August 2017 Issue 44-8 - Page United Methodist ChurchThe Anatomy of Peace: resolving the heart of conflict By The Arbinger Institute, 2015 At Tom Berlin’s report on the Commission

August 2017 Issue 44-8

Dear Friends, I want to share parts of an article by Will Willimon that I read this week. It is about fear and how fear affects each of us. He begins with a song by John Newton: “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears re-lieved.” Grace is unmerited love of God in Jesus Christ, the power of God working in us to give us lives we could not have had on our own. How can John Newton say that grace (1) teaches us to fear and (2) relieve our fears? Aristotle defines insanity as foolishly having no fear. Courage is not the absence of fear but rather having a reason for doing the right thing in spite of our fear. Willimon quotes Scott Bader when he reminds us that fear is not always the opposite of love. Sometimes fear is validation of love.

Willimon says that “Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord.” (Proverbs1:7) Some interpret fear as “reverence”, or perhaps, “awe”. Hebrews 10:31 says, “its scary to fall into the hands of the living God.” Willimon asks an intriguing question - ”When is the last time you were scared stiff by Sunday worship? “Fear not” is an expression found in well over three hundred places in scripture. Jesus often said, ‘fear not’ to his disciples, but in Matthew 10:28 Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body but can’t kill the soul. Instead be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell.” Willimon says we often pray for the plight of our bodies and often forget that it is the plight of our souls that we need to be concerned.

Jesus is resurrected, the same Jesus who commanded us to love our neighbors but also enemies, to bless those who harass us, to welcome strangers, who has defeated death and sin, triumphed, and come back to us. In Matthew 25:35, Matthew ends his Gospel with the risen Christ commanding his disciples to go into all the world, baptizing all, and teaching everything he commanded—including the part about welcoming the stranger. Then Jesus promises (or threatens?) “I am with you always” and Willimon paraphrases, “and make sure you do what I order you to do.” Willimon says there can be no healing without honest confrontation with and efforts to make restoration of the wounds. No reconciliation to our sameness without honesty about our difference. If you would like to dig deeper, please get William Willimon’s book, Fear of the Other. God bless you as you read this, pray about fear and ask God to help you conquer fear. Tommy

Visit Harrisonburg District on Facebook: Harrisonburg District of VaUMC

NOTE: NEW Harrisonburg District webpage: www.harrisonburgdistrictumc.org

A challenge to read the Bible in 2017

Bible Readings for August 2017

August 2017 DISTRICT NEWS Page 2

August 1 Isaiah 18-22 August 16 Jeremiah 14-17











August 12 Jeremiah 1-3 August 27 Jeremiah 51-52

August 13 Jeremiah 4-6 August 28 Lamentations 1:1-3:36

August 14 Jeremiah 7-9 August 29 Lamentations 3:37-5:22

August 15 Jeremiah 10-13 August 30 Ezekiel 1-4

August 31 Ezekiel 5-8

[resource: http://www.vaumc.org/pages/bishop-lewis/biblechallenge]

Please contact Kingsway

at

[email protected]

or

(540) 433-5658

for details.

Bridgewater UMC recently had a campaign to help raise funds for disaster relief in

Virginia. Forrest White, Disaster Relief and UMVIM Coordinator for Virginia, spoke at

Bridgewater Church’s worship service May 21st and that Sunday was followed up with a

month long campaign to raise $20,100. This campaign is called, Wall of Giving, and how

it works is: 200 envelopes are labeled from $1 to $200. If all envelopes are returned with

the donation the amount of $20,100 is raised. We are excited to announce that we raised

$20,154! This money will be used to help fund recovery efforts in the communities such

as Tappahannock, Waverly, and Evergreen that got hit with tornadoes in February 2016

and the Virginia Beach area that had flood damage since then. Bridgewater UMC sent

teams to Waverly and Evergreen in the last year with recovery efforts and are sending a

team again in October 2017. If district churches would like to borrow the Wall of Giving

“house” to help raise funds in your churches, please let us know at [email protected]


. . .sponsored by the Older Adult Council of the Virginia Conference of The United Methodist

Church at Verona United Methodist Church on Sunday, July 9, 2017. Olde Time

Revival . . .

