Due to inclement weather earlier this week, this edition is delayed. Our apologies for any inconvenience.
December 11, 2009
Iowa Conference News
Thank You Note Received
Click here to view the message from Familia de Dios Ministry
Are you hosting an upcoming event?
Here is a great option for you to use to get the word out! Did you know that the IAUMC website has a feature where you can add an event to the Iowa conference calendar? Just go to the “Events” page of the website and add one! Follow this link to see how easy it is to do!
THE IOWA UNITED METHODIST CHURCH BUILDING FUND TRUST
is offering the current one year investment with current rates of:
Renewals: 1 Year 3.10%
New Deposits: 1 Year 2.50%
This investment is open to all United Methodist Individuals, Churches and Agencies by downloading or requesting our offering circular and application from www.iumcbft.org
Investments are used to provide loans to United Methodist Churches in Iowa
Please contact us for more information:
Iowa United Methodist Foundation
2301 Rittenhouse Street
Des Moines, IA 50321
515-974-8927
*Please note rates may change without notice; rate shown effective 12/6/09
Academy for New Ministry Development – FINAL REMINDER
Dear Friends: In Ephesians 4:16 we read: “From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
In 1998, as part of a vision for the future of the Iowa Conference, Parish Development established the Iowa Academy for New Ministry Development. The purpose of the Academy is to provide quality education and practical tools to further develop leaders in the Iowa Conference by networking with peers, reading and discussing cutting-edge books and classics of church growth, hearing the stories of teaching churches within Iowa and around the country, and praying and worshipping together. Pastors, along with a few laity who have partnered in ministry, are gaining a variety of tools to birth and grow new ministries. The Iowa Conference is a fertile mission field full of opportunities to reach out to new persons through the gifts of those already a part of the church. The vision of the Academy is to help persons identify their gifts for ministry, acquire tools to carry out that ministry, and be supported as new ministries are developed.
The Academy meets quarterly over two years at teaching churches both within Iowa and around the country. In January, April and August the Academy meets over a Thursday and Friday at one of the United Methodist Churches around Iowa that is experiencing success in a unique outreach ministry or ministries. Teaching churches are chosen to reflect the diversity of ministry opportunities in Iowa. From rural to urban, new to long-time existing, small to large, and blended to single-point, the expectation is that participants will gain practical ministry ideas. This event is approved by the Board of Ordained Ministry for three (3) Continuing Education Units (CEUs) per year. There is no cost to participate in this program, other than to purchase the books we use and travel to and from the host teaching churches.
In October, from Thursday through Sunday, the Academy travels via chartered bus to a large teaching church out-of-state. This provides a chance to meet with others from around the country who are seeking to start new ministries and revitalize churches. Some of the places we have visited are Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City; Ginghamsburg UMC in Tipp City, Ohio; Willow Creek in Barrington, Illinois; Park Avenue UMC in Minneapolis; and others.
If you are interested in being part of the new Academy XII class which will be held at Ankeny UMC on Thursday and Friday, January 28-29, 2010 please refer to the Instructions for completing the on-line application located on the Academy website at www.iaumc.org/anmd. Once completed, please email it to Barb Mann, Registrar at barb.mann@iaumc.org. And don’t overlook the instructions regarding the three Personal References also required. The deadline for applicants to submit their applications is December 15, 2009. You may also wish to refer to the Schedule to see a few of the upcoming dates already scheduled. If you or someone you know is interested in learning more, please have them contact Pastor Chad Jennings at bikerev@mchsi.com or 319-929-1867.
May God Bless Your Ministry,
Academy for New Ministry Development Commission
Iowans are Certainly Generous – Read and find out How Generous!
As long term volunteers at UMCOR Sager Brown, we were working at the depot when the shipping crates were loaded for Sudan. It is a humbling experience to prepare kits for the Iowa Ingathering and then stand on the loading dock to see those kits be placed into the shipping crate bound for the developing world. We formed a circle to pray for the shipments as they pulled away from the dock and felt an overwhelming sense of awe that we are privileged to be on the giving end instead of the receiving end of those supplies. It is not too soon to think about the kits that you might prepare for Iowa Ingathering 2010. We pray for the greatest outpouring of love that has ever been recorded at this event. We have been told, and believe, that Iowans are among the most generous supporters of UMCOR Sager Brown and the ministry that takes place there. God expects no less.
