April 2008
Abilene District News
Abilene District Office Northwest
Texas Conference United Methodist
Church
Mailing Address:
Email: adnwtc.ds@nts-online.net
(Ava) Ph.
325-675-6672 FAX
325-675-6673
adnwtc.sec@nts-online.net
(Carol) District Website: www.nwtx-abilene.org
*Note: The District Newsletter is being sent to you because
of your affiliation with the District Office,
NOTES FROM AVA:
We are hearing a lot about “change” in political rhetoric in all media forms. Change is the operative word in church life as well. Many churches will be saying goodbye to beloved pastors and welcoming new pastors and parsonage families. Many pastors and families will be changing their locations, schools, spouses’ jobs, etc. All change requires adaptation or great angst, anger and instability can occur.
Bob and I are moving from being provided a lovely parsonage and having trustees who help us with problems to being homeowners again and all the problems and decisions are ours alone. ARGH!! Are we ready for this?
Most of you will
have already heard that Rev. Don Boren and his family (Rose, Devin and Trevor)
will be coming to
Don and his family will be the first family with children at home to live in the District Parsonage in a long, long time. Don will establish his own pattern of travel and interaction with churches which also allows him time with his family and the many activities at their school. Be patient, be flexible and be supportive because things will change.
During this season of Easter, I am reminded that change came hard for the disciples who followed Jesus. Their leader was tried and executed and they feared for their lives. They didn’t know how they would exist without Jesus. The good news is that Jesus did not leave them “orphaned”. Jesus provided the very thing they needed to adapt to his physical absence, the Holy Spirit. God gives us what we need most when we are attentive to God’s will and listen for God’s guidance. During this time of transition, it is my prayer that Bob and I will listen and be obedient and that you as individuals, churches and a District will listen for God to lead you in ways that enable us all to be more effective at doing the work of making disciples for the transformation of the world.
GENERAL CONFERENCE: Please
be in prayer for General Conference.
Since the site for this Conference is nearby (
May the triumph of Easter flood your souls,
Ava
JOB OPENING:
Director of Stewardship and Conference Treasurer, Northwest Texas
Conference; full-time, office will be in
GOOD BOOKS AVAILABLE
FREE!!!
Pastors, lay speakers and church librarians. I am thinning out my library before the
move. I have a number of books related
to Christian Education, Family Ministry, theology,
bible study that would be great additions to your church libraries or personal
study libraries. The books are in my
office at the parsonage,
DEPLOY
VIM Reports: Did your church work as a mission team this year? Would you be willing to share a report of that work with Jimmy Swaim, our new Conference VIM Coordinator? Send your information to NWTX_VIM@sbcglobal.net. (There’s an underline between NWTX and VIM which doesn’t show up, in case you’ve tried and the mail came back.) Sharing your story inspires others to consider how they could be involved in missions. Please take the time to tell your stories.
BUILD, RENEW, REJOICE CAMPAIGN RESULTS TO BE PUBLISHED: In order to recognize the efforts of
churches, pastors, and lay leaders, the campaign team will publish a special
edition conference paper for distribution at Annual Conference,
If you have questions, or would like to complete you pledge card, please contact Clark Williams or Kaylee, 806-792-1133, or email buildrenewrejoice@gmail.com.
VIM Team to
Bus Available For Transportation to Annual
Conference:
Clyde First UMC will be taking their bus to Conference in Glorieta this
year. We have ten additional seats available which we would like to
share. The costs would be shared on a per capita basis. If we are
able to fill the bus completely, the costs would be $50.00 per person.
Our intention right now is to leave EARLY Sunday morning, June 1st,(like
Methodist Food Pantry Report from Jean
Butler: “I knew if I got help
with food, I could pay my bills. Thank you.” “You have been a blessing to our
family. May God bless you all.” These
are some of the comments from the families that come to the Food Pantry.
The special drives during Souper
Bowl brought in extra food and money.
Groceries were dispensed to 111 families, down from January. Income tax refunds and earned income credit
to the low income families helped them to make it on their own. The Food Pantry
numbers will rise again in March.
Hygiene products were able to be
purchased on a limited basis in February.
Families new to the ministry will benefit from this help.
