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| e-pistle from Bishop Mike |
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May 20, 2005 "The Sending Wall"This past Sunday was a special day for me. I was invited to share in the 40th anniversary celebration of Good Shepherd UMC in Fort Wayne, Indiana, a church where I once served as senior pastor in the 1980's (I was appointed from there in 1990 by Bishop Hodapp to serve as Lafayette District Superintendent.). It is always fun to go back and reconnect with friends, and it is probably true that the longer a pastor has been gone, the more fondly we are remembered! It was a good day. As a part of that anniversary celebration, I was invited to dedicate their new "Sending Wall." I had never heard of such a thing, so I had to ask, "What is a Sending Wall?" The answer became clear when I saw the plaque celebrating those from the Good Shepherd congregation who have been sent off into pastoral ministry and into work as missionaries, along with lovely framed photos of each of those persons. A total of 14 persons have gone into United Methodist pastoral ministry, and 2 more persons have gone to serve as missionaries. That is quite a record in just 40 years of history of that church! Many of those persons were present last Sunday as we dedicated the "Sending Wall." The "Sending Wall" reminds us where pastors come from. In our United Methodist Church, all pastors come from local churches who have voted to recommend them as candidates for ministry. If the local church does not recommend a person for ministry, then that person cannot move on toward commissioning or ordination. Sometimes when I hear from the Cabinets the profiles from local churches about the kinds of pastors they hope to RECEIVE to serve them, I find myself wonderful, "Have those churches even been involved in SENDING persons like that into pastoral ministry?" The truth is that we can only appoint the pastors that local churches send forth to serve. Maybe a "Sending Wall" would be a good thing in every local church. Even if the wall were empty, it would serve as a reminder that all pastors are sent from local churches. from Bishop Michael J. Coyner Indiana Area of the United Methodist
Church If you know someone who has yet to sign up for e-HUM, they simply need to send a blank e-mail from their preferred e-mail account to add@inareaumc.org. e-HUM Alert copyright 2005 by Indiana Area United Methodist Communications. |
