Each December, I vowed to makeChristmas a calm and peaceful experi-ence. I had cut back on nonessential obli-gations, extensive card writing, endlessbaking, decorating, and even overspend-ing. Yet still, I found myself exhausted,unable to appreciate the precious familymoments, and of course, the true mean-ing of Christmas.

My son, Nicholas, was in kindergar-ten that year. It was an exciting season fora six-year-old. For weeks, he’d beenmemorizing songs for his school’s “Win-ter Pageant.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’dbe working the night of the production.Unwilling to miss his shining moment, Ispoke with his teacher. She assured methere’d be a dress rehearsal the morningof the presentation. All parents unable toattend that evening were welcome tocome then. Fortunately, Nicholasseemed happy with the compromise.

So, the morning of the dress rehearsal,I filed in ten minutes early, found a spoton the cafeteria floor and sat down.Around the room, I saw several otherparents quietly scampering to their seats.

As I waited, the students were led intothe room. Each class, accompanied bytheir teacher, sat cross-legged on thefloor. Then, each group, one by one, roseto perform their song.

Because the public school system hadlong stopped referring to the holiday asChristmas, I didn’t expect anythingother than fun, commercial entertain-ment — songs of reindeer, Santa Claus,snowflakes and good cheer. When myson’s class rose to sing, “Christmas

Love,” I was slightly taken aback by itsbold title.

Nicholas was aglow, as were all of hisclassmates, adorned in their best for theshow. The children in the front row cen-ter stage held up signs with large letters,to spell out the title of the song.

As the class would sing “C is forChristmas,” a child would hold up theletter C. Then, “H is for Happy,” and onand on, until each child holding up hisportion had presented the completemessage, “Christmas Love.”

The performance was goingsmoothly, until suddenly, we noticedher; a small, quiet, girl in the front rowholding the letter “M” upside down! Shewas totally unaware her letter “M” ap-peared as a “W.”

The audience of 1st through 6th grad-ers snickered at this little one’s mistake.But she had no idea they were laughing ather, so she stood tall, proudly holdingher “W.”

Although many teachers tried toshush the children, the laughter contin-ued until the last letter was raised, and weall saw it together. A hush came over theaudience and eyes began to widen. Inthat instant, we understood the reasonwe were there, and why we celebratedthe holiday in the first place. Why even inthe chaos, there was a purpose for ourfestivities.

When the last letter was held high, themessage read loud and clear:

“C H R I S T W A S L O V E”And, I believe, He still is. Amazed in

His presence, Humbled by His love.

I N D I A N A S O U T HI N D I A N A S O U T H

WESLEYANDECEMBER 2009

CHRISTWAS LOVE

The Eckart Family

&

The Englands

Wish You A

MerryChristmas

and A

HappyNew Year

Used by permission from Cathy’s World

Page 2/ December 2009 INDIANA SOUTH WESLEYAN

Upcoming Saturday ClassFebruary 6 & 20, 2010Spiritual Formation

Professor – Dr. Mark Eckartat Paoli Wesleyan Church

MINISTERIAL

CONVENTION 2010March 1 – 2, 2010

St. Paul United Methodist ChurchBloomington, IN

Guest Speaker: Rev. Bob Russell

Special Music: Tony & Abby McCrary

SUPER SATURDAY 2010March 27, 2010

Special Speaker – Dr. Elmer Towns

TOPIC: The Next Three Methodsto Revitalize the Sunday School and

Grow the Church

INDIANA SOUTH WESLEYAN(USPS 334-970)

December 2009Vol. 36 No. 12

Executive Editor Dr. Mark Eckart

Office Editor Cindy Caniff

Periodical postage paid at Orleans, IN 47452and additional mailing offices.

Publication Office: P.O. Box 174,Orleans, IN 47452

Published monthly by the Indiana SouthDistrict of The Wesleyan Church.

