Highlights from the
March issue of Together
Bishop Coyner takes questions from the hearts, minds of confirmands during
Zionsville rally
ZIONSVILLE, Ind. - Confirmands didn't spare the questions for Indiana Bishop
Mike Coyner during his annual confirmation rally held March 3 at Zionsville
United Methodist Church just north of Indianapolis.
During a 45-minute mid-afternoon session, Coyner fielded question from "Do
you like Twinkies?" and others about drinking, smoking, dating, and "who's going
to win the Duke-North Carolina game?" to the more serious "Do you take the Bible
literally?" - "Are Mormons Christians?" and "Do you think it's wrong to be gay?"
Coyner fielded 18 questions from the 380 mostly middle-school-aged
confirmands from across the state. Including adult sponsors and pastors, the
rally attracted more than 500 participants for the day-long event. According to
South Indiana Conference staff members, that's twice as many participants as
attended last year's rally.
The day-long event included group pictures with the bishop, lunch, praise
worship led by the Wesley Fellowship Praise Team of the Wesley Foundation
ministry at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., a confirmation
presentation by Coyner and a closing communion service with the Bishop
officiating.
During a PowerPoint presentation, Coyner explained to the youth that
confirmation is the time (in their words), "I want to say 'yes' to God." He
said, because God loves us first, we respond with our love to God.
"My hope and prayer is through all this process (of confirmation), you will
be able to continue to say 'yes' to God."
So, does the Bishop like Twinkies? "Yes," he said.
The rally was sponsored as an Indiana Area event sponsored by the South
Indiana Conference.
United Methodists host Nets partners in Angola
LUANDA, Angola (UMNS) - While visiting hospitals and clinics filled with
mothers cradling sick and dying children, professional basketball star Ruth
Riley saw "what the face of malaria looks like."
Touring the African nation on a malaria observation trip hosted by the people
of The United Methodist Church, the WNBA star urged people everywhere to support
Nothing But Nets, a global campaign working to provide insecticide-treated bed
nets to protect families against disease-carrying mosquitoes.
The nets cost $10 each, and 100 percent of each gift goes to the cost of
buying and distributing them to families in underdeveloped nations such as
Angola, where mosquitoes typically transmit malaria at night while people sleep.
Health officials say the nets can reduce transmission by as much as 90 percent.
Since its launch in 2006, the campaign has raised more than $4 million to buy
and distribute more than 400,000 nets to families in Africa. Nets have gone to
Nigeria so far, and Angola is among 21 other African nations in need. Campaign
organizers plan to distribute nets in those countries in partnership with their
governments' ministers of health.
The delegation met with health officials in Angola as well as officials at
the U.S. embassy to learn about health-care challenges in the country.
Poverty and illiteracy are among the root problems, and malaria worsens them
by overloading the health-care system and causing children to miss an average of
25 days of school a year. Angola has the second highest infant and maternal
mortality rates in the world. Only 30 percent of the population has access to
potable water and 60 percent of sanitary systems have been destroyed.
Bishop challenges Hoosiers with March Madness for Missions
March is the month that Indiana Bishop Mike Coyner challenges Hoosier United
Methodists to carry their enthusiasm for basketball nets into a March Madness
for Missions by supporting two United Methodist mission projects - Nothing But
Nets and the United Methodist Global AIDS Fund.
These two killer diseases of poverty, Malaria and HIV/AIDS, can be eliminated
from humanity, and United Methodists are determined to help stamp them out.
The
first is the Nothing But Nets campaign to purchase $10 mosquito repellent nets
to protect children from getting Malaria. Bishop Mike asks every United
Methodist family to purchase at least one net from our Nothing But Nets
campaign. You can do that by credit card on-line at
www.nothingbutnets.net or by sending
the money through your local church to the Advance Special Mission Nothing But
Nets (UMCOR Advance #982015) project.
The
second is a call for each United Methodist congregation to donate at least $1
per member for the Global AIDS Fund to help eliminate the HIV/AIDS epidemic that
is killing so many people, especially in Africa. Bishop Mike asks each of our
1,260 congregations to receive a special offering sometime during March for the
United Methodist Global AIDS Fund (UMCOR Advance #982345). For local church and
Annual Conference credit, put your gift in the offering plate one Sunday in
March.
Please join Bishop Mike in a March Madness for Missions. Let's March Against
the Madness of Malaria and HIV/AIDS, and let's make a difference in our world.
Bishop announces Bushfield as new director of South Council on Ministries
INDIANAPOLIS
- Indiana Area United Methodist Bishop Michael J. Coyner announced recently the
appointment of the Rev. Dr. James C. Bushfield as the new Director of
Connectional Ministries for the South Indiana Conference of The United Methodist
Church based in Bloomington, Ind. The appointment is effective July 1.
