Tuscarawas Connexions

NEWSLETTER OF THE TUSCARAWAS DISTRICT - UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

VOL. 19 NO. 2 March 2021

A MESSAGE FROM DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT REV. CARA STULTZ COSTELLO DISTRICT ~~~ SUPERINTENDENT’S TENTATIVE What a Friend we have in J esus, CALENDAR All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, MARCH O what needless pain we bear, 1—Sabbath All because we do not carry 2—District Finance Mtg, Small Group Everything to God in prayer! Conversations 1, 2, & 3, & Meeting w/a local church What a privilege to share prayer with you, my clergy 3—Small Group Conversations 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, colleagues. Many of us have come together over the last & 16, & Meeting w/ a local church week , and the others of us will in the weeks to come, 4—Small Group Conversations 9, 10, 11, 12, & 13, Youth Conversation Meeting, & meeting w/ a share prayer together after having considered the local church questions: 5—Small Group Conversations 14 & 15, Worship How is it with your soul? Recording, Mentoring Process Mtg, & Spiritual How are you sensing God with you? Direction Meeting, Called CC w/ a local church 7—Worship on the District & SPRC Meeting God is indeed present with us when we gather as a body 8—”Toward Healing the Harm” Webinar, CCM Board Meeting, Cabinet Regional group of Christ. I am grateful for this time with you. I am 9—Cabinet grateful for this time together with God . 10—Cabinet & meet w/church for special CC 11—Cabinet & Meeting with local church May you all know the presence and peace of God in this 12—District Strategizing & District Leadership season of . 14—Worship on the District & SPRC Meeting 15—Sabbath Rev. Cara 16—District Strategizing, Mtg w/ TR, TW, & WR DSes & Admins, Mtg w/local church SPR 17—Small Group Conversations 9,10,11,12,13 18—District Committee on Ministry 19—Prep for Spring District Conference 20—Spring District Conference & Leadership Training (Salem & Grace (Uhrichsville) 21—Worship on the District & Meet w/church 22—Sabbath 23 through 25—Cabinet 26—District Strategizing 28—Worship on the District 29—Sabbath 30—District Strategizing & Meeting with church 31—District Strategizing Page 2

Journeying Toward Wholeness: a Lenten Devotional from Tracy S. Malone

I have created a Lenten scripture and reflection calendar for the East Ohio Confer- ence. The theme is Journeying Toward Wholeness.

I invite the clergy and of the East Ohio Conference to join me on a 40-day jour- ney as we, together, grow deeper in our love for God through Jesus Christ and in love and action toward our neighbor. During this Lenten season, beginning with , we will take time to focus on the word for the day and read and reflect on scripture. Together we will observe and practice the disciplines of surrender, love, prayer, giving, serving and healing. I invite everyone to keep a journal of this faith ex- perience as we listen and respond to the grace of God.

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” - Philippians 4:6-7 (The Message)

View and print the Lenten devotional calendar. After opening the pdf, use the tools in the top right corner of the pdf window to print or download.

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East Ohio Conference News Links (click on images) New EOC Benefits Manager Benefits New EOC Appointments Made to East Ohio Conference Leadership

Team

Canton Calvary

Mission

EOC Coronavirus Updates

Paycheck Protection Program

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Livestreamed East Ohio Conference Information Forum About General Conference Saturday, March 13 from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. You are encouraged to participate in a livestreamed East Ohio Conference information forum at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 13 to learn about the postponement of the 2020 General Conference and the Special Called Session of General Conference.

The Conference Council on Ministries, members of the East Ohio General Conference delegation, and Bishop Tracy S. Malone will give leadership to this forum, which will provide information about: • why the 2020 General Conference has been postponed, and • why the implications of further delaying General Conference warrants the need for a Special Called Session of General Conference.

The information forum will be livestreamed on the East Ohio Conference website. There is no registration for this forum, which will consist of presentations of information and a Question & Answer session. Instructions will be given during the livestream explaining how you will be able to ask questions remotely during the forum.

District Camperships District Campership letters and applications will be sent to each church, pastor the week of February 15th. They will also be posted on the district website.

