NOTICE: To download a *print-friendly* pdf of "The Circuit Rider", click here.(Available Wednesdays, after 1:00 p.m.) |
10-Fold Continues!  |
Special Sundays
Special Sunday Offering
November 13, 2011
Methodist Student Day
November 27, 2011 |
Dates to Remember
UMVIM Gathering
October 22, 2011 at 10 a.m. United Methodist Foundation Ridgeland, MS
Bishop Ward at Forest UMC
(Bishop Ward will preach) October 23, 2011 at 11 a.m. Forest, MS
RIM Formation Seminar
October 24-26, 2011
Camp Wesley Pines
Hazelhurst, MS
JustPeace
Annual Board Meeting
(Bishop Ward serves on board)
October 28-29, 2011 Washington DC
Council of Bishops
October 30-November 4
Lake Junaluska, NC
Administry Institute
November 5, 2011
Oak Grove UMC
Hattiesburg, MS
CFA Meeting
November 10, 2011 at 10 a.m.
Methodist Foundation
Ridgeland, MS
Exploration 2011
November 11-13, 2011
St. Louis, Missouri
Click here for more information.
RIM Lay On-Site Visits
November 13, 2011
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Photo File
Why We Do What We Do!
Rev. Michelle Shrader, pastor of Gateway UMC, Seashore District, shares this image and comment with us today: "This picture is definitely going in my 'Please look at me when you wonder why it is you do what you do' file! I am not saying I am going Baptist, but really...I am a huge fan of dunking in the ocean as the sun is setting! To top it all off he asked me after his baptism 'Pastor Michelle, later can we come back and just swim in the same water I was baptized in?' How great is that...swimming in the waters of your baptism! I am absolutely going to have to preach this sermon!" |
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Greetings!
Welcome to your connection for up-to-the minute news and information from the Mississippi Conference. Your Circuit Rider will arrive weekly with announcements, dates to remember, celebration stories from across the conference and employment opportunities. Our hope is for The Circuit Rider to become a tool for building the connection across the conference, strengthening our districts and local congregations as we go forth to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Please e-mail your news and information for us to share with others around the conference to lisacm@mississippi-umc.org.
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:: Gleanings
 In All Generations "Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations..."
-- Psalm 90:1
The Psalm appointed for Sunday comes alive for me this month in wonderful ways. Like you, I claim God as my dwelling place. As we dwell in God, our life in Christ overflows in many directions. Your list would be as long, and as varied, as you fulfill your unique role as Christ's servant, guided by the Holy Spirit.
...preaching at the Lambuth Day celebration at Pearl River United Methodist Church in Madison, the sending church of generations of Methodist missionaries to frontier America, China and Japan - and at Central UMC in Jackson, Ovett UMC, and Forest UMC
...meeting with the Cabinet in New Albany, where cabinet members preached in New Albany District churches
...gathering at the James Meredith Monument in Oxford for a time of remembrance and later at Oxford-University United Methodist Church for dialogue toward racial reconciliation
...meeting with clergy in 7 districts -- Tupelo, New Albany, Brookhaven, Meridian, Starkville, Senatobia, Greenwood -- to focus on ways to grow extravagant generosity
...participating with Turner Arant and other Directors of the Board of Global Ministries as we celebrated the commissioning of missionaries (now 325 strong, including over 90 young adults in mission placements!), engaged in worship and unifying dialogue with Dick McLain (president of the Mission Society for United Methodists), and gave guidance to the mission life of our church
...celebrating 10-Fold as Mississippi and Louisiana Conference sponsored the October 17 focus on disaster response in the United States
...dining with people of faith from varied traditions as we were graciously hosted by the Institute of Interfaith Dialog in their Annual Dialog and Friendship Dinner
...participating in the groundbreaking for the new Methodist Hospital in Olive Branch
..."rethinking church" with the United Methodist Women of the Hattiesburg District
...engaging the annual meeting of the Board of JustPeace, the Conflict Transformation Center of the United Methodist Church
...participating in the fall meeting of the Council of Bishops at Lake Junaluska
Together, in the myriad of opportunities before us for witness and work, "may God establish the work of our hands."
With gratitude for our life together in Christ, Hope Morgan Ward |
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:: News & Announcements
Stop Hunger Now and Nicaraguan Methodist Church Partner to Feed Children
Stop Hunger Now has partnered with the Nicaraguan Methodist Church to ship 285,000 meals in November 2011. This shipment will support their feeding program addressing chronic malnutrition among the children of Nicaragua. Our last shipment continues to make a difference in the development of the next generation and bears witness to the love of Christ through the United Methodist and Nicaraguan Methodist churches. Fifteen congregations prepare and feed an average of 100 children per day. To donate make checks payable to "Mississippi UMC" and send funds to Mississippi UMC Conference, P.O. Box 1201, Jackson, MS 39215-1201; Memo: 022-600-SHN-Nicaragua For more information or questions please contact Rev. David Newton at wesleydn@bellsouth.net or 228-875-8900.
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Buffalo UMC to Host Celebration
for Rev. Columbus Barron
Buffalo UMC in Attala County is having a celebration for Rev. Columbus Barron on October 30, 2011, at 3 p.m. Rev. Roosevelt Gage will be preaching at this celebration. For more information contact Rev. Leon Miller, pastor at Buffalo UMC at 662-744-4670.
