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Rev. Cynthia A. Jones, District Superintendent Joyce Daily, Administrative Assistant 4121 Water Tower Pl. |
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TheKaskaskia Konnection November 17, 2009 Dear Brothers and Sisters, Greetings to you in the name and spirit of Jesus Christ! I hold you all in prayer as you prepare for Thanksgiving services and finish up your plans for Advent! I have truly enjoyed meeting so many of our faithful folks at the church conferences. I have only six left now- all of the charge conferences will be finished before Thanksgiving! Thank YOU for all the preparations that you did that made my leading the conferences so much easier! Very few, if any, of us like to fill out forms, but these forms help us to be accountable and to seek God’s guidance for the future. So thank you for all your hard work. Do you have any suggestions on how to improve the doing of charge conference next year? I have heard several of you say that it would be easier to have a "small church" version of forms. Some of you have told me that you would like to hold more of an annual church meeting to go over the ministries of your church and your plans for the future more specifically. I am open to doing this too! I am willing to work on improving our charge conferences. Please give me your ideas! I am also open to other ideas on how and where to hold the conferences. I am wondering about holding several of our smaller parishes in late summer - August andSeptember -on Sunday mornings. I am curious about how the Saturday charge conference that I will hold next week will go. Perhaps we could try some more of these? Anyway my main message to you today regarding charge conference is a big THANK YOU!!!! I hope and pray in these challenging times that we can learn more of what God is already doing so we will know where our focus should and can be as we deal with the pressures caused by the weakening of commitment from many of our folks and the special challenges of stewardship and witness. As I have been reflecting upon Bishop Palmer's call to share our faith in authentic and "savvy" ways, I re-read an article in Sojourners magazine by Brian McLaren. In this article he invites those who would be disciples of Jesus to follow practices that enable us grow in our faith. (As United Methodist Christians we call these practices “the means of grace!”) McLaren writes, "Evangelism (in the early church) wasn't simply getting people to profess adherence to Christian doctrine or to say a magical prayer or to perform a given ritual. It was inviting them to be baptized into the community of disciples so they could learn to practice the things that Jesus commanded- to live the way of life that Jesus lived. Imagine what it would mean today for our churches to be known not as centers of indoctrination, but as schools of love; not as institutions interested in self-preservation, but as outposts in a movement for personal and social transformation through the grace of Jesus Christ!" A “Double Invitation” – when you come on Friday, December 11, or Saturday morning December 12 for the District Open House (see details
below), we encourage you to check out the activities at the United Methodists Children’s Home’s annual Festival of Trees and Live Nativity. For
more information go to this web page: http://www.umchome.org/whatsnew/livenativity2009.htm Advent Open House Mike and I invite you and your family to an informal open house at the District Parsonage on Friday, December 11, from 5:30-8:30 pm (we
decided to extend time beyond that announced previously) and Saturday, December 12, from 9-11am. We hope that you and your family will be able to join us and others during one of those time periods for fun, fellowship, and finger foods as we
share in conversation with other pastor’s families. Epiphany Party We will celebrate our partnership with Liberia at a lunch on Saturday, January 2. Do you have a suggestion as to where to have this celebration? The rumor is true I was runover by a deer this week down in the bottoms by Kinmundy. Only my car was damaged (and the deer sacrificed!) I am thankful for the protection God provided, the kindness of strangers, and your prayers! I am NOT trying to beat my record of being hit by four deer when I was a DS before! As I count my blessings, you and your commitment to the cause of Christ are among the very top of those blessings, Cindy
The Kaskaskia Konnection November 10, 2009 What a Blessing the Advent Resource Day Was! How good it is to study and pray with each other! The twenty folks who gathered at Epworth Camp last Friday left with hearts warmed, minds engaged, and sermon outlines begun for Advent! I am so thankful to our three fantastic presenters: Gifty Smith, Tom Corum, and Mike Jones. They led us in "digging deeply" in the Scriptures and inspired us to prepare for our eyes to be open to the coming of God-with- us, "Emmanuel." The comment I have received from all is, "when can we do this again?" So… I am working on a date for a Lenten Resources Day. "Thank you" also to Tim Pearce for his gracious hospitality!
Remembering Those Who Serve and Protect Us The tragic and shocking murder of soldiers at Fort Hood by another soldier are an horrific reminder of the uncertainty of life and the danger that our armed forces live with daily, even in our own bases. The United Methodist Church offers suggestions on how to respond pastorally to this tragedy on its main website – www.umc.org and suggestions on how to observe Veterans’ Day in the worship section of the General Board of Discipleship’s website. I hope you will find these resources helpful as you continue to minister in the name and spirit of Jesus.
Gary Lemmon, the new CEO of UMCH, introduces himself and UMCH We are blessed to have two United Methodist related agencies in our district: The UM Village in Lawrenceville and the UM Children’s Home in Mount Vernon. Thanks to your support, the support of your churches, and the support of other caring persons, lives are made better in the name of Jesus at these agencies. Yesterday's Mount Vernon Register News has A Readers View column on the Opinions page by Gary Lemmon, the new president/CEO of the UMCH, in which he starts by introducing himself, but quickly moves to telling about the programs at UMCH. Do you know how many different programs there are at UMCH? 3? 4? No – there are even more than that! UMCH has 7 programs in two counties, serving youth and families throughout the state of Illinois.