Pictures above courtesy of Mr. Jim Turner. Picture below courtesy of Rev. Kevin Poeckert.

August 2017 Page 4 DISTRICT NEWS

From Our District Program Coordinator, Glen Langston: Due to recent Rotator Cuff surgery, we are re-printing Glen’s thought-povoking May 2016 article. We wish Glen an excellent and speedy recovery!]

I have been thinking about the question, “Is the church dying?” for some time now and have decided the answer is “Yes” and “No”, depending upon your definition of the na-ture of the church. It is quite clear that the traditional local churches as we know them to be are dying and most of the research I have done points to a few reasons that penetrate all dying churches. These diseases include: 1. A recognition that the church is dying but a passivity toward doing anything about it. 2. An urgency to address the minor issues and an unwillingness to address the major issues. Just look at the ongoing debate about change in the worship service. Another minor issue that

seems to be very urgent is the matter of finances. If your deepest worry and fear is the lack of finances then you probably will close the door. Limited finances are not an issue, they are the result of major issues, conflicts, and judgment in the church. 3. A fear of risks. Growing churches take risks and try new ministries. Stagnant or declining churches are afraid to move forward. 4. Having a church vision through the rear view window. Nostalgia has a tendency to do three things to a church. First, it puts the members to sleep dreaming about the good old days. Second, it causes the members to resist things that change the past. And third, it estab-lishes a suspicion of all “come heres,” all new worshippers who were not with you in the “good old days.” 5. Stagnation in leadership. All of us eventually run out of steam in a job or ministry. All of us run out of creative plans for growth. In healthy, growing churches, the general principle is nobody serves in a single position more than four years. In stagnant and dying churches the general principle is do all we can to force and guilt trip our leaders into never resigning because we may not be able to replace them. 6. Conflict is about the wrong things. Growing churches spend their energy fighting for new opportunities to reach unchurched people. Dying churches spend their energy fighting each other and fighting change.

But the other side of the coin says “No”, the church is not dying. What is dying is the remembrances that this is God’s Church, not our church. What is dying is the church that has lost its purpose and its faith. But the ecclesia, God’s assembly of the fa ithful, will never close. He will change it so that it is relevant to new generations just like He has done from the beginning, but the church of God will live forever. Some of us, who believe the church is our property, will simply not be a part of it.

Glen Langston

From Sue MacTavish, District Librarian

August 2017 featured item:

The Anatomy of Peace: resolving the heart of conflict By The Arbinger Institute, 2015

At Tom Berlin’s report on the Commission for a Way Forward during 2017 Annual Conference, we learned that this book, The Anat-omy of Peace, was required reading for all members of the Commission before they ever met! It was required that all understand the “Heart of Peace” verses the “Heart of War” before any discussions began. The Anatomy of Peace is now on the library shelves and ready for you to borrow — enjoy!

“What if in our conflicts with others there is something we want more than solutions? What if conflicts at home, conflicts are work, and conflicts in the world stem from the same root cause? And what if individually and collectively we systematically misunderstand that cause, and unwittingly perpetuate the very problems we think we are trying to solve? These are among the important questions ex-plored in The Anatomy of Peace. Through an intriguing story of parents who are struggling with their children and problems that have come to consume their lives, we learn from once bitter enemies the way to find peace whenever war is upon us.” __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Stop by the District Office and “check out” the library. Please remember to check out library items by signing the book card in the

pocket with your name and church and date—you may keep items as long as you need—but remember to return items when finished

so that others may borrow. Thanks, Sue

Congratulations!

Elizabeth Heller Stratton was born on June 28th to Rev. Laura and J.R. Stratton. Elizabeth

has a big sister, Annabelle. Rev. Stratton is the pastor of Page United Methodist Church.


Apportionment Series: What are apportionments?

