The Northeast District, Eastern Pa Conference, United Methodist Church
Monday, September 06, 2010
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District NewsletterNORTHEAST DISTRICT NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2010
2336 S. 9th Street, Unit 3, Allentown, PA 18103
Office: 610-395-6661 Fax: 610-395-5117
E-mail: nesuper@rcn.com
From the DS:
Recently I was driving up to the Poconos for an evening meeting. It was a dark night with no moon, and the low cloud cover blocked out most of the stars. As I drove up the Northeast Extension, I was struck by how very dark it seemed. Mid-December is, of course, the darkest time of the year with the shortest daylight hours. As I approached the Lehigh Tunnel, a vast darkness confronted me. The mountain rose before me as a great void, and there seemed to be no line between the mountain and the sky – just one great panorama of darkness, of nothing. There were no lights on the mountain ahead of me, no moon overhead to light the way. The headlights on my little SUV only lit up the road a short distance in front of me. As I drew nearer to the mountain, it seemed ready to swallow me up in the darkness. I remembered the movie my children had watched years ago, The Never Ending Story, and the threat of the Great Nothing, a void that consumed everything in its path. I entered the Lehigh Tunnel with a brief moment of dread, wondering if I would actually come out the other side.
Sometimes we think of the New Year as a blank slate waiting for us to write on it, a time full of promise and possibilities. But at other times, the New Year can be intimidating. When life is not going well, there may seem to be no end to the darkness that overwhelms us. The New Year simply means more of the same; a continuation of the same fear, the same anxiety, the same Great Nothing that engulfs us in the present and continues into the future with no end in sight. Who wouldn’t be depressed with a future like that?
But the promise of God in Jesus Christ is that a Savior has been born to us, a Messiah has come who is not simply the same one who comes around every year, but someone new, someone unique, someone who represents God’s in-breaking power. Celebrating Christmas in December is no accident. It’s unlikely it was the real time of year of Jesus birth if the biblical accounts of the shepherds are to be believed (shepherds were only out at night with the flocks during lambing season – the spring months). No, the December date is itself a symbol of Christ’s mission – to be a light in the darkness. To those who lived in the land of darkness, a land of anxieties and fears, to them a great light has shined, full of the promise of God that the darkness will not engulf us because it cannot overcome the Light of the world. May the New Year bring you and your family light and love.
Bron
CALENDAR
DISTRICT NEWS
EPIPHANY GATHERING ON URBAN MINISTRY
The Eastern Pa. Conference welcomes Bishop Felton May on Wednesday, January 6th, for an afternoon summit on urban ministry. All pastors in urban congregations have received invitations to the event as Bishop May leads us in considering how the urban congregation can reach out to the community to reveal the love of God in Jesus Christ. The summit will be held at Eastwick UMC, in Philadelphia near the airport. If your congregation did not receive an invitation but would like to attend, please contact the district office for information. Any congregation working with urban populations is welcome to attend.
EPIPHANY OPEN HOUSE AT DISTRICT PARSONAGE
Clergy and their families are invited to an open house at the District Parsonage on Sunday, January 10th from 3-6 pm. Stop in to enjoy a time of fellowship and refreshment with other clergy. All clergy of the district are invited – active or retired, in a church or extension ministry. If possible RSVP to the District Office so food can be planned. But whether you RSVP or just decide to come that afternoon, please join us as we celebrate together the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. LUNCH WITH THE DS IN QUAKERTOWN
Join the D.S. for lunch at John’s Plain and Fancy on route 309 in Quakertown, just south of Route 663, at Noon on Tuesday, January 5th. The monthly dutch treat lunches are an opportunity to gather with other clergy for fellowship and for discussion of ideas and best practices for ministry. If you can, RSVP to the D.S. so a table can be reserved for enough people. The next lunches are scheduled for Tuesday, February 23rd at the Olive Garden in Easton and Tuesday, April 6th at Bailey’s Steak House in Mt. Pocono. All clergy of the district are welcome at any lunch, and you are particularly encouraged to attend the lunch in your area.
