Here is the latest news from the Johnson City District.
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 A Word From Walter
Dear Colleagues in Ministry,
This is a time of upheaval in the Weikel household. My wife recently began her new job in the Johnson City School system. My oldest son will be moving to Los Angeles in a couple of weeks to begin an assignment with Americorps. My middle son is finishing up a construction job out of town and will begin another semester at ETSU. Finally, my youngest son will enter the freshman class at UT.
Consequently, I have been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. Every day there are a million phone calls and details. There have been several occasions where I just want to sit down and cry...or at least throw a tantrum.
Two things have helped. First, I have realized that I need divine intervention. I have done my best to turn my troubles over to The Lord.
Second, I have had to make a plan. Each day I have set goals and objectives. Each day, I have to work through my list. Each evening, I have to let these cares go.
I know that for many, charge conference season is a time of meetings and stress. There are probably thousands of other things you would prefer to be doing. But, it doesn't seem unreasonable to have at least a season each year to assess how your church is faring. Are there trends? What do the numbers this year tell you? What worked? What didn't?
I would like to challenge you this year to not only HOPE for growth and vitality. I want you to PLAN for it. All this talk over the last couple of years related to "A Call to Action" and "Appreciative Inquiry" is simply an effort to get churches to plan for growth and vitality. Churches that plan tend to be vital. Churches that allow things to happen year after year tend to decline.
Finally, I want to call your attention to the fact that we are asking for a combined report from our pastors and our lay leaders. If for no other reason, there ought to be at least some consensus about the direction your church is going next year.
I sincerely ask you to take some time. Talk with your church leadership. Look at your statistics. Pray. Meet together. Pray some more. Seek God's will for your church.
God bless you.
Walter Weikel
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 Senior Adult Gathering
Thursday, September 19
10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Gray UMC
Rev. Betty Furches will be Keynote Speaker for this event and Rev. Lloyd Jones will lead the devotions. Special music will be provided by Majesty Chorus. The cost is $10 and includes lunch. Download the brochure for more information or to register.
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Christian Survivor Camp
 | | Survivor Campers atop Unaka Mountain |
Limestone Cove First United Methodist Church in Unicoi recently held the first annual Christian Survivor Camp on the creek side property of one of the members. The camp offered stories from the life of Moses, including a reenactment of the discovery of Moses in the reeds as an infant by the Princess.
A trip to the top of Unaka Mountain offered the children an opportunity to remember the story of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God. Also a neighbor provided the story of Jesus guiding the disciples to cast their nets to the other side of the boat. The children caught several fish by casting a net into his pond.
The children enjoyed an interactive experience, learning the stories through participating in camp activities. There were countless hours in North Indian creek tubing and trout fishing. Our champion of the creek racing was seven year old Christian, the trout fishing champ was Devon, and Jacob came in first in the scavenger hunt. Everyone enjoyed the smores in the evening around the campfire and the snipe hunting.
Limestone Cove First United Methodist Church is so blessed to have children that understand the love of God. A big thanks to Pastor Janet Batts and all the church members that supported this event and the two fourteen year old boys, Hunter and Dillon, that assisted in the guidance and counseling of the children.
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The Johnson City District sent nine Volunteer in Mission teams to the Czech Republic this summer. Here are some of the God Moments they experienced:
 | | Campers and Team Members in Protivin |
Our friend Lenka told me that the camps that have been put on by the Johnson City District and our methods of back door evangelism have inspired her and made her think of what kind of camp she might be able to run. She has decided to have a camp where the children and youth will read through some of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. While reading, she will make the connections between the books and the Bible and will present the Gospel. She is very excited about the camp which will take place the last week of August and already has 32 campers signed up, many of whom are nonbelievers. Lenka said that she considers this camp an extension of the camps that the Johnson City District have been doing. She has asked for prayers and I know she will do great!
~Tommy Forrester, Protivín Sports Camp
 | | In Slany, the team related the morning Bible stories learned during English lessons to afternoon art projects. |
This year, I saw a lot of faces familiar to me, but we also saw some new ones. In the morning, when we did English, we told a Bible story to each age group. I could tell that a lot of them had not heard the stories before. It was neat to watch their faces and it was neat to see them relate the stories in the morning, to the art and music classes in the afternoon. When the music or art project was described to them, their faces would get that 'aha' look. It was quite encouraging. The students loved the camp and said that they would invite their friends next year.
