TENNESSEE CONFERENCE REVIEW APRIL 7, 2006
Tennessee Conference Review April 7, 2006
Ten Stories of God at Work through the members and local congregations of the Tennessee Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
1. Easter Message from Mark 16: 5-6
2. Acting on the Vision, Port Royal-Grants United Methodist Church becomes a growing, vibrant congregation
3. Tennessee Conference minister Rev. David C. Adams Elected Top Staff Executive for Commission on United Methodist Men
4. Executive Directors Named for Beersheba Springs Assembly and Cedar Crest Camp
5. Congratulations Mary Winslow, Commissioned to Office of Deaconess, April 4, 2006
6. Some information if you are interested in exploring Christian service as a United Methodist Deaconess
7. Seven-year-old Bellshire UMC boy finds a way to help victims of Hurricane Katrina in the story, “And a little child shall lead them . . . “ (includes information for creating UMCOR flood buckets and school kits)
8. Dick and Margaret Colby, Residents of McKendree Village, are honored for Community Service
9. All Conference youth & local church youth choirs invited to participate in Tennessee Conference Youth Choir
10. Preliminary Announcement Native Moccasins Rock, August 19-20, 2006, Lake Benson, Tennessee
The stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back
“As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed, you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here.” (Mark 16: 5-6) Photo: Part of the Easter Prayer Station, 2005 Session of the Tennessee Annul Conference.
Acting on the Vision, Port Royal-Grants United Methodist Church Becomes a Growing, Vibrant Congregation
Pastor Ben Alford’s sermon the last Sunday in February 2006 at Port Royal-Grants United Methodist Church was based on Mark 9: 2-3 “He was transfigured before them and his clothes became dazzling white.” Alford spoke of the need for each follower of Christ to discover God’s vision and used as examples Rock Hardaway, and then Ken and Carol Powers, in the creation of Community Care Fellowship.
He paused and looked over the Port Royal-Grants congregation, numbering some 70 persons, that Sunday morning . . . and admitted that he could share stories for the rest of the Sunday service about the persons in that congregation who had caught God’s vision, and stepped forward. It was an emotional moment.
Alford and the congregation knew that four years ago Port Royal-Grants was a dying church with twenty or so persons at worship. Two other churches on the same circuit had already closed their doors. Bill Alley, chairperson of the Administrative Council, talked later in the morning about the church having to determine whether it was going to live or die. “We reached the point where it was now or never. We knew something had to be done and had to be done fast.”
Worship attendance has grown substantially at Port Royal-Grants and now includes a number of younger persons.
The Port Royal-Grants congregation determined that they were not only going to grow, but they were going to become vital in the community. Evangelism would have to be more purposeful. The congregation would need to develop a new sense of mission; facilities would
have to be upgraded to allow for growth.
Older church members are delighted at the number of children who participate in the children’s story during worship. Here the children gather around Julie Rullman.
In a few short years Port Royal-Grants church has paved (and totally paid for) the church’s parking lot, remodeled the kitchen and upgraded a multi-purpose room that can double as a classroom for children, started a rotation Sunday School class for children ages 4 to 11 (a center-based approach to teaching), started a United Methodist Youth Fellowship group, acquired five acres of adjoining property assuring space for future growth; and engaged in a strong program of missional outreach. The missional outreach can be demonstrated by the following 2005 figures: $3,612 to UMCOR for Tsunami relief; $335 to Ronald McDonald house; $200 for District Hunger fund; $187 to Golden Cross; $500 for military families; $3,821 for the Martin Methodist College scholarship program; $1,000 to help Charles Stuard, Jr. purchase critical medicine resulting from the TennCare crisis; and $3,651 collected for Hurricane Katrina relief (which includes 25 flood buckets packed by the church’s youth and shipped out in September of 2005).
Bill Alley reminisces with his former Sunday School teacher Louise Ford. When Alley was a child his Port Royal classroom was literally a walk-in closet.
On the final Sunday in February 2006, a cluster of younger adults was meeting for the first time to form a new Sunday School class and they developed a list of over 20 good prospects; formation of a Boy Scout Troop was announced and eight boys had signed up; construction on an addition to the historic church building was underway to hold a nursery—to take care of a growing number of infants-- and additional classroom space; it was announced that average attendance had gone up to 65 and over the past two years church membership had increased by 18%.
Bill Alley points to a unique factor in the church’s renewed vision: “I’ve never had a person come up to me and say at a board meeting or individually, ‘That’s not the way we’ve done it before.’ It’s always been ‘let’s try it, let’s do it.’ There have been no complaints that the new folks were taking over, no sitting back on the part of the new folks. They came and did their part.”
Leaders realized that if the church was to grow remodeling had to take place in the historic church building. A new edition will make possible a nursery for the growing number of infants. Administrative council chairperson, Bill Alley, noted with a smile when a baby cried out during worship, “A child crying is the closest thing to the voice of the Lord we’ve got.”
Abridged History of Port Royal-Grants UMC
Historically, the roots of Port Royal-Grants UMC go back to 1793 when a “circuit-rider” preached in the home of Jonathan Stephenson at Port Royal. Sometime subsequent to that visit, a Methodist society, or congregation, was formed in the area.
In 1824, John Baker deeded to the Methodist Society two acres of land and the meeting house (already built). This gift to the Methodists was known as Baker’s Camp Meeting Grounds. Its location was six miles southeast of Port Royal.
In July and August when the crops were “laid by,” it was camp-meeting time. People by the hundreds would load up their families in wagons filled with goods, bedding, and other necessary camping equipment and spend a week or so at the camp-meeting grounds. The preachers would preach at least three times a day. Out of these camp-meetings at Baker’s grew two local Methodist churches, Mt. Carmel and Port Royal.
By 1873 the Port Royal Methodist congregation had become too large for local homes and was meeting upstairs in the Hampton Lodge (Masonic Building, 1859) in Port Royal.
“In 1875, the Methodists purchased a 5/8ths acre lot from J.E. Gaines for $25. Immediately, the erection of a new meeting house was begun. The Port Royal Meeting House was dedicated in 1876.
In 1922 the Tennessee Conference merged the Grant’s Chapel Methodist Church with Port Royal due to declining numbers. Grant’s members were placed on the rolls of the Port Royal Church. Since the Port Royal building was in good condition, church leaders voted to move it to a new location about half-way between the two churches.
The congregation contracted with Robert Wynn of Clarksville in 1922 to move the Port Royal church building from its original location across from the Alley Home on Port Royal Road to the new site on what was then called the Austin Peay Highway. It was a sizeable undertaking. First, the entire building was raised, stabilized, and placed on log rollers. Then it was hitched to a large steam traction engine, pulled across the fields, and finally lowered onto a new foundation.
Today’s sanctuary is the original building that was moved. Mrs. Mary Alley describes the move this way: “the church was literally moved down the hill, across the spring branch, up the hill, and across the field to its present location.”
The church was dedicated as Port Royal-Grant’s Chapel Methodist Church on Sunday, May 28, 1922.
Highlights of its almost 200 years in ministry
+Proud to have sent one of its own sons into the ministry, George Edward Sanford, who served 11 Tennessee Conference congregations before retiring in 1986.
+Can claim that eleven different United Methodist bishops have preached from the Port Royal pulpit.
+Takes seriously its responsibility as a part of the Methodist “connection” and has never failed to pay its annual benevolence apportionment. In recent years, these payments for mission throughout the world have been paid early, and in full.
