Gleaners in the Field of God

 

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest... you shall leave them for
the poor and the alien:
I am the Lord your God.

       -- Leviticus 19:9-10

Gleaning is an ancient practice of faithful hospitality and generosity. It is listed as a law in Leviticus and is drawn gracefully for us in Bible stories.

I love the idea of gleaning and have for many years used it as meditative image for regular pastoral and now episcopal communication. As I move about, listen, watch and read I feel kinship to the ancient gleaners.

Often I am an alien in the land: I am often in a place for the first time. I am dependent upon the kindness of strangers and the expertise of others -- weather forecasters, garbage collectors, mail deliverers, airplane pilots, plumbers, electricians, information technologists, dentists.

Always I am in need of generosity, of grace. This list also is very long. Just today, I moved into the left lane without checking closely enough and a friendly horn tap and braking and smile were offered rather than road rage.

It was pure grace to be recently in McAllen, Texas and Reynosa, Mexico -- border towns connected by bridge across the Rio Grande. The Advance Committee gathered for the needed business and visited border ministries of our church. The genuine friendship and partnership of the Methodist Church of Mexico and the United Methodist Church in Texas are remarkable witnesses to the goodness of God as they work among the people and welcome mission work teams from around the world.

As I walked across the square in Reynosa with a leader of the Methodist Church of Mexico, I commented on the beauty around us. He responded, "Yes, it is beautiful but it is empty. People are afraid to come here." I spoke of the recent violence in Arizona, of the reality of violence and of beauty in every place. He responded, "There is a difference. When it happened in Arizona, no one says all Arizona is bad. When it happens here, many say all Mexico is bad." We walked on in this realization, yet in hope for God's law to be fulfilled in us, and God's grace to abound in our world.

In the square in Reynosa, I was again a gleaner in the field of God.

With gratitude for God's hospitality and compassion,

Hope Morgan Ward    

 

   To comment, link on the Bishop's Blog page here.

Join the Annual Conference Hospitality Team!

 
June 10th we are headed back to the Jackson Convention Complex, in Jackson MS for our 23nd Session of the MS Annual Conference. This year's theme is Arise! Shine! GO! The hospitality team would like to GO but we need your help in order for us to live into this year theme.

You can be one of the smiling faces that greet and direct our guests, delegates and pastors. You will have a real opportunity to meet fellow United Methodist members from across the state.

Annual Conference will kick off on Friday, June 10 and will conclude on Sunday the June 12. Please email brenda@mississippi-umc.org or call 601-354-0515 ext. 14 to for more information.

Where to stay?

Lodging information is now available online at www.mississippi-umc.org. Click on the the Arise! Shine! GO! Image.

Feast Day of John and Charles Wesley Set for Oxford-University UMC

The Feast Day of John and Charles Wesley celebrates the covenant for common life between Mississippi Episcopalians and United Methodists. This year we celebrate in Oxford on March 3, 2011, the with St. Peter's Episcopal and Oxford-University United Methodist Church (OU) hosting a joint service of Holy Communion. United Methodist Bishop of the Mississippi Conference Hope Morgan Ward, and the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi Rt. Rev. Duncan M. Gray III, will be presiding. Bishop Gray is preaching. The service celebrates the covenant for common life that was signed by Bishop Gray and Bishop Ward on March 3, 2009.

The service will begin at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in the Parish Hall at 5:30 pm with a reception of Christian fellowship, words of witness, and light food. Participants will then process to Oxford-University UMC's sanctuary for a service of Holy Communion scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. A gathering will take place in OU's Wesley Hall immediately following the service. For more information contact Oxford-University UMC at 662-234-5278 or visit www.ouumc.org.

Camp SUMA Summer 2011 Dates Announced     

 

Seashore United Methodist Assembly (SUMA) in Biloxi has set the dates for Camp SUMA summer sessions. This summer's theme is "Be a Hero: Living Like Jesus." The dates are as follows:

• Family Retreat: June 17-18
• Elementary Camp: June 24-25
• Older Elementary Camp: July 11 - 15
• Jr. High Camp: July 18 - 22
• Senior High Camp: June 30 - July 3

For details, please visit our website, www.seashoreassembly.org or call 228-806-9853

Indianola First to Hold DiscipleNow Weekend

   

Youth (grades 6 - college) across the conference are invited to participate in Indianola's 3rd Annual DiscipleNow Weekend (DNow) Feb. 25 -27, 2011 at Indianola First UMC.

