In this edition of GPconnect:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Lay and clergy delegate profiles – due March 1
Discover Ministry registration open
New leadership announced at Camp Comeca
Nebraska United Methodist Foundation highlights Camp Norwesca
First UMC in Bertrand, Nebraska, celebrates 130 years
Spiritual, physical and mental health: a message from the President and CEO of the Kansas Health Foundation
EQUIP DISCIPLES
Register today for Wesleyan Live
Youth Ministry Internships – great college student or young adult opportunity
Free three-part energy management training webinar offered
UM Communications offers online courses
Youth gather to learn what it means to be Christians, United Methodists
Congregations to be featured in spotlight series
CLERGY EXCELLENCE
Perkins presents inaugural “Person of Faith” Award and 2015 Seals Laity Award
CEU Certified “Elevation” Retreat: A Worship Design and Leadership Retreat to be in Lake Tahoe
MERCY AND JUSTICE
When disaster strikes, will you be prepared?
Church responds to devastating Mozambique floods
Kansas Kids Fund to help at-risk youth and families
Presenters at the 40th annual Nebraska Ecumenical Legislative Briefing Day
Healthy Families, Healthy Planet 2015 advocacy trainings to be held in Kansas and Nebraska
Micah Corps urges Nebraskans to support LB623
What are our churches doing about gun violence in our communities?
You are dust - A reflection on Ash Wednesday
Blast from the past from Epworth Village
OTHER NEWS
Editorials
Newsletters
Classifieds
Press Clips
Lay and clergy delegate profiles – due March 1
Six lay and clergy delegates will be selected for General Conference, six lay and clergy delegates will be selected for Jurisdictional Conference and there will be three lay and clergy alternates. Lay members will vote and select the lay delegates while clergy members will vote and select the clergy delegates.
If you are interested in submitting a profile:
Download and submit lay delegate profile.
Click here to submit a lay delegate profile online.
Download and submit clergy delegate profile.
Click here to submit a clergy delegate profile online.
Lay and clergy profiles will be compiled and included in the pre-conference workbook made available in early May, 2015. Profiles will also be posted on the Great Plains conference website.
Discover Ministry registration open
Maybe you have heard the quiet whisper from God or a voice in your head that doesn't go away, nudging you to serve the church in a new way. Maybe a friend or a pastor has told you that you have gifts for ministry and you wonder what that means.
Discover Ministry is a place for you to listen to God and explore what a call might mean in your life. Discover Ministry is an event designed for those who are wondering about responding to God's call to either full-time or part-time ministry. It is also for those who are serving as a district superintendent supply (DSA), certified lay minister (CLM), or lay speaker/servant to learn more about the opportunity for becoming a local pastor.
Discover Ministry is for you. Come with your questions. Come with hearts and minds open to the work of the Holy Spirit. Come with a trusted friend.
The next Discover Ministry event is scheduled for Saturday, March 14, at First UMC in Salina, Kansas. Check-in will begin at 9:45 a.m., with the event lasting 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. CST, with lunch included. Register online at greatplainsumc.org/discoverministry. There is no cost to participate.
New leadership announced at Camp Comeca
Nebraska United Methodist Foundation highlights Camp Norwesca
In honor of the Nebraska United Methodist’s 50th anniversary, the foundation announced last month they set a fundraising goal of $50,000 to support Camp Norwesca, Camp Comeca and Camp Fontanelle, in Nebraska.
They also announced that the next few months, each camp would be highlighted to give all the opportunity to get involved and help reach that goal.
This month, the foundation features a Camp Norwesca camper’s story.
First UMC in Bertrand, Nebraska, celebrates 130 years
First UMC in Bertrand, Nebraska, will be celebrating their 130th anniversary on Aug. 9, 2015. God’s gift of a ramp and chairlift as well the faithfulness of God’s people to the church will be celebrated during the anniversary gathering. Any and all pastors and family members who once attend the church are invited to come and join the celebration of life of the church.
Connect with Joyce Wissmann at 308-991-8649 or litefuljoy@yahoo.comfor more information. If you are unable to make it to the celebration, letters with memories of the church and congregation are welcome and will be shared with the congregation. Send cards to First UMC, P.O. Box 427, Bertrand, NE 68927.
Spiritual, physical and mental health: a message from the President and CEO of the Kansas Health Foundation
But like many teenagers, I didn’t truly begin a personal relationship with God until several years later. Growing up, I always thought you had to earn your way into Heaven by doing good things and that God was keeping a tally sheet of the bad ones. That changed when Pastor Jerry Vogt, a UMC district superintendent and a board member of the Kansas Health Foundation at the time, invited me to lunch with a young pastor named Jeff Gannon, who was being appointed to a new church in east Wichita that would be called Chapel Hill. As a result of that meeting, I became a charter member of that church, where I have been actively involved in a variety of leadership positions since that time. Being involved at Chapel Hill has changed my faith dramatically. It is there that I began to understand the meaning of grace, or the “undeserved love,” of God, that God loves each of us so much, regardless of our sins – the ones we committed yesterday, today and tomorrow – and that we don’t have to do anything to earn that love! That is why he sent his Son to die on the cross for all of us. Learning about grace at a deep level was freeing and helped make me the committed Christian I am today.
In addition to my wonderful church, I have a beautiful wife, two great children and a job that I thoroughly enjoy for several reasons, chief of which is the intersection between my faith and my career. I am the president and CEO of the Kansas Health Foundation, which traces its roots back to the 1985 sale of Wesley Medical Center, an acute care hospital founded by the United Methodist Church in Wichita in 1912. At the time of the sale, the Kansas Health Foundation received a $200 million endowment and a mission to improve the health of all Kansans. Since that time, we have awarded more than $500 million in grants while still growing the endowment to $500 million in assets today.
This year, the foundation will celebrate its 30th anniversary. As part of that milestone, we are pleased to announce, as of January 1, 2015, the Kansas Health Foundation changed its Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax status from a private foundation to a public charity. So what does this mean? 1) It means we will be able to give an average of $350,000 more in grants each year, because public charities don’t pay excise taxes on their investment earnings. 2) It will allow us to expand our pool of grantees. 3) We will be able to more openly share our opinions on policies that have the potential to impact the health of Kansans. As a result of these changes, we are confident the health of Kansans will be impacted in greater ways.
None of this would have been possible without the support of the Great Plains Conference of the United Methodist Church. For that, we are very grateful! In early 2014, we approached Bishop Scott Jones to see if the church would be open to allowing the foundation to change its IRS tax code designation to a public charity by becoming a supporting organization to the Great Plains Conference of the United Methodist Church. Bishop Jones wholeheartedly endorsed the concept. Once endorsed by the UMC Connecting Council, the documents were submitted to the IRS, who notified us of its approval late last year.
The foundation is proud of its relationship and history with the United Methodist Church and with faith-based communities across the state. From the highly successful Leadership and Faith program to the Kansas Public Education Initiative to the Clergy Wellness Program, we have been pleased to partner with the United Methodist Church on important initiatives aimed at making Kansas a better place to live, work and pray. As such, I realize the important role faith can play, both in Kansans’ health and the health of our communities.
Alarmingly, a recent report by the United Health Foundation found that Kansas has slipped from the 8th healthiest state in the nation in 1991 to the 27th healthiest today. A closer examination of the data reveals growing rates of childhood poverty, high rates of adult smoking, low rates of immunization and other related factors have contributed to this decline. The foundation, with partners and grantees across the state, is working hard every day to help Kansans become the healthiest we can be. If you would like to be kept abreast of what we are doing at KHF, or if you would like to hear of grant opportunities as they become available, please visit our website at www.kansashealth.org and scroll down to the lower right-hand corner to subscribe to our monthly newsletter.
Truly understanding the gift of grace and the love of Christ helped me grow my personal relationship with Jesus. He became my friend, and I realized that what He wants is what is best for me, my family and the world. But He counts on all of us to help make the world a better place. That is why He gave us the gift of free will, and we need to use that gift to reach out and help others who need our assistance. From the loving, caring people at the foundation to the devoted, kind people in my faith, I am surrounded by people who continue to help me on my journey every day. I am truly blessed.
Yours in Christ,
Steve Coen
President and CEO
Kansas Health Foundation
Register today for Wesleyan Live
Join Wesleyan Live for a six-week webcast series of lectures given by Dr. Robert Jewett at the Great Plains Conference. The classes will begin on Monday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m., and continue for consecutive Monday evenings through March. 30. Each lecture will be followed by a time for questions and discussion. Total class time is one hour.
The lectures offer a new approach to the Sermon on the Mount by relating Jesus’ message to the current global situation.
Register here.
Schedule
Feb. 23: Unconditional Welcome into the Kingdom-of-God
March 2: The Kingdom-of-God Approach to Enemies
March 9: Overcoming Violent Zeal in the Kingdom-of-God
March 16: The Kingdom-of-God Approach to Self-Discipline
March 23: The Kingdom-of-God Approach to Religion
March 30: The Kingdom-of-God Approach to the Future
A live audience will gather in the Lincoln Conference office. Others are encouraged to form viewing groups or watch the webcast from home. A link will be sent in your confirmation email.
