On July 3, the congregation at Wylie UMC blessed the church's new portico, then declared its independence from the first loan note of its mortgage by burning it. "One [loan note] down," said Finance Chairman Cary Betts, "Two to go!" Wylie UMC is led by the Rev. Kathryn Strempke.

The North Texas Conference Lay Speaking Ministries will present “The Organization and Polity of the United Methodist Church” at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 13 and 30 at Lovers Lane UMC, 9200 Inwood Road, Dallas, Texas 75220.

Designed for the laity, both lifelong members and those new to the denomination, the course focuses on the organization and structure of The United Methodist Church. It will also introduce participants to The Book of Discipline.

For more information please contact Susan Grant at 469-438-4164 or susangrant@aol.com.

From Bogata to Burkburnett
by Richard Hearne

On a recent Monday night, I had the blessing of attending a concert by the NTC Connections Band at a benefit for Ann Michele King, the daughter of our friend and colleague, the Rev. Rusty King.

Ann Michele, a beautiful young woman in her early 20s, has been battling liver cancer for several years. The benefit raised funds to help the King family offset the tremendous costs of the medical treatments that Ann Michele has undergone. She told more than 1,000 people in attendance that she is now going to M.D. Anderson for treatment and that she is assured God is in control and her faith and the prayers of her family of friends and the NTC are sustaining her.

At the end of the concert, I told Ann Michele that I, too, have had my life impacted by the “Big C,” and I encouraged her to not give up. For some reason, I know that my counsel was not necessary. Ann Michele is not the type of person to give up.

I know that the purpose of my articles is to discuss issues facing the NTC and The United Methodist Church, but I am going to discuss something much more personal to me in the hope that it will assist Ann Michele and others who have been impacted by cancer (it is such a terrible word to even mention or write).

Support bracelets say, “No one fights alone.”

Photo courtesy of www.choosehope.com

The Rev. Sheron Patterson, also a cancer survivor, encouraged me to write this article in hopes that it will provide encouragement for others who are facing or will face a diagnosis of cancer.

The irony of this is that the day after speaking encouraging words to Ann Michele and praying for her, I visited my oncologist for the final checkup of my second year after completion of my chemo treatments.

This is a very important date for me because my form of cancer, bladder cancer, will normally return in the first two years; after passing that important date, a patient can consider himself in remission.

So the prayers that many of you have offered up over the past 2½ years have helped me to survive this dreaded disease.I could not have made it without my wife, my family and the hundreds of you who prayed for me, sent me cards of encouragement and prayer blankets, and responded to my Caringbridge page.

My journey as a cancer victim appears to be ending, thanks be to God, and yet I feel so close to Ann Michele as a fellow traveler as she trusts in her God and the medical profession.

I encourage each of you who are reading this column to take two actions on behalf of Ann Michele. First, pray for her daily – I know that prayer works. Second, consider continuing to assist with the financial burden the King family is facing.

I was so lucky with my diagnosis – I was over 65 and had coverage provided by Medicare and a supplemental policy that I purchased. A family should not have to face financial ruin to provide proper medical attention for a family member. If you have donated, thank you, and please consider donating again. If you have not donated, please consider sending a check payable to Rusty King, 5804 Edinburg Drive, Richardson, TX 75082.

I leave you with my favorite scripture for one who has dealt with cancer: Romans 5:3-5. God bless each of you, and God bless Ann Michele.

Richard Hearne is Lay Leader of the North Texas Conference, which stretches from just this side of Bogata to just that side of Burkburnett. E-mail him at rbhearne@sbcglobal.net.

By ANNETTE CRAZE STEPHENS
Special Contributor

Blake Sill enjoys some pizza. Oak Grove UMC of Decatur is a supporter of the camp.

Photo by Annette Craze Stephens

Oak Grove United Methodist Church of Decatur recently participated in the 13th annual Sonflower Camp, held at the Joe Wheeler Park pavilion each year. The camp, founded by Andrea Duwe of Greenwood, is for children with mental or physical disabilities. More than 200 people – 90 campers and 110 helpers – participated in the June camp.

