Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District
South Carolina United Methodist Conference April 2015 Rev. Joe N. Long, Jr., District Superintendent Lollie Haselden, District Secretary 139 Elizabeth Lane, Rock Hill, SC 29730 803.328-0218 803.328.6209 fax [email protected] Inside this issue: Important Dates and Local District News 2-9 Conference Announcements 10-14 Asbury Hills 15 LJA 16 NEW District Website http:// rockhill.umcsc.org Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District Page 2 April 2015 Important Dates and Local District News Upcoming Events April 1 Conference Awards Application Deadline April 2-6 District Office Closed for Easter April 9, Thurs. District Clergy Gathering 9:30am, St. Luke, Lancaster May 3, Sun. Location TBA Pre-Conference Training for Clergy & LMAC *joint meeting with Hartsville District `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Apportionments—We are almost one fourth of the way through 2015. As you reflect on where you have been and where you are going this year, please remember to do your fair share for the main missional work of our Church. Rock Hill District Clergy will join with Hartsville District Clergy at St. Luke UMC, Lancaster on Thursday, April 9 th. Gather at 9:30am for coffee and fellowship, then the joint district program will begin at 10am. St. Luke UMC address: 128 Providence Rd., Lancaster, SC The District Office will be closed for Easter Thursday, April 2-Monday, April 6. We will return emails and messages on Tuesday, April 7th. If there is an emergency, please call Joe on his cell phone. The UMVIM team from the Rock Hill District came home March 28th from Santiago, Panama. Thank you for remembering them in your prayers. The fall session of Rock Hill District's Lay Servant Ministry training classes will be on September 12-13, at Aldersgate UMC, on Celanese Rd in Rock Hill. More details will be posted when they are known. Please place these dates on your calendar. Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District April 2015 Page 3 “W hat I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Paul makes it clear what is essential. Jesus Christ gave his life for our atonement and was resurrected as victorious Lord. All of this fulfills what God planned and promised. This April we celebrate Good Friday and Easter. These two days stand for two great tenets of Christianity. We celebrate and remember what Jesus did for us. Even more importantly, we experience these truths in our daily living. How do Jesus’s death and resurrection become real to you? For some, believing the testimony of the Scriptures leads to experiencing God’s reality. “Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so.” For me, the crucifixion and resurrection started with experience and lead to conviction. “You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.” Paul lifted both objective belief and subjective faith as important. He said what Jesus did for our salvation was “according to the scriptures,” and he personally experienced Christ. “He appeared to me also.” (1 Corinthians 15:8) It is my hope that you experience our crucified and risen Lord as a living reality. You can because He lives. Trust Him. ~Joe ~ Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District April 2015 Page 4 Rock Hill District United Methodist Women Day Apart Saturday, April 11, 2015 St. James UMC York Registration 9am Guest Speaker: Rev. Emily Scales Sutton Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District April 2015 Page 5 Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District April 2015 Page 6 Churches wishing to schedule Native American Ministries Sundays should contact Tracy Pender at 803-905-5672 or [email protected]. Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District April 2015 Page 7 DO YOU HAVE CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN YOUR CHURCH? THEN THIS TRAINING IS FOR YOU!!!!! DARKNESS TO LIGHT: STEWARDS OF CHILDREN TRAINING The Rock Hill District will be hosting Darkness to Light training events in the different clusters of our district and Suzan Phillips, a trained facilitator will be leading us in the training sessions. Darkness to Light is a sexual abuse prevention program used to train church workers, teachers, community organization leaders, parents and adults who care for children and youth in any capacity. This two hour training program will provide you with a workbook and resources to help you and your church protect the children and youth in your care from sexual abuse. For more information, you can visit the website D2L.org. If you need to review and evaluate your Safe Sanctuary policy, the resource material can be of tremendous benefit. If you are unable to attend the Darkness to Light: Stewards of Children training event in your cluster area, please feel free to register for the event that best