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| Neighborhood youth play basketball during Club Hope on Friday night at Barnes UMC. |
INDIANAPOLIS – With a concern for 80 percent of African-American youth in the inner-city being raised in single-parent female homes without father figures leading to boys joining gangs, selling drugs and dropping out of school, seven of the city’s predominately black congregations united to form a coalition to improve the destiny of youth.
They were backed by the 80-member City of Peace coalition which represented black ministerial groups across the city. The center of this near northwest side neighborhood is Barnes United Methodist Church and its newly expanded facility.
What was originally dubbed at Barnes as a Family Life Center has become more of a community center directing teens and young adults off crime-ridden streets into the church at 900 West 30th Street. During the past two-and-a-half years, a top priority for the center has become Club Hope, which ministers to between 50 and 100 neighborhood youth every Friday night.
Club Hope takes its lead from more than 20 dedicated volunteers under the direction of Barnes Pastor Charles Harrison. It meets from 7 to 10 p.m. and provides basketball in the church’s full-size gymnasium, dance, video game room, pool and a variety of activities for kids who wish to hang out. The church’s fellowship hall becomes a snack area providing light meals. Club Hope realizes many of the kids come from lower income or no income homes that may not have food.
Club Hope also provides 15 minutes of conversations about what’s going on in their lives, an opportunity to direct the kids to Barnes’ sanctuary doors. During the past two years, seven Club Hope attendees have professed their faith in Christ and have joined Barnes. Four now attend college.
INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Bishop Mike Coyner announced Nov. 9 the employment of the Indiana Conference’s ten district assistants. These employees will assist district superintendents in their work across the state.
They will begin their new responsibilities in these new District Centers effective Jan. 1. They include by District:
More information about the ten district assistants and their new positions will be shared in the January issue of Together and online at www.inumc.org.
Bishop Mike Coyner announces that the Rev. Dr. Doug Anderson, currently part-time interim superintendent of the Michiana District of the Indiana Conference of The United Methodist Church, has been hired as a part-time Associate Director of Church Development for the Indiana Conference, effective Jan. 1 when his term expires as a superintendent.
The Rev. Mark Gough, conference director of Church Development, recently accepted the resignation of the Rev. Stephen R. Seitz of Jasper, Ind., as a half-time associate director of church development. Seitz expressed his desire to return to pastoral ministry.
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Recently she wrote, “I have always envisioned my ministry as a servant ministry, one focused on meeting the needs of primarily those in local church, though I also take seriously my responsibility to serve individuals at all levels of the connectional system.”
Mary began her employee relationship to the former South Indiana Conference in 1985 as secretary to then Associate Council Director Susan Ruach. She began her ministry as director of the Media Resource Center in 1987. Her ministry has spanned years of change from splicing 16mm films, patching broken video tape, to wiping clean small compact disks.
As Mary retires, what also is retired is a daily, individual presence in a conference media center. We will miss both. Fortunately, an Indiana Conference Media Center remains in the new conference with the combined DVD libraries of both North and South media centers. Angel Rea, current director of the North Indiana Media Center will continue the legacy left by Mary with a commitment of serving the media needs of individuals and congregations from a Marion location, however on a part-time basis. The importance of instructional and informational media in Christian ministry remains, what is changing is the delivery of such media from physical to electronic means.
We wish Mary well in retirement and thank her for her years of service to The United Methodist Church.
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| Director of Connectional Ministries James Bushfield moves into his space at the Indiana Conference Center in Indianapolis. |
The Indiana Area Office of The United Methodist Church has occupied its section of the new Indiana Conference Center in Indianapolis since Oct. 26, including Bishop Mike Coyner, the Episcopal and Communication staffs.
The former Indiana Area Office on West 42nd Street is now being remodeled to accommodate regional offices of the Presbyterian Church USA.
Both the Indiana Conference Center in Marion (the former North Indiana Conference) and the Indiana Conference Center in Bloomington (the former South Indiana Conference) continue to operate from the Marion and Bloomington locations.
The Connectional Ministries staff members occupied their space in the new Indiana Conference Center Nov. 9. The staff includes: Connectional Ministries Director James Bushfield, Associate Director for Missions and Advocacy LeKisha Reed, Associate Director for Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministry Services Brian Durand and Associate Director of Clergy Services Sandy Harlan.
Assistant Director for Office and Conference Services Ruth Ellen Needler also has occupied her office. Needler and Director of Administrative Services Brent Williams are working between the Marion and Indianapolis centers.
Ian Hall, of the Bloomington Center, continues to connect computer and telephone systems as staff members move into the new center.