All applications must be submitted no later than April 30, 2021.

TUSCARAWAS CONNEXIONS Official Publication of the Tuscarawas District East Ohio Conference — The United Methodist Church

Tuscarawas District Office 8800 Cleveland Avenue NW, Canton, OH 44720 Phone: (330) 499-3972 Email: [email protected] Website: www.eocumc.com/tuscarawas Facebook: Tuscarawas District UMC

Send articles to Megan Myers, Editor [email protected]

The Tuscarawas Connextions is published monthly. Newsletter deadline is the 20th of the month.

Page 5 Core Values Used by the East Ohio Conference Cabinet in Making Appointments We, the Cabinet of the East Ohio Annual Conference, remain convinced that we have abundant resources, a compelling mission, a meaningful legacy, and a bright future that continues to be discovered. There is no more strategic resource at our disposal than creating a missional match of pastoral gifts and congregational needs and aspirations for vital and effective ministry. With this reality ever present, we strive to make transformative appointments for the empowerment of local congregations and for the overall mission that we share “to make and mature disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

In recognizing the weight of our decisions and their impact upon everyone involved, we strive to be guided by the Holy Spirit, common sense, larger missional strategy, and the forms and materials produced annually by each church, pastor, and district superintendent.

It states in ¶ 202 of The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 2016 that, “The local church is a strategic base from which Christians move out to the structures of society.” Therefore, enhancing and strengthening the ministry of the local church is of paramount importance for the overall mission of the Church. In our ministry of supervision it is our responsibility to appoint gifted pastors to serve local churches within our East Ohio Conference.

Each year there are pastoral moves. These could be due to retirement, seminary graduation, growth in the church, or strategic needs in another congregation. Many circumstances can lead to the reappointment of a pastor and our ongoing consultation with the Staff-Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) assists our understanding of the needs, potential, and effectiveness of a pastoral appointment.

Whenever the Cabinet gathers to engage in appointment-making we begin with worship, prayer, and communion. Throughout the day, we pray often; pausing to lift up the specific congregation we are discussing and seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we identify and evaluate potential pastoral leaders to serve there. Honest and seeking prayer undergirds every pastoral appointment.

Our discussions begin with the stated missional needs of the local congregation, which are identified through: our consultation process, the annual charge conference reports, and our individual impressions of the congregation. The input of every member of the Cabinet is valued as we identify, lift up, and evaluate the names of potential pastors to bring about the best possible match with the church. In doing so, we consider the entire pool of available clergy, including those appointed beyond the local church, those who may be seeking to relocate to this area from another annual conference, graduating seminary students, and local pastors who have the needed gifts and abilities.

Pastors are appointed to serve for one year. Annually, each pastor and the congregation they currently serve are assessed to evaluate the missional needs, fruitfulness of ministry, and potential for the continued match in the coming year. Understanding that there is neither a minimum nor maximum number of years that a pastor may serve in any appointment, it is our shared responsibility to ensure that the appointment: is fruitful in reaching new people, making disciples, and maturing the faith of those within the congregation and those in the wider community; and is engaging in effective mission and outreach.

As a Cabinet, we affirm our commitment to be bold and courageous in our ministry of appointment- making. Any pastor can be appointed to any church regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, physical ability, or any other dimension of their personhood. In addition, it needs to be noted that a new ap- pointment does not always mean an increase in salary. At times a reduction in salary is necessary to appoint the pastor who will be the best relational match with the local congregation. We recognize that this a difficult reality for our pastoral families but our commitment to create good pastoral and congregational matches is our highest priority. To God be the glory.

The East Ohio Conference Cabinet

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Church Reopening Grant Application The COVID-19 virus has NOT become less of a threat. However, the human community is continuing to learn how to manage its impact.  Is your congregation anticipating and planning for more ‘in-person’ engagement?  Do you need help with the cost of adaptive resources? The District Finance Team has designated $9,000 to be available for one-time grants. Please email the District Office for the grant application. Please provide complete information about the specific need and anticipated costs.