fits your schedule. If you would like to host an event for your church, please contact Rev. Shelly A Holder. To register for one of these training events, contact Rev. Shelly A. Holder at [email protected] or 803-238-8406. Training Dates: Chester Cluster Saturday, April 24, 2015 10:00am-12:00noon Capers Chapel, Chester Cost: $20 (includes lunch) Lancaster Cluster April Date is TBA St. Luke UMC, Lancaster Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District April 2015 Page 8 classifieds Director of Children’s and Youth Ministries Needed St. Francis United Methodist Church 4200 McKee Road, Charlotte, NC 28270 Overview: St. Francis UMC, a warm and inviting mid-size church located in southeast Charlotte, seeks a Director of Children’s and Youth Ministries to lead its vibrant children’s and youth ministries. The position is full-time and offers an annual salary commensurate with experience. • • Qualifications: • Enthusiasm and passion An engaging personality with an ability to relate to both children and youth • Exemplary role model with strong Christian values • Experience with children and youth • Undergraduate degree Responsibilities: Children • Ensure that children’s programs are fun, inviting and comfortable for existing and new families/individuals • Plan and conduct mid-week children’s programs, special Holiday events (Christmas play, Easter butterfly release, etc.) and Vacation Bible School Full involvement on Sunday mornings with Youth Sunday School, Children’s Church and availability to parents and newcomers Youth • Lead Sunday night youth programs and occasional overnight youth outings • Conduct mid-week Bible studies • Create, plan and lead mission activities, including annual summer mission trip Combined • Lead educational ministries for children and youth • Oversee fundraising activities, volunteer recruitment and finances • Communicate regularly with children, youth, parents and entire congregation • Follow the Church’s Safe Sanctuary Policy (St. Francis also has a robust food allergy policy) • Engage all Church children and youth and minister to their needs • Collaborate with the staff, parents and Youth Committee to involve children and youth in Church life Applications will be considered upon receipt. Please send the following: (as MS WORD or PDF documents) by email Wendy Williams at [email protected]: • Cover letter describing your qualifications and interest in children’s and youth ministries • A resume • Personal/professional references (at least 3), including contact information Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District April 2015 Page 9 Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District April 2015 Page 10 Conference A C2015 is returning to hunger ministry as its service project this year. The conference is again partnering with the international hunger relief organization Stop Hunger Now to host a daylong meal-packaging event to help hungry people in desperate need of lifesaving meal packets. This is the same project that was done at Annual Conference 2013, and it was so successful that South Carolina United Methodists raised not only the $72,000 needed to do the meal-packaging event, but also to donate an additional $97,000 to hunger ministries throughout the state. This year, the costs of supplies and shipping have gone up, so the conference will be seeking $86,000 to do the Stop Hunger Now event, plus volunteers to work four-hour shifts and pack meals, said Chris Lynch, coordinator of the SHN effort. Any funds raised beyond the $86,000 will go toward both hunger and children in poverty ministries across the state and shared equally among the 12 districts. In addition to needing volunteers for the conference-wide service project (Stop Hunger Now meal-packing) on June 9 at Annual Conference, donations are sorely needed. The South Carolina UMC must raise $86,000 to purchase the supplies needed to pack more than 285,000 meals. To donate or volunteer, visit www.umcsc.org/stophungernow and click on the appropriate button. You can also mail a donation to the South Carolina Conference, 4908 Colonial Drive, Columbia, SC 29203. Make sure your check says “Hunger Project” in the memo. (This is from The Messenger, a weekly e-newsletter from The Advocate) Bishop's 100 Mighty Men of Faith Calling all men: Bishop Jonathan Holston and men’s ministry leaders across South Carolina are organizing the Bishop’s 100 Mighty Men of Faith. On Saturday, April 11, interested men will gather at Rehoboth United Methodist Church, Columbia, for an 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. event to help men step up as leaders. To register for the Bishop’s 100 Mighty Men of Faith on April 11, email [email protected]. Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District April 2015 Page 11 Honduras Mission Trip Bishop Holston to Again Be a Part of Annual Trip Applications are still being accepted for the 2015 SCMYP Honduras Mission Trip. SCMYP is excited to, once again be joining forces with HOI and the Kentucky Conference UMC for a second year for a mission opportunity for young people to Honduras this summer. The Honduras mission trip is open to young people (age 16-22) in the SC Annual Conference. This year's week-long mission experience in Honduras is scheduled for June 26-July 5, 2015 as we work alongside a group of young people from the Kentucky Conference. The trip will be organized and work will be done with Honduras Outreach International (HOI, inc). HOI has years of experience and has developed a meaningful relationship in communities in Honduras. The mission experience typically includes Vacation Bible School for the children as well as minor construction projects. We are excited about what God will do to make this trip a powerful experience for young people in our conference. If you are interested in being a part of this mission experience please visit the SCMYP website for information and to download the Honduras Trip Application 2015. BIG CHANGES IN STORE FOR IMMERSE '15 Immerse is making some big moves in 2015. We will be at a new location - Spartanburg Methodist College - on a new weekend - July 9-12. What won't change this year is the great discipleship program you have come to expect at Immerse. Immerse is designed to offer youth an opportunity to DIG DEEPER in their faith journey. To that end, Immerse offers inspiring worship (led this year by Rev. Tiffany Knowlin and worship leader Robert McMichael), family groups that offer a chance to process the weekend in a safe community of peers, breakout sessions that deal head on with relevant topics where faith and life intersect, great rec. time for fun and fellowship, and much more. With the move to SMC, registration is simplified as well, as groups register ONCE through scmyp.org and that takes care of programming, lodging, t-shirt and meals. All you have to do is get to SMC for a great weekend of being challenged in your faith. The cost for the weekend is $225 per person, but if you register and pay in full BY MAY 1st, you get a discounted rate of ONLY $210. Online registration should be available by early March, so make plans how to join us at Immerse 2015. For more information, click the links below and follow SCMYP on twitter. Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District April 2015 Page 12 Stop Hunger Now Returns to Annual Conference Stop Hunger Now will once again be the mission emphasis this year (as it was in 2013) at Annual Conference with a meal packaging event schedule for Tuesday, June 9th onsite at the Florence Civic Center. You can donate money or sign up for any of the three shifts online: 9:00-11:30, Noon- 2:30, and 3:00-5:30. Although youth are welcome to be a part of ANY of the three shifts, we are offering a special opportunity for youth groups who volunteer to work the final shift of the afternoon from 3:00-5:30. The schedule that evening at Annual Conference includes the youth/young adult worship service that is always a highlight of Annual Conference. For those groups who wish to work the final shift then enjoy some food and fellowship before the service, we will offer a free pizza party on site at the Florence Civic Center. In order to be a part of the pizza party, please be sure to fill out the SHN Pizza Party Sign Up Form online so that we have plenty of pizza for everyone. Be sure to check out scmyp.org and follow SCMYP on Twitter and Facebook for further details about the worship service and pizza party. If you have questions, you can email Chris Lynch. Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District April 2015 Page 13 Native American Summer Conference June 26-28, 2015 Lake Junaluska, NC The weekend will be headlined by Jonathan Maracle and Broken Walls. There will be a small Pow Wow, Native vendors, classes on addictions, suicide prevention, and bullying. There will be a Youth Track and childcare will be available. This will be a SEJANAM Summer Conference unlike anything you have ever seen! The Southeastern Jurisdictional Association on Native American Ministries (SEJANAM) was created by Native Americans and established by the 1984 Jurisdictional Conference to help create: Awareness and Dialogue, New Congregations and Ministries, Leadership Enlistment and Training, Inter-Tribal Witness/Sharing, Cross Cultural Witness/Sharing, and Sensitivity to Inclusiveness. SEJANAM serves the fifteen annual conferences of the SEJ, twenty-three Native American churches, three ministries of the SEJ, and seeks to serve approximately 210,000 Native Americans of the nine southeastern states of the SEJ. For more information, visit http://www.lakejunaluska.com/events/spiritual_e nrichment/native_american_summer_conference 150th Anniversary of United Methodist Women On March 23, 