|
Home > Prestonsburg District > Prestonsburg District Monthly Newsletter
Prestonsburg District Monthly Newsletter From the Mountains - Prestonsburg District United Methodist Church – Kentucky Annual Conference Dr. Lowell Ogden, Prestonsburg District Superintendent Rev. Deb Massengale, District Ministry Consultant laogden@bellsouth.net or prdst@bellsouth.net Sunday, October 21 Christ UMC Allen, KY 3:00 PM Bishop meets with members of the District Response Team and the District Leadership Team 4:00 PM Worship Time with Bishop King speakingPhone: 606-889-0126 Fax: 606-889-0126 Continuing Education Opportunities 2.0 CEU Available 1.0 CEU Available Clergy School October 15-16 Kavanaugh Holloway Center Registration 8:30 a.m. Workshop 9am-5pm Cost $35 each, $65 both Ø Stewardship Adventures: Increasing the Harvest 15 to 30% - Led by Dr. Eugene Grimm Ø Transforming Churches Toward a Missional Posture – Led by Center for Parish Development Staff Ø Transformational Leadership – Led by Elizabeth Wourms You may register at bom@kyumc.org or 1-800-530-7236 ext. 308 Appalachian Local Pastors School (ALPS) COS 413 Worship & Sacraments by Ken Ramsey October 12/13 and 26/27 at Prestonsburg First UMC Skills for Churches November 5, 2007 Loucon Training Center Registration 8:30 a.m. Workshop 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Cost $30 each Led by Rev. Kevin Burney You may register at bom@kyumc.org or 1-800-530-7236 ext 308 or email sswitzer@kyumc.org Safe Sanctuaries for Children & Youth Training The Kentucky Annual Conference session in June approved a new Safe Sanctuaries policy for all local churches that aims to help reduce the risk of the abuse of children, youth and vulnerable adults in all United Methodist congregations throughout Kentucky. While we know the implementation of the policy will require additional work, we are also confident that it will make our churches truly “Safe Sanctuaries.” Training sessions will be held in Cluster gatherings across the Prestonsburg District. For further information, please contact Deb Massengale at 606-789-1684. All local churches must implement the new policy by June 30, 2008. 1.0 CEU AvailableNatural Church Development Training Event Ø Wednesday, October 24 – Phase 2 Coach follow-up Ø Thursday, October 25 – Phase 1 Coach Training You may contact Tom Eblen at teblen@vitalchurch.com to register or for more information. Several persons, both clergy and laity, have asked me about the Pastor evaluation/assessment process. Here is how I understand the process: 1. The Pastor completes the Annual Activity Report (pages 62-78 of the Assessment Manual) including Goals for the coming year (pages 79-80) 2. The Pastor completes the Self-Ratings (page 81 of the Manual), but doesn’t give the ratings to the CAT 3. The Annual Activity Report is submitted to the Congregational Assessment Team (CAT) 4. The CAT meets and assigns ratings based on the behavior, activities and accomplishments of the pastor as indicated on the Annual Activity Report (pages 85-89 of the Manual) 5. The members of the CAT who are also members of the Pastor/Staff-Parish Relations Committee meet with the Pastor to review the ratings, provide feedback to the Pastor on how each rating was determined, and discuss performance goals for the coming year 6. The Pastor’s ratings should be shared ONLY with the CAT members, the PPRC, the Pastor, the District Superintendent, and the Director of Ministerial Services. The entire Assessment booklet can be downloaded from the conference website (www.kyumc.org) under the Ministerial Service tab at top left of the page. Using the new Pastor Assessment Tool Annual Conference 2008 Please note the dates for our 2008 Annual Conference have changed, due to a conflict of dates at the Galt House. The Conference will begin on Sunday evening, June 1 and conclude on Wednesday, June 4. Mission Covenant Pastors and Treasurers, we are beginning the 4th quarter of 2007. Please check to see how your church is doing. If you are behind, please put forth your best effort to catch up by the end of the year. Together we CAN make a difference. District Office Relocation The District Trustees and the District Committee on Superintendency are currently looking into the feasibility of moving the District Office from the District Parsonage to another location in the Prestonsburg area. We would need at least 2 separate rooms. If you know of available office space that might be suitable and affordable, please contact Frank Fitzpatrick at 886-1312, Rev. Ken Lemaster at 874-2344 or the District Office at 889-0126. WE DID IT! We completed the Habitat House…and thanks for your help! Our District Habitat house is now ready for the Hurd family to move in. The people and churches of the Prestonsburg District gave over $50,000 toward this project, and dozens and dozens of people volunteered hours and hours of work to build the house. October - Clergy Appreciation Month The Prestonsburg District is tremendously blessed to have wonderful pastors serving the local churches of the District. I want to thank the pastors, bless the pastors, praise the pastors, uplift the pastors, encourage the pastors every chance I get. The # 1 heart’s desire of every one of our pastors is to serve God where God has placed him/her. One recent evidence of the effectiveness of our pastors is the support received in sponsoring the Habitat House. I know from experience that if the pastor is onboard with a project, good things will happen; but if the pastor is not supportive, you can forget it in most cases. I also know that the pastors of the Prestonsburg District were truly onboard with the Habitat House because the support received, both with finances and