Postmaster send address changes to:INDIANA SOUTH WESLEYAN

PO BOX 174ORLEANS, IN 47452

SNAKES ALIVE

Just wanted to brag on Jesus…As a result of a successful V.B.S.

this past summer (with theLinvilles) we started a juniorChurch ministry to keep the com-munity kids jazzed about Je-sus—it’s been going great! We’vebeen averaging about 25 to 30 kidseach week. Halloween weekendwe were able to connect with theirparents too! After morning wor-ship we had a Junior Church Harvest Party—that included lunch, carnival gamesand snakes! I’ll explain about the snakes in a minute. First, let me tell you the goodnews. We had 67 in attendance—Kids, Moms, Dads, Grandparents (mostly out-siders) and workers. We had 96 in church that morning (praise God) but the partywas a separate event—strictly for the junior “Churchers” and families.

This event helped us to make that first real contact with moms & dads. We had agreat time! New friendships were made! And Jesus was promoted! What elsecould we ask for?

Now, about the snakes...We invited Rick Teepen of the Creation Museum’s“Snakes Alive” show to come and share with us his presentation. He was an awe-some voice for Jesus! The show was the icing on the snake—so to speak! Kidsloved it! Parents loved it! My wife—not so much! Ha!

I highly recommend Rick by the way. What a unique ministry he has. His pre-sentation (which includes his testimony, the gospel and creation apologetics) wasabout 2 hours long, and the kids were hissing for more. Truly a wonderful time!

-Pastor Jeff Allen, Shelbyville Grace Wesleyan

Pictured are Dr. Mark, Deb, and Dr. RogerDillman. The Eckart’s attended the retire-

ment celebration of Dr. Dillman. He servedthirty-five years as a Dentist in Paoli, IN. Heand his wife Donna attend the English Wes-

leyan Church and for many years he hasalso served as a District Board of Administra-

tion member. May God give them manyyears of happiness in this golden season of

their lives.

District Lock-In 2010(6th grade – 12th grade)

Friday, February 26th

–11:00 p.m.

Thru

Saturday, February 27th

–6:00 a.m.

Walnut Street Baptist ActivityCenter, Louisville, KY

$20 – Student$5 – Youth SponsorsYouth Pastor’s – Free

Bring $20 cash with you thenight of the lock-in.

There is basketball, volley-ball, bowling, roller skating,ping pong, pool and cards.There is a snack bar for hotfood & cold drinks, so make

sure you bring extramoney for this.