+It is estimated that since its founding, Port Royal Church has contributed well over a million dollars for the cause of Christ at home and around the world. From its ranks have come teachers, farmers, medical personnel, artists, merchants, lawyers, and political leaders. All this from a congregation whose membership never exceeded 100.
+But numbers alone do not present the full picture of any congregation’s service. Those who discovered faith, and grew in faith at Port Royal have gone to and fro throughout the earth. Each of them has touched other persons. Their witness, their contributions to other people and institutions, and their sacrificial love cannot be measured.
The Review gratefully acknowledges Ben R. Alford’s A History of Port Royal-Grants United Methodist Church, and the assistance of District Superintendent John Casey, members James B. Alley and William B. Alley in the preparation of this report.
Pastor Ben Alford stands with part of his Sunday School class on Sunday morning.
Formation of a new adult Sunday School Class was the order of the day on Sunday, February 26th.
Rev. David C. Adams Elected Top Staff Executive for Commission on United Methodist Men
by J. Richard Peck*
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) -- The Rev. David C. Adams, former president of Tennessee Conference United Methodist Men and pastor of First United Methodist Church in Lynchburg, Tenn., has been elected top staff executive of the Commission on United Methodist Men.
Elected by the 23-member commission, Adams, 56, will assume leadership of an eight-member Nashville staff June 19.
Rev. David C. Adams, Tennessee Conference minister named top executive for the national Commission on United Methodist Men
In 1987, when Adams was elected president of the Tennessee Conference's United Methodist Men, the organization occupied last place in the number of new members. By 1990, the conference led the nation in growth. Over the same period of time, United Methodist Men went from using $2,000 in conference apportionment monies to raising more than $40,000.
While serving as a conference president, Adams was elected treasurer of the National Association of Conference Presidents. He was elected to the United Methodist Board of Discipleship in 1992 and served as secretary of the men's division during the 1993-96 quadrennium. He also served as a delegate to the 1992 General Conference and Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference.
Working as an insurance salesman after graduating from Belmont University in Nashville, Adams said he received a call to the ministry while attending a 1994 meeting of United Methodist Men.
Following his 1999 graduation from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., he was appointed associate pastor of First United Methodist Church in Shelbyville, Tenn. In 2000, he was appointed to Monterey United Methodist Church, and he was named to the 240-member Lynchburg Church in 2003.
Key challenges
One of the challenges of the 9-year-old commission is finding ways to reach unchurched men. Adams understands that challenge.
"I was baptized in the Presbyterian Church at age 12 and had no relationship with a church from that time to age 23, when I started dating my wife, Joyce," he said. She happened to be a United Methodist, and from that time, Adams served as chairman of nearly every local church committee.
The Commission on United Methodist Men must find ways to relate to the younger generation without losing its base of older men, Adams said.
Noting the absence of young men in the pews and in chapters of United Methodist Men, he suggested following an Emmaus saying, "Make a friend, be a friend, and bring a friend to Christ."
"We must find ways to enjoin both generations in order to move forward in the ministry of men," he said. "Finding a common purpose and goal to unite men of all ages would enable United Methodist Men to wake up to their potential for Jesus Christ."
One of Adams' concerns is for children who have no fathers. "We live in a culture where 50 percent of all families do not have a father in the home," he said. "Men need to be involved as role models in the passage of boys into manhood." The commission recently signed a partnership agreement with Big Brothers Big Sisters to encourage men to mentor children of incarcerated adults.
Transition in leaders
Bishop William W. Morris has been serving as interim top staff executive for the commission since the Rev. Joseph Harris resigned last June to take a position in the Oklahoma Area as assistant to the bishop and director of communications.
Adams' election was announced by Gilbert Hanke, president of the Commission on United Methodist Men.
"The commission welcomes David as the newest member and new leader of our staff," Hanke said. "We are excited with the energy, vision and experience he brings to this vital ministry of the church.
"I also want to formally thank Bishop William Morris, who has served as general secretary on an interim basis," Hanke said. "He has brought calm and caring guidance as we transitioned to a new building and now to a new general secretary. He is truly a servant leader of the church."
"As the interim general secretary of the commission, I welcome the Rev. David Adams to his new position," Morris said. "I look forward to his leadership in the purpose of the commission, namely making Christ central in the lives of men."
Adams is expected to be appointed to the commission by Bishop Richard Wills at the conclusion of the June session of the Tennessee Annual Conference.
Said Adams: "It's an honor and a privilege to work for Jesus Christ through the ministry of the General Commission of United Methodist Men."
*Peck is the communications coordinator for the Nashville-based General Commission on United Methodist Men.
Executive Directors Named for Beersheba Springs Assembly and Cedar Crest Camp
Executive Directors have recently been named for the two camps owned and operated by the Tennessee Annual Conference, Beersheba Springs Assembly located in the mountains of middle Tennessee, and Cedar Crest Camp in Lyles, Tennessee. The Executive Director positions were newly created at the end of 2005 by the Committee on Camps and Conferences and, for the first time, tie together the functions of facility manager and director of programming for the two facilities.
Philip G. Geissal, who has served for this past year as the Beersheba Springs facilities manager, in charge of the Assembly, its buildings, grounds, and large staff, has taken on the additional job of programming. Geissal has wide experience in all aspects of camp and conference ministry, and in a long and distinguished career has provided leadership in camps from Hawaii to North Carolina. He has also provided leadership in capital campaigns for numerous non-profit organizations from the National Community Development Service, to the United Way and several colleges. At Beersheba he has supervised a staff of 10-15 persons, and overseen scheduling and maintenance of an historic facility that has received major renovation over the past four years.
Geissal, who has a B.S. in Group Work Education for George Williams College in Chicago, Illinois, was widowed early in 2005, has seven children and twelve grandchildren.
James Ralston, who is new to the Tennessee Annual Conference, will be the Executive Director of Cedar Crest, a 500 acre rustic camp. Ralston has worked for over ten years in camping and outdoor ministries, and has experience with a wide variety of types and styles of camping. He has the experience of taking a camp through the process of ACA accreditation.
Ralston has a Bachelors of Science in Sociology with a minor in Religious Studies from Southwest Missouri State College. He did academic work as an Emergency Medical Technician, at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he graduated and was licensed in 1995. He has a Masters of Divinity, and a Masters of Arts in Religious Education and Church Recreation, both from Southwestern Baptist Seminary.
He is certified as a Safe Sanctuaries trainer, and is certified by the National Swimming Pool Foundation as a Pool and Spa operator. He has held a number of certificates related to the programming side of camping including Rock Climbing, High and Low Ropes Facilitator, Lifeguard Instructor, CPR Instructor, First Aid Instructor, and Emergency Medical Technician.
He comes to his new position at Cedar Crest Camp from the United Methodist Church in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, where he served as Director of Family Ministries. Though he enjoyed local church work immensely both he and his wife Jennifer are looking forward to God’s calling back to a camp situation.
James and Jennifer Ralston have three children: Brianna (7), JChris (James Christian, age 5) and BJ (Benjamin Jeremiah, age 3).
Beth Morris, Conference Director of Youth and Camping Ministries, feels that the blending of facility and programming oversight at Beersheba and Cedar Crest will benefit the Conference’s growing camp and conference ministry: “Having Executive Directors at each camp is exciting. With programming oversight coming directly from the camp, I am looking forward to some creative activities taking place at both our camps.”