Administrative, benefits, finances, media centers and other conference services will continue operations in Bloomington and Marion until further notice.
Both the Bloomington and Marion centers plan to close at the end of the day on Tuesday, Dec. 22. After the holidays, the Indiana Conference Center in Indianapolis will open Jan. 4.
A united Indiana Conference Media Center also will open in January at Marion, offering DVDs and other resources from both previous media libraries.
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 Millard |
INDIANAPOLIS – The Holy Dove Foundation, a Turkish organization dedicated to interfaith dialogue and understanding especially among Jews, Christians and Muslims, bestowed two of three annual awards on two prominent Hoosier United Methodists – U.S. Senator Richard Lugar and his pastor, the Rev. Kent Millard of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Indianapolis.
The Holy Dove Foundation presented the awards during its annual interfaith dialogue banquet at the Columbia Club on Monument Circle in Indianapolis.
Lugar was given the organization’s Peace Award.
The Holy Dove Foundation also honored Millard with its Friendship Award for his efforts in bringing together faith groups to celebrate each others’ holy days. He said he got the idea from a Muslim family he visited in Turkey who hosted him and other Hoosiers during a Holy Dove Foundation trip a couple of years ago.
Clarian announces extension of conference hospital discount
INDIANAPOLIS – Clarian Health announced earlier this month that the hospital bill discount practice in place for its downtown Methodist, Indiana University and Riley hospitals since 1997 will be extended to all Clarian hospitals statewide.
In a letter to United Methodist leaders dated Nov. 2, Clarian’s Daniel F. Evans, Jr., president and CEO and the Rev. Steven S. Ivy, Ph.D. senior vice president of Values, Ethics, Social Responsibility and Pastoral Services, said, “This change recognizes the growing Clarian system throughout Indiana and the fact that the entire Clarian Health system is a Connectional Unit of the Indiana Conference. As a ministry partner with the Indiana Conference (of The United Methodist Church), we are pleased to extend our discount practice.”
This means that Clarian will waive any co-pays owed to Clarian after the Indiana Conference HealthFlex insurance plan has paid its portion of the patient’s bill and the patient has met his or her deductible. This courtesy discount applies only to hospital charges, not physician charges or contracted services such as some laboratory expenses.
This discount is available only to those who are covered by the Conference-sponsored health insurance plan. It will apply to charges accrued beginning Dec. 1.
If you have questions about this plan, please call Ivy or his assistant, Rosemarie Pavy, at 317-962-3591.
For more information about Clarian Health, visit www.clarian.org.
COLUMBUS, Ind. – Applying the story of Job to life in the church today, Bishop Sally Dyck od Minnesota preached to more than 180 Hoosier United Methodists pastors and other ministers during Pastors Convocation Oct. 12-14 at the Columbus Holiday Inn.
She said Job had everything and was the most influential man in the east. Then Satan and God decided to have a contest to see if Job would give up his faith. In just six verses, Job lost his wealth and his three daughters and seven sons.
“We have a similar story in the church …,” she said. “Have you lost the next generation in the church?”
Like Job, a whirlwind has swept away our next generation. “Until we connect with the grief that we have lost a generation… let’s connect with the grief. The grief is not just in the pew, it’s also in the pulpit,” she said.
“We have forgotten the transcendent God. What is it that takes our breath away about God? ... When do we stop thinking it’s about us? What is God calling us to be?”
She said we need someone in the shadows like Job had Elihu to see the greatness of God.
ZIONSVILLE, Ind. – “The Day of New Beginnings” for United Methodist Women of Indiana was indeed a memorable day. Saturday, Oct.17 marked the inauguration of the conference-wide organization as 441 women gathered to commemorate this historic event.
Indiana Bishop Michael Coyner and Harriett Jane Olson, general deputy secretary of Women’s Division of the General Board of Global Ministries, were on hand to celebrate the occasion.
Olson spoke to women from across Indiana saying, “Today we have the chance to participate in the creation of the Indiana Conference United Methodist Women and pronounce it ‘good.’ – just as God did at the creation of the world.”
She likened the creation story to the work of the steering committee who worked for months paving the way for the new conference and district organizations – “creating a new space for United Methodist Women in Indiana to flourish.”
Coyner and Olson installed newly elected conference and district officers – an impressive group of nearly 2,000 women, and together celebrated Holy Communion to all assembled.
 Photo courtesy of Newburgh UMC |
| Elizabeth Clark (center) raises funds by selling hand-made items at local grocery store. |
The young women heard and saw a report about human trafficking in Thailand, young girls sold into sexual slavery. The small group of youth were deeply moved to do something about it.