Superintendent’sSchedule

Dec. 2009 & Jan. 2010December

4 Pastor Christmas Dinner

6 A.M. Grace Pointe

P.M. Whitehall

10 DBA Christmas Dinner

13 A.M. Carthage

P.M. Seymour

25 MERRY CHRISTMAS!

27 A.M. Martinsville Bethel

P.M. Edinburgh

28-31 LoveMercy 09–Louisville

January

1 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

10 A.M. Paoli

P.M. Columbus Central

17 A.M. Columbus Bethel

P.M. Franklin

24 A.M. Seelyville

P.M. Versailles

31 A.M. Spearsville

P.M. Church Visit

Page 3/ December 2009 INDIANA SOUTH WESLEYAN

USF BUDGETCHURCH OWED PAID PERCENT PAIDAustin $1,634.94 $1,634.94 100%Bedford $3,600.12 $- 0%Bicknell $1,628.54 $- 0%Birdseye $206.94 $- 0%Bloomfield Mt. Calvary $410.04 $820.00 100%Bloomfield Mt. Zion $2,230.98 $2,243.14 100%Bloomfield South $1,477.98 $1,331.65 90%Bloomington Central $2,334.36 $2,434.30 100%Bloomington Shepherd $1,752.18 $2,115.00 100%Blue River $3,136.26 $2,900.00 92%Boonville $1,521.12 $- 0%Brazil $1,199.64 $700.00 58%Carthage $1,463.88 $1,000.00 68%Clear Fork $1,423.92 $1,750.00 100%Columbus Bethel $968.34 $968.34 100%Columbus Central $744.60 $- 0%Columbus Flintwood $4,312.98 $3,773.89 88%Columbus Ohio Street $3,462.84 $3,400.00 98%Concord $984.72 $820.60 83%Corydon $1,437.60 $1,000.00 70%East Enterprise $1,101.54 $550.77 50%Edinburgh $1,256.10 $- 0%English $3,557.76 $- 0%Evansville Forest Hills $14,736.00 $17,655.00 100%Evansville North Park $6,953.64 $3,476.82 50%Evansville Trinity $5,924.04 $6,175.93 100%Faith Pointe $323.40 $- 0%Fort Branch $3,145.32 $3,145.32 100%Franklin $4,110.00 $2,270.00 55%French Lick $6,331.02 $6,331.02 100%Gnaw Bone $1,346.16 $1,346.16 100%Grace Fellowship $2,860.26 $3,368.26 100%Grace Pointe $299.70 $- 0%Greenfield $2,552.64 $1,000.00 39%Greensburg $4,166.76 $4,166.80 100%Greenwood $5,629.68 $3,699.21 66%Holton $1,476.24 $1,230.20 83%Hope $1,292.70 $1,378.08 100%Lawrenceburg $1,784.10 $1,800.00 100%Lewis Creek $1,381.98 $1,741.04 100%Loogootee $1,035.00 $- 0%Madison Calvary $4,601.34 $1,200.00 26%Marengo $8,315.76 $4,157.88 50%Martinsville $1,480.92 $- 0%Martinville Bethel $952.56 $960.00 100%Mecca $3,519.00 $2,468.72 70%Medora $1,462.14 $1,462.14 100%Milan $3,265.92 $3,406.14 100%Mitchell $11,602.50 $12,150.50 100%Mooresville $4,031.76 $1,976.80 49%Morgantown $31.62 $53.58 100%New Albany $679.32 $679.32 100%North Vernon $3,784.80 $3,784.00 100%Orleans $2,918.58 $2,534.97 87%Otwell $1,572.72 $1,598.37 100%Paoli $7,246.08 $6,000.00 83%Petersburg $363.72 $363.72 100%Poplar Grove $1,973.88 $1,980.00 100%Potter's Shop $- $213.00 -Prairie Creek $1,903.26 $- 0%Rising Sun $490.98 $263.70 54%Rodney $1,459.38 $300.00 21%Rushville $703.20 $824.40 100%Salem $1,124.48 $1,150.92 100%Sanford $744.42 $892.72 100%Scottsburg $918.66 $918.66 100%Seelyville $408.72 $216.00 53%Seymour $3,823.44 $4,471.45 100%Shelburn $873.48 $- 0%Shelbyville Grace $4,647.42 $5,483.08 100%Shelbyville Westside $1,288.74 $991.12 77%Simpson Chapel $616.02 $650.00 100%Somerville $2,329.14 $100.00 0.04%South Washington $5,437.02 $5,437.02 100%Spearsville $710.94 $49.33 0.07%Spencer $1,311.00 $1,317.42 100%Sullivan $3,342.06 $3,352.06 100%Sylvania $4,047.54 $4,060.60 100%Terre Haute Faith $21,142.08 $21,142.08 100%Terre Haute Hulman St. $2,838.66 $2,904.00 100%Terre Haute North Park $2,580.90 $5,776.78 100%Trafalgar $243.00 $297.22 100%Valeene $5,944.68 $6,785.00 100%Versailles $1,411.14 $2,822.22 100%Walker Chapel $1,483.26 $996.90 67%Washington Vincennes Ave.$1,043.28 $879.0084%Wesley Chapel $3,772.32 $3,772.32 100%Westport $3,209.94 $3,209.94 100%West Terre Haute 6th St. $458.16 $634.52 100%West Terre Haute 8th St. $3,245.16 $3,261.94 100%Wheatland $718.20 $1,420.47 100%Whilehall $701.70 $1,503.35 100%Wilmington Hillls $2,047.44 $800.00 39%

$252,018.46 $217,899.83

MISSIONARIES TO SOUTH AFRICAFred and Carol Cromer

are missionaries to SouthernAfrica. They are currentlyliving in Marion, IN and aretraveling for their home minis-tries. In August or September2010, they plan to return toSouthern Africa to continueworking in theological educa-tion. They will help at Emman-uel Wesleyan Bible College inSwaziland, in leadership devel-opment in South Africa andacross Africa in helping to trainleaders for the Wesleyan Church.