volunteers, was simply overwhelming. The churches supported the project because the pastors encouraged their people to be supportive. Pastors, thanks again for the leadership you are giving to your church. Many wonderful things are taking place all across the Prestonsburg District and lives are being changed. Pastors, you are making a difference. For several years, congregations all across the country have designated the month of October as “Clergy Appreciation Month.” The intent is to encourage every church to make intentional efforts to express love, appreciation, and encouragement to the pastor. I served as a local church pastor for over 35 years prior to coming to the District in 2004. I know from experience how much it means to know that you are loved and appreciated by the members of the congregation. Lay persons, I encourage you to celebrate “Clergy Appreciation Month.” Plan something special to honor and encourage your pastor. Give a gift, have a dinner, plan a special service, send cards, invite individuals to share…include humor and serious moments. Your pastor and the entire pastoral family will be greatly blessed and encouraged. A good rule of thumb: take care of those who take care of you! Be encouraged in the Lord, Lowell The Sergent United Methodist Church is located in Letcher County. On Sunday morning our Sunday School begins at 10:00 am and Church service at 11:00 am. Our Sunday evening service is at 6:00 pm and we have Bible Study on Wednesday evening at 6:00 pm. We are a small church with an attendance of 20 -30 people on Sunday mornings. Our Pastor is Fred W. Hall, who we feel is a God-called Preacher. We have a good spiritual and loving church. When we heard about Habitat for Humanity we were happy to make a contribution. We want to help. Our congregation has felt a need to reach out to the younger children of our community. We have begun a Children’s Program on Sunday afternoon. We present a story and encourage the children to make a craft. They seem to be very excited to be involved. We are praying and hoping for the growth of this program and the community’s increasing interest. Maybe through this program the children will come along with their parents. Please keep us in your prayers, because we will be keeping you in ours. OCTOBER 2007 Dear Pastors, Our Habitat house is now complete. The Hurd family is delighted and very thankful for our efforts. It took all of us working together and contributing in various ways to make it happen. So, in short, WE DID IT!!!! This mission project was truly a blessing to all who came and witnessed it. Many volunteers expressed their joy at being part of such a wonderful experience and I too learned some things during the build week that I want to share with you. I suspected some of them, but now I have proof! Here they are: Hammering a nail upside down while wearing glasses with tri-focal lens makes it hard to hit a nail. You just can’t find the head of that itty-bitty thing! Those little nail aprons are great for holding more than just nails. Mine held pens, gloves, paper, chewing gum, a phone and even my lipstick! Wearing jeans with a hole in the knee creates balance issues, especially when your knee gets stuck in the hole when you try to stand up after sitting down! Getting a manicure either before or during the build is just plain fruitless. I broke a different fingernail everyday! Gaining weight on a construction site is possible. It’s caused by too many homemade goodies and not enough sweat! Some construction mistakes can be fixed. Like the row of floor braces I nailed in backward – it just takes longer to do! There really is something everyone can do. My favorite was being asked to stand on a board so someone else could drill a hole in it on the other end! Unity and connectionalism really do make miracles happen. We raised over $45,000 in about 12 weeks time and built a house in one week! Construction work really can be fun. Who knew?! On behalf of the District Office, please accept my many thanks to everyone for their offerings of time, money, food and prayers. We can accomplish a lot when we act in one accord as the body of Christ! I look forward to seeing you next on October 21st for the Bishop’s Hour at Allen Christ UMC! Peace, Rev. DEB DATES TO REMEMBER October Mon-Tues 1-2 District Committee on Ministry, First UMC, Prestonsburg, KY Wed-Sat 10-13 District Superintendent in Cabinet Retreat Fri.-Sat. 12-13 1st weekend A.L.P.S., Prestonsburg First UMC Mon-Tue.15-16 Clergy School at Conference Center, 2 CEUs available Wed. 17 District Response Team, 10:00 am at Prestonsburg Community UMC Sun 21 Bishop’s Hour at Allen Christ UMC, 4 pm Fri.-Sat. 26-27 2nd weekend A.L.P.S., Prestonsburg First UMC November Fri – Sun 9-11 DS at Cabinet Convocation, Lake Junaluska Thur 22 Thanksgiving Day – District Office Closed December Tue 4 DS at Cabinet Christmas Dinner, Louisville Fri 7 District Clergy/Spouse Christmas Dinner, First UMC, Prestonsburg, KY Mon 10 Committee on District Superintendency, Allen Christ, 7 pm Tue 11 DS at Equitable Compensation Commission, Lawrenceburg UMC, 2 pm Thu-Sat 13-15 DS attending Multicultural event, Lake Junaluska 2008 Session of the Kentucky Annual Conference: Galt House in Louisville, Sunday, June 1 – Wednesday, June 4, 2008 Stay Connected… The Prestonsburg District is increasingly using e-mail to communicate about District news, events, meetings, prayer requests, etc. We need your help to stay connected. Whenever you change your e-mail address, please let us know the new address. Prestonsburg District 343 East Court St. Prestonsburg, KY 41653 | |||||||||||
Copyright © 2006 The Kentucky Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, all rights reserved.