What’s Inside

Words from the President West District 2011 Calendar

2

From the Desktop of . . . The Vice President Salutations from the Secretary

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West District UMW Fall Gathering Flyer

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Proposed Changes to Standing Rules Treasurer’s Tip

5

Thank You 2011 West District Officers

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Spiritual Growth: The Listening Heart Imagine No Malaria Wear

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UMW of IN 2012 Calendar Education and Interpretation

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Mission Unit Today Form 9-10

UMW of IN Fall Gathering 11

The Book Nook 12

UMW of IN Retreat Options 13

2012 West District Nominated Officers

14

Icing on Our Cake 15

What Can I Say . . . SOCM? 16

Volume II, Issue 3, Summer 2011

West District United Methodist Women

Agape Mission

“We have different gifts,

according to the grace given

us.” Romans 12: 6

I read that verse and immediately

thought of the United Methodist

Women and all of the wonderful

gifts we have helped to provide in

serving our local communities and

national and international mis-

sions. We have impacted the

poorest of the poor women and

children throughout the world.

U.M.W. has helped provide food,

milk, clothing, school supplies,

first aid supplies, financial support

and all our many prayers for their

safety and health. I went to the

Midwest Mission Distribution

Center in May and saw what an

impact we as United Methodist

Women can make on the world

with just our gift of helping and

serving others. I am extremely

proud to be a part of such a won-

derful organization of Christian

women, with such a giving heart

of different gifts given to them by

the grace of God.

I have had a busy summer, as I am

sure you have also. I have visited

more Units and have many more

to go. So please email or call me

and schedule a date. (day-evening

-weekend- morning-any time). I

don’t need to be your speaker -

just attending your regular meet-

ing or a work meeting is OK for

me. I just love to see how all our

U.M.W. Units in the West District

interact with the UMW Purpose

and Mission.

West District had approximately

30 ladies attend the week and Sat-

urday SOCM at DePauw Univer-

sity in July. What a great facility;

it was the best! Several from the

West attended for the first time.

The classes where outstanding and

we all learned so much about

Haiti and the problems they en-

dure, Joy to the World as a social

issue of Global Christianity, and

Forgiveness and Reconciliation as

our spiritual growth study to bring

us closer as Christians in Christ.

I’m looking for a good turnout for

our Fall District Gathering at Me-

morial UMC in Terre Haute, on

Saturday September 24th where

we will be visiting the 14th &

Chestnut Community Center. The

registration form is in this issue,

so I encourage all of you to attend.

We will be collecting powdered

milk, t-shirts, flip flops and

canned foods for 14th & Chestnut

also.

WORDS FROM THE PRESIDENT

PURPOSE of United Methodist Women

The United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose PURPOSE is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative, supportive fellow-ship; and to expand concepts of mis-sion through the participation in the global ministries of the church.

(Cont’d from pg. 1)

There will be a drawing for a

book of your choice from the

Reading Program to the Unit

with the largest percentage pre-

sent, just more encouragement to

attend. Fillmore won at the

Spring Gathering lets see if they

can be beat this fall.

Units, don’t forget about the Fall

Celebration and Annual Meeting

of the Indiana UMW on Oct 14-

15 at the Old Bethel UMC in

Indianapolis. Each District is to

have a short skit for the enter-

tainment on Friday evening. I

have a short (very short) skit

with no individual speaking

parts. It is a group skit, and I

will need at least 10 ladies to

volunteer. So if you are going

on Friday the 14th please let me

know. The hands-on offering

for the Fall UMW Celebration

will be NEW PACKAGED mod-

est style underwear and socks for

all ages of girls, boys and ladies.

These items will be distributed

among districts to help with local

shelters in their area. I would

like to hear from each unit on

shelters in your area that could

benefit from this offering.

Now, hopefully you have re-

ceived this before our “FAMILY

FUN PICNIC” on Saturday the

27th. This picnic is to benefit the

14th & Chestnut Food Pantry. So

I pray that you have been col-

lecting canned food items for

this mission project. Judy

Foulke and the committee has

been working very hard to make

sure you have a wonderful day

of fellowship. Be sure a deco-

rate your cowgirl hat. The best

one wins a Lucinda Pin. We will

also have a drawing of all West

District Units for a chance to win

Level 1 Reading Program Books

worth $89.00, and a $50.00 do-

nation to “Lucille Raines” in

honor of your Unit. A Unit rep-

resentative has to be present to

win. We will have other prizes

and a drawing for all “Cowgirls”

attending. There will be games

throughout the day and special

music from a gospel group called

P150 and music with our own

DJ, Denise Thede, as well as line

dancing with the help of Jean

Rowings’ granddaughters. Just

look for the PINK BALOONS at

U.S 59 south of U.S. 40 and

north of Interstate 70.

