Hoosier United Methodist e-NEWS for March 19, 2010

HOOSIER UNITED METHODIST e-newsletter

March is Women’s History and Disability Awareness Month.
For Friday, March 19, 2010 – Sunday is the fifth Sunday in Lent (purple)
This newsletter is paid for through your annual conference tithe. Thank you.
Edited by Dan Gangler, director of communication

Deadline for submitting items is noon Wednesday.

2010 INDIANA ANNUAL CONFERENCE AT
BALL STATE IN MUNCIE, JUNE 10-13

Theme: Practice Faith
Keynote speaker: Bishop Robert Schnase,
author of Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations
Visit www.fivepractices.org.

THIS WEEK’S NEWS HEADLINES

• Hoosiers urged to prepare for weather
• Conferences struggle to pay apportionments
• Churches share wisdom of generous giving
• United Methodist Men support prayer line
• ‘Kids and Christ’ series, conversation began this week
• Middle class getting squeezed on health care costs
• Indiana ranks third in legalized gambling
• Pastoral Leadership Program seeks talented, younger pastors
• Radio station impacts Ivorians
• Abingdon Press partners with digital book distributors

BIBLE PASSAGE FOR SUNDAY

Then Mary took a whole pint of a very expensive perfume made of pure nard, poured it on Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The sweet smell of the perfume filled the whole house. One of Jesus' disciples, Judas Iscariot – the one who was going to betray him – said, “Why wasn't this perfume sold for three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. He carried the money bag and would help himself from it. But Jesus said, “Leave her alone! Let her keep what she has for the day of my burial. You will always have poor people with you, but you will not always have me.”

– John 12:3-8
Good News Translation
www.americanbible.org.

HAITI RELIEF EFFORTS

For the latest news about the Haiti Emergency, visit www.umc.org/haiti, www.umcor.org and www.churchworldservice.com.

NEWS

Hoosiers urged to prepare for weather

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has proclaimed this week as “Severe Weather Preparedness Week” in Indiana. The goal is to remind Hoosiers of the dangers of severe thunderstorms and fast-developing tornadoes April through July, and how they can protect themselves and their families. This week’s events included a statewide test of tornado sirens and other communication systems on Wednesday. For more information about preparing for severe weather this time of the year, click here.

Conferences struggle to pay apportionments

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) – There’s probably 24 million reasons United Methodist churches didn’t pay their 2009 apportionments in full. At the end of 2009, 14 of the 63 annual conferences in the U.S. paid 100 percent of the money asked of them by The United Methodist Church to support ministries around the world. The total received was $24 million short of the $150.3 million budgeted and agreed to by delegates at the 2008 United Methodist General Conference, its top policy-making body. The recession, declining membership and a lack of commitment to or understanding of apportionments are some of the reasons that add up to a collection plate that keeps coming back only partially full. Both former Indiana conferences paid a little more than 50 percent of their general church askings. To read more, click here.

Churches share wisdom of generous giving

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) – Generous giving is not easy in a recession. It takes commitment, reaching beyond the local congregation, and the faith and courage to make hard choices. It requires emotional, spiritual and financial investment. Some of the biggest miracles in The United Methodist Church happen because committed congregations pay their apportionments in full. To read more, click here.

United Methodist Men support prayer line

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) – The Upper Room and United Methodist Men support a 24-hour 7 day-a-week intercessory prayer ministry. United Methodist Men prayer advocates presented the center with $11,375 during their March 3-7 meeting. The men annually provide $21,000 to pay for the phone line. The 30,000 monthly prayer requests received at the center are sent to 300 covenant prayer groups.

‘Kids and Christ’ series, conversation began this week

Where are the children? What are they learning about God's love and grace? Does it matter?

The United Methodist Publishing House (UMPH) and The United Methodist Reporter (UMR) are joining forces to engage UM’s across the Connection in a critical conversation.

“Let the Children Come” by Bishop William Willimon began this week with UMR publishing a six-part series, “Kids and Christ.” The articles will be published every other week and, in addition to Bishop Willimon, contributors include: Rev. Patricia Farris, Rev. James Harnish, Bishop Scott Jones, Bishop Mike Lowry, and Rev. John Ed Mathison.

Readers are encouraged to comment using a link to a dedicated Facebook page hosted by UMPH. To be alerted electronically as the articles are published and available online, sign up for the free weekly Sneak Preview e-mail on the left-hand sidebar at www.umportal.org – or click here to go directly to the registration page. The conversation will continue in the Aug/Sept/Oct 2010 issue of CIRCUIT RIDER, published by UMPH.