Active Clergy Health Apportionment #407

The Active Clergy Health Apportionment provides health care benefits for approximately 2,000 active clergy, incapaci-tated clergy, and widows of active clergy and their families. Each clergy contributes the “employee contribution” amount billed monthly from VUMPI, which the church should deduct from their paycheck. The remaining Active Clergy Health expenses are apportioned to all local churches according to the Active Clergy Health two-tiered apportionment. _______________________________________________________________________________________________

Retired Clergy Health Apportionment #408

The Retired Clergy Health Apportionment provides medical insurance benefits for approximately 800 retired clergy and spouses. Retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare may enroll in the Conference-sponsored self-funded health plan, and Medicare-eligible retirees select from several fully insured insurance products designed to supplement Medicare benefits. Enrolled retirees pay a portion of the total cost of coverage. The Conference’s contribution toward retired clergy health coverage is apportioned to the local churches based upon the decimal of operating expenses. _______________________________________________________________________________________

REMINDER: Apportionments at the Conference level are grouped into the following three categories: 1. Conference Apportionments #401- #406 [included in the May - July Harrisonburg District Newsletters] 2. Clergy Benefit Apportionments #407-#409 3. General & Jurisdictional Apportionments #410-#416 By vote of the 234th Annual Conference Session, the 2017 Annual Conference Budget decreased .91% in comparison to the 2016 Annual Confer-ence Budget. Conference Apportionments decreased 3.43%, Clergy Benefits remained at the 2016 level, and General & Jurisdictional Apportion-ments increased by .42%.

NOTE: With the exception of Active Clergy Health Benefits, apportionments are calculated using the last year of available statistics for each local church (i.e. 2017 apportionments are calculated using 2015 statistics). The formula is based on total net paid expenses which are the total expen-ditures of the church minus expenditures for benevolent causes, apportionments, capital improvements, and payments on loans and mortgages, as reported by your church in the EVC Statistical Website.

Net Operating Expenses for your church (Table II lines 46-57)

Net Operating Expenses for ALL VA Conference Churches (Table II lines 46-57)

Your church decimal is multiplied by the approved Annual Conference Budget to determine your church’s contribution. It is very important that accurate information be entered by each church in EVC as every church’s numbers affect the apportionment calculations for the entire Conference.

The Active Clergy Health Apportionment #407 is a two tiered calculation. 1. The first tier allocates a flat $5,000 per health plan eligible clergy based upon July 1, 2016 apportionments. 2. The remaining active clergy health care apportionment costs are apportioned based upon the total clergy compensation at your church (including accountable reimbursement) divided into the total clergy compensation (including accountable reimbursement) for ALL Virginia Confer-ence Churches.

>Churches with part-time pastors will not be apportioned the $5,000 but will participate in the apportionment through the decimal of clergy salaries. >A multi-point charge that has a pastor eligible for health care plan will share the $5,000 allocation and will also participate in the apportionment through the decimal of clergy salaries. >All churches with one full-time appointed pastor will pay the first tier of $5,000 and the decimal of clergy salaries; the higher the salary, the higher the apportionment.

To answer the question, “What are apportionments?”, the Harrison-

burg District Newsletter will highlight an apportionment (one or more)

per month using the resources found on the Conference website,

www.vaumc.org. This resource, with additional information, can be

found under Administrative Services > Business Office > Apportion-

ments & Second Mile Giving > Apportionment Interpretation > 2017

Apportionment Interpretation & Apportionment Formula.

= Your Church Decimal

[resource: www.vaumc.org]


District Council on Ministries

The District Council on Ministries will meet: August 24; and November 16, 2017. Unless noted, all meetings will be

at the District Office, 7:00 p. m. Please see information on the Ministry Teams below.

Rev. Bob Talbott, DCOM Chairperson

Mission and Outreach Ministry Team: Team members for 2017: Rodney Bussard; Scott Dodrill; Artie Frederick; Ann Homan; Louise Jennings; Bill Lalla, Mary Jane Rawley; Delores Reid; and Lydia Weeks.

