The ABQ District United Methodist Men (UMM) met on rainy, cold Saturday, April 28th to discuss how to bring more men into Men's Ministry.  Christ Caldes of Mesa View UMC served as the MC.  Rev. Todd Salzwedel gave an introductory message about the importance of men of integrity and faith providing role modeling opportunities for other men.  There were lots of sports references, not surprisingly.  Participants broke into groups to discuss the ministry on-going in their churches and what might be needed to encourage more men to join them.  If you would like more information on any of the District UMM organizations, please contact Jim Mogford, UMM Conference President at jakmog@comcast.net or 505-903-4334.     

Target 500 - Otero Detention Center  

     First United Methodist - Los Alamos took on a month-long service project which started from a "simple spark" that was placed in Deaconess Ann LePage's heart after watching a news commentary regarding a lawyer who assists detainees in NM.  While many of us may think "Wow...What can we do?",  Ann took it upon herself to contact the chaplain at Otero County about the situation and asked how can our Methodist church help these people...show God's love for them in the midst of the situation? 
     Chaplain Berry's reply:  clothing & large print Bibles.  The replacement clothes will be issued to the men when they are leaving the facility to be deported. While they are on site at Otero, these men have assigned suits to wear.  The clothing that many have on when processed are rags.  Sending them back across the border with fresh clothing and a Bible speaks volume to the work of Christians regardless of denomination.  Deaconess LePage approached the mission team of FUMC with the idea and it was implemented immediately.  Additionally, Ann spread the word to other faith-based congregations who brought items for the men. Items collected include: Large Print Bibles:  50 Spanish & 50 English; 360 Underwear; 428 sock sets;  153+ pants; 130 shirts.   As FUMC is highly involved with Kairos Ministry, several members of FUMC also baked cookies to accompany the delivery to Otero.

     Many thanks to all the church and community members who contributed clothes and/or money to this project. Thursday evening, April 27th, Don Siebe and Tito Hinojosa packed more than 25 bags of clothes into Jeannie Gibson's car. If you had seen my guest room filled with bags, you would not have believed that all that could fit into one car.  Jeannie and I left early Friday morning for Otero County.
     We met the Chaplain (whom I had been talking to for the last several weeks), the under-warden and many staff. They were all gracious and welcoming. They were blown away by the fact that we brought homemade cookies.  They were amazed by the amount of clothes we brought, and commented to each other about all the new items. Chaplain Berry asked if we would be visiting them again.  We don't often get the chance to see how our donations are received, so this was an especially awesome project for me. You all can be sure that those donations will be used by those in need and with heartfelt thanks. 

Evangelical Group Plans for What's Next 

     The United Methodist Church could be on the verge of a Paul and Barnabas moment - where Christian leaders decide to go their separate ways.

     "Paul and Barnabas don't allow their personal disagreement to derail the mission because the mission's more important," the Rev. Jeff Greenway said, citing   Acts 15: 36-41. "So Paul takes Silas and he goes off to missionary fame, and Barnabas takes John Mark, and we never hear from him again."

     Greenway was speaking to the second public gathering of the   Wesleyan Covenant Association, a newly formed unofficial United Methodist group that holds church prohibitions against the practice of homosexuality to be part of Christian orthodoxy. Greenway is the chair of the association's leadership council as well as lead pastor of Reynoldsburg United Methodist Church near Columbus, Ohio.

by Sam Hodges 

Bishop Ruben Saenz, Jr.

 

     Keep faith with the denomination's Four Areas of Focus. But make sure the specific ministry application is effective and relevant in local contexts, especially the local church.

     That was the message hammered home May 3 as the United Methodist Council of Bishops continued its meeting in Dallas.

     "This is not just a program," Nordic-Baltic Area Bishop Christian Alsted said of the Four Areas of Focus. "This is our way of being as United Methodists."

Adopted in 2008, the Four Areas of Focus stress ministering with the poor, developing principled Christian leaders, creating new and renewed congregations and improving global health.

     Bishop Sally Dyck of the Northern Illinois Conference referred to both the Four Areas of Focus and the  Vital Congregations initiative as particularly important when denominational unity is severely tested because of  disagreements over homosexuality.

     "I sometimes wonder if we didn't have these Four Areas of Focus and Vital Congregations as a guide, how we would go forward together in this time," she said.

     Bishops heard from Dan Krause, top executive of United Methodist Communications, that the denomination's messaging about ministry emphases needs to reach the local church.

     "We want every local church to be able to see themselves in the Four Areas of Focus," he said .

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