As we continue to pray leading up to IYM Sunday, allow these words from Mike Scamihorn (retired Executive Pastor-Wabash Friends) to help guide your prayers...
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
2 Corinthians 4:4 NIV
The authority to cancel what evil has been allowed to do by blinding unbelievers must occur for the ministry of reconciliation to move forward. Praying and fasting is that pathway forward in relationship with the Holy Spirit and Christ.
As we ask for prayer, let’s ask specifically for Satan’s power to blind unbelievers to be rescinded and that God would restore the sight of those he is sending us to.
Let’s also specifically ask for the ability to help others see how much Christ loves them and how He longs to heal and restore lives. Finally let’s specifically ask for COURAGE to be bold in presenting a story of hope and healing.
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White's Residential and Family Services is launching a program on workforce training in conjunction with Conexus Indiana called the Catapult program. The program is "designed to equip young adults with skills necessary for obtaining employment in the state's advanced manufacturing sector." White's CEO, Ron Evans, reports that the first significant gift to help launch this program has already been received. Click HERE for a full article from the 'Inside Indiana Business' website.
Wabash Friends has "Church Basketball" every Monday during March which includes a devotional time. Also, Wabash Friends has a team of connectors. These people help look for new faces on Sunday, and help guide visitors and new attenders through the next steps as they become a part of the family.
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We are suspending the video offerings of the IYM Curriculum as most Sunday School classes are meeting. All of the videos we have done will be archived on the IYM.org website.
The new quarter is ready for use. Email iyminfo@iym.org or call the IYM office if you would like to order!
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From the Christian Service Committee: Please join us TONIGHT (March 3) at 6pm for the last IYM/Friends Counseling Webinar. The Topic will be 'Loneliness'.
Click HERE for the Zoom link and further information on tonight's webinar.
From the Advancement Committee:
We are working on a solid explanation of how our fundraising efforts relate to the IYM budget and support our ministry and service efforts. We are grateful for your investment in IYM. Let's keep moving forward. If we can answer any questions for you, please contact our committee -- you can call Damon at 517-204-5348, or connect with Max, Susan, Randy, Ron, Steve, or Pat. Here is where we are in raising needed funds for the 2022 Budget
$ 38,892.10 Cash Already Received
8,100.00 Pledges still to be paid
$ 46,992.10
THANK YOU for your support and encouragement in accomplishing our task.
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The Indiana Yearly Meeting Bicentennial History, Directory, and Scrapbook will be released this summer and includes more than 250 pages of information with hundreds of photographs! It will be hardbound and printed in color.
In order to avoid using yearly meeting monies to fund its printing, the Bicentennial Committee is seeking at least fifty sponsors to cover the cost of printing. Sponsorships are $100. If you are willing to sponsor in your own name, in the name of your local meeting, or in honor or memory of an IYM Friend, click HERE for a downloadable form to complete and return to the IYM office (iyminfo@iym.org).
Committee Day will happen virtually via Zoom on March 6. The committees meeting in the morning session (9:30am) will be: Ministry and Oversight, Christian Education, and Christian Service. The committees meeting in the afternoon session (1:30pm) will be: Communications and Publications, Evangelism and Outreach, and Stewardship and Finance.
If you are meeting in the morning, please remember to get your budget proposals to Becky Monroe before the end of your meeting. If you are meeting in the afternoon, please get those to Becky as soon as possible so Stewardship and Finance can get a start on the 2022 Budget. Contact Pat Byers if you did not receive the Zoom link.
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Monthly Pastor Gatherings: On March 18, we will be suspending our discussions on the book Canoeing the Mountains for a topic centered around Virtual Church/Maintaining Online Presence/Tools Necessary to Maintain that Online Presence. All pastors are invited to join on Zoom at 10am on Thursday, March 18. Click HERE for the Zoom link.
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Upcoming Events:
March 3: IYM/Friends Counseling Webinar, 6pm, Zoom
March 6: Committee Day, 9:30am and 1:30pm, Zoom
March 8: Executive Committee, 6:30pm, Zoom
March 15: Advancement Committee, 4pm, Zoom
March 18: Pastor Gathering, 10am, Zoom
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Good Morning!
I recently read this quote from a Quaker leader, “We are told often enough that Friends have a conception of spiritual religion and a message of truth for which the modern world is hungry and which peculiarly fits the deep needs of the age.” Have you heard similar words? I have. Surprisingly, these words were not written recently. In fact, they were written in 1909 by Rufus Jones, the leader in liberalizing Quaker theology and practice in the 20th century. While Jones was an ecumenical Quaker, he was a member of a pastoral Friends Church. In the decades since he wrote those words, Quakerism in North America has shrunk by more than one-third, and pastoral Quakerism has shrunk by perhaps two-thirds. If we truly have a message for which the world is hungry, why are fewer consuming it?
What is the solution to our obvious decline? The first is to realize that very few are hungry for “Quakerism.” Jesus said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32). Are we lifting up Jesus Christ? Our message as Friends is that it is possible for “all men” (and women and children) to be reconciled to their Creator through Jesus Christ without any required ritual or human intermediary. This is our message of truth, and Friends should be better at proclaiming it than anyone else! The second is that a message must be shared in order to be effective. Is your church going through the ritual motions of “religious” activity, or are you actively working to proclaim Truth? When was the last time you tried something new? Is your church online? Are you on social media? Would those in search of your message be able to find it? I believe that ours is the message of truth for the deep needs of age. Are we sharing it?
--Greg Hinshaw - Presiding Clerk
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