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Clergy welcome two elders and 14 probationary members to ranks
WEST LAFAYETTE - More than 400 clergy of the North Indiana Conference met in executive session in Loeb Playhouse Thursday morning at Purdue University to vote on ministerial candidates, remember clergy who have died since last annual conference and recognize those who are retiring, among other inquiries into the status of pastors and those who serve as clergy in extension ministries.
Bishop Woodie W. White, declared the 37th NIC in session, the last session over which he presides in North Indiana.
White told the pastors, "remember those who died and celebrate their lives. And celebrate those coming into a new relationship with the conference as ordained and commissioned."
The clergy welcomed two pastors to the Order of Elder. They included Christopher E. Dare of First UMC, Logansport, and Steven Herschel Gray of Pleasant Grove UMC. Both will be ordained Friday evening during the commissioning and ordination service to be held in Elliott Hall at 7:30 p.m.
Clergy also voted to probationary membership 14 candidates to ordained ministry and the Order of Elder. They included: James Irving Bontrager of Milford, Judith E. Fuller of Frankfort, Shalimar Wray Holderly of Reynolds, Jared C. Jennette of South Bend, Joann Foster Kaiser of Chesterton, Laura Jill Kirkpatrick of Valparaiso, Matthew James Feffler of Farmland, Charles Lee McPeek of Point Isabel, Steven L. McPeek of Converse, Deborah L. Miller of Wanatah, David Wyatt Neuen of Warsaw, Samuel Polito of Hammond, Nancy J. Richmond of Pennville, and Christopher Shane Roberts of Muncie. All 14 were approved to be commissioned as a Probationary Elder in the conference. They will be commissioned Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. in Elliott.
Of interest are the two McPeeks who are father and son. Charles, the father, enrolled in United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, after a 30-year career as a teacher and educator. He graduated with an M.Div. degree this year. Steven, the son, graduated last year from United. Both father and son were recommended for ordained ministry in 2002 by College Avenue UMC in Muncie.
In his remarks to those who take their ministerial vows, Bishop White said, "You don't have to do it alone. If you do, you will probably mess up. These colleagues (pointing to the auditorium filled with clergy) are supportive of you."
The clergy session also accepted the retirement of 12 pastors in full connection and nine who are retiring as local pastors. Retiring Elders include: Stevan R. Haiflich, James D. Jones, Philip W. Lutz, Lloyd H. Miller, Thomas M. Montgomery, John A. Newberg, Connie Payne, Larry Ray, David Carl Schramm, Janet D. Scott, Joseph Seward Wagner and Katherine Lehman Walker. Retiring Local Pastors include: Robert Armstrong, Esther Kershaw, Ralph Klinker, Emerald Joe Miller, Gene E. Rohrer, Jack N. Snell, Titus Speicher Jr., Judy Snyder Stout and David L. Taylor.
NUMBERS 2003 NIC
4,750 members received into UMC
6,403 members removed from UMC
101,267 total membership of NIC
1.6 percent decrease in membership
68,694 average worship attendance
31,668 average church school attendance
2,405 baptisms
Local church expenditures
$3.27 million conference total of that amount
65.09% local church expense
27.82% pastoral support
9.20% benevolences
3.27% connectional support
- Brent Williams
Conference Statistician
Walker says we need to mark our ministry with spiritual gifts
"Everything I ever needed to know, I learned in church," preached the Rev. Katharine Walker during the opening of Holy Communion and Memorial Service Thursday afternoon, June 3 in Elliott Hall.
Walker, pastor of First UMC in West Lafayette, confessed to the more than 1,200 delegates and visitors present, "I didn't know I was going to be a minister. How could God use someone like me?" She said she taught, traveled and even lived in the Caribbean.
When she could be in denial any longer (about her calling to ministry), she said she went to seminary. "I didn't like to study. I didn't like exams and writing papers. But I loved seminary and felt like I should be there."
Others knew they were called by God from the first, she said. There was no other way for them. They followed their first love so all other loves could be true, she said.
