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Volume 149 Number 41 021000 |
February 21, 2003 |
Positions Available • Part time Choir Director: South Pleasant Grove UMC, Murray, Ky. Will lead Adult Choir during Sunday morning worship and Sunday evening practice.. Special holiday programs expected. For information or a job description, call the Rev. Scott Alford, (270) 753-6060; e-mail: alford98@msn.com; or write to Alford at South Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church, 1801 Lincoln Avenue, Murray, KY 42071. • Part time Youth Director: Aldersgate UMC, Jackson, TN. To begin immediately. Responsibilities include planning programs and activities for group averaging 30 middle and high school youth. Approximately 15 hours per week including office hours at the church at least one day a week (includes participation in staff meetings), Sunday evenings and Wednesday evenings. Need background in youth work with good organizational and planning skills. Must be United Methodist and at least 25 years old. Resumes, including names, addresses and phone numbers of at least three references, should be received by Feb. 28. Mail to: Aldersgate UMC, 1050 North Parkway, Jackson, TN 38305. Terry Teykl to lead Acts 29 Prayer Encounter at Mayfield First, March 9 On Sunday, March 9, beginning at 2:30 PM, Mayfield First UMC will offer an Acts 29 Prayer Encounter with Dr. Terry Teykl, a pastor who is actively mobilizing the local church to pray and win the lost. Teykl began Aldersgate UMC in 1980 with eight people who were committed to prayer. The church grew to a membership of over 1,000 in only five years. Teykl’s first book, Pray and Grow, along with its companion, Personal Prayer-Evangelism Guide, speaks about this theme and he has conducted hundreds of seminars and workshops on the topic. Mayfield First will offer two afternoon sessions, a supper break, and an evening session. The cost is $15 for materials and an optional donation of $10 to help cover seminar expenses. Each participant will receive a Blueprint for the House of Prayer Manual and several other resources. Register by calling (270) 247-5678 or fax (270) 247-9665. SEJ Laity Retreat set for July 24-27, Lake Junaluska Memphis Conference Laity! Pull out your calendars and mark the dates July 24-27. Those are the days set aside at Lake Junaluska, NC for “One in Spirit, All in Ministry,” the Southeastern Jurisdiction Laity Retreat. This year’s meeting will feature many well known speakers and preachers including: Dr. Bill Hinson, Event Preacher; Mary Virginia Taylor, Bible Study Leader; Michael Culbreth, Event Music Leader; and Bishop Charlene Kammerer, Bishop in Residence. Seminars offered include: “Financial Planning for Caring Christians,” “Focus on General Conference Issues,” “Issues Surrounding Stem Cell Research,” “Spiritual Gifts,” “Lay Leader Training,” “Small Group Resources,” “Congregational Development: Living out our Mission,” and “Upper Room Living Prayer Center.” Registration is only $20/person, $30/couple. To make room reservations, please check the event brochure. Brochures describing the Retreat are available through District offices and from the Conference Center. Call (731) 664-8480 for information or go to www.lakejunaluska.com. Memphis Conference Youth raising funds for family & Adoption Services The Memphis Conference Youth Council is challenging churches and youth groups to raise funds to support conference family and adoption services. All the money donated through their “Guys vs Gals Money Contest” will be divided equally between Hannah’s Hope and Western Kentucky United Methodist Family Services. The winner will be the gender in your church that turns in the most money for “Teens Helping Teens.” The filled milk jugs or checks must be brought to Youth Annual Conference May 16. If a youth group cannot attend, checks may be sent by May 14 to the Conference Office, 24 Corporate Blvd., Jackson, TN 38305. |
Bearing Fruit in PrayerPaducah ministry birthed through Academy of Spiritual Formation
St. Luke Aldersgate-Paducah Mission Society
The faithful of the Paducah area now have an organized, cooperative prayer ministry complete with a convenient mid-town chapel. John Wesley wrote in A Plain Account of Christian Perfection: “God does nothing but in answer to prayer... Every new victory which a soul gains is the effect of new prayer.” Paducah’s Community Prayer Chapel is located one-half block off Broadway, a principal transportation artery for the entire area. Morning and evening prayer services are timed to accommodate workers on their way to and from employment as well as others not limited by traditional work schedules. The building is open for two hours around lunch and is available by appointment at other times for small group study or meetings. Lee Pinkston of Trinity United Methodist Church in Paducah didn’t know that her involvement in the Academy of Spiritual Formation would help her dream come true. For more than two years, she had dreamed about starting an interdenominational prayer chapel. The Upper Room Academy of Spiritual Formation sharpened her focus. The Academy is a two year program for spiritual growth, meeting quarterly for study and worship. Daily worship punctuates the life of that community through morning and evening offices along with daily Communion. “I love the power of prayer with people who love the Lord,” Lee said in describing her experience. During the first year of the Academy, the participants focus on inner spiritual growth and on “being.” The emphasis during the second year is on the outward journey and on “doing.” Each participant develops a servant ministry out of the new self awareness revealed in the disciplines of the Academy. The prayer ministry in Paducah was discerned and developed as Lee worked closely with her pastor, Ronnie Peck, and her spiritual director, Gregory Waldrop. During the extended search for suitable space for this ministry, Lee continued her other work in adult ministries. She serves as minister to shut-ins and head of older adult ministries at Trinity, her home church. She works as a member of the Memphis Conference Older Adult Design Team and as a faith-based representative on a regional governmental committee serving older adults. In October, 2002, Lee found just the right place for her prayer ministry and learned of unanticipated personal resources for the ministry on the same day. She knew then it was time to test this dream that had been so long taking shape within her. Renovating and furnishing the three-room office – consisting of a sitting room, a study room and a worship room – took six weeks. Many people from unexpected places came together to prepare the setting for its holy work. On December 2, 2002, the first Monday in Advent, the first morning service was held. Lee patterned it after the Methodist morning prayer service in the hymnal and Upper Room Worship Book. A few days after that first service, a consecration service was held. Besides morning and evening prayers during the work week, the chapel has been used for a candlelight Communion service for a Paducah District Lay Academy, for Covenant Discipleship group meetings, and for United Methodist Women Circle meetings. Many uses are anticipated in the future including a World Day of Prayer Service with the Church Women United of the Paducah area. The Academy of Spiritual Formation with Lee Pinkston bears much good fruit in the Paducah area!
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United Methodist ads successful in bringing visitors to local churches
A respected national research firm says The United Methodist Church’s national television advertising and media campaign known as Igniting Ministry is successfully encouraging people to visit a local church. The Barna Research Group Inc. has concluded that people who saw the Igniting Ministry advertisements in 2002 are twice as likely to visit a local congregation as those who did not. And 46 percent of the target audience who saw the ads said they were willing to visit a United Methodist church, a gain of 10 percentage points over 2001. “Being exposed to the advertising translates to greater likelihood to visit a church,” said the Rev. Larry Hollon, top executive of United Methodist Communications (UMCom). TV ads were most viewed, with 63 percent of those surveyed reporting having seen the advertising on television. The ads run during three periods each year (Lent, Back to School, and Advent) on national cable networks Additional local TV placements, and other media placements–newspaper, outdoor and radio–reflect local church participation in the campaign. The Memphis Conference doubled Igniting Ministry TV advertising for two consecutive years during the Back to School flight by utilizing matching grant money. The report from the Ventura, Calif.-based firm reveals that people who see the advertising get a clearer picture of what United Methodists have to offer, and the messages are ringing true. “Our messages are helping people see our churches as welcoming communities, open to helping others,” Hollon said. Barna research confirms that Igniting Ministry successfully communicates key United Methodist characteristics. The study assessed nine statements about the church, touching on diverse opinions and beliefs, acceptance, supportive nature, respect for other religions, and deeper meaning and purpose in life. “The advertising is working because it communicates the United Methodist Church’s key distinctions,” Hollon said. Seventy percent of the people surveyed indicate that the United Methodist Church’s messages are important and believable. The highest ratings of importance were found among people who feel something is missing from their lives (50 percent), are experiencing emotional pain or frustration (52 percent), and feel the church will likely help them find personal fulfillment (49 percent). The research involved telephone interviews with people identified as “seekers” and data from 156 test United Methodist churches in the church’s five regions across the United States. (Ten of the test churches were drawn from the Memphis Conference.) For test purposes, “seekers” are defined as people in search of spiritual fulfillment, whether unchurched, marginally churched or church attendees. In addition, 70 percent of pastors of the test churches said their churches have “experienced a renewed sense of commitment to welcoming new people” and 61 percent reported that their church members regularly invite unchurched people to their services. Igniting Ministry, the advertising and welcoming ministry of the United Methodist Church, uses modern technology, including national cable network commercials, to raise public awareness of the denomination. The Rev. Steve Horswill-Johnston leads the effort, which premiered in September 2001. The denomination’s 2000 General Conference authorized UMCom to create national television commercials about the United Methodist Church for cable television and earmarked $20 million in church funds to support the project. Related resources, training sessions, matching grants and a Web site, www.ignitingministry.org <http://www.ignitingministry.org>, supplement Igniting Ministry’s core television components. Check out this website for more information from Barna: ignitingministry-barna2002report-02-02-5.doc.
177 years later, the ‘Memphis Station’ of the Methodist Episcopal Church still going strong
Celebrating 177 years at First United Methodist Church in Memphis, Tenn. On February 1, there was jubilation at the corner of Second and Poplar streets in Memphis, Tenn., as First United Methodist Church celebrated its 177th birthday. Begun in 1826 when the city’s population was but some 500 citizens, the church was referred to as the Memphis Station of the Methodist Episcopal Church. After six years of services floating among cabins and places of business throughout the city, Memphis’ first church building was erected at Second and Poplar in 1832. The current building, with its clock tower and tall steeple pointing toward the heavens, was completed in 1892. The church’s rich heritage and history is considered by the congregation to be a great asset. But the present and the future remain the congregation’s focus. Pastor Martha Wagley reminded the congregation how the church has withstood the Civil War, military occupation, yellow fever epidemics, and more recently, the flight of downtowners to the suburbs. While other congregations have relocated as the population of Memphis moved East, First United Methodist finds its roots deeply planted in the downtown district and sees the opportunities to provide a place of worship, evangelism and service to the community. The Memphis First congregation is one of inclusion, reaching out to all citizens and visitors to the community. The current move toward revival of downtown extends its territory of opportunities and responsibilities. First Church continues to build on the mission to the city and the ecumenical spirit on which it was founded. From the smallest pre-schoolers who gathered around Reverend Wagley to sing Happy Birthday to the church to the senior members who reflected on the many changes and blessings they’ve experienced at First Church, there was celebration of the longevity of the church, there was thanksgiving for God’s blessings upon the church, and there was rededication of the church’s mission to serve God by serving the people.
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| ©1999-2009
Memphis Annual Conference, The United
Methodist Church - All rights reserved And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Colossians 3:17 |