More information, including Dr. Jewett’s bio, is available atgreatplainsumc.org/wesleyanlive.
Youth Ministry Internships – great college student or young adult opportunity
Over the course of the summer you will learn more about youth ministry in the local church. You will see how United Methodist churches work together in their district and conference and you'll get to put your gifts into practice. Internships will begin by no later than the last week of May and will end the last week of July or the first week of August, depending on the needs of the local church and the availability of the intern.
The Great Plains Conference is offering internships in many other areas of ministry this summer as well. Apply or learn more atgreatplainsumc.org/internships. All interns will participate two collaborative retreats with all other interns — one at the beginning of the summer and one at the end of the summer. Please contact Shane Hinderliter, local church youth ministry coordinator, atshane@greatplainsumc.org with any questions.
Free three-part energy management training webinar offered
Drew Theological School and GreenFaith have partnered to present Power UP! This free, three-part energy management training webinar, will be held March 18, March 26 and April 2, 2015 from 3-4 p.m.
Participants will learn basic energy management strategies and techniques from skilled, experienced leaders who have decades of experience working with faith communities on these issues. You’ll learn now to motivate faith communities to become committed to good energy management practices, three no-cost steps that reduce most congregations’ energy bills by at least 10 percent, how to benchmark your energy usage and carbon footprint and to measure the improvements you make, and a host of other strategies and practices. After the webinars, you’ll carry out your own introductory energy survey on an actual facility and submit a report for review by our experts.
There are no other opportunities that can deliver this combination of mission-related and financial rewards. Register today.
If you have any questions, contact Amy Jones, Drew Theological School interim coordinator for lifelong learning, at 973.408.3084 orajones1@drew.edu.
UM Communications offers online courses
Registration is open through Tuesday, March 10.
Start each course when it best fits your schedule and move at your own pace. Each course includes six weeks of instruction. A course facilitator will respond to your work and answer questions via forums.
A limited number of virtual seats are available and are first come, first serve. Seats will no longer be available after the course is full. Class dates: March 11 – April 22.
Communicating Faith in the 21st Century
Explain the importance of telling stories of faith and sharing individual messages.
Craft and share personal stories of faith.
Through stories and testimonies across the connection, receive practical, proven ideas for engaging your community and the world.
Use and participate in specific tools, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and blog.
Reach out to the local community
Cost: $29, credit: 1 ALLLM CEU
Register.
Turning Connectional Giving into Connectional Living
Become a missional storyteller — describing the differences the church makes in the world and how giving makes that possible.
Learn what the apportioned and designated funds are — and the difference between them.
“Make the ask” in your congregation.
Cost: $0, credit: 1 ALLLM CEU
Register.
Moodle 200: Advanced Training
Create and use Moodle Features
Create and use a Moodle Wiki
Create and use a Moodle Glossary
Create and use a Moodle Database
Create and use a Moodle Lesson
Create and use a Moodle Quiz
Configure the Gradebook
Finalize the course in preparation for opening it to enrollees
Open the course to participants
Reset the course
Cost: $119, credit: 1 ALLLM CEU
Register.
Welcoming Ministry 100
Learn to be a welcoming, hospitable congregation.
Identify and enlist congregants for your church’s welcoming ministry.
Assess what your church does well in welcoming — as well as areas for improvement.
Identify what your church is known for.
Reach out to the local community.
Cost: $29
Register.
Youth gather to learn what it means to be Christians, United Methodists
Confirmation students learn what it means to be Christian, United Methodist
More than 140 confirmation students got the chance to learn more about what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be a United Methodist during the first of three confirmation rallies Feb. 14 at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska.
closing worship of the confirmation rally Feb. 14 at Nebraska Wesleyan University
in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Ritter told the children a brief history about church founder John Wesley and how the church came to being during the
“One thing about the church that means the most to me – it’s something John Wesley taught – is prevenient grace,” Ritter said. “It means before you do anything to deserve it, God loves you.”
Ritter’s talk provided a
One example came during Ritter’s explanation of the church’s name, when he tied together Wesley’s penchant for methodical discipleship to “Big Bang Theory” character Sheldon Cooper, played by four-time Emmy award-winning actor Jim Parsons. The character routinely cites minute details of a “roommate agreement.”
“I don’t know if John Wesley was as much of a nerd as Sheldon Cooper, but he did everything systematically and methodically,” Ritter said. “That’s where our name came from.”
The afternoon started with a discussion about what it means to be a Christian, provided by the Rev. Eduardo Bousson, campus minister at Nebraska Wesleyan.
“You just believe,” Bousson said. “It almost sounds like a Hallmark card or something out of ‘Polar Express.’”
He later rolled out what he described humorously as a “revolutionary product.” It was the “Christ-o-matic.” A ragged-looking stuffed bunny went into the machine, and a new, fluffy bunny came out of it.
Unfortunately, Bousson explained to the kids, that isn’t the way it works when you choose to become a Christian. He recounted the Bible story from Mark 10:17-22 about a rich man who asked Jesus what it took to gain eternal life. The Savior directed the man to sell all that he had and give the money to the
The Rev. Eduardo Bousson, campus minister at
Nebraska Wesleyan University, points to the
"Christ-o-matic" during a talk aimed at helping
confirmation students understand what it means to
be a Christian.
The meaning of the story? Being a Christian means putting yourself aside.
“Live a life not focused on ourselves,” he said, “but entirely focused on others.”
After the opening worship setting, the confirmation students split into four groups and learned about the importance of Scripture, reason, experience and tradition. They also learned what it means to get involved beyond participating in a youth group.
Erynn Pahlke of Kearney and Giselle Bergmeier of Beatrice – both high schoolers on the
Bishop Scott J. Jones had planned to take part in the rally, but travel delays related to his return from the Holy Land wouldn’t allow for enough time to travel to the event in Lincoln. He instead addressed the students via a
He also explained the importance of the confirmation process.
“I think the decision to follow Jesus, to be a disciple, to join the church, to reaffirm your baptism or to be baptized for the first time – all of that is maybe the most important think you’re going to do in your whole life,” he said.
He said those things all help in our lifelong journey toward salvation and living for Christ, and he pointed out the importance of sharing Jesus with others.
“There’s nothing better than being a United Methodist Christian,” the bishop told the children. “And it’s my privilege to be part of our connectional church and to be related to you all.”
https://www.flickr.com//photos/greatplainsumc/show/
Congregations to be featured in spotlight series
Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of stories spotlighting positive outcomes in congregations across the Great Plains Conference. Do you have a success story to share? Perhaps even in one program, mission or area of ministry? Share your story idea with Todd Seifert, communications director for the conference, attseifert@greatplainsumc.org
Living Water provides resurrection story
Living Water United Methodist Church in Kansas City, Kansas, is proof that churches can be made new. See how this congregation is making disciples with a totally new church operating in a building of a church that had been retired a decade ago.
Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University announces the selection of Dr. Hind Jarrah as inaugural recipient of its Person of Faith Award, and Kay Prothro Yeager as recipient of the 2015 Woodrow B. Seals Laity Award. Both awards will be presented at a 12 p.m. luncheon Saturday, March 7, 2015, during the three-day Perkins Theological School for the Laity.
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CEU Certified “Elevation” Retreat: A Worship Design and Leadership Retreat to be in Lake Tahoe
Deep lake water and lofty mountains become spiritual metaphors for the CEU-certified worship workshop being offered by well-known worship professor and workshop leader, Dr. Marcia McFee. The spectacular setting of Lake Tahoe and McFee’s decades of experience leading, studying and teaching worship (www.marciamcfee.com) will give clergy and worship team members a deep experience of the theology and practice of worship.
“Elevation,” Dr. McFee’s next CEU event in Lake Tahoe, California, is scheduled for May 11-15, 2015. Past participants described the five-day event as “inspirational,” “helpful,” with “so many ideas to take home and apply right away.”
A study by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM) showed that 85 percent of the annual conferences in The United Methodist Church require continuing education by clergy. McFee notes, “‘Elevation’ gives pastors and lay worship leaders CEU credits as they deepen their understanding of worship and enhance their ability to engage congregations in meaningful worship. Exciting worship resources are available and ‘Elevation’ helps leaders to incorporate these vital expressions with integrity, depth and full participation of the people.”
Worship and congregational development topped the list of popular subjects for continuing education events, in the GBHEM study. The study revealed that annual conferences want “increasing effectiveness and vitality, spiritual formation, nurturing leaders, development of new skills and clarity in preaching and mission.”
McFee responds, “When leaders of worship take time apart for enhancing design and leadership skills in a context where the theological and spiritual aspects of worship leadership are woven into practical application, each one of these goals is addressed. As ‘Elevation’ inspires and equips leaders, it also nurtures a hunger for continued learning because there are so many emerging resources and ideas about worship.”
