LEADERSHIP UPDATE of the Southeast Region
Volume 5, Issue 10 November & December 2010
Pastors: Please distribute this to your delegates, leaders & congregation
“THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS”
As we approach the holiday season, one song in particular has come to my mind. It’s the old Perry Como Christmas tune: “Oh, There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays.” Fortunately for Peggy and me, if plans hold true, we’ll get to enjoy some days at home in Orlando as well as a quick flight north to visit family members.
Unfortunately, a traditional happy holiday is not an option for many people around us. We all know friends or family members who are out of work, neighbors facing foreclosures on their homes, and dear ones experiencing their first holiday season alone. May we each reach out to those living and working around us who are lonely or anxious this coming holiday season. May we open our hearts and homes and churches to include others, sharing the comfort and hope we have experienced in Immanuel: God with us.
And as we hum a few stanzas of “Home for the Holidays,” let’s take some moments to think about our brothers and sisters in Haiti. This year many of them are facing a homeless holiday as they continue living in tent cities, with no prospect of a safe, dry place to call home. The Good News is that it doesn’t have to remain that way. Just this past week at the South Atlantic Rip Fest Rally, Leland Sayers, one of the Lakeland FL Light & Life Park work team members, shared an exciting new way to provide extremely inexpensive homes for Haiti. Read the details below. May this be a Christmas when the FM people of the southeast region rise to the challenge and provide many “homes for the holidays.”
Supt. Darrel Riley
HOMES FOR HAITI
Concerned folks at Lakeland: Light and Life Church have worked with a company called STRUCTALL to provide affordable houses which can be shipped to Haiti and assembled on a cement slab. The goal is to provide homes for our 31 FM Haitian pastors, and to provide International Child Care Ministries with schools consisting of 3 or 4 classrooms. The steel & foam core panel construction is extremely lightweight, yet it withstands hurricane force winds and is termite proof.
$ 5,000 provides a 12 x 24 home with 2 doors & 4 windows (includes shipping)
$15,000 provides a school of 3 or 4 classrooms, each room 20 x 20 or 24 x 24
The Lakeland Light & Life Church has already pledged $40,000 to provide FM pastors with homes. Discussions are currently underway to consider sending a work team from Lakeland to Haiti to teach the Haitians how to assemble the panel homes.
What about your family, your congregation, or your district? Could you provide a Haitian pastoral family with a home, or children with a safe school? Consider these ways to give:
· As a congregational Christmas project
· As a memorial gift in remembrance of those who died in the Jan12th earthquake
· As the focus of your February 6th Super Salad Bowl Sunday donations.
A separate brochure with details is being sent to each pastor; contact Leland Sayers for more info (). Make out checks to the South Atlantic Conf., and mail to Treasurer Marge Lehman @ 5421 Sharon Trail Lakeland FL 33810.
FINISHING STRONG in 2010:
REFLECTING & PREPARING:
The goal of the On Purpose Process is to provide pastors and lay leaders with a tool to help them develop and implement a unified, God-led ministry plan. The ANNUAL On Purpose Report guides the pastor and church leaders in celebrating the progress of the past year, facing the challenges of the present, and discerning God’s leading for the future. EVERY church should complete the Annual Process sometime during November or December. Insights gleaned will help church leaders to establish their 2011 budget and 2011 calendar.
FAIR SHARE GIVING:
Each local church is to review their 2010 WAVE Giving, and do any needed “catching up” before year’s end. As a major portion of a congregation’s Fair Share Giving goes into their pastor’s pension account, if a church is delinquent in making needed contributions, it will result in their pastor NOT receiving credit for ministry service in 2010.
STRENGTHEN YOUR LEADERSHIP SKILLS IN 2011:
· Supt Darrel will teach FM History & Church Polity at Asbury Seminary, Orlando Thurs – Sat, Jan. 20 – 22. To register contact ; required course for CMCs
· St. Pete: Cornerstone will host the national FMC consultant training event this spring. Bishop Matt Thomas will speak on Strategies to Lead an Outreach Focused Church Tues – Wed, March 1 – 2. This is an excellent opportunity for pastors & lay leaders.
