June 29, 2010
Iowa Conference News
The Appointment information in the Church and Clergy directories is currently being updated to reflect appointment changes effective July 1st. During this updating a clergy directory or church directory may continue to reflect pre-July 1st information. We anticipate this updating to be completed by the end of this week (July 2nd).
Journal from Nigeria – News on the Bishop and Team’s presence as reported by Linda Rowe
Click here to read the Journal.
Congratulations to Kathleen Moore!
The Hymn Society of the U.S. and Canada conducted an international search for a new hymn on peace and justice. Pastor Kathleen Moore, serving New Creation and Faith churches in Cedar Rapids, won their contest and will be awarded the $500 prize.
The new hymn will be featured at their annual conference July 12-15 in Birmingham, Alabama. The lyrics were written to the tune by Hal Hopson called "Merle's Tune" found on page 209 in our hymnal, and is entitled "The Peaceful Kingdom". The copyright for the new hymn will be held by the Hymn Society and administered by Hope Publishing."
Congratulations, Kathleen on your award winning hymn!
Professing Faith in Hastings, Iowa!
The town of Hastings is one of those Iowa villages that has suffered the socio-economic decline so common in our agriculture-dependent counties in the Midwest. The last census counted 214 residents in Hastings. There is no downtown, no schoolhouse, no grocery or convenience store. There is a post office, a community building, and a United Methodist Church.
Roxanne Boverhuis, a certified lay minister, has been assigned as a missionary lay pastor to the Hastings community. The worshiping congregation has been mostly elderly people, most of whom drive into town from other places. Through the church, Roxanne has been leading an outreach to the people in Hastings through ministries to and with children and youth. The work began with an after-school program for elementary children. This year, Roxanne offered a confirmation preparation class for youth in town.
As the class proceeded, Roxanne discovered that seven of the eight young people had never been baptized. Since Roxanne is a lay minister, who cannot perform baptisms, this presented a problem. She called her district’s Field Outreach Minister, Rev. Ed Kail, to invite him to help. They were able to work out a plan by which Ed could meet with the class to get acquainted, he could coach Roxanne on working with the kids and their parents toward baptism or confirmation, and they could plan a special worship service for the occasion.
On Wednesday, June 16, 2010, about 70 people filled the worship space in the Hastings UMC for a celebration of faith and commitment. Roxanne served as host pastor, and Rev. Kail presided for the baptisms and confirmation. Youth baptized that evening (and shown in the accompanying photo) were: Chelsey Marie Babbitt, Chrystal Marie Babbitt, Jordan Tyler Childers, Shelby Ann Hall, Amanda Kay Hatcher, and Shannon Page Rittenbery. Confirming his faith as one previously baptized was Noah Thomas Meyer. Parents and other family members joined in the laying on of hands, as these young people were commissioned for discipleship in the power of the Holy Spirit.
In the liturgy for baptism and confirmation, there is opportunity given for members of the congregation to renew their vows of baptism and/or confirmation. When Rev. Kail gave the invitation for the adults in the audience to take a step of faith or to receive blessing prayer, four women came forward. Three of them, Margo J. Hall, Barbara A. Hall, and Jennifer L. Vaughan, had never been baptized, and wished to receive baptism. The fourth woman, Eva Meyer, requested prayer for strength and power in her discipleship and ministry in the church. They all wanted to join in the new life in Christ demonstrated by the baptism of the youth. And so three adults were also baptized, and all joined in prayer to bless their discipleship.
It was a high moment in Hastings! A “door of opportunity” has been opened in the community. The new youth disciples plan to continue meeting in a “faith formation group”. A new Sunday school class for adults will provide support for the newly baptized adults to learn and grow in their faith and service. And with support from colleagues and mentors, and with resourcing from the district office, Roxanne will accompany these growing Christians on their journey of discipleship. Faith is growing in Hastings, Iowa!!
Wedding Sunday at Living Water UMC
Mark and Sally will never forget Sunday, June 13 when they were married during the morning worship service. These mentally challenged, faithful members of Living Water United Methodist Church expressed their desire to Pastors Marty Schuhmacher and Christie John that they have a full wedding like they see on television. Some Living Water members were concerned that very few people would come to a traditional Saturday wedding for the couple, since Mark and Sally have almost no living relatives and only a few close friends. Mark and Sally’s church family expressed their desire to incorporate the wedding into Sunday worship so the sanctuary would be filled with guests.
Worship centered around the theme of “Vows to God.” Pastor Marty proudly escorted the bride down the aisle to the praise tune “Draw Me Close to You.” Communion was joyfully celebrated. At the bride’s request the couple recessed to the traditional Wedding March. The congregation joined hands and sang their traditional closing song – “I Will Stand With You” - then joined Mark and Sally for a wedding reception.
Members of Living Water worked together to provide a memorable experience for Mark and Sally and to show that they were accepted and loved in this community of faith. Wedding coordinator Deb Manley and praise band member Caleb Chidebell organized the details. Members decorated the church, provided the groom with a tux, baked and decorated cakes, made wedding mints, cooked and served a luncheon and showered the couple with cards and gifts. One member also provided a hotel room for their wedding night.