Since their budget has been increased because of their new assign-ment, they need prayer partners and faith promise commitments tohelp them as they prepare to go to Southern Africa. If you would like togive to their financial support, please send the money to Global Part-ners, PO Box 50434, Indianapolis, IN 46953 and mark your gift –“For the support of Cromers” – WM-04-0172. If you would like tohave them come speak at your church, can contact them at765-603-0487 or bafundisicromer@gmail.com.

WHAT MAKES A GREAT SUNDAY SCHOOL

CLASS OR SMALL GROUP?Recently I was privileged to attend a Sunday School class at Forest

Hills Wesleyan. The teacher was Mr. Ken McCool. That Sunday wewere studying about Nebuchadnezzar and the three Hebrews throwninto the fiery furnace (Daniel 3). In my humble opinion, Bro. Ken did agreat job for the following reasons:�He had studied the lesson well enough so he could keep eye contact

with the class as he taught. I have seen some teachers read from the

quarterly the whole class time which causes religious insomnia!

�He encouraged students to participate by answering his prepared

questions that he brought to class.

�He kept the class moving so that we were able to get all the verses read

that went with the lesson.

�He made great application throughout the lesson by pointing out

how we should react when being mistreated in everyday living for

our Christian faith.

�He made a short pithy statement that I still remember to sort of sum

up the lesson. It was, “God may not keep us from the fire, but He will keep

us in the fire!”

�It was evident to me that Mr. McCool took his job seriously and was

well prepared to teach his lesson. There was also a time at the begin-

ning that prayer request were taken and prayer was offered for those

attending.

Since it was in the Family Life Center, we also enjoyed coffee and do-nuts which was enjoyed.

Teacher, how is your class? Is there something you can learn fromthese observations that could help you?