THIS SHOULD BE

FUN FUN FUN!!

SEE YOU ALL THERE!!!!!!!!!

Blessings,

Nancy Barnett, President

West District U.M.W

765-522-1464

nbarnett@tds.net

WORDS FROM THE PRESIDENT CONT’D

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WEST DISTRICT 2011 CALENDAR

* REGISTRATION REQUIRED

red indicates a West District function blue indicates a Conference function

AUGUST

27 Sat West District Fun Family Picnic 10:30-?? At Forest Park in Brazil, IN

Bring Canned Food Items to benefit the 14th and Chestnut Food Pantry

SEPTEMBER

24 Sat * West District Fall Gathering

First go to 14th and Chestnut at 9:00AM-9:45AM for a tour

then go to Memorial UMC, Terre Haute for meeting at 10:00AM-3:00PM

Speaker: Rev. Bill Felts from 14th & Chestnut

OCTOBER

14 Fri * Talent Show 7:00—9:00PM Featuring Talent from Each District

15 Sat * Fall Annual Celebration 10:00AM-3:00PM at Old Bethel UMC, Indianapolis

29 Sat West District Executive Meeting 10:00AM-2:00PM at Gosport UMC

NOVEMBER

12 Sat *District Officer Training 10:00AM-3:00PM at Christ UMC, Indianapolis

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FROM THE DESKTOP OF . . . THE VICE-PRESIDENT

Are you ready for the ―Fun Fam-ily Picnic‖? Make sure all of you come with a carload of family and friends and a trunk load of items for 14th and Chestnut. What an oppor-tunity to help kids in need right here in our West District. Hope to see you there this Saturday! School of Christian Mission this year at DePauw was great. Our study leaders did a fantastic job. Everyone enjoyed Rev. Dr. David V. W. Owen taking us on a spiritual growth journey. With the ―talking stick‖ it reminds us to be a good listener. Listening and understand-ing the other person can lead to forgiveness and reconciliation through the grace of God. I took the mission study ―Haiti‖ with Nancy Myers doing a wonderful job of taking us there through her per-sonal experiences. Remember the children in your prayers. There is such a need. The ―Hands-On Mis-sion‖ items received were amazing.

Wish you could have seen all the beautiful pillowcase dresses. Re-member, this will be at DePauw again in 2012. Please put it on your calendar and prepare to be blessed. Priscilla and her staff did an awesome job. Thank you! Our Fall Gathering will be here soon. Please make sure your Unit plans to attend. Continue to collect items for 14th and Chestnut after the picnic as this will be our Hands-On Mission Project for this meeting too. Come early and take the tour at 14th and Chestnut start-ing at 9:00AM and our meeting will begin at 10:30AM at Memorial UMC, Terre Haute. The Program Resource room will have a lot of new material for 2012. Make sure to get in touch with Cozette if you have special material you will need. Please en-courage your Unit to buy and use the new Program book as well as the Prayer Calendar for your meet-

ings. Your district officers are willing to visit your units so please get in touch. I work during the school year but would love to attend an evening meeting whenever possi-ble. Don‘t forget our Conference An-nual Meeting, October 14-15, 2011. To all Unit Vice Presidents, remem-ber to keep all dates for district meetings, retreats, School of Chris-tian Mission, etc. on your calendars so you can be better informed to carry out the many mission projects in service to our Lord. Peace and Prayers, Judy Foulke, Vice President 5541 S CR 25 E Cloverdale, IN 46120 765-655-2300 Jkfoul63@hotmail.com