Mission Central’s Children’s Clothes Closet - Mission Central’s Children’s Clothes Closet con-tinues to be very busy. A big Thank You to the boys from Renew Youth Camp who came to help sort and tag clothing. They also weeded the grounds around Mission Central building in very HOT WEATHER! To our delightful surprise they had done a clothing drive for us and brought a truck load of children’s clothing with them. How wonderful of them to do that for us! We are still in the process of getting the building permit for our new Mission Central building. Please keep us in your

prayers. Serving together in Christ, Artie Frederick, Children’s Clothing Sub-Committee Chairperson, 208-7669

Mission Central’s Equipment for Caring - (medical equipment loaner closet) is available FREE for those needing durable medical equipment (wheelchairs, bedside commodes, shower benches, hospital beds, wound care supplies, disposable adult diapers, adaptive equipment, and much more). While we wait for our Mission Central building, we are in need of more space for our District Equipment for Caring closet. Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community has offered 5 hospital beds for us to use

and donate to those needing this medical equipment, but we do not have space to store them. If anyone has an un-used storage area or part of a building that would be easily accessible and available for us to use, please contact Delores Reid at [email protected] or 540-383-6112. Also, I would like to thank those who responded to our re-cent request for wheel chairs. We now have 5 available for loan and appreciate all the equipment and supplies that persons have so freely given. If you need any of these or have questions, or wish to donate equipment, supplies, or time, please contact me. Delores Reid, Medical Equipment Sub-Committee Chairperson, 383-6112

Bill Lalla, Team Leader

Faith Development Ministry Team: The Harrisonburg District UMC Faith Development Ministry Team looks forward to new plans and projects. Our team members of 2017 are: Tommy Crosby, Kemper Dadisman, Scott Dillard, Dale Dodrill, Becky Downey, Sharon Harold, Annie Pierce, Kevin Poeckert, Blake Robertson, Phil Secrist, Wes Van Pelt and Carrie Talbott.

We will meet at the District Office at 7:00 p.m., on the following 2017 dates: August 17; and October 19. Rev. Carrie Talbott, Team Leader

With a Thankful Heart! Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all the wonderful people of the Harrisonburg District who delivered all the food requests for Sunday’s Olde Time Revival at Verona United Methodist Church on July 9th. What a response from all of you! We were able to feed over 353 (the actual number of people who registered) that day. But even more exciting, we were worshipping together in praise and word, and were challenged by our Bishop to move beyond the four walls of our church to make disciples for Jesus Christ.

As a member of the Older Adult Council, if I can be of any assistance to you in developing/presenting programs for older adults, please contact me at (540) 652-6277. Again, my heartfelt thanks for your bountiful response. Annie Pierce, Christ United Methodist Church-Shenandoah, VA & Harrisonburg District Representative to the Virginia Conference Older

From June 18-June 24, Strasburg UMC took a team of 19 to the Bahamas for a Mission Trip. This

was the first international mission trip organized and sponsored by Strasburg UMC in the history of the

church. The youngest ‘missionary’ was 7 and the oldest 74. Volunteers worked with Bahamas Methodist

Habitat, a ministry sponsored by the Bahamas Methodist Church. For more information, you can read the

team’s daily blog of this journey at http://strasburgumc.org/mission-trip-jouney/

Christian Sympathy is extended to the family of Rev. A.D. Tice who passed away on Friday, July 14th. He is sur-vived by his wife, Becky, four children, seven grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, & two great-great grandchil-dren. Rev. Tice served Mennonite, United Methodist, and Brethren churches. He served Mountain Valley UMC on the Harrisonburg District prior to his retirement. A memorial service was held at the Mount Olive Brethren Church.

August 2017 DISTRICT NEWS & CALENDAR Page 7

August 5 (Saturday) - DUMW Executive Officers, First UMC-Timberville, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

August 6 (Sunday) - Partners in Ministry [PiM]/ DUMM/Youth District-wide Picnic Camp Overlook, 4:00 p.m. gather & 5:30 p.m. picnic*

August 17 (Thursday) - DCOM’s Faith Development Ministry Team, District Office, 7:00 p.m.*

August 24 (Thursday) - DCOM Executive Committee, District Office, 7:00 p.m.*

August 24 (Thursday) - Kingsway Banquet, Bridgewater UMC*

August 25 (Friday) - Tri-District UMW “Cluster Meeting” As-bury UMC, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.*

August 29 (Tuesday) - Partners in Ministry [PiM] Retreat and Charge Conference Instruction Meeting, Blessings Lodge, 9:00 a.m.*

September 19 (Tuesday) - DUMM Fall Dinner & Rally, Fur-nace UMC, 6:30 p.m.*

*Denotes related article elsewhere in this newsletter

Partners in Ministry’s Welcome Picnic for new and returning pastors and their families and all re-tired clergy and spouses will be Sunday, August 6, at Overlook Retreat & Camp Ministries. We will gather, along with the DUMM and their families and District Youth at 4:00 p.m. and eat at 5:30 p.m. Clergy with new appointments will be guests of PiM. The district will provide hot dogs, ham-

burgers, drinks and paper products. Returning clergy families are asked to bring 1 side dish & 1 dessert.