Middle class getting squeezed on health care costs

The middle class is being hit hardest by escalating health insurance costs, according to a report being released this week by the nonpartisan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Indianapolis Star). The report, which comes as congressional Democrats try to round up the votes they need to complete work on a health-care overhaul package, focuses on those who have lost employer-sponsored insurance but are not eligible for government insurance programs such as Medicaid. In Indiana, as in the rest of the nation, the percentage that became uninsured from 2000 to 2008 grew faster in the middle class than it did among lower- and upper-income classes. The total number of low-income Hoosiers without coverage is still greater than the total of middle- and upper-income Hoosiers without coverage. Still, researchers said the report shows that “hard-working people with average incomes are being squeezed.” Insurance may be moving out of reach even for those offered it by an employer. The percentage of private-sector employees in Indiana who did not enroll in their employers’ offered plans increased from about 16 percent in 2000 to about 26 percent in 2008. That change was three times higher than the national increase. Even though employers still pay most of the cost of premiums, employees’ share increased 61 percent for a family plan during that period, while the state’s median income was declining. In Indiana, about 10 percent of middle-class Hoosiers lacked insurance in 2008, a 1 percentage point increase from 2000. The percentage of low-income Hoosiers without insurance stayed about the same, about 24 percent. – Howey Politics Indiana

Indiana ranks third in legalized gambling

Mississippi, which has built much of its marketing for more than a decade around being the third-largest gambling destination in the country, lost that title in 2009 to Indiana (Associated Press). Mississippi slipped to fourth place in terms of adjusted gross revenue from commercial gambling. In 2009, Mississippi reported $2.46 billion to Indiana’s $2.58 billion. The numbers exclude charitable gaming and American Indian casinos. – Howey Politics Indiana

The Indiana Conference offers help for compulsive gamblers through its related Gambling Recovery Ministry headed by the Rev. Jan Jacobs. Check out GRM at www.grmumc.org.

Pastoral Leadership Program seeks talented, younger pastors

The Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program begins in January 2011. Eighteen talented, younger pastors of Christian congregations in Indiana who have demonstrated during their first five to ten years of ministry a high potential for significant leadership will be named Wabash Pastoral Fellows. Over a two-year period, these Fellows will participate in two study tours and a series of meetings and conversations with outstanding leaders. Any pastors interested in applying to the program should immediately contact Raymond Williams or Verity Jones at 765-361-6327 or pastorleader@wabash.edu or 765-361-6327. This project is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc.

Radio station impacts Ivorians

ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire (UMNS)—Alfred Degny, director of Dabou Methodist Hospital, tells of an elderly man from a nearby village who was suffering an attack of hypertension. Rather than take him to the Dabou hospital, his children took him farther away, to the country’s commercial capital, Abidjan, for treatment. There, he died. If the man had been taken to Dabou hospital first, he could have been stabilized before going on to Abidjan, and he probably would have survived, Degny says. He hopes the new United Methodist radio station in Abidjan will help reduce such incidents by broadcasting information about health matters and the hospital’s services. To read more click here.

For more United Methodist news and information, log on to www.umc.org and click on NEWS.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE NEWS

Indiana Annual Conference Laity Manuscript Contest announced

Each year the Indiana Conference Board of Laity offers the opportunity to all laity of the Indiana Conference to express thanks and praise God by submitting an original sermon manuscript for judging. The theme this year is “What Does It Take to Be a Fruitful United Methodist Congregation?” Due to the full agenda of the Laity Session, it is necessary that the sermon be no more than 15 minutes in length. Entries are judged based on creative and original development of the theme, but may be eliminated due to length.

The author will present the winning manuscript at the Laity Session of the Indiana Annual Conference on Thursday evening June 10 at Emens Auditorium on the campus of Ball State University in Muncie. Two other manuscripts will be given Honorable Mention.

Manuscripts need to be mailed to Ike Williams, Indiana Conference Co-Lay Leader, 1515 Cool Creek Drive, Carmel, IN 46033-2318 or by e-mail to ike.williams@att.net. The manuscript must be accompanied by a cover sheet or letter that includes the writer’s name, address, phone number, e-mail address, local church name and district. Please do not include any personally identifying information in the manuscript. Manuscripts will be assigned a number and will be judged anonymously by the selection committee. All entries must be received by May 3. The winner will be notified by May 24.

Additional information concerning the contest can be obtained by contacting Bob Pimlott, Southeast District Lay Leader at rpimlott1@verizon.net or by calling 812-273-3081.

WORSHIP RESOURCES

Praise Team or Choir?

Which model works best for your church and worship services? How are they configured and staffed? What are the implications for congregational singing? For congregational repertoire? Is there a change in your church’s future? Click here.