Steve and I watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” each year at . It is one of his favorite movies of all time! Do you recall the scene in which there is a crash in the market and a ‘run on the bank?’ The customers of ‘The Bailey Building and Loan’ are lined up in a panic to withdraw their funds. The first residents of Seneca Falls assert that they want all that is theirs. George Bailey reminds them that their resources are intimately connected with the resources of others. The frantic day ends with a small positive balance and every person having received what they needed. Let it be so, Lord. Let it be so.

Page 7 Highlight of the Month - Otterbein (Navarre)

The Otterbein UMC of Navarre continues to embrace the challenges of the covid pandemic. The church never stopped having worship and the office staff and pastor continued to work the normal schedule hours. The church was closed for in person worship for a few weeks while a team worked together to get new, safer ways of worship installed. The Lord has equipped the church with tech-passionate people and individuals with the desire to continue to get better. Over the past year we have went from someone holding a cell phone for Fa- cebook live to using a mobile device on a music stand, graduating to a tripod and now through the church camera, computer and sound system. It has been amazing to be part of.

The worship options have increased in ways to be able to worship in person in the sanctuary, listen on your car radio in the church parking lot while tuning to the church FM station, watching Facebook live stream or by venturing over to YouTube. Shortly after the covid shut down and stay home recommendations were given, I felt called to begin a new Facebook live Wednesday Evening Prayer Vesper. I share a brief scripture passage, talk about the importance or how it applied for the world events of that week. The invitation is giv- en for prayer concerns, praises or questions to be shared during the Prayer Vesper or throughout the week and then I offer prayer. This has been a great outlet to intentionally stay connected while building a new way of communication during a time when prayer is much needed.

The word “Zoom” has become the new word in many ways of worship at Otterbein too. Zoom has been a welcomed addition and the new (fun) norm for Sunday school, Bible study and committee meetings. The use of Zoom, Facebook live and YouTube has been a blessing for many of our church family and visitors and also our families within the church who travel via RV. The “snowbirds” are staying connected even though they have been many miles away for a few months. The Bible study just completed was “Take the Flag” by Rob Fuquay. This was a racing themed Bible study about different flags and their meanings. Each flag then was related to a spiritual aspect of the Christian walk with Christ. I would highly recommend the Bible Study.

After continued prayer, last fall the SPRC hired a youth leader from outside the church. This has proven to be a God-send and a boost to our youth group in a time when many groups did not meet. The youth and children are one of biggest age groups in the church on Sunday mornings. The youth have begun the conver- sation of fundraising on their vision of purchasing a 15 passenger van. Their long-term vision for Otterbein would be to build a recreation hall/gym in the next five years. What amazing goals!

The SPRC committee agreed we wanted to connect and be able to interact with the online mission field that is before us here at Otterbein. The East Ohio Conference was offering the HOPE Cohort and that has been our focus since November of 2020. We are now working with our coach, Rev. Jeff Croft. With this train- ing and monthly coaching, we have added an online host to our worship service on Sunday mornings. This online host is logging on early to offer greetings and communicating with each and every individual that waves, comments or responds to the worship service. This has taken off to new heights and the interaction is growing each week with more individuals interacting and talking with the online host. This was for the “H” of hospitality. We are working through the “O”, which is offering Christ. The plan is to provide teaching and review of information from the church calendar year, United Methodist traditions and what has become Otter- bein’s traditions and teachings. The next three months we will work through the “P” for purpose and “E” to engage.

Financially, the congregation has been faithful during the challenges week to week in the previous year while stepping up and generously tithing their gifts and offerings weekly. The Lord has blessed the Otterbein UMC with problem solving individuals and as their pastor I encourage them and I work hard to say, “Yes, we need to do this and pray” or “Yes, try that and see how that works out and keep on praying” and sometimes it is “Not yet, but let us keep on praying.”

We have had to brace ourselves and be willing to do some new things and be patient as we worked out many opinions that gather in every church or group of people. Let’s be honest and say it hasn’t been easy but we at Otterbein knew that there was a mountain ahead of us and we needed to evaluate things we were doing to slightly redirect out path to change where we were and are headed. In a sense, we almost had to get out of the driver seat, check out the map again, hop in the passenger seat this time and give God back the keys. Together we have been on an onward and forward journey. The daily Lenten email I send out I con- clude by saying, “Onward to the Cross!” Jesus is coming and I want Otterbein to be found headed in the di- rection right toward our Lord and Savior.

