"Midweek and Time to Think About How We Think" Pastor Cindy's Devotion 04/03/2019

Lots of debates going on in our world right now and it has me thinking about why we think the way we do.  What forms and informs our positions?

Last week I ran across a website https://openmindplatform.org/get-started/.  The website has a five-step exercise to help us all understand how we think and why.  I encourage you to give it a try.  Use the drop-down memo to go to “Religious Organizations.”  And then just walk through the steps.  (A tip:  I always make up a fake name. This time I am “Zippy Tunes” age 23.)

I like to think I am a good thinker, but this really gave me something to think about.

I am really interested in how our thinking has so divided us.  Philippians 2 asks us to be of one mind.  That seems like an impossible task.  Can we be of one mind?  Maybe if that one mind is the mind of Christ?

Give it a try.  You might just discover you are riding an elephant.

Blessings,
Pastor Cindy
Pastor Cindy Hickman
West Des Moines United Methodist Church
720 Grand Ave
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
515-279-0826

Like us on Facebook or visit us at wdmumc.org

We worship on Sundays at 8:30 am in a traditional way and at 11:00 am in a casual way.  A group of people gathers at 5:00 pm for a worship service they call Catalyst.  This group is forming a response to the General Conference decision regarding Human Sexuality.  You are invited to any and all of these worship services.

This week at WDMUMC: 
Midweek Refuel Tonight!  Italian Chicken breasts are on the menu.  Supper begins at 5:30 pm.  Are you a musician?  The children’s bells and adult bells practice at 5:00 pm.  The children’s choirs meet at 5:30 pm The Praise Band meets at 6:00 pm and the choir meets at 7:30 pm and you are invited.
Girl, wash your face!  That’s the book Nourish our young women’s group will be reading.  Want to join in?  Contact Morganne at mreinboldt@wdmumc.org.  And “young” is a relative term—I read the book!

Habitat for Humanity!  Next Saturday WDMUMC will be working on the Habitat House at 817 7th.  You can sign up at https://gdmhabitat.secure.force.com/volunteer/VolunteersJobListingFSC?jobId=a0G6100000IlL5t

A note from Pastor Cindy:  Way last summer I asked people to bring baby pictures for our “Children of God” sermon series.  Some of those pictures were never picked up!  They are at the receptionist’s desk in a yellow folder.  Can you retrieve these adorable abandoned children?

Upcoming Charge Conference
Our Finance Committee and our Staff Parish Relations Committee (SPRC)  have reviewed the recommendations that were provided by the Visioning report last year.  Those recommendations make it clear that our church needs to be intentional about the future of our church.  Our District Superintendent Heecheon Jeon met with our Finance Committee last week and encouraged them to invest in the future vitality of our church.  After much discussion, the Finance Committee and the SPRC have recommended to the church council that we add an associate pastor to our staff.  The church council unanimously agreed.  Our current senior pastor would continue in her role.  The associate would invite and involve a new generation of leaders.

This is an exciting step toward future growth.

In order to do this, the SPRC and the Finance Committee will be reviewing our budget and determining what steps we need to take to make this possible.   This position was not in the budget when the budget was created in the fall, but both the SPRC and the Finance Committee feel that this is an important step in the long term viability of our church.  Your faithful giving makes the ministries of our church possible. 

Adding an associate position is a process, and according to our Book of Discipline, the next step in the process is a charge conference* which will be held on April 4 at 6:30.  The charge conference would be conducted by our District Superintendent.  Only members of the church council are eligible to vote.  If you are not a member of the church council but would like to have input on this decision contact Gary Norton, Church Council Chair, or Sue Brownlee, Church Council Vice-chair with your thoughts.  

Who will we be five, ten years from now?  We stand on the shoulders of thousands of faithful people who came before us.  They supported the church with their wisdom, their leadership, and their financial resources.  It is now our turn to faithfully offer our wisdom, leadership and financial support for those who will follow us.

Our visioning prayer this year is:  God, today let me faithfully live your story for my life, my church, and my community.  Amen.

Are we ready to enter a new chapter in our story?

(*A “church conference” allows all members to vote.  A “charge conference” limits the vote to only the church council.  This process requires a “charge conference.”)