Congratulations Mary Winslow, Commissioned to Office of Deaconess, April 4, 2006
Mary Winslow, LCSW, Tennessean Commissioned as a Deaconess
On April 4, 2006, Mary Winslow answered the call she felt from God to become a Deaconess in the United Methodist Church and was commissioned as a Deaconess, along with a dozen others. The service was held in Stamford, Connecticut, as part of the semi-annual meeting of the General Board of Global Ministries’ Board of Directors.
For individuals not familiar with the term Deaconess, “Deaconesses are lay women who have responded to the call of God in their lives and have been commissioned by The United Methodist Church to full-time ministries of love, justice and service. They form a covenant community that is rooted in scripture, informed by history, driven by mission, ecumenical in scope and global in outreach.” With Mary Winslow’s commissioning there are officially five Deaconesses in the Tennessee Conference, with four of the five now retired. She and her twelve newly commissioned colleagues will join 122 Deaconesses presently in active service around the world.
Becky Louter, Executive Secretary of the Deaconess Program Office, expressed joy in Mary Winslow’s commissioning. Louter points out that “the number of Deaconesses in active service has been increasing at a rapid rate since the reaffirmation of the Office of Deaconess at the 1996 General Conference. Following the 25 year study of ministry during which the formal promotion of the Office of Deaconess was halted, the numbers had steadily declined to our lowest point of approximately 48 in active service.”
As a Deaconess Mary Winslow is a member of City Road Chapel United Methodist Church in the Nashville District. Her full-time ministry of love, justice and service is with the Tennessee Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society where she serves as the Chapter’s Patient Services Manager. The Society’s mission is to “Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.” The latter part of the mission statement is Winslow’s responsibility as she works to provide support and guidance to patients, families and healthcare professionals who care for them. She manages Patient Education Programs, helps provide patients, families, and healthcare professionals with the latest information on leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma; works through Family Support groups; works with children with cancer through the Trish Greene Back to School Program; and manages a program where patients and their families have an opportunity to share experiences with someone who has been successfully treated for the same diagnosis.
Her background and experience have not been lost on the staff at City Road Chapel. Associate pastor Donna Parramore spoke for her colleagues and the church membership when she said, “We are so excited that God has brought someone to City Road with her passion for the underprivileged, and her concern for social justice.”
Though it is probably accurate to say that most United Methodists have not heard of the Deaconess program and know NOTHING about it, many of the great moments in American Methodist history, since the Office of Deaconess had its beginning in 1888, can be attributed to Deaconesses. Deaconesses helped establish community centers, orphanages, schools (including Nashville’s Scarritt College for Christian Workers), hospitals, and clinics. Homes for immigrant women and outreach ministries in both rural and urban settings were also part of the ministry. The Office of Home Missioner was established at the 2004 General Conference providing lay men with a similar opportunity to serve in a life-time relationship in The United Methodist Church.
The concept of Deaconess goes back to the early days of the Christian church. In Romans 16: 1-2 the Apostle Paul writes: "I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae...receive her in the Lord as befits the saints...for she has been a helper of many and of myself as well."
Mary Winslow is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Masters of Social Work. She came to Nashville, Tennessee, from Southern Mississippi, where she served as director of the Moore Community House in Biloxi. Mary’s roots go back to her birth in Maryland and then years spent in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. She experienced quite a bit of culture shock when she originally moved from Massachusetts to serve in Mississippi as a VISTA volunteer.
In 2004 she moved northward into Tennessee, accompanied by sons Cameron Hale (now 17) and David Hale (now 15), to accept a position with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Mary Lou Moore, a retired Deaconess and part-time librarian at the Scarritt-Bennett Center, served as Winslow’s mentor as she went through the process of becoming a Deaconess. “She’s a very talented person and I like to say that Mary mentored me throughout our work together. We’ve become friends.”
When Mary Winslow reflects on her ministry and on being finally commissioned as a Deaconess she strongly emphasizes the spiritual and emotional support received from gatherings of the Deaconesses. “Every time I am with other Deaconesses my life is richer. We are such a wonderfully diverse group of people—I benefit so much from being around them.”
A major source of information on the Deaconess program is the March 2006 issue of Response magazine. Theme of the March issue is “Deaconesses—Love, Justice, Service.” If no member of the United Methodist Women in your church subscribes to Response you can order a copy of the magazine through the General Board of Global Ministries Service Center, 7820 Reading Road, Cincinnati, OH 45222-1800, scorders@gbgm-umc.org (you will be billed if you order by email). Toll free order number 1-800-305-9857. Stock number for the March issue is #3745 and cost is $2.00 per copy.
Are you interested in exploring service as a Deaconess?
Do you feel that God is calling you but you are not sure where or how God is calling you to serve? Or do you think God is calling you to be a Deaconess but you are not sure what that means or how to go about exploring that option? If these are your questions, the Deaconess Program Office provides a wonderful opportunity for you to have your questions answered by attending a Deaconess Discernment / Reflection Event.
At least once a year women who are discerning options for lay mission and ministry come together to explore how they might best answer God’s call in their lives. During the Discernment/Reflection Event active Deaconesses share their stories regarding how they answered the call to life-time service through the church and what it means to them to be a Deaconess and a part of the Deaconess community.
Write, call or e-mail the Deaconess Program Office for more information and an application for the Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner. General Board of Global Ministries, Becky Dodson Louter, Deaconess Program Office, 475 Riverside Drive #320, New York, New York 10115. Phone: Deaconess Program Office (212) 870-3850. Email: Deaconess@gbgm-umc.org
And a little child shall lead them . . . (Isaiah 11:6)
When 7-year-old Donald Thomas “Donny” Paisley*, a second grader, heard about the tremendous amount of damage done by Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast, and the subsequent human suffering endured by residents, he wanted to help. After seeing pictures of the devastation on the news, he heard about the needs in worship, and wanted to do something. The congregation of Bellshire United Methodist responded almost immediately with a special offering of nearly $1500 for the United Methodist Committee on Relief, and the United Methodist Men’s group donated an additional $300.00.
Continuing to respond to the crisis a week or two later, the church’s Sunday morning bulletin urged the membership to help storm victims by preparing UMCOR emergency kits. Included with the appeal was a listing of ingredients for the kits—including the much needed “Flood Buckets” filled with emergency cleaning and disinfecting supplies.
Donny wanted to help. He pledged to fill a flood bucket, one or two items at a time, as money became available to him through his allowance and the occasional gift. It started with a gallon of bleach at Dollar Tree, and then through the next few months, and many trips to the nearby Dollar General Store, he added the other ingredients. The main problem now became the huge plastic bucket to hold all the items—the usual sources of such buckets had none in stock. It was the church secretary who saw one on a trip to the hardware store, and brought it to church for Donny.
So, by early March, Donny’s pledge to help storm victims had resulted in a jam-packed bucket full of essential supplies to help a home owner or renter begin to clean out flood residue and create a safe environment for repairs to take place and for his/her family to have a place to sleep. As the bucket was delivered, Donny acknowledged that his gift could go to a family in Mississippi or Louisiana or, perhaps, to someone in another part of the world. He just wanted to help somebody.
Bellshire United Methodist church, Donny Paisley prepares to turn in his flood bucket
Incidentally, Christmas time was right in the middle of Donny’s labors to fill the flood bucket, and he didn’t feel it was fair to receive a bunch of presents from Santa Claus. His Christmas letter to Santa let the folks at the North Pole know that Donny Paisely expected his gifts to go to boys and girls along the coast who lost all their toys in the flood. Santa was obviously impressed with Donny’s generous heart, cut way back on the gifts, but DID bring him one gift, a small stack of games.