BISHOP’S MIDWINTER RETREAT – IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO REGISTER ON-LINE
The Bishops’ midwinter retreat is planned for January 12-14 in Ocean City, Md. This year, the guest speakers are the Rev. Dr. Gregory Jones, dean of Duke Divinity School, and his wife, Susan, a professor there. Registration can be done on-line at www.epaumc.org Don’t miss this opportunity to hear one of the top UMC theologians today. Dr. Jones writes regularly for the Christian Century and has published articles and books. Register today on-line. This is a wonderful time apart for clergy and clergy couples, a relaxing time with some excellent presentations and plenty of free time to enjoy with your spouse or other clergy.
MORAVIAN OFFERS COURSE ON COMPULSIVE GAMBLING
The Pastoral Care and Counseling Department at Moravian Seminary is offering a January 2 credit class on caring for the compulsive gambler. Course SEPF 964: Compulsive gambling and Pastoral Ministry is an exploration of the pervasiveness of gambling in the US. The focus will be on the impact of gambling on individuals, families and faith communities, with a focus on utilizing community resources, spirituality/theology, and treatment options to intervene with those with gambling problems. The course if offered January 5th through 21st, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings from 6-9 pm. Contact Moravian Seminary for more information.
CABINET TO OFFER RETREAT FOR MIDDLE AND SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLERS SENSING A CALL
The EPA conference is sponsoring a retreat for middle school and senior high school students who may b e considering a call to ministry. The retreat at Gretna Glen, Friday, January 29- Saturday, January 30, is designed to encourage young people to consider whether God might be calling them to ministry. Pastors are being asked to nominate young people from their congregation to receive an invitation from the bishop and cabinet. And you are invited to consider whether you might be willing to sponsor a young person to attend so that the cost of the event can be covered without asking the youth to pay. Please send suggested names or commitments of funding to the Rev. Bob Wilt in the Northeast District, at robert.wilt@epaumc.org.
PREPARE FOR LENT WITH BISHOP’S LENTEN RETREAT HERE AT QUAKERTOWN
Bishop Johnson has scheduled the Lenten Day Apart for the Eastern Pa. Conference on Tuesday, February 16, right here on the Northeast District at Quakertown UMC. The young clergy of our conference have taken responsibility for planning the day as we prepare ourselves for the observance of a holy Lent. With the event being held on our own district, it is my hope that we will have close to 100% turnout for the event. I have heard many of you say how difficult it is to attend these events when they are held in Wilmington. Now the bishop has heard and has scheduled this event right in our own district! So please plan to be with us. More information will be coming after Christmas, but mark your calendar now.
TOOLS FOR MINISTRY SET FOR FEBRUARY 27 The Board of Lay Ministry will sponsor the Tools for Ministry for church leaders on Saturday, February 27th at Wesley UMC in Bethlehem. Watch your mail and e-mail for more information. A new format is planned by the Board this year, with a morning session for all covering basic information everyone needs to know and individual workshops after lunch. We will offer tables at lunch for Best Practices discussions so that those interested in specific topics such as Vacation Bible School programs or ways to deal with a tight economy can eat together.
BISHOP’S WINTER DAYS ON THE DISTRICT SET
Bishop Peggy Johnson will visit the Northeast District to meet with laity and clergy on the evenings of Tuesday, March 9th and Monday, March 15th. The March 9th meeting will be at Bethany UMC in Wescosville, and the march 15th meeting on the northern tier of the district. Bishop Johnson will be presenting the newly developed Strategic Plan and conference staffing plan for the annual conference to receive feedback and comments prior to presentation of the plan at annual conference. In addition, there will be an opportunity for conversation with the bishop. Save these dates on your calendar now!
