UMC Susquehanna Conference Article

Perspective A Christian

Serving the Susquehanna Conference

Serving the Susquehanna Conference

July, 2018 November, 2018

A communication of The United Methodist Stewardship Foundation, Serving the Susquehanna Conference

Growing Generosity: Blessings of Worship This summer Balls Mills UMC in Cogan Station held a “Thank the Farmers” outdoor worship service under a tent. Members shared reflections on the struggles and the gifts in farming, thanking God for these blessings. “We wanted to recognize and bless the farmers,” Pastor Chris Pfleegor said. “We try to have a big event every quarter. Last year we recognized firefighters. This spring on Earth Day, we had a blessing of the bicycles with a bike rodeo afterwards that brought in kids from the community.”

Their worship also featured music to involve young and old. “We

have a parade,” Pfleegor explained . “The children are given handheld instruments and spackling buckets as drums to march around while we sing, “When the Saints Come Marching In.” It’s very participatory for the kids and a fun way to bless us all.”

Pastor Pfleegor got the idea from a cross-cultural trip to India that he took in seminary. “The immersion was to make sure we don’t think worship is like one little church… we went to a ghetto or slum to worship with the poor. Their worship had a parade and they gave us all fresh flower garlands. We were these rich Americans who were given the garlands by the poor -- it was a such a profound experience.”

Tent Service to "Thank the Farmers" held at Balls Mills UMC

Inspired by this, one “Flowers of Generosity” garland is given out five times a year at the church for prayers, presences, gifts, service, or witness. The special celebration honors someone who serves as role model of hospitality and generosity. They are recognized during the service with a keepsake certificate as well.

Welcome Mary Jane Reachard to Our Staff We are pleased to announce that Mary Jane Reachard has become our new part-time Account Database Coordinator. She has been working with the Foundation since April, but has agreed an extended role in the organzation to update the client database and coordinate the communcations between the various information channels between the Ofifice Manager, Account Manager, Mary Jane Reachard and Executive Staff. Her experience Account Database Coordinator in a variety of corporate and service setttings has brought new skills sets and perspectives to the Foundation.

Mary Jane has worked in Dover High School and York Hospital (Wellspan Health) in secretarial and administrative assistant roles. Her background in database maintenance includes being a data entry clerk for the Northern York County Regional Police Department and a local firm in York.

She is married to William Reachard, mother of three children, eight grandchildren, and five great-granchildren.

She is an active member of Otterbein UMC in Emigsville, serving on Ad council and as substitute organist. She is also an office-holding member of York Chapter #169 O.E.S. (Order of Eastern Star).

Thank you for welcoming her to our staff!

The United Methodist Stewardship Foundation, Serving the Susquehanna Conference 3901 Hartzdale Drive, Suite 110 • Camp Hill, PA 17011 717.766.7343 • 800.272.0113 • sfcpa@umstewardship.org • www.umstewardship.org

New for this New Year:

CEUS ON TIMELY TOPICS November 7th from 11 AM to 12 PM Best Practices of Accountability: A Community of Caring Last webinar of 2018 -- Don't Miss Out!

A Quick Preview Pictured above is a list of our webinar schedule; click "A Quick Preview" to find out more

We have fifteen webinars scheduled for 2019. We've asked some of our most popular speakers in the past to return, but we have added a new twist. We have invited some of our familiar presenters and some of our newcomers to offer a series on certain topics.

We realize that in one hour it may be hard for our presenters to cover all the information they may want to share. It may also be hard to fit in your questions in the brief time we are together online.

By inviting our presenters to narrow their focus and yet facilitate more than once, you get the best of short, practical webinars and a chance to come back for a more well rounded view. You can take one or all of any series we offer, none of them are prerequisites to others.

Come join usand try our themed approach this year. You'll be glad you did!

Presenter: Rev. Dr. Phil Jaimeson (pictured left) Author of Ministry and Money

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RE YOU READY FOR DEPTH IN YOUR MINISTRY? Did you know this can come from unlikely sources?!

You want to model being more loving so your church will grow in faith and discipleship. By being a more transparent, effective manager, you show your concern for your people and ministry. Building trust can be achieved in the consistent but smallest details in leadership. Express commitment to God's work while encouraging others to join with you. Collaborate and connect more through the sacrement of administration.

HAT DO YOU NEED TO DO NEXT?

W

We ask that you register, investing $10 and an hour to

learn the best practices for financial management in church.

Registration is open online at www.umstewardship.org/events

A DOUBLE FEATURE FOR JANUARY 2019 Clergy Tax Webinar (2 Hours)

by Rev. Ed Bailey (pictured to the right)

January 22nd from 10 AM to 12 PM Funding Your Mission Webinar (2 Hours)

by Rev. Dr. Ken Sloane (bottom picture)

January 23rd from 10 AM to 12 PM “The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.”

1 Corintiians 3:8-10

Take care of your personal finances and come back the next day to work on the financial needs of your outreach projects.

Each $25 webinar can earn you 0.2 CEUs

Registration is open online at www.umstewardship.org/events We hope to see you at these webinars. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call following number, 717-766-7343, or email us at sfcpa@umstewardship.org.