Photo #11, caption: Tennessee Conference Director of Love and Justice Ministries loads Donny’s flood bucket for its trip to the Sager-Brown UMCOR Depot.
Donny’s Flood Bucket inspired one of the men of the church who worked in a situation that used a whole lot of plastic buckets and discarded them when empty. This man is now collecting ten buckets to bring to church for other concerned people to fill. When this kind man told Donny about the buckets, Donny said his bucket was multiplying just like in the bible story.
If you have children’s Sunday School classes or youth groups that would like to fill flood buckets, Donny was happy to share his list of essential ingredients—and we are also sharing the listing of ingredients for a school kit. Donny thinks that might be a good next project.
*Donald Thomas Paisley is the son of Randall and Katherine Paisley.
School Kit
In some countries, children don't have books or school supplies. Many have no schoolrooms; classes are held in inadequate or half-destroyed buildings, tents, or even the open air. Often students must write down everything the teacher says or records on a board. Their teacher's knowledge and their own notes are their only textbooks. School kits may be these children's only educational resources. This UMCOR kit is designed for a variety of ages.
1 pair blunt scissors (rounded tip)
2 pads (or loose leaf) of 8 1/2" x 11" ruled paper
1 30-centimeter ruler
1 hand held pencil sharpener
6 unsharpened pencils with erasers
1 eraser, 2 1/2"
12 sheets construction paper (varied colors)
1 box of 24 crayons (only 24)
Prepare a 14" x 16" (finished size) cloth bag with handles and a closure (Velcro®, snap or button) and place items in the bag. Patterns are available through the following website address http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/schoolbagpattern.cfm#pattern
Flood Bucket
These supplies enable people to begin the overwhelming job of cleaning up after a flood or hurricane. For flood buckets only, if the requested sized item is not available, go down to the next available size. If nothing is available in the requested or smaller size, put masking tape on the outside of the bucket saying, "This bucket contains no _________."
5-gallon bucket with resealable lid
Bleach (two 1-quart or one 82 oz. bottle. Do not include bleach of you are shipping the bucket through the US Postal Service, UPS or FedEx)
5 scouring pads
7 Sponges
1 scrub brush
18 cleaning towels (reusable wipes)
Liquid laundry detergent (two 25 oz. or one 50 oz. bottle)
1 household cleaner, 12-16 oz. bottle
Disinfectant dish soap, 16-28 oz. bottle
50 clothes pins
Clothes line (two 50 ft. or one 100 ft.)
5 dust masks
2 pair latex gloves
1 pair work gloves
24-bag roll of heavy-duty trash bags, 33-45 gallon (remove roll from box before placing in bucket)
1 Insect repellant spray, 6-14 oz. can (If aerosol, cans must have protective caps.
1 Air freshener, 8 or 9 oz. can (If aerosol, cans must have protective caps.)
*Special requirements: Put all items in the plastic bucket and seal lid. Please ensure that all cleansing agents are liquids (not powder) and in plastic bottles. Deliver the bucket/s to the Tennessee Conference Office of Connectional Ministries for shipment to the Sager-Brown Depot.
Residents of McKendree Village Honored for Community Service
Dick and Margaret Colby
Hermitage, TN – Dick and Margaret Colby, residents of McKendree Village continuing care retirement community, were honored recently with the Community Spirit Award at the Star-Spangled Salute, an annual gala event in the Donelson-Hermitage community which honors area residents for their outstanding volunteer service. The Colbys, who have lived in The Towers independent living apartments at McKendree Village since 1996, are members of Andrew Price United Methodist Church in Donelson.
“Dick and Margaret’s commitment to others and our community is unselfish and deserves recognition. We are blessed to have them in our community,” said Jane Schnelle, executive director of the Donelson Senior Center. The Star-Spangled Salute is a benefit event for the Donelson Senior Center.
This award marks the second time that the Colbys have been honored for their volunteer service. In 2004, they were named Volunteers of the Year by the Tennessee Association of Homes and Services for the Aging for their service to the Nashville community and at McKendree Village.
“Dick and Margaret exemplify the spirit of volunteerism,” said Mary Anna Womeldorf, president and CEO of McKendree Village. “They are an outstanding example of how senior adults in their retirement years continue to make vital contributions to improve their community and to serve others. Dick and Margaret’s efforts are felt at McKendree Village and throughout the Nashville community.”
The Colbys are active volunteers with the American Red Cross, Summit Medical Center, McKendree Village and their church. Both were active in establishing a McKendree Village Beautification Committee and raising funds to support the committee’s ongoing efforts. Margaret recruited a physician to provide free podiatry services to McKendree residents and then helped to coordinate the program. She has also volunteered at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and the State Archives. Dick has been a volunteer coordinator of Disaster Relief Volunteers and assisted with disaster relief efforts nationally and internationally. He most recently assisted in relief efforts for the 2004 Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.
Established in 1963, McKendree Village provides a continuum of retirement living options and health care services to approximately 700 senior adults in a secure, Christian environment. Its services include independent living, assisted living, nursing home care and Alzheimer’s care. McKendree Village is affiliated with The United Methodist Church and is in partnership with Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
All Tennessee Conference Youth invited to participate in Tennessee Conference Choir
Dr. Karen Kenaston-French
All Tennessee Conference youth (grades 7-12) and local church youth choirs are invited and encouraged to join The Tennessee Conference Youth Choir forming for participation in the Thirty-Ninth Session of the Tennessee Annual Conference.
The Conference Youth Choir will have a mass rehearsal and choral workshop on the afternoon of Monday, June 12th, at First United Methodist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, site of the 2006 Annual Conference. The Choir will then present its special musical offerings at the Monday evening Annual Conference Worship Service.
Directing the Youth Choir will be Dr. Karen Kenaston-French, Director of Choral Activities at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. She holds degrees from West Virginia Wesleyan College, Southern Methodist University, the Perkins School of Theology, and the University of North Texas.
Dr. Kenaston-French has been active in the field of choral conducting for over 20 years. During her tenure as Director of Music Ministries at Plymouth Park UMC in Irving, Texas, she managed a program which included a 90-member adult choir, a 75-member youth choir, 3 handbell choirs, and 5 other performing ensembles, involving over 250 people. Her success with the Plymouth Park Youth Choir led to her popularity as a clinician for festivals and workshops throughout the south-western United States.
For more information or to register to become a part of the Tennessee Conference Youth Choir, contact Rev. Jared Wilson, Madison Street United Methodist Church, (931) 647-0221, jared@msumc.ntcmail.net
Native Moccasins Rock, August 19-20, 2006, Lake Benson, Tennessee
This 5th joyous celebration of Native American history, culture, and traditions is being sponsored by the Native American Ministry Committee of the Tennessee Conference, United Methodist Church. The event will be held at Lake Benson, west of Nashville, Highway 100, in Bon Aqua (Dickson area).
Speakers will include Ray Buckley and a number of exciting workshops have already been set—with many more to come: Drum Workshop, Native Games, Pottery, Women’s Circle, Medicinal Plants and Herbs, and storytelling.
The Saturday evening “Native Jam will include performances by Jamie Russell (Cherokee), Emerson Begay (Navajo), Grady Jones (Cherokee/Shawnee) and Drum-Warriors Path.