Mark and Sally were delighted and Living Water members and guests experienced the happy privilege of loving and serving in the name of Christ. “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40, NRSV)
Jefferson United Methodists Dedicate Memory Garden
Pentecost Sunday, May 23 marked the one-year anniversary of one of the worst heartbreaks the community of Jefferson has had in recent memory, as the lives of Sam and Jackie (Haupert) Langstaff were lost in a tragic, fiery automobile accident near Washington, Iowa. For a week, the communities of Letts and Jefferson poured out their grief and consoled each other in the loss of a vital young couple who had celebrated their wedding in the Jefferson United Methodist Church less than three years prior. Many members of that church, who had grieved the loss of a son, a grandson, a daughter, or a granddaughter re-lived their own grief as they consoled Jackie’s and Sam’s parents and assisted them with practical tasks to put back together broken lives.
Out of that collective grief, just one year later, the beginnings of a Memory Garden were dedicated at the Sunday morning worship service, as the congregation processed from the sanctuary to the plot of land just east of the church building to plant a star magnolia tree in memory of Sam and Jackie, and to remember stories of their lives and the lives of other children and youth that have lost their lives in an untimely manner. “We don’t want to make this a Memorial Garden and be overrun with plaques, but a Memory Garden that invites people to find peace and remember well the lives of those who have been taken from us before we were ready to let them go,” remarked Gary and Shirley Haupert, Jackie’s parents, who conceived the idea of the garden just days after Sam and Jackie’s tragic death. “Hopefully, this will be a place of beauty and peace, where people can take some time to remember, where couples may choose to be married, or youth may have their senior pictures taken. It’s not just for Methodists but for the community,” they continued.
In that spirit, as congregants placed dirt around the tree or poured cups of water at its base, the garden was dedicated, and the Rev. Dr. Bill Daylong, senior pastor of the congregation led in the dedicatory prayer. The Rev. Sheri Daylong, associate pastor of the congregation, who led worship on that Sunday, remarked, “I hope we can use this space to teach our children and youth how to be still and seek the quiet presence and counsel of God.”
A memory book will record the attendants of that service of worship, gifts that are planted and/or placed in the garden, memories of persons in whose memory donations are made, and the stories around each of those memories. This will be kept in the church office, so that these stories may be preserved and remembered. “Stories are not to be hoarded by those who remember them, but shared by those who may be inspired and empowered by them,” concluded Dr. Bill Daylong. “This is the way they are best remembered.”
The bluegrass hills of Kentucky are calling us home, back to our roots as Christians and people of faith, as United Methodists and people of action, as Christian Educators and people of hope.
Wild unbridled horses are calling us to break free to come home to the power and freedom of God’s Spirit in our lives
reclaiming our pentecostal fire,
inhaling deeply the breath of life,
washing in the refreshing waters of our baptism,
planting our feet solidly in the groundedness of God’s love.
Come to Kentucky to awaken the Holy Spirit in you
to experience the divine in a new way,
encountering God in the ordinary and everyday,
changing lives with God’s incarnational power, right here on earth.
The Christian Educators Fellowship biennial gathering will be in wonderful Louisville, Kentucky, October 22-25, 2010. The theme is “Holy Spirit, Wild and Free.”
The Iowa Chapter of Christian Educators Fellowship would like two people from each district to attend this exciting training opportunity. Scholarships are available, especially for volunteers/staff from small churches. Those attending the conference will have the option of carpooling and lodging at a nearby retreat center to reduce the cost of the conference. Workshops are planned for those who work with children, youth, and adults. This training is for paid staff and volunteers- education committee chairpeople, Sunday School superintendents, youth organizers, adult coordinators. A complete list of workshops and other information is available at www.cefumc.org.
For more information or to sign up for the carpool, contact Ellen Johnsen at First UMC Ames (515-232-2750 or Ellen@fumcames.org).
United Methodist and Other News
Making a Difference in Tennessee
“I can’t tell you how hard it is to return to a flooded home and throw your belongings to a curb,” wrote Pamela Miller of Nashville, Tennessee, in an email message to UMCOR. “I was so moved by the kindness of the churches.”
Pamela’s family is one of 40,000 families affected by the May floods in Nashville; thousands more were affected in Memphis. “What a useful thing your [cleaning] bucket was,” she said. “I quickly tied a clothesline and hung things out to dry. The cleaning supplies and everything in it was useful.”
Your gift for US Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #901670 makes a real difference in the lives of people dealing with the aftermath of emergencies like the Tennessee floods. Your support is urgently needed.
Gulf Coast Oil Spill
Almost five years after hurricanes wreaked havoc on the US Gulf Coast, residents thought they were reaching recovery. But when a British Petroleum oil rig ruptured, taking the lives of 11 workers and leaking millions of gallons of crude each day into the gulf and onto beaches, new troubles set in.
Congregations in Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Florida are mobilizing to provide the affected with spiritual and emotional care and with special attention to children. School kits for children returning to classes in the fall are in demand, as parents struggle to meet family needs and deal with the loss of livelihoods in the fishing and tourism industries.
Given the specialized nature of the cleanup, volunteers are not being asked to mobilize. As UMCOR works with Annual Conferences in the affected areas to assess needs and appropriate responses, your prayers and solidarity are requested.
Summit explores responsible investing
St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri will hold a “Socially Responsible Investing Summit” on Oct. 18-19. The gathering will enable an exchange of ideas about The United Methodist Church’s evolving understanding of socially responsible investing policy and practices. The summit also will evaluate implications from the more than 400 responses to the Socially Responsible Investment Task Force’s recent survey. Registration for the summit is limited to 100. The deadline to register is July 31. Information is available at Socially Responsible Investing Summit .
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