We forget the power of Christ is within us. As Christian, we sometimes have a love-hate relationship with God and the church. But in the church, we find curing as well as caring.
"This is where we find our reasons for living as well as loving. God has grace, love and instruction for all of us," she said.
Walker then told a story about growing up in the front pew of a Topeka, Ind. church. She sang in a girl's choir which her mother directed. She said, "I sang with joy and enthusiasm, which means loud. I always had a place to sing my song."
She also said she has always loved to laugh. "A funny situation can tickle me for days. By some, my sense of humor may be warped."
She related the story of making a mistake during communion. "I laughed and life went on," she said.
Using the text of 2 Peter 1:3-11, Walker said the writer knew about the strength that we find in the church. "God's divine power has given us everything needed," she said.
"Unfortunately, we forget this or don't believe this for life and godliness. We hear this and let our churches dry up. Some of our churches have put their godliness into storage. I remind you, that we are to change this world, through faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, affection and love. These are God's expectations."
She said, we all fall short of what God wants us to do. But we can keep on keeping on as God wants us to do. We pray for God's people everywhere.
"Those dear to us, we remember today, have blazed trails for us a beacon of light in a sometimes confusing church. We can use those spiritual gifts to be effective," she said.
"Anyone who asks can gain these things at the forgiveness of sins. At our best we are forgiven sinners. We are the church of the second chance.
"God calls us into unique ministry as clergy, laity and clergy spouses.
"Today we stand in this line of saints thanking God for the church of Jesus Christ that laughs and loves," she concluded.
During the service of remembrance, those who died since last annual conference were honored. Ministers: Edwin Helm, James Babbitt, William Alexander, Jay Taylor, J.C. White, Dennis Hensley, Susan Duncan Messenger, Edward Boase, James Yater, Virgil Bjork, Richard Lyndon, Lyle Loomis and Homer Lynch. Spouses: Beulah Marie Harrison Bradish, Madonna Kathryn Overmyer, Leslie Stansell, Ruth Leona Clark Schomberg Eppley and Luella Cecelia Martin Bradford. Surviving spouses: Violet Bear, Naomi Shumaker, Evelyn Hayhurst Carlson, Garnet Ludden, Emily Sapp, Lillian Janette Wilson, Neva Weimer Maynard and Jane Flockhart. - DRGangler
Plenary Session One:
Nominations, introduction, retirement and travel to the Holy Land
"God is good. All the time. All the time. God is good." proclaimed Bishop White, as he opened the first plenary meeting of the 37th session of the North Indiana Conference.
Fenstermacher nominated for endorsement to episcopacy
The Rev. Frank Beard, head of the North Indiana Conference General Conference delegation, nominated for endorsement to the episcopacy the Rev. Mark Fenstermacher by the North Indiana Conference. This endorsement will be voted on Saturday morning. Fenstermacher serves as senior pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Elkhart. Bishops will be elected at the North Central Jurisdictional Conference in Davenport, Iowa in mid-July.
Griffith introduced as new executive assistant
Bishop White introduced the Rev. Donald N. Griffith, retired minister of the South Indiana Conference, as the new interim executive assistant to the bishop. He takes the position of retiring executive assistant the Rev. Dr. James D. Jones, clergy member of the North Indiana Conference. Currently, Griffith is director of world missions at St. Luke's UMC in Indianapolis. Griffith takes office after the South Indiana Conference.
During his 40 years under pastoral appointment, he served congregations in Jeffersonville, Bloomington, Indianapolis, Greenfield and New Albany.
Griffith, a native of Colorado, was reared in Princeton, Ind., and is married to Marilyn Bartlett Griffith, a native of Evansville, Ind. They have three adult children and five granddaughters.
Bishop's assistant to retire to Florida
When the curtain closes on the South Indiana Annual Conference next week at Bloomington, the Rev. James D. Jones, executive assistant to the bishop, and his wife Judy will be headed south for their retirement home in Naples, Fla.