Donations included: Aldersgate $1158.58, Caps $134.40, Elmwood
West $198.02, Epworth/Grace $93.95, First UMC Abilene $401.37, Hamby $550.52,
Make checks to the AABOM
Food Pantry, and mail to Jean Butler,
“Festival of Living Faith”, April 11th
and 12th, 2008, First UMC, Vernon, led by Dr. George Morris, who
served as Professor of Evangelism at the Candler School of Theology in Atlanta,
GA. Through this weekend event, you will
rediscover how to share your faith in Christ with others in ways that are
natural and caring. Registration is $20
for one person, $15 for 2-5 and $10 for 6 or more people. The fee covers all materials and lunch on
Saturday. So, bring a team and discover
again the Holy Spirit’s power to beat witness to our faith in Jesus Christ. For
additional information, contact Bill Ivins, pastor, First UMC,
NUTURE
Blooming in the Wilderness, retreats for mothers of young children (ages birth to age 10),
April 4 & 5,
2008 at Ceta Glen Cline Lodge,
April 18 & 19 at
Led by Rev. Ann Allison, pastor
of
Limited Conference Scholarships
are available.
The Denman Evangelism Award deadline for nominations is
2008 and 2009
“Living the Sacred” will be at
EQUIP
Safe Sanctuary was adopted at Annual Conference 2007 and will apply to all
paid and unpaid leaders, whether lay or clergy, who have direct or indirect
contact with all people who participate in any activities or events sponsored
by the Northwest Texas Conference and it’s Districts. Safe Sanctuary requires that each congregation
develop a Safe Sanctuary Policy for their local church by 2008. The Safe Sanctuary Policy presented at
Conference was adopted and is effective as of May 2007. The Safe Sanctuary Team will provide training
for congregations once your local policy is in place. Besides a safety issue, Safe Sanctuary is
also an insurance issue as insurance companies will not provide insurance if
everyone is not trained that works with children within the next three years.
Copies of the policy are available by contacting Rosemary Prumer at the
Conference Office. Training is
available by contacting Doris Stevens stevens@nwtxconf.org Each church should
complete its work on their Safe Sanctuary Policy by the end of 2008. Once complete, please sent a copy
to Rosemary Prumer and to the District Office.
Certified Lay Minister, Module II Training, rescheduled for
Basic Parish Nurse Preparation Course,
April
30 and May 1,2,3, 2008 at St. Paul UMC,
SAVE THE DATE: ACADEMY FOR FAITHFUL MINISTRY,
Blessed to be a Blessing conference
for educators and preachers,
Background Checks If you are not currently running
background checks on your local church workers (all volunteers and paid staff)
you should be. The
Job Openings can be found on the Conference Web site under Quick Link for Classifieds, found on the left side of the page under the search areas.
Summer Youth
Director Needed: First UMC,
Part Time Youth
Minister Needed: Anson
Full Time Youth
Pastor Wanted: First
Cargo Trailer Needed: by The Journey UMC with the following requirements: tandem axle, ramp rear door, 6 by 12’, prefer “used” for a better price. If you know of a trailer for sale, please email Pastor Bailey Barkley at
bailey@journey.abilene.com or call him at 325-260-7801.
THANKSGIVING, PRAYER, SYMPATHY, PRAISE,
CONGRATULATIONS
(If you have
additions or deletions to this section of the newsletter, please contact the
District Office)
Pray for the following concerns:
Those in the military:
Thomas Parrish, grandson-in-law of Rex, retired pastor, and
Letha Mauldin.
Spc. Bowman Henderson, grandson of Rex
& Letha Mauldin
Maj. Scotty Henderson, son-in-law of Rex
& Letha Mauldin.
Gabriel Keith, grandson of Sandra
Keith, pastor at Baird.
Ryan Sanders, son of John
Sanders, St. James UMC, Navy flight engineer.
Timothy Cross, USAF, C-130 crewmember and son of Laird Cross, associate
pastor at St. Paul UMC.
Health Concerns:
Amy Fogelman, 16
yr. old daughter of Thomas Fogelman, Pastor
at Ira.
Bruce Parks, retired
pastor of our Conference.
Wanda Jochetz, wife
of retired pastor, Milton Jochetz of
James Willborn & family, retired member of the Conference.
Wanda Sanders, wife
of John Sanders, St. James UMC,
Marguerite Smith, mother of Wanda Sanders,
Ken Metzger,
retired member of our conference.
Ann Fletcher,
wife of Lyndall Fletcher, member of
the conference, serving in Liberty Hill UMC.
She is also the
mother of Keri Inman, whose husband Kelly
Inman is serving in Lorenzo UMC.
Richard Landrum & family, son of Neely
Landrum, pastor of Spearman UMC.
Hazel Noble, mother of Karilyn Kidwell.
Karilyn is the wife of Bud Kidwell, pastor at Chillicothe/Quanah.
Lucy Hubbard, mother of Gary Hubbard,
pastor at Munday UMC.
Bessie Casey, mother of Charles Casey, pastor
at Blackwell.
Jim Berry, in AZ., brother of Michael
Berry, pastor at Tuscola.
Lillith Ardhuerumly, wife of Ishan
Ardhuerumly, & mother of Namiqa
Shipman, Big Spring DS.
Ishan Ardhuerumly, father of Namiqa Shipman,
Big Spring DS
Richard Bales, pastor, former Big Spring District Superintendent.
Rhonda Wagner, retired
member of our Conference.
Betty Garrett
and family, wife of retired minister, Jim
Garrett.
Mary Louder and
family, wife of retired minister, Gene
Louder.
Weldon McCormick, retired pastor of our Conference.
Jack Dominguez mother. Jack is the Pastor
at Rotan UMC.
Larry Gaumond,
Pastor at O’Donnell/Draw UMC.
Lewis Holland, Retired
Pastor,
Tommy Edwards,
husband of Janet Edwards, Pastor at
Claude UMC.
Alvin Petty,
Pastor of Wesley UMC, Andrews.
Lyndell Fletcher, retired member of our Conference, currently serving
as pastor of Morton, UMC.
Weldon Tucker,
retired pastor.
Glenda Abernethy, mother of Karla Abernethy-Thetford, Area Director of Communications and Editor of
the Northwest Texas Conference Review.
Letha Mauldin,
wife of Rev. Rex Mauldin, pastor at
Trent UMC.
Dean Alexander,
father of Mike Alexander, Big Spring
District Lay Leader, & member of the Conference Leadership Team.
Abigail Huston,
baby daughter of Phillip and Diana
Huston. Phillip is finishing seminary, graduated from
Darren Skinner,
pastor of First UMC,
Sandra Gardner,
pastor at Hawley, Tye.
Maj. Scotty Henderson, son-in law of Rex
and Letha Mauldin. Rex is the pastor
at Trent UMC.
Rev. Jon Foster,
pastor at Post UMC.
Marilyn McMillan & family, wife of bobby
McMillan, retired member of our Conference.
Marilyn Balleau & family. Marilyn is the Ministry Assistant to Bishop
Max Whitfield.
Community of
Other Concerns:
Our President and Government Officials
Bishop, District Superintendents, Pastors
Our military & their families
Sympathy To:
Peggy Lindley
and family on the death of her brother-in-law, Otis Ratliff, of
Paul M. Bumpers and family on the death of his wife, Bonnie, who died on
Greg Kennedy,
St. Paul UMC,
For Jack Dominguez, pastor at Rotan UMC, and family on the death of his younger
sister, Corrine Valadez, age 49 who
passed away on March 1, 2008 in
For Cynthia Kinsey Stone, wife of Robert Stone, Clyde UMC on the death of
her uncle Howard Kinsey who passed away on Mar.
14, 2008.
For Eunice Mathis and family on the death
of her husband, Rev. Melvin Roy Mathis,
former member of our Conference.
He died on
2008
April
1-3
Appointive
Cabinet-Lubbock
6-8
10-11 Jurisdictional Committee, Houston
11-12
Festival of
Living Faith,
17 District Finance Committee, District
Office,
18 Parsonage Book Give-Away,
19 District Nominations Committee, District
Office,
23-May2
General Conference,
26 Certified Lay Ministers Training,
Module II, St. Lukes,
29 AABOM, Aldersgate,
May
7-9
Appointive
Cabinet
15
All Churches 2007 Audits DUE in District Office
18
Abilene District Conference, Aldersgate UMC Sanctuary,
18 Farewell
for Ava Berry,
19
Ava moving
26
Memorial Day-Office Closed
June
3-6
Annual
Conference,
11 Pastor
Move Day