New Mexico Conference of

The United Methodist Church

Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.

News for the week of March 14, 2016

In this edition	Vital Congregations
	> Four Corners Visit > Cimarron Adds Mission for Children > Easter Hospitality Check List > Small Membership Church Retreat - July > GC2016 60 Days of Prayer > GC 2016 Considers Broader Range of Issues > Weird Church - Book Review > SCJ UMW Conference - April 15-17 > Clean Water Wells in Africa Video > Upcoming Events & Important Dates > Classifieds, Calendars & Connections

Four Corners Visit

Following up on concerns about the impact of the recent Gold King Mine spill in the Four Corners area, Bishop Bledsoe, James Large (ABQ District Superintendent), Randall Partin (Conference Provost), and Vernon Baker (NM Conference Disaster Relief Coordinator) met with Raquel Mull (Director of Four Corners Native American Ministries) and Anthony Tang (Director of Connectional Ministries for the Desert Southwest Conference) last month. The group toured local churches and ministries in the Four Corners area, including Blue Gap, Spider Rock, Window Rock, and Sawmill UMCs, as well as the headquarters for Four Corners Native American Ministries (FCNAM) in Shiprock. Meeting with the Emergency Preparedness Team for the Navajo Nation, the group learned that while there are ongoing concerns about the impact of the Gold King Mine spill, there continues to be much need in the Four Corners area for other mission and ministry work, particularly among the congregations and ministries associated with FCNAM. One fruitful conversation was to find ways to partner and cooperate with Desert Southwest to address disaster needs in areas along our border with our sister conference to the west. Submitted by Randall Partin, NMAC Provost

Cimarron Adds Mission for Children

Submitted by Ellen Y. Swain, Pastor of CUMC

Cimarron United Methodist with the Cimarron Ministerial Alliance began an additional ministry for the children in the Cimarron community. Joined with a grant from the Roman Catholic Diocese, we now make lunch available to the children of our community on Fridays that they are not in school. (Cimarron is on a four-day school week.) Here's how it happened:

At the end of last summer, member Libby Thomas of Cimarron UMC mission committee mentioned that it was sad that since summer was over the children did not receive lunch from the SOY summer program in the park. After all, children are still hungry on Fridays! The idea, planted, began to take root in the Cimarron Ministerial Alliance. Immaculate Conception Church wrote a grant and Cimarron United Methodist had received a gift, so we began the program with volunteers and a hope and a prayer that we could continue. It would be a simple meal: soup, sandwich, fruit, and drink.

Under leadership by Jim MacGillivray from CUMC and Tori Vigil at Immaculate Conception by mid-September, we were ready to advertise in the schools and churches, and Friday, September 18th we had our first lunch. The door opened, and we had 19 children and 7 volunteers. We thought it a "blooming" success. Before lunch, we have a devotional and prayer, and now the children are asking to say the prayers! On special occasions, we have activities after lunch for making Thanksgiving cards, Christmas cards, Valentines and Easter eggs. Soon, we also hope to show short videos. During Lent, we've had fish sticks and cheese pizza! Our attendance fluctuates during winter due to school activities on Friday: band practice and basketball games, but our attendance has drawn "regulars" during this time numbering from 7 to 13. We believe with warmer weather around the corner, children will be making this noon meal a must-get-together!

This, indeed, has been a special mission project. Volunteers have come in from the Master Gardener group, interested grandparents,

Immaculate Conception and Cimarron United Methodist. Also in the Cimarron Ministerial Alliance are the Church of Christ and First Baptist Churches.

Easter Hospitality Check List

"Making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who is naughty or nice". Oops, wrong season for that song. Or is it? As churches get ready for Easter, pastors and laity alike are checking their lists to make sure everything is ready for the big day. Hopefully, part of that checklist includes not a list of who is naughty or nice, but what steps are in place to make sure that guests to your Easter worship services are welcomed and receive a positive first connection to your church. This checklist created by the lay members of St. Paul's UMC in Albuquerque from the book, Get Their Name by Bob Farr is a comprehensive list of steps to insure radical hospitality is practiced in the church. The checklist may look overwhelming at first. Start with small steps, making sure that every guest receives at least three points of connection; (1) a warm welcome in your church entry area, (2) a connection to someone inside your sanctuary and (3) a thank-you for a guest's being at your church by someone other than the pastor.

A good resource for practical steps to take to become a more hospitable church is the book, Clip In - Risking Hospitality in Your Church by Jim Ozier and Fiona Haworth. If you are interested in hosting a hospitality workshop for your church, contact Cheri Lyon, Office of Congregational Vitality, NMAC at cherilealyongmail.com.

Small Membership Church Retreat

July 22-23, 2016

Does your church need some fresh ideas and insights to address a plateau or decline in the following areas:

Average worship attendance
Professions of faith and baptisms
Spiritual formation and disciple making
Active mission engagement with the local community
General budget giving

Would you like to work with a coach, who won't tell you what to do, but work alongside you? If yes, then you may want to consider becoming part of the Healthy Church Initiative (HCI) process.

There will be a HCI Retreat for smaller membership churches - July 22-23, 2016 at Sacramento Methodist Assembly.

Key things to Know about the Retreat.

Cost: $250.00 per church. The church also pays travel and lodging/meals at Sacramento.

Attendance: The pastor of the church must attend the retreat along with 3-4 lay leaders of the church.

Coaching: Each church will be matched with a coach to work alongside the church. There is no additional fee for the coaching.

Pre-Work:

1. All participants must read the book, Renovate or Die by Bob Farr

2. A community and church self-study must be completed 3 weeks before the retreat.

Registration Deadline: Friday, June 12, 2016

Registration form and retreat agenda are attached.

For more information contact Cheri Lyon at 505-440-6849 or [email protected] or talk with your District Superintendent.

GC2016 60 Days Prayer

Click here for Doodle sign-up link

General Conference Considers Broad Range of Issues

By Melissa Lauber, UMConnections Staff, Baltimore/Wash Conference

Members to General Conference will consider more than 1,000 resolutions on a broad range of issues that will shape the denomination.

Click here to read the full article

For more info

Weird Church , Welcome to the Twenty-first Century, 2016

Authors: BethAnn Estock and Paul Nixon

A Book Review - There are new books on church leadership and transformation being published seemingly weekly. So, where do you start? I recommend reading the recently published, Weird Church published by Pilgrim Press. The book begins with presenting a framework, spiral dynamics, for understanding the social changes that are driving the North American decline of organized religion, but it doesn't stop with simply providing a framework. The authors, both United Methodists, share specific shifts that need to be made in our thinking and practice if we are to successfully engage with the world that is rapidly changing around us. Weird Church presents glimpses of what they call the rising church, a rich diversity of ways of being the church, some definitely more weird than others. The book comes with a free study guide. Want to walk on the weird side, try Weird Church.

Review by: Cheri Lyon, Office of Congregational Vitality

2016 SCJ UMW Gathering in Oklahoma City - April 15-17th

The 2016 South Central Jurisdiction meeting of United Methodist Women is slated for April 15-17 in Oklahoma City. "Fresh Wind Blowing" is the theme for the event, which will be held the Cox Convention Center, with lodging at the nearby Renaissance Hotel. Participating bishops include Bishops Cynthia Harvey (Louisiana Conference), Robert Hayes (Oklahoma Conference) and J. Michael Lowry (Central Texas Conference). Click here to Register

The NM Annual Conference also Gave Generously

to Provide Clean Water Wells in Africa.