Giving Your Plans to God We hope you enjoy our new format and focus on worship in this issue. What are you doing that is new? What is your plan?

Are you looking ahead to the holidays and/or looking ahead to the exciting ways to praise and thank God? How are you doing?

Serving the Susquehanna Conference

We can easily get so caught up in daily news, world events, and worries that we may not take time to make long-term decisionsas a church. We may just wait. We may plan but not do.

Planned giving is dreaming about what our church and ministries could be if we work together. Planned giving gives our successors resources to try out activities. Planned giving sets aside our concerns and demonstrates our trust that we can support others and do heroic work together. Planned giving is the expectation that our church is not waiting to see what happens before we do anything, it is making the big decision to move ahead. What are your plans? I hope you contact us and share them with us! We are here to help you do them.

Rev. Phyllis M. Bowers Executive Director

May God bless your ministry dreams and give you greater ones!

The United Methodist Stewardship Foundation

3901 Hartzdale Drive, Suite 110

Camp Hill, PA 17011

InTENTional Stewardship: Worship Outside as the Church visitors than anyone, especially the homeless. We offer a full meal with fresh fruit that they can eat while at the service. Fresh fruit is harder for them to get so we try to have it.”

The congregation has grown over this past year from 8 to about 50, but their unique and creative worship service draws over 500 on their livestream feed on Facebook.

First LA UMC offering a worship service weekly in their parking lot

“It’s stewardship that drew us outside,” Pastor Mandy Sloan McDow shared. She went on the share that First LA been incredibly good stewards in their 165 history.

“They made bold choices. They chose to prioritize ministry over building,” she added.

This is the reason that First LA is now a United Methodist Church without a building. They tore down the building to give space for housing. They also chose to fund other ministry projects.

“There is a crisis here. Until our houseless brothers and sisters are able to get housing,” McDow stated, “we remain houseless. It really helps people trust us.” They meet each Sunday under a tent in their parking lot. This parking lot provides them with their operating expense revenues so that their communion offerings can go directly to a specific cause or nonprofit. The service has regulars and people who come and go during the service -- many stopping as they are walking by. “We probably have more first-time

“We want to be a partial answer to homelessness,” McDow added.

“First LA is committed to offering the economic benefits of their assets and people to others. Our worship is awesome. The high point is the prayers of the people because they are very gritty, very real. It’s humbling to be a part of this.”

The church members plan to offer a presence during the week to help with homelessness by partnering with others to fund a community arts center and installing a see-through outdoor chapel of metal pipes and artwork for use during the week.

Open to Worship: Creating New Spaces

There's even an outreach for hearing visitors. “The whole service is in ASL, but we have an interpreter who can put this to voiced English or (at Christ) closed captioning… it can be eye-opening, even jarring,” she added.

“It’s very visual. The choir gets together to practice so the songs are signed together in unison. But the rhythm is different, it is set for ASL, so “Amazing Grace,” for example, is totally different.

You don’t realize the difference the rhythm makes until you see it.”

Worship is offered in many creative ways. At Christ Deaf UMC, a large gong rings three times, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” to start the service and the rhythmic drums play loudly. At Magothy UMC of the Deaf, they are working on how to vary their stage lighting to use as their prelude.

Magothy also recently sponsored a “boot camp” in their BaltimoreWashington UMC Conference to support hearing churches reaching out to the Deaf and to those who are hard of hearing.

“There’s a big difference in the needs of those who grew up Deaf and use ASL from those who became deaf later in life,” Rev. Emily Hart shared. “My

associate,Rev. Leo Yates, Jr., shared these different needs. We want to empower local churches because we can’t be everywhere.”

Serving the Susquehanna Conference

Magothy UMC of the Deaf

She is excited and humbled to be in ministry at Magothy UMC of the Deaf with Yates and at Christ Deaf UMC with Rev. Dr. SandiJohnson of Deaf Ministries. “We serve the Deaf, blind, and DeafBlind,” Hart explained. Each church also has a food pantry. MagothyUMC of the Deaf partners with the hearing members in Magothy UMC (in which they share worship space) while Christ Deaf UMC’s“Food Door” in Baltimore partners with the Maryland Food Bank and the Deaf Shalom Zone to offer additional services.

They also offer ASL Bible study, prayers, and tactile interpretation in their worship for Deaf-Blind members, they are looking to do more. “I hopewe can soon get a Gallaudet intern to help us develop a worship service that comes out of the Deaf community instead of adapting the traditional (hearing) service,” Hart said.

“What does it look like and truly mean to do as a church? My request is to ask you to pray for us to reach out to the Deaf and hearing groups in the community for how we can beavailable and open in new and different ways.”

Anchoring Passion to Faith: Worship on the Water though it was the same sermon. The one time the service was canceled for weather one of the families from the boat service came to church Sunday morning. “We marketed a lot before it started, and it was a success… we don’t take an offering and yet we just received a check from one of the families that attended thanking the church for the services and saying they were looking forward to next summer.” This new service had up to 58 people and one dog attend.

