We thank God every time we remember you. In all our prayers for all of you, we always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for us to feel this way about all of you, since we have you in our hearts...(Philippians 1:3-7)
Denise and I want to take this opportunity and
thank God for you
and
your ministry
within your church here on the Chicago Central District. We are grateful to God that we have had the privilege of serving with you over these past 5 years. Again this past year, it has been such a joy for us to be able to
travel throughout the District
, visit with our
86 churches and missions
, have the opportunity to meet with the leaders of our churches and become better acquainted with the world where you live and serve.
What is always a special joy is the privilege of meeting the
children
and
young people
within our churches. They are the future of the church and the greatest God-given resources we have. This has been a wonderful year for many of our
240+ ministers
who serve and are credentialed on our district. This has been a challenging year for others. We especially want everyone to continue to lift
Pastor Andrew Twibell
and
Simone
up before the Lord during these days. Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers for them, they greatly appreciate every one.
As a District Superintendent, we would like nothing more at Christmastime than to be able to sit down and visit with every one of our pastors, their spouses, associate pastors and church board members. We want to maintain the same kind of "
interdependence
" that the early church practiced among congregations (Acts 8:14-15; 13:1-14:28; 15:2, 28; 16:4-5).
To maintain and grow our connectedness, this year we decided to do something a little differently. As you recall us
announcing at District Assembly 2019
, instead of trying to gather every leader together from across the district at Christmas, we planned for pastors, associates and church boards to all gather together
after
Christmas, within your Mission Area
. Denise and I are very much looking forward to seeing every pastor, associate and church board member at one of the following six times:
South/Southwest Mission Area Gathering
Date:
January 4, 2020 | 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: The Table Church of the Nazarene
1451 Black Road, Joliet, IL 60435
North/Northwest Mission Area Gathering
Date:
January 18, 2020 | 9:00 am - 11:30 am
Location: Elgin Church of the Nazarene
12N101 Berner Dr., Elgin, IL 60120
Central Mission Area Gathering
Date:
January 25, 2020 | 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Manteno Church of the Nazarene
698 N. Locust, Manteno, IL 60950
Southern Mission Area Gathering
Date:
February 15, 2020 | 9:00 am - 11:30 am
Location: Potomac Church of the Nazarene
206 E State St, Potomac, IL 61865
Chicago Mission Area Gathering
Date:
February 22, 2020 | 9:00 am - 11:30 am
Location: Chicago Northside Church of the Nazarene
1900 W. Leland Ave, Chicago, IL 60640
Hispanic Mission Area Gathering
Date:
March 14, 2020 | 9:00 am - 11:30 am
Location: Mt. Prospect International Church of the Nazarene
1501 W. Linneman Road, Mt. Prospect, IL 60056
This will be a VERY special time of connection and reporting to each other. Here is the format. We encourage you to arrive 15-30 minutes early for
fellowship
and
light refreshments
. Depending on the number of pastors and churches, every lead pastor will have 5-10 minutes to share a report from your church. We encourage you to do 7 things:
1. Introduce yourself and your church
2. Introduce the other ministers and/or church staff with you
3. Introduce the members of your church board
4. Introduce any other leaders from your church who are attending
5. Share a ministry highlight or answer to prayer from 2019
6. Share your vision or prayer for the church in 2020
7. Allow the members of the Mission Area to pray for you and your church!
As we have talked to other districts, we have found this kind of
Annual
Mission Area Gathering
becomes a powerful time of connection, not only following Christmas but also in preparation for our Annual 2020 Assembly. As time permits, we will also use this time to update our churches on the wonderful movement God is creating among us in multiple locations!
We ask that you RSVP for your Mission Area Meeting by
clicking here
.
From our home to yours, please know "
we thank God every time we remember you
. In our prayers, we always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel...we are confident that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion..." (Philippians 1:3-6). You are loved. You are prayed for.
We look forward to seeing you soon
! We hope you have a wonderful and blessed Christmas.
DISTRICT MINISTRY CENTER HOLIDAY HOURS