When they returned home, Elizabeth Clark, then a junior at Castle High School began to pray and research. She shared the goal of raising $12,000 in a year to redeem at least 12 girls from their horrible bondage. Her peers were excited; her parents and pastors took deep breaths and reminded themselves that they had always encouraged the youth to dream big dreams and set big holy audacious goals, but this seemed a bit too audacious.
Clark graduated from high school in June 2009 and is now a freshman at the University of Evansville. When she graduated, she and her church celebrated that a total of $12, 435 had been raised and sent.
As she reminded her church and her parents, she’d just been operating on what they had taught her – that with God all things are possible.
LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. – In a statement that says, “We cannot help the world until we change our way of being in it,” the bishops of The United Methodist Church announced a significant call to all United Methodists, ecumenical and inter-religious partners and people of goodwill around the world.
The focus of the bishops’ message is three interconnected global threats to God’s good creation:
“As bishops, we know that critical issues of the day have left people feeling fearful, cynical, hopeless and overwhelmed,” said Bishop Gregory Palmer, president of the Council of Bishops. “God’s Renewed Creation: Call to Hope and Action contains our pledges to work in hopeful and robust ways for transforming change as God’s stewards of creation. We invite the church and our partners around the world to join us.”
In other business, Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster of Western North Carolina will be the next president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops.
The council elected Goodpaster president and Bishop Rosemarie Wenner of Germany president-elect by a “staggering” majority, announced Bishop Gregory Palmer, current council president.
Christmas is a special time for our children. Unfortunately, many children here at home in Indiana and around the world don’t receive the blessings of this special holiday, but we can make a difference in their lives through our gifts. Therefore, as has been the tradition in our conference, there again will be a special Indiana United Methodist Christmas Offering for Children.
Offering envelopes, poster and bulletin masters will be sent to each congregation later in November.
The combination of the recession and an online application process dramatically increased the demand for United Methodist loans and scholarships this year – making contributions to the United Methodist Student Day offering even more important.
More than 9,000 students applied for United Methodist scholarships this year with 2,877 submitting all the information required for consideration by the deadline, says Angella Current-Felder, who directs the office of loans and scholarships at the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
In 2008, 3,365 students received about $4.6 million in scholarships. Awards totals are not complete for 2009 yet. So far this year, the agency has provided $1.6 million in loans to 333 students.
In 2008, $554,252 was given to the United Methodist Student Day offering, which helps fund the loans and scholarships. Churches are encouraged to observe Student Day on Nov. 29 or any other day that is convenient for the congregation. Individuals can now contribute online with a credit card at www.umcgiving.org/umstudentday.
EXPLORATION 2009 addresses offered youth and young adults an opportunity to explore God’s call in their life. The Nov. 13-15 event in Dallas was for high school seniors and young adults through age 24 who are considering a call to ordained ministry as a deacon or elder in The United Methodist Church.
“By attending EXPLORATION, youth and young adults had the opportunity to explore a variety of ways to serve in ordained ministry,” said the Rev. Meg Lassiat, director of student ministries, vocation and enlistment at the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, which sponsors EXPLORATION.
Two United Methodist students from the University of Evansville traveled to EXPLORATION in Dallas to explore and discover how God might be calling them into ordained ministry. Both students received scholarship monies from the Evansville District in order to travel to Dallas and are extremely thankful for the financial assistanc. They are:
Chloe Sharp, a freshman and UE and is a theology major/Spanish minor, who plans to serve in mission work following seminary. Sharp has a passion for educating people of developing countries, especially women, to improve their quality of life but, more importantly, teaching them about the love of Christ. Her church home and family is in Corydon, at Pfrimmer’s Chapel UMC; and
Rachel Neer, a senior at UE and a religion major, who plans to attend seminary following graduation. Neer has been aware of God’s presence from an early age at First UMC in Gainesboro, Tenn. She says she has always been interested in learning about God.
INDIANAPOLIS – Phyllis Newton, a member of Broadway UMC in Indianapolis with years of service and deep passion for the Indiana Women’s Prison ministry, was recently named IWP’s Religious Services Volunteer of the Year.
She received a quilt made by the offenders. She also received a standing ovation from the 150 volunteers, guests, staff and offenders present for the annual IWP volunteers event.
Newton was chosen from more than 400 volunteers at IWP. She was honored for her work as an instructor-mentor in the PLUS unit of the prison and for her service in United Methodist Women.