Mission Statement:
Out of obedience to God's Great Commission, to produce disciple making churches that will lead our world to Christ.
-
Home
- History
- Ministry
-
Conference Forms
-
Formas de Conferencia en Español
-
Bible Readings
- Calendar of Meetings
- Organization
-
School of Theology
- Investment Foundation
-
Materials for Ministry
- Creed
- Insignia
-
Discipline
- Notes and News
-
Yearbook
- Links to Primitive Methodism
- Missions
- Directory
- Camp
- Special
Events
- General
Information
PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHURCHES$NOTES AND NEWS$December, 2009 |
|||
|
A printable version of the Notes and News is now available in Adobe Portable Document Format(PDF) along with the internet version on this page. To view and print PDF files, you must have the Adobe® Reader®. If you do not currently have the Adobe® Reader®, you can get it for free by clicking below, downloading the Installer file AND click the file to install the reader onto your computer. Download the free Adobe® Reader® View and/or print the Notes and News for December, 2009. |
|||
|
From The President’s Desk: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men.” Luke 2:14 The angels were giving God the highest possible praise as they witnessed the birth of the Savior. This Christmas, let us, the body of Christ, give Jesus our best as we worship Him. Let our communities see the joy we have because of God’s love and salvation. Make it a great celebration of Jesus! Kerry Ritts Pittsburgh District Greetings from the Carnegie Primitive Methodist Church. We are heading into the busy part of our calendar year with November and December. November 8th found us hosting our annual “Honor our Veterans” celebration. We invited the Veterans of our church family and friends to join us for the morning Worship Service. We acknowledged them by having each one stand while their Branch of Service songs were being played. Each veteran then received a gift of a key chain with the words “Thank you for your faithful service” to show our appreciation for their serving our country. After the service we went downstairs for a delicious pot luck luncheon and a time of fellowship. That same date in the evening we participated in a choir festival hosted by the Swisshelm Park Primitive Methodist Church. Both choirs did special numbers, along with solos. Afterward, we had some good old-fashioned hymn singing. Following the service, we went downstairs to enjoy refreshments and fellowship. On November 15th, we collected the Operation Christmas Child boxes and placed them on the Altar. This year we surpassed our previous high of 50 boxes by 22 as we collected 72 boxes for the Operation Christmas Child. As in other years our Kids Club were involved in the project and they too brought boxes and were able to fill 12 boxes for the project. Now our front Altar is filled with canned and boxed goods for our annual Harvest Home celebration on the 22nd of November. All the food, along with a gift card, is presented to needy families from names submitted to the committee. As always we had a great annual Thanksgiving Eve service as we gathered together to lift our voices in song and praise for the blessings that we have received. It is always a good start to the Thanksgiving season as we take a moment to reflect on what the Lord has done for us. Schuylkill District We have worked hard at St. Clair to take advantage of the opportunities we have been allowed by our Lord. Our Women's Group has packed "shoe boxes" for Operation Christmas Child. We celebrated World Communion Sunday with our friends at the Presbyterian Church. Our Choir presented special music; a number of church members took part with scripture readings. Pastor Bill led the combined congregation in the service of Communion. Our Vision Committee has been faithful, and we have set outreach goals for the first part of next year. Our Sunday School sponsored a Halloween outreach again this year. We provided over 200 hot dogs, along with soda, water, tea, and coffee. We handed out a number of bags of candy to the children, which included a tract. We also are hosting a community prayer meeting for Revival. We had clergy and members from a number of the local churches present. We continue to see inroads into other churches in our community by working together, in combined services. This year the Thanksgiving Eve service was held at the local United Methodist Church. We have obtained a number of visitors to the services through these outreaches. We continue to strive to offer Christ to all in our community. Wyoming District At St John's [Hazleton], we are praising the Lord for a successful "Trunk and Treat" in which we handed out over 150 "goodie bags" with information about our services and ministries along with an invitation to Sunday School for the children and an invitation to Church for the parents, tucked in with the candy and toys. We recently had a new family attend because of this outreach. One new family is worth all the effort, but we are praying for more. This was our first outreach to the neighborhood and God blessed us with rain so that we held it from Pastor Jeff's porch instead of in the parking lot! Praise God for sending both rain and children! Pocono Mountain Bible Conference The camp program has been going well. We had a great summer with many young people coming to a salvation in Christ Jesus and many others growing in their faith. Now we are in the retreat season of the camp. We have had several retreats so far and have thoroughly enjoyed having the different groups come in and use our facilities as they spend time with God. We have several weekends still open for retreats, so if your church or group would like to enjoy a weekend up in the Poconos, you can go on our website: camppmbc.com and check out the facilities and make your reservation, or you can call Pastor Marty Garms at 570-239-3939. We will be having our Youth Retreat in February, our men's retreat in March, and a couples retreat as well. We are in the process of buying the property next door which will double the size of the camp property. It will be a big asset for the camp to expand the activities that can take place on our property. If you would like to help with the purchase of the property, please send financial donations to PMBC Box 87, Clifton Beach Road Clifton, Pa. 18424. Closing is set for some time in December. The total cost of the property is $85,000. We are also in desperate need of gutters on the dining hall. The years without gutters are taking their toll on the building and causing the foundation to deteriorate. So to help stop the blocks from deteriorating any more we need to put new gutters on the building. The cost of this project will be about $4500. Again if you would like to make any donations to this project, please send them to the above address marked “rain gutters.” Donna and I love working at the camp. It's such a great opportunity to serve the Lord in such a beautiful place. You all are the ones who make the ministry of PMBC possible. We appreciate all the donations that you faithfully give to the camp. We appreciate the prayers that you continually offer on behalf of the camp;. We need your constant prayer support and we thank you for your support. May God bless as we continue to serve the Lord together, Pastor Marty & Donna Garms National Mission Board The National Mission Board has been very active since we last saw everyone at our Conference Sessions at Sandy Cove. In September our board met in the Philadelphia area enabling us to visit two of our current works, Life Victory and Newtown. All of our projects were reviewed and goals were established for the reminder of the conference year. On October 23rd, the NMB held an Awareness Banquet in the Pittsburgh District, free of charge to all who attended. Each church was encouraged to fill a table. A time of worship and a presentation from the board followed the meal. This is something we would like to do in all our districts. We encourage all the District Superintendents to consider this as a district event. Please contact the NMB Director Andy Jerome or Promotions Director Dennis Handley for more information or to schedule a banquet in your area. On November 2nd Andy Jerome and Dennis Handley represented the National Mission Board at a Career and Grad School Expo at Messiah College. They collected resumes and made contacts with many of the students who attended. On November 18th Tyler Parry and John Stange will be representing the NMB at a similar event at Philadelphia Biblical University. Then in February, Ann and Horace Clayton along with Dave Allen will be attending the career day at Gordon-Conwell. We ask the entire PM family to be in prayer for these events as we actively try to recruit planters and pastors to our denomination. The NMB is currently seeking a redevelopment pastor for the Church at the Crossroads (Beaver Falls, PA) and a planter for the South Side section of Pittsburgh. Please send any perspective candidates our way. Please remember that the NMB is offering free training and ministry evaluations to any church, district or cluster of churches that may be interested. Please contact the Director for more information and please continue to pray for our work in National Missions. Director: Andy Jerome 223 Austin Ave Wilkes-Barre, PA 18705 