The PiM Retreat has been scheduled for Tuesday, August 29, at Blessing Lodge Overlook Retreat & Camp Ministries, 9:00 a.m. All Harri-sonburg District pastors are expected to attend! Please reserve this date on your calendar! PiM Executive Committee

The Harrisonburg District UMW will join with the Staunton & Winchester Districts on Saturday, August 26, 2017, at Asbury UMC in Harrisonburg from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. for a “Cluster Meeting”. Lunch will be provided by the Asbury UMW. All Executive Committee Members, Unit Presidents, or anyone who holds a UMW office are encouraged to attend. Please contact Sharon Harold by August 21, if you plan on attending or have any questions. (Note: corrected date)

Saturday, September 9, the Harrisonburg District UMW will hold their Prayer Breakfast at Bridgewater UMC at 9:00 a.m . The Reverend Nancy Robinson will share her missionary experiences along with her husband, Kip. The deadline for registration is Friday, September 1. A reg-istration form is attached to the newsletter. Mark you calendar and plan to attend!

Sharon Harold, Harrisonburg District UMC President

The District UMM are again hosting a District United Methodist Men’s Family Picnic at Over-look on Sunday, August 6, from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. at the picnic shelter. This will be a time of fun and fellowship as we try to get to know all of our brothers and their families from around the district. We will be supplying hot dogs and hamburgers, buns, drinks, plates, utensils, and nap-kins. Everyone is asked to bring a dish to share and a folding chair.

Other dates to mark on your calendar: UMM Fall Rally, September 19, at Furnace UMC & UMM Sponsored Prayer Breakfast, October 21, at

Asbury UMC. Scott Dillard, District UMM President

Saturday, January 27, 2018 - Bishop Sharma D. Lewis’ “Chat and Chew 2.0”, Verona UMC, 8:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Details will be announced. This will be a multi-district event. Please put

this date on your calendar and plan to attend.

The Virginia Conference offices at The United Meth-

odist Center in Glen Allen, Virginia, will close at 1:00

p.m. each Friday through Labor Day. The Harrison-

burg District Office follows the conference policy on office closure.

NEW VISION! At the 2017 Virginia Annual Conference, Bishop Sharma Lewis, shared the New Vision for our Conference as we move forward in ministry. It is: A DISCIPLE OF JESUS CHRIST IS A LIFELONG LEARNER WHO INFLUENCES OTHERS TO SERVE. The Lay Servants Training Courses are a great tool that will enable members of the Harrisonburg District to be-come better disciples for Jesus Christ. The classes are open to EVERYONE who loves Jesus and wants to learn.

The next Lay Servants Training Classes will be held on September 23, 2017, at Vision of Hope United Methodist Church in Harrisonburg. The hours are: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Cost is $20.00 that includes book/materials, snacks, and lunch.

The following classes will be offered and we have great teachers: “Basic” Course taught by Rev. Bob Talbott; “Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts” taught by Rev. Glen Langston; “Understanding the Discipline” taught by Rev. Tommy Herndon and Rev. Al Tuten. Each class comes with a money back guarantee. If at the end of the class, you feel you have not benefited from time spent, the $20 will be returned to you.

Advanced registration is requested by September 9th. Currently, I have one person already registered for each class. We need 5 more in each class to meet our minimum of 6 per class. Register EARLY by contacting Dale Dodrill, at cell # 770-402-0752, e-mail: [email protected] or Brenda Woods, District Administrative Assistant, at 540-433-2382, or e-mail: [email protected].