MENTOR TRAINING ON DISTRICT FOR CANDIDATE AND CLERGY MENTORS
Rev. Jeff Raffauf, candidacy coordinator for the Board of Ordained Ministry, will offer training for elders and local pastors who have completed the course of Study and are willing to serve as mentors to candidates for ministry or to provisional pastors during the two year provisional period. The training will be on the morning of Tuesday, March 23rd. Watch the district newsletter for information about the location. We are blessed to have a number of excellent candidates interested in pursuing ordination or licensing, but they need trained mentors to guide them through the process. Jeff will be using new training materials developed by the Lewis Center of Wesley Seminary to not only teach the steps of the new on-line candidacy process but equip pastors to be guides and mentors. In order to serve as a mentor, you must complete the training and be registered by Jeff with the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry as a mentor.
JANUARY DISTRICT PRAYER CALENDAR
As we begin the New Year, let us pray for the churches of the Northeast District, that our witness may reach out beyond our walls to bring the good news of God’s work in Jesus Christ to people who have yet to encounter the life transforming power of God in their lives. We’ll pray our way through the district in reverse order, from Zionsville to Ackermanville, over the next two months.
The entire District Prayer calendar was sent out to all pastors in the district. If you would like a copy, please contact the district office. Over the course of the year, from August 1 through next May, we will pray for every pastor, candidate, retiree, and church on the district. You are invited to join the DS as we lift up the people and ministries of the Northeast District in prayer.
JANUARY
1 New Year’s Day
2 Salem UMC, Zionsville
3 Prayer for the Appointment Cabinet
4 Tabor UMC, Woxall
5 Keokee Chapel, Paradise Valley
6 Wooddale UMC
7 First UMC, Wind Gap
8 White Haven UMC
9 Bethany UMC
10 First UMC of Easton, last service
11 Centenary UMC, Weatherly
12 Tobyhanna UMC
13 Grace UMC, Telford
14 Salem UMC, Tamaqua
15 First UMC, Tamaqua
16 Faith UMC, Stroudsburg
17 Prayer for the Appointment Cabinet
18 Stroudsburg UMC
19 Salem UMC, Springtown
20 Salem UMC, Slatedale
21 St. Peter’s UMC, Saylorsburg
22 Richmond UMC
23 Reeders UMC
24 Prayer for the Appointment Cabinet
25 Quakertown UMC
26 Portland UMC
27 Pocono Lake UMC
28 First UMC, Perkasie
29 Grace UMC, Pen Argyl
30 Parryville UMC
31 Prayer for the Appointment Cabinet
FEBRUARY
1 Salem UMC, Palmerton
2 Grace St. Paul’s, Jim Thorpe
3 Meed’s Memorial, Nesquehoning
4 Neola UMC
5 Mountainhome UMC
6 Mt. Pocono UMC
7 Prayer for the Conference Staff
DISTRICT REMINDERS – ALREADY PUBLISHED
DISTRICT MISSION PROJECTS UNDERWAY
The Northeast District will be sponsoring two mission projects again this year, one local and one international. The international project has developed further since our initial conversations and we are very excited about the possibilities. Our initial plans were to work with the village of Wembo Nyama and its hospital, but the church in the Democratic Republic of Congo is focusing on locations less rural in order to complete some projects quickly. As a result, we will work with the DR Congo to provide solar panels for the hospital at the Mpasa Health Center. This hospital, located in a suburb of Kinshasa, serves not only local residents but thousands of people living in abject poverty as a result of fleeing the conflict in their native Sudan. The population of the area has doubled due to the influx of refuges. In the Congo, 80% of the people currently live below the poverty level. In desperation, many have turned to prostitution and sex trafficking. This has led to 1 and ½ million people estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS. The Mpasa Health Center provides HIV/AIDS education as well as conducting all the normal business of a hospital in an impoverished area – ALL WITHOUT ELECTRICITY! Our goal of $10,000 will be enough to provide solar panels for the hospital and equip it with electricity for the first time. And when the solar panels are ready for installation, we have the opportunity to send a representative of the district along to help with the installation and report back to the district.
