|
HOME
| e-HUM
News
|
e-HUM
ANNOUNCEMENTS
| SUBSCRIBE
|
|
|
e-HUM is a free service of Indiana Area United Methodist Communications, www.inareaumc.org. Subscribers will receive late-breaking news, announcements and Church resources via e-mail. We welcome your comments, please direct to e-HUM editor at ehumeditor@inareaumc.org. |
 |
Children to March to Indiana StatehouseChildren from North and South Indiana conference congregations will join Bishop Woodie W. White in a march in Indianapolis on April 26 to raise awareness for children's issues. The "United for Children" march will start from Riley Hospital for Children. Registration begins at 11 a.m., with a sack lunch provided. Around 12:30 p.m., marchers will organize by districts and begin walking toward the Statehouse at 12:45 p.m. A rally at the Statehouse will follow from 1:45 to 2:15 p.m. Governor Frank O'Bannon is scheduled to address the gathering, as are several state legislators. The march is part of the Children and Poverty initiative launched by the United Methodist Council of Bishops. The event is sponsored by Bishop White, Clarian Health and the North and South Indiana conferences. Registration is required and due by April 1. For information or registration, contact Teresa Witkoske at the North Indiana Conference office (800/783-5138) or Sandy Harlan or Lourdes Gonzales at the South Indiana Conference office (800/919-8160). Churches work to free Hoosiers from tobaccoWanting to free Hoosiers from tobacco addiction, representatives from several mainline denominations, including United Methodists, are joining forces to unite tobacco control coalitions, community organizations and church leaders from across. To enable this move, North United Methodist Church at 3808 N. Meridian St. in Indianapolis will host a Unity Prayer Breakfast on Monday, April 7, from 8 to 10 a.m. Presenters will include health care professionals, civic leaders, parish nurses and clergy from several denominations. Organizers hope to rally support to fully fund the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program and to support the enactment of ordinances across Indiana to ban smoking in all public places, including restaurants and bars. For more information, contact Millie Lewis at 317/291-3394. Reservations for the Unity Prayer Breakfast need to be made by March 31. Sen. Lugar shares concerns about Iraq with home churchINDIANAPOLIS (UMNS) - U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) told his home congregation that this will be a "fateful week" as the prospects of war and peace are played out in relation to Iraq. Lugar spoke Sunday, March 9, to more than 400 fellow members at St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Indianapolis during a noon "Lugar Luncheon," part of the church's 50th anniversary celebration. With more than 200,000 U.S. troops deployed to the Middle East and ready for a showdown with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Lugar, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, outlined the past 50 years of U.S. history in the context of the current crisis with Iraq and terrorism. He told the gathering that 50 years ago he was on his way to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar and the Cold War was a new reality, with 13,000 Soviet nuclear warheads pointed at U.S. targets. What was just as awesome back then, said Lugar, was that the U.S. had a doctrine of firing back with nuclear weapons if attacked. A half-century ago, allied nation-states worked together under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and countries at odds with each other had official diplomatic channels to work through, he said. Today, said Lugar, the United States faces an enemy in al-Qaida, an extreme Islamic fundamentalist group with no official channels and no center of authority but that is international in scope. "Our fear is if terrorists ever succeed in getting into their hands nuclear weapons or nuclear materials, things will change abruptly," Lugar said. If the United States also decides to take military action against Saddam without U.N. support, "most nations will come back to support us in Iraq," Lugar said. When and if this happens, then "we need to welcome them back," he said. The United States needs to continue talks with North Korea as well, he said. "They still have 80,000 weapons pointed at Seoul." He disagrees with President Bush's refusal to talk with North Korean officials. "We can't let these weapons proliferate," he said. He also answered a question about his Christian faith in relationship to his role as senator. "Our faith is a living faith. It's the way we conduct ourselves, and it comes from our roots. My roots are here," he said, looking around the room. "We need to tell the truth, offer our best and listen to advice. We need to stand up and make wise judgments. We must understand our mortality. Faith speaks to our worries. And we need to pray a lot." - Daniel R. Gangler Pulling off miracles 50 years runningSome say it was hard work and persistence; others say it was a miracle. Fifty years ago a new congregation met at Broad Ripple's American Legion Hall in north Indianapolis with neither pastor, nor building, nor outside support. Today it is acclaimed as the fastest growing United Methodist congregation in the north. The 5,000-member St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Indianapolis celebrated its 50th anniversary Sunday, March 9. And the miracles continues. Senior Pastor Kent Millard called March a Miracle Month for this congregation that averages 3,300 in weekly attendance with 11 worship services. He announced that since the first of the month, more than $430,000 of a $1 million goal had been raised towards the building of a new youth building. He encouraged members to give gifts in the 50s from fifty cents on up. One member has already given a matching grant of $500,000. Acclaimed to be the fastest growing United Methodist church in the north, St. Luke's ranks 37th in size. The largest UMC is Windsor Village in Houston, Texas with more than 16,000 members. Internet learning opportunities aboundLifelong learning improves our faith as we seek, search and refine our God-given abilities and spiritual gifts, and as we utilize them in service to others. Your United Methodist Church provides numerous opportunities to further life-long learning. Learning opportunities for Hoosier United Methodists abound on the Internet. Check out the North Indiana Conference Web site (www.nicumc.org), the South Indiana Conference Web site (www.sicumc.org) and