FROM THE FOUR WINDS. The Newsletter of the Gulf Central District United Methodist Men 1st Quarter 2016

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Grant Hutchinson
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Forrest recently retired from being Curlew UMC s longest serving UMM president after more than 20 years, Forrest was presented a framed parchment scroll entitled I AM A UNITED METHODIST MAN by the

1 Ahoy, Mates! our fleet is on the prowl, sailing the seas from Crystal River to Braden River, in search of men, ships, and harbors engaging Christian men in the ministries of the Church and its missions. FROM THE FOUR WINDS The Newsletter of the Gulf Central District United Methodist Men 1st Quarter 2016 CURLEW UMM Recognize and Honor their Longest Serving UMM President At their December 6 worship service, the pastor and men at Curlew UMC in Palm Harbor along with the entire church took time out to recognize Forrest Van Voorst. Forrest recently retired from being Curlew UMC s longest serving UMM president after more than 20 years, Forrest was presented a framed parchment scroll entitled I AM A UNITED METHODIST MAN by the Palm Harbor UMM and Chet Klinger, Gulf Central District UMM. After reading about it in the Summer edition of the UMM Magazine, Curlew UMC s new UMM president, Winn Ellenwood, called the Western North Carolina UMM president Neil Brown and was able to obtain parchment #19 of a limited 100 copies for presenting to Forrest. Pastor Bette Jo Foster also presented Forrest with an engraved rock leaf to be added to the Church s Tree of Life. As this photo shows, Forrest was overcome with tears of joy and was humbled by the outpouring of love he received from his pastor and the men who followed in his footsteps. President Winn Ellenwood, at the far right and wearing a necktie, and Phil Lemons (yellow shirt) moderated the presentation. 1

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3 From Palm Harbor United Methodist Church Guess Who is on fire and stoking the flames of the United Methodist Men at Palm Harbor United Methodist Church? Don Hill is the man! Ever since he joined the Palm Harbor United Methodist Church, he has found a bevy of administrators, church leaders, and pastors who were waiting for such a man to bring new fire and new ideas to the churches men s ministries. Palm Harbor UMC has always had thriving ministries in just about every venue of the church s being, including men in mission, men in music, men in service to the church, and men in prayer and scripture. Yet like most successful and thriving and growing churches, these sometimes get overlooked by the many other ministries at the church and there is always room for improvement and there is always room for a new guy to step in and help raise a mission or a ministry to a higher level. Don was thrilled to experience a church that was wide open to his ideas and passion to grow men s discipleships to feed Jesus sheep, to bear fruit on Jesus vine. After getting acquainted with some of the leaders of the church, men like Jim Hudson and Greg Lepper, and others, Don went on the UMM website of the General Commission on UMM and discovered a guidebook he purchased for only $3.00 that opened a world of ideas and tools UMM church units could use to revive and grow their ministries and missions. The book is titled Expand Your Ministry to Men. Don ordered several copies of this booklet to be given to various leaders in the church to better learn and understand the roles and resources for engaging men in the life of the church and community. Expand Your Ministry of Men can be viewed free and downloaded from %20Final.pdf for printing excerpts as needed. Another resource helpful to growing and reviving men s ministries at a church is the Men s Ministry Action Plan. =ProductResults&refPgId= &referrerModule=PRDREB With the distribution of this newsletter, From the Four Winds, we are attaching a copy of Palm Harbor s UMM newsletter for December. In addition we included herein a Men s Ministry article that is appearing in Anona UMC Largo s monthly newsletter in the January. We hope these churches newsletters and our From the Four Winds inspire you and your church to create and distribute your church s own newsletter highlighting the affairs of men in ministry at your church and in your community. If your organization wants help in starting up its own UMM newsletter or articles for its church s newsletter, contact us at or cklinger1@tampabay.rr.com 3

4 Check out the Devotions for January 2016 From the General Conference UMM Jan2016.pdf Meet with the GULF CENTRAL DISTRICT UMMEN - We need men from your church to join us at our next meeting on January 26 at 7 pm at the upstairs conference room at St Paul UMC on 1498 Rosary Rd, Largo, FL RSVP required. Help wanted Area leaders to help UMM groups at churches grow their men s programs. Write Chet Klinger at cklinger1@tampabay.rr.com or call At the November UMM meeting, members learned of the happenings at the Florida Conference level and things to come in the new year. 1. A total of 21 men from the Gulf Central District attended the October 2015 Florida Conference UMM retreats. 2. At two locations (Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale) Leadership Encounters Lead Like Jesus, workshops were held in November. Jim Boesch, Debbie Piper and Pat Pinera were in charge. 3. On January 12, 2016, at 12 p.m., the Decision America Tour: Time to Stand, a Billy Graham event, will be held in Tallahassee. 4. On February 4-7, 2016, a weekend retreat Stepping Up, will occur. Mr. Klinger said further details and registration information will be forthcoming. 5. There will be three Iron Sharpens Iron conferences in Florida in the coming year. The first will be in Ft. Myers, March 12, the second in Clearwater, April 23, and the third in Lakeland, May 21. Nominations of candidates for District UMM offices will be held at the next board meeting, We are looking for candidates to serve as President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and at-large members. The President, or his designate, must attend semi-annual Florida UMM Conference Committee meetings with the FL Conf UMM Board and must attend Florida Annual Conferences. The President, or his designate, must attend United Methodist Cooperative Ministries quarterly meetings. 4

