Latest News from Capitol Area South District

The mission team is in need of doctors, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, nurses, pharmacists, translators, cooks, drivers and helping hands. Our mission is coordinated through Manos Juntas, the licensed healthcare ministry of the Methodist Church in Mexico. This mission is open to persons of all races and religions.

Each short-term mission lasts four days - two days of travel and set up, and two days of mission service. This mission affords us the opportunity to foster Christian understanding, give medical care, and witness firsthand the living conditions

of the Mexican people.

Here are dates for

scheduled trips:

-2011-

AUGUST 4-7

OCTOBER 6-9

NOVEMBER 10-13

-2012-

JANUARY 12-15

Click HERE to download a brochure to register or for more information.

Positions Available

Openings at

Brice Christian Academy

The Brice Christian Academy currently has openings for the 11-12 school year for the following positions:

· Director of Staff and Curriculum

· Full-Time Classroom teachers: Grades 1 & 3

· Part-time Classroom Teacher Grades 5-8 Math and Social Studies

Brice Christian Academy is a Chartered, Non-Public, K-8 Christian School located just west of the Refugee Road/Gender Road intersection in Brice, Ohio. The Brice Christian Academy offers a Christian Education based on Holy Scripture and the Ohio Academic Content Standards. Current Ohio licensure and active participation in a Bible-based church is required. Interested applicants should send a completed application (available at www.bricechristianacademy.com) and resume to:

Brice Christian Academy
3160 Brice Road
Brice, Ohio 43109

Mt. Sterling First Seeking Pianist for Traditional and Contemporary Services

Mt. Sterling First UMC (110 S. London St., Mt. Sterling) needs a pianist who can play traditional and contemporary music for worship each Sunday. This is a part-time paid position. Please contact Rev. Michael Berne at 740-869-3577 if you are interested in this position or for more information.

Mark Your Calendar

August 2, 9:30 am: Pre-Church Conference Briefing @ Grove City UMC

August 16, 9:30 am: Pre-Church Conference Briefing @ the Church in the Mall

October 21-22:

Leading Beyond the Walls Seminar with Debi Nixon @ Scioto Ridge UMC

A Greeting from District Superintendent Barb Sholis

Thinking back to January when Bishop Ough first contacted me to suggest I consider the possibility of becoming a District Superintendent, I must admit this was a telephone call I was not anticipating! At the time, I was in the midst of the privilege of serving at Newark First UMC with a fine group of colleagues and a terrific congregation.

I believe that for many of us, God works in our lives with what I call a "rear view mirror" presence, one in which we are able to see most clearly God's purposes for us after-the-fact. As we begin this time of ministry together, my desire as your new District Superintendent is simply to be faithful to the spiritual work God has laid before me, while also tending to my own personal spiritual disciplines and, importantly, working to build and strengthen relationships between you and me. As we continue to seek to discern God's divine purposes for The Church and our denomination in a changing world, you and I are being called to continue this holy adventure TOGETHER! I am trusting that through the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will be transformed along the way.

I am looking forward to learning from you the ways your churches are living out our scriptural mandate to "go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." It is true! Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. God, working through you and me, continues to build what God has already put into motion.

The lives of faith to be found in our district are embodied in the many diverse and unique stories about how God is moving and you are living into the promise of new life fulfilled through Jesus. One of the things I enjoy creating are acronyms, and I offer you this one as representing what we in Capitol Area South are to be about in our missional life together:

Cultivating Alive, Passionate Stories that Open, Unbind and Transform Hearts!

No matter the size or resources of your congregation, I truly believe that a good place for us to start will be by Cultivating Alive, Passionate Stories that Open, Unbind, and Transform Hearts!

I am hoping to conduct many of my one-to-one sessions with pastors in your church settings. Toward that end, I am thanking you in advance - pastors and laity alike -- for rearranging your schedules to permit me to visit as many of your 126 churches on-site as possible throughout the remainder of the summer and into the fall. Circuit riding in 2011 is quite different than it was 200 years ago. Unlike the early days of Methodism, my horse is now a GPS-guided car (aptly nicknamed 'Silver'). Nonetheless, I look forward to 'riding throughout the 'circuits' of CapSouth among the highways and byways of Fairfield, Franklin, Licking, Madison and Pickaway counties. (Click HERE for Barb's schedule for visits through 9/15.)

As I visit, I will want to listen to your stories, pray with and for you, and work hard to begin creating positive and productive relationships with each of you that will allow us to begin to move forward together in this work.

Jim, Carol and I are motivated to come along side of you for the sole purpose of helping our district grow in its effectiveness in fulfilling our stated mission-to make disciples of Jesus Christ. For those of you who are demonstrating effective ministry, our role will be to support you so that you may continue to build upon what is already in place. For those of you who recognize the need to move beyond your current level of effectiveness of your ministry, our role with be to work collegially with you through coaching and other support so that your hopes and aspirations may come to fruition. In other instances, we will need to work together to create a different vision within your congregations so that we may begin move in a different direction.

May we be diligent and kind as we proceed together and may our ministries leads us beyond the walls of our churches into the streets of our communities and our larger global community.

Jim's Tool Box

Attendance Figures for 2010 --

What Do They Tell US?

Well the worship attendance figures for 2010 have been published. In this article Jim highlights some of the statistical information on 2010 attendance figures for congregations in the CAS District. He also lists the top 22 worshiping congregations in the district and the top 20 in the West Ohio Annual Conference.

Check out Jim's article by clicking HERE .

Final Welcome Reception for Barb Sholis
@ Columbia Heights UMC on 7/24

Dear Friends:

We have said farewell to Dr. Stringer and now

Barb Sholis greeting guests at the reception at Village Chapel

the time has come to welcome our new Superintendent of the Capitol Area South District, the Reverend Barbara Sholis and her husband Robert.

