Five Rivers District – Great Plains
Episcopal Area Conference - Living Water - VOLUME 10, ISSUE 12 - December Newsletter
2013
There will be another work day in Garnett
this Friday, Nov. 29th (Black Friday). Roger Dressler and Lonnie Bailey have
lined out a work day on a handicapped ramp. They have all the materials in
place but could use more workers. If you are available to help, please contact
Lonnie at 785-220-5659 or Roger Dressler at 785-331-8272. Great opportunity for
service on a day full of consumerism (or prudent shopping if you look at it
like that).
Thanks be to God for all our local
churches and the wonderful things He is doing through them.
May God richly bless your Thanksgiving
Day. Hope to see you in December.
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
DISTRICT CALENDAR
YOU ARE INVITED TO
DISTRICT EVENTS
DISTRICT PRAYER
CALENDAR
CELEBRATE RECOVERY
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FROM YOUR DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT
Cause for Pause
Luke 1:26 In the sixth month the angel
Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin
engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s
name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The
Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what
sort of greeting this might be.
30 The angel said to her, “Do not be
afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive
in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great,
and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him
the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob
forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy
Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And
now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this
is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be
impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord;
let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
What a crazy story! What a wonderfully crazy amazing story. So the journey to Bethlehem begins. The lighting of the Advent candles marking
our path to the manger and the in-breaking of God into our reality and into our
lives anew. The incarnation, the birth of the Christ Child. We have a job to do
in the midst of the frenzy that has become Christmas in our part of the world. The job of the church is to bring the meaning
of the Incarnation to the people and attach it to their lives in a way that
brings cause for pause and reflection about this thing that God is doing. We are the keepers of the story and we need
to make it heard over all of the noise of life. Perhaps the best way to do that
is to offer quiet and respite, a place where truth can be told and heard. We need to be the warm and safe place where
the story is told again.
So, whether you are a pastor leading
worship in this season or a lay person participating in offering God worship,
be the keeper of the story and offer that warm and safe place where the story can
be heard. Help create the place where
the people of your community can find rest from the noise. Make the invitation to those around you to
come in out of the storm. Experience the
amazing quiet reassurance of the story once more. May we be people who can say
with Mary, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to
your word.” Blessings on all as we travel together through Advent and arrive at
the manger.
Bishop of the Great Plains
Episcopal Area
Scott Jones
Five Rivers District
Superintendent
Rev. Dr. Dennis Ackerman
Newsletter Editor/Administration Assistant
Marvé Ralston
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December Calendar:
December 2013
•
Dec. 3rd ~ Overbrook UMC CC 7-9 p.m.
•
Dec. 5th ~ Worden, Baldwin 1st UMC CC 7-9 p.m. at
Worden
•
Dec. 5th ~ Clergy Meeting at Ottawa 1st UMC 9-noon
•
Dec. 8th ~ Uniontown/Redfield, Hiattville UMC CC
3-5 p.m. at Uniontown
•
Dec. 8th ~ Iola Wesley, Calvary-Salem UMC CC 6-8 p.m. at Iola Calvary
UMC
•
Dec. 10th ~ Eudora UMC CC 7-9
p.m.
•
Dec. 12th~ Yates Center/Neosho Falls, Gridley/Turkey
Creek UMC CC 7-9 p.m. at Yates Center UMC
•
Dec. 15th ~ Richmond CC directly after worship
•
Dec. 15th ~ Wellsville/Clearfield, Edgerton, Vinland
UMC CC at Wellsville UMC 3-5 p.m.
•
Dec. 15th ~ Central, Centenary/Linwood UMC CC at
Central UMC 6-8 p.m.
•
Dec. 19th-Jan. 2nd ~ District Office Closed
•
Jan. 5th ~ Lawrence 1st UMC CC directly after worship
•
Jan. 4-5 ~ theoneevent for Great Plains Conference Youth
•
Jan. 10th ~ Clergy Epiphany Dinner for Five Rivers
District Clergy and the Leadership Team
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You’re Invited:
Worden UMC, 294 East 900th Road, Baldwin
City
A Christmas Celebration ~ An evening of
Hope & Joy for the Entire Family
Friday, Dec. 6th 5:30-6:30 Soup Supper
7 p.m. Simulcast Featuring Max Lucado,
Rick Warren, Sheila Walsh and Lisa Harper Musical Guest Francesca Battiestelli
5.00 per person, tickets sold at the
door.
————————————————————————
Wellsville UMC, 302 Locust, Wellsville
Tuesday, Dec. 10th, 7-9 p.m.
“How to Care for Someone Without Losing
Your Mind”
Care giving support seminar by Steve
Sewell
No charge, all are welcome and encouraged
to attend.