5 Is your church and its men s fellowship chartered yet? Get your charter package and renewal application. WHY CHARTER? For chartering and EMS memberships, contact Joe Strausbaugh at the United Methodist Men in Nashville jstrausbaugh@gcumm.org or call toll free From the Florida UMM Conference - PRAYER NEEDS? Do any of you or your men have prayers of need or praises for your pastors, churches, men s ministries, or families? ummpray@verizon.net At the Florida UMM Conference Committee meeting held September 26, we learned about a book that can be helpful to your organization- Network Participant's Guide: The Right People, in the Right Places, for the Right Reasons - check it out at Amazon.com or call Jim Boesch at Check out the UMM On-Line store New stuff. New shirts. New awards. New logos. New books. COMING TO CLEARWATER FLORIDA April Iron Sharpens Iron National Men's Equipping Conference CLEARWATER, FL Next Steps for Men Saturday, April 23, 2016 from 8:30 AM to 4:55 PM (EDT) Abundant Life Ministries 1550 S Belcher Rd Largo, FL Have questions about 2016 Iron Sharpens Iron National Men's Equipping Conference CLEARWATER, FL? Contact Next Steps for Men 5

6 From the UMM at Anona UMC Largo Chet Klinger This article is appearing in the Anona UMC January newsletter under the heading of Men s Ministry From Fiction to Faith How does a guy get from fiction to fact to faith? How do we go from being lazy to active? From being lured by the idols of the world to the things of heaven? From fear of battles to peace on earth to men of goodwill? We have just come through a year of joy and tragedies. Through another beautiful, yet commercialized, holiday season. We are entering a new year of promise of more intensive commercialization with play-offs and Bowl games, with political campaigns and debates about taxes and overspending, with concerns about the mighty dollar losing its value as foreign governments ramp up their profits on the world market at our expense and US businesses struggle to find jobs for our graduating college students. A dad should have a lot to worry about after a year of news about religious wars and the slaughtering of innocents. We are reminded that Jesus was born into a world not too different from this. Terrorism struck the small village of Bethlehem when Herod s henchmen slaughtered infants in search of the newborn king. An angel told Joseph to take his family to Egypt until this terror died down. Our families and our children are facing frightening news about inhumane evil acts, fierce competition for seats in our government, tense sagas of fictions from movies such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Hunger Games, modern diseases and afflictions, climate change, and secular and religious prophets preaching doom regarding our economy, the stock market, nuclear holocaust, and new rebellions. Our Methodist Church even faces growing challenges when Methodists world-wide gather in Portland in the coming spring. To where do we take our families? To where can we hide until all this blows over? What would Jesus do? What would His disciples do today? As men in Christ, we would listen. We would go away from the crowd and call on God to speak to us our hearts and souls to our church, our sanctuaries, to the wilderness, to a quiet place in our homes, or to a retreat. We would retreat for a time, as Jesus did, to have our Father in heaven strengthen our spirit. We would seek ways to find the fruits of the Spirit Galatians 5: We put on the whole 6

armor of God - Ephesians 6: 10-20. We look to opportunities for men to become immersed in the truth of God s Word, rather than the fictions from false teachers and Hollywood.

7 armor of God - Ephesians 6: We look to opportunities for men to become immersed in the truth of God s Word, rather than the fictions from false teachers and Hollywood. Opportunities abound for men here at Anona on Monday nights and Sunday morning. We would surround ourselves with other men who are deeply involved in God s work with their hands, with their hearts, and with their minds. Our Tuesday morning group. Our mentors, Stephen Ministers, musicians. Men in fellowship gatherings and missions. We would team up with men who have a game plan for becoming better disciples and sharing their knowledge and faith in bringing other men together, strengthening our families, and building our church. We would go to the United Methodist Men Facebook page and see what spiritual revival opportunities arise that can call us from laziness to action, from weakness to strength, from fear to empowerment. Monday nights at 7 pm in January the Anona men will be following the footsteps of boy David to King David. Men (and Women) at Anona and other churches in the District are actively engaged in the Fresh Start probationer mentoring program under the auspices of the Pinellas County Justice system. Men and women on probation need a moral compass to help steer themselves through the amazing maze of complying with probation orders and getting settled and becoming productive citizens back in the community from which they came. Anyone wishing to learn more about this ministry can contact Ian Lennox at ilennox@verizon.net From Faith UMC, Hudson, FL Earl Million Earl Million reported on the recent 23 rd Annual Pumpkin Patch activity held at Faith UMC. This year s Pumpkin Patch fund raising event consisted of the sale of pumpkins, hayrides for the children and a luncheon. It was considered a success and raised money to support a number of the church s projects and missions. From Parrish UMC Ray Louden Parrish UMC has been featuring the Living Nativity for Christmas, a major display using actors and live animals. 7