Contacts for further information: Mary T Newman and request a brochure at 1-800-403-5796 or 615-792-3411 (evenings) or email her at ntnewman@tnumc.org or you can contact Margie Hesson at 615-746-8726 (evenings) haskellh@aol.com
Ten Stories of God at Work through the members and local congregations of the Tennessee Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
1. Easter Message from Mark 16: 5-6
2. Acting on the Vision, Port Royal-Grants United Methodist Church becomes a growing, vibrant congregation
3. Tennessee Conference minister Rev. David C. Adams Elected Top Staff Executive for Commission on United Methodist Men
4. Executive Directors Named for Beersheba Springs Assembly and Cedar Crest Camp
5. Congratulations Mary Winslow, Commissioned to Office of Deaconess, April 4, 2006
6. Some information if you are interested in exploring Christian service as a United Methodist Deaconess
7. Seven-year-old Bellshire UMC boy finds a way to help victims of Hurricane Katrina in the story, “And a little child shall lead them . . . “ (includes information for creating UMCOR flood buckets and school kits)
8. Dick and Margaret Colby, Residents of McKendree Village, are honored for Community Service
9. All Conference youth & local church youth choirs invited to participate in Tennessee Conference Youth Choir
10. Preliminary Announcement Native Moccasins Rock, August 19-20, 2006, Lake Benson, Tennessee
The stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back
“As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed, you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here.” (Mark 16: 5-6) Photo: Part of the Easter Prayer Station, 2005 Session of the Tennessee Annul Conference.Acting on the Vision, Port Royal-Grants United Methodist Church Becomes a Growing, Vibrant Congregation
Pastor Ben Alford’s sermon the last Sunday in February 2006 at Port Royal-Grants United Methodist Church was based on Mark 9: 2-3 “He was transfigured before them and his clothes became dazzling white.” Alford spoke of the need for each follower of Christ to discover God’s vision and used as examples Rock Hardaway, and then Ken and Carol Powers, in the creation of Community Care Fellowship.
He paused and looked over the Port Royal-Grants congregation, numbering some 70 persons, that Sunday morning . . . and admitted that he could share stories for the rest of the Sunday service about the persons in that congregation who had caught God’s vision, and stepped forward. It was an emotional moment.
Alford and the congregation knew that four years ago Port Royal-Grants was a dying church with twenty or so persons at worship. Two other churches on the same circuit had already closed their doors. Bill Alley, chairperson of the Administrative Council, talked later in the morning about the church having to determine whether it was going to live or die. “We reached the point where it was now or never. We knew something had to be done and had to be done fast.”
Worship attendance has grown substantially at Port Royal-Grants and now includes a number of younger persons.
The Port Royal-Grants congregation determined that they were not only going to grow, but they were going to become vital in the community. Evangelism would have to be more purposeful. The congregation would need to develop a new sense of mission; facilities would
have to be upgraded to allow for growth.
Older church members are delighted at the number of children who participate in the children’s story during worship. Here the children gather around Julie Rullman.
In a few short years Port Royal-Grants church has paved (and totally paid for) the church’s parking lot, remodeled the kitchen and upgraded a multi-purpose room that can double as a classroom for children, started a rotation Sunday School class for children ages 4 to 11 (a center-based approach to teaching), started a United Methodist Youth Fellowship group, acquired five acres of adjoining property assuring space for future growth; and engaged in a strong program of missional outreach. The missional outreach can be demonstrated by the following 2005 figures: $3,612 to UMCOR for Tsunami relief; $335 to Ronald McDonald house; $200 for District Hunger fund; $187 to Golden Cross; $500 for military families; $3,821 for the Martin Methodist College scholarship program; $1,000 to help Charles Stuard, Jr. purchase critical medicine resulting from the TennCare crisis; and $3,651 collected for Hurricane Katrina relief (which includes 25 flood buckets packed by the church’s youth and shipped out in September of 2005).
Bill Alley reminisces with his former Sunday School teacher Louise Ford. When Alley was a child his Port Royal classroom was literally a walk-in closet.On the final Sunday in February 2006, a cluster of younger adults was meeting for the first time to form a new Sunday School class and they developed a list of over 20 good prospects; formation of a Boy Scout Troop was announced and eight boys had signed up; construction on an addition to the historic church building was underway to hold a nursery—to take care of a growing number of infants-- and additional classroom space; it was announced that average attendance had gone up to 65 and over the past two years church membership had increased by 18%.
Bill Alley points to a unique factor in the church’s renewed vision: “I’ve never had a person come up to me and say at a board meeting or individually, ‘That’s not the way we’ve done it before.’ It’s always been ‘let’s try it, let’s do it.’ There have been no complaints that the new folks were taking over, no sitting back on the part of the new folks. They came and did their part.”
Leaders realized that if the church was to grow remodeling had to take place in the historic church building. A new edition will make possible a nursery for the growing number of infants. Administrative council chairperson, Bill Alley, noted with a smile when a baby cried out during worship, “A child crying is the closest thing to the voice of the Lord we’ve got.”Abridged History of Port Royal-Grants UMC
Historically, the roots of Port Royal-Grants UMC go back to 1793 when a “circuit-rider” preached in the home of Jonathan Stephenson at Port Royal. Sometime subsequent to that visit, a Methodist society, or congregation, was formed in the area.
In 1824, John Baker deeded to the Methodist Society two acres of land and the meeting house (already built). This gift to the Methodists was known as Baker’s Camp Meeting Grounds. Its location was six miles southeast of Port Royal.
In July and August when the crops were “laid by,” it was camp-meeting time. People by the hundreds would load up their families in wagons filled with goods, bedding, and other necessary camping equipment and spend a week or so at the camp-meeting grounds. The preachers would preach at least three times a day. Out of these camp-meetings at Baker’s grew two local Methodist churches, Mt. Carmel and Port Royal.
By 1873 the Port Royal Methodist congregation had become too large for local homes and was meeting upstairs in the Hampton Lodge (Masonic Building, 1859) in Port Royal.
“In 1875, the Methodists purchased a 5/8ths acre lot from J.E. Gaines for $25. Immediately, the erection of a new meeting house was begun. The Port Royal Meeting House was dedicated in 1876.
In 1922 the Tennessee Conference merged the Grant’s Chapel Methodist Church with Port Royal due to declining numbers. Grant’s members were placed on the rolls of the Port Royal Church. Since the Port Royal building was in good condition, church leaders voted to move it to a new location about half-way between the two churches.
The congregation contracted with Robert Wynn of Clarksville in 1922 to move the Port Royal church building from its original location across from the Alley Home on Port Royal Road to the new site on what was then called the Austin Peay Highway. It was a sizeable undertaking. First, the entire building was raised, stabilized, and placed on log rollers. Then it was hitched to a large steam traction engine, pulled across the fields, and finally lowered onto a new foundation.
Today’s sanctuary is the original building that was moved. Mrs. Mary Alley describes the move this way: “the church was literally moved down the hill, across the spring branch, up the hill, and across the field to its present location.”
The church was dedicated as Port Royal-Grant’s Chapel Methodist Church on Sunday, May 28, 1922.
Highlights of its almost 200 years in ministry
+Proud to have sent one of its own sons into the ministry, George Edward Sanford, who served 11 Tennessee Conference congregations before retiring in 1986.
+Can claim that eleven different United Methodist bishops have preached from the Port Royal pulpit.
+Takes seriously its responsibility as a part of the Methodist “connection” and has never failed to pay its annual benevolence apportionment. In recent years, these payments for mission throughout the world have been paid early, and in full.