One welcoming event remains on the schedule:

Columbia Heights on Sunday July 24

The event will begin at 4:00 pm with a program to welcome and introduce Reverend Sholis followed by a reception in her honor.

We hope to see many of you.

Sincerely,

Mary Vulic, District Superintendency Committee Chair

News from United Methodist Community Ministries

Letter to the Editor of The Dispatch by Bishop Joseph Sprague -- "Better to Light a Candle than to Curse the Darkness"

This month Beth shares a letter to the editor of The Dispatch by Bishop Joe Sprague about all the exciting ministries of the Hilltop Shalom Zone which is a partnership of congregations, civic groups, business leaders, and community groups on the west side of Columbus.

Click HERE to read Bishop Sprague's letter.

The next Community Ministry Festival and Annual Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday Sept 20 at Bethel International UMC (1220 Bethel Rd, Columbus, OH 43220.) The theme is: Fanning the Flame by Going Deeper. Cost is $7.

Click HERE to download a flyer with information abut the Community Ministries Festival

Beth is now on Twitter, and you can follow her tweets at twitter/umcommin.

Orientation for Pastors Newly Appointed to Congregations in the CAS District Held on July 11

Pastors attending the orientation for newly appointed pastors

Pastors newly appointed to congregations in the CAS District attended a briefing on Monday, July 11, at Peace UMC, Pickerington. Some of the pastors present were new to the district. Others have been serving in the district, but they have been appointed to serve a different (or additional) congregation in the district. Along with basic information about ministries in the district and the operation of the district office, the pastors heard from District Superintendent Barb Sholis at the gathering.

Click HERE to see photos of most of the newly appointed pastors.

"Leading Beyond the Walls" Registration Now Available

This fall the CAS District will offer a significant training event for the clergy and lay leadership of the local congregations in the district.

Drawing from the leadership teaching of Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton, Ms. Debi Nixon from The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas will share principles and practical ideas that can be translated into any setting.

Modeled after Resurrectionʼs annual Leadership Institute that more than 18,000 clergy and lay leaders have attended over the past 12 years, this "mini-institute" is bringing the same resources to the Capitol Area South District.

Below are the details about the event:
DATE: October 21-22
TIME: 5:30 pm-9:00 pm (10/21) & 8:30 am-5:00 pm (10/22)
LOCATION: Scioto Ridge UMC, 4343 Dublin Rd, Hilliard
COST: $10.00 per person

Click HERE to download a copy of the registration flyer.

Space is limited so, please register early

Lost Boys of Sudan Fund Raiser: Malauk's Cows

Between 1987 and 1989, 35,000 young boys fled their homes in Southern Sudan to escape the brutality of civil war. Maluak, one of the Lost Boys, tells his story beginning with his tranquil life in his village and making clay cows, to hearing bullets and seeing bombs light up the sky around him as his village was attacked. This was the beginning of a journey that would take him many miles from his home. After years in refugee camps and struggles to make sense of an imperfect world, many of the Lost Boys have transformed their tragic past into an inspiring and hope-filled story for people all around the world.

We invite you to join this journey of hope by sharing this inspiring story and serving the medical needs of an impoverished village. The Sudan Health Clinic has recently been approved as an Advance Special (#3021282) by the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church. Support and participate in this project by visiting www.sudanclinic.org. Proceeds of the sale of this book will help fund a health clinic for the people of Southern Sudan. If you are interested in partnering with this effort, scheduling a speaker for an event, or purchasing this book for $15, please contact Steve Walker at kayaker45@gmail.com or call (614) 488-5692.

Local Church Happenings

Maple Street UMC Lancaster Launches Free Store

The Maple Street UMC in Lancaster is opening a free store on Wednesday, July 20 with a grand opening. The free store is modeled after the Parsons Avenue Free Store at the Church for All People.

Click HERE to read about the opening of the store and the store's mission as described in an article by reporter Michelle George in The Lancaster Gazette.

Flood Bucket Needed

The West Ohio Conference Disaster Relief Team has announced a new process in the annual conference for storage of flood bucket cleaning kits. Each district has been asked to identify drop off and storage sites around the district.

In the CAS District, the following locations have been identified and confirmed to date: Eastview UMC, Glenwood UMC, Grove City UMC, Hilliard UMC, and Newark First.

Congregations are ask to prepare kits and make arrangements to drop them off at the above locations.

Click HERE for the information about the process of dropping off flood buckets at these locations.

Click HERE for the packing list of items that need to be included in the five gallon flood buckets.

Your Invitation to Work at the Maynard Ave Food Tent @ the Ohio State Fair

Maynard Ave UMC will celebrate its 96^th Year of Hospitality Ministry at the Ohio State Fair this summer! We need you, your friends, and family to be a part of this sharing of gifts.

This work will begin at Maynard Ave UMC on Monday, July 18^th at 9:00 a.m. when we gather to set-up the tent.

During the fair, volunteers are needed to serve soft drinks and coffee, prepare and fill condiments, package salads, clear tables, and greet guests. There are three shifts to be filled during the days: Morning: 7 a.m. to 12 noon; Afternoon: 12 noon to 5:30 p. m.; and Evening: 5:30 p.m. to 10 p. m. Four volunteers for each shift.

Click HERE for more information about how you can volunteer in this ministry at the fair.

American Red Cross Volunteers Needed

American Red Cross The Volunteer Logistics Associate provides assistance and delivery services at the Red Cross Hilliard and Broad Street locations by performing essential tasks required in the support of blood drives and for the operation of the Mobile Supply department.