Protects
your heart |
Stabilizes
blood sugar |
Guards
against liver disease |
|
Avocados |
Battles
diabetes |
Lowers
cholesterol |
Helps
stops strokes |
Controls
blood pressure |
Smoothes
skin |
|
|
15 Passenger Van
Update
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 ($4,000), 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, ($2,000). Questions regarding
15 passenger vans should be directed to Mark Thomas, Director
of Ministry Protection for the Florida Conference
800-282-8011 Ext. 137 |
 |
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. Go to
<website> and click on the "e-learning"
button.
|
|
|
Scholarships Available Through The
Board of Higher Education and Campus
Ministry
The Board of Higher Education and
Campus Ministry for the Florida Conference will offer two
scholarships to active United Methodists Church members who
will be in college or seminary this year. There are two
types of scholarships available: the Conference Merit
Award and The McMurray Award. The Conference Merit Award
must be given to a Florida United Methodist student who plans
to attend or attends a United Methodist related college,
university or seminary. The McMurry Award may be given
to a Florida United Methodist student who plans to attend or
attends any institution of higher education.
Contact: jjacques@flumc.org or call 800-282-8011 ext. 183 at the BHECM for
the application. |
| Managing Change:
Special Offer to Clergy Families
This 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. |
| Cuba
DS
Visits
EC
District |
Please welcome Enoc Rodriguez, former
District Superintendent of Holguin and Las Tunas Districts in
Cuba, along with his wife, Edita, who are visiting with us
June 1-23. All who have visited churches through the
Cuba Florida Covenant in our Sister Districts of Holguin and
Las Tunas have experienced their wonderful hospitality through
the years.
We need your help in the following
areas to make their trip a memorable one.
·Financial Support to cover their
travel expenses ($2,400 for Airfare/Fees; $1,000 for spending
money in the states). Make checks payable to the EC
District.
·Volunteers to host them during their stay in the
EC District
·Interpreters
·Speaking engagements in
area churches
·Tickets to area attractions for
entertainment
Please pass this information on to
your Missions Coordinator and all members who have traveled to
Cuba from your church. Return this commmitment form
and share with us your ability to help during their visit.
Pray for Enoc and Edita as they
prepare to journey to the United States. We have several teams
who have visited their sister churches, returning with
wonderful stories of their ministry and experiences together
with our brothers and sisters in
Christ. |
| Thank you in advance for your support of our
Cuba Florida Covenant! |
 2008
Online Education Series
A new initiative of Ministry Protection
This educational series is a monthly
webinar-style online presentation. Each session is about
30 minutes long and is designed to provide clear, timely
and relevant information to Conference churches, schools and
affiliated ministries.
<Click Here> for a list of our topics and
presenters for 2008.
Just announced: May 2008
Session
"MINISTRY PROTECTION
& CONFERENCE INSURANCE PROGRAM"
A comprehensive look at the property, casualty and
workers compensation program. What are the details and
benefits of the insurance program and how does my church fit
into it? Who are our partners in the overall program? What can
our church do to help control premiums and
costs? <click here> for
details. |
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
|
|
2008 East Central District Event
Calendar
Apr 23-May 2: General Conference
of The United Methodist Church, Fort Worth, TX
May
5: Pre-Conference Forum, Lay and Clergy Members to
the Annual Conference, 6:30-8:00pm Trinity UMC, 2125 E. South
Street, Orlando
May 6: Pre-Conference Forum,
Lay and Clergy Members to the Annual Conference, 6:30-8:00pm
Lake Helen UMC, 111 W Delaware Ave., Lake Helen
May
22: EC dCOM, Asbury UMC, Maitland, 9:30a-3:30p
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
2008 @ Trinity UMC, 715 Cornelia Avenue, Lakeland
7:00-8:30a
Jun 17: Conference Table - In
Defense of Creation II, Details TBA
Jun 19:
Farewell Dinner for EC Clergy who are moving, Details
TBA
Jul 1: Clergy Moving
Day
Jul 4: Conference Holiday - Independence
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 12: East Central District
Staff Retreat
Aug 21: Clergy Team Meeting, Peace
Maker Training, Ken Sande, Spring of Life UMC, Orlando
9a-4p
Sep 13: EC District Welcome
Party for all Clergy Families, Active, Retired, Extension,
DeLeon Springs State Park, 11a-2p, BBQ, Western Theme,
Swimming.
Sep 18: EC dCOM, Asbury UMC, Maitland,
9:30a-3:30p
Sep 19-20: Lay Speaking Training, Fri.
5:00-8:30p, Sat. 8:30a-4:30p, Ocoee Oaks UMC, Ocoee
Sep
26: Conference New Minister Orientation. Any new clergy
must attend at the LEC.
Oct 9 & 10: East
Central District Clergy Retreat, Daytona Beach, FL - Complete
Details Soon
Oct 14: Save the Date! All
Florida Clergy Gathering 11am-3pm, Lakeland, FL
Oct
17-18: UMVIM Team Leader Training @ Lakewood UMC in
Jacksonville, FL
Nov 11: Conference Holiday -
Veterans Day
Nov 20: EC dCOM, Asbury UMC, Maitland,
9:30a-3:30p
Nov 27 & 28: Conference Holiday -
Thanksgiving
Dec 18: EC dCOM, Asbury
UMC, Maitland,
9:30a-3:30p | |
