Letters from the Lakeshore

Transcription

1 NORTHWEST DISTRICT OFFICE UMC April 2018 Volume 12, Issue 3 Inside this issue: Transitions 2 A Message from the District Superintendent 3 Northwest District Conference Sunday, April 29 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm Storm Lake UMC District Calendar April Operational Team District Nominations Mission u Orders Event Another Set of Eyes Church Dashboard Wildly Important Goal Please join your District Ministry Team for a time of worship, vision casting and business of the District Conference. We will have a time of discussion about Annual Conference. There will be a special time of celebration for the ministry of District Superintendent, Tom Carver. All Pastors and Lay Members to Annual Conference should be present for our time of celebration and vision casting! See you on the 29th! Laity Day CEF 8 A Conversation with Bishop Laurie About Commission on the Way Forward Report Saturday, April 21 9:30 am to 12:00 pm Cherokee, St Paul s UMC (531 W Main St, Cherokee, Iowa) Bishop Laurie Haller and members of the Iowa Conference General Church Delegation will lead a special presentation and conversation about the Commission on the Way Forward proposals. These proposals address the way(s) in which we might maintain church unity concerning human sexuality issues. Our new district superintendent, Ron Carlson, will be attending and it will give everyone an opportunity to meet him.

2 Page 2 District Superintendent Transitions: Two Ways to Share About Your Church As we transition as a district from Tom to Ron, we want to take a moment for each church to share about themselves in two ways: the Natural Church Development (NCD) inventory and an opportunity for narrative sharing through Survey Monkey. We hope that each church will complete both the NCD inventory and the Survey Monkey questionnaire by July 1. Natural Church Development Inventory The Natural Church Development (NCD) inventory measures overall vitality of a church along with the specific vitality in 8 areas of the church. We will use these NCD inventories to identify opportunities for New Communities of Faith and to adjust our strategies as a district. Additionally, you will receive a summary report which can provide insight into your current reality as a church. Your church will receive a packet of 30 questionnaires to be filled out by a representative cross-section of your church. You must have at least 10 surveys completed, and no more than 30. Additionally, the pastor completes an administrative questionnaire. When completed, send all the completed forms to Dee Dee Sobotka at the Conference Center. We are utilizing district askings to cover the cost of the surveys. Please contact your Field Outreach Minister, Ryan Christenson (Ryan.Christenson@iaumc.org) with any questions. Survey Monkey Questionnaire We also hope to hear from you in narrative format about how you view your church through an online questionnaire. The pastor and at least one non-staff lay person need to complete the questionnaire at WFSY9NF. There is no way to save your responses online midway through answering the questionnaire, so here are the questions: What is the best thing about your church? What is the church's best ministry for connecting with people outside your church in the community? What is one thing your church needs to change about itself as soon as possible? What are the "land mines" or "hot topics" that the incoming District Superintendent needs to know about? Does your church have a clear, concise, and shared vision? If so, what is it? Does your church have an intentional discipleship process? If so, what is it? What day(s) and time(s) do you worship as a Church? Where is your church in its lifecycle? And why do you choose that option? Please contact Judi Calhoon (Judi.Calhoon@iaumc.org) with any questions about the Survey Monkey Questionnaire. Thank you, in advance, for participating in these two ways of sharing about your church.

3 Page 3 A Message from your District Superintendent Relationships are everything. It's hard to believe that it's been almost 6 years since I first came to the Northwest District to serve as superintendent. One of the greatest blessings of my life has been the relationships that I have developed with people in Storm Lake and in all the churches and communities across the 16 counties of the district. One of the things I've learned in my time is that the task of a pastor (and really any follower of Jesus) is to raise up disciples who can carry on when we're gone. Now that I can see the end of my time serving in this capacity I can really feel how I need to live it out. In the coming months my plan is to invest my time in people who can carry on after I'm gone. First and foremost, that will be Ron Carlson who is coming to be the next superintendent. We have talked together several times and I have great confidence in him. He has a powerful testimony of how God has worked in his life. His desire to serve others is evident. He has already started to sit in on meetings with the Bishop s cabinet and developing relationships there. In order to begin developing trusting relationships with people on the district we are setting up opportunities for Ron to be with people and listen to their stories. I ll be inviting small groups to meet with Ron in April. Then Ron will be able at the April 21 meeting at Cherokee with Bishop Laurie Haller to discuss the Commission on a Way Forward report. And finally, for all churches, Ryan Christenson has prepared an online survey for churches in the district to share their stories with Ron. Then we are planning on meetings in August for Ron to meet all the pastors in the district. In addition to Ron, there are other leaders who will carry on the ministry of Jesus after I m gone. That includes Ryan Christenson as our Field Outreach Minister and Judi Calhoon in the district office. We also have the District Operational Team in place that are meeting monthly using the Spiritual Leadership Incorporated (SLI) process of loving, learning and leading to carry out a strategy for helping each other see Jesus and become more like him. Members of that team are: Dean Gabhart, Chris Childs, Jena Manchester, Elad Shapira, Beth Odor, and Karen Day, in addition to Ryan and myself. Patty Halse of Rock Rapids is ready to give leadership to a revived District Connectional Ministries Council that will give overall directional guidance to our work together. Relationships are everything. Easter is a time when we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus. But a big part of the story is Jesus preparing his disciples to carry on after he is gone. Now I don t pretend to be Jesus, but I do want to follow his example. It s not my mission that needs to carry on, its his mission. We face major challenges as a church and as a society. The strength of the relationships we have with God and other people is what will get us through. Relationships are everything. Helping each other see Jesus in become more like him is the only way to save this world. I encourage you to think about the people who will carry on when you're gone and invest your life in them. Grace and Peace, Follow Tom on Follow his blog at moonshadowprea cher.com

