This past weekend, we were able to have our first 2021 in person youth event for our middle schoolers at Camp Don Lee. Please watch the video to see what the Deans of Kaleidoscope and some of the youth attending had to say.
Stories
An Encouragement for April
As spring is arriving and the earth is warming, it’s time for me to dust off my trusty bike and start to use a little peddle-power for exercise and entertainment. No one has ever looked at me and thought, there’s a cyclist. But I love riding my bike.
I also love watching cycling, especially the Tour de France. It is a grueling, three-week race that requires incredible endurance, but the most amazing part to me is the teamwork. Even though it is an individual sport, riders protect their own teammates. Teams work together by riding in a line, with each person taking a turn being in front and creating a draft or a “slipstream” to give their teammates an easier place to ride. If there is a breakaway, you will even see members of opposing teams working together to draft one another to maintain their breakaway. Some riders would never finish the race if it weren’t for their teammates.
Read Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Two are better than one because they have a good return for their hard work. If either should fall, one can pick up the other. But how miserable are those who fall and don’t have a companion to help them up!
Reflect: We are not meant to journey alone. Some days we are out front peddling hard and other days we rest in the slipstream of those ahead. Who are the people you can count on as your teammates in ministry? And how are you a teammate to others who are journeying alongside you?
Take Action: This month, reach out to your “teammates,” and find ways to create slipstreams for each other. We all have tough times, perhaps caused by the loss of a loved one, a breakup, job loss – or just life, especially life this past year. We all need to have those safe places, those safe people, where we can rest, even as we continue the journey.
In partnership,
Center for Leadership Excellence and the Commission on the Status and Role of Women
We are grateful to Gayle Tabor, lay speaker and preacher for St. Paul UMC’s Carolina Beach’s Church at the Boardwalk, for writing this month’s issue of Encouragements.
An Encouragement for March
There can sometimes be a sense of feeling overwhelmed in ministry. The to-do list is very long, the emails pile up within a matter of hours, and other projects call for our immediate attention. Then there are the challenges of serving alongside others and the possibility of roadblocks at times, not to mention balancing family and personal needs. This is when friends in ministry can be invaluable. They listen, they pray, they can help problem solve, and they speak words of hope and peace into one’s hectic and demanding life.
Read Ecclesiastes 4:12 (The Message):
By yourself you’re unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.
Reflect: We could think of a rope or a piece of fabric here. The strands of thread in fabric are stronger, much stronger, when woven together. Their connectedness gives the cloth durability and beauty. A gorgeous tapestry comes to mind, one with vibrant colors and interesting patterns. Think of you and your friends in ministry forming this lovely, sturdy material that not only withstands the wear and tear of life, but also reflects the glory of God.
Take Action: What friend or friends has God given you to walk the path of ministry with? Who might you befriend this week and encourage in the Lord?
Take a moment to write a short note, make a phone call, or send an email or text to a ministry friend or someone new in your life. Say a prayer of thanks for this individual and ask God to bless her in her service.
In partnership,
Center for Leadership Excellence and the Commission on the Status and Role of Women
We are grateful to the Rev. Liz Hounshell, pastor of Zebulon UMC, for writing this month’s issue of Encouragements.
The Pause Made Us Better – NCCU Wesley Fellowship
All the best laid plans may have been disrupted by a pandemic, but the NC Central University Wesley Campus Ministry Fellowship has continued mission and ministry in the past year thanks to a remarkable grant of $90,000 from The Duke Endowment (TDE).
“This was a powerful opportunity to showcase who we are and what God is doing and also how God is making a way… We were really excited to know that as one of the first Wesley Campus at an historically-black college, in this conference, they [TDE] felt this was a good investment. They really wanted to hear our story and hear how these funds would impact leadership among the campus, but also the leadership within The United Methodist Church because currently in our (NC) conference, there is no other Wesley Campus Ministry at an historically-black college or university. So we’re the first and this funding really helps to make sure our students get the training and support, but also organizationally, we are able to do a lot,” said the Rev. Gloria Winston, campus minister at NCCU.
Rev. Winston said that actually the COVID-19 pandemic has led to deeper discussions with students about how faith might affect these new and uncharted experiences in their lives – voting, social justice, racism, isolation, and grief. While in-person worship was not available, Rev. Winston says the students were struggling with where to go to find spiritual answers to situations they were experiencing and found a refuge in the Wesley Campus Ministry Fellowship.
In applying for the grant, the program knew they had a good number of participants and good programs, but were lacking in leadership development so a huge focus of the grant is training and equipping six Wesley Fellows to be ambassadors of hope. The intent is for Wesley Fellows to also train others on campus in different areas – not to just receive training but to pass it on to others. Wesley Fellows began study in summer 2020 so they would be prepared when classes began. The Wesley Fellows, using a program from the General Board of Higher Education Ministries and Discipleship Ministries titled “The Awakened Life,” delved into their own spiritual practices and did a deep evaluation of themselves in self-discovery including their call and social justice.
NCCU Voices of Faith in Action on Election Day
Although opportunities to travel and participate in summer learning and service projects had to be canceled because of pandemic restrictions, the Wesley Fellows were prepared at the beginning of the academic year to lead worship services, prayer groups, and Bible studies – all through Zoom, thanks to the offering of Zoom accounts from the NC Conference. One large part of the Fellowship’s ministry is Voices of Faith in Action Initiative which helps students stand on their faith and address issues in the world with action steps. 2020 brought many issues and experiences that the ministry would focus on – the election, racial trauma, domestic violence, suicide prevention, breast cancer, and grief. There have also been opportunities for Christian service including doing public service announcements about why students should vote, being at the campus polling location to share bottled water, masks, and snacks to those in line, and collecting over 500 food and personal care items which were delivered to Honduras in response to Hurricane Eta.