Oak Grove and other churches, civic organizations, and businesses provided food and snacks for the children during their three-day camping adventure, followed by a fun-filled celebration in the pool on the closing day.

Monday, June 6, was Firefighter Appreciation Day, with the Decatur Fire and Police Departments, Wise County EMS and Lifestar Helicopter taking part. Each camper got a fireman’s hat and badge. Other activities Monday included arts and crafts, games, music, Flower the Clown, a storyteller from the library, a bounce house and a train provided by the Decatur Lions Club.

Tuesday was Patriotic Day, with activities such as water games, music, a juggler, a ventriloquist and a balloon artist. A Decatur auto dealer provided two sports cars so that campers could sit behind the wheel, honk the horn and have their pictures taken.

Wednesday was Wild West Day, with participants wearing bandanas, cowboy hats and mustaches. Jessie the Singing Cowgirl (Devon Dawson) and Wise County fiddler Jess Meador entertained the campers. Activities included a hayride and a petting zoo with animals from a local pet store, along with dogs, goats, sheep, chickens, miniature donkeys, mules and kittens brought by others.

The children also got to paint on one of the paint horses.

On Friday, the campers capped off the week with water play at Fit-N-Wise Aquatic Center in Decatur.

This year’s camp was dedicated to Josh Houston of Bridgeport and Ruby Wyatt of Decatur, who both passed away on Christmas Eve.

By SUZANNE STABILE
Special Contributor

Suzanne Stabile has chosen the word liminal to describe the church at transformation’s doorstep.

Photo by Suzanne Stabile

Suzanne Stabile, a teacher and director of retreats, offers a unique approach to spiritual formation. A master teacher of the Enneagram, an analysis of personality types and how they interact, Stabile draws upon her educational background at Southern Methodist University and her experience as a mother of four, a social worker and a minister’s spouse. She and her husband, Joseph, are the founders of Life in the Trinity Ministry and the Micah Center in Dallas.

In an era of curt sound bites, too many catch phrases and a plethora of options, why would you choose a word like liminal to entice people to give up a Saturday in the Texas summer heat to be with people they don’t know to discuss something they never heard of? The answer: Because it is one of the best words we can find to describe the status of mainline denominational churches.

Author Phyllis Tickle, speaking at the Associated Church Press Convention in 2008, described the cyclical upheaval of the church as a “semi-millennial giant rummage sale.”

“About every 500 years, the Christian church feels inclined to throw everything up in the air and see what happens,” she said. Those of us who are in ministry in mainline denominational churches, both lay and clergy, know that we are not what we were. According to William Willimon, a UMC Bishop in Alabama, the average age of both a United Methodist and UMC clergy is older than the national average, and our denomination has been decreasing in size for 40 years. The question is, will we lament or will we labor? And if we labor, where do we begin?

For me, I had to begin by defining where we find ourselves. I needed a word, an idea or a theory that could become a foundation for me, and I wanted it to represent hope. Liminality is my choice.

The Latin word limina means threshold. Father Richard Rohr, a Franciscan friar who founded the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, N.M., defines liminality as “a special psychic and spiritual space where all transformation happens.” It is when we are betwixt and between, when we are not in control, a place where questions are plentiful and answers elusive. Some have said liminality is perhaps the most teachable space and others say it seems that God intentionally led people, one after another, to similar threshold experiences.

Liminal Christianity:
The Sacred Place in Between

When: 9.a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Aug. 13
Where: Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth.
For information: www.lifeinthetrinityministry.com

If what is taking shape is going to endure into the next 500 years, we would be wise to get together from time to time to talk about it. That includes those active in the church and those who aren’t, as well as those who are hopeful and those who aren’t, to discuss our faith and our fear, our dreams and our emptiness, our past, present and future. Please come.

By SHERON C. PATTERSON

Alyce Goff contributed to Real Gusto Comes Later: How Professional Women Experience Retirement.

