July 2018 Charge Happenings€¦ · 07-07-2018 · basic and undeniable doctrines of the Christian...
Transcript of July 2018 Charge Happenings€¦ · 07-07-2018 · basic and undeniable doctrines of the Christian...
July 2018 Charge
Happenings
****NEW**** Worship Times: Stitzer – 8:30 a.m. 11542 Kluckhohn St Stitzer, WI 53825 Livingston – 9:45 a.m.
415 Woodward Ave Livingston, WI 53554
Arthur – 11:00 a.m.
473 Center Street Platteville, WI 53554
Website: www.lsaumc.org
Invite your friends to like us on Facebook at: “Livingston, Arthur & Stitzer United Methodist Churches” and our children’s ministry page at: “Kingdom Kids Ministry”
Hello!
This month is all about Vacation Bible School (VBS)!
On Sunday mornings we are focusing in on the
Biblical story the kids will be learning while at VBS.
Our churches are getting transformed into deserted
islands for our Shipwrecked VBS where kids will
learn that they can be rescued by Jesus.
Our sign-up sheets are up for snacks and dinner.
Please take a look at how you can donate to VBS. If
food donations are not for you, feel free to donate
monetarily.
Stitzer VBS is July 9-12th from 5:00-8:30 pm. (A
light dinner will be served while kids are there.)
Livingston VBS is July 29th-Aug 2nd from
5:45-8:45 pm. Free dinner will be served at 5:00 pm.
The month of VBS is also a great time to invite
families to come to our churches for a week of fun
and learning about Jesus. It is an easy way for
people to learn more about our churches and for
them to feel connected.
Who can you invite to our VBS? Who do you know
that you can say “I’ll meet you at church, eat dinner
with you, and help your kids get registered for
VBS?” Personal invitation is the best way to connect
people with our churches.
Looking forward to seeing you at VBS!
Pastor Ty
Livingston UMW’s Music Night with
Randy Warne Tuesday, July 17th at 7:00 p.m.
at the Livingston UMC
Everyone is welcome to attend and enjoy an evening of
music and fun! A light lunch will follow the program.
Family Promise Week
Volunteers will be needed the week of July 22 – 28. Please
keep your Monday, Wednesday & Thursday open to help!
Helping our Communities
Fennimore Food Pantry
Stitzer collects items for the
Fennimore Food Pantry. Items
needed most are: oatmeal, peas,
canned fruit, cream of chicken
soup, cereal & toilet paper.
They also take any non-perishables,
cleaning or paper products. Place donations
in the basket in the back of the church.
Mobile Second Harvest Food Pantry
at Ss Anthony and Philip Church
Livingston collects donations for the
Mobile Second Harvest Food Pantry in
Highland. This month the personal care
item is Body Wash (16-18oz) or
Bath Bar (4 oz). Donations are to be
placed in the wicker basket in the church
entryway. Thank you to Mary Sue Divine
for delivering the items.
July 9-12 – Stitzer VBS from 5:00 – 8:30 pm
July 17 – Livingston UMW Music Night at 7 pm at Livingston UMC
July 22-28 – Family Promise Week
July 29-Aug 2 – Livingston VBS from 5:45 – 8:45 pm, Dinner served at 5 pm
This Month in Livingston
Worship at 9:45am Greeters: Rogstad & Connolly Families Ushers: Rod & Lavon Allen Acolyte: Maddy Rogstad & Hope Connolly Special Music: July 1 – Communion July 8 – Isaiah Hines July 22 – Kleist kids July 2 – Council Meeting at 6pm July 17 – UMW Music Night with Randy & Nikki Warne 7pm
This Month in Stitzer Worship at 8:30am
No UMW this month No Council Meeting this month
VBS from 5:00-8:30 pm – July 9-12 This Month in Arthur Worship at 11:00am
Anniversaries
July 2 – Gilbert & Cindy Knutson
July 3 – Ryan & Anne Hill
July 3 – Ben & Cara Biddick
July 6 – Jamie & Theresa Braudt
July 17 – Terry & Trina Slack
July 19 – Mike & Sharon Mueller
July 20 – Brian & Sarah Grunenwald
July 21 – Herbert & Kathy Schultz
July 22 – Max & Mary Edge
If you or anyone you know is missing from the calendar, please contact Beth at the office: 943-6606. We want to celebrate you!
VBS Sign-up Sheets
Now in the entryway! Check them out
& sign-up to help with snack & supper
donations! Or give monetary
donations to Michele.
VBS Prep Nights
We still need lots of help to make
our church an island where kids
will learn they are rescued by
Jesus! Please come join us in
transforming our church!
Come from 6 – 8 pm every
Sunday night in July!
Items Needed for VBS:
-Brown packing paper (of any amount)
-Boxes, LOTS of boxes (of any shape or size!)
Items to Borrow for VBS:
-thick, brown rope for decoration
-lanterns
If you have any of these items & are willing to let us
use them, please mark them with your name (if you
want them back) and leave them in the entryway at
church! Thank you!