Completion of the “Elevation” schedule fulfills the requirements for 2.5 CEU’s and includes significant time for spiritual renewal in the beauty of the Lake Tahoe region.
To get more details and to register, go to www.marciamcfee.com and click “Calendar” or go directly to the event site. Direct any questions about registration to mark@marciamcfee.com.
When disaster strikes, will you be prepared?
When the weather forecast indicates a line of strong storms with potential tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding is 24 hours away from you, what do you do?
For many of us today in our fast-paced, busy lifestyles, that is when we may begin to think about what preparations should be made to our homes, churches and businesses. We hurry off to the store only to find no wood, nails, or generators remain. By this point the storm is just hours away, bearing down on us. What now?
When a storm is a day or less away, YOU are too late to begin your planning. Now is the time to prepare for the next disaster. Now is the time to make sure your home, church or business has the needed supplies on hand. Preparation and readiness is the first key to surviving any disaster.
Just as we personally prepare, the Great Plains United Methodist Conference also needs to prepare. We are a large conference with a lot of territory to cover in times of disaster. Your Conference Disaster Response Committee is looking for individuals with a heart of compassion to make sure our conference is prepared in the very best way it can be for any disaster that comes before us. We are in need of individuals who feel called to serve as:
Local Church Disaster Response Coordinators
District Disaster Response Coordinators
Regional Disaster Response Coordinators
We also need to identify individuals who feel called to be trained in:
Basic Response
Early Response Training
Spiritual & Emotional Care
Case Management
Connecting Neighbors (local church preparation)
If you feel called to serve as a volunteer for the Great Plains United Methodist Conference in one of the areas mentioned above, contact Rev. Hollie Tapley, disaster response coordinator, athtapley@greatplainsumc.org.
When a disaster strikes
After a disaster strikes communication at all levels is extremely important. Whoever learns of the disaster first is encouraged to initiate the call and all persons called make sure others in this list are notified.Read about how the Great Plains Conference responds to disasters, including what kind of help we offer, who responds, how long we are involved in recovery, and more.
Photos: On May 11, 2014, tornadoes hit south central Nebraska, causing major damage to communities such as Beaver Crossing, a town of about 550-600 people where almost every house was damaged to some degree. The United Methodist Church and the parsonage in Beaver Crossing received extensive damage, and the homes of several church members were destroyed. The church basement sheltered about 20 people during the storm.
Church responds to devastating Mozambique floods
United Methodists are responding to deadly floods in the northern part of Mozambique with much-needed food and prayer. January floods, the result of torrential rains and a tropical disturbance, have taken the lives of more than 150 Mozambicans and left more than 160,000 homeless. The rushing waters also have submerged the crops and livelihoods of thousands and washed away more than 40 schools, just as this southeastern African country was ending its summer break.
Bishop Joaquina Filipe Nhanala’s episcopal area encompasses two conferences in Mozambique, a presence in South Africa and a growing mission in Swaziland. Altogether, the area has more than 150,000 United Methodists.
She told United Methodist News Service that churches in her area are partnering with the Red Cross to deliver food. Joao Sambo, the disaster response coordinator, is traveling to the flooded areas. Because the waters have swept away so many bridges, he has to fly.
Thomas Kemper, the top executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, said UMCOR plans to help Mozambique United Methodists in giving aid.
“That includes aid to everybody, independent of creed and faith, so the most vulnerable are really helped,” said Kemper, who was in Mozambique this week for the Connectional Table. UMCOR is part of his agency.
You can help the church’s recovery efforts in this and other disasters outside the United States, by contributing to UMCOR’s International Disaster Response, Advance No. 982450. All funds go toward international relief efforts.
Photo by Quari Ziyaad Patel
People in watch as flood waters rise dangerously high in Mozambique.PreviousNext
Church responds to devastating Mozambique floods
By Heather Hahn
MAPUTO, Mozambique (UMNS)
United Methodists are responding to deadly floods in the northern part of Mozambique with much-needed food and prayer, Bishop Joaquina Filipe Nhanala told church leaders meeting in her country this week.
January floods, the result of torrential rains and a tropical disturbance, have taken the lives of more than 150 Mozambicans and left more than 160,000 homeless, reports Bloomberg News. The rushing waters also have submerged the crops and livelihoods of thousands and washed away more than 40 schools, just as this southeastern African country was ending its summer break.
News accounts are calling the devastation the nation’s worst floods since 2000.
Mozambican United Methodists have been collecting food and other supplies at their churches to help those in the flood-ravaged areas, Nhanala said.
Mozambique's #UMC Bishop Nhanala says "children are going hungry" because of floods.
TWEET THIS
Her area also has received a $9,000 emergency grant from the United Methodist Committee on Relief. In addition, the Missouri Conference in the United States is offering aid.
“At this first stage, we are just looking for food because we have children going hungry,” she said.
She was addressing a joint meeting of two denomination-wide leadership bodies — the Connectional Table and the Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters. Both groups, with members from around the world, have met in Maputo in the southern part of the country this week.
TO CONTRIBUTE
You can help the church’s recovery efforts in this and other disasters outside the United States, by contributing to UMCOR’s International Disaster Response, Advance No. 982450. All funds go toward international relief efforts.
The Zambezia province, where the floods occurred, is hundreds of miles to the north.
Nhanala’s episcopal area encompasses two conferences in Mozambique, a presence in South Africa and a growing mission in Swaziland. Altogether, the area has more than 150,000 United Methodists.
She told United Methodist News Service that churches in her area are partnering with the Red Cross to deliver food. Joao Sambo, the disaster response coordinator, is traveling to the flooded areas. Because the waters have swept away so many bridges, he has to fly.
Nhanala said only a few United Methodist church buildings and parsonages have been affected by the flood, since those buildings are typically made of cement and other strong materials.
But recovery will take a long time for most in the area, and unfortunately, she said she expects more dangerous waters in the future.
“This situation is now happening every year,” she said. “If it’s not in the south, it’s in the north.”
Thomas Kemper, the top executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, said UMCOR plans to help Mozambique United Methodists in giving aid.
“That includes aid to everybody, independent of creed and faith, so the most vulnerable are really helped,” said Kemper, who was in Mozambique this week for the Connectional Table. UMCOR is part of his agency.
“Also, we want to rebuild and invest in ways that are sustainable. We hope to accompany the church’s work by working according to these standards.”
Toward the end of the Connectional Table’s meeting Feb. 11, the group’s members and guests collected $763 to go toward flood relief.
Nhanala asks United Methodists to pray for her area. The church is growing, but the needs are many.
“Pray for God to strengthen us in this ministry and what we are doing,” she said. “We are dealing with issues of orphans, we are dealing with issues of drugs. We preach the gospel by words and deeds. This has been our hallmark in this country.”
Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Kansas Kids Fund to help at-risk youth and families
EmberHope is very pleased to announce the launch of the Kansas Kids Fund to raise funds and awareness for the basic needs of at-risk youth and families.
A few of EmberHope’s key partners have committed $210,497 in matching funds to kick-start this initiative. Donations will be received until June 30, 2015, to raise the matching funds.
Visit www.kansaskids.org to learn more. You can also visit, like and share EmberHope’s Kansas Kids Fund Facebook page.
EmberHope also thanks lead donors for making this possible.
Adrian & Pankratz, P.A.
American Society of Safety Engineers
Mr. and Mrs. J. Eugene Balloun*
Mr. James Nolan and Mrs. Pam Bauer Nolan*
BBRBJB Charitable Trust
Mr. and Mrs. H. Russell Bomhoff
Mr. Harold Braun
Mr. and Mrs. Kim E. Brown*
Mr. and Mrs. Joe D. Butcher
Mr. Stuart Case*
Cimarron UMC
Copeland United Methodist Women
Mr. and Mrs. Jon Cramer*
Davis Electric, Inc.
Mr. and Mrs. Earle Dirks
Discovery Drilling
Tate and Shelley Duncan
Estate of Herman and Pauline Crawford
Rev. Evelyn Fisher*
Ms. Ruth Gray
Lattner Family Foundation
Grace Presbyterian Church
Great Plains United Methodist Conference
Mr. and Mrs. Virgil R. Hammond
Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Hampton
Ms. Delaine Hartman*
Jabara Family Foundation
Johnson First UMC
Bishop Scott J. Jones and Ms. Mary Lou Reece
K2 Farms
Mr. and Mrs. Merle Krause
Learjet Employees Care Fund
Manter United Methodist Women
Rev. and Mrs. Kent M. Melcher*
Mr. and Mrs. Ted Metcalf
Mr. and Mrs. Max R. Meuli
Ms. Gretchen Morgenstern*
Mr. Kendal E. Nelson*
People's Bible Study
Mr. and Mrs. Robin Roach
Pottawatomi United Methodist Women
Prairie Home UMC
Robert D. Croll Endowment Fund
Ruth V.Gordanier Charitable Trust
Mr. and Mrs. James Shenk
Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Stanley
The Walmart Foundation
Topeka Susanna Wesley UMC
Mrs. Leah L. Wall
Mrs. Louise Wherry
Ms. Joyce H. Whitfield
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Winger
*Member of EmberHope, Inc. Board of Directors
Presenters at the 40th annual Nebraska Ecumenical Legislative Briefing Day
Presenters at the annual ecumenical legislative briefing day told the crowd of more than 200 people that United Methodists – in fact, all residents of Nebraska – can’t afford to sit on the sidelines with so much work to be done to ensure social justice for all people. The one-day conference drew people from southeastern Nebraska together to discuss such weighty topics as advocacy, poverty, human trafficking, health care, children’s issues and immigration, among others.
