Thursday, April 14, 2011
Keep Growing Together in 2011
It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to
be God's field in which we are working. Praise God for growth!...more>>>
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
C.H.A.T.S (Conversation Helping Advice the Singles)
The purpose of the Singles ministry is to provide an opportunity for Singles to develop a spiritual growth through biblical teaching and realistic principles in their walk. The ministry is focused on meeting the needs of single individuals concerning the challenges and issues of today society.
The ministry emphasizes this through Bible study, prayer, social events, evangelism and faith-based relationship development.
Monday, April 11, 2011
United Methodist Publishing House has recently launched the Beta version of a new community designed for church leaders, regardless of job description. It is called Ministry Matters and is located at www.ministrymatters.com.
UMPH says the goal of Ministry Matters goes beyond building a community of leadership. Their site says they “aspire to become the leading problem-solving resource site for ecumenical Christian ministry, worship, and faith formation.”
The site features a searchable database of preaching, teaching and worship planning resources pulled from earlier UMPH offerings such as ipreach.com (no longer available) and worshipconnection.com (now redirects to Cokesbury). Also available is content from Abingdon Press and other publishers.
The features of the site include:
•A search listing thousands of free resources including Bible study (by Pastor Jacqui King), teaching and reference tools, sermon starters, articles, blogs, videos, music, and more.
•The ability for users to create and store personal or shared resource collections for research and preparation.
•A way to connect with other ministry leaders with whom you share common responsibilities, concerns, and vision.
During the Beta phase (for a timeline which isn’t shared), the site claims to offer unlimited, free access to most of the available resources. They note, however, that once the Beta phase closes, many of their premium resources will be available only by subscription.
If you would like to see what they have to offer, you can sign up for a free account at www.ministrymatters.com.
What did we learn from “Hear2Heal” - Doctorate Project
Thank you to all who have shared our experiences together through the Hear2Heal project. As the Lenten Season concludes and we move into Easter, our evaluation and reflection period begins. Simply put, we must ask what did we learn on the journey.The project has three segments:
- On Saturday, January 29, 2011 we took a pilgrimage to our past church sites to hear our history and prayed together to celebrate the strength of our families who birthed 1st UMC.
- During February we shared our connecting stories in small group sessions and visited the African American History Museum in Bryan, TX. Additionally, we lifted up Black History, celebrated our heritage, and saw a movie called “The Witness” that told the story about the last moments the life of Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.
- Lenten Bible Study focused on moving forward to discern God’s plans for our lives both personally and collectively in the church. The study lifted up what is needed for us as a body of believers to embrace God’s new vision.
Doctorate Project
by Rev. Jacqui T. King
January through May 2011