Bushfield will succeed the Rev. Robert Sharp, who has held a similar
Conference Council Director position since Nov. 1, 2001. Sharp will retire in
June. Currently, Bushfield is superintendent of the Columbus District based in
Columbus, Ind.
As Director of Connectional Ministries, Bushfield will supervise the
17-member Council on Ministries staff based in Bloomington at the South Indiana
Conference Center. The Council is responsible for the mission and ministry of
The United Methodist Church in South Indiana including the annual sessions of
the South Indiana Annual Conference held each June at Indiana University in
Bloomington.
Terre Haute pastor named next Columbus District Superintendent
INDIANAPOLIS
- Bishop Michael J. Coyner announced Feb. 22 the appointment of the Rev. Brian
K. White, senior pastor of United Methodist Temple in Terre Haute, Ind., as
superintendent of the Columbus District based in Columbus, Ind., effective July
1.
White succeeds the Rev. Dr. James C. Bushfield, who will become the new
Director of Connectional Ministries for the South Indiana Conference in
Bloomington, Ind.
White, 47, was appointed as senior pastor at United Methodist Temple in 2001.
Since being ordained an Elder in the South Indiana Conference in 1988, and has
served churches at Bloomington St. Paul, Fort Branch, Indianapolis Southport and
Fairland.
Lafayette superintendent appointed superintendent of the Calumet District
Bishop
Michael J. Coyner has announced the appointment of the Rev. Michelle A. Cobb to
be the new superintendent of the North Indiana Conference's Calumet District,
effective June 16.
The Calumet District includes 52 churches, with a total membership of
approximately 12,190 in northwest Indiana.
Cobb will succeed the Rev. David Schrader, who has served as district
superintendent since 2002. Schrader will become pastor of South Bend's Grace
UMC, effective in June.
A native of Gary, Ind., Cobb is currently serving as superintendent of the
Lafayette District.
Previous to this 2001 appointment, she was pastor of the Merriville UMC from
1997. Earlier she served Marquette Park UMC in Gary from 1992 to 1996. Prior to
her pastoral appointments, she served as staff chaplain at Methodist Hospitals,
Inc. and as assistant pastor at First Baptist Church in Gary.
Work of 260 Hoosiers coming together soon in final Imagine Indiana report to
conferences
INDIANAPOLIS
- "What's God seeking to do in our midst?" has been the paramount question of
the more than 260 Hoosier United Methodists as they considered uniting the North
and South Indiana annual conferences, according to the Rev. Dr. Adolf Hansen, a
retired clergyman of the South Indiana Conference
"We are interested in the creation of a new conference," he told Together
following the final reporting session of the 28-member Imagine Indiana
Discernment Team March 5 at the Indiana Area office in Indianapolis.
"It's more than considering what's best about us. It's what's best for the
Kingdom of God," said the Rev. Dr. Cindy Reynolds, Warsaw District
Superintendent of the North Indiana Conference.
Hansen and Reynolds are co-chairs of the smaller seven-member Imagine Indiana
Planning Team which was charged last year by Bishop Mike Coyner with the task of
developing a plan for recommendation of the creation of a new conference for The
United Methodist Church in Indiana to the two annual conferences this spring.
Hansen and Reynolds said diverse groups of both laity and clergy representing
United Methodists from both the Indiana North and South conferences populated
the 14 Imagine Indiana Discernment Teams that met several times in numerous
locations across the two conferences since the Teams' first meeting last summer.
Hansen said the teams have collected more than 100 pages of documents from a
variety of sources, guests and consultants that the Planning Team used during a
March 8-9 retreat in Indianapolis to frame a report that will go to both annual
conferences this spring. That report will be released this spring as part of
both conferences' pre-conference reports to be discussed at briefings to be held
in all 18 districts statewide.
Running the Race evangelism training event scheduled for April 28 in four
South Indiana locations
"Running the Race" is the theme for the South Indiana United Methodist
Conference evangelism training event scheduled for Saturday, April 28 from 10
a.m. to 3 p.m., with registration at 9:30 a.m., at four locations across South
Indiana at Greenfield Bradley, Seymour First, Avon and Princeton Hillside United
Methodist churches.
The daylong event will feature an opening video presentation by Bishop Mike
Coyner about four ways to engage in evangelism plus two hour-long workshops on:
- Who is my neighbor?
- What makes us friendly?
- How do you move from the crowd to your community?
and
- How do you start a new faith group?
Registration fees are: $15 for one person, $12 for each person up to four
people with every fifth person free. The fee includes lunch. A registration form
is available online by logging on to
www.sicumc.org, click on "Events" and go to "Running the Race Evangelism
Event" for a PDF document.
For more information and registration, contact Misty Boswell at the South
Indiana Conference Center, 1520 S. Liberty Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403-5167, or
call toll-free 800-919-8160 or 812-336-0186 ext. 222.