Healthy Families, Healthy Planet 2015 advocacy trainings to be held in Kansas and Nebraska
The Mercy and Justice Team of the Great Plains Conference is sponsoring Healthy Families, Healthy Planet advocacy trainings in both Kansas and Nebraska. The first training will at Woodlawn UMC, in Derby, Kansas, and will take place April 18. The second training will be at South Gate UMW in Lincoln, Nebraska, on July 25. Both events will run that Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and include an optional advocacy visit after the training the following Monday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
The Healthy Families, Healthy Planet project, an initiative of The United Methodist General Board of Church and Society, works to mobilize U.S. United Methodists on the importance of maternal health and international family planning. The goal of the initiative is to build a movement of faith leaders within the U.S. to advocate for higher levels of foreign aid for international family planning through the U.S. government.
The two Ambassador Advocacy Trainings are designed to bring together faith leaders from across the Great Plains Annual Conference to strengthen local movements for a healthier world for mothers and their children. Learn more.
Advocates who attend our trainings serve as key volunteers out in their states, communities, conferences and churches. Those who participate in our training will be called upon to:
Participate in quarterly Ambassador check-in calls.
Work with HFHP Ambassadors in Great Plains Conference to plan educational events.
Participate in advocacy meetings with local Congressional offices.
Register for Healthy Families, Healthy Planet.
Micah Corps urges Nebraskans to support LB623
The Micah Corps are urging Nebraskans to support LB623 to strengthen Nebraska and help keep talented youth in the state of Nebraska.
Your voice makes a difference. Take a moment to call your state senator and leave a short message – you can even call after hours. Feel free to use the script below:
Hi, my name is [your name] and I live at [state your address]. Please support LB 623 and driver’s licenses for DACA youth (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). [Add a short sentence … choose your message:]
Nebraska is the only state in the country that does not allow DACA youth to have driver's licenses.
Providing driver's licenses to Nebraska DREAMers is good for everyone’s public safety. It is in our state’s best interest to have as many taxpayers licensed and insured as possible.
LB 623 will allow young Nebraskans to contribute their talents more fully to our economy and communities.
Find your state senator’s phone number. Not sure who your Nebraska state senator is? Find out here. You can also call the Capitol at 402-471-2788.
Too many die unnecessarily
What are our churches doing about gun violence in our communities?
Editor’s Note: The following was submitted by the Great Plains Mercy and Justice Team.
“When is the last time your church had in-depth conversations about gun violence and made conscious decisions to do something about it?” asks the Rev. James Atwood in his book “America and Its Guns: A Theological Exposé.” “What we lack are fact-facing committees and a holy rage that too many people are dying so unnecessarily.” And he reminds us of Martin Luther King Jr. who wrote in his “Letter From a Birmingham Jail:” “More than the fire hoses and the police dogs of Bull Connors, I fear the silence of the churches. The contemporary church is so often a weak, ineffective voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch-supporter of the status quo.”
During the week of National Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath, Mar. 15-22, 2015, the Rev. Atwood will be visiting faith communities in Lawrence, Topeka, Wichita and Manhattan, Kansas and in Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island, Nebraska.
The Rev. James Atwood has been working to prevent gun violence for 40 years – since that awful afternoon in 1975 when he rushed to the bedside of a member of his congregation, who lay dying. The man had been shot by a teenager who picked up a gun from his buddy at a bowling alley, then went in search of money.
A gun owner and deer hunter for more than 55 years, as well as a member of the National Rifle Association, the Rev. Atwood nevertheless is convinced that Americans must address this public health crisis. Devoted gun owners will often say guns don’t kill; but 30,000 death certificates every year state otherwise.
Atwood’s visit is sponsored by the Great Plains Conference Mercy and Justice Team in partnership with the Topeka Center for Peace and Justice and the Peace, the Social Justice Center of South Central Kansas in Wichita and Nebraskans For Peace. The events are organized in response to the resolution “Christians Respond to Gun Violence” which was passed at the Great Plains Annual Conference Session in June 2014.
View gun violence prevention study materials.
View the Rev. Atwood’s schedule.
Photo: The Rev. Atwood speaks at the Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington D.C., March 2014
You are dust - A reflection on Ash Wednesday
Editor’s Note: The following is written by the Rev. Elizabeth Murray, a provisional deacon in the South Carolina Conference, director of Hispanic ministries at Mount Hebron UMC, West Columbia, South Carolina, and a Hispanic/Latino ministry consultant to the conference Office of Congregational Development.
During Ash Wednesday, ashes in the sign of the cross are marked onto foreheads, reminding us that we are dust and to dust we will return. It is a bit unnerving to be reminded that our bodies will eventually return to dust.
I do not know about you, but I do not particularly like thinking about my body in these terms. We prefer to think about life rather than the humbling reality that all of us will eventually return to dust.
In the desert in Arizona, migrant bodies return to dust too often and too soon. Because of heightened border security, people no longer cross at large ports of entry. Instead, they cross through the Sonoran Desert. The desert is brutality hot. It is filled with wild animals, such as snakes, scorpions, coyotes and consists of a treacherous landscape void of water but replete with prickly cacti that cling to shoes and clothing.
Roughly 200 people lose their life in the desert each year. Regardless of your personal opinion about immigration reform, please know that this is the gruesome reality that migrants are facing right now as you read this article.You are dust
A reflection on Ash Wednesday
by the Rev. Elizabeth Murray on February 16, 2015
Roughly 200 migrants, most unidentified, lose their life in the Sonoran Desert each year. (Thisphoto was taken last spring by a member of a South Carolina Conference team that traveled to the U.S. Mexico border to learn about immigration reform.)
Christmas is over and we are in the season of Epiphany, but Ash Wednesday (Feb. 18) is upon us.
During Ash Wednesday, ashes in the sign of the cross are marked onto foreheads, reminding us that we are dust and to dust we will return. It is a bit unnerving to be reminded that our bodies will eventually return to dust.
In the desert in Arizona, migrant bodies return to dust too often and too soon. Because of heightened border security, people no longer cross at large ports of entry. Instead, they cross through the Sonoran Desert. The desert is brutality hot. It is filled with wild animals, such as snakes, scorpions, coyotes, and consists of a treacherous landscape void of water but replete with prickly cacti that cling to shoes and clothing.
Gruesome reality
Roughly 200 people lose their life in the desert each year. Regardless of your personal opinion about immigration reform, please know that this is the gruesome reality that migrants are facing right now as you read this article.
I have walked the migrant trails and have seen the wooden crosses that mark where bodies have been found.
I have traveled to the U.S./Mexico border several times. Each time, I have been reminded of the lives lost to the desert and the families impacted by these deaths. I have walked the migrant trails and have seen the wooden crosses that mark where bodies have been found.
We can’t know much, but to some extent we can speculate on what life had been like for these “desconocidos,” these unidentified migrants who have died here. We learn about them based on personal objects found lying near the body or in bookbags and pockets: a family photo, or an icon of the Virgen de Guadalupe, protector of pilgrims and consoler to those who suffer.
Return to ashes
Both the border patrol and the humanitarian group called the Samaritans are constantly on the lookout for bodies that have already begun to decompose and return to ashes. Once a year on Ash Wednesday, we remind ourselves that we are dust. But for migrants and their families, the fragility of the body is no annual reminder but is rather a way of life.
Dust we are, and to dust we will return.
As United Methodists, we affirm that all people are of sacred worth. When one part of the body of Christ is affected, we all are affected. We uphold the Social Principles, which say:
We affirm all persons as equally valuable in the sight of God. We therefore work toward societies in which each person’s value is recognized, maintained, and strengthened” (¶162, The Social Community, Book of Discipline).
For many of us, the scariest part of Ash Wednesday, of the commemoration of the fact that we are dust, has to do with our fear of the unknown. On Ash Wednesday, I invite you to join me in praying for the ashes of those who died in the desert, our brothers and sisters in Christ who are indeed valuable in the sight of God.
Editor's note: The Rev. Elizabeth Murray is a Provisional Deacon in the SouthCarolina Conference. She has a ¾ appointment as Director of Hispanic Ministries at Mt Hebron United Methodist Church in West Columbia, and is ¼ time under Office of Congregational Development of the South Carolina Conference. As a third-year Master of Divinity student at Duke Divinity School, she served a summer internship at the General Board of Church & Society working with its Civil & Human Rights program.This article was first posted by the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, Jan. 25. You can read about one of Murray's trips to the U.S.-Mexico border in “Shared experiences, changed lives,” in the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, (May 27, 2014)..