Jones, 62, completes a 41-year call to active ministry that began in 1963 when he held student appointments during college with the Society of Friends near Alexandria and Greentown.
He recently told Hoosier United Methodists Together, "I am ready for a new chapter in life. It is neat to enter a new phase of life being led by a dream rather than pushed by a problem."
Jones, clergy member of the North Indiana Conference since 1971 as Elder, has served churches at Decatur First and St. Mark, South Bend Grace, Fort Wayne Calvary, Winchester, Elkhart First and South Bend Grace. He served a four-year term as Fort Wayne District Superintendent, before becoming Executive Assistant to the Bishop White in 1996.
To celebrate his retirement, a North Conference reception was held at Grace UMC in South Bend last Saturday afternoon.
Indiana Area Foundation awards new ordinands with travel to Holy Land
Clyde Fields, executive director of the Indiana Area Foundation, granted travel awards to the two new ordinands, Christopher Dare and Steven Gray. Each will be able to join a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with the certificate presented by Fields. Bishop White expressed his appreciation to foundation for these special grants.
Numbers to remember
Brent Williams, statistician of the NIC, reported only good things from a written report.
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2003 was the first year the North Indiana Conference raised more than $100 million for mission and ministry in NIC, across the United States and around the world,
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289 churches received one or more new members last year on profession of faith,
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164 churches showed increases in membership, and
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186 churches increased in worship attendance.
Budget cuts announced
Dr. Carolyn Johnson of West Lafayette as chairwoman of the NIC Council on Finance and Administration, announced these three significant cuts in the 2005 NIC budget.
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Council on Ministry decreased $10,000 to $436,532.
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Board of Pensions, Health Insurance and moving expenses under unfunded liability to $0.
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Vision investment cut $15,000 to $798,419.
Laity session:
Transformed leadership is this year's goal
Jack Dwiggins, the North Indiana Conference's lay leader for 2 « more days, welcomed the laity to the 37th annual conference during Thursday morning's laity session.
"We look forward to new challenges," he said before the sessions' moment for meditation.
The Rev. Cindy Reynolds, conference director of ministries, gave the keynote message, which centered on the theme of transformations. "God has moved into the neighborhood and is making all things new," she said addressing a full South Ballroom.
The message, based on Revelations 21:3-5 and Romans 12:2, shared about being transformed and having the spirit of God come upon all people. "He is pouring out His spirit on you," she said.
"Transformation means change. I'm not talking about changing your worship times. I'm not talking about changing the style of your worship."
Ed Fenstermacher, associate director of church development and revitalization, shared with the laity an update on the conference's 2010 plan. "Many of us will be called to be missionaries right here."
Citing a study for the North Conference, 6 out of 10 people are unchurched. "The fields are right for the harvest," said Fenstermacher.
Fenstermacher shared with the laity that the 2010 plan's purpose is to reach the unchurched by starting new services, off-site congregations and other venues. "God is calling people to be transformed leaders," he said. "God can use you. God loves to use ordinary persons to do extraordinary things." - MOates
Conference celebrates life and ministry of Bishop White
The North Indiana Conference celebrated the past 12 years with Bishop White during a "live" telecast patterned after the once-popular TV show "This is Your Life." The "telecast" was presented live from Elliott Hall on Thursday night.
The evening was hosted by the Rev. Michelle Cobb, Lafayette district superintendent, and the Rev. Jack Hartman of Muncie.
Old pictures of Whites' earlier years were projected on to Elliott Hall's big screens. The video presentation was produced by the Rev. Mark Gough of Fort Wayne.
Remembering his early childhood in Harlem, a neighborhood of New York City, White shared that he had once danced at the Lincoln Theater at age five. He also shared the tender moments of life when he told more than 1,000 people in the "television audience" how he courted Kim in a red Renault - her car. Bishop and Mrs. White celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary Thursday night, too.
Knowing the importance of the Children and Poverty Task Force, New Hope United Methodist Church of Anderson have dedicated a children's library in honor of Mrs. White.