8 A CALL TO METHODISTS FOR FASTING & PRAYING As lay and clergy delegates begin preparing for the work of the General Conference next spring, Maxie Dunnam, a long standing UMC member and theological seminarian is asking Christians worldwide to fast and pray for General Conference Read more: A How to- reading about fasting: Men s Ministries & Methodist Men s Resources If your organization is willing to partner with the District UMM and/or a half dozen or so churches in your area, please contact us at the Gulf Central District. UNITED METHODIST MEN S SPECIALIST Jim Boesch jimboesch68@gmail.com Call Jim for Live Training and UMM Consulting Right Now Media - Check this out - Bible studies galore; free demo. Monthly subscription rates based upon size of church. Man Alive =- Man in the Mirror s Man Alive and Hanging Out with Jesus on-line classes. If anyone wants to learn more about these Discipleship training programs, contact Ray Louden of Parrish UMC at or Ray at relouden@yahoo.com Seedbed s 7-minute Seminary - A great way to start off your meetings or gatherings - Try the free on-line 7-Minute Seminary Click on Keep track of events going on with the Methodist Men and men s ministries around the Florida Conference. Follow our Four Winds newsletter. For more about the UMM in Florida and at the national level go to these sites - Website: Facebook: General Commission UMM website: 8

9 From UMCM Suncoast Looking for a great mission or ministry to support? Besides the Fresh Start Ministry, our District UMM supports the UMCM Suncoast a district wide mission involving UM churches and the Juvenile Welfare Board and a host of other sponsors. Looking to be the hands and feet of Christ as we come together to refurbish United Methodist Churches in our community? How about helping a church establish a new food pantry? Clearview UMC at th Ave North St Petersburg is looking for some guys who are skilled at light construction and repairs as they need to replace two windows and install a set of double doors. Plus we need an electrician to help change our some lights and someone with plumbing experience to change out a sink. Can the UMM in our area churches get 6-12 guys when needed? UMM is making a big difference in other parts of the state. We can make a big difference here in our area by Improving the appearance and functioning of local UM Churches. 1. Improving the men's morale by coming together for a good cause. 2. Improving the image to our UMM to Pastors and Laity with a new change in direction for the UMM Contact Laura Ice at laura.ice@flumc.org<mailto:laura.ice@flumc.org You can learn more about the UMCM Suncoast and their work at or calling Has your men s ministry or UMM group changed since a year ago? Does your church have a new pastor? A new lay leader? A new administrator? Does your men s group have a new leader, a new board president, or a new treasurer? Have the meeting times and dates and location changed for gathering men together? Please let us know so we can update our database and distribution list for our Four Winds newsletter. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAY ABOUT THE MEN OF YOUR CHURCH? Does your church have men singing in the choir? Does your church have men gathering for coffee or a meal on a regular basis? Are your men working on a mission project to raise money to support a mission of the church? Do you have men attending some form of leadership or discipleship training or Bible study? If yes, why hide what the men of your church are doing to feed Christ s sheep. Tell us about it. Write or call Chet Klinger. The Gulf Central District UMM - BOARD OFFICERS, MEMBERS AND ADVISERS President: Chet Klinger cklinger1@tampabay.rr.com Vice-President: Vacant (Apply call Chet Klinger) 9

Secretary: Ian Lennox 727-517-0806 ilennox@verizon.net Treasurer: George Francey 727-392-1799 gfrancey@tampabay.rr.com Special Projects Coordinator: Herb James 727-536-6698 hljames@aol.

10 Secretary: Ian Lennox Treasurer: George Francey Special Projects Coordinator: Herb James Board Advisers: Ray Louden Parrish UMC District Superintendent: Rev. John Powers Scouting Coordinator: Mark Dodge Nominations of candidates for District UMM offices will be held at the next board meeting, January 26. We are looking for candidates to serve as President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and at-large members. The President, or his designate, must attend semi-annual Florida UMM Conference Committee meetings with the FL Conf UMM Board and must attend Florida Annual Conferences. The President, or his designate, must attend United Methodist Cooperative Ministries quarterly meetings. 10

GCUMM Resource Material Order Form (Revised 11/2016)

GCUMM Resource Material Order Form (Revised 11/2016) Image Name Description Stock # Qty. Price 2 Minute Drill 30 practical Motivations of Faith by Greg Arnold. UMM2001 $2.00 A Chance for Their Bible Stories