Winter Bible Study to Start Feb. 11

Week One coming up of Bible study: First Night February 11, 5:30pm to 6:30pm. 
The study is from Does Your Church Have a Prayer? By Marc Brown, Kathy Merry, and John Briggs.

Notes from the Leaders Guide by Evelyn on 1/31/13
Here are some note worthy questions to consider before our study begins. These are from p. 16 of the leaders guide:

Scripture: John 21:1-14. Good to read this ahead of the questions below.
1.  Is your church fishing on the wrong side of the boat?
2. Does your congregation spend most of its time casting its nets into waters that protect cherished memories of the past or cherished ministries of the present?
3. Do the nets your congregation casts continue to come up empty?
4. Is there a spirit of weariness and murmuring as ministry efforts keep yielding the same frustrating results?
5.Leaders guide, p. 18. Are you ready to fish from the right side of the boat?
6. What does God intend for your church? from p. 21
7. How can we glorify God through our life together? from p. 21

Scripture to study ahead of week one: Gospel of John, chapter 17 and Acts 1:8.

If you have time to post your answer, our members who are living away for the winter can participate in the study with us, as well as ASU students or people from our community who have a strong interest in our church can see what we are all about. I hope by adding the electronic dimension to our winter Bible study, it will bring the word of the Lord to more people. Come join us. Evelyn Lemons, Pastor.

Watauga Missional Network

One of the things I am learning is that technology changes as soon as you learn how to do something, the whole format will change out. Well that is out of our control. On the blog, today I have added a place where you can comment at the end of the article. At least, I think I have. So, if you are interested in what is going on with the Watauga Missional Network, and want to keep up and contribute to an ongoing conversation about how to go about making a difference together as United Methodist Churches in our community, I invite you to the conversation. I hope you will find a place at the end of this post where you can share your thoughts on the Missional Network.

Deerfield UMC starts 12 step ministry

Rev. Evelyn Lemons, with the help of two other women from Deerfield UMC,  is leading a new 12 step ministry at the Hospitality House for those who are working a 12 step addiction recovery program and would like spiritual support. Our group meets at the Hospitality House. We have been meeting for about 7 weeks now, and we would like to thank the church for their support and for Hospitality House allowing our church to come there to provide a service to the residents there. God is working to change people's lives with the power of the Holy Spirit still giving us the daily strength and encouragement to fight the battle with sin and with the help of Christ, live in victory. We believe Jesus Christ is still changing lives and we celebrate every request for help that comes to the foot of the cross. Jesus Christ is still the name above every name that we lift up on high! We have provided Life Recovery Bibles to 7 people who have requested a Bible. If you want to put your hand on the heart beat of where God is working, pray tonight for those in Boone NC who are homeless. It was 5 degrees on my front porch this morning. Our shelter will be filled to overflowing tonight. The Hospitality House is doing such a great work in our community. We praise the Lord for them. Imagine from the view point of one adult who lives at the Hospitality House and wants to go to church on Sunday what it must have felt like when two church vans pulled up this past Sunday to take children to church, but the adults were left behind. We have a very sweet volunteer from our church who made two trips back and forth to bring people to church on Sunday. I am so grateful this person did get to come to church! There is still room on our pew for people who want to worship with us. Praise the Lord for people in this community who have such compassion for people who have some kind of disadvantage or struggle, and want to make a difference in their lives. Deerfield UMC, I am so proud of the ways you keep on looking for ways to love people and make a difference for the name sake of Jesus Christ. This past Sunday from Isaiah 62 we focused on the passion with which Isaiah prayed for Jerusalem. Our challenge is to bring that same kind of passion to the Lord when it comes to praying for the holy work of the church. Christ does want to use us for the holy work of salvation, and mold us and shape us to be a holy people. We all stand in need of a savior. Thanks be to God, Jesus Christ wants a relationship with everyone of us.

Watauga Missional Network

Like each new District in the Western NC Conference of the United Methodist Church, Watauga County has a new Missional Network too.
One of our assignments by our District Superintendent Rev. Lory Beth Huffman is to address an area of mission and unite our efforts as churches in the county to make a significant impact on an area of need. Our first meeting is at Deerfield UMC at 10am for the Watauga County United Methodist pastors. The days of going to district meetings once a month are gone. Our district now is huge and too spread out over too many miles to make that possible. One of the goals for the meeting tomorrow is to look at the ways we communicate with each other as pastors and make sure we have the best practices possible in our communications to be effective with our time. We plan to make time when we gather to share prayer concerns and pray for one another and the churches we serve, and tomorrow we will really spend some time trying to narrow our focus on what area of mission could our churches in Watauga County address together from our own location to make a significant impact on the issue.
Currently, I am the pastor of Deerfield UMC in Boone, and I am in my third year of service here, my 20th year as a full time pastor. Last summer I started into a doctoral program at Bethel University in St. Paul MN in Educational Leadership. That work has helped me make ties out in the community in the school system here in Watauga County. Please go to the website that I am building and using for class for more information on the Missional Network. On the website, you will find a powerpoint presentation on how to improve literacy in Watauga County that I did for a class project in December of 2012. We look forward to how the Lord will bring our churches together for mission and guide us as we make important decisions for the kingdom. Here is the website: www.faithliftingstories.com

Wrapping up 2012

I just looked on my blog to see when I posted last. When I got back from my first class in MN! Life has been pretty busy since then. Two more classes done online, serving the church full time, charge conference done, Christmas done, and the start up of a new ministry. About 5 weeks ago, we started a 12 step recovery program at the Hospitality House in Boone for people who are working an addiction recovery program. I am leading this new ministry with the help of two other women. It has been great ministry. Looking forward to meeting with our area pastors to get started with our new Missional Network here in  Watauga County early in January. We welcome Rev. Lory Beth Huffman as the new DS to the new Appalachian District. Our church has continued to work closely with the Wesley Foundation at ASU and Rev. Brad Ferrington continues to do awesome ministry with young people there. Our UM Men had their annual Christmas tree sale and it was a success. Lot's of work has been done to raise money for our missions in our community through the bazaar and Christmas tree sale. One sad note for Boone NC this year has been marked with the loss of life of several young people who are already greatly missed.  One tragedy after another has left our town hurting. Right before Christmas, we have grieved the loss of a teacher only 43 years old at Watauga High School that died with pneumonia. As a church, and as a community, we have worked hard to lean on the Lord and on each other during times of great loss. We have the hope of Christ within us, that the coming year will be better. One of the happiest times for our church over Christmas, was the Marvelous Magical Mondays Christmas program with the kids from our church leading in worship. We pray for those who are hurting in this Christmas season. Back at home in Stokes County, two United Methodist Churches from Rockingham County have suffered with the loss of a fire. Mt. Zion UMC in Stokesdale and Gideon Grove Church in Belews Creek. Having been through a fire at our church and parsonage in 2010, we are sure sorry for your loss and will pray for the church and community to pull together and help each other in this time of loss from the fire. Out of all the loss that our church has faced since that time, the Lord has done incredible work to help us love each other more, become more sensitive to the needs of the community around us, and the rebuilding within spiritually surely points to the redemptive work of a living Savior, Jesus Christ among us. We praise the Lord for helping us keep our eye on the heavenly prize before us, even when times have been tough. We thank the Lord for our salvation, and for giving us the charge to be the hands and feet of Christ to our community. Blessed are the feet of the one who comes to bring the good news! We will continue to serve a living Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord!