october 2019 - pen-del.orgdistrict/october+2019.pdf · october 12, 2019 intentional discipleship...
TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 2019 Dover District
Newsletter
To Launch 50 Days of Prayer to Invite the Holy Spirit
It is mindboggling to feel helpless about so much change being made in my own personal and family life, around churches and in the world. It is just a scary feeling that such change may hit me to the core of my being. This makes me PRAY. I am anxious and disturbed by potential radical changes ahead of our denomination. This makes me PRAY. I am in desperate need of the power of the Holy Spirit to be who God wants me to be.
What would you do when you are being pushed into areas where you have never been before? I would pray. I would have a prayer plan that will lead me to be intentional about prayer. Through my own praying of the Book of Acts, I came to believe in praying with my sisters and brothers to claim the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit. Since I feel weak and often distracted, I need to be surrounded by the fellow Christians who inspire me to keep praying. When we pray collectively to invite the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God speaks to us. Yes, the Spirit speaks to us! We hear such voice of God as, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19) And the Holy Spirit empowers us to accept the times of good or bad changes as those of healthy and good disturbance from God. The Spirit will prepare us for needed shifts into a new way of thinking and practicing in all the aspects of life, ministry and mission. Such shifts cannot be programmed, but it happens only when we allow things to happen in response to the Holy Spirit of God through prayers.
It is high time we should come together to meet such God who is doing a new thing and making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. DO NOT miss out on the opportunities of communing with God as you neglect to invite the Holy Spirit into your life and church. So, I invite all of you to join in our district’s major spiritual drive of praying for 50 days based on the book of Dr. Terry Teykl, Acts 29: 50 Days of Prayer to Invite the Holy Spirit. We will launch it at the Oct. 26th Revival Prayer Day at Gethsemane UMC that will last through the Christmas season. You will learn how your church can launch this prayer drive on our district prayer day. You will hear the testimonies of fellow believers who have seen God doing a new thing and making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland through their intentional prayer plan. During the 50 days, we will collect the testimonies from churches so we all may share and claim the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit in our midst. COME and EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT on the Oct. 26th Revival Prayer Day! Rev. Dr. Kyung Hee Sa
The Dover District Board of Laity held a lay banquet to recognize lay leaders of the churches in the district at Whatcoat UMC in Dover on Sept. 28, 2019. Many church
members along with their lay leaders participated in the banquet to celebrate God's grace and blessings on their faithfulness. It turned out to be a love-filled,
Spirit filled feast with praises, lunch and recognition of such gifted and devoted lay leaders. The Bishop Johnson gave a message to encourage the lay leadership in
our churches
Celebrating Lay Leaders
Amy (A): Good Afternoon Pastor Hurley. What a beautiful day for a meeting in the park.
Pastor Hurley (PH): Hello, yes it is.
A: Did you grow up in Delaware?
PH: Yes. I went to Holy Cross High School and shortly after moved to Florida. While I was there a
friend invited me to see a live Easter play. Something touched me that day and I just dove right in. I
made the decision to move back to Delaware and live a life of service to God.
Trinity UMC Sardis UMC Saxton UMC
A: Can you tell me about the churches you serve?
PH: I serve 3 churches, Trinity (Frederica), Sardis (S. Bowers) and Saxton (N. Bowers). All three are
relatively small churches. In fact, Saxton has a weekly attendance of 6-12. but we Praise the Lord in BIG
ways.
A: Do you like serving three churches? Isn’t it time consuming?
PH: I love it. I wouldn’t know what to do with only one service.
A: Speaking of time, what do you enjoy when you have time for yourself?
PH: I do enjoy photography, and canning, but most of my time is spent enjoying church activities. I
find it fun and enjoy my time in fellowship with my Christian friends. I am also very involved with the
Walk to Emmaus, and serve as a leader there.
What an absolute Blessing this monthly article has been for me. I met Pastor
Hurley at a picnic table in a park for our interview, but it turned out, not to be
just an interview, but the beginning of what I hope to be a lifelong friendship.
Thank You Jesus! Thank You Lord! Pastor Hurley and I talked for hours. The fol-
lowing only touches on the Blessings that the Lord bestowed upon us this day. I
hope you are all Blessed by Pastor Hurley as much as I was.
Amy Willey
Dover District Administrative Assistant
A: I have tasted your homemade salsa and I must say it was extraordinary! I understand you re-
cently went on a Pilgrimage. Can you tell me about that?