Onward to the Cross!

Pastor Matt Garrabrant

Page 8 Special Notes to You:

Spring District Conference North Coast of Haiti Mission The 2021 Spring District Meeting will be held The North Coast of Haiti Mission (NCHM) is looking for hearts that are ready to be challenged and changed by the on Saturday, March 20, 2021. Information has people of Haiti. Our mission is to provide a Christian been emailed to all churches & pastors. based education to children in Haiti. Working with five Methodist Schools in the Cap-Haitien Circuit, NCHM has helped with tuition, books, uniforms, teacher salary short- falls, security gates, internet access, running water, new Important Deadlines roofs, building maintenance and even latrines. Our schol- 2020 Church Audits are due March 31, 2021. arship program currently supports 11 worthy students Reminder, ALL churches are required to submit who would not otherwise be attending high school due to poverty. Although travel to Haiti is almost impossible now an audit to the District Office. All churches will with pandemics and political unrest, this has not stopped receive an email with instructions and the us from starting to plan a virtual mission trip to Haiti in CORRECT audit form to use. June and, with God’s help, an actual feet-on-the-ground visit to Haiti by the end of the year. If you have interest in one or both trips or would just like to hear more, please let us know. You can contact me, Walt Merrill, by email or call 440.328.5832. We are also a current EOCUMC Advance Special so it’s easy to make a donation to NCHM using Fund 9947. Find out more in our latest newsletter.

PPP Loans in Response to Covid-19 a. Was your congregation approved for a COVID-19 “Payment Protection Plan” (PPP) Loan from the Federal Government? b. Have you done all that is called for to secure that loan’s forgiveness?

Please communicate the current status of your congregation’s PPP Loan to the District Office.

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LAY SERVANT MINISTRIES SPRING OPPORTUNITIES April 23—24, 2021—Basic Course for Lay Servant Ministries Online This course is foundational for all courses in lay servant ministries. Participants are encouraged to dis- cover and employ personal gifts as God intended and to consider the importance of exercising servant leadership, developing future leaders, remaining rooted in consistent spiritual practices, and being part of a group that holds members accountable in their discipleship. Cost: $12.60 + Eventbrite fee Register via: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-basic-course-lay-servant-ministries-tuscarawas-district-tickets -54294153274

April 24, 2021—Advanced Course: Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts Online Lay Servant Ministries will be offering the opportunity to discover your Spiritual Gifts. These are supernatural gifts given to believers by the Holy Spirit. They are not your own natural abilities, but a special gift from the Holy Spirit to be used for the glory of God. We invite anyone, and everyone, to join us in discovering YOUR gift. **IF YOU WERE REGISTERED FOR THIS COURSE IN 2020—CONTACT OLIVIA ASAP.** Cost: $15 + Eventbrite fee Register via: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/advanced-training-spiritual-gifts-tickets-144931715663

Either of these classes is open to anyone who is interested

Any questions can be answered by email: Olivia Bradley Director of Tuscarawas District Lay Servant Ministries [email protected]

Call for Long Term Recovery Teams to Iowa

On August 10, 2020 a Derecho or onland Hurricane devastated over 75 square miles of Iowa before moving into Illinois and further. It has been described as a 40 mile wide tornado that was on the ground for over 100 miles. The loss of homes, crops, trees, personal belongings has been immense.

As we have now moved into Long Term Recovery and are working to help those affected in their recov- ery. We are inviting Volunteer teams to join us in this massive project. Consider joining us! Work will in- clude (but not limited to) repair and replacement of walls, structures, handrails, steps, trailer skirting, windows, drywall, roof tarping and re-tarping and more. We are happy to offer housing (typical UMVIM and ERT style)

Please contact Pastor Catie Newman, Iowa Conference Disaster Response Coordina- tor at [email protected] to schedule a time to volunteer.

From North Coast Jurisdiction Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/a46f6f609e75/umvimncj-news-2-28- 21?e=a060b672fe