|
The East Central District
Newsletter
May
2007 | |
Dear
Michelle ,
It's about six in the morning as I wait
for the sunrise over Cedar Key, Florida. I have
been meeting for three days with my Covenant Brothers to
share, pray, rejoice, complain, laugh, and play as we
check-in with each other in terms of our ministry and
personal lives. It is one of three times we gather
throughout the year to hold each other accountable,
reflect, renew, and care for one another. This is our
14th year of meeting together faithfully for
mutual support and holding true to our commitment to
"Keep the Covenant!"
My
journal entry yesterday was on Matthew 18:3ff. "I tell
you the truth, unless you change and become like little
children, you will never enter the Kingdom of
Heaven." One
of the things I have missed since becoming a District
Superintendent is interacting with children on a daily
basis. When I was the pastor of a local congregation,
every week I shared in Chapel with our pre-schoolers,
participated in VacationBibleSchool, and on
occasion, chaperoned mission trips or a week away at
Camp. It seems that the children and youth I knew always
taught me more than I ever taught them!
In this passage from Matthew, Jesus was
trying to teach the Disciples what it meant to truly
follow him. As I apply this to my calling and ministry
as a District Superintendent, I continually have to ask
myself the following questions. Do I have a teachable
Spirit? Am I always seeking to learn? Do I approach
every new opportunity with a sense of wonder and awe,
like that of a child? And, in keeping with this passage
of scripture, do I balance my leadership with humility?
As I asked my Covenant Brothers Joe, Doug, Jorge,
Matthew, Dale, and Max to hold me accountable, I will
ask you to do the same.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve
with you in the East Central District. I continue to be
filled with awe and wonder at all you are doing and
being for the sake of the Kingdom. Thanks for teaching
me what it means to be a faithful disciple of Jesus
Christ!
I Love Being Your District Superintendent,
Wayne
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. |
|
2007 Annual Conference
Event
Bring your Youth and Young Adult
Groups!
Two days of events geared
toward
youth and young
adults!
FRIDAY NIGHT, JUNE 8th
@
7
p.m.
LAKELAND
CONVENTION CENTER
U2 Eucharist, featuring the music
of Bono and the band U2. Along with the liturgy of Holy
Communion, the "U2charist" uses U2's biblically rich
lyrics and social justice message to inform and empower
communities to respond to the critical issues of extreme
poverty, hunger, and the AIDS pandemic. For more
information about the U2 Eucharist visit www.myspace.com/u2charist
. For more information on the critical issues
addressed during a U2charist, visit www.millenniumcampaign.org.
FRIDAY NIGHT, JUNE 8th @
8:30 p.m.
FLORIDA SOUHERN COLLEGE
"Expression '07: The Expression of the
Soul" follows the U2charist. Young people will gather to
celebrate the intersection of art and faith through
music, visual art, and film. Lakeland's very own up-and-coming stars, Woodale,
will be the featured performers. www.myspace.com/woodale.
TO BE A PERFORMER/CONTRIBUTOR TO
EXPRESSION '07, YOU NEED TO:
Send us your CDs. We need
the 5 to 6 best bands that are involved with church
youth groups to play during the event. These are bands
that are making excellent expression-of-the-soul music
(not necessarily worship bands, but bands that make art
that connects with their faith and is inspired by that
faith). We need CDs of the 2-3 best songs from the band,
and our music review team will choose the bands to
perform at this event.
Send
us your art. We need visual art that can
be displayed during the event, inspired by faith and
life using the theme, 'The Expression of the Soul.'
Send us a short film. We're
looking for 2-3 minute digital films that can be shown
at the event. They need to be student produced and an
artistic expression inspired by faith and life using the
theme "The Experssion of the Soul".
Send all CDs, art and
film for "Expression '07" to: Andy Sistrunk 305
Dunlawton Ave. Port Orange, FL 32127. If you want your
material returned to you, please clearly label your
media and it will be returned to you after the
show.
SATURDAY in ORLANDO
Wet n' Wild day, Saturday, June 9, in
Orlando. Cost is $28.40 (huge savings!) per
person.