+It is estimated that since its founding, Port Royal Church has contributed well over a million dollars for the cause of Christ at home and around the world. From its ranks have come teachers, farmers, medical personnel, artists, merchants, lawyers, and political leaders. All this from a congregation whose membership never exceeded 100.
+But numbers alone do not present the full picture of any congregation’s service. Those who discovered faith, and grew in faith at Port Royal have gone to and fro throughout the earth. Each of them has touched other persons. Their witness, their contributions to other people and institutions, and their sacrificial love cannot be measured.
The Review gratefully acknowledges Ben R. Alford’s A History of Port Royal-Grants United Methodist Church, and the assistance of District Superintendent John Casey, members James B. Alley and William B. Alley in the preparation of this report.
Pastor Ben Alford stands with part of his Sunday School class on Sunday morning.
Formation of a new adult Sunday School Class was the order of the day on Sunday, February 26th.
Rev. David C. Adams Elected Top Staff Executive for Commission on United Methodist Men
by J. Richard Peck*
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) -- The Rev. David C. Adams, former president of Tennessee Conference United Methodist Men and pastor of First United Methodist Church in Lynchburg, Tenn., has been elected top staff executive of the Commission on United Methodist Men.
Elected by the 23-member commission, Adams, 56, will assume leadership of an eight-member Nashville staff June 19.
Rev. David C. Adams, Tennessee Conference minister named top executive for the national Commission on United Methodist Men
In 1987, when Adams was elected president of the Tennessee Conference's United Methodist Men, the organization occupied last place in the number of new members. By 1990, the conference led the nation in growth. Over the same period of time, United Methodist Men went from using $2,000 in conference apportionment monies to raising more than $40,000.
While serving as a conference president, Adams was elected treasurer of the National Association of Conference Presidents. He was elected to the United Methodist Board of Discipleship in 1992 and served as secretary of the men's division during the 1993-96 quadrennium. He also served as a delegate to the 1992 General Conference and Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference.
Working as an insurance salesman after graduating from Belmont University in Nashville, Adams said he received a call to the ministry while attending a 1994 meeting of United Methodist Men.
Following his 1999 graduation from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., he was appointed associate pastor of First United Methodist Church in Shelbyville, Tenn. In 2000, he was appointed to Monterey United Methodist Church, and he was named to the 240-member Lynchburg Church in 2003.
Key challenges
One of the challenges of the 9-year-old commission is finding ways to reach unchurched men. Adams understands that challenge.
"I was baptized in the Presbyterian Church at age 12 and had no relationship with a church from that time to age 23, when I started dating my wife, Joyce," he said. She happened to be a United Methodist, and from that time, Adams served as chairman of nearly every local church committee.
The Commission on United Methodist Men must find ways to relate to the younger generation without losing its base of older men, Adams said.
Noting the absence of young men in the pews and in chapters of United Methodist Men, he suggested following an Emmaus saying, "Make a friend, be a friend, and bring a friend to Christ."
"We must find ways to enjoin both generations in order to move forward in the ministry of men," he said. "Finding a common purpose and goal to unite men of all ages would enable United Methodist Men to wake up to their potential for Jesus Christ."
One of Adams' concerns is for children who have no fathers. "We live in a culture where 50 percent of all families do not have a father in the home," he said. "Men need to be involved as role models in the passage of boys into manhood." The commission recently signed a partnership agreement with Big Brothers Big Sisters to encourage men to mentor children of incarcerated adults.
Transition in leaders
Bishop William W. Morris has been serving as interim top staff executive for the commission since the Rev. Joseph Harris resigned last June to take a position in the Oklahoma Area as assistant to the bishop and director of communications.
Adams' election was announced by Gilbert Hanke, president of the Commission on United Methodist Men.
"The commission welcomes David as the newest member and new leader of our staff," Hanke said. "We are excited with the energy, vision and experience he brings to this vital ministry of the church.
"I also want to formally thank Bishop William Morris, who has served as general secretary on an interim basis," Hanke said. "He has brought calm and caring guidance as we transitioned to a new building and now to a new general secretary. He is truly a servant leader of the church."
"As the interim general secretary of the commission, I welcome the Rev. David Adams to his new position," Morris said. "I look forward to his leadership in the purpose of the commission, namely making Christ central in the lives of men."
Adams is expected to be appointed to the commission by Bishop Richard Wills at the conclusion of the June session of the Tennessee Annual Conference.
Said Adams: "It's an honor and a privilege to work for Jesus Christ through the ministry of the General Commission of United Methodist Men."
*Peck is the communications coordinator for the Nashville-based General Commission on United Methodist Men.
Executive Directors Named for Beersheba Springs Assembly and Cedar Crest Camp
Executive Directors have recently been named for the two camps owned and operated by the Tennessee Annual Conference, Beersheba Springs Assembly located in the mountains of middle Tennessee, and Cedar Crest Camp in Lyles, Tennessee. The Executive Director positions were newly created at the end of 2005 by the Committee on Camps and Conferences and, for the first time, tie together the functions of facility manager and director of programming for the two facilities.
Philip G. Geissal, who has served for this past year as the Beersheba Springs facilities manager, in charge of the Assembly, its buildings, grounds, and large staff, has taken on the additional job of programming. Geissal has wide experience in all aspects of camp and conference ministry, and in a long and distinguished career has provided leadership in camps from Hawaii to North Carolina. He has also provided leadership in capital campaigns for numerous non-profit organizations from the National Community Development Service, to the United Way and several colleges. At Beersheba he has supervised a staff of 10-15 persons, and overseen scheduling and maintenance of an historic facility that has received major renovation over the past four years.
Geissal, who has a B.S. in Group Work Education for George Williams College in Chicago, Illinois, was widowed early in 2005, has seven children and twelve grandchildren.
James Ralston, who is new to the Tennessee Annual Conference, will be the Executive Director of Cedar Crest, a 500 acre rustic camp. Ralston has worked for over ten years in camping and outdoor ministries, and has experience with a wide variety of types and styles of camping. He has the experience of taking a camp through the process of ACA accreditation.
Ralston has a Bachelors of Science in Sociology with a minor in Religious Studies from Southwest Missouri State College. He did academic work as an Emergency Medical Technician, at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he graduated and was licensed in 1995. He has a Masters of Divinity, and a Masters of Arts in Religious Education and Church Recreation, both from Southwestern Baptist Seminary.
He is certified as a Safe Sanctuaries trainer, and is certified by the National Swimming Pool Foundation as a Pool and Spa operator. He has held a number of certificates related to the programming side of camping including Rock Climbing, High and Low Ropes Facilitator, Lifeguard Instructor, CPR Instructor, First Aid Instructor, and Emergency Medical Technician.
He comes to his new position at Cedar Crest Camp from the United Methodist Church in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, where he served as Director of Family Ministries. Though he enjoyed local church work immensely both he and his wife Jennifer are looking forward to God’s calling back to a camp situation.
James and Jennifer Ralston have three children: Brianna (7), JChris (James Christian, age 5) and BJ (Benjamin Jeremiah, age 3).
Beth Morris, Conference Director of Youth and Camping Ministries, feels that the blending of facility and programming oversight at Beersheba and Cedar Crest will benefit the Conference’s growing camp and conference ministry: “Having Executive Directors at each camp is exciting. With programming oversight coming directly from the camp, I am looking forward to some creative activities taking place at both our camps.”