· Fri, Dec 3rd is the last day to register at the $149 Super Early Bird rate for Exponential: On the Verge (April 26 – 29. 2011) which is held annually at First Baptist, Orlando. Groups of 10 or more receive a $20 discount per person. www.exponential.com
· Tues, Nov 9th is the last day to register at the $135 Super Early Bird rate for simulcast participation at the upcoming August 11 – 12, 2011 Willow Creek Leadership Summit.
WHOLE: GOSPEL, WORLD, PERSON:
Every four years we routinely gather as a denomination to worship together, elect Bishops for the coming term, and make any needed revisions to The Book of Discipline. However, General Conference 2011 will NOT be “business as usual.” This is our 150th anniversary! GC11 will be a crossroads to both celebrate the past and re-tool for the future.
In preparation for this historic occasion . . .
· Check the General Conference website regularly for updates: www.GC11.org
· Pray and fast on the 23rd of each month for God’s direction
· Make your reservation to be present in Rochester, NY on July 13 – 17
· Members or local church societies are encouraged to send nominations for Bishop, as well as Resolutions, to Supt Riley at the SER Office in Orlando. He will work with the General Conference Delegates of each conference to process submissions:
Resolutions: requests for changes to The Book of Discipline or other denominational policies/practices need to be submitted to Supt Riley by Nov 30.
Nominations for Bishop: Our current bishops will automatically be on the slate for re-election; the Orlando office needs to receive any other nominations by Dec 31
Then each conference’s Gen. Conf. delegates will process resolutions & nominations.
SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE:
Sat, Nov 6 BOA Mtg at Lakeland in Maxwell Commons; 9:30 coffee, mtg 10am - lunch
Fri, Nov. 19 DL Meeting @ Riley’s 9:30 Gather, 10:00 meeting, 12:30 Holiday Luncheon
Sat, Dec 11 BOA Mtg at the Riley home in Orlando 9:30 coffee, mtg 10am – holiday lunch
JANUARY 2011 REGIONAL TRAINING EVENT LOCATIONS:
Bring your Annual On Purpose Report for your District Leader
Sat, 8 Regional Event: South FL (9:30am – lunch) West Palm: Hope Fellowship
Mon, 10 Regional Event: Central FL (6:30 – 9:00pm) Orlando First Spanish
Sat, 15 Regional Event: West Coast FL (9:30am - lunch) St. Pete: Cornerstone
Th – Sat Jan 20-22 FM History & Polity Class @ Asbury Seminary, Orlando (CMC required)
Sat, Feb 12 MEG Board – Elders Interviews I (also, new CMC recommendations due)
Fri-Sat Feb 18-19 SAC Cabinet Retreat (Friday evening and Sat) (DLs, BOA, MEG Bd)
Tue-Wed, Mar 1-2 BISHOP MATT THOMAS Consultant Training @ St. Pete: Cornerstone
Fri-Sat, April 1-2 SAC Women’s Retreat
Sat, April 9 MEG Elders Interviews II – Final report for An Conf
Fri-Sat, April 29-30 Annual Conference at Lakeland: Light & Life
Fri, May 13 District Leader Video Conference, 10am - noon
JUNE REGIONAL TRAINING EVENT LOCATIONS:
Bring your Spring Trimester On Purpose Report for your District Leader
Sat, 4 Regional Event: South FL (9:30am – lunch) Hialeah: Ministerios Nueva Vision
Mon, 6 Regional Event: Central FL (6:30 – 9:00pm) Orlando First Spanish
Sat, 11 Regional Event: West Coast FL (9:30am - lunch) Location TBD
AL-GA CONFERENCE NEWS:
DISTRICT PASTORS MTGS: November 18
The AL and GA District Pastors will hold separate meetings, on Thursday, Nov 18th
· The GA Pastors will meet at 9am @ Fayetteville: Word of Life (host Greg Nitchman)
· AL DL Andy Bunn will send out information soon on the location of their meeting
Supt. Darrel Riley will send an Advent book and other resources for the gatherings.