Participants will experience six worship sessions led by worship leader Casey Darnell and speaker Jared Herd as well as small group bible study and mission opportunities.

The total cost for the weekend is $75 and includes all sessions, bible study curriculum, three meals and a t-shirt. Indianola attendees will stay in host homes.

Out of town participants unable to attend the entire weekend my come on a per-day cost as follows: Friday: $15, Saturday: $40, and Sunday: $15.

Registration will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 25 in Bailey Hall. For more information contact Lacy at Indianola First at 662- 207-0812.

Annual Conferences Thanked for Giving to Apportioned Funds in 2010

The General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) reports that 15 annual conferences paid 100 percent of their apportioned funds in 2010. The conferences are Alaska, Baltimore-Washington, Dakotas, East Ohio, Greater New Jersey, Illinois Great Rivers, Iowa, New York, North Carolina, Northern Illinois, Oklahoma Indian Missionary, Peninsula-Delaware, Red Bird Missionary, West Michigan, and Wisconsin.

In 2009, 14 conferences gave 100 percent to all seven apportioned funds. In addition, several annual conferences gave 100 percent to the World Service Fund in 2010. They are Central Pennsylvania, Rio Grande, Texas, Upper New York, Washington and West Michigan.

Models of Improvement

 

Faithful members of The United Methodist Church found ways to contribute funds to ministry even through a tough year economically in 2010.

Several annual conferences experienced significant increases in apportioned giving. They include the Indiana Annual Conference, which increased 61.05 percent over 2009. Indiana paid 84 percent of their apportioned funds in 2010. The Upper New York Annual Conference, a unification of four conferences in the northeast, paid 94.55 percent of their apportioned funds.

Other conferences across the connection that increased giving to apportioned funds by more than 10 percent are Dakotas, Memphis, Mississippi, Northern Illinois, Red Bird Missionary, Rocky Mountain, and Western North Carolina.

Total giving to all denominational funds -- including apportionments, Special Sundays, and the Advance including the United Methodist Committee on Relief -- was up $46.5 million (28 percent) from 2009.

Giving to UMCOR accounted for the greatest share of that increase which was largely inresponse to the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

Giving to the six Special Sundays was down 9.7 percent in 2010, with total donations of $5,178,605. To read the full story click here.

McLaurin Heights UMC Celebrates Homecoming with Rev. John Case

The Rev. Dr. John Case will be the guest minister at McLaurin Heights United Methodist Church on Sunday, March 6 at 10:55 a.m. Rev. Case served at McLaurin Heights from 1962-66. He also served Clinton First UMC, Forest UMC, Central UMC in Meridian, and Christ UMC in Jackson. Now retired, he and his wife Ellen reside in Oxford, MS.

Homecoming will be a day of remembering as the congregation celebrates 51 years of heritage at McLaurin Heights UMC. It will also be a day to look forward the many ways God will continue to bless the church. Everyone is invited for a day full of wonderful music, worship, and fellowship. A covered dish lunch will follow the service in the fellowship hall.

McLaurin Heights UMC is located at 325 Mary Ann Drive, Pearl, MS 39208. For more information call 601-939-2163 or at email secmhumc@bellsouth.net.

A Love Story -- A First Person Account
of Love and Ministry

By Goya de la Cruz

 

I graduated from the Evangelical Seminary of Lima Peru, in 1980, and I worked as a pastor in the Peruvian Evangelical Church in Huancayo, Peru. In my first year of work, I met Luz, a dedicated Christian lady who was very active in the congregation. Gradually I fell in love with her, and declared my serious intentions to her. Once I communicated our matrimonial plans to the hierarchy of my local church, Luz reminded me that we had to fulfill the protocols of our ancient Quechua culture.

The Yaykupacuy (Protocol of Commitment):

With that in mind, we went to the house of her parents, which is a drive of approximately 6 hours by car. The delegation was composed of leaders of my church and my parents, and the goal was to talk to her parents about our official engagement. Faithful to ancient protocol, my future father-in-law angrily drove me from the house when I first told him my intentions. A few months later, a leader of the church who had a lot of experience with these ancient protocols, went with my parents and us in a surprise visit to the home of my future in-laws. This time everything went well, everybody was there, and we were able to convince her parents to accept our plans for the future engagement and wedding. The funny thing is that under Quechua-cultural tradition, to which both families belonged, the agreement of the bride's family is sacred and morally acceptable in society as the marriage pact. Therefore, the bride's father said that right then I could take Luz home with me. This put me in a difficult situation because of my Christian faith and the customs of the evangelical church to which I belonged. I had to tell my girlfriend's father that, according to the customs of my church, there were still other requirements to fulfill. This angered him greatly, and he told me I was playing with the family's honor and that my commitment was not serious. Finally, after some intense explanation, the family of my girlfriend accepted my conditions and set a date for the wedding.