Charley and Shirley Kunzman
UMCOR Representatives/Ingathering Task Force
What to get Aunt Gertrude and Uncle Hiram? Alternative Christmas Ideas
What to get my aunt and uncle? They have everything but I feel I should get them something! So why not choose from the Nigerian wish list for these hard-to-shop-for family members and friends? Surprise them with a gift in their name by choosing one of these projects.
How about buying something for your family and then share something with your Nigerian family? Remember Christmas is not your birthday.
$1.50 will allow a child to have basic school supplies
$7 will purchase a Bible in Hausa
$15 will provide a one month stipend for a UMC teacher
$20 will help an illiterate Nigerian learn to read and write
$35 will provide one- term tuition for a high school student
$50 will purchase vaccines for the poultry program
$62 will allow a woman to attend the Women’s Training Center for one term
$75 will buy a goat for the Agricultural Program
$100 will stock the medicine cabinet at the church run clinics
$120 will purchase a treadle sewing machine
$130 will purchase a bicycle for a local pastor
$550 will purchase a motorcycle for the Lit-Lit, Evangelism or youth director
$1,500 will purchase a solar refrigerator for the district medical clinics
$2,000 will built a round hut home for an evangelist to minister to unsaved people
$6,500 will sink a deep water borehole/well providing clear, pure water
Money may be given through your church and sent to the Conference Treasurer designated INP, #230 and choice of project.
United Methodist and Other News
Central Conference Pension Initiative (CCPI)
In many areas around the world, the men and women who serve The United Methodist Church do so despite dire poverty. Today, approximately 10,000 active and retired pastors and their surviving spouses in the central conferences—conferences outside of the United States—do so without access to pension protection. The United Methodist Church created the Central Conference Pension Initiative (CCPI) to establish and fund workable, sustainable pension systems in those conferences.
Originally, we set a minimal goal of $20 million to fund this effort, and we are close to reaching that goal. However, we now have met with bishops in every Episcopal area in the central conferences to learn exactly what they need to provide the necessary support. We also have launched pilot programs in Liberia and Mozambique, which have taught us much about how to administer these programs. This additional information and experience have shown us that a goal of $25 million would provide more than subsistence-level financial security—a retirement with dignity for these faithful servants.
Please visit our Web site at www.ccpi-umc.org to learn about some central conference retirees. To date, we have raised $18.3 million, but we need your help to raise the final $7 million to fund this important effort. Consider collecting a special offering over the upcoming holidays or making CCPI a fund-raising priority in your church. For assistance in planning and executing a fund-raising campaign, contact Dan O’Neill, managing director of Central Conference Pensions at (847) 866-4081, or by e-mail at Dan_ONeill@gbophb.org.
Resources
January 2010 Pastoral Care Consultation Group
Due to the popularity of the Pastoral Care Consultation Groups through the Institute for the Support of Pastoral Ministries, we are adding a third group beginning in January, 2010. The group will be limited to eight (8) participants and will meet once a month for a four-hour block beginning in January and ending in October. The group will be facilitated by Christie Neuger, a world-renowned leader in the field of pastoral care and counseling. Each session will engage in collaborative consultation around case studies from the ministries of group members and around focused readings relevant to the work of the group. Meetings will be scheduled to fit the needs of participants.
During the year, periodic one-day courses on special topics such as grief care, couple counseling, narrative theory for pastoral counseling, crisis care, etc., will be offered. The courses, when taken together with participation in a Consultation Group, will enable participants who complete a total of 50 contact hours (30 in case consultation and 20 in the short course) to apply for members in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors as "Pastoral Care Specialists." Courses are priced individually at typical continuing education rates. Click here for more information about the Institute's Special Topics Courses.
The cost of the 10-month Support and Supervision Group is $500 per person. Clergy in the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church may be able to obtain scholarship funds from their conference setting or annual conference. This may also apply to ministers in other denominations.
For more information and/or to register for the January 2010 Pastoral Care Consultation Groups, please contact Christie Neuger by email at cneuger@unitedseminary.edu or call 651.255.6150.
Ecumenical Advocacy Days
The Conference Board of Church and Society announces Ecumenical Advocacy Days takes place March 19 – 22, 2010, in Washington DC. This year’s theme is
A Place to Call Home: Immigrants, Refugees, and Displaced Peoples.