Dr. Mark

Top 5 For Numeric Gain in AM WorshipChurch Pastor Gain

Wheatland K. Mitchell 29

Shelbyville Westside D. Bowden 26

Grace Pointe N. Watters 20

Austin K. Stroud 12

Paoli B. England 12

Top 5 For Percentage Gain in AM WorshipChurch Pastor Gain

Wheatland K. Mitchell 121%

Shelbyville Westside D. Bowden 84%

Petersburg L. Lamar 83%

Grace Pointe N. Watters 77%

Whitehall D. Campbell 71%

Top 5 For Percentage Gain in Sun-SchoolChurch Pastor Gain

Rodney M. Miller 120%

Shelbyville Westside D. Bowden 81%

Wheatland K. Mitchell 80%

Whitehall D. Campbell 73%

Evansville Trinity D. Allison 34%

Austin K. Stroud 18 17 1 6% 33 21 12 57% 24 18 4

Bedford C. Gilmore 16 26 10 0% 18 38 20 0% 15 15 0

Bicknell First M. Reed 29 29 0 0% 48 48 0 0% 30 33 0

Birdseye TBS 19 21 2 0% 20 20 0 0% 0 0 0

Bloomfield Mt. Calvary M. Harper 18 17 1 6% 18 17 1 6% 10 0 0

Bloomfield Mt. Zion A. Adams 17 20 3 0% 56 53 3 6% 16 14 0

Bloomfield Southside C. Thomas NR

Bloomington Central M. Linville 27 35 8 0% 30 38 8 0% 21 18 0

Bloomington Shepherd F. Shannon 13 17 4 0% 20 18 2 11% 15 10 0

Blue River A. Marshall 22 25 3 0% 24 40 16 0% 0 0 0

Boonville E. Ames NR

Brazil Jackson E. Stewart 23 22 1 5% 28 31 3 0% 13 10 0

Carthage C. Stroud 26 40 14 0% 50 51 1 0% 25 31 0

Clear Fork C. Uebel 9 8 1 13% 19 14 5 36% 13 6 0

Columbus Bethel B. Carpenter 0 0 0 0% 9 9 0 0% 0 0 0

Columbus Central B. Miller 0 0 0 0% 11 14 3 0% 9 0 0

Columbus Flintwood W. Jones 73 65 8 12% 106 100 6 6% 37 100 0

Columbus Ohio Street C.Bullock 28 32 4 0% 45 58 13 0% 25 13 0

Concord J. Vandervort 21 20 1 5% 22 23 1 0% 18 6 0

Corydon New Hope C. Morgan NR

E. Enterprise D. Meriwether 8 8 0 0% 8 9 1 0% 10 0 0

Edinburgh L. Biddle 28 29 1 0% 28 29 1 0% 13 15 0

English D. Lochbihler 33 37 4 0% 44 61 17 0% 22 44 0

Evansville Forest Hills M. Stoelting 120 113 7 6% 229 236 7 0% 119 220 3

Evansville North Park S. Boardman 66 64 2 3% 83 83 0 0% 27 32 0

Evansville Trinity D. Allison 39 29 10 34% 58 60 2 0% 10 0 0

Faith Pointe J. Wriston 10 14 4 0% 11 16 5 0% 0 0 0

Fort Branch TBS 40 51 11 0% 48 59 11 0% 14 57 0

Franklin D. Neal 29 36 7 0% 33 44 11 0% 28 19 0

French Lick Spr. Valley J. Moffatt 62 54 8 15% 148 154 6 0% 60 60 0

Gnaw Bone TBS 15 26 11 0% 18 29 11 0% 22 8 0

Grace Fellowship T. Friedman 22 22 0 0% 23 23 0 0% 17 12 0

Grace Pointe N. Watters 17 17 0 0% 46 26 20 77% 22 11 0

Greenfield R. Albring 22 25 3 0% 25 29 4 0% 19 22 0

Greensburg D. Preston 52 49 3 6% 87 86 1 1% 19 63 0

Greenwood J. Hughes 0 40 40 0% 68 63 5 8% 0 16 0

Holton W. Vandervort 13 22 9 0% 12 22 10 0% 6 5 0

Hope First E. Boston 0 0 0 0% 12 22 10 0% 5 24 0

Lawrenceburg M. Kessen NR

Lewis Creek D. Gates 9 10 1 0% 19 19 0 0% 0 12 0

Loogootee Mt. Zion J. Simmons 8 29 21 0% 46 46 0 0% 12 9 0

Madison Calvary M. Mahoney 26 32 6 0% 40 53 13 0% 27 35 0

Marengo S. Lock 45 54 9 0% 113 121 8 0% 64 67 1

Martinsville K. Kearby 25 30 5 0% 29 35 6 0% 18 0 0

Martinsville Bethel J. Irvin 9 8 1 13% 15 14 1 7% 7 0 0

Mecca New Life D. Hardesty 17 18 1 0% 39 32 7 22% 0 56 1

Medora C. Breeden 18 19 1 0% 21 21 0 0% 15 10 0

Milan L. Brown 19 20 1 0% 26 22 4 18% 13 6 0

Mitchell W. McCallum 41 63 22 0% 93 119 26 0% 40 47 0