The Great Plains Conference Rapid Response Team (GPRRT) invites United Methodists across our conference to advocate for compassionate immigration reform. Please consider joining us in action this week. View information on calling your senators.
For more information about the GPRRT contact Sandy Sypherdssypherd@windstream.net or Andrea Paret amparet08@yahoo.com.
Photo - Taken last spring by a member of a South Carolina Conference team that traveled to the U.S. Mexico border to learn about immigration reform.
Blast from the past from Epworth Village
On November 7, 1913 the following appeared in the Bladen Enterprise (the former newspaper for Bladen, Nebraska):
Methodist Church Notes
On Tuesday morning, the ladies of the church, Bladen and Plainview, sent to the Mothers’ Jewels Home, York, two crates of chickens. One of the ladies who teaches there told me, at conference, how hard pressed they were for a change of food, adding that after a summer of oatmeal and beans, a winter of the same was not a pleasing prospect. The home is a place where children that are left homeless shall be taken and provided with a home. There are orphanages. They are very good. But this is a home. That is much better.
There are about 75 children, at the present time, and they are taught in the school, up to the ninth grade, after which they are enrolled in the York High School. The individuality of each child is preserved as in a home. This school is under the management of the Women’s Home Missionary Society, and is supported by contributions.
We are expecting that the Sunday school will be interested in filling a pair of stockings for each child again this Christmas, as was done last year. Also some fruit is being offered for shipment between now and the holidays. If you want to help in this work, see us or Mrs. Jackson.
Marcia Schlegelmilch, public relations/fundraising coordinator for Epworth Village, recently spoke to the Hastings First UMC UMW ladies who had this newspaper clipping to share. She noted there are countless stories like this one … including more recent stories of donation — like the beef Epworth Village received not so long ago.
“We consider each and every gift a true blessing; from the home-canned vegetables, eggs and live chickens of yesteryear to the deodorant, body wash and paper products of today,” said Schlegelmilch. “We thank you all!”
Epworth Village is a National Mission Institution of the United Methodist Church. Epworth Village, Inc., is non-profit agency based in York, Nebraska. From its beginning as an orphanage in the 1880's, the mission of Epworth Village has been to bring hope and healing to children and families in the name of Christ.
Editorials
Krusing the Capitol: Will We Drop the Trash Off a Cliff?
Newsletters
General Board of Church and Society: Faith in Action
Lewis Center for Church Leadership: Leading Ideas
Ministry Matters: Feb. 17, 2015
Saint Paul School of Theology: President’s eUpdate
United Methodist Committee on Relief: UMCOR Hotline
United Methodist Development Center: Spiritual Giving
Classifieds
Mulvane UMC in need of children ministries coordinator
Office manager needed at Christ UMC in Lincoln
Lenexa UMC looking for director of children's ministries
Pastor of children and youth needed at Memorial UMC
View these and other classifieds at greatplainsumc.org/classifieds.
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.
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.
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Episcopal Office: 9440 E Boston Suite 160 Wichita, KS 67207 316-686-0600
Topeka Office: 4201 SW 15th Street PO Box 4187 Topeka, KS 66604 785-272-9111
Wichita Office: 9440 E Boston Suite 110 Wichita, KS 67207 316-684-0266
Lincoln Office: 3333 Landmark Circle Lincoln, NE 68504-4760 402-464-5994
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Congregations to be featured in spotlight series
Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of stories spotlighting positive outcomes in congregations across the Great Plains Conference. Do you have a success story to share? Perhaps even in one program, mission or area of ministry? Share your story idea with Todd Seifert, communications director for the conference, attseifert@greatplainsumc.org
Living Water provides resurrection story
Congregational Excellence: Living Water UMC
Living Water United Methodist Church in Kansas City, Kansas, is proof that churches can have their own resurrection stories and be made new.
The Kansas East Conference discontinued Stephens United Methodist Church in 2004. The building, in an area known as Piper among many residents of northeast Kansas but more accurately identified as Kansas City, remained vacant for three years before being used by a Nazarene church from 2007 to 2009.
Congregants at Living Water United Methodist Church in Kansas City,
Kansas, worship in a multi-use room that is used for a variety
of purposes.
In 2009, the conference decided to plant a new church in the same building where Stephens UMC once operated. The Rev. Mic McGuire accepted the challenge to move from Emporia, Kansas, to create a church that was new in every way except for the building.
“This truly is a new church start,” said McGuire. “We only have one couple from the pre-existing United Methodist Church in attendance.”
When the original church shut down, its attendees scattered to other congregations. Once an area surrounded mostly by farmland and open spaces, the church now finds itself relatively close to the popular Legends Outlets shopping development, which is also home to the Kansas Speedway race track, Sporting Kansas City soccer club and Kansas City T-Bones minor league baseball team.
But proximity to those attractions didn’t guarantee any success at planting a new church. McGuire said he knew he needed to branch out to the wider Kansas City community so people knew not only who he was but that a new church had been born in the area. He “did anything and everything” to introduce himself to the community, including taking part in service organizations, attending high school events, getting acquainted with the chamber of commerce and – perhaps most importantly – getting to know his neighbors.
McGuire and his wife, Pamela, previously had lived in the Bonner Springs area, just 10 miles south of Living Water’s location. But the changes to the area didn’t make that earlier residency much of an advantage. In fact, they were strangers.
“It’s been a ride. It’s been a blessing,” McGuire said. “And it hasn’t been without enormous challenges. But God has been good to us.”
One way the church overcame early challenges was some early successes in youth ministry. The McGuires’ son, Shawn, led the youth group as a volunteer for a little less than a year after the church opened, sometimes having as many as 20 youths attend Wednesday night fellowship gatherings and on Sunday mornings. When other commitments pulled Shawn from that role, others stepped up to keep the program going strong.
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Pamela and Sue Barham, who has since moved to another church, started a children’s ministry for preschoolers through sixth-graders that now draws 30 or more young children for Wednesday night activities and Sunday School.
“It’s probably our strongest ministry as far as numbers are concerned,” McGuire said.
And it’s a ministry that is touching entire families. In fact, one person in the congregation, Laura Porras, credits the children’s ministries and Living Water’s outreach to helping improve her family members’ lives. Her son, Aki, was a preschooler at a Montessori school when the pipes burst from cold weather during the Christmas break time of late December of 2010 or early January of 2011. Water destroyed the bottom floor of the school and badly damaged the upper level.
Living Water stepped in to provide a home for the school during the more than two months it took to repair the damage.
At first, the church’s leaders said they didn’t know how they would work out housing the school during what turned out to be more than two months' worth of repairs, but, “They said ‘we’ll figure it out.’”
While the school was meeting at Living Water, the church hosted its annual Cabin Fever kids carnival. A flier provided to kids at the school sparked an interest in young Aki.
Porras took Aki to the carnival, and he apparently had a good time playing the games and going to school at the church.
“My son asked if we could go to church here,” Porras said. “We weren’t church-goers at the time.”
The warm welcome Porras and her family received at Living Water led to a desire to bolster a relationship with God.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t have God in my life,” Porras said. “I didn’t have church in my life.”
Several years later, Porras has a church family. Aki is now 9 years old. She has endured a divorce – a time in her life that she says she greatly appreciated the support of the Living Waters congregation – and has been remarried.
“My husband was in the same place I was at when I first started coming here,” she said of her spouse, Neil. “He had a strong belief in God but hadn’t been part of a church.”
Because of their journey toward a stronger relationship with Christ as a married couple, Porras said McGuire approached them about leading a couples group, a fellowship and devotion ministry that already has doubled from its humble two-couples beginning, with larger gatherings expected in the spring.
LIVING WATER UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
Website: livingwaterumc.net
Phone: 913-400-7203
Address: 3001 N. 115th Street
Kansas City, Kansas 66109 United States
It’s one of many small groups that has helped Living Water flow as it grows. Approximately 90 of the 150 people who attend worship each week are involved in some kind of small group – from choir to prayer groups to a ministry that provides lower-income children with healthy snacks when they go home for the weekend.
And McGuire would like to lead Living Water to do even more. While Living Water is now on solid ground, the pastor acknowledges that there is more to do.
“I’m a fast-food guy, so I wish we were farther along than we are,” he said. “I have learned to be more patient though.”
Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of stories spotlighting positive outcomes in congregations across the Great Plains Conference. Do you have a success story to share? Perhaps even in one program, mission or area of ministry? Share your story idea with Todd Seifert, communications director for the conference, at tseifert@greatplainsumc.org.Read the full story.
Perkins presents inaugural “Person of Faith” Award and 2015 Seals Laity AwardPerkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University announces the selection of Dr. Hind Jarrah as inaugural recipient of its Person of Faith Award, and Kay Prothro Yeager as recipient of the 2015 Woodrow B. Seals Laity Award. Both awards will be presented at a 12 p.m. luncheon Saturday, March 7, 2015, during the three-day Perkins Theological School for the Laity.
Perkins Names 2015 “Person of Faith” and Seals Laity Award Recipients
DALLAS (SMU) – Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University announces the selection of Dr. Hind Jarrah as inaugural recipient of its Person of Faith Award, and Kay Prothro Yeager as recipient of the 2015 Woodrow B. Seals Laity Award. Both awards will be presented at a 12:00 p.m. luncheon Saturday, March 7, 2015, during the three-day Perkins Theological School for the Laity.
The Perkins School of Theology Person of Faith Award was created in 2015 to recognize a woman, man, or young person who – through their own religious institution or the wider interfaith community – is making a significant contribution as a peacemaker or reconciler. The award is open to persons of all religious traditions.
The Woodrow B. Seals Laity Award is presented annually to laypersons in the United States who embody the Christian faith and commitment of service to Christ in the church, community, and world as exemplified by Judge Woodrow B. Seals, a distinguished layperson whose interest and energy were instrumental in establishing the Perkins Theological School for the Laity. Selection for the Seals Award is made by a committee of the Perkins Lay Advisory Board.
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| Dr. Hind Jarrah 2015 Person of Faith Award |
Dr. Hind Jarrah, first recipient of the new Perkins School of Theology Person of Faith Award, is executive director of the Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation, a non-profit, educational, philanthropic, outreach and social service organization dedicated to empowering Muslim women and their families. The organization was established to end misconceptions about Islam and Muslim women. On its launch in August 2005, 300 Muslim women attended from 29 different countries and 22 different careers . Born in Beirut to Palestinian parents, Dr. Jarrah has been engaged in the promotion of understanding and respect for multicultural diversity since 1982, when she co-founded the Arabic Heritage Society, a non-profit, educational organization.
Almas Muscatwalla, Chair of the Interfaith Council of Thanks-Giving Foundation in Dallas, praises the selection of Dr. Jarrah as Person of Faith Award recipient. “Dr. Jarrah is an active member of the civil society, who considers diversity as a strength and pluralism as a way forward. She is an example of what it means to live your faith daily by extending your time and knowledge towards the good in the society.”
More about Hind Jarrah.
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| Kay Yeager 2015 Seals Laity Award |
Kay Prothro Yeager, named by Perkins School of Theology as recipient of the 2015 Woodrow B. Seals Laity Award, is a community volunteer, civic leader, and the former mayor of Wichita Falls, Texas (1996–2000). Her connections to Perkins School of Theology span three generations. She is the granddaughter of J.J. and Lois (Craddock) Perkins, for whom Perkins School of Theology is named; daughter of the late Elizabeth Perkins Prothro, for whom Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall at Perkins School of Theology is named; and sister in-law of Caren H. Prothro, former chair of the SMU Board of Trustees (2010–2014). Ms. Yeager currently serves as president of the board of Presbyterian Manor, an elderly-care residence in Wichita Falls; as vice president of the Perkins-Prothro Company; and as vice president and a trustee of the Perkins-Prothro Foundation. Mrs. Yeager has been a member of the Perkins School of Theology Executive Board since 2000.
“Kay has always put God, her family, and her church first in her life,” says Rev. Paul Q. Goodrich, senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Wichita Falls, Texas, where Ms. Yeager has been an active lifelong member. “She somehow has also been able to find the time and energy to serve The United Methodist Church at large, her community, and her country.”
More about Kay Prothro Yeager.
Advance registration for the luncheon is available online (http://bit.ly/1MgJJ1E). The luncheon will be held in the Great Hall of Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall on the campus of SMU. For a map, visit smu.edu/maps.
More about Hind Jarrah. After September 11, widespread misconceptions about Islam and Muslims resulted in Hind Jarrah becoming a frequent guest speaker on topics, such as core principles of Islam, the peoples and cultures of the Muslim world, women in Islam, and Muslim non-Muslims relations. More recently, Dr. Jarrah was the only Muslim woman in Dallas to participate in the pioneering ISNA/URJ Muslim-Jewish Dialogue held in six cities nationwide. She has organized and participated in interfaith dialogue presentations and panel discussions in schools, colleges, churches, Rotary and Lions Clubs, and international societies. Dr. Jarrah served on the Faith and Feminism Committee at the Dallas Women’s Foundation and on the Board of Trustees from 2006–2009. Dr. Jarrah graduated from the American University of Beirut with a B.Sc. in Pharmacy (1974) and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from University of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas (1980). She received her Master’s degree in Neuroscience and Cognition from University of Texas at Dallas in 2000.
More about Kay Prothro Yeager. Mrs. Yeager’s work in the larger community includes serving as chair of the board of the Yellowstone National Park Foundation. She previously served as chairwoman of the board of the Multi-Purpose Events Center (MPEC) in Wichita Falls. The final addition of the MPEC complex, completed in 2003, is named the Kay Yeager Coliseum in her honor. Mrs. Yeager is a 1961 graduate of Sweet Briar College. She spent her junior year at the University of St. Andrew in Scotland. Mrs. Yeager attended SMU during the summer of 1959 and was enrolled in English American literature courses.
Perkins Theological School for the Laity, scheduled this year for March 5–7, is supported by the Howard-Holbert Endowment Fund. The fund was established in 1986 in honor of the late Dr. Virgil P. Howard, who was associate director of the Perkins Intern Program and professor of Supervised Ministry; and Dr. John C. Holbert, who served as Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics at Perkins School of Theology from 1997 until his retirement in 2012.
For more information about the Perkins Theological School for the Laity, contact Rev. Gary MacDonald, director of Advanced Ministerial Studies at Perkins, AdvanceMinistry@smu.edu, 1.888.THEOLOGY (ext. 4).
For more information about the Perkins School of Theology Person of Faith Award and the Woodrow B. Seals Laity Award, contact Rev. Connie Nelson, director of Public Affairs and Alumni Relations at Perkins, clnelson@smu.edu, 214.768.2335.
Perkins School of Theology, founded in 1911, is one of five official University-related schools of theology of The United Methodist Church. Degree programs include the Master of Divinity, Master of Sacred Music, Master of Theological Studies, Master of Arts in Ministry, and Doctor of Ministry, as well as the Ph.D., in cooperation with The Graduate Program in Religious Studies at SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.
CEU Certified “Elevation” Retreat: A Worship Design and Leadership Retreat to be in Lake Tahoe
“Elevation,” Dr. McFee’s next CEU event in Lake Tahoe, California, is scheduled for May 11-15, 2015. Past participants described the five-day event as “inspirational,” “helpful,” with “so many ideas to take home and apply right away.”
A study by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM) showed that 85 percent of the annual conferences in The United Methodist Church require continuing education by clergy. McFee notes, “‘Elevation’ gives pastors and lay worship leaders CEU credits as they deepen their understanding of worship and enhance their ability to engage congregations in meaningful worship. Exciting worship resources are available and ‘Elevation’ helps leaders to incorporate these vital expressions with integrity, depth and full participation of the people.”
Worship and congregational development topped the list of popular subjects for continuing education events, in the GBHEM study. The study revealed that annual conferences want “increasing effectiveness and vitality, spiritual formation, nurturing leaders, development of new skills and clarity in preaching and mission.”
McFee responds, “When leaders of worship take time apart for enhancing design and leadership skills in a context where the theological and spiritual aspects of worship leadership are woven into practical application, each one of these goals is addressed. As ‘Elevation’ inspires and equips leaders, it also nurtures a hunger for continued learning because there are so many emerging resources and ideas about worship.”
Completion of the “Elevation” schedule fulfills the requirements for 2.5 CEU’s and includes significant time for spiritual renewal in the beauty of the Lake Tahoe region.
To get more details and to register, go to www.marciamcfee.com and click “Calendar” or go directly to the event site. Direct any questions about registration to mark@marciamcfee.com.
When disaster strikes, will you be prepared?
For many of us today in our fast-paced, busy lifestyles, that is when we may begin to think about what preparations should be made to our homes, churches and businesses. We hurry off to the store only to find no wood, nails, or generators remain. By this point the storm is just hours away, bearing down on us. What now?
When a storm is a day or less away, YOU are too late to begin your planning. Now is the time to prepare for the next disaster. Now is the time to make sure your home, church or business has the needed supplies on hand. Preparation and readiness is the first key to surviving any disaster.
Just as we personally prepare, the Great Plains United Methodist Conference also needs to prepare. We are a large conference with a lot of territory to cover in times of disaster. Your Conference Disaster Response Committee is looking for individuals with a heart of compassion to make sure our conference is prepared in the very best way it can be for any disaster that comes before us. We are in need of individuals who feel called to serve as:
Local Church Disaster Response Coordinators
District Disaster Response Coordinators
Regional Disaster Response Coordinators
We also need to identify individuals who feel called to be trained in:
Basic Response
Early Response Training
Spiritual & Emotional Care
Case Management
Connecting Neighbors (local church preparation)
If you feel called to serve as a volunteer for the Great Plains United Methodist Conference in one of the areas mentioned above, contact Rev. Hollie Tapley, disaster response coordinator, athtapley@greatplainsumc.org.