Costa Rica:
My trip to Costa Rica in 1983 to continue my studies in theology angered my future in-laws, so I had to make arrangements for Luz to come to Costa Rica in 1984 so that she could begin her theological studies. That same year we decided to get married in Costa Rica.

We think of Costa Rica as our second country, the birthplace of two of our 3 daughters, and the special place where my wife and I served the Lord until He called us to a new ministry.

United States of America:
In June 2003, by invitation of the Mississippi Annual Conference, we came to work in the United States. We immediately started missionary work in Forest, MS where we spent 6 years, and where the Lord blessed us with the first Hispanic church in the Mississippi Conference. In June 2009, we were sent as missionaries to Desoto County where God has blessed us with three Hispanic ministries: in Horn Lake, in the jail of Hernando, and in Hispanic homes in Memphis, TN. Currently, we are in the ordination process. God has helped us, and we continue to depend on His love as we serve in His ministry. Our love story began and continues with the Lord for He is the one who shows us the meaning of true love.

Titus Pharis, 2-year old son of Rev. Matthew Pharis and wife Charlotte, had a tonsillectomy this week. The surgery went well, and Charlotte's text said Titus is "back in her arms and resting." Rev. Pharis is pastor of Hope Ministries in Greenville. Please remember Matthew, Charlotte and Titus in your prayers.

Rev. Louis Johnson, pastor of the Paulding Charge in the Hattiesburg District is in South Central Regional Medical Center in Laurel for surgery. Please remember Louis in your prayers.

Eddie Owen, only sibling of Rev. Billy Owen, died of a heart attack Feb. 13, 2011 on his farm. Funeral arrangements are pending at this time. Rev. Owen is pastor of Cleveland First and Merigold Charges. Please remember Billy and family in your prayers.

Debra Glenn, spouse of Rev. Grover Glenn, is in Neuro-ICU at University Hospital, Jackson, and will probably have surgery within a day or two. Rev. Glenn is pastor of the Inverness-Isola Charge. Please keep Debra and Grover in your prayers.

Rev. Charles Koskie, retired clergy of the East Jackson District, fell and broke his hip; he is in the Baptist Hospital. Please keep the Koskie family lifted in your prayers.

The Reverend Billy Q. McCord (TUP-Shady Grove) is in the ICU at North Mississippi Medical Center following surgery. Please be in serious prayer for Billy and his family.

Mrs. Marilyn Fink, spouse of The Reverend Dennis Fink (TUP-Verona), is undergoing sinus surgery today (Wednesday) at NMMC in Tupelo. Please add the Finks to your prayer list.

Rev. Allen Dearing, currently serving Johnston's Chapel UMC in the Brookhaven District, recently had surgery. The doctors believe the surgery was successful and Rev. Dearing is currently at home and recuperating well. Please keep the Dearings in your prayers during this time of recovery.

Ellisville First United Methodist Church seeks part-time office assistant (8-12 M-F) for energetic office. Needs: Microsoft Office, 50wpm, high school diploma/equivalent, office experience, flexibility, organization. Salary negotiable. Send resume and cover letter including salary requirements to efumcsecretary@gmail.com. No phone calls please.

Gulf Breeze UMC, a 5,000 member congregation with an average weekend attendance of over 2,400, seeks a Director of Student Ministries for its Fairpoint Campus. GBUMC is located in the Pensacola Metro Area on the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. This dynamic, innovative congregation strongly supports its ministry to students and has a vision for developing healthy families and homes through Loving Jesus and Loving Like Jesus. A Bachelor's degree is required. Graduate work in theology and youth ministry is preferred and at least 3-5 years experience working and leading in vibrant, effective student ministry programs. Competitive pay with excellent benefits commensurate with experience and moving expenses for relocation. For more information or to apply visit the website at www.gbumc.org or email gbaer@gbumc.org (Gail Baer, Senior Pastor's Executive Assistant).