Congratulations Mary Winslow, Commissioned to Office of Deaconess, April 4, 2006
Mary Winslow, LCSW, Tennessean Commissioned as a Deaconess
On April 4, 2006, Mary Winslow answered the call she felt from God to become a Deaconess in the United Methodist Church and was commissioned as a Deaconess, along with a dozen others. The service was held in Stamford, Connecticut, as part of the semi-annual meeting of the General Board of Global Ministries’ Board of Directors.
For individuals not familiar with the term Deaconess, “Deaconesses are lay women who have responded to the call of God in their lives and have been commissioned by The United Methodist Church to full-time ministries of love, justice and service. They form a covenant community that is rooted in scripture, informed by history, driven by mission, ecumenical in scope and global in outreach.” With Mary Winslow’s commissioning there are officially five Deaconesses in the Tennessee Conference, with four of the five now retired. She and her twelve newly commissioned colleagues will join 122 Deaconesses presently in active service around the world.
Becky Louter, Executive Secretary of the Deaconess Program Office, expressed joy in Mary Winslow’s commissioning. Louter points out that “the number of Deaconesses in active service has been increasing at a rapid rate since the reaffirmation of the Office of Deaconess at the 1996 General Conference. Following the 25 year study of ministry during which the formal promotion of the Office of Deaconess was halted, the numbers had steadily declined to our lowest point of approximately 48 in active service.”
As a Deaconess Mary Winslow is a member of City Road Chapel United Methodist Church in the Nashville District. Her full-time ministry of love, justice and service is with the Tennessee Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society where she serves as the Chapter’s Patient Services Manager. The Society’s mission is to “Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.” The latter part of the mission statement is Winslow’s responsibility as she works to provide support and guidance to patients, families and healthcare professionals who care for them. She manages Patient Education Programs, helps provide patients, families, and healthcare professionals with the latest information on leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma; works through Family Support groups; works with children with cancer through the Trish Greene Back to School Program; and manages a program where patients and their families have an opportunity to share experiences with someone who has been successfully treated for the same diagnosis.
Her background and experience have not been lost on the staff at City Road Chapel. Associate pastor Donna Parramore spoke for her colleagues and the church membership when she said, “We are so excited that God has brought someone to City Road with her passion for the underprivileged, and her concern for social justice.”
Though it is probably accurate to say that most United Methodists have not heard of the Deaconess program and know NOTHING about it, many of the great moments in American Methodist history, since the Office of Deaconess had its beginning in 1888, can be attributed to Deaconesses. Deaconesses helped establish community centers, orphanages, schools (including Nashville’s Scarritt College for Christian Workers), hospitals, and clinics. Homes for immigrant women and outreach ministries in both rural and urban settings were also part of the ministry. The Office of Home Missioner was established at the 2004 General Conference providing lay men with a similar opportunity to serve in a life-time relationship in The United Methodist Church.
The concept of Deaconess goes back to the early days of the Christian church. In Romans 16: 1-2 the Apostle Paul writes: "I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae...receive her in the Lord as befits the saints...for she has been a helper of many and of myself as well."
Mary Winslow is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Masters of Social Work. She came to Nashville, Tennessee, from Southern Mississippi, where she served as director of the Moore Community House in Biloxi. Mary’s roots go back to her birth in Maryland and then years spent in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. She experienced quite a bit of culture shock when she originally moved from Massachusetts to serve in Mississippi as a VISTA volunteer.
In 2004 she moved northward into Tennessee, accompanied by sons Cameron Hale (now 17) and David Hale (now 15), to accept a position with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Mary Lou Moore, a retired Deaconess and part-time librarian at the Scarritt-Bennett Center, served as Winslow’s mentor as she went through the process of becoming a Deaconess. “She’s a very talented person and I like to say that Mary mentored me throughout our work together. We’ve become friends.”
When Mary Winslow reflects on her ministry and on being finally commissioned as a Deaconess she strongly emphasizes the spiritual and emotional support received from gatherings of the Deaconesses. “Every time I am with other Deaconesses my life is richer. We are such a wonderfully diverse group of people—I benefit so much from being around them.”
A major source of information on the Deaconess program is the March 2006 issue of Response magazine. Theme of the March issue is “Deaconesses—Love, Justice, Service.” If no member of the United Methodist Women in your church subscribes to Response you can order a copy of the magazine through the General Board of Global Ministries Service Center, 7820 Reading Road, Cincinnati, OH 45222-1800, scorders@gbgm-umc.org (you will be billed if you order by email). Toll free order number 1-800-305-9857. Stock number for the March issue is #3745 and cost is $2.00 per copy.
Are you interested in exploring service as a Deaconess?
Do you feel that God is calling you but you are not sure where or how God is calling you to serve? Or do you think God is calling you to be a Deaconess but you are not sure what that means or how to go about exploring that option? If these are your questions, the Deaconess Program Office provides a wonderful opportunity for you to have your questions answered by attending a Deaconess Discernment / Reflection Event.
At least once a year women who are discerning options for lay mission and ministry come together to explore how they might best answer God’s call in their lives. During the Discernment/Reflection Event active Deaconesses share their stories regarding how they answered the call to life-time service through the church and what it means to them to be a Deaconess and a part of the Deaconess community.
Write, call or e-mail the Deaconess Program Office for more information and an application for the Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner. General Board of Global Ministries, Becky Dodson Louter, Deaconess Program Office, 475 Riverside Drive #320, New York, New York 10115. Phone: Deaconess Program Office (212) 870-3850. Email: Deaconess@gbgm-umc.org
And a little child shall lead them . . . (Isaiah 11:6)
When 7-year-old Donald Thomas “Donny” Paisley*, a second grader, heard about the tremendous amount of damage done by Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast, and the subsequent human suffering endured by residents, he wanted to help. After seeing pictures of the devastation on the news, he heard about the needs in worship, and wanted to do something. The congregation of Bellshire United Methodist responded almost immediately with a special offering of nearly $1500 for the United Methodist Committee on Relief, and the United Methodist Men’s group donated an additional $300.00.
Continuing to respond to the crisis a week or two later, the church’s Sunday morning bulletin urged the membership to help storm victims by preparing UMCOR emergency kits. Included with the appeal was a listing of ingredients for the kits—including the much needed “Flood Buckets” filled with emergency cleaning and disinfecting supplies.
Donny wanted to help. He pledged to fill a flood bucket, one or two items at a time, as money became available to him through his allowance and the occasional gift. It started with a gallon of bleach at Dollar Tree, and then through the next few months, and many trips to the nearby Dollar General Store, he added the other ingredients. The main problem now became the huge plastic bucket to hold all the items—the usual sources of such buckets had none in stock. It was the church secretary who saw one on a trip to the hardware store, and brought it to church for Donny.
So, by early March, Donny’s pledge to help storm victims had resulted in a jam-packed bucket full of essential supplies to help a home owner or renter begin to clean out flood residue and create a safe environment for repairs to take place and for his/her family to have a place to sleep. As the bucket was delivered, Donny acknowledged that his gift could go to a family in Mississippi or Louisiana or, perhaps, to someone in another part of the world. He just wanted to help somebody.
Bellshire United Methodist church, Donny Paisley prepares to turn in his flood bucket
Incidentally, Christmas time was right in the middle of Donny’s labors to fill the flood bucket, and he didn’t feel it was fair to receive a bunch of presents from Santa Claus. His Christmas letter to Santa let the folks at the North Pole know that Donny Paisely expected his gifts to go to boys and girls along the coast who lost all their toys in the flood. Santa was obviously impressed with Donny’s generous heart, cut way back on the gifts, but DID bring him one gift, a small stack of games.