The ministry has seen a great number of students needing to find a spiritual connection as they have had to adjust to pandemic restrictions, online learning, and many incidences of grief including the deaths of George Floyd, Beonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and even two of their NCCU classmates. Since students were not allowed to go home or attend face-to-face church, they migrated to the Fellowship for a connection with people who were struggling with the same issues and questions. They needed a place to talk about their grief and trauma, their stress and fear, and their interest in trying to be instruments of change. The daily prayer times of 6:30 a.m. and noon extended longer as more people came online for prayer and to offer prayers. The Fellowship has also seen parents joining some of the online worship offerings to be spiritually closer to their children who were not traveling home.
There are plans for the spring semester, including opportunities to engage in ministry with other Wesley Campus Ministries at NC State University, Duke University, and the UNC in socially-safe ways.
“The pause we had to take this year [because of COVID] made us be a better campus ministry, made us be better leaders, thoughtful leaders, generous leaders with our whole heart,” Winston said.
All the campus Wesley Fellowships, including NC Central University are conference Advance specials and welcome your financial support. The list with Advance numbers can be found in the 2021 Mission & Service book, page 22.
NCCU Wesley Fellows preparing donations to be sent to Honduras
Antioch Kitchen Sisters Serving Community
The Antioch Kitchen Sisters have been serving their neighbors with a free Wednesday meal since 2012, bolstered mainly by willing volunteers and random financial and food donations. Based out of Antioch United Methodist Church in Garland, the Kitchen Sisters prepare and deliver a weekly meal, snack pack, friendship, prayer, and special message to any person needing some assistance in their small rural community regardless of race, age, gender, nationality, religious preference or political leanings.
The program was the dream of sisters Emily Coble and Carlene McIntyre after they retired. Realizing that there was no Meals-on-Wheels program in the Cypress Creek Township of Bladen County, they asked county officials about the possibility of organizing one and were told that there were no county funds for such a project. The sisters discussed how they could continue to make a difference in their community and Antioch Kitchen Sisters was born.
Kitchen Sisters are blessed to be able to use the facilities at their home church of Antioch UMC to prepare the meals with a few faithful volunteers but the church is not able to assist in funding the program outside of providing the kitchen space, gas, and electricity. Each delivered package includes a meal of meat, carbohydrate, and vegetable with an accompanying snack pack consisting of a peanut butter sandwich, fruit, and dessert delivered in reusable containers. They average distributing 54 meals each week.
Antioch Kitchen Sisters is an amazing example of how a small-membership church can have a huge impact in their community with vision and creativity. The program has been able to continue serving through the pandemic with random donations of $5, $10, or $20 and a few larger donations. If you would like to help Antioch Kitchen Sisters, donations are appreciated and may be mailed to Antioch UMC, 4404 NC Hwy. 210 W, Garland, NC 28441, designated for Antioch Kitchen Sisters on the memo line.
The Antioch Kitchen Sisters began as part of the church’s involvement in IMPACT, a rural church development program of the Center for Leadership Excellence partially funded by The Duke Endowment and led by the Rev. Francis Daniel.
An Encouragement for February
“How are you?” I recently asked a church member.
“I’m stuck in a house with 2 teen boys and a husband!” she said. “You know what I realize? I miss missing them.”
I hope Hallmark is tracking with her! “I miss missing you” is a great pandemic word this Valentine’s Day. There is just no easy way to be this close for this long to other humans.
The same might even be true for beloved pets. Our dog now spends part of her day in the back of my closet! I’m convinced it’s her attempt to miss us.
For others of us, these words reflect a longing, in this season of isolation, for another human in the home—someone sitting at the table, a hand to hold, arms to hug. For you, it’s the missing that hurts.
Whether we are missing others or miss missing others, a pandemic Valentine’s is an opportunity to name what love looks like this year.
Read Mark 1:29-39:
As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
Reflect: In last Sunday’s gospel lesson, Simon’s mother-in-law is healed by Jesus to serve. The verb “to serve” is the same one Jesus uses to describe the essence of his ministry. In other words, the woman is not healed so Jesus has someone to cook him dinner! She’s healed and becomes the first person in Mark’s gospel to follow Jesus. Jesus describes this call, in Mark 12, as one that begins in love of God then love of self so to love others.
Take Action: What does it look like this Valentine’s to love God and yourself, so to love others?
I don’t have your answer. There are days I don’t even have my answer. But, as I reflect on 2020, I give thanks for some of the ways I’ve found to love God, myself, and others:
- Marriage Counseling. We began this year. A friend asked how we’ve made it this long without it! Our conference provides financial assistance.
- “Pastor, who is your pastor?” My spiritual director is an important part of my self-love.
- Do you miss missing them? Run away for a day. $35/night to stay in one of our pastor’s cabins.
- Do you miss others? Prayer texting, pet fostering, and walks with friends are ways I’ve watched others love themselves.
“Jesus lifted her up…and she began to serve.” May you likewise find ways to be lifted up in love this Valentine’s as you serve (love) God and self so to serve others.
In partnership,
Center for Leadership Excellence and the Commission on the Status and Role of Women
We are grateful to the Rev. Heather Rodrigues, Lead Pastor at Duke Memorial UMC, for writing this month’s issue of Encouragements.