Photo by Sheron C. Patterson

Alyce Goff, 93 years young, has become a national advocate for flourishing in retirement. Now in her 31st year of retirement, she recently joined an assembly of women retirees and co-authored Real Gusto Comes Later: How Professional Women Experience Retirement. The book was edited by Freddie L. Groomes-McLendon, and published by SokheChapke Publishing.

Goff is a professionally trained musician whose career after retirement has outdistanced her working career. Over the years, she has been a grade school music teacher, high school music teacher, college choir director and more. Goff is an active lay member of Glen Oaks UMC and the widow of the Rev. Garrett J. Goff, a UMC clergy from the Central Texas Annual Conference. Together, they raised a blended family of five sons and daughters.

Never one to sit still, Goff keeps a full calendar by playing piano for her church and has been the pianist for a touring volunteer singing group, the South Dallas Community Choir, for 18 years. The group makes about 30 appearances yearly at nursing homes, churches and recreation centers.

Goff slowed down to talk with the UMR about the chapter she wrote in the book, “Achieving Real Gusto Through the Performing Arts,” and how she remains energetic.

Why did you write about retirement?

I am a living witness that gusto comes later in life. I never wanted to slow down.

Retirement just meant that I had more time to do what I really wanted to do, that’s all. Music and the related activities put real gusto in my life. My retirement years have spanned three decades; the book takes you through each one, and it is not over yet. You write about gusto. Tell us how you achieve it.

I achieve real gusto by tickling the ivories almost every day.

I have been playing the piano since I was 8 years old and have never stopped. This God-given talent has opened doors for me and allowed me to make a difference in the world. It keeps me from being bored and restless. There is always something to do.

Meet the author

Alyce Goff will discuss her book, life after retirement and play piano selections at a free event at 7 p.m. Aug. 5 at Glen Oaks UMC, 4606 S. Polk St., Dallas, Texas 75232. For more information, call 214-376-6404.

At 93, you are in demand as a pianist, you drive yourself and have no major health concerns. How do you account for that?

I have always made it my business to locate and associate with other people who were active.

I discovered that like-minded people are good to associate with.

Also, note that I was not hindered by relocations. We must use the gifts we have for God’s glory wherever we are. Retirement and age do not diminish the gift.

Frankly Speaking by Frank Alegria

“Trust in the Lord,” Proverbs 3:5-6

If you had told me eight months ago that I would be sitting in the North Central District Superintendent’s office on the third floor of a bank building in Richardson, Texas, with my family unpacking “blue boxes” in a district parsonage in McKinney, I would have said, “You have got to be kidding.”

Being clergy, we know we are itinerate and appointed one year at a time, although sometimes an assignment may stretch several years.

First, we are honored to be in the North Texas Conference and to serve alongside folks seeking to be faithful to God and God’s call upon our lives.

Second, we are holding the “fear factor” in check with prayer and getting acclimated to the community.

We have found a great community in McKinney, where the district parsonage is located. Milton and Kathy Guttierrez were gracious hosts to my wife and me during the transitional period as he moves into retirement.

I thank God for their gift of hospitality and friendship.

Seeing the blessings

Being a District Superintendent, 14 days into the official status, has had its challenges, but all appointments have challenges and blessings.

As one church member said recently, “If it wasn’t for the many good days, we could not make it through the bad ones.”

I have had the privilege of visiting several churches in the district.

I have had one church conference in Argyle and one forthcoming at First UMC Denton.

My family has worshipped in several churches and experienced a welcoming spirit.

The scripture text from Proverbs has been one that has constantly reminded me that we are to seek God’s direction when we trust, acknowledge and fully rely our entire being on God. Somehow, God will guide us. As a local church, district, Annual Conference and general church, be reminded of trusting God, loving God and God’s people, and relying on His son as Savior and Lord.

Post-it positivity

I am a Post-it person. I will come across a saying, phrase or inspirational thought that I will write down and stick a Post-it around my computer monitor. Here are two I want to share with you:

“Connected to: Your Creator, through your church, to your community, through your commitment.”