Color some VBS buddies!
DEAR PARENTS:
Send your kids on an impacting island adventure!
At Shipwrecked VBS, kids discover how Jesus rescues us through life’s storms. Shipwrecked
is filled with incredible Bible-learning experiences kids see, hear, touch and even taste!
Sciency-Fun GizmosTM, team-building games, cool Bible songs and tasty treats are just a few
of the standout activities that help faith flow into real life. (Since everything is hands-on,
kids might get a little messy. Be sure to send them in play clothes and safe shoes.) Plus,
we’ll help kids discover how to see evidence of God in everyday life – something we call God
Sightings. Get ready to hear that phrase a lot!
Your kids will also have the opportunity to support the poor and orphaned in Haiti in Jesus'
name through a local non-profit organization called Schools 4 Haiti.
Parents, grandparents, and friends are invited to join us at Sail Away Sendoff each evening
at 8:20 p.m., a daily exploration of our Jesus’ rescue!
So, mark these dates on your calendar: Sunday July 29th - Thursday August 2nd. The fun
starts at 5:45 p.m. and will end at 8:45 p.m. There will also be a FREE dinner served to
participants and their families at 5 p.m. in the church fellowship hall.
Registration forms can be found at the Livingston United Methodist Church lobby or the
Livingston public library, or you can call the church office at 943-6606. VBS is open to
children age 4 to those who have finished 5th Grade. If you have a child older than that who
doesn't want to miss the excitement, let us know and we can use them as a helper! Your
children will not want to miss this life-changing adventure!
Sincerely,
Michele Wetter
Your Shipwrecked VBS Director
2018 Livingston VBS REGISTRATION FORM
July 29th-August 2nd
5:45 p.m.-8:45 p.m.
(FREE dinner served at 5 pm for participants & families)
Livingston United Methodist Church ~ 415 Woodward Ave
Child's Name: ___________________________________ Child's gender: _____________
Child's age: _______ Date of birth: _____________ Last school grade completed: ________
Name of parent(s): _________________________________________________________
Street address: ___________________________________________________________
City: _________________________________ State: _____________ Zip: ___________
Home telephone: (______) _____________ Parent's cell: (______) ___________________
Home email address: _______________________________________________________
Home church: ____________________________________________________________
Any special circumstances/requests: ___________________________________________
I give Livingston UMC permission to post and/or print my child/children’s photograph or video
on newsletters, bulletins, Facebook, or Church website. Yes____ No____ (Must check one)
Allergies or other medical conditions: ___________________________________________
In case of emergency, contact: ____________________________________
Phone: _______________________________________________________
Relationship to child: ____________________________________________
[Church use only] Crew number: ____________________
WHERE IS THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH HEADED? (PART 3)
From the Desk of Mike Mueller – Livingston Administrative Council Chairman
First we had some United Methodist history. Then we had some United Methodist polity. Now some context for
the question- where is the UMC headed?
When the Methodist Church and Evangelical United Brethren denominations merged in 1968 to form the
United Methodist Church, a study commission was appointed with the thought it would come up with a new set
of doctrinal standards. Even though the Methodist Church and EUB Church were related to one another because
of a similar history (They both were offspring of John Wesley’s ministry, teaching, and theology.), each had its
own set of doctrinal standards. The 1968 General Conference appointed a study commission thinking the study
commission would present the next General Conference with a new set of doctrinal standards.
The study commission surprised the 1972 General Conference when it proposed that the UMC retain both the
EUB and Methodist doctrinal statements without making any changes to either one. The proposal was adopted
along with a new “Theological Statement” for the UMC. The new Theological Statement embraced what is
called “Theological Pluralism”. Like the pluralism that was influencing our culture (Cultural pluralism
maintains all ideas, philosophies, etc are true, and we must accept all as being valid.) Theological Pluralism
resulted in the development of a smorgasbord of theologies within Christianity: liberation theology (influenced
by Marxist thought), feminist theology (influenced by feminist thought), process theology (influenced by
pantheistic thought and a denial of the divine inspiration of Scripture), and other theologies. These new
theologies found their way into the UMC. These different theologies certainly contained some Christian truth,
but they also embraced ideas that were outside of what the entire Christian Church has understood to be the
basic and undeniable doctrines of the Christian faith. See the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed. The late
Anglican theologian, Dr. John Stott pointed out the effect pluralism had upon Christianity in an interview in
1998, “Religious pluralism is an affirmation of the validity of every religion, and the refusal to choose between
them, and the rejection of world evangelism….” As new theologies came to the fore and began to be accepted
and taught by UM Seminaries the UMC became fragmented in theology and in mission because we no longer
adhered, as a united denomination, to what was understood to be traditional Christianity.