4 Page 4 April 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Easter Sunday Tom Cabinet District Staff Meeting Ryan FOM meeting District Staff Retreat Tom & Ryan in Des Moines Laity Day Bishop at Cherokee April Birthdays & Anniversaries 4 Gail Streyffeler 8 Scott Peterson 10 Kathryn Rice 13 Lynn & Sally Potter 13 Gary & Jan Fridley 14 Cory Allard 17 F. Peter Morlock 17 Catie & John Newman 23 Kris Frank 23 Todd Schlitter 26 Sarah Rohret 27 Russ & Karen Burnett District Conference Tom Cabinet Orders Event Operational Team Please keep Jim Shirbroun and his family in your prayers. Jim s father passed away on March 3. Please continue to keep Reba Williams in your prayers. Reba is fighting cancer. She is the daughter of Lana and Jon Williams. Lana is the pastor at Graettinger-Terril. Please keep all our pastors in your prayers. Especially those who have been dealing with health issues. Please keep all churches and clergy that will be going through transition this year.

5 Page 5 District Operational Team The Northwest District Operational Team, is the group tasked with engaging in Loving, Learning, and Leading in the Northwest District of The United Methodist Church. This group makes up a team of laity and clergy who partner with the District Superintendent to provide the adaptive leadership needed to discover and address the challenges and opportunities of the Church today. The District Operational Team typically meets once a month for six to eight hours in locations throughout the district. We spend our time engaging in three critical practices: Loving Growing in our love of God and each other so that we develop a deeper foundation of trust Learning By reading books and other materials, we learn together how best to find possible solutions to the challenges we face. Leading Guided by our Mission, Vision, and Values, we develop a System and Strategy to leverage our greatest opportunities for positive transformation in the district. The District Superintendent will build a team of six to twelve people of diverse spiritual and leadership gifts. People will not be selected due to position but rather her or his ability to complement a healthy team. Current members of the Operation Team are Dean Gabhart, Chris Childs, Jena Manchester, Elad Shapira, Beth Odor, and Karen Day, in addition to Ryan Christenson and Tom Carver If you are interested in serving on the NW DOT, please fill out the application on the webpage and submit this to Judi via by May. Serving on the District and Conference Level Do you have a passion to serve on a bigger level than just your local church? We have several openings on the District and Conference level that we need to have people with passion serving. If you have a desire to help the larger church, please contact Judi at the District Office and the District Nominating Committee can let you know how you can best serve where your passions are.