We urge you to read the article which is available online at http://www.register-news.com/opinion/local_story_312184139.html Mr. Lemmon states in his column that "the truth of the matter is this, all children have value." Amen! Remember all the stories about the special place children had in Jesus' heart? They still do. May the children of the world have a special place in our hearts.
Advent Open House Mike and I invite you and your family to an informal open house at the District Parsonage on Friday, December 11, from 5:30-8:30 pm (we decided to extend time beyond that announced previously) and Saturday, December 12, from 9- 11am. We hope that you and your family will be able to join us and others during one of those time periods for fun, fellowship, and finger foods as we share in conversation with other pastor’s families.
Epiphany Party I am needing to change the date of the Epiphany Party due to changes in my schedule. Please watch for an update in the near future!
Our continued prayers are with David and Gwen Eadie’s son-in-law Michael as he continues cancer treatment Dale Wilfong as he recovers from knee replacement surgery
Offering Hope This quote was on a card we received recently: "Of all the forces that make for a better world, none is so powerful as hope. With hope, one can think, one can work, one can dream. If you have hope, you have everything."
God bless you for all the ways you offer hope to a world so desperately in need of hope. I am thankful to be your co- worker in the ministry of offering hope! Cindy
The Kaskaskia Konnection November 2, 2009 Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, Greetings to you in this week that began with the celebrate of All Saints Day! One of my favorite pictures of heaven comes from the 12th chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. This word picture describes those who have gone before us and now are cheering us on as we run the race following Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. As pastors we are gifted to be with families as they remember those who have returned to God and give thanks for their lives.Leading a funeral service, offering communion and remembering those who have died - these are sacred acts of our ministry.We are welcomed into families in holy spaces and times that few others experience outside of their own immediate family. I give thanks to God for yourpastoral hearts and the ways I have seen and heard that you are
reminders of the presence of Christ as you minister to folks in their grief. Blessings upon you! I am thankful for your preparations and responses during the charge conferences. The forms are not the fun part of any of our ministries, but I hope that they offer you the opportunity to pause and to give an account and see God's guiding hands in your work in the midst of God's people. It has humbled me how folks have been willing to share their stories of faith as we meet and are open to consider what God is calling them to do to welcome others and encourage one another. It has been wonderful to hear of the new ministries begun and lives transformed by the power and love of Christ. I am also thankful for the many prayers for my ministry that that I have received .What a gracious community of believers there is in this area!
Please include in your prayers: Please continue your prayers for David Eadie's (Mt. Vernon First UMC) son-in-law Michael as he goes through intensive cancer treatment prayers for Mike Jones (my husband) as he recovers from minor prostrate surgery prayers for recovery for Dale Wilfong (Albion and Bethel UMCs) as he recovers from knee surgery Invitations: 1. ADVENTRESOURCES AND RETREAT is this Friday, November 6 at Epworth Camp at Louisville We will begin at 8:30 am - formally over after lunch. 9 am - Three presenters will share preaching and worship resources to help get us ready for Advent, including Christmas Eve Noon - Soup will be provided - bring your own sandwich or salad After lunch our "formal" part of the day is over - you are free to stay and visit, nap, take a walk So far 17 folks have let me know that they are planning on coming. If you let me know by Wednesday noon, I can still add to the soup pot. 2. Christmas Open House at the District Parsonage - Friday, December 11 - 6 to 8 pm and on Saturday, December 12 from 9 to11 am Your feedback said that a party after Christmas would be better than before. Many of you also shared with me that you have not been to the district parsonage recently. We are so thankful for the work done to the parsonage before we moved in and would love to have you come and visit over a cup of coffee, or tea, or eggnog, and a cookie! So - all pastors and their families are invited to come and visit with us and each other at 405 Jay Drive in Mount Vernon (turn north on 42nd Street off of Route 15/Broadway, then turn right on Cardinal, turn right at the next turn onto Robin, and then right at the next turn onto Jay Drive. House is towards the end of the street on the right.) Again the Open House is Friday, December 11 from 6 to 8 pm and Saturday morning, December 12 from 9 to11 am. I hope to see you and your family there. ALL DISTRICT EPIPHANY PARTY will be Saturday January 9at noon. This will be a celebration of our connectional ministry through our partnership with our Liberian sisters and brothers. Gifty Smith (wife of Roosevelt Smith of Flora First UMC and a recently commissioned deacon) has graciously offered to make some Liberian dishes for us to taste at the party, Gene Turner (Sumner) will be showing pictures and telling stories from his recent trip to Liberia, and there will be much more to come! Save the date on your calendar now! The location and other details to follow soon! God Bless You! Dr. Will Willimon, now the bishop of the North Alabama conference, but known to us as our beloved worship professor at Duke, would frequently point out to us how often Jesus partied with his disciples. Indeed one of the pictures Jesus painted of heaven was of a great banquet. It is good, Jesus was teaching us, for the people of God to gather, to break bread, and to share fellowhip: it feeds our souls and our bodies. And Jesus practiced radical hospitality at these meals/parties. "He ate with sinners," was the charge against him by the religious authorities, a description which now is part of our Great Prayer of Thanksgiving. I hope and pray that you and the people you serve take time to party like Jesus did! Thankful to be in ministry with you, Cindy |
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