Photo by Michael Jacobson, Paynesville (Minn.) Press

“Worship on the Water” grew out of a desire to connect with the camp goers along the lake who didn’t attend Sunday worship.

Since the people wouldn’t come to church, the church came to them. Their new 20-minute worship service launched over this past summer along a bay at Lake Koronis in Minnesota. They anchored their pontoon boats near one of the docks and the food barge, using a sound system to reach the boats.

“The first service I did a sermon on Jesus getting into the boat to preach and telling Peter to cast his nets to catch fish and one of the people listening on the dock caught a fish, a bass.” Pastor Bob Kandels said.

Grace U.M. Men’s group helped plan the service and Kandels asked the congregation not to come unless they were bringing someone who didn’t go to church. One man brought his family Saturday nightsand then attended the service at the church the next day even

“I love water sports… when you do what you love, ministry happens,” he added. “Ministry is a way of life.” He has teamed with Greg Hodgin to help “Wake the World,” offering a one-day Christian retreat that teaches neglected kids or wounded warriors to wakeboard. He also leads at “Walking on Water,” United Methodist specialty camp that teaches teens waterskiing. “We saw kids were waiting alongthe public dock hoping someone would pull them (on their wakeboards) so we found people to donate boats and then give their testimonies.”

“I’d rather try something rather than talk about it for 10 years. You just have to use your head and make sure you have adequate resources for the ministry of where you are.

Your passions can be used.”

UMSF Celebrating 25 Years: Wesley Awards Luncheon in September The third annual celebration luncheon was held at Normandie Ridge in York on September 13th.

Guests were treated to special music by Rev. Dr. Paul Stambach and Rachel Stambach.

Rev. Phyllis Bowers, Executive Director of The United Methodist Stewardship Foundation took the opportunity to thank those in attendance and present the three Wesley awards for 2018.

Rev. Jason Guillaume represented Christ UMC in Yorkana and accepted the Wesley Award on behalf of his congregation

Ed Yohn, Endowment Chair, accepted the award for Aldersgate UMC in York as the 2018 winner of stewardship in large churches

These awards were given to a small, medium, and large member churches that exemplified stewardship based on Wesley's phrase of "earn all you can, save all you can, and give all you can."

Wally Brenner, Financial Team Leader, stepped forward to take the Wesley Award and to accept the congratulations for Faith UMC in Waynesboro

The UMSF celebration luncheon featured speaker Rev. Patrick Walker, sharing more about his ministry. Guests learned about the Church World Service organization which is the coordiator and sponsor of CROP Walks.

Rev. Walker is the Regional Director of the expanded Greater Mid-Atlantic Regional Office. This includes all of Washington D.C., Delaware, Maryland, and Central and Eastern Pennsylvania. His presentation was to highlight growth of stewardship through simple ideas. These were offered to help encourage those in attendance to celebrate God's blessings but then use them for even more good work to share God's love and grace to the wider world.

The focus on stewardship was not limited to recognizing past achievements. Each guest received stewardship and investment information and learning more about the future plans of the Foundation.

Rev.. Patrick Walker presented an inspirational message to the luncheon guests

THE UNITED METHODIST STEWARDSHIP FOUNDATION Serving the Susquehanna Conference

Investment Performance Summary

September 30, 2018

Time Weighted Rates of Returns Annualized Returns YTD 1 Year 3 Year 5 Year

3 Mo Total Equity Portfolio Blended Benchmark*

ITD**

5.07%

5.05%

12.32%

12.94%

7.43%

7.91%

14.37 %

11.09 %

6.05%

15.49%

11.75%

7.10%

* Blended Benchmark - S&P (68%), Russell Midcap (8%), Russell 2000 (4%), MSCI EAFE (20%)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Fixed Income Portfolio Bloomsburg Barcla Aggregate

0.16 % 0.02%

-0.81 %

-1.60 %

-0.73%

1.42%

1.90%

3.56%

-1.22%

1.31%

2.16%

3.78%

** Gross Returns *** Inception 5/2007

Our Staff

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS Executive Committee Rev. Dr. S. David Simon

Bishop Jeremiah J. Park

Rev. Phyllis M. Bowers

Ann M. Carney

Teryl S. Cartwright

President

Rev. Nicholas E. Keeney

Executive Secretary

Andra G. Haverstock

Vice President

Brenda K. Hoerner Secretary

Matthew A. McKnight Legal Counsel; Assistant Secretary

Mark A. Reinard

Kirby K. Hickey Immediate Past President

Rev. Jason R. Mackey Ernest L. Mellinger Mary Jane Mitterling

Rev. Kevin K. Locker

Rev. Gregory C. Myers

Rev. Miguel H. Arenas

George G. Sackandy, Jr.

Clergy Member at Large

Matthew L. Hartman

Laity Member at Large

____________

William H. Fordney, Jr. Staff Accountant

Treasurer Assistant Treasurer

Executive Director

Edward M. Trainor Rev. Dr. Howard T. Woodruff

Gloria Lehigh Account Manager Dolly A. Marzullo Office Assistant/Data Base Coordinator

Mary Jane Reachard Account Data Base Manager

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10 Planned Giving

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