Latest News from Capitol Area South District

Church Conferences, the annual business meeting for all UMC congregations will begin in September. Districtd Superintendent Hank Stringer or Assist. to the Superintendent Jim Waugh will lead each of the cluster sessions. In addition, Hank Stringer will meet with seven congregations for individual church conferences.

Each of the cluster church conference events will follow the same format:

3:00 pm Mtg with members of P/SPR Committees

3:30 pm Plenary with worship and preaching

4:30 pm Church Conference Sessions

Click HERE for a updated schedule of the church conference sessions.

Mark Your Calendar

October 28: "Taste and See" Intro to Certified Lay Ministry @ Scioto Ridge UMC.

May 15, 2011: District Conference @ Lithopolis UMC.

New Rethink Church Website Launched

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - Congregational resources for the Rethink Church advertising and welcoming campaign have moved to a new website address: umcom.org/rethinkchurch. The website that previously housed congregational resources, RethinkChurch.org, will become the primary seeker site that is featured in Rethink Church advertsing, beginning this fall. "Research shows that RethinkChurch.org resonates most strongly with the seekers we are trying to reach with our denominational advertising," said the Rev. Larry Hollon, chief executive of United Methodist Communications. "This website address reinforces the message we want non-United Methodist seekers to take away from our advertising-that we are rethinking church."

Catch: Attracting and Connecting Visitors

The Capitol Area South District is partnering with the Scioto Ridge United Methodist Church to offer a special workshop "Catch: Attracting and Connecting Visitors" that will be held at Scioto Ridge on Sunday, November 14, from 2:00 to 6:00 pm.

Click HERE to download the flyer for the event and to learn how you can register. You are encouraged to bring a team from your church.

Click HERE to register your team for the training event.

Jim's Tool Box

A Great Discovery Tool in MissionInsite

In the last in a series of articles introducing MissionInsite, Jim describes a powerful demographic discovery tool available in MissionInsite. The Theme Map in MissionInsite is a great tool for mission discovery.

MissionInsite is the new provider of demographic data for congregational leaders in churches of the West Ohio Conference.
Click HERE to read the article.

Click HERE for instructions on how to register as a MissionInsite user.

Pastor Lorenzo and Veronica Visit the CAS District

From the left: Pastor Aaron Brown, Veronica, Pastor Lorenzo, and Pastor Lupina Stewart

Pastor Lorenzo and his wife concluded a successful visit to the CAS District last month.

The CAS Mexico Mission Team decided to bring Pastor Lorenzo and Veronica to the district so that more persons could meet them and hear about the work they are doing in San Luis Postosi, Mexico. The CAS District has partnered with the San Luis Methodist congregation to raise money for the first building for the congregation in San Luis, a city of over a million people.

Among the activites in which Pastor Lorenzo participated while he was in the district included:

Preaching at Village Chapel UMC and Crossroads UMC
Touring the Way Skate Park Ministry (an outreach of Village Chapel)
Visiting the Filling Station (an outreach of Community UMC, Circleville)
Touring the Church for All People, Free Store, Medical Clinic, and Housing Ministry of the Community Development for All People
Participating in the Communitiy Ministry Festival
Dinner with the Mexico Mission Team
An Ice Cream Social at Johnstown UMC, and a Q & A session hosted by Johnstown for the congregations of the Northwest Licking Co Cluster

Another goal of the CAS Mexico Mission Partnership is to raise $500 a month for salary support for Pastor Lorenzo so he can devote full time to his ministry work (including the San Luis congregation and two other mission congregations). We are almost half way there to the amount we need to make that support possible. Your congregation or you as an individual are invited to take a share in that support.

Click HERE to indicate your financial support for Pastor Lorenzo's salary support.

Click HERE to see photos of Pastor Lorenzo's visit.

Click HERE to learn more about the mission work trip that the district is sponsoring to San Luis in January, 2011.

UM Community Ministries Workshops Scheduled

The United Methodist Community Ministries has several workshops planned this fall including additional training in Bridges Out of Poverty and a Grant Writing workshop.

Click HERE to see the schedule for these training events.

The Community Ministry Festival was held on Tuesday, September 21 at the Columbia Heights UMC.