SALUTATIONS FROM THE SECRETARY Hi Everyone: Well we‘ve had an exceptionally hot and dry summer. Now does that mean we‘re going to have a cold and snowy winter, just like last year? Guess we‘ll just have to wait and see. I hope a lot of you were able to attend our recent School of Chris-tian Mission that took place right here in Greencastle at DePauw University. Since I live within walk-ing distance of the campus, I chose to be a commuter, but I did join the group for meals and anything else that I could attend. We had a great time and learned a lot. The classes they put on this year were great, as they were last year. I understand that they will be having it here again next year. Please plan on attending. Maybe your U.M.W. Unit can sponsor a scholarship for at least one person to attend or maybe several small scholarships to send more than one person. Summer isn‘t over yet – we still

have our ―Family Fun Day‖ coming up on August 27th at Forest Park in Brazil. Our committee has made plans for a fun-filled morning and afternoon of games, food and fun. Please bring a dish or two to pass for our pitch-in. We‘re also doing this to collect canned goods and non-perishable items for the 14th and Chestnut food pantry. We will get to tour the 14th and Chestnut facility at our Fall District Get To-gether on September 24th. Rev. Bill Felts, the Executive Director of the facility, will be our featured speaker at that meeting. I‘ve had a pretty easy summer; however, now it‘s time for me to get busy with my West District U.M.W. Secretarial responsibilities. It‘s that time of year again when we have to elect our officers for the coming year and get them sent to me. I, in turn, have the job of compiling the list of our District‘s Unit Officers and sending them on to the Confer-ence Secretary. She gets the

―lucky‖ job of compiling all of these Officer Lists for the entire state. She would like our lists by the end of October, so I would really be happy if you could send your officer list to me no later than October 15th. I would prefer that you send them to my email address of sweet1244@msn.com, or you may send them to me at 705 Kirkwood Dr., Greencastle, IN 46135. The information that should be in-cluded is: Office, Name, Address, Phone No. (Home and Cell) and e-mail address. I only need the names of the President, Vice Presi-dent, Secretary and Treasurer of your Unit. Even if you keep the same officers as last year, please let me know. I hope we have a wonderful fall and that I can meet or see you at the Fall Gathering in September. Carol Sweet Secretary West District United Methodist Women

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+++ PROPOSED CHANGE TO STANDING RULES+++

THESE CHANGES WILL BE VOTED UPON BY YOU AT THE WEST DISTRICT FALL GATHERING. (SEE PAGE TO LEFT) PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND TO CAST YOUR VOTE!!

B. ELECTED UNIT OFFICERS 1. Each local unit shall elect officers before the Fall District Meeting and assume their office on January 1 of the following year. 2. The list of those elected should be sent to the District Secretary by September 30

th so that the information can be sent to the Conference

Secretary for publication in the United Methodist Women‘s Conference Directory for the following year. 3. District and Unit Officers shall be installed at the Fall District Meeting, starting in 2012 at the discretion of each Unit.

THESE CHANGES WILL PUT US MORE IN TIME LINE REQUIREMENTS WITH THE CONFERENCE, ON WANTING INCOMING OFFICERS’ INFORMATION FOR PUBLICATION.

TREASURER’S TIP

I hope a lot of you got the chance this summer to attend the School of Christian Mission. This was my first chance to at-tend the full four day session. Due to my working, I had always only attended the Saturday ses-sion. This year I took the week off from work and it was wonder-ful to be able to attend the whole SOCM! It was a wonderful learning experience in my class study of Haiti. The book was very informative. My leader had made many trips to Haiti and had many interesting stories. Anne Bunch was also in my group and had just made a trip to Haiti. Given all that is going on in their country and the vast difference between mass wealth right next to unbelievable pov-erty, the thing that stays in my mind is how both the leader and Anne Bunch were so taken with the people and how much hope and joy the people still show. They both said that the people captured their hearts. The other study I participated in about reconciliation was a won-

derful time of sharing in small groups. We learned ways to help be peacemakers and how to handle things in our own diffi-cult situations of estrangement and hurt feelings. SOCM was great! - not to men-tion four days of no cooking or dishes! So all I can say is if you get the chance, Go! Go! Go! As part of Indiana Conference UMW Hands-On Project, we are making little dresses out of pil-lowcases. There were so many cute ones brought to SOCM as donations. You ladies are really creative! If you would like to be a part of this, we will still be col-lecting them at the October 15

th

UMW Fall Conference meeting at Old Bethel Church in Indian-apolis. I have a copy of the in-structions if anyone needs them, and would be happy to send them out if you have not already received them by email. If you do not sew, we are also collect-ing small stuffed animals as well as packages of underpants and socks for women, girls and boys

as part of the Hands-On Project. End of year bookkeeping is coming faster than I am expect-ing, so I will give you a ―heads up‖ on what needs to be done and when. In December, please get your final mission money sent to me by the 10

th.