When a disaster strikes
After a disaster strikes communication at all levels is extremely important. Whoever learns of the disaster first is encouraged to initiate the call and all persons called make sure others in this list are notified.Read about how the Great Plains Conference responds to disasters, including what kind of help we offer, who responds, how long we are involved in recovery, and more.
Photos: On May 11, 2014, tornadoes hit south central Nebraska, causing major damage to communities such as Beaver Crossing, a town of about 550-600 people where almost every house was damaged to some degree. The United Methodist Church and the parsonage in Beaver Crossing received extensive damage, and the homes of several church members were destroyed. The church basement sheltered about 20 people during the storm.
Church responds to devastating Mozambique floods
Bishop Joaquina Filipe Nhanala’s episcopal area encompasses two conferences in Mozambique, a presence in South Africa and a growing mission in Swaziland. Altogether, the area has more than 150,000 United Methodists.
She told United Methodist News Service that churches in her area are partnering with the Red Cross to deliver food. Joao Sambo, the disaster response coordinator, is traveling to the flooded areas. Because the waters have swept away so many bridges, he has to fly.
Thomas Kemper, the top executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, said UMCOR plans to help Mozambique United Methodists in giving aid.
“That includes aid to everybody, independent of creed and faith, so the most vulnerable are really helped,” said Kemper, who was in Mozambique this week for the Connectional Table. UMCOR is part of his agency.
You can help the church’s recovery efforts in this and other disasters outside the United States, by contributing to UMCOR’s International Disaster Response, Advance No. 982450. All funds go toward international relief efforts.
People in watch as flood waters rise dangerously high in Mozambique.PreviousNext
Church responds to devastating Mozambique floods
By Heather Hahn
MAPUTO, Mozambique (UMNS)
United Methodists are responding to deadly floods in the northern part of Mozambique with much-needed food and prayer, Bishop Joaquina Filipe Nhanala told church leaders meeting in her country this week.
January floods, the result of torrential rains and a tropical disturbance, have taken the lives of more than 150 Mozambicans and left more than 160,000 homeless, reports Bloomberg News. The rushing waters also have submerged the crops and livelihoods of thousands and washed away more than 40 schools, just as this southeastern African country was ending its summer break.
News accounts are calling the devastation the nation’s worst floods since 2000.
Mozambican United Methodists have been collecting food and other supplies at their churches to help those in the flood-ravaged areas, Nhanala said.
Mozambique's #UMC Bishop Nhanala says "children are going hungry" because of floods.
TWEET THISHer area also has received a $9,000 emergency grant from the United Methodist Committee on Relief. In addition, the Missouri Conference in the United States is offering aid.
“At this first stage, we are just looking for food because we have children going hungry,” she said.
She was addressing a joint meeting of two denomination-wide leadership bodies — the Connectional Table and the Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters. Both groups, with members from around the world, have met in Maputo in the southern part of the country this week.
TO CONTRIBUTE
You can help the church’s recovery efforts in this and other disasters outside the United States, by contributing to UMCOR’s International Disaster Response, Advance No. 982450. All funds go toward international relief efforts.
The Zambezia province, where the floods occurred, is hundreds of miles to the north.
Nhanala’s episcopal area encompasses two conferences in Mozambique, a presence in South Africa and a growing mission in Swaziland. Altogether, the area has more than 150,000 United Methodists.
She told United Methodist News Service that churches in her area are partnering with the Red Cross to deliver food. Joao Sambo, the disaster response coordinator, is traveling to the flooded areas. Because the waters have swept away so many bridges, he has to fly.
Nhanala said only a few United Methodist church buildings and parsonages have been affected by the flood, since those buildings are typically made of cement and other strong materials.
But recovery will take a long time for most in the area, and unfortunately, she said she expects more dangerous waters in the future.
“This situation is now happening every year,” she said. “If it’s not in the south, it’s in the north.”
Thomas Kemper, the top executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, said UMCOR plans to help Mozambique United Methodists in giving aid.
“That includes aid to everybody, independent of creed and faith, so the most vulnerable are really helped,” said Kemper, who was in Mozambique this week for the Connectional Table. UMCOR is part of his agency.
“Also, we want to rebuild and invest in ways that are sustainable. We hope to accompany the church’s work by working according to these standards.”
Toward the end of the Connectional Table’s meeting Feb. 11, the group’s members and guests collected $763 to go toward flood relief.
Nhanala asks United Methodists to pray for her area. The church is growing, but the needs are many.
“Pray for God to strengthen us in this ministry and what we are doing,” she said. “We are dealing with issues of orphans, we are dealing with issues of drugs. We preach the gospel by words and deeds. This has been our hallmark in this country.”
Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Kansas Kids Fund to help at-risk youth and families
A few of EmberHope’s key partners have committed $210,497 in matching funds to kick-start this initiative. Donations will be received until June 30, 2015, to raise the matching funds.
Visit www.kansaskids.org to learn more. You can also visit, like and share EmberHope’s Kansas Kids Fund Facebook page.
EmberHope also thanks lead donors for making this possible.
Adrian & Pankratz, P.A.
American Society of Safety Engineers
Mr. and Mrs. J. Eugene Balloun*
Mr. James Nolan and Mrs. Pam Bauer Nolan*
BBRBJB Charitable Trust
Mr. and Mrs. H. Russell Bomhoff
Mr. Harold Braun
Mr. and Mrs. Kim E. Brown*
Mr. and Mrs. Joe D. Butcher
Mr. Stuart Case*
Cimarron UMC
Copeland United Methodist Women
Mr. and Mrs. Jon Cramer*
Davis Electric, Inc.
Mr. and Mrs. Earle Dirks
Discovery Drilling
Tate and Shelley Duncan
Estate of Herman and Pauline Crawford
Rev. Evelyn Fisher*
Ms. Ruth Gray
Lattner Family Foundation
Grace Presbyterian Church
Great Plains United Methodist Conference
Mr. and Mrs. Virgil R. Hammond
Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Hampton
Ms. Delaine Hartman*
Jabara Family Foundation
Johnson First UMC
Bishop Scott J. Jones and Ms. Mary Lou Reece
K2 Farms
Mr. and Mrs. Merle Krause
Learjet Employees Care Fund
Manter United Methodist Women
Rev. and Mrs. Kent M. Melcher*
Mr. and Mrs. Ted Metcalf
Mr. and Mrs. Max R. Meuli
Ms. Gretchen Morgenstern*
Mr. Kendal E. Nelson*
People's Bible Study
Mr. and Mrs. Robin Roach
Pottawatomi United Methodist Women
Prairie Home UMC
Robert D. Croll Endowment Fund
Ruth V.Gordanier Charitable Trust
Mr. and Mrs. James Shenk
Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Stanley
The Walmart Foundation
Topeka Susanna Wesley UMC
Mrs. Leah L. Wall
Mrs. Louise Wherry
Ms. Joyce H. Whitfield
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Winger
*Member of EmberHope, Inc. Board of Directors
Presenters at the 40th annual Nebraska Ecumenical Legislative Briefing Day
Healthy Families, Healthy Planet 2015 advocacy trainings to be held in Kansas and Nebraska
The Mercy and Justice Team of the Great Plains Conference is sponsoring Healthy Families, Healthy Planet advocacy trainings in both Kansas and Nebraska. The first training will at Woodlawn UMC, in Derby, Kansas, and will take place April 18. The second training will be at South Gate UMW in Lincoln, Nebraska, on July 25. Both events will run that Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and include an optional advocacy visit after the training the following Monday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
The Healthy Families, Healthy Planet project, an initiative of The United Methodist General Board of Church and Society, works to mobilize U.S. United Methodists on the importance of maternal health and international family planning. The goal of the initiative is to build a movement of faith leaders within the U.S. to advocate for higher levels of foreign aid for international family planning through the U.S. government.
The two Ambassador Advocacy Trainings are designed to bring together faith leaders from across the Great Plains Annual Conference to strengthen local movements for a healthier world for mothers and their children. Learn more.
Advocates who attend our trainings serve as key volunteers out in their states, communities, conferences and churches. Those who participate in our training will be called upon to:
Participate in quarterly Ambassador check-in calls.
Work with HFHP Ambassadors in Great Plains Conference to plan educational events.
Participate in advocacy meetings with local Congressional offices.
Register for Healthy Families, Healthy Planet.
Micah Corps urges Nebraskans to support LB623
Your voice makes a difference. Take a moment to call your state senator and leave a short message – you can even call after hours. Feel free to use the script below:
Hi, my name is [your name] and I live at [state your address]. Please support LB 623 and driver’s licenses for DACA youth (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). [Add a short sentence … choose your message:]
Nebraska is the only state in the country that does not allow DACA youth to have driver's licenses.
