The God’s Country Cooperative Parish
is in the eastern part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
It covers a 250 square mile area from Engadine near
Lake Michigan, up to Paradise at Whitefish Bay, to Grand
Marais on Lake Superior’s south shore and encompasses
McMillan, Germfask, Newberry and Hulbert. Although it
is located in some of the most beautiful country you
could ever hope to see, the isolation, extremely harsh
long winters, and scarcity of jobs bring real challenges
to these churches and the communities they serve. Unlike
our more densely populated areas where you might find
another United Methodist church within a few miles,
these churches can be up to 100 miles from their sister
churches in the Cooperative. Yet these seven communities
of faith combine their resources, share their faith
and, through their active presence, work to bring self
esteem, hope and faith to all God’s children throughout
their vast parish. These goals are accomplished by:
• Cooperative Mission
Trips
• Cooperative Bible Studies
• Cooperative Youth Activities
• Cooperative Leadership and Training Events
• Cooperative Support of Mission Projects
and Missionaries
• Cooperative Hosting of Volunteers in Mission
Teams
• Cooperative Fellowship Activities
PURPOSE STATEMENT:
The purpose of God’s Country Cooperative Parish is
to help the churches of the Parish in spreading the
Gospel of Jesus Christ by strengthening them through
ministering to each other, through fellowship, through
sharing talents and resources, and through reaching
out to all people by pastors and laity.
GCCP
Director Paul J. Mallory
Mallory Musings: “In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
(John 1:1)
We speak quite a bit about the “Word of God,”
and indeed, we should. The “Word of God”
is a powerful thing. In Genesis, the first book of
the Bible, creation is accomplished by God’s
‘word.’ Each of the steps of creation
begins with “…God said…” God’s
‘word’ was uttered and it was so. The
word is a powerful thing.
What about our words. In the ‘blurb’
for the book Words That Hurt; Words That Heal,
by Joseph Telushkin, it says the book “illuminates
the powerful effects we create by what we say and
how we say it.” We are created in the image
of God and therefore our words, too, have power. As
a parent what we say and how we say it can have a
great impact on our child. As a spouse what we say
and how we say it can have a great impact on our partner.
We can hurt and we can heal with our words. The old
childhood saying of, “Sticks and stones can
break my bones, but words will never hurt me,”
just doesn’t wash. The injuries caused by sticks
and stones will heal, the hurts from words will last
forever.
Beyond this, our words are spirit within us and what
we say reflects that spirit. If we say, ‘we
lack,’ then we will lack; if we say, ‘I
can’t,’ then we won’t; if we say,
‘I will try my best,’ then we will do
our best. Psychologists call this ‘self-fulfilling
prophesy,’ God’s people call this faith
or lack of faith. Our life energy comes from the word
of God, and is reflected in our words. I pray you
live energetic lives.
Pax,
Paul J. Mallory PO Box 268,
Grand Marais, MI 49839 (906) 494-2653 thevicar@jamadots.com
GCCP Church
and Community Worker Katie Peterson
Dear Friends,
Jesus said to [Peter], "Truly I tell you, this
day, this very night, before the cock crows twice,
you will deny me three times."
-Mark 14:30 (NRSV)
This Bible verse has come to me several times over
the last couple of weeks. I think God is telling me
something. Am I living a Christ filled life or am
I denying Christ through my words and actions in life?
When I say or do something that hurts other people,
I am going against what God wants me to. I pray each
day to live a God like life and to help people out
in as many ways as I can, without hurting them or
anyone else. How or where are you trying to live out
your life like Christ would like you to?
The birds are returning to the Upper Peninsula;
hopefully the flowers will be coming soon. Spring
is on its way. As spring approaches, that means that
summer mission teams are not far behind. We are visiting
prospective projects, making plans to order material,
preparing our churches for teams, and praying for
safety for our teams, families, and volunteers. Our
teams this year will be coming from: Three Rivers
FUMC, Good Shepherd of the North UMC, Iron Mountain
Trinity UMC, South Lyon and Carlton UMCs, Amazing
Grace Praise Group – Houghton, and Marlton,
NJ – from June 14- August 1.
God has been so awesome this winter and spring,
spreading and showing His love to us in large and
small ways. I have had the wonderful opportunity to
share the joy of missions with several of your congregations
this year. These include: Munising UMW; Hayes Memorial
UMC; Sylvania FUMC missions committee; Fremont Trinity
UMC; Wellston UMC; Coolville UMC; Hudson UMC; Sterling,
Alger, Garfield UMCs; Marquette FUMC; NMU Wesley House;
Midland FUMC missions committee; Alpena FUMW; Christ
UMYF – Kettering; Christ UMC-Columbus; St. Paul’s
UMC-Dayton; Ypsilanti FUMC; South Lyon UMC; Saginaw
Bay District UMW. I would be happy to come share the
joy of missions from God’s Country Cooperative
Parish with your congregation, UMW, youth, UMM, missions
committee, etc. Please let me know when you would
like me to come. Thank you for continuing to support
us through Ministry Jubilee and me through the Advance.
Don’t forget, for those churches especially
that are outside of Detroit conference – that
God’s Country Cooperative Parish is now an Advance!
From March –May, I have had the glorious opportunity
of co-teaching Confirmation class with three young
men at Paradise UMC. We have been claiming the Name
of Jesus and exploring what is to become a United
Methodist. This has been, and is, a very rewarding
experience for me. Please pray for Chris, Jameson,
and Joshua as they prepare to join church on Pentecost
Sunday, May 31, 2009.
As you breeze your way through the remainder of
spring and the summer, think about your words and
your actions – are they what God would want
you to do or say?
Shalom,
Katie Peterson
Church and Community Worker
Deaconess
PO Box 67, Paradise, MI 49768
(906) 492-3680 ktpete@gmail.com
Advance number 982942
We give thanks to the General Board of Global Ministries
for providing free space for this web site.
For comments on, or additions to, the website, contact
the editor, Jan Barrett at jan_barrett47@hotmail.com