This will give me time to get it forwarded to the Conference Treasurer for her to get it done in a timely manner for the end of the year. She will not be avail-able the last two weeks of De-cember. THANK YOU again to all the lo-cal treasurers for your dedicated work in making sure God‘s work is done. You take care of the bookkeeping to send financial support to the missions that sus-tain women and children all around the world! Christine DeForest West District Treasurer 5523 S. Cardwell Road Bloomington, IN 47403 Cell phone (812)340-0520 cdeforest@bluemarble.net

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Many, many thanks must go to those who have served on the West District Executive Board

and Nominations Committee for this past year. We especially would like to thank three ladies

who will complete their terms at the end of 2011 or decided to take a break from their position.

Thanks to our West District Treasurer, Christine DeForest. Thank you for your endless hours

of service in what is a vital part of our UMW support of the organization and missions for

women and children. Thanks also to Pat Miller, Co-Chair of the Nominations Committee, for

her work in filling the positions to give us the wonderful West District officers that we have

had. Finally, thanks to Linda Smock, for her willingness to be on our Nominations Committee this past year,

but who has decided to take time off from the committee at this time. Thanks to all of you for your devotion,

energy, and time that you have so generously given. Thank you. Thank You. THANK YOU.

SPIRITUAL GROWTH

The Listening Heart

Some time ago, Margaret Johnstone

wrote of one of the customs ob-

served years ago when disaster

struck on British vessels. Instantly,

an alarm is piped that is known as

“The Still”. When this signal is

sounded, every man on board is to

stop and think-think what would be

the wise thing to do. At first they

may not know what the wise thing

to do, is, but as they take a moment

to think—during a time of calm,

they can see where they are, decide

what they can do, and they will try

to do it. They, thus ward off confu-

sion and avert catastrophe.

Most of us need a time of quiet, es-

pecially when confronted with a

difficult situation. Often we do not

like the quiet time, for we want to

be active—actively trying to work

out our difficulty on our own.

Psalm 46: 1-3 calls upon the people

to rejoice that God has helped them

in time of trouble. The Psalm

reads: “God is our refuge and

strength, a very present help in

trouble. Therefore, we will not fear

though the earth should change,

though the mountains shake in the

heart of the sea; though its waters

roar and foam, though the moun-

tains tremble with its tumult. Fur-

ther, in the same Psalm, verse 7

says “the Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

The psalmist may have been refer-

ring to a military victory. Whatever

it was, the victory does not come in

the noise and the excitement of the

moment, but in the silence and the

waiting upon God. God says, “Be

still and know that I am God.”

We may participate in noisy pa-

rades and victorious ball teams, but

as Christians, we know that we

must come apart and be still and

know that God is God. Church ser-

vices offer such times of quiet

meditation and worship. We need

to have time to realize what our

needs are and what to do about

them just as the crewmen on board

the British ships did so long ago.

The story was told of a man who

lost his watch. He and some

friends looked and looked for it, but

did not find it. All but one man

gave up and left. He lay down on

the floor and listened. Being quiet,

he heard the ticking. He found the

watch! His listening resulted in

victory.

It seems that we need to tune in to

God’s wavelength and be careful

that our ceaseless activities not hin-

der us from hearing God speak to

us as he directs us in our everyday

living.

Prayer: Father, help us to be still

before you and listen so that we

may order our lives in such a way

as to honor you. In listening to you

may all our confusion be dispelled.

Thank you, Father, for all your

many blessings. Amen.

Mary Wood

Spiritual Growth Coordinator

“It seems that we

need to tune in to

God’s wave-

length and be

careful that our

ceaseless activi-

ties not

hinder us from

hearing God

speak to us as he

directs us in our

everyday living.”

“IMAGINE NO MALARIA” WEAR

Many of the West District Officers and Women of the West District are shown here in their ―Imagine No Malaria‖ Wear at the School of Christian Mission. Go-bin Memorial UMC is selling short and long-sleeved T-Shirts and hoodies to benefit INM. If you are inter-ested in purchasing a T-Shirt, please call Denise at 765-658-6003, and she will let you know what shirts are currently available. Remember, wearing is caring!!