And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the
Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’
Jesus had no place to lay his head. Neither do tens of millions of migrants,
refugees and displaced persons. Be a part of an action weekend addressing this
global injustice. Join hundreds of faith-based advocates in taking action on U.S.
legislation that will welcome immigrants, protect refugees, and prevent
displacement of millions. Visit the conference website to learn more
http://advocacydays.org
A featured speaker at one of the plenary sessions will be our own
Bishop Minerva Carcaño, of the Desert Southwest Conference.
The Conference Board of Church and Society wishes to announce that three
scholarships for $500 each are available. You may write for an application form
to Judy Kading at judykading@yahoo.com or call 641-740-7066 or write to her at
803 Golden Shores, Creston, IA 50801.
Act now to receive the lowest conference registration rates and low conference
hotel rates at the conference site, the Double Tree in Crystal City, VA.
Join over 700 activists for intense and informative sessions and return to the
annual conference ready to share information.
Survey Request
My name is Matt Slippy. I am a youth pastor from Cedar Rapids Iowa.
I am working on a youth ministry research project and my goal is to have at least 1000 youth pastors take an online survey found at: www.youthministrysurvey.com
I'm looking for youth pastors & youth workers who would be willing to take the survey. It should take 15-20 min.
Also, I am surveying parents of teens and youth ministry students at colleges and seminaries.
Any help in promoting the site through your connections, denominations, and other avenues and ideas to promote this project would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help and encouragement.
Matt Slippy
cbym@juno.com
Applicants Now Being Sought for UMVIM trip to China
Invitation by Bishop Hee-Soo Jung and the North Central Jurisdiction Mission Discovery Program. Limited to fourteen (14) selected participants. Applications must be submitted by December 15, 2009.
Learn how to be a leader of youth and young adult international UMVIM teams. Participants on this trip will receive instructions in best practices of being an UMVIM team leader. Participants will be asked to lead an international team of youth or young adults within 2 years of the conclusion of this mission. That trip does not necessarily have to be back to China, but could be!
Applicant Qualifications
Applicants are currently serving or preparing to serve youth/young adult ministries in a United Methodist local church, district or annual conference preference for applicants between ages 18 to 30. Applicants are ready to discover, evaluate or affirm aptitudes or skills to lead youth/young adult team mission experiences in domestic or international settings
Leadership Team
· Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, Bishop of the Northern Illinois Conference of The United Methodist Church
· Rev. David Newhouse & Mrs. Christy Newhouse, Chair of the North Central Jurisdiction Mission Discovery Steering Team
· Ms. Jeanie Blankenbaker, retired Ass't General Secretary, Mission Volunteers, Board of Global Ministries
· Ms. Diane Allen, United Methodist China Program, Board of Global Ministries
Interfaith cooperation speaker slated at Iowa Wesleyan College
Iowa Wesleyan College, will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day with two programs by a nationally-known advocate of interfaith religious cooperation. Eboo Patel, founder and executive director of Interfaith Youth Core in Chicago, will present two programs on the Iowa Wesleyan campus in January.
Monday, January 18, 7:30 p.m. “Martin Luther King Jr.: An Unabashedly Baptist Interfaith Leader”
Tuesday, January 19, 11:00 a.m. “Acts of Faith: Interfaith Leadership Amid Gl, obal Religious Crisis”
Both programs are free and open to the public. They will be held in the Iowa Wesleyan College Chapel Auditorium. They are sponsored by the Clifford and Maxine Manning Annual Speaker Series.
Patel was appointed by President Obama to the Advisory Council of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He writes "The Faith Divide", a featured blog on religion for The Washington Post and has also written for the Harvard Divinity School Bulletin, the Chicago Tribune, The Clinton Journal, The Review of Faith and International Affairs, The Sunday Times of India and National Public Radio. He is the author of a memoir, “Acts of Faith.” U.S. News and World Report named Patel one of America’s Best Leaders for 2009.
The Interfaith Youth Core, founded in 1998, was designed to inspire and train college students to build understanding, in an effort to create college campuses that are models of interfaith cooperation.
Patel holds a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University, where he studied on a Rhodes scholarship.
For more information, contact Dr. Tim Adamson, Iowa Wesleyan College, tadam@iwc.edu or 319.385.6331.
Media and publicity needs: Contact Martha Potts-Bell, Iowa Wesleyan College, Martha.potts-bell@iwc.edu or 319.385.6488
Interfaith Youth Core – web site at www.ifyc.org
mid-week update is a ministry of the Communications Ministry Team
of the Iowa Annual Conference