JEANNE & ELIZABETH NITCHMAN to HAITI
As the recipient of the guided tour in Haiti by ICCM, Elizabeth Nitchman & Jeanne will be traveling there with Linda Adams Nov 29 – Dec 4. They will visit several ICCM schools, observe the use of the portable solar cookit ovens, etc. Pray for their health (cholera outbreak) as well as safety (the national election will have just taken place the week prior.)
AL-GA ANNUAL CONFERENCE will be held early this year – Saturday, March 26 – from 10:30 – 3:30 Eastern, at Christ Community Church in Columbus GA. Protect that weekend and plan on bringing several people from your congregation to this inspiring gathering.
GULF COAST CONFERENCE DATES:
· Mon, Nov 8: 10AM – 2PM Pastors & Spouses Fellowship at Jonesville: Oak Grove
· Sat, Nov 20: “Convoy of Hope” from 10am - 3pm at the State Fair fairgrounds parking area. Anticipate serving 8,000-10,000 residents of the Shreveport-Bossier area with 5,000 bags of groceries, free haircuts and makeovers, foot washing and free shoes for adults and kids, free family portraits, diabetes screening &, blood pressure checks, free food, prayer tent and counseling area. 800-1,000 volunteers are needed to minister to the needs of the poor and needy. Contact Pastor Ronnie Hampton to volunteer: cell: 406-545-9167 or
· Fri – Sun, Dec 3 – 5: Supt Riley will lead various meetings:
Fri, Dec 3: GCC BOA Mtg, 6:30pm at Edgewood to close 2010 & set 2011 budget
Sat, Dec 4: Pastors & Spouses Christmas Luncheon at Deville: New Hope.
Coffee at 10am, meeting begins at 10:30am, luncheon at noon. Bring your church’s holiday financial gift and cards for the Long family.
· Fri – Sun, Feb 4 – 6: Valentine Dinner and All Conference Training Day:
Fri, Feb 4: Clergy & Spouses Valentine dinner at Copeland’s Restaurant in Alexandria; overnight lodging provided as needed
Sat, Feb 5: All Conference Training Day for Clergy & Laity at Oak Grove
· Mon – Fri, June 13 – 17: Family Camp at the Church of God Campground, Pollock
· Sat, June 18 GCC Annual Conference, Pollock Campground, 9:00am - noon
EVERY PERSON A PASSIONATE PRAY-ER
NOV-DEC 2010 / SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE / AL-GA or GCC CONFERENCEOct 31 – Nov 6 / FMWM to Greece
Mike Long (Maria)
/ Pass Christian MS: Word of Hope CPP
Pastor Tommy Gammill (Mickie)
Nov 7 - 13 / FMWM to Haiti
Rick & Cookie Ireland
/ Pineville: Edgewood
Pastor Alex Bigger (Felisha)
Nov 14 - 20 / Taylor Correctional Institution
Chaplain Thomas Holman (Barbara)
/ Provencal
Pastor Mike Marbut (Sue)
Nov 21 - 27
Thanksgiving Wk / US Air Force: Patrick AFB in Cocoa
Chaplain Mark Williams (Monica)
/ Shreveport: Central
Pastor Ronnie Hampton (Elsie)
Nov 28 – Dec 4
Advent Wk 1 / Evangelist
Pastor Lucien Behar (Molly)
/ Winnsboro: Liddieville
Pastor Kenneth Lukens (Evangelene)
2166 Hwy 135 Winnsboro LA 71295
Dec 5 – 11
Advent Wk 2 / Samaritan Village
Rhonda Stapleton
/ Mississippi State Hospital
Chaplain R. Philip Cartrette (Patricia)
Dec 12 – 18
Advent Wk 3 / SAC Families who have
lost loved ones in 2010 / GCC and AL-GA Families who have
lost loved ones in 2010
Dec 19 – 25
Advent Wk 4 & Christmas Day / Outreach Ministries of Local Churches this holiday season / Outreach Ministries of Local Churches
this holiday season
Dec 26 – Jan 1
New Year’s / FM Bishops & Spouses / FM Bishops & Spouses
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