At the same time new theologies were making their influence upon the UMC, its seminaries and its clergy, the
1970’s also saw the establishment of caucuses (special interest groups) within the UMC. Some of those groups
are: Methodist Federation for Social Action, Good News, Reconciling Congregations Network, Black
Methodists for Church Renewal (BMCR), Methodists Associated Representing the Cause of Hispanic
Americans (MARCHA), Native American International Caucus (NAIC), National Federation of Asian
American United Methodists (NFAAUM), United Methodist Queer Clergy Caucus (UMQCC), Transforming
Congregations, and National Hmong Caucus of the United Methodist Church to name a few. The proliferation
of so many caucus groups within our denomination has caused some to label this as “caucus Methodism.” And
critics began to say our denomination looked more like a large political party with various constituencies,
instead of a church with core beliefs and a common mission/ministry.
Another 1960’s, 1970’s influence upon Christianity and the UMC, was a relaxing of moral standards within the
non-religious culture. What precipitated this relaxation was a shift from regarding truth to be absolute and
knowable to the acceptance of the philosophical idea that truth is relative and not knowable. Consequently,
moral values came to be understood as relative as well and were no longer considered to be absolute. This
change affected the thinking and the culture of the developed Western nations and societies in many areas of
life including abortion, divorce, sex before and outside of marriage, the definition/makeup of a family, the
definition of marriage, human sexuality, ethics, government laws, regulations and policy, to name a few.
At the 1988 General Conference a new theological statement for the UMC was adopted in response to the
perceived confusion about what United Methodist’s actually believed and stood for. This new theological
statement removed the term “theological pluralism”, refocused our denomination on our Wesleyan theological
heritage, and re-affirmed the primacy of Scripture as our authority for preaching, teaching and living our
Christian faith and life. Theological pluralism had already taken root within the UMC when the 1988 General
Conference voted to remove it and so there were some within the UMC who were not accepting of its removal
from the UMC Theological Statement. This, in combination with caucus Methodism, and the differences
created by seeing truth and morality as relative in juxtapose to understanding truth and morality as absolute
created some major differences in understandings of Scriptural authority, interpretation of Scripture, who Jesus
Christ is, and the mission of the UMC.
In last month’s newsletter, Pastor Ty mentioned UM’s are encouraged to use reason, experience and tradition
when studying the Bible. These four elements (Scripture, reason, tradition and experience) are what is known as
the “Wesleyan Quadrilateral”, a methodology for theological reflection and development. John Wesley never
used the term. He used the Anglican theological tradition which emphasized Scripture, reason and tradition for
theological development, and in addition to those three Wesley added experience. Thus for us as United
Methodists, “Scripture is considered the primary source and standard for Christian doctrine. Tradition is
experience and the witness of development and growth of the faith through the past centuries and in many
nations and cultures. Experience is the individual's understanding and appropriating of the faith in the light of
his or her own life. Through reason the individual Christian brings to bear on the Christian faith discerning and
cogent thought. These four elements taken together bring the individual Christian to a mature and fulfilling
understanding of the Christian faith and the required response of worship and service.” (From A Dictionary for
United Methodists, Abingdon Press)
This move back to the primacy of Scripture by the 1988 General Conference was in response to what some
would call theological confusion within the UMC and in response to the efforts by some within our
denomination to change our denomination’s position on human sexuality. For the past 45 years the UMC
denomination has been discussing and debating the issue of human sexuality, and what should our
denomination’s position and response be to the issue of human sexuality as an organized church. This same
debate and discussion has been going on within society and within many other denominations. In our
denomination the debates and discussions have not just included American United Methodists, but also United
Methodists from Africa, Europe, and Asia because we are connected to one another by means of our
denomination’s structure and government.
This is an important factor to remember because while the UMC in the United States has been declining by at
least five per cent every year for the past twenty years, the UMC in Africa and Asia has been growing at a much
higher rate than our United States decline. Here are some real numbers: in 1968 there were 11 million UMC
members in the United States and by 2016 UMC membership in the United States had fallen to 7 million-but,
worldwide UMC membership grew to 12.5 million worldwide because of church growth outside of the United
States. At this pace UM’s in the United States will be a minority within the UMC worldwide in a few short
years.
The consequence for UM’s in the United States is we are losing our political clout when it comes to influencing
what is in our denomination’s Book of Discipline-the book by which we as UM’s are governed. Remember, the
number of delegates that an Annual Conference or Central Conference sends to General Conference is based
upon church membership within the Annual Conference or the Central Conference. As UMC membership has
declined in the United States, so has the number of delegates sent to General Conference from the United States
has declined. Across the ocean, as UMC membership has increased in Africa and Asia, so has the number of
delegates sent to General Conference from that part of the world has increased. UM’s from Africa and Asia are
more conservative on theological issues and social issues than U.S UM’s, so they vote differently than many
U.S. UM’s. This reality has already affected what has been added or retained in our Book of Discipline over the
past forty plus years and will affect the future direction of the United Methodist Church in the years to come.
More “context” next month.