~Amy Blumberg, Slaný English/Basketball/Art Camp
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Learning VBS songs at ESUMC Prague
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The curriculum we used was Cokesbury's Fun Fair Everywhere. Each day had a focus on being neighbors; neighbors are friendly, neighbors are giving, neighbors are bold, etc. So, we had a little two year old, Thea. For the first several days all we ever heard from her was screaming if mom left her sight. We never heard her say a word. About Wednesday, as we were greeting one another with "Welcome neighbors," she said "neighbor" so clearly it was like she had been using that word all her life. The same afternoon as the children walked to a nearby park (after VBS was over) they began singing one of the songs that we had been singing in English, but they sang it in Czech. Somehow they had made the translation and were singing it as they walked along to the park. While they didn't even know it, they were being witnesses for Jesus, just by singing that song as they walked along the street in Prague. We wondered how many people heard them singing about Jesus and what impact something so simple could have.
~Cindy Paxton, ESUMC VBS week one
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Vendi Devours New Czech Bible
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Through a generous contribution from the English Camp directors (Roz and Joe Gann), we were able to purchase children's Bibles in Czech for all our children from babies on up. One girl, Vendi, had come to VBS the first week. It was evident that she was gifted. She was seven. So in Week Two, Roz worked individually with Vendi on her English. So we bought her an adult bible. And on Friday when we gave them the Bibles, there Vendi was during lunch sitting at a table (no lunch in sight) devouring every word in that Bible!!! It was a God thing.
~Amelia Brown, ESUMC VBS week two.
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Kuba, a young man with a servant's heart.
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We met a 12 year boy with a true servant's heart. Kuba served his neighbor by guiding part of our team from Prague to Brno, because the main train station was closed in Brno. He made sure we arrived at our destination safe and sound. He spent hours on the train with us as we were "slap happy" from the long travels. The next day he met our team at the bus stop to help us find the church for worship service. Later that evening as we were decorating for VBS we learned he was in the hospital about to undergo appendix surgery. We realized how much pain he must have been in while he served us and he always had a smile on his face.
~Christi Taylor, Brno VBS.
{Editor's note: This spring, Kuba and three other children who have attended VBS led by Johnson City teams were baptized and joined the Brno church.}
 | | L to R: Adam, Alex, Paval, Nikki growing in their faith at Softball Camp |
Two years ago, in a youth gathering that sprung from softball camp in Vimperk, Alex accepted Christ. The love bubbles in Alex and he has a burning desire to share what he has found. This year Alex invited four new friends, ages 18-20 to join him at softball camp. One of these friends, Adam, let it be known early in the week that he was a non-believer. Wednesday the entire camp received cross necklaces, and Adam put his on and wore it openly, unlike some of the kids that had faith questions. On Thursday when Adam was presented with a Common English translation of the New Testament he asked, "Is this really for me?" Assured that it was he responded, "I will read it." From being a very adamant nonbeliever, to committing to read the Word, Adam's life is on a path to change. Another of Alex's friends, Nikki, after hearing a team member share the plan of salvation, asked the pastor to pray with her. During that prayer she accepted Jesus. The missionary here is not the American team, it is Alex who has picked up the mat of his friends and is carrying them to Christ.
~ Sam Barnett, Vimperk Sports Camp
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Older children watched the morning pre-school VBS through the window, awaiting their turn in the afternoon.
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When we were ready for the VBS pre-schoolers on Monday morning NONE came. I was standing outside the large building in the Center where we met for VBS ready to welcome the kids as they arrived. I started to pray for God's guidance as to what to do at that moment. Months of preparation, many miles of exhausting travel, hard work in preparation for the VBS Program and NO children. The starting time of 9:00 a.m. came and went--then 9:15, then 9:25. About 9:30 a.m. Irene, the Center's Director, came around the corner of the building and asked me how it was going. I said, "Not too good. No children." She walked up into the buildings that housed the clients of the Christian Help Center and within ten minutes three mothers arrived with their young children. Irene explained that the people were nervous about coming. That was all the team needed to get going. We sang songs (loudly and with feeling), had crafts, Bible stories and, of course, snacks. The word spread and then another mother came. By the afternoon, the word had gotten around (we were of course doing a lot of praying) and the gates opened up. We had a dozen school age kids in the afternoon. By Tuesday morning, the pre-school and school age kids were at the VBS meeting door waiting for us! Praise God for the wonderful VBS participation of the kids in the HoPo Center!