6 Page 6 Mission U Being BOLD for Christ! That s the theme of this year s United Methodist Women Mission u, and we invite Iowa women, men, youth, and children to share in a spiritual study on Embracing Wholeness, or your choice of study of the social issue What About Our Money? A Faith Response, or the geographical study of the Missionary Conferences of the U.S. Mission u qualifies for CEUs for pastors or professionals. We have two dates from which you may choose: Summer Mission u, July 15-17, Sunday afternoon 2:30 p.m. to Tuesday afternoon; or Fall Mission u, October 19-21, Friday afternoon 3:30 p.m. to Sunday afternoon. Both are held at Iowa Valley Community College in Marshalltown, with several reasonably-priced hotels nearby for the two overnights. In the summer, we have schools for children and youth, studying Money Matters! In the fall, Korean classes will be held. This year our classes for Latinas will travel around to gatherings of Hispanic women. For a brochure and registration form, click on this link on the Conference Website: missionuformerlysocm. Your local United Methodist Women also have the information. Ask anyone who s attended: it s a wonderful experience to spend a couple of days learning, singing, worshiping, and eating delicious food, with United Methodist Women from around Iowa. Be BOLD! Come to Mission u! Spring 2018 Order of Elders, Order of Deacons, Fellowship of Local Pastors and Associate Members Event Thursday, April 26th from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Ames, First United Methodist Church (516 Kellogg Avenue, Ames, IA ) In the midst of personal and corporate transitions, anxiety is always part of the experience. Actually, life itself demands navigating the challenges of anxiety across the entire journey and responding to a call into ministry simply does not make one immune to its impact. This gathering will provide for opportunities to learn about various categories of anxiety (including that it is not all bad ), your particular anxiety personality type, optimal ways to cope and grow through anxious times of change, reducing detrimental emotional reactivity, and becoming a centered, grounded follower of Christ in daily life. It is one thing to hope to be that nonanxious presence as a leader in a system, but understanding how we might best mitigate the debilitative effects of toxic anxiety and most creatively and constructively work with the whole range of our anxiety will be the focus of this day. An anxious guy himself, Mark Minear is a licensed psychologist who has provided services, both counseling and assessment (including clergy candidate evaluations), through the Des Moines Pastoral Care Center for the past six years. As a recorded Quaker pastor, Mark is especially interested in working with ministers and their families, integrating spiritual and psychological processes for healing and empowerment, and utilizing a mindfulness approach for the transformational work of therapy.

7 Page 7 Another Set of Eyes Just a reminder to all SPRCs and Pastors! ALL Pastors and Staff Parish Relations Committees must fill these out each year. They are available on the Northwest District Forms page of the Conference Website. Another Set of Eyes is available online. They are due back in the District Office by May 1st, but it can be done earlier!! PLEASE NOTE: The "Another Set of Eyes" form was updated on 1/30/18. If you downloaded the form prior to that date, please do so again. You'll find new information on the "Wildly Important Goal". You will be able to find video training on Another Set of Eyes on the District webpage, under SPRC Resources. The videos will be available later this week. Church Dashboard The church dashboard is available to all churches. It is where officers for the local church are updated, information about upcoming events can be uploaded, Charge Conference Forms are located here (they are not available yet!) and things like address, pictures, worship times can be updated. The information is tied to the conference and district websites, so if someone wants to know if you have an event coming up or what time worship is they can look and find the information. Every church needs to make sure their dashboard is up-to-date! Please make sure that your information is up-to-date!! Wildly Important Goal Bring a team to the discipleship workshop coming up April 7, 10 am to 3 pm at Sioux City, Wesley UMC. Contact Ryan Christenson by Wednesday, April 4 to participate. Host a workshop or have Ryan meet with your discipleship team.

8 Page 8 Northwest District Office UMC 701 Seneca St, Ste 2 Phone: Fax: Helping each other see Jesus, and become more like Him. northwest.iaumc.org/ Laity Day Laity Day will be held on Saturday, April 14, 2018, at Urbandale, Aldersgate United Methodist Church th St., Urbandale, IA for 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM There will be coffee and fellowship when you arrive, worship, displays, Cokesbury, missional presentations, networking lunch, and most important and two presentations with Bishop Laurie, each including a Q and A session! Laity Day is FREE! Christians Engaged in Faith Formation October 9-12 Des Moines, Iowa Curious Church In October of this year, Christians Engaged in Faith Formation (CEF) will hold its bi-annual conference, Curious.Church, and we d love your help in getting the word out about it. CEF ( is a professional association for people in faith formation roles, whether as volunteers or as full-time. Most of the members are United Methodist. This year, we will celebrate our 50th anniversary during the event. CEF was originally started at the General Board of Discipleship to connect people in Christian education positions, and our core audience continues to be people like Christian educators, children s ministers, and Directors of Discipleship. Curious.Church will be held October 9-12, 2018 in Des Moines, Iowa at the Marriott Downtown Hotel. In addition to nearly 100 workshops, the conference will feature: Brian McLaren, a popular author and speaker John Roberto, one of the foremost experts on intergenerational faith formation Mary Scifres, a worship and leadership author, speaker, teacher and coach Three United Methodist Bishops Bishop Haller (Iowa), Bishop Fierro Harvey (Louisiana), and Bishop Smith Malone (East Ohio) Carrie Newcomer, a popular Christian musician