Rethink Church Lenten Season Sermon Starters

Rethink Church is offering sermon starters for the Lenten season to help you reach seekers and connect in new ways with your community. A Journey to Hope, begins on Ash Wednesday with an invitation to travel with Jesus to the cross. As participants encounter real life issues along the way, we see that God's light is sometimes even brighter in the darkness and that hope can be found even in the most unlikely places.This Lenten season, take a journey to hope and share that hope with the world.

MINISTRY RESOURCES

ERT training being offered April 10 at New Life UMC in Mexico

The Disaster Response and UMVIM coordinators are offering Early Response Training on Saturday, April 10 at Mexico New Life UMC. Training will begin at 8:45 a.m. and be finished by 4:30 p.m.

This is not to be confused with UMVIM Team Leadership training which will also take place the same day and at the same place. Two different trainings to meet two different needs. Both essential for local church mission team leadership. Please contact Gary Peterson or Bonnie Albert for further questions. Register online here or download a PDF to mail in here. – Bonnie Albert, Indiana UMVIM Coordinator, 219 464-1447

Join Creation Care Network on Facebook

Help us build your Creation Care Network. How do you care for the environment?

Does your congregation have a “green team” or a creation care ministry? Creation care is an act of faith. Join the Indiana Conference Creation Care Group on Facebook and share your interests or stories, or e-mail Dennis Shock, your Indiana Conference Creation Care Network Coordinator at dennis.shock@gmail.com. – Sponsored by the Indiana Conference Social Advocacy, Justice and Ethnic Ministry Team

Lent and Easter Resources Available From EcuFilm

• Check out these Lent and Easter resources from EcuFilm 2010

Lenten Resources Addresses Global Water Crisis

NEW YORK (UMNS) – The United Methodist Committee on Relief and Church World Service are part of a coalition of faith-based relief and development groups endorsing a Lenten resource addressing the global water and sanitation crisis. The WASH (WAter Sanitation & Hygiene) for Lent Initiative has been set up to encourage getting involved with organizations responding to the crisis as a focus of their Lenten journey. A Web site, WASH for Lent (http://washforlent.wordpress.com), includes links to many groups, statistics and information about WASH, and offers weekly devotionals.

Media Center Picks for the Month of March

The newly united Indiana Conference Media Center is up and running. Here are March’s Media Picks. Matthew 28:19 urges us to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Ask about our new Confirmation resources! Find out how we can help with new membership classes. We have resources for all ages – Go therefore and Grow Disciples in YOUR Church!

• DVD66 Baptism in The United Methodist Church: A Companion DVD to "By Water and the Spirit"
• DVD68 Disciple: Training DVD
• DVD87 Growing to Be Like Christ: Purpose Driven Life Series
• VHS401 Growing True Disciples of Jesus
• DVD196 Foundations: 11 Core Truths to Build Your Life On
• VHS487 Foundations for Discipleship
• VHS684 Man to Man
• DVD165 Momentum for Life-DVD Journal
• Kit90 Purpose Driven Youth Ministry Training Kit-Strategic Team Building
• DVD133 Renew Your Passion-Worship Connection
• VHS948 The Retreat
• DVD212 Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions /Developing a Biblical Worldview on DVD

The Indiana Conference Media Center is open at the Sunnycrest UMC, 1921 W. Bradford Street in Marion, IN 46952, according to Media Center Director Angel Rea. The local phone number for the Media Center is 765-662-922 or call the Conference Center toll-free at 877-781-6706 and ask for your call to be transferred to the Media Center. Angel’s e-mail address is angel.rea@inumc.org. The Media Center hours are Mondays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Change the World – Starting With Your Community Beginning April 24-25

What if…on one weekend all around the world, United Methodists came together to work with their local communities? What if…as we serve people locally, we unite globally to eliminate a preventable, treatable disease that kills one child every 30 seconds?

The Rev. Mike Slaughter, lead pastor at Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City, Ohio, has written a book called Change the World: Recovering the Mission and Message of Jesus, released in February 2010. He emphasizes, “As the United Methodist Church, we have worried too much about getting numbers into our churches instead of getting the people in our churches out into the world in relative ways. Even our smallest churches can have incredible impact when they leave their four walls to serve the needs of their neighbors, alongside of their neighbors.” Be one who makes a change and together, we can change the world. To get involved go to rethinkchurch.org/changetheworld.

DEATHS

John Marshall Berry, Jr., retired Elder of the Indiana Conference, died March 16, 2010. A memorial service has been scheduled for 1 p.m. (ET) Saturday, March 20 at First United Methodist Church, 801 E. Walnut Street in Petersburg, Ind. Visitation will be held at the church beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Condolences may be sent to son, Jeffrey Berry, 811 York Road, Evansville, IN 47715. Memorials can be made to the American Cancer Society. More information will come as it is made available.

