SAVE THE DATE - Sunday, May 6, 2012 at Allandale UMC

Rev. Dr. Kalas to preach in St. Petersburg church

3803 Haines Road North, St. Petersburg, FL 33703

(727) 527-6694

Rev. Kalas is known for his long time pastorate with the United Methodist

Church; his leadership as President of Ashbury Theological Seminary, (Wilmore, KY, and Orlando, FL) his authorship of many Christian Books, including: Parables from the Backside. The New Testament from The Backside; Grace in a Tree Stump, and many others.

Greetings and Salutations! In 1964 Bob Dylan wrote and produced a now legendary song entitled, "The Times They Are A' Changin'" You can tell by this graphic (I trust) that the times are a-changing even for the Pastor's page. I can remem-ber typing my bulletins using a stencil and duplicating with a mimeograph machine. Ugh, the mess of ink and paper jams! I used to do all the charge conference paper work using carbon paper because we had the requirement to produce our reports in triplicate. Praise the Lord, those days are gone!

   I began to think about "changing times" realizing that not all change occurring in our culture have necessarily been for our betterment. But, on the other hand, the church across all denominational lines on the whole, lags seriously behind our culture in the use of technology. Why is it we, the church, resist change and advancement so ferociously? Shouldn't we use the same tools of technology to advance the kingdom of God as the world employs to communicate the Good News message that God has revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ?

   I often hear folks discussing and questioning why the church fails so miserably to attract and keep the so called "Millennials," that generation born between 1984-2002. Just to give you a glimpse into their psycho-graphics: "confident; self-expressive (creating Facebook profiles and posting videos on YouTube); liberal and not religious; wary of human nature and cautious."--from Outreach, Jan./Feb. 2012. Another factor involved with this age group is that 75% are not affiliated with any local church across all denominational lines. 75%--that's really powerful peer pressure!

   I know this congregation has lost members to other churches in Saint Petersburg and perhaps to other faith communities altogether. Perhaps we could seek God's vision to reach and keep the Gen Y kids through ways of ministering via technology they understand and enjoy. Couldn't we have Wii games in the Family Life Center, or some other form of digital gaming? While we are just talking among friends here... I wonder if would be a benefit to the kingdom to upgrade our video capabilities in our Family Life Center and enable cable ready equipment. (I'm just saying!)

   The Allendale visioning process has not died, we are planning to move ahead with casting the vision for 3 to 5 years down the road. I am thankful, and I know Joe Deal is as well, for the participation level at our first "Catch the Vision" gathering. You will hear more about this soon and I know many of you will want to be included in this exciting process. We have to keep the main thing, the main thing. And, that is reaching our neighborhoods for Jesus Christ which means ministering to their needs and concerns.

   This is an exciting and challenging time to be a Christian! I am thankful God has placed me here and now to be with the faithful and to invite others to relate to Jesus, God's Son in new ways of building the kingdom of God.

   God is good; all the time, and all the time; God is good! Pray for your church asking God to reveal how YOU may be involved in the work of the Spirit here at Allendale Church. Pray for the leadership of this church family, and pray for unity in the bond of peace. Amen.

Blessings and peace,

Rev. Ronnie        

With each piece of trash, we can become aware of new persons and their needs.   How grateful we are for the way God shows us where we can serve. We can be grateful to use the trash we encounter as reminders to pray for others. During Lent - would you pick up trash items around you, pray for the person who discarded it as you put it in an appropriate container, and pray for recycling. 

  (Beer cans & bottles, cigarette wrappers, etc)PRAY FOR PERSONS WHO STRUGGLE WITH ALCOHOL AND OTHER ADDICTIONS 

 (Plastic water bottles) PRAY FOR PEOPLE LACKING SAFE, CLEAN DRINKING WATER 

 (Fast food wrappers, candy wrappers, etc) PRAY FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT OR, TO EAT MORE HEALTHFULLY

 (Diaper wrappers, binkies, etc) PRAY FOR YOUNG PARENTS STRUGGLING TO HOLD THEIR FAMILY TOGETHER   

Serving in our Community

"Let me tell you why you are here," says Jesus. "You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people   taste godliness?"        Matthew 5:13 (The Message)

According to our Conference Office of Congregational Transformation "salty service makes a difference in people's lives-both those being served and those serving. Salty Service makes us 'doers and not hearers only'. Salty Service connects the lives of disciples with the ongoing work of Christ in the world."

Many of our church members are volunteering in our community on a regular basis. If you would like to participate with others from Allendale in sharing the love of Christ by going out into the community to provide tangible acts of service, please consider the following opportunities:

Ronald McDonald House Team provides dinner monthly to the families who are living at the RM House in St. Petersburg while their child is receiving medical care at All Children's Hospital.

Service Saturday Team works together on the third Saturday of each month to volunteer in the community. Projects include picking up trash along the Pinellas Trail and also serving at the Salvation Army family shelter.

ACC Connection Team serves and supports the families and staff members of our Allendale Children's Center. Could you volunteer in a classroom or assist at special events?

Women's Residence Team prepares and serves dinner monthly to 20 women who are living in a transitional housing program and working to achieve stable housing and employment.

The Newest Salty Service Team is waiting to be formed. What needs in our community are you passionate about? Could you organize a group from Allendale to serve in a local school or nursing home? Would you be interested in teaching English to an immigrant through classes provided by United Methodist Cooperative Ministries? Would you consider volunteering at a local food pantry?

Please contact our church office (527-6694) or Suzy Hutto (906-9454) if you would like to be a part of one of our existing "Salty Service" teams or if you have a question or an idea for additional ways to bless our community in the name of Christ.

          Visioning Workshop

January 21st, what an important day that was. Why? That was the day that about 50 members of Allendale United Methodist Church gathered together to begin a discussion on where we are going as a church. Allendale has a rich history in Northeast St. Petersburg, but times they are a changing, are we up to the challenges and opportunities change brings with it. At least 50 members of Allendale think we are.

How about you?

We started with a hot breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, and some fruit. Vernon Veaughn led the Workshop with a stirring devotion and prayer. Pastor Ronnie thanked everyone for their willingness to sacrifice a Saturday morning and was enthusiastic about what was the start of important work at Allendale. Joe Deal spoke to the group about what a Vision Statement is and its importance to an organization. Joe gave some examples from major corporations (some good ones and some bad ones). It is important that a vision statement be clear and portable. That is to say, easy to understand by everyone and easy to remember. We were then divided into small groups of 6 to 8 to discuss what we would like our community to say about Allendale United Methodist Church. You fill in the blank, "Allendale is the Church that ........." that what?

Here are some examples that came out of the groups:

• Allendale is actively involved in the community
• Allendale has good child care
• Allendale is where families are brought to Christ

I bet you have some of your own and we would love to hear them. Send us an email with your Allendale is the Church that........Statements'. We will be discussing visioning further at the March 13th Church Council which starts at 7:00 pm in the Wesley room. Come out and be a part of Visioning for Allendale. We will be planning another visioning workshop a little later on, probably after Easter. Keep Allendale in your prayers we are heading toward exciting times, there will be stumbling blocks along the way, but a faithful people will not be detoured.

 Fat Tuesday

Band rehearses for WOW night

We had our first WOW service on Wednesday February 15th 2012. The night was full of wonderful anticipation, and filled with music, praise and joy. The evening started with music and prayer by the Allendale Praise Band, then led into a video bible study by Rob Bell, and closed with more music and prayer. We had about 40 participants in this first weekday service, and expect that the next will be even bigger. Keep looking for the next date in future announcements.