~ Rick Shuppert, Horni Pocernice VBS
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A Very Personal God Moment
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Rev. Christi Taylor
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Rev. Christi Taylor, pastor of Fairview UMC in Jonesborough, participated in the recent Volunteer in Mission trip to Brno, Czech Republic. The team led Vacation Bible School for children and an English Camp for youth. When asked to share God Moments the team had experienced during their mission, Rev. Taylor also shared this personal experience that touched her.
In the Czech Republic mothers often do not work outside the home because the government offers them paid maternity leave of two to four years. My first encounters with some of the mothers of the children in VBS was not what I was expecting and it was painful. When these mothers found out the ages of my girls they asked me "if I was attached" or even told me that "my girls were too young to leave". This devastated me as it was hard enough to leave my girls to go on this mission trip and I often wanted to use them as the excuse why I couldn't go. But, God would not let me use that as my excuse.
As the week progressed there was a change of heart and the mothers began to understand that I, as a mother, sacrificed time with my children to come love
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Mothers in Brno place the names of people they are praying for in Jesus' Hands
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their children and teach their children about Jesus. Towards the end of the week a group of the mothers took me to the side to explain about how they every week on one night have a mother's prayer meeting while the fathers watched the children.
They showed me a box with prayer hands inside; Jesus' hands. When they pray they put the names of the people they pray for in Jesus' hands. They told me when they met that week they had put my girls into Jesus' hands. Also, they said they pray for priests (as many of them are Catholic) and they had prayed for me as well because I am a pastor.
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Sunday, September 8
2:00 pm
Cherokee UMC
All clergy under appointment and the following laity are voting members of District Conference:
Local church lay leader, chair of the administrative council or administrative board and council on ministries, presidents of United Methodist Youth, United Methodist Women, and United Methodist Men, finance committee chairperson or treasurer, all members of the district discipleship team, chairpersons of all district boards and committees, district treasurer, annual conference lay members and at-large lay members.
The District Nominations Committee will be meeting soon to create a roster of nominees for election during District Conference. Please contact the District Office if you are interested in serving on any of the following district committees: Discipleship Team, Nominations, Finance, Trustees (laity only), Board of Location & Building, Church Revitalization, Committee on District Superintendency, Buffalo Mountain Camp Board, Sulphur Springs Camp Meeting Committee, Czech Missions Leadership Team, Senior Adult Council.
We are also receiving nominations for At-Large Lay Members to 2014 Annual Conference. If you or someone you know are willing to serve in this capacity, download the nomination form and return to the District Office by Monday, August 26.
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Time to Order Journals, Directories and Calendars
We are currently accepting orders for the 2013 Holston Conference Journal ($35.00 for printed Journal, $6.00 for CD-PDF Journal), the 2013-2013 Holston Conference Handbook/Directory ($10.00 each), and the 2014 Holston Conference Program Calendar ($9.00 each). The deadline for all orders is Tuesday, September 10, 2013. Please note that all orders will be delivered to the District Office for your pick-up. No orders will be mailed this year. Click here to order online (with payment by checking account or credit card through PayPal) Click here to download order form (with payment by check only) or Email the District Office to receive an order form by mail or email. |
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Upcoming Events
Calling All Men
Saturday, August 10
King University
Bristol, TN
Learn More
Saturday Breakfast
Saturday, August 17
7:00 to 10:00 am
Fairview UMC
District Clergy Meeting
Tuesday, August 20
10:00 am and 6:00 pm
Cherokee UMC
Singing in the Shed featuring Rambling Rose
Saturday, August 31
6:00 pm
Austin Springs UMC
Learn More
Fall Fair
Saturday, September 7
8:00 am to 1 pm
Fairhaven UMC
District Conference
Sunday, September 8
2:00 pm
Cherokee UMC
District Clergy Meeting
Tuesday, September 10
10:00 am and 6:00 pm
Cherokee UMC
The Spiritual Dimension of Money with Michael Reeves
Saturday, September 14
Concord UMC, Knoxville
10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Learn More
Senior Adult Gathering
Thursday, September 19
Gray UMC
Learn More
Holston Conference Secretaries Association Conference
September 19-20 Holiday Inn Hotel and Convention Center, Pigeon Forge, TN Learn More
LEAD Kids Children's Ministry Training and Retreat
September 20 - 21 Camp Wesley Woods Townsend, TN Learn More
Safe Sanctuaries Training
Sunday, October 6
2:00 pm
Gray UMC
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