The local mission project is raising funding for our new Youth and Young Adult Ministries on the district. We’ve already seen a successful youth rally on November 8th with 100 youth plus 30-40 adults. The Young Adult retreat is planned for January 2-3. We’d like to raise $10,000 to fund twice yearly youth rallies for the entire district, an annual young adult retreat and an annual youth leader training bringing in a nationally known speaker to equip those who work with young people.
Our goal is $20,000 in 2010, or $10,000 per project. If every church contributed $1 per person in average Sunday morning worship, we would raise $8,111 (based on 2008 statistics for the district). Our hope is that a few churches may be willing to support one or both of these projects at a higher level. If you or your church plan to be part of the district mission project, you are invited to send your gift to the district office, indicating for which project your gift is intended. Please make checks payable to the Eastern Pa. Conference. By sending it through the district, we can monitor the funds to be sure your gift is used as intended.
FIRST UMC OF EASTON MERGING WITH CALVARY UMC FOLLOWING JANUARY 10 WORSHIP
The First UMC of Easton will hold its final worship service on Sunday, January 10th, the Baptism of the Lord. As congregants remember their baptism, they will be challenged to go forth to serve God wherever they are. FUMC has a long and proud tradition which they will carry with them as they merge with their daughter congregation, Calvary UMC. Please keep the members of both churches in your prayers as they reunite and become, once more, one Body of Christ for the world.
EARLY RESPONSE TEAM TRAINING SESSION SCHEDULED
A date has been set for another Early Response Team training: January 16, 2010 at St Paul UMC, Hellertown. The snow date will be January 23. Cost of the training is $15 each and lunch and a light breakfast will be provided courtesy of the host churches. Early Response Teams (ERTs) are the folks who go in right after the emergency phase of a disaster to muck out homes, remove wet drywall and insulation, cut up downed trees and so on. They often need to be totally self-sufficient, taking care of their own meals and transportation into and out of the affected area. Training is mandatory in order to participate on one of these teams.Please consider serving in this ministry. If you wish to attend either of the training sessions, please notify Helen Newell at jihenew269@aol.com or (610) 584-4057. Checks payable to “EPA-VIM” with the notation “ERT Training” may be sent to Helen at 954 Garfield Ave., Lansdale, PA 19446. St Paul UMC is located at 645 Main St. Avenue, Hellertown, PA 18055
DISTRICT BIRTHDAY CALENDAR
Thanks to Paul Crikelair and Michele Berezowsky, we now have a district clergy birthday calendar with the picture taken at the bishop’s day on the district. The calendar has been distributed to the district. If you need a copy, please contact the district office.
EAST STROUDSBURG UMC OFFERS BETH MOORE CONFERENCE VIA SATELLITE
East Stroudsburg UMC will be offering the Beth Moore: So Long Insecurity conference, April 24th, via satellite, designed for teens and women of all ages. The cost for the day is $20 and will include lunch and refreshments. Beth is known to pepper her teaching with stories and poems written from the perspective of pertinent characters. She communicates with great energy, passion, humor, warmth, and grace. Many have been transformed through her studies. We are the only church in a 75 mile radius offering this event. Start spreading the word! Let’s set a goal to reach 200 women at this event! (Program Schedule has not been released yet.)
MONTHLY REMITTANCE FORMS ON-LINE
The conference office has announced that monthly remittance forms will no longer be mailed out to churches. Instead, congregational representatives may go on-line to the EPA website and download the monthly bill using the church’s five digit code. The form will be available for download on the 8th of the month. This change will save the conference nearly $4000 a year in postage plus the staff time necessary for preparing the mailing on a monthly basis. If your treasurer or finance chair does not have internet access, you may want to ask another member of the congregation to download and print out the remittance form each month. All pastors and treasurers received a letter from the conference outlining the changes. The procedure for accessing the form from the website follows:
Log onto the EPA Conference website: www.epaumc.org
Under “Areas of Interest” click Remittance Form
Enter your church ID Number and click Submit
The form is available as a PDF file for you to print
Your church number is a five digit number and you may need to add a preceding zero. Please let the district office know if you have any questions.