Dale Dodrill, District Lay Servant Director


Harrisonburg District on the web at www.harrisonburgdistrictumc.org

Harrisonburg District on Facebook at Harrisonburg District of VaUMC

Virginia Conference on the web at www.vaumc.org

Pastors, please make copies of the monthly issues of the district newsletter and have them available to your parish-

ioners who do not receive the newslet-ter by electronic mail. Thank you!

Conference Opportunities

NEW

DISTRICT NEWS Harrisonburg District

Virginia Annual Conference The United Methodist Church

40 South Gate Court ◊ Suite 101 Harrisonburg, VA 22801

Phone: (540) 433-2382 Fax: (540) 433-7587

Ernest T. (Tommy) Herndon, Jr. District Superintendent

[email protected]

D. Glen Langston District Program Director [email protected]

Brenda P. Woods Administrative Assistant

NOTE: [email protected]

Registration is now open for the 5 Talent October 19

event, “How to Structure your Church for Evangel-

ism” with Jacob Armstrong. Armstrong will lead the

event in exploring key principles for evangelism in the

local church including crafting a vision that fits your mis-

sion field, rethinking worship and leadership development and structure. The

event will be streamed to locations across the conference. Gather a team

from your church to take part in this event. Early bird pricing as well as team

discounts are available. Visit https://vaumc.org/5talent for more information

and to register.

The Small Congregation Leadership Team invites small church (membership of 149 or less) clergy and laity to a day of learning, conversation, and discussion, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. with lunch provided and .5 CEU available. Cost is $25.00 per person, with group discounts. This event will take place in three locations across the conference. The location closest to the churches in the Harrisonburg District is at Mint

Spring UMC, 53 Mint Spring Circle, in the Staunton District on September 26, 2017. The Reverend David Canada will lead this event. Contact the Conference Center for Congregational Excellence for more information.

The Harrisonburg District Administrative

Assistant Brenda Woods’

e-mail address is:

[email protected]

Please use this e-mail address

when corresponding via e-mail with the Harrisonburg District Office!

Thank you! B. Woods

2017 Annual Conference Facts & Figures:

> Annual Conference by the numbers: During the 2017 Virginia Annual Conference session, 15 were ordained as

elders, one was ordained deacon, 15 commissioned as provisional members, one recogni-tion as associate member, and 40 licensed as local pastors. Fifty clergy retired this year.

Members approved a 2018 budget of $31,800,000 a reduction of $200,000 from the 2016

budget. As of the end of 2016, conference membership stood at 325,099, down 1,095 from

the previous year. Average worship attendance stood at 98,938, up 685 from the end of

2015.

> 47,012 disaster relief kits contributed to UMCOR: Virginia Annual Conference members brought 47,012 disaster relief kits for United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to

Annual Conference. The kits included 26,599 Health Kits; 12,987 School Kits; 4,479 Birthing

Kits; 1,397 Layette Kits; 366 Cleaning Kits; 390 Bedding Kits; and 540 Sewing Kits.

> $134,000.00 collected for Annual Conference offering: As of July 11, $134,000 had been

received for this year’s Annual Conference special offering, nearly $66,000 shy of the

goal of $200,000. The offering was designated: $50,000 for Cambodia; $25,000 for Bra-

zil; $25,000 Mozambique; $50,000 Virginia Long-Term Disaster Revcovery; $25,000 Eth-

nic Minority Missional Ministries; and $25,000 Virginia Volunteers in Mission. Contribu-

tions may still be sent to the Conference Treasurer’s Office, PO Box 5605, Glen Allen, VA

23058. Designate “Annual Conference Offering” on your check or at the bottom of your

apportionment statement. If the check is from a church, indicate the church GCFA num-ber on the check.

> “4 Cans 4 Conference”: According to the Peninsula Food Bank, located in Newport News,

a total of 7,025 pounds of canned and staple goods were received to help the poor and

hungry in the lower Peninsula region.

[resources: Sunday Advocate-July 11, 2017; Jim Earley CLERGYNET E-mail-June 28, 2017]

Documents

August 2017 Issue 44-8 - Page United Methodist ChurchThe Anatomy of Peace: resolving the heart of conflict By The Arbinger Institute, 2015 At Tom Berlin’s report on the Commission