Lastly, but never the last for those who know me: “I would rather attempt something great and fail than to attempt to do nothing and succeed.

Expect great things

Richey Hogg, professor at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University years ago, would often quote, “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.”

I look forward to this journey with you.

Together, let us trust God, love God, attempt great things for God and expect even greater things from God.

You are blessed to be a blessing. Shalom + Paz + Pax + Peace.

By PEARL CANTRELL
Mabank Monitor

CHEROKEE SHORES – A movement is afoot in the largest subdivision in the Payne Springs area in East Texas – an area often associated with drug arrests and other police activity.

But this movement is one aimed at building community and fostering good will. It’s called Love’s Outreach, and, its monthly activities draw about 200 people to Cherokee Shores’ main park.

“We’ve been doing this every third Saturday for about a year and a half,” said John Van Horn of First UMC Mabank. “I just felt God was calling me to this. We wanted to reach out locally.”

On the third Saturday, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., about 40 people from the church and a few from Sinner’s Hope Baptist and Payne Springs UMC put on a hamburger/hot dog barbecue with beans and potato salad, cold drinks and dessert for 200 to 250 people. They also invite representatives from the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Friends of the Animals spay and neuter program and God’s Helping Hand, among others, to join them in passing out information and talking to the residents.

Some of the hosts, like Allison Partridge, organize games for youth, such as flag football. Others man a booth giving away Bibles and devotional materials, school supplies, clothing and food baskets, depending on the season.

“We come rain or shine,” Van Horn said. “We picked this area because of the great opportunity and facility here on the park grounds.”

The fellowship is open to anyone who wants to join in building a community. It’s part of the New Day Community, directed by Dr. Elaine Heath of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University.

“Our main goal is to show God’s love and forgiveness and share with our neighbors God’s love and praise,” he said.

Children play on a tire swing (above) at the monthly gathering in Cherokee Shores’ main park.

Photo by the Mabank Monitor

The Rev. Chris Schoolcraft, former pastor at Mabank UMC, said it’s all about forging trusting relationships and helping one another. “They’ve come to know us and trust us. We can both just be ourselves,” he said.

Recently, the church has opened a house in the neighborhood for use by the community.

After school, it serves as a place where school kids can be supervised and helped with their homework. In the evenings, it will be used to house a Celebrate Recovery program, overseen by Larry DeLong.

“It’s a 12-step program to help motivated individuals to sustain freedom from drug or alcohol abuse,” he said.

“On Sunday mornings, we hope to use the house as a house church, too,” Schoolcraft said. The house and its property were donated to the church, and members have given time and money renovating it, he added.

Payne Springs church members Sharon and Mike McCraw have faithfully provided take-home snack packages for children attending the Saturday picnics each month.

Though the members of the Mabank church have made a significant commitment to the people of Cherokee Shores, it didn’t start with them, but on two fronts by two women of vision.

Two years ago, Jean Small of Payne Springs First UMC sent out 50 letters to area churches inviting them to join an effort to establish a mission to help the needy in the area.

Residents of Cherokee Shores play horseshoes at the barbecue held the third Saturday of every month. About 200-250 typically gather for the Love Outreach activities, whose sponsors include First UMC Mabank and Payne Springs UMC.

Photo by the Mabank Monitor

The Methodist church in Mabank was one of the few that responded. She wanted to model it on the Sunday morning mission that Sinner’s Hope conducts in the Dallas area.

“I’m 92, and I go out there and just visit with the people who come and see how they’re doing and bring out clothes and different things they might need,” Small said.

On another front, Dorothea Guinn, hired by the Cherokee Shores Property Owners Association, had started AOK Fellowship (AOK stands for Acts of Kindness).

Through her work and help from Lowe’s and Walmart and churches, improvements were made to the park, including picnic tables, benches and playground equipment.

Anyone interested in learning more about Love’s Outreach may call the Mabank church at 903-887-3691.