Lucinda E. Hamilton, 60, retired associate clergy member of the Indiana Conference who lived in Greenwood and formerly Kokomo, died Saturday, March 13, 2010 at Beech Grove. Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 18 at the Stout & Son Funeral Home, Russiaville Chapel, 200 E. Main Street in Russiaville, Ind. A memorial service is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Friday, March 19 at the funeral home with the Rev. Steven Fritchman, pastor of the Russiaville UMC, officiating. Burial will follow in Russiaville Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Russiaville United Methodist Church, PO Box 307, Russiaville, IN 46979 or the American Cancer Society. Condolences can be sent to Lucinda’s husband, Ronald Hamilton, 685 Green Meadow Dr., Greenwood, IN 46143.

MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS

Bishop Michael J. Coyner has announced the following changes within the Indiana Area. These appointments are based on Cabinet reports received by e-HUM the week of March 19.

• Jennette, Jared from Marion Center Chapel, North Central to Merrillville, North, 7/1/2010
• Marhanka, Larry Allen from Batesville, Southeast to Plymouth First, North, 7/1/2010
• Pew, Gwendolyn from Liberty, Central to Grace Community, Central, 1/1/2010
• Smith, Doris E. from Mentone, Northwest to Retirement, 6/30/2010

NEW EMPLOYMENT LISTINGS

Indiana Conference Center seeks summer intern

The Indiana Conference Center of The United Methodist Church in Indianapolis has an immediate opening for a seasonal administrative summer intern. Functions include data entry, word processing, mailings and general office duties. If interested, e-mail your resume to ruthellen.needler@inumc.org by Monday, March 29.

United Methodist Camp & Retreat Center Seeks Program Developer

Lake Louise Christian Community-Camp and Retreat Center, located on beautiful Thumb Lake in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan, seeks skilled educator and communicator to develop, market and implement year-round programming for children, youth and adults that nurture Christian growth and Christ-like community. Will also hire, train and supervise professional and volunteer staff, as well as assist with organizational and strategic planning. Full-time with benefits. BA required, MA or MDiv preferred. UM deacons encouraged to apply. Please ask for complete job listing and mission/core values statement, then send letter with qualifications, resume and three references to Vaughn D. Maatman, Executive Director, Lake Louise Christian Community, 11037 Thumb Lake Rd, Boyne Falls, MI 49713 or to vmaatman@lakelouisecommunity.org. See our Web site.

PREVIOUSLY LISTED EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

New Albany Church Seeks Keyboardist, Choir Director

Jacobs Chapel United Methodist Church on the north side of New Albany is a happy and loving congregation that has been in ministry to the community, to the nation, and to the world for 175 years. The church seeks a charismatic, energetic, talented and musically gifted individual to be an integral part of our worship service. This position would require three-hours-a-week, one hour for worship on Sunday and one-to-two hours for preparation and rehearsal with the choir.

The successful candidate will also be willing to: share their vision for growth through new worship opportunities, introduce contemporary music to our currently traditional worship service, work with the congregation in developing a contemporary style of worship and incorporate musicians with a variety of specialties. Pay is $3,600 per year. Weddings and funerals are negotiated privately. Interested applicants should submit a resume no later than Wednesday March 31 to: office@jacobschapel.com with subject line: application or send resume to: SPRC Committee, Jacobs Chapel UMC – Keyboardist, 4725 Charlestown Road, New Albany, IN 47150.

Associate Director for Junior High Youth at Indy Church

Job Opening - Associate Director Youth

St. Luke’s UMC in Indianapolis has an opening for an Associate Director for Junior High Youth ministries who will provide intentional ministry for grades 6-8. This Associate brings energy to the Jr. High youth, develops youth and adult leadership, works as a team with the Associate Director for Sr. High Youth and Director of Youth Ministries, connects well with teens, and creates ministry opportunities that promote youth involvement at St. Luke’s UMC. This is a full-time position that pays $12.50 per hour and offers benefits after 90 days.

Executive Director Position Open for UM-related Children’s Home in Central Indiana

Executive Director for reputable, professional, main-line faith-based residential care and educational facility for children and youth in Central Indiana (www.childrenshome.net). Applicants must have relevant Master’s level education (LCSW a plus) and a minimum of five years administrative experience in dealing with real-world macro and micro child care issues. Appointee will be passionate for the organization’s mission and compassionate toward those it serves and a ‘believer and doer’ of the faith that founded and supports it. The appointee will be a resourceful, visionary leader committed to growth, and will set a tone of active engagement with the Board of Directors through which both the roles of governance and administration are strengthened and enhanced. Further, the appointee will be a fiscally alert and careful steward of resources, a capable fund-raiser, and an energetic and inspirational leader for the staff. Send cover letter and resume to inspireexcellence.iumch@gmail.com.

Other employment opportunities previously listed can be found at www.inumc.org/classifieds.