This summer is almost gone, and I think July and August sailed by. I hope you were able to attend this year’s School of Christian Mission. We had a GREAT spiritual study on the book, Journey. If you have not studied this, you will want to purchase this book. I really enjoyed reading the insights on many Bible sto-ries we have all studied before. My favorite was the Prodigal Son. It’s amazing how God’s Word continues to open up to me. The DePauw campus was really nice too! We didn’t have too far to walk and for those who needed a ride, there were golf carts and people ready to take care of you.

The district-wide meeting for E & I was good. Please note: This New Mission Today Unit (on pg 10 of this newsletter) is the form you should use. Be sure to mail it in to me by December 5, 2011, so I can get everything mailed in to the conference. Please let me know how I can help you complete this form by con-tacting me. Also, I would love to attend a UMW unit meeting; you can reach me at 812-859-3766 or 812-829-5948 or email bls1125@yahoo.com

I just returned from the National Seminar sponsored by the UMW of the Women’s Division. It was a GREAT blessing to attend!! The Bible study followed the SOCM theme of Journey, our brokenness and the need of reconciliation. We studied the 4 practices of reconciliation of Jesus’ teaching which are healing, forgiving, teaching, and the table of fellowship re-minding us what Jesus taught us. We had more than 250 members of the UMW from around the country attend the leadership training on Justice. Our issue group study included the topics of Climate Change, Domestic Violence, Human Trafficking, and Immigra-tion. I will focus on the issue groups in the next news-letter. I thank you for your prayers. What a wonder-ful experience!! I had been in prayer for God to use me and put me where he wants me. So when this opportunity came, I prayed for God to guide me . I stepped out of my comfort zone and said “yes”.

God Bless You, Lisa Kelley E & I

EDUCATION AND INTERPRETATION

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Greetings Women of the West,

It was good to see many of you at the School of Christian

Mission in July. I hope that you benefited from the studies

offered and were able to find inspiration and ideas to bring

back to your local units. Hopefully you were able to visit the

Resource Room and purchase books for your unit studies

and for the Reading Program. I will be placing an order soon for books and materials for our

September 24th West District Meeting. Hopefully, I will be able to purchase books and materi-

als for 2012, but as of this date many of those materials are not yet available. Please let me

know if you would like for me to have a specific item available for you to purchase that day,

and I will do my best to have it there if possible.

The new Program Book, Walk With Wholeness, for 2011-2012 is available. This resource is

well-organized and coincides with the UMW program calendar. Beginning in September, with

the idea that many units begin organization of their new year at that time of year, the book of-

fers structure for worship, meditation, and reflection of a given theme. Additional resources are

available on a CD which is provided. This resource was designed to provide a meaningful ex-

perience for all women, even those who have not been a part of United Methodist Women be-

fore.

As you work towards completing the requirements for the 2011 Reading Program, keep in

mind that our Spiritual Growth resource for School of Christian Mission, The Journey, can be

used as a credit towards the Spiritual Growth reading requirement. The design of the book also

lends itself to a wonderful resource for a small group Bible study.

Among the reading choices for 2011, I would like to recommend two books that help us un-

derstand the needs of those who we are trying to serve both at home and abroad. One of these

books, Not Just A One Night Stand, Ministry With The Homeless written by John Flowers and

Karen Vannoy, pastors of Travis Park United Methodist Church in San Antonio, TX, helps us

understand the problems of the marginalized in society. Because of the difficult work being

done with the homeless at Travis Park, much wisdom is shared about how to change our think-

ing and actions so that we can serve these people. This book is a credit towards the Social Ac-

tion component of the Reading Program.

Like Breath and Water, Praying With Africa by Ciona D. Rouse is beautifully illustrated

with photos of those living in Africa. It shares the struggles of the people of Africa and in-

cludes prayers both for them and us. This lovely book counts as two credits for Education for

Mission.

I hope to see you at the Women of the West Picnic, August 27 and at the Fall West District

Meeting on September 24. Again, be in touch with me if I can help you with books and mate-

rials (mccolgin@tds.net or 765-522-3532).