Providing driver's licenses to Nebraska DREAMers is good for everyone’s public safety. It is in our state’s best interest to have as many taxpayers licensed and insured as possible.
LB 623 will allow young Nebraskans to contribute their talents more fully to our economy and communities.
Find your state senator’s phone number. Not sure who your Nebraska state senator is? Find out here. You can also call the Capitol at 402-471-2788.
Too many die unnecessarily
What are our churches doing about gun violence in our communities?
“When is the last time your church had in-depth conversations about gun violence and made conscious decisions to do something about it?” asks the Rev. James Atwood in his book “America and Its Guns: A Theological Exposé.” “What we lack are fact-facing committees and a holy rage that too many people are dying so unnecessarily.” And he reminds us of Martin Luther King Jr. who wrote in his “Letter From a Birmingham Jail:” “More than the fire hoses and the police dogs of Bull Connors, I fear the silence of the churches. The contemporary church is so often a weak, ineffective voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch-supporter of the status quo.”
During the week of National Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath, Mar. 15-22, 2015, the Rev. Atwood will be visiting faith communities in Lawrence, Topeka, Wichita and Manhattan, Kansas and in Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island, Nebraska.
The Rev. James Atwood has been working to prevent gun violence for 40 years – since that awful afternoon in 1975 when he rushed to the bedside of a member of his congregation, who lay dying. The man had been shot by a teenager who picked up a gun from his buddy at a bowling alley, then went in search of money.
A gun owner and deer hunter for more than 55 years, as well as a member of the National Rifle Association, the Rev. Atwood nevertheless is convinced that Americans must address this public health crisis. Devoted gun owners will often say guns don’t kill; but 30,000 death certificates every year state otherwise.
Atwood’s visit is sponsored by the Great Plains Conference Mercy and Justice Team in partnership with the Topeka Center for Peace and Justice and the Peace, the Social Justice Center of South Central Kansas in Wichita and Nebraskans For Peace. The events are organized in response to the resolution “Christians Respond to Gun Violence” which was passed at the Great Plains Annual Conference Session in June 2014.
View gun violence prevention study materials.
View the Rev. Atwood’s schedule.
Photo: The Rev. Atwood speaks at the Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington D.C., March 2014
You are dust - A reflection on Ash Wednesday
During Ash Wednesday, ashes in the sign of the cross are marked onto foreheads, reminding us that we are dust and to dust we will return. It is a bit unnerving to be reminded that our bodies will eventually return to dust.
I do not know about you, but I do not particularly like thinking about my body in these terms. We prefer to think about life rather than the humbling reality that all of us will eventually return to dust.
In the desert in Arizona, migrant bodies return to dust too often and too soon. Because of heightened border security, people no longer cross at large ports of entry. Instead, they cross through the Sonoran Desert. The desert is brutality hot. It is filled with wild animals, such as snakes, scorpions, coyotes and consists of a treacherous landscape void of water but replete with prickly cacti that cling to shoes and clothing.
Roughly 200 people lose their life in the desert each year. Regardless of your personal opinion about immigration reform, please know that this is the gruesome reality that migrants are facing right now as you read this article.You are dust
A reflection on Ash Wednesday
by the Rev. Elizabeth Murray on February 16, 2015
Christmas is over and we are in the season of Epiphany, but Ash Wednesday (Feb. 18) is upon us.
During Ash Wednesday, ashes in the sign of the cross are marked onto foreheads, reminding us that we are dust and to dust we will return. It is a bit unnerving to be reminded that our bodies will eventually return to dust.
Murray
I do not know about you, but I do not particularly like thinking about my body in these terms. We prefer to think about life rather than the humbling reality that all of us will eventually return to dust.In the desert in Arizona, migrant bodies return to dust too often and too soon. Because of heightened border security, people no longer cross at large ports of entry. Instead, they cross through the Sonoran Desert. The desert is brutality hot. It is filled with wild animals, such as snakes, scorpions, coyotes, and consists of a treacherous landscape void of water but replete with prickly cacti that cling to shoes and clothing.
Gruesome reality
Roughly 200 people lose their life in the desert each year. Regardless of your personal opinion about immigration reform, please know that this is the gruesome reality that migrants are facing right now as you read this article.
I have walked the migrant trails and have seen the wooden crosses that mark where bodies have been found.
I have traveled to the U.S./Mexico border several times. Each time, I have been reminded of the lives lost to the desert and the families impacted by these deaths. I have walked the migrant trails and have seen the wooden crosses that mark where bodies have been found.
We can’t know much, but to some extent we can speculate on what life had been like for these “desconocidos,” these unidentified migrants who have died here. We learn about them based on personal objects found lying near the body or in bookbags and pockets: a family photo, or an icon of the Virgen de Guadalupe, protector of pilgrims and consoler to those who suffer.
Return to ashes
Both the border patrol and the humanitarian group called the Samaritans are constantly on the lookout for bodies that have already begun to decompose and return to ashes. Once a year on Ash Wednesday, we remind ourselves that we are dust. But for migrants and their families, the fragility of the body is no annual reminder but is rather a way of life.
Dust we are, and to dust we will return.
As United Methodists, we affirm that all people are of sacred worth. When one part of the body of Christ is affected, we all are affected. We uphold the Social Principles, which say:
We affirm all persons as equally valuable in the sight of God. We therefore work toward societies in which each person’s value is recognized, maintained, and strengthened” (¶162, The Social Community, Book of Discipline).
For many of us, the scariest part of Ash Wednesday, of the commemoration of the fact that we are dust, has to do with our fear of the unknown. On Ash Wednesday, I invite you to join me in praying for the ashes of those who died in the desert, our brothers and sisters in Christ who are indeed valuable in the sight of God.
Editor's note: The Rev. Elizabeth Murray is a Provisional Deacon in the SouthCarolina Conference. She has a ¾ appointment as Director of Hispanic Ministries at Mt Hebron United Methodist Church in West Columbia, and is ¼ time under Office of Congregational Development of the South Carolina Conference. As a third-year Master of Divinity student at Duke Divinity School, she served a summer internship at the General Board of Church & Society working with its Civil & Human Rights program.This article was first posted by the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, Jan. 25. You can read about one of Murray's trips to the U.S.-Mexico border in “Shared experiences, changed lives,” in the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, (May 27, 2014)..
The Great Plains Conference Rapid Response Team (GPRRT) invites United Methodists across our conference to advocate for compassionate immigration reform. Please consider joining us in action this week. View information on calling your senators.
For more information about the GPRRT contact Sandy Sypherdssypherd@windstream.net or Andrea Paret amparet08@yahoo.com.
Photo - Taken last spring by a member of a South Carolina Conference team that traveled to the U.S. Mexico border to learn about immigration reform.
Blast from the past from Epworth Village
Methodist Church Notes
On Tuesday morning, the ladies of the church, Bladen and Plainview, sent to the Mothers’ Jewels Home, York, two crates of chickens. One of the ladies who teaches there told me, at conference, how hard pressed they were for a change of food, adding that after a summer of oatmeal and beans, a winter of the same was not a pleasing prospect. The home is a place where children that are left homeless shall be taken and provided with a home. There are orphanages. They are very good. But this is a home. That is much better.
There are about 75 children, at the present time, and they are taught in the school, up to the ninth grade, after which they are enrolled in the York High School. The individuality of each child is preserved as in a home. This school is under the management of the Women’s Home Missionary Society, and is supported by contributions.
We are expecting that the Sunday school will be interested in filling a pair of stockings for each child again this Christmas, as was done last year. Also some fruit is being offered for shipment between now and the holidays. If you want to help in this work, see us or Mrs. Jackson.
Marcia Schlegelmilch, public relations/fundraising coordinator for Epworth Village, recently spoke to the Hastings First UMC UMW ladies who had this newspaper clipping to share. She noted there are countless stories like this one … including more recent stories of donation — like the beef Epworth Village received not so long ago.
“We consider each and every gift a true blessing; from the home-canned vegetables, eggs and live chickens of yesteryear to the deodorant, body wash and paper products of today,” said Schlegelmilch. “We thank you all!”
Epworth Village is a National Mission Institution of the United Methodist Church. Epworth Village, Inc., is non-profit agency based in York, Nebraska. From its beginning as an orphanage in the 1880's, the mission of Epworth Village has been to bring hope and healing to children and families in the name of Christ.
Editorials
Krusing the Capitol: Will We Drop the Trash Off a Cliff?
Newsletters
General Board of Church and Society: Faith in Action
Lewis Center for Church Leadership: Leading Ideas
Ministry Matters: Feb. 17, 2015
Saint Paul School of Theology: President’s eUpdate
United Methodist Committee on Relief: UMCOR Hotline
United Methodist Development Center: Spiritual Giving
Classifieds
Mulvane UMC in need of children ministries coordinator
Office manager needed at Christ UMC in Lincoln
Lenexa UMC looking for director of children's ministries
Pastor of children and youth needed at Memorial UMC
View these and other classifieds at greatplainsumc.org/classifieds.
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.
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.
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