"When we came here, said White, Bryan was only four years old. I traveled with him a lot over the years. What I discovered was how he humanized me to a lot of people. I got to talk to a lot of people that probably would not have talked with me. It reminded me of the Scripture about a 'little child shall lead them.' He made a lot of experiences easier for people to reach out to me," White said.
Bryan, now 16, joined the Whites onstage. Hartman gave Bryan a gift certificate to Best Buy, an electronics store.
Next the audience heard a voice from one of the White's four daughters. Daughters Sharon and Valerie and their families joined the Whites on stage. Kimberly was at home in Indianapolis with a sick child. Hope lives in Atlanta.
White said the most influential person in his earlier years was Ed King, his seminary roommate in the early 1960s at Boston University. By phone from Mississippi, King said, "My good Christian friend Woodie said I had a very narrow definition of church. Once Woodie made me realize that the church was all churches in the South." King, now retired, said White came down from Detroit to Mississippi and left his influence on the church in the South. "Now Mississippi is one of the most integrated conferences in the South," said King.
Guests were interspersed among musical selections by the conference jazz praise group.
White was appointed to his first charge in Detroit in a church struggling with its racial divisions. Later he served 15 years as the first general secretary of a newly created General Commission on Religion and Race.
White was elected to the episcopacy in 1984. He said he never wanted to be bishop. But others thought he needed to put himself in that position. The Black Methodist for Church Renewal endorsed White for the episcopacy. He served the Illinois Area from 1984 to 1992.
Dixie Arter, a laywoman of Fort Wayne, and Jack Dwiggins, outgoing NIC lay leader of Brookston, recalled White's early days as bishop of Indiana. Dwiggins recalled presenting White with a Purdue jacket. Dwiggins also recalled discovering his own white privilege and racism through workshops in the conference.
In response to racism in the church, White said, "We aren't where we need to be but we aren't where we used to be."
The Rev. Marcus Blaising, a former executive assistant to White, shared the long hours the bishop put into sermon and meeting preparation. "You have survived and strived." Blaising told the bishop, "I hope after you leave you can say, 'I left part of my heart, back home again in Indiana.'"
The Rev. Cindy Reynolds, now director of ministries for NIC, began working closer to White as a district superintendent and affirmed that White does know how to make appointments.
Near the end of the two-hour celebration, an angel named Harold from "heaven" with a strong British accent delivered special greetings.
Other goodbyes were heard from representatives of the NIC youth and finally, from the Rev. Dr. James D. Jones, White's executive assistant.
A reception followed in the Union. -DRGangler
Welcome new members!
Each year the annual conference welcomes new lay members. Some are substitutes for regular lay members or have been nominated by their church for a quadrennium. Hoosier United Methodist News caught up at the new member orientation with four new members who are attending their first annual conference.
Rita Lowder of Kokomo First UMC was nominated by her pastor. "He thought it would be good experience."
With tons of paper and a huge binder, Lowderwas reviewing her materials earlier in the week and thought the budgets were one of the most overwhelming parts of the conference.
B.J. Siefert of Kokomo St. Luke's UMC is a teacher and is on "summer vacation." But he also is looking into the ministry as a second career. "I just got lucky. Annual conference is the thing to go to."
He's taking the conference in stride and is working on breaking it down into smaller groups. "You can't try to take it in all at once," says Siefert.
Ron Fites of Ebenezer UMC is dairy farmer who volunteered for the position. "It's going to be a learning experience. Everything's laid out in here," he said, tapping the manual.
Fites talked with Ebenezer's former lay member. "She laid everything out for me," he said. "The first time you are here you have no clue what you're going to be involved in. The next conference gets easier."
Ally Matt - and her seeing-eye dog Cooper - of West Lafayette St. Andrew UMC, is preparing for graduate school and is considering going into youth ministry. Because of that, her pastor nominated her. "I'm just hoping I get to all the places I am supposed to be," said Matt. "I'm only involved in a small portion. To see the whole church functioning will be interesting." - M. Oates