Click HERE to read a summary of the basic teachings around the Bridges Out of Poverty Program.

Click HERE to view pictures of this year's event.

Bishop Ough Visits CAS District

District Superintendent Hank Stringer and Bishop Bruce Ough

The Bishop's Day on the Capitol Area South District was held on October 4 at Christ UMC, Columbus.

The All People Band from the Church for All People led those gathered for the evening in singing and praise to start off the evening.

Bishop Ough spoke to laity and clergy from across the district on "The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations." His presentation was a thoughtful teaching and application on the five practices including:

Radical Hospitality
Passionate Worship
Intentional Faith Development
Risk Taking Mission and Service
Extravagant Generosity

Click HERE to see additional pictures from the Bishop's visit.

Lay Speaking Classes Set for November 19-20

The fall session of Lay Speaking Classes will be held on November 19-20, at the Grove City UM Church, 2710 Columbus St, Grove City, OH. A basic class will be offered for those who seeking to become local church lay speakers. The class covers the full range of the ministry of the laity that encompasses what it means to be a lay speaker.

The Advanced Class for the fall session is entitled "Transforming Evangelism The Wesleyan Way of Sharing Faith." This course is designed for all who want to communicate the gospel message in an effective and powerful way, not only within the church but also in everyday life.

Click HERE for an information and registration sheet for the class.

If you can't make the CAS classes, the Capitol Area North District is offering lay speaker classes this fall on 10/30 and 11/6. Click HERE for more information.

Festival of Sharing Set for 10/9 @ Otterbein College

The West Ohio Conference Festival of Sharing will be held on Saturday, October 9 from 9:00 am until noon. World Service Kits of all kinds (baby, flood, hygiene, and school kits) as well as food (including a potato drop). This year a play ground will also be constructed at the Church of the Savior, Westerville.

For more details check out this bulletin insert.

Or go to the FOS website by clicking HERE for more resources and information.

West Side Shalom Zone Offers Training for Volunteers

Do you volunteer?

Would you like to increase you confidence, skills, comfort level in working with folks?

The Spiritual Support and Volunteer Training Team of the Greater Area Hilltop Shalom Zone CDC invites you to plan on attending this experiential training. If you have questions, please contact Rev. Brenda Buckwell at pastorwestgateumc@hotmail.com or 614.274.4271.

Click HERE for a brochure about training opportunities for volunteers that will be held during the coming months. The first event will be "Spiritual Support In-Service to be held on Saturday, October 16 at the Parkview UMC, 344 S Algonquin Ave, Columbus, OH 43204.

Community UM Circleville Hosts Global Outreach Weekend

The training will be held on Friday, November 5 through Sunday, November 7. The training is based on the principle that the mission of God is to reach the whole world and it will show how the Church needs to be built with the principle of Acts 1:8.
Community UMC, Circlville will be the site of the training that will be led by World Gospel Mission.

Click HERE for a flyer about the training session including registration information.

Local Church Happenings

Croton UMC Celebrates "Be the Church" Sunday
Pastor Eva Marie Wolfe shares about "Be the Church Sunday" at Croton UMC on September 19:
"We had 3 groups visiting shut-ins, and a crew working at our local community center (some inside and some outside).  
We also had some folks praying over our efforts and others preparing lunch for the work crews when they returned. 

Click HERE to see a YouTube video about the Croton "Be the Church" Day.


Church for All People Launches "Celebrate Recovery"
The Church for All People launched a "Celebrate Recovery" program on September 15.  The Christ Centered 12 Step Recovery Program will meet on Wednesday nights beginning with a meal at 5:00 pm at the Church for All People, 946 Parsons Avenue, Columbus.  

Click HERE for more information.

Apportionment Update

Click HERE to see the congregations that have paid at least 75% of their conference apportionments as of 9/30/10. Thanks to all for faithfulness in the payment of apportionments.

Prayer Concerns

Our thoughts and prayers are with Pastor Don Moshgat in the death of his wife Nancy on October 4th. Don serves the White Chapel UMC. Condolences will reach Don at 6281 Davis Dr. SE, Newark, OH 43056.

The Rev. Eugene Brundige continues to recover at home from his recent illness. Cards will reach him at 1870 Shoshone Dr, London, OH 43140.