————————————————————
Clergy Birthdays for December - District
Prayer Calendar:
Dec. 1
Pleasanton/Prescott
Rev. Gary DeMott
Dec. 8
Welda/Kincaid Selma
Rev. Bill Nelson
Dec.15
Richmond
Rev. Butch Ritter
Dec. 22
Colony/Iola Trinity
Rev. Gene McIntosh
Dec. 39
Fulton
Rev. Charles Russell
Bud Tuxhorn Dec. 8th
Marcia Eaton Dec. 9th
Dallas Peterson Dec. 21st
Lane Bailey Dec. 22nd
Gina Gile Dec. 31st
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Celebrate Recovery Program Shows Promise
in Five Rivers District by Marvé Ralston
What is the outcome or result of one
changed life? I think that is what It’s a Wonderful Life, the well known, 1946 Christmas
classic, was based upon. One life, and all the people one life touches.
Sometimes we focus on the numbers, while
many of the most dramatic changes we cannot see immediately. They begin one, often painful, and time
intensive change, in one person at a time. The changes continue producing fruit
for generations and touching unlimited numbers of people. How do you measure
that?
When we think of programming, we are
looking for measurable results. Sometimes they might be in-process. That is tough.
In this techno savvy world, we are conditioned to expect instantaneous or at
least easily measurable results. Human beings are by nature, not wired that
way.
It takes time when the recipient of your
energy, love, compassion, empathy and knowledge is a human being. Sometimes it
takes more than one person or group of people to bring a person into wholeness.
Often that starts with a program and in the church it should be Christ
centered.
One such program that is offering promise
in Five Rivers District is Celebrate Recovery. It started in
Osage County, when Lyndon UMC’s pastor,
Rev. Loren Drummond began working with a group of fellow clergy and laity to
brainstorm how such a program could be started.
Five churches were instrumental in the
foundation of the program’s beginning.
Four churches are from Lyndon; Lyndon United Methodist Church, 1st Baptist
Church, Assembly of God, Mt. Pleasant Community Church and Grace Community of
Overbrook, KS.
There were originally two startup
locations. The current program is at Lyndon at the 1st Baptist Church location.
The Overbrook location in Grace Community Church has been discontinued.
All involved with the planning, agreed
that in order for this program to be effective it would need more energy than
one pastor and congregation could provide. This need could be best met by a
group of concerned denominations and people working together. That said, Lyndon
UMC has remained very involved and as a district, it’s something to be proud
of.
Drummond applied for a grant on November
30, 2011, from the United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and
Related Violence (SPSARV) for start-up funding for Celebrate Recovery of Osage County. They were given 4,000 which got them up and
running. The program officially began in June of 2012.
So what is Celebrate Recovery? You can
find just about everything you need in the way of information on their website at
www.saddlebackresources.com.
This program began at Saddle Back church
where Rick Warren (The Purpose Driven Life) and John Baker founded it in 1990.
The program is aimed at all “hurts, habits, and hang-ups”, including but not limited
to drug and alcohol addictions, sex addiction, eating disorders, anxiety
disorders, and people who have been sexually abused.
It differs from Alcoholics Anonymous in
that they are very specific about whom the “higher power” is. The first
principle of the program is Jesus Christ is the one and only Higher Power. The
program is first and foremost a Christ-centered ministry.
The Bible and Celebrate Recovery
curriculum consisting of the Leader’s Guide, four Participant Guides, and the
Celebrate Recovery Journal are to be used exclusively. “It is based on the actual words of Jesus
rather than psychological theory” writes Rick Warren in the program book
introduction. You can purchase a start-up kit for under $100.00.
The group meeting in Lyndon consists of
pastors, leaders and participants who have been working through the Steps and
principles themselves first, to better help others. They are trained through
the curriculum how best to work through the steps and principles through Bible
study and small group, gender based breakout sessions.
They begin with dinner; move to a short
worship/praise meeting as a group with a biblical based lesson. They end the
evening by breaking into male/female groups to work out of participant guided
workbooks.
I think one woman in the group summed it
up very well. “It’s just so good to know I am not alone with my problems. There
is this group of “safe” people that I can call on at any hour to help me work
through my problems.”
Another group leader shared how even
those who started out to be in leadership have realized they also had issues
and “steps” to work through as well.
So, one life at a time, Lyndon UMC, along
with neighboring churches is working on making disciples for Jesus Christ for
the transformation of the world. Sound familiar?
Here is the link for purchasing
materials
http://www.saddlebackresources.com/Celebrate-Recovery-C5.aspx
Rev. Loren Drummond and his group of
leadership are willing to offer advice and help if you are interested in
starting a Celebrate Recovery program at your church. Their leaders visited
several other groups in existence before launching their current program.
You can e-mail Rev. Drummond at
pastordrum@yahoo.com or at Lyndon UMC, 785-828-4744.
In the same way, let your light shine
before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father
who is in heaven.(Matthew 5:16)
Rev. Loren Drummond
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Marvé Ralston
Admn. Assistant for
Five Rivers District
District Superintendent
Rev. Dr. Dennis Ackerman
3300 Clinton Parkway Ct., suite 110
Lawrence, KS 66047-2629
785-760-3254
office@5riversds.com
website: 5riversds.com
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