{"id":8723,"date":"2023-09-20T14:50:19","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T18:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/?p=8723"},"modified":"2023-09-20T14:50:22","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T18:50:22","slug":"an-encouragement-for-september-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2023\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september-4\/","title":{"rendered":"An Encouragement for September"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-theme-light-gray-background-color has-background\"><em>The Center for Leadership Excellence, in partnership with COSROW, is pleased to lift up the voices of women in ministry encouraging fellow women in ministry. Please enjoy this month\u2019s Encouragement from Martha K. McLean, Executive Pastor at First UMC in Cary. Feel free\u00a0to forward this <\/em>Encouragement<em> to a friend.\u00a0Anyone can sign up to receive these monthly emails <a href=\"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/encouragements\/opt-in\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The steadfast love of the Lord endures forever; the Lord&#8217;s faithfulness to all generations. (adapted from Psalm 100 v. 5)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout\u00a0the witness of scripture, the steadfast covenant love of the Lord is with us. Even in the lowest of valleys and the darkest of days the love of the Lord endures. It leans forward, it stretches out, it carries us forth into the future.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This love is steadfast in character, not fleeting. This love is faithful, not conditional or coercive\u00a0or corruptible. This love is one that gives fully and completely of self for the good of the other. This love gathers us up, offering grace upon grace, not limited by time and space or circumstances, but rather, is able to overcome all that seeks to overwhelm us. This steadfast covenant love is one that unites us, guiding us into God&#8217;s way of life and how we live together as a people. It is\u00a0full of blessing and the\u00a0goodness that God intends for us and for all of creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we all experience seasons of challenge and change, ups and downs, ebbs and flows, sorrows and joy, may we cling to the steadfast love of the Lord which endures forever, the Lord&#8217;s faithfulness to all generations. Amen and Alleluia!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In partnership,<br>Center for Leadership Excellence and the Commission on the Status and Role of Women<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Center for Leadership Excellence, in partnership with COSROW, is pleased to lift up the voices of women in ministry encouraging fellow women in ministry. Please enjoy this month\u2019s Encouragement [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":7594,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[13,14],"class_list":["post-8723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-encouragements","tag-women"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>An Encouragement for September | Center for Leadership Excellence | North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2023\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september-4\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Encouragement for September | Center for Leadership Excellence | North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Center for Leadership Excellence, in partnership with COSROW, is pleased to lift up the voices of women in ministry encouraging fellow women in ministry. 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