1869, eight women gathered at Tremont Methodist Episcopal Church in Boston, Massachusetts, and organized the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, what would become United Methodist Women. Those women raised money to send a doctor, Clara Swain, and a teacher, Isabella Thoburn, to India as missionaries to serve the women of that nation. Celebrate the dedication and foresight of our foremothers in mission as we lead up to our 150th anniversary in 2019. Gifts to the legacy fund can be made in several ways: Online at unitedmethodistwomen.org/legacyfund By phone: 800-278-7771 (8 am-6pm EST, M-F) Text Legacy150 to 41444 By check mailed to: United Methodist Women: Treasurer’s Office 475 Riverside Drive New York, NY 10115. Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District Page 14 April 2015 Young People in Mission is a camp experience with hands-on mission opportunities for youth and young adults between the ages of 12 to 24 at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. Our hope is that this event serves as a launch to empower them to serve with new eyes and a heart for Christ. Each year, young people serve with local mission projects, worship together, fellowship and grow with family groups, dive into Bible studies, and learn from featured speakers and the City of Opportunity. Based on Ephesians 4:1-6, the theme for 2015 is "Unique, Yet United!" "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be com- pletely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all with one another and through all and in all." (NIV) Explore the links on the menu to the left and learn more about this incredible event, created and designed by youth and young adults for youth and young adults. http://umvim.org/go/youth-young-adults/young_people_in_mission/ Local Church Mission Fair accepting applications UMCs from across South Carolina are invited to submit a successful mission that engages their head, heart and hands in reaching out to help others.At this year’s Annual Conference in June, a Local Church Mission Fair will again be held in the Florence Civic Center Exhibit Ballroom from noon until 2 p.m. The fair will celebrate local churches’ involvement in missions. Anyone interested in submitting their church’s mission should complete and submit a Mission Fair Ministry Form, available on the conference website atwww.umcsc.org. The form is due April 30. Submissions will be reviewed by the Lay Leadership Planning Committee, and churches will be notified of their selection by May 15. They will be asked to set up a display/exhibit at Annual Conference highlighting the mission/ministry. One or more representatives from each selected church should be on-hand during the fair to talk about the mission and answer any questions that attendees may have. Detailed instructions will be given at the time that you are notified of your ministry selection. For additional information or any questions, email [email protected]. Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District April 2015 Do you regularly shop Amazon? Shop AmazonSmile and part of your purchase goes to support our ministry at Asbury Hills! http://smile.amazon.com/ch/01-0553641 Page 15 Hand-in-Hand in the Rock Hill District Page 16 April 2015 Lake Junaluska Summer Youth Events Prepare the Way Register before March 15 to receive a $100 credit for your group! Nestled in the mountains of North Carolina, Lake Junaluska is the perfect summer youth retreat for 6th through 12th graders. Each week will feature a morning and evening session that will reflect this year's theme, "Prepare the Way," (Isaiah 40:3.) See the event schedule, speaker and band bios, service project, and more! Lake Junaluska Youth Event speakers and worship bands include: June 11-14: Celia Whitler, Abbye West Pates *June 14-18: Chris Hughes, Abbye West Pates June 18-21: Kevin Wright, TransMission *June 21-25: Ciona Rouse and Lanecia Rouse Tinsley, Second Hand City June 25-28: Shane Claiborne and Tiffany Knowlin, Second Hand City NEW! July 2-5: Amena Brown and Lindsay Popper, The Adam Courtney Band*Modified program and includes July 4th Celebrations *July 5-9: Lane Davis, The Adam Courtney Band July 9-12: Steve Cheyney, The Adam Courtney Band *July 12-16: Andy Lambert, Second Hand City July 16-19: Duffy Robbins, Second Hand City *Includes Stop Hunger Now mission project. Rates and Registration Information Packages include housing, meals,and program. See website for complete details and additional package options. Program Only groups provide their own housing and meals. Rates are the same for youth and adults. Weekends: Package: $245 / person Program Only: $105 / person Weeks: Package: $317 / person Program Only: $120 / person For more information and to register: www.lakejunaluska.com/summer-youth [email protected] 828.454.6682
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