Blessings,

Cozette McColgin SPR West District

THE BOOK NOOK

7

Nominated Officers 2012 West District UMW (newly nominated in shaded areas)

Office Name Email Address Phone Church

President 2012-2013

Nancy Barnett nbarnett @tds.net

517 E CR 825 N Bainbridge IN 46105

765-522-1464 Bainbridge

Vice President 2011-2012

Judy Foulke Jkfoul63 @hotmail.com

5542 S CR 25 E Cloverdale IN 46120

765-655-2300 Putnamville

Secretary 2012-2013

Patricia Green plgreen @localnet.com

7756 W CR 350 S Greencastle IN 46135

765-653-5430 Lena

Treasurer 2012-2013

Carol Sweet sweet1244 @msn.com

705 Kirkwood Dr. Greencastle IN 46135

765-720-2894 Gobin Memorial

Spiritual Growth ‗12-‘13

Mary Wood cmnwood2 @gmail.com

201 Long Castle Dr. #3 Greencastle IN 46135

765-653-6050 Fillmore

M.N. & O. 2011-2012

Lila Waugh liwau8 @aol.com

2650 Kings Court Terre Haute IN 47802

812-235-5143 Memorial

Social Action 2011-2012

Barbara Lane N/A Franklin Street Spencer IN 47460

812-821-4246 Spencer

Education & Interpretation 2011-2012

Lisa Kelley

bls1125 @yahoo.com

5475 State Rd 246 Spencer IN 47460

H 812-859-3766 C 812-829-5948

Spencer

Program Resources 2011-2012

Cozette McColgin

mccolgin @tdf.net

PO Box 184 Bainbridge IN 46105

765-522-3532 Bainbridge

Communica-tions ‗12-‘13

Denise Thede denise.thede @gmail.com

2005 Lakeview Drive Greencastle IN 46135

765-653-0514 Gobin Memorial

Nominations Committee

Chair Now-2012

Jean Rowings jhrowings @yahoo.com

1735 S CR 900 W Greencastle IN 46135

765-653-6053 Lena

Now-2013 Ruby Bowler rubychloe1 @aol.com

Lover‘s Lane Spencer IN 47460

812-821-2925 Spencer

Now—2013 Emma Hughes

N/A 121 Taylor Ave., Spencer IN 47460

812-829-5667 Freedom

Now-2013 Barbara Johnson

barbara71244 @yahoo.com

6425 Gentry Rd. Freedom IN 47431

812-829-0253 Freedom

Now-2014 Rita Jones 9838 N. Harmony Border St. Brazil IN 47834

Now-2012 Nila Snapp N/A 255 N. Middle St. Spencer IN 47460

812-821-0348 Spencer

Now-2012 Sheila TerMeer

rleroy.coleman @frontier.com

755 E. Private Rd. 1065 N. Brazil IN 47834

812-442-0834 Harmony

COMMUNICATIONS BACK COVER

What can I say to convince you to attend next year’s School of Christian Mission? (SOCM) This was my first time to attend the SOCM. A great part of the incen-tive was the fact that was practically in my backyard, my hometown of Greencastle, IN, on the campus of DePauw University. Thinking back on the whole ex-perience, I had a great time!! Ini-tially, I didn’t really understand what to expect at SOCM. I received some books and knew there was a praise and worship service to be held early at our church, Gobin Memorial UMC, so I was looking forward to those things. The rest was sort of unknown to me. It didn’t take me long to learn

several things: 1) Read the books be-fore you attend , 2) Read the books before you attend, 3) Read the books before you attend, 4) You will get out of it what you put into it, and 5) There are so many amazing women within our Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Women. I greatly enjoyed my class un-der the leadership of Rev. Bob Epps, where we discussed the book Joy to the World: Mission in the Age of Global Christianity. This study made us think about Christianity outside of our own backyard and got the class to appreciate and think globally about the various ways people wor-shiped in the past as well as today. Rev. David V. W. Owen did a won-derful job leading the entire body of women in The Journey: Forgive-

ness, Restorative Justice, and Rec-

onciliation. This “class” taught us how to promote reconciliation and justice in a small group setting. It gives people the opportunity to speak and heal in a positive, non-threatening manner. It was a VERY powerful technique that led to many significant moments for participants within my small group. The music led by Mina Keohane was wonderful, inspiring, and for me as a music-lover, just awesome! It was wonderful to hear so many voices lifted up in praise of our Lord. Finally, the camaraderie and friendships I made really inspired me and lifted my spirit. I was definitely tired after the week, but I was also uplifted. Next year, I’ll be bringing my boys too! Denise Thede