North Indiana names Burris, Duecker to outdoor ministry positions
North
Indiana Conference recently announced the naming of two Hoosiers as Outdoor
Ministry project coordinator and honorary chairman of Outdoor Ministry's capital
funds campaign. Indiana Area Bishop Michael J. Coyner recently named the Rev.
Steve Burris as the North Indiana Conference Outdoor Ministry Project
Coordinator. As project coordinator, Burris will oversee the building design
project for the conference's camp sites. He will work closely with the Outdoor
Ministry staff, the Outdoor Ministry Resource Team and the Capital Fund Team to
coordinate and facilitate the overall Outdoor Ministry Project.
Coyner
also named Bishop Sheldon Duecker, a retired Bishop of The United Methodist
Church living in Fort Wayne, Ind., as the honorary chair of the Capital Fund
Team for the North Indiana Conference Outdoor Ministry Project. Duecker served,
among other positions, as North Indiana Conference Council Director from 1973 to
1977 and as senior pastor at High Street UMC in Muncie before being elected
bishop. As bishop he served the North Illinois Area.
Special offering assists One Great Hour of Sharing relief efforts
Once a year during Lent, each congregation can join other United Methodists
worldwide by making a One Great Hour of Sharing special offering to support
humanitarian aid from UMCOR. When catastrophes cause suffering, United Methodist
churches, impelled by Jesus' love and compassion, will be in the lead to ease
the pain.
Gifts
to this offering underwrite UMCOR's "costs of doing business." That helps us
keep our promise that 100 percent of designated donations on March 18, or
another date, go entirely to specific projects, said the Rev. R. Randy Day,
General Secretary, UMCOR.
"The One Great Hour of Sharing offering is a gift of stability to UMCOR,"
said Rev. Day. "Our ability to respond and remain until the job is done is in
direct proportion to the generosity of United Methodists at this time of
offering."
UMCOR's specialized ministries - responding in disaster, fighting hunger,
alleviating poverty, providing relief supplies around the world, and offering
hospitality to immigrants and refugees - all assist the most vulnerable people
whose need is greatest.
For more information and resources, log on to
www.onegreathourofsharing.org.
Wakarusa pastor named North missions secretary
The North Indiana Conference has named the Rev. Ed Geleske, pastor at
Wakarusa United Methodist Church in the Michiana District, Conference Secretary
of Global Ministries. In this position he is a vital link among mission
leadership, local churches and Global Ministries, mission agency of United
Methodists. He will work to schedule missionary speakers, is part of the
conference Mission and Outreach Ministry Team, and leads the District Mission
Chairs in Mission Education. Geleske says he believes God calls everyone to be
in mission, that becoming active in mission is a natural outgrowth of abiding in
Christ.
For more information, contact the Rev. Ed Geleske, Wakarusa UMC, by phone
574-862-2863 or by e-mail at
Edwakarusaumc@verizon.net.
Baker Chapel consecrates, places steeple on new structure
DEGONIA SPRINGS, Ind. - Literally lifting the cross of Jesus high, members
and friends of Baker Chapel United Methodist Church consecrated then hoisted a
30-foot steeple and five-foot cross atop the entrance to the congregation's new
building.
The Rev. Bob Walters, associate director or connectional ministries of the
South Indiana Conference and the Rev. Randy Anderson, pastor of Centenary UMC in
nearby Evansville officiated at the consecration service.
"We give God all the glory, praise and thanks," said Baker Chapel member
Barbara Dillon.
Sunshine and 47-degree temperatures blessed the Friday, Feb. 23 event.
Members hope to be in their new facility by Easter.
Dillon also reported that two Purdue landscaping students are working with
the church on a plan to landscape the property.
For pictures, updates and information on volunteering, log on to
www.bakerchapel.org.
South Indiana Conference Board of Discipleship needs children's ministry
information
The South Indiana Conference Board of Discipleship is in the process of
creating a Children's Council, as we start this process we would like to know
what kind of child care, preschool and mother's day out programs your church
provides.
Please send your information to Fran Brockway, via e-mail:
mfranbrock@aol.com or by leaving a
message on the North
Salem UMC phone at 765-676-6501. Thank you for your assistance as we strive
to expand resources for this vital ministry.
Rector installed as G-ETS academic dean
EVANSTON, Ill. - Lallene J. Rector, a popular professor, and distinguished
scholar, was installed March 7 as academic dean and vice president for academic
affairs at United Methodist-related Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in
Evanston.
Rector assumed her new responsibilities in July 2006 after Dr. Philip Amerson
nominated her for the post in one of his first acts as the seminary's new
president. Among her many responsibilities, Rector will develop the seminary's
instructional goals and work closely with faculty as she supervises and
coordinates academic programs.
Rector received a bachelor's degree with a double major in religion and
psychology from Texas Christian University and both the master of theological
studies and the doctorate in psychology of religion from United
Methodist-related Boston University. |