PH: Actually, I applied for a scholarship to go on a 12 day trip to England and was taken by com-
plete surprise when I got a letter that I was going. My 3 churches and the district office pitched in and
helped me fund the balance of the trip.
A: Please tell me about the trip.
PH: It was the John Wesley Pilgrimage to England. We spent 12 glorious days walking in the steps of
John Wesley from his birth to his death. It was completely amazing.
Wesley's tombstone
Plaque at Christ Church, Oxford England
A: The last thing I would like to ask you is if you could share your favorite scripture with us?
PH: It is not so much a scripture, but words I try to live my life by:
A: Is there anything else you would like us to know about you?
PH: I would like to tell you how blessed I am to be serving these three churches. We have a lot go-
ing on. We provide a place for AA meetings at all 3 churches, We are teamed with the Lake Forest
School District to provide a Good News Club at the school and we have also at work with Team Jesus
(out of Dover), which is a wonderful program to feed local people. (please see flyer on page 14).
A: These are all amazing community programs. Thank You for talking with me today and Thank
You for your service.
John & Charles Wesley Stained Glass in Epworth
Church Infamous Circuit Rid-er Statue in Bristol
England
October 12, 2019 Intentional Discipleship Workshop
Whatcoat UMC—Camden
8:30am-12:30pm
October 26, 2019 Revival Prayer Day #8
Seaford-Reliance Gethsemane UMC
9:00am-3:00pm
November 15, 2019 Dover District Lay Academy
Avenue UMC, Milford
6:00—9:00 pm
November 16, 2019 Dover District Lay Academy
Avenue UMC, Milford
8:30 am-3:30 pm
January 18, 2020 Impactful Service Workshop
Mt. Olivet UMC, Seaford
8:30am-12:30pm
February 8, 2020 Lay Leadership Training
Avenue UMC, Milford
TBD
April 25, 2020 Extravagant Generosity Workshop
Smyrna Centennial UMC
8:30am-12:30pm
UPCOMING DISTRICT EVENTS
2019 Dover District Clergy Gatherings
October 30, 2019 Rehoboth Beach - Epworth
December 4, 2019 Laurel - Centenary
All gatherings start with Worship from 10:00 am to 12 noon with
lunch to follow. We look forward to seeing all Dover District Pastors
in attendance!
Special thanks to our host churches who make our District Clergy
Gatherings possible by cheerfully hosting with hospitality!
On Sunday September 8th the churches of the Blades Charge (Asbury UMC & Blades UMC) held "Back To School Sunday." We celebrated the start of the new
school year while offering prayers for teachers, students and all school staff. Several teachers from Blades Elementary accepted our invitation along with students and
teachers in our extended church families. (Picture is after the service at Blades UMC with teachers and students in attendance along with Pastor Kevin Wells.
“A Day Away at Camp Pecometh”
We had beautiful weather for our Day Away at Camp Pecometh on Saturday August 24th. Fourteen members of Mt. Olivet were able to take advantage of a last-minute opportunity to use the retreat facility. We spent time enjoying each other, enjoying the weather, and getting a preview of the work that we will all be doing together in the fall. As we learned about John and Charles Wesley, we realized that it is important to us to do what we can to help people experience how deeply God loves and values each of us.
Dover District Office 30 Loockerman Plaza
Dover, DE 19901
Phone: 302-526-2629
Fax: 302-526-2473
Rev. Dr. Kyung Hee Sa
Dover District Superintendent
e-mail: [email protected]
Amy Willey
Administrative Assistant
e-mail: [email protected]
Office Hours:
Monday—Thursday
7:30 am—3:00 pm
Friday: Closed
Peninsula-Delaware
Conference
The United Methodist Church
Bishop Felton Edwin May
Resource Center
139 N. State Street
Dover, DE 19901
Website: www.pen-del.org
Phone: 302-674-2626
Toll Free: 1-877-736-3351
Presiding Bishop Bishop Peggy A. Johnson
PO Box 820
Valley Forge, PA 19482
We want to know what is
happening in our district and
We need your help!
We are blessed and inspired when our local churches share stories of success and joy in
mission and ministry.
Please share the events and
activities at your Church by
emailing your stories and photos to:
[email protected] and add Newsletter to the subject line.
Deadline for the October issue is September 23rd .