Mooresville New Life M. Linville 18 20 2 0% 34 29 5 17% 17 21 0

Morgantown D Pfaff 0 0 0 0% 0 0 0 0% 28 0 0

North Vernon J. Terry 54 54 0 0% 78 72 6 8% 43 24 0

Orleans M. Hester 41 49 8 0% 48 53 5 0% 23 23 0

Otwell R. Stilwell 30 30 0 0% 30 36 6 0% 18 0 0

Paoli B. England 55 69 14 0% 134 122 12 10% 52 86 0

Petersburg L. Lamar 11 11 0 0% 11 6 5 83% 0 0 0

Poplar Grove J. Downs 14 12 2 17% 38 32 6 19% 15 9 0

Potter's Shop S. Avila NR

Prairie Creek T. Fennell NR

Rising Sun J. Kelley 7 8 1 0% 7 9 2 0% 0 5 0

Rodney M. Miller 22 10 12 120% 19 15 4 27% 20 15 2

Rushville H. Baker 4 4 0 0% 3 4 1 0% 0 0 0

Salem S. Caniff 6 7 1 0% 25 31 6 0% 12 10 0

Sandford C. Hedden 15 14 1 7% 12 11 1 9% 8 6 0

Scottsburg P. Mills 8 9 1 0% 8 10 2 0% 8 0 0

Seelyville F. Burk NR

Seymour I. Holt 32 30 2 6% 50 43 7 16% 34 29 0

Shelburn B. Noel 9 8 1 13% 9 8 1 13% 0 0 0

Shelbyville Grace J. Allen 59 56 3 5% 76 66 10 15% 31 26 0

Shelbyville Westside D. Bowden 38 21 17 81% 57 31 26 84% 15 9 0

Simpson Chapel R. Brown NR

Somerville D. Brandon 25 30 5 0% 27 30 3 0% 17 17 0

Southwind Washington P. Kessen NR

Spearsville T. Phillips NR

Spencer J. Knight 9 9 0 0% 9 10 1 0% 0 0 0

Sullivan G. Larimer 52 50 2 4% 56 55 1 2% 56 43 0

Sylvania D. Taylor 43 30 13 43% 67 68 1 0% 37 30 0

Terre Haute Faith D. Gormong 129 134 5 0% 241 246 5 0% 143 120 0

Terre Haute Hulman D. Willis 54 63 9 0% 76 90 14 0% 51 46 0

Terre Haute Northside E. Hayes NR

Trafalgar C. Hilton NR

Valeene D. Manship 22 15 7 47% 96 98 2 0% 27 67 0

Versailles J. Hundley 37 31 6 19% 37 31 6 19% 27 9 0

Walker Chapel R. Hendershot 16 17 1 0% 38 35 3 0% 0 23 0

Wash. Vincennes J. Gilley 18 26 8 0% 23 31 8 0% 40 15 0

Wesley Chapel D. Little 26 26 0 0% 32 32 0 0% 19 10 0

Westport D.Quesenberry 58 69 9 0% 70 87 17 0% 45 38 0

West Terre Haute 6th R. Weeks 20 24 4 0% 22 28 6 0% 0 6 0

West Terre Haute 8th P. Shelton 77 67 10 15% 76 75 1 1% 54 44 1

Wheatland K. Mitchell 18 10 8 80% 53 24 29121% 47 0 0

Whitehall D. Campbell 26 15 11 73% 24 14 10 71% 17 18 0

Wilmington Hills D. Gary 21 19 2 11% 26 29 3 0% 21 0 0

TOTALS 2226 2360 134 0% 3591 3687 96 0% 1805 1873 10

CHURCH GROWTH REPORT OCTOBER 2009

Church Pastor

SSAve.2009

SSAve.2008

SS

Gainor

Loss

SS

%

Gain

AMWshp

Ave.2009

AMWshp

Ave.2008

AMWshp

Gain/Loss

AMWshp

%Gain

PMServ.Aver.2009

WkDayAver.2009

#Saved

orSanct Church Pastor

SSAve.2009

SSAve.2008

SS

Gainor

Loss

SS

%

Gain

AMWshp

Ave.2009

AMWshp

Ave.2008

AMWshp

Gain/Loss

AMWshp

%Gain

PMServ.Aver.2009

WkDayAver.2009

#Saved

orSanct

Top 5 For Numeric Gain In Sun-SchoolChurch Pastor Gain

Shelbyville Westside D. Bowden 17

Sylvania D. Taylor 13

Rodney M. Miller 12

Whitehall D. Campbell 11

Evansville Trinity D. Allison 10

SpringLife – Every Soul Matters

March 7 – May 2, 2010

SpringLife is a 9-week emphasis bringing your church

and local community together through intentional evange-

lism and discipleship. Our desire is to help you share the goodnews of Jesus this Easter with the people in your community whohave not embraced the gospel and invite them to fellowship withyour church family – while also deepening the discipleship of all.For more information go to www.everysoul.org