4/29/2014
Poems by Millie Horlacher (PDF) specific to faith sharing ministry. About the author Millie Horlacher, a certified lay speaker, conducts spiritual growth studies and retreats. She has served as a spiritual growth coordinator for United Methodist Women on local, district, and conference levels. Horlacher's meditations and poetry have appeared in Capper's Weekly, Alive Now, and other church publications. She and her husband, Wayne, live in Colby, Kansas. They have three children and five ...
4/29/2014
Faith-sharing in a “pre-Christian” context There has been much talk over the past 5-10 years, from church-growth experts and church futurists, lamenting the reality that we now live at a time in which the church has lost relevance, credibility and position in both culture and society. These experts tell us that we now live in, among other things, what could only be identified as a “post-Christian” era. Likewise, word has it, that in this “post-Christian” era, the church is in the process of “...
3/31/2014
A story of Mike Cather's spiritual leadership journey (photo left). Standing six foot five inches, Mike Cather is easily located in a crowd. The former college basketball player is a full-time farmer, father, husband and long-time lay leader at Anthony United Methodist Church, in Harper County, Kansas. Mike has been involved with United Methodist ministry his whole life growing up United Methodist as a child and a youth. He accepted Christ at the age of fifteen while surrounded by his ...
3/31/2014
(How small groups helped the new church start called Water's Edge UMC, in Omaha, build a congregation.) The early Methodist movement was a movement of small groups. John Wesley would not spend time on people if they would not meet in the class meeting: May 26, 1759...”I found the little society which I had joined here two years since had soon split in pieces. In the afternoon I met several of the members of the praying societies: and showed them what Christian fellowship was, and what need they ...
3/31/2014
Church members don’t turn into spiritual leaders by accident. That transformation takes an intentional effort, which might well begin with helping those in your congregation identify their spiritual gifts and passion for service.There are a number of tools available for this purpose, and one of the most popular and effective was developed in the Great Plains United Methodist Conference. “Serving from the Heart,” is a resource first developed as a step in the leadership development program at ...
2/28/2014
After this there was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate in the north city wall is a pool with the Aramaic name Bethsaida. It had five covered porches, and a crowd of people who were sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed sat there. A certain man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, knowing that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”7 The sick man answered him, “...
2/28/2014
Wichita church reaches out to youth in foster care kids Many people look forward to spending time with family during the Christmas season. Teenagers in the foster care system don’t always have a family to call their own. That’s where the United Methodist Church at the Well, in Wichita, steps in. For several years, the church has hosted a Christmas party for teenagers in the foster care system. Also invited are young adults, ages 18-21, who have recently aged out of the foster system. They are ...
2/28/2014
Urban Abbey hosts a coffee house with no strings attached “Why would you give money away?” The reporter looked astonished as he continued, “Couldn’t you just keep it for your own church?” He is right, I thought. We could keep it for our own ministry and we do need it; but that is not who we are or at least who we are trying to be. I explained that faith is about generosity. We are part of a tradition of giving of time and energy. We are founded on the principles that all we have is God’s and ...
2/28/2014
Camp Fontanelle experiences community in unique ways Camp Fontanelle, near Nickerson, Neb., (Fremont is the next largest town), experiences community in a unique way in its rural setting in eastern Nebraska. Each fall the camp hosts a corn maze, pumpkin patch, zip-line, laser tag, archery and more, as activities open to the communities in the area. While it’s a major fund development project for Camp Fontanelle, Trent Meyer, the site director says it’s built community in so many ways. “While ...
2/28/2014
Garden produce creates relationships, helps families with food sustainability Oakley, Kan. — The community garden sponsored, planted, and cared for by the Oakley United Methodist Church was a vision of one member who brought that vision to others. The vision caught on and became a reality in the spring of 2012. With that vision Monday mornings became a time when all volunteers gathered for devotion and prayer time. It was decided to organize the community garden with very few rules to ...
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