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Outside the Box: The Gift that Can't be Contained
Church-wide Sermon Series and Multimedia Bundle Focuses on Advent Season
At a time of year when most people are focused on what is inside the box-whether it is gifts they are giving or getting, "Outside the Box," the latest sermon series and multimedia bundle produced by United Methodist Communications, is an opportunity to explore Christmas in a new way.
The four-week sermon series is about how God used even the least likely Biblical characters like Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and the innkeeper, to do miraculous things. Designed to challenge congregations to reach out to people beyond the margins, "Outside the Box" encourages participants to find those who have been forgotten, ignored or turned away from life's inns so that they may be welcomed. Weekly themes are Expectations, Acceptance, Family and Yourself.
Now available as a free download, the series is equipped with reflections for small groups, youth and young adult engagement tools, children's activities and worship ideas, help for sermon planning, teacher lessons, and more. The comprehensive 70-page study is designed so that the entire church can participate-including those with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
A multimedia bundle, which includes the series, ($25) includes five videos to make messages come to life (for worship or small groups), bulletin and worship slide graphics and outreach resources to engage the community. These items are customizable in Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop. There are also tips for online engagement, family-friendly worship ideas, and an Advent wreath lighting liturgy. It is available for purchase at www.umcom.org/outside.
For more information about "Outside the Box: The Gift that Can't be Contained" and Rethink Church, call 877-281-6535 or email Rethinkchurch@umcom.org.
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Information Plus Inspiration Equals Church: Black Church Convocation
By Rev. Eugene Stockstill, Tupelo District Communicator We all long to go up the mountain to see a glorious transfiguration; but the mountain of transfiguration doesn't require much effort on our part. Our challenge is to bring the transfiguration down the other side of the mountain into the demon-possessed valley.
At least 200 people gathered at Rust College in Holly Springs last Saturday to learn how to do just that. The Black Church Convocation, hosted by the Mississippi Conference, focused on how to be an overcoming church in the 21st century.
"We have gotten used to going to church, but we have not gotten used to being the church," said the Rev. Timothy Thompson, the convocation's leader and the administrative assistant to the bishop for vital congregations.
 Thompson opened the convocation with an inspirational message taken from Romans 12:1-3. After reading from the popular scriptural paraphrase The Message, Thompson exhorted participants to embrace a fuller, richer spirituality.
"We have to go deeper before we can go longer."
Thompson characterized the deeper life as one surrendered to God, centered in Jesus Christ and filled with integrity and endurance.
The morning's plenary speakers were Dr. Larry Hygh Jr., associate general secretary for marketing and mission communications with the General Board of Global Ministries; and Dr. Fred Allen, national director of Strengthening the Black Church in the 21st Century, headquartered in Nashville.
Hygh challenged listeners to learn what it means to be technologically savvy gospel ministers in the 21st century. "I guarantee you that no one in this room would say that it is OK to be illiterate," said Hygh. An inability to use contemporary technology, he said, handicaps workers as much as an inability to read.
After showing an entertaining video, Allen emphasized the  importance of young people for the future church, and he pointed out at least 30 young people were participating in Saturday's meetings. "Something has been planted in them," said Allen. "They realize they need to be a part of the church."
Allen then transfigured himself into a fiery preacher, recalling painful and happy memories from the civil rights era. He told a story about how a little white boy had once ordered his father on a first-name basis to clean up a spill in a home, to which his father could only respond with "yes, sir."
That Sunday at church, Allen said, he saw his mother cry in public for the very first time. "She cried. Then she wailed. Then she trembled," said Allen. It was years later before he realized that she wasn't crying because of all the meanness directed at the family, but because of the love and dignity reclaimed by the family in the black church.
"That is the black church's heritage, and it deserves to be preserved and nurtured and grown, " said a tearful, emotion-filled Allen. He directs 19 congregational resource centers across the United States that help small-membership churches grow spiritually and numerically.
Convocation participants said it will take spiritually vital young people t o lead the church through the technology-driven 21st century and beyond.
"We have to bridge the tech gap," said the Rev. David McCoy, pastor of Wesley UMC in Kosciusko. McCoy brought several of his youth to the convocation. "That's why I'm here: To bring my youth and to bridge the tech gap."
Others agreed.
"We are moving on into the 22nd century," said the Rev. Arthur Lewis, pastor of St James UMC in Amory. "I'm not being left behind because someone else wants to be left behind."
The Rev. Lydon Geeter, pastor of Unity First UMC in Weir, said, "we need to energize our youth, and this is a great place to do it." Annointed, a group from Weir's church, helped lead worship at the Rust College chapel, following the morning sessions. The Rev. C.J. Rhodes II, a graduate of Duke Divinity School and pastor of Mt. Helm Baptist Church in Jackson, was the preacher for the afternoon worship gathering |
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:: Employment Opportunities Across the Conference
Beauvoir UMC, Biloxi is hiring for two positions; pianist and music director. The two can be combined for the right individual. Expectations include Sunday morning worship, special annual services, and Wednesday evening choir practice. Interested persons can contact PPRC, Beauvoir UMC by calling 228-388-1478 or email to beauvoirumc@cableone.net for complete job descriptions. Beauvoir UMC is located at 2113 Pass Road, Biloxi, MS 39531.
Hazlehurst First UMC is looking to hire a part-time Children's Ministry Director to begin in January 2012. The director will be responsible for developing ministries for children and their families. Salary and job description available upon request by calling 601-894-1709 or mail to Hazlehurst First UMC, P.O. Box 725, Hazlehurst, MS 39083. Hazlehurst First is located at 127 Caldwell Dr., Hazlehurst.
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