here at the Indiana Area Web site (www.inareaumc.org), Each posts learning opportunities for laity on these pages: www.sicumc.org/leadership_academy/default.asp www.nicumc.org/crosspoints/ (Click on "Bishop's Convocation on Evangelism" and "Revitalizing the Small Church.") Bookmark these pages so you can easily return to them. Explore these three Hoosier UMC sites for other helpful information and interesting articles about United Methodists and their faith experiences. For news and information, subscribe to the free e-HUM (electronic Hoosier United Methodist News) by sending a blank email to add@inareaumc.org. Compiled by Russell Phillips, Fulton UMC, Fulton, Ind. School enrollment grows in Sierra LeoneSince peace has come to Sierra Leone and the U.N. soldiers help to keep the peace, residents are returning to the Kono area. The schools in the area have reopened. However, in Koidu, the United Methodist Secondary School meets at the Primary Girls School because U.N. soldiers continue to use the high school buildings as barracks. Koidu School reopened in January 2002 with 115 students. The enrollment now stands at more than 600 students. Both private and government organizations have provided about 225 chairs and desks for the school. Classes meet in unfavorable conditions. Three are held in buildings while one meets under a tree. Seven classes are held in a temporary building. Marion District has recently renewed their partnership with the Koidu Secondary School. For information on other Operation Classroom projects, log on to www.gbgm-umc.org/operationclassroom or call Joseph or Carolyn Wagner at 765-324-2556. Operation Classroom is a mission supported by the Indiana Area. |
 |
Deacons, diaconal ministers connect church to worldDALLAS (UMNS) - Seven years ago, The United Methodist Church abandoned its one-lane route to the ordained ministry and replaced it with a "Y." The poet, Robert Frost, might have anticipated the consequences. In his verse, "The Road Not Taken," the poet said, in part: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." About 440 of those who chose the new road "less traveled by" to United Methodist ordination converged on Dallas Feb. 27-March 2 for their fourth international convocation. Theirs is a permanent order of ministry made up of women and men (predominantly women) known as deacons. In the legalese of the church's Book of Discipline, deacons are ordained to "a lifetime ministry of word and service to both the community and the congregation in a ministry that connects the two." After seven years, the church has 1,106 ordained deacons and another 1,085 candidates for ordination. As of Jan. 1, 1997, the primary feeder route to this new ministerial order has been diaconal ministry. This ministry was created in 1976 for laywomen and laymen to be consecrated for service within the church and not be required to pursue the education and evaluation necessary for ordination. But also as of Jan. 1, 1997, this route was dead-ended; no new candidates were accepted. - John Lovelace Bread for the World urges Congress to increase poverty development fundsIn its 2003 Offering of Letters campaign, Bread for the World is urging the U.S. Congress to increase poverty-focused development assistance to poor countries. The Christian advocacy organization is enlisting congregations from 45 denominations, including The United Methodist Church, in a letter-writing campaign supporting the Millennium Challenge Account, that would nearly double the amount of money the United States gives to international development assistance - but only to countries that meet certain eligibility criteria. For more information, log on to www.bread.org. National cooperatives ministries convocation set for St. LouisST. LOUIS (UMNS) - "Pathways with Promise" will be the theme of the sixth National Consultation on Cooperative Projects, Ministries and Parishes Nov. 13-16 in St. Louis. The consultation is designed for ministry leaders who are exploring or working in cooperative arrangements, whether in rural or urban settings. It will occur in conjunction with the Rural Chaplains Association meeting Nov. 13-18. Details about the Rural Chaplains Association meeting are available from Harold McSwain at hwmcswain@juno.com or 614-882-6067. |
|
Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit now in Grand RapidsThe Dead Sea Scrolls are currently in a special exhibition organized by the Public Museum of Grand Rapids (Mich.) and the Israel Antiquities Authority. From now through May 30 the Public Museum will display these world-famous scrolls. First discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd, the Scrolls include some of the earliest surviving books of the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament - written more than 2,000 years ago. A tour to the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit is scheduled for Saturday, April 12 leaving the Salem UMC in Granger, Ind., at 8:45 a.m. and return around 6 p.m. Cost is $25 per person and includes museum admission. For more information and reservations, contact Dave Hughes at 574-674-5867. Pine Creek Camp needs a cookPine Creek Camp starts its Lafayette Great Banquet weekends program this month. This is a hardworking group, who have put in many volunteer hours helping improve the camp. Program Director James Sells needs a cook for the weekends of March 21-23, and 28-30. The camp is serving three meals on Friday and Saturdays and two meals on Sunday. Menus are simple. Cooks are paid hourly, and wages depend on experience and skill. Training provided. For details call James Sells, program director, Pine Creek Camp, phone 765/385-2260. Camp seeking Jr. High Program DirectorCamp Adventure, near Pierceton, Ind., is seeking a Jr. High Program Director for its Impact 2818 program this summer. The Jr. High Program Director will be employed by Impact 2818 and serve as director for Camp Adventure. Daily responsibilities will include all program aspects of the camp. A full description of this position is available online at www.inareaumc.org/job.htm. For more information, contact Shane Hartman at 574/834-2212, ext.1015. Fremont changes e-mail addressEffective March 15, Fremont UMC has changed its e-mail address to fremontumc@juno.com. |
 for more details and additional events, visit our Happenings page. |
|
You can contact the North Indiana Conference office You can contact the South Indiana Conference office The Lord's Prayer with Cindy Gackenheimer
|
|
"e-HUM" copyright 2003 by
Indiana Area United Methodist Communications. |