Photo #11, caption: Tennessee Conference Director of Love and Justice Ministries loads Donny’s flood bucket for its trip to the Sager-Brown UMCOR Depot.
Donny’s Flood Bucket inspired one of the men of the church who worked in a situation that used a whole lot of plastic buckets and discarded them when empty. This man is now collecting ten buckets to bring to church for other concerned people to fill. When this kind man told Donny about the buckets, Donny said his bucket was multiplying just like in the bible story.
If you have children’s Sunday School classes or youth groups that would like to fill flood buckets, Donny was happy to share his list of essential ingredients—and we are also sharing the listing of ingredients for a school kit. Donny thinks that might be a good next project.
*Donald Thomas Paisley is the son of Randall and Katherine Paisley.
School Kit
In some countries, children don't have books or school supplies. Many have no schoolrooms; classes are held in inadequate or half-destroyed buildings, tents, or even the open air. Often students must write down everything the teacher says or records on a board. Their teacher's knowledge and their own notes are their only textbooks. School kits may be these children's only educational resources. This UMCOR kit is designed for a variety of ages.
1 pair blunt scissors (rounded tip)
2 pads (or loose leaf) of 8 1/2" x 11" ruled paper
1 30-centimeter ruler
1 hand held pencil sharpener
6 unsharpened pencils with erasers
1 eraser, 2 1/2"
12 sheets construction paper (varied colors)
1 box of 24 crayons (only 24)
Prepare a 14" x 16" (finished size) cloth bag with handles and a closure (Velcro®, snap or button) and place items in the bag. Patterns are available through the following website address http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/schoolbagpattern.cfm#pattern
Flood Bucket
These supplies enable people to begin the overwhelming job of cleaning up after a flood or hurricane. For flood buckets only, if the requested sized item is not available, go down to the next available size. If nothing is available in the requested or smaller size, put masking tape on the outside of the bucket saying, "This bucket contains no _________."
5-gallon bucket with resealable lid
Bleach (two 1-quart or one 82 oz. bottle. Do not include bleach of you are shipping the bucket through the US Postal Service, UPS or FedEx)
5 scouring pads
7 Sponges
1 scrub brush
18 cleaning towels (reusable wipes)
Liquid laundry detergent (two 25 oz. or one 50 oz. bottle)
1 household cleaner, 12-16 oz. bottle
Disinfectant dish soap, 16-28 oz. bottle
50 clothes pins
Clothes line (two 50 ft. or one 100 ft.)
5 dust masks
2 pair latex gloves
1 pair work gloves
24-bag roll of heavy-duty trash bags, 33-45 gallon (remove roll from box before placing in bucket)
1 Insect repellant spray, 6-14 oz. can (If aerosol, cans must have protective caps.
1 Air freshener, 8 or 9 oz. can (If aerosol, cans must have protective caps.)
*Special requirements: Put all items in the plastic bucket and seal lid. Please ensure that all cleansing agents are liquids (not powder) and in plastic bottles. Deliver the bucket/s to the Tennessee Conference Office of Connectional Ministries for shipment to the Sager-Brown Depot.
Residents of McKendree Village Honored for Community Service
Dick and Margaret Colby
Hermitage, TN – Dick and Margaret Colby, residents of McKendree Village continuing care retirement community, were honored recently with the Community Spirit Award at the Star-Spangled Salute, an annual gala event in the Donelson-Hermitage community which honors area residents for their outstanding volunteer service. The Colbys, who have lived in The Towers independent living apartments at McKendree Village since 1996, are members of Andrew Price United Methodist Church in Donelson.
“Dick and Margaret’s commitment to others and our community is unselfish and deserves recognition. We are blessed to have them in our community,” said Jane Schnelle, executive director of the Donelson Senior Center. The Star-Spangled Salute is a benefit event for the Donelson Senior Center.
This award marks the second time that the Colbys have been honored for their volunteer service. In 2004, they were named Volunteers of the Year by the Tennessee Association of Homes and Services for the Aging for their service to the Nashville community and at McKendree Village.
“Dick and Margaret exemplify the spirit of volunteerism,” said Mary Anna Womeldorf, president and CEO of McKendree Village. “They are an outstanding example of how senior adults in their retirement years continue to make vital contributions to improve their community and to serve others. Dick and Margaret’s efforts are felt at McKendree Village and throughout the Nashville community.”
The Colbys are active volunteers with the American Red Cross, Summit Medical Center, McKendree Village and their church. Both were active in establishing a McKendree Village Beautification Committee and raising funds to support the committee’s ongoing efforts. Margaret recruited a physician to provide free podiatry services to McKendree residents and then helped to coordinate the program. She has also volunteered at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and the State Archives. Dick has been a volunteer coordinator of Disaster Relief Volunteers and assisted with disaster relief efforts nationally and internationally. He most recently assisted in relief efforts for the 2004 Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.
Established in 1963, McKendree Village provides a continuum of retirement living options and health care services to approximately 700 senior adults in a secure, Christian environment. Its services include independent living, assisted living, nursing home care and Alzheimer’s care. McKendree Village is affiliated with The United Methodist Church and is in partnership with Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
All Tennessee Conference Youth invited to participate in Tennessee Conference Choir
Dr. Karen Kenaston-French
All Tennessee Conference youth (grades 7-12) and local church youth choirs are invited and encouraged to join The Tennessee Conference Youth Choir forming for participation in the Thirty-Ninth Session of the Tennessee Annual Conference.
The Conference Youth Choir will have a mass rehearsal and choral workshop on the afternoon of Monday, June 12th, at First United Methodist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, site of the 2006 Annual Conference. The Choir will then present its special musical offerings at the Monday evening Annual Conference Worship Service.
Directing the Youth Choir will be Dr. Karen Kenaston-French, Director of Choral Activities at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. She holds degrees from West Virginia Wesleyan College, Southern Methodist University, the Perkins School of Theology, and the University of North Texas.
Dr. Kenaston-French has been active in the field of choral conducting for over 20 years. During her tenure as Director of Music Ministries at Plymouth Park UMC in Irving, Texas, she managed a program which included a 90-member adult choir, a 75-member youth choir, 3 handbell choirs, and 5 other performing ensembles, involving over 250 people. Her success with the Plymouth Park Youth Choir led to her popularity as a clinician for festivals and workshops throughout the south-western United States.
For more information or to register to become a part of the Tennessee Conference Youth Choir, contact Rev. Jared Wilson, Madison Street United Methodist Church, (931) 647-0221, jared@msumc.ntcmail.net
Native Moccasins Rock, August 19-20, 2006, Lake Benson, Tennessee
This 5th joyous celebration of Native American history, culture, and traditions is being sponsored by the Native American Ministry Committee of the Tennessee Conference, United Methodist Church. The event will be held at Lake Benson, west of Nashville, Highway 100, in Bon Aqua (Dickson area).
Speakers will include Ray Buckley and a number of exciting workshops have already been set—with many more to come: Drum Workshop, Native Games, Pottery, Women’s Circle, Medicinal Plants and Herbs, and storytelling.
The Saturday evening “Native Jam will include performances by Jamie Russell (Cherokee), Emerson Begay (Navajo), Grady Jones (Cherokee/Shawnee) and Drum-Warriors Path.
Contacts for further information: Mary T Newman and request a brochure at 1-800-403-5796 or 615-792-3411 (evenings) or email her at ntnewman@tnumc.org or you can contact Margie Hesson at 615-746-8726 (evenings) haskellh@aol.com
posted by TN Conference UMC @ 2:08 PM
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