To register for all these events, click
here.
REGISTRATION MUST BE IN BY MONDAY, MAY 14.
WET N' WILD MONEY MUST ALSO BE IN
BY
THEN |
New Director for Lay Speaking
Ministry
Please welcome Lynn Campbell as the new
Lay Speaking Director for the
East Central District. Lynn is a member of Grace UMC where she
currently serves as the church Lay Leader.
She has been a Certified Lay Speaker for fifteen
years and is an active
participant and instructor for the Lay Speaking
Ministry. Lynn has participated in the Annual Conference
Lay Speaking event at the
LifeEnrichmentCenter for several
years where she has prepared and given devotions,
led singing, taken part in the Holy Communion Service,
and led a healing prayer service at this Conference wide
event.
An active
participating United Methodist member for over
twenty-five years,
Lynn's commitment
to serve God and His church is evidenced by her service
as Lay Leader at Grace UMC for the past four years, Sunday School
Superintendent, leader of Disciple Bible Study, Women's
Bible Study leader, and choir member in her local
church. Lynn is a gifted teacher.
She took "Trained to
Teach Advanced Lay Speaking" about 5 years ago and has
been leading the Basic Lay Speaking course for past three years.
Lynnis employed as the Administrative
Assistant at Tuskawilla UMC. She
serves at the Conference level as Chair of
COSROW. Lynn
invites you to connect with her and share your
ideas for Lay Speaking.
Contact her at: hat9937@bellsouth.net
|
|
On
Tuesday afternoon prior to Annual Conference, there will
be five pre-conference classes on "The Methodist Way"
offered at 2:30 and then again at 4:30 PM at the
Lakeland Center. Each class will focus on
one of the five core practices of making disciples to
which every congregation is called. Bishop
Whitaker refers to these faith-forming practices as "The
Methodist Way." These essential practices
are what passing on our faith "From Generation to
Generation" really entails. They have their
roots both in our Wesleyan heritage and in the
scriptural practices of the early church.
Every church can send as many persons as they
wish to each of these classes - whether they are
delegates of the Annual Conference or not. The
classes are free. We invite you to register
on-line at the conference website -- for planning
purposes -- but whether you have registered or not, we
want you to come. You can take
a class at 2:30 p.m. or 4:30
p.m. or both times.
|
Church
Facility Use Guidelines from The
Conference
The general recommendations
for facility usage are as follows:
If the group using the
facility/property is a church sponsored group, or a
group from another FL UM church, then no special
documentation is needed. All UM churches and their
sponsored groups are covered within the Conference
comprehensive insurance program.
If the group using the
facility/property is not a church sponsored group, then
the church should ensure that the "outside group" has
valid general liability insurance coverage in
effect. This is usually verified by obtaining a
Certificate of Insurance that shows liability insurance
with limits of at least $1,000,000.
Importantly, the Certificate of Insurance should name
the church as an "additional insured". The
reason for obtaining this certificate with the
additional insured wording is that if injury or damage
occurs as a result of the use of a church facility by an
outside group, their insurance will respond and defend
this group and the UM
church. |
Grandparents'
Camp
An opportunity for
grandparents to spend quality time with their
grandchildren, surrounded by the beautiful setting and
Christian atmosphere of the LifeEnrichment Center in Fruitland Park, is available this summer. "Grandparents Camp"
is a half-week camp for grandparents and their
grandchildren, ages 5 to 12, and runs from July 16 to 19. Participants
may stay in the motel-style rooms at the LEC
or at the RV park on the LEC grounds.
Swimming, Bible stories, games, arts and crafts, and
nature activities are just some of the fun activities
for both grandchildren and their grandparents that will
be provided. [more
info] |
11th Annual Conference Leadership
Training, August 24-26, 2007
LIFE ENRICHMENT CENTER,
LEESBURG
|
 Laity Sunday
Resources
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Microsoft Word Training
for Church Offices
Half-Day
Training on Windows Tips & Tricks, Microsoft Word,
Merging with Word, Excel, Publisher, and PowerPoint. $40 per student
per 3 hr. session, maximum of ten students per class.
(For Information contact Jeff
Strecker at (386) 216-1842
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | |
 New
Book
Congratulations
to the newest East Central District Author, Gary A. Shockley
on the release of his new book,
The Meandering
Way: Leading by Following the
Spirit.
All net
proceeds from the sale of the book will be given to
HopeSpringChurch and
Forthspring Intercommunity Group in Belfast,
Northern
Ireland.
Gary will be
signing books on Thursday, June 7 in the Cokesbury
Bookstore at Annual Conference from 10
am to
2
PM!! | | |
| New Appointments
Effective July 1,
2007 
First Time
Appointments
Joyce
Alexander
St.
Paul's UMC-Assoc.,
Tallahassee (NW District)
Louis Tamburro
III
St. Andrew, Titusville (Atlantic Central
District)
Leaving the
EC District
Henry
Cribb
First Tarpon Springs (Gulf Central District)
Mason
Dorsey
Riviera, St. Petersburg (Gulf Central
District)
Jaquie
Leveron
Good Shepherd Assoc.,
W. Palm Beach
(Atlantic Central District)
Roger Moore
Middleburg
(North East District)
In the EC
District:
Clare
Chance
Broadway, Orlando
Tony
Chance
Azalea Park, Orlando
Lee-Ann
Inman
Assoc. St. Luke's Orlando
David
Juliano
Fernando Malave,
Jr.
(Part-Time) Genesis Hispanic Mission, Casselberry
Drew
Parsons
Orange
City
Sandra
Parsons
First Deltona
(Intentional Interim)
Jim
Thomas
First, Apopka
Ken
Zimmerman
Community, Daytona
Applied for Voluntary Leave
of Absence
Paul Kelley
Applied for Incapacity
Leave
TBA (Part-Time)
Trinity, Orlando
TBA (Part-Time)
Trinity, Sanford
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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|
CONNECT THE
DOTS
The EC District is planning a
Christian Education event on September 8, 2007 at University Carillon UMC in
Oviedo. This event
will be for any Sunday school teacher, youth worker,
children's worker, adult small group leader, or volunteer from
all 80 of our United Methodist Churches.
Our theme for the day is "Connect the Dots" as we
unpack our educational ministries as a way to connect people of all ages to a healthy
relationship with God through Jesus Christ! Email Kim to
register at kshockley@flumc.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|
District
Calendar
May 8
Annual Conference Orientation at Tomoka
UMC, Ormond Beach at 6:30pm
May 17
Church Administrators Gathering
(NACBA)
June 5
Pre-Conference Training on The Methodist
Way
June 6-9
Florida Annual Conference - Lakeland
June 7
East Central District breakfast @ Trinity
UMC, Lakeland in Fellowship Hall
June 9
U2charist at Annual Conference for
Youth
Young Adults Expression '07 Youth Concert
at
Florida Southern College
June 10
Wet and Wild Conference Youth Day
June 16
United Methodist Women's District Summer
Fellowship @ Trinity UMC, DeLand 9:30am-2:30pm
June 26
Moving Day
July 21-28
Celebrate Jesus - DeLand Area
Mission
July 26
UMM meeting-6:30 pm @ First UMC, St
Cloud
August 9-11
Willow Creek Leadership Summit @ Lake
Junaluska, NC (We have purchased 25 tickets for the District.
Let us know if you would like to join us this summer!)
August 30
Clergy Team Meeting (Required) from 9am
to 1pm @ Pineridge Fellowship, Deltona
Sept 8
Local Church Educational Ministries
Training (Connecting the Dots) @ University Carillon UMC from
8:30am to 2:30 pm.
Sept 14-16
Spiritual Life Retreat - LEC
Sept 22
United Methodist Women's District Mission
Studies Sampler @ Ebenezer UMC, Orlando 9:30am-12:30pm
Oct 14
Laity Sunday
Oct 20
United Methodist Women's District Annual
Meeting @ Asbury UMC, Maitland 9:30am-2:30pm
Nov 10
UMW Conference Annual Meeting @ Florida
Southern College | |