DISTRICT PRAYER NEEDS
CONCERNS
Pastor Mike mother, Shirley, passed away the week before Christmas. He is the pastor of Grace St. Paul's and Meeds Memorial Churches. Please keep Mike and his family in prayer for comfort.
Prayers for:
Pastor Sherry of Salem UMC in Zionsville for healing;
Pastor Russ from Reeders for healing;
Donald, the father of Pastor Carol from Hazleton, for healing, peace and comfort;
Pastor Carrie from Stroudsburg for healing.
The congregation of First UMC of Easton as they hold their final worship service on Sunday, January 10th. Please keep them in prayer as they remember with gratitude the many generations that have met in First Church to worship God.
Feel free to send in your prayer needs – joys and concerns – to the district office for the prayer chain and for inclusion in the district newsletter.
CONFERENCE NEWS
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Annual conference next year will be held May 20-22, 2010, at the new convention center in Lancaster, on the SW District. Be sure to mark your calendars now. Our district will present several candidates for ordination and a number for commissioning. The Rev. Adam Hamilton, of the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, will be the special guest speaker, offering three teaching times during the conference. Ordination will be Saturday evening at 6:30 pm. Please plan to stay as we may have two pastors being ordained and three being commissioned. Your presence will be a visible sign of your support for these pastors.
UPCOMING EVENTS BEYOND THE EPaCONFERENCE
SMALL CHURCH LEADERSHIP TRAINING
"Leadership in the Small Congregation"
2010 Virginia Theological Seminary Summer Collegium, June 23-July 1, 2010 The Rev. Dr. Alice Mann, Alban Institute, will be the keynote speaker. *All costs related to the Collegium, including travel, room and board, books, pulpit supply and child care are paid for by a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. Applications are due by December 15, 2009. For more information email SummerCollegium@vts.edu or download the application at www.vts.edu/education/collegium. This opportunity is only available to 25 clergy each summer and is especially for persons who fit the following criteria:
-Mid - career - not ready to retire or just out of seminary
-Committed to small church ministry
-Have healthy relationships with their congregation and judicatory, and in personal lives
-Will complete the assignments and follow-up
DISTRICT LEADERSHIP
District Lay Leader:
Tom Gibson, Asbury UMC, 1533 Springhouse Road, Allentown, PA 18104; Phone: 610-398-2577; tgibson@asburylv.org
Chair, District Committee on the Superintendency:
The Rev. Blaik Westhoff, First UMC, 501 Market St., Perkasie, PA 18944; Phone: 215-257-4626; pastorblaik@verizon.net
Chair, District Board of Church Location and Building:
The Rev. Dr. Thomas Robinson III, Calvary UMC, 4411 Green Pond Road, Easton, PA 18045; Phone: 610-253-2731; PastorTom@rcn.com
Chair, District Committee on Ordained Ministry
Rev. Bob Shank, Stroudsburg UMC, 547 Main St.,, Stroudsburg, PA 18360; Phone: 570-421-6020; bobshank@epix.net
Registrar, District Committee on Ordained Ministry
Rev. Drena Miller, St. Paul’s UMC, Drums, 341 W. butler Drive, Drums, PA 18222; Phone: 570-788-7779, cell phone: 610-637-5925
Convener, District Transformation Team
The Rev. Karyn Fisher, White Have UMC, P.O. Box 331, White Haven, PA 18661; Phone: 570-443-7153, karyn.fisher2@verizon.net
District Committee on Youth and Young Adult Ministry
Contact the District Superintendent for information
District Emergency Response Coordinator
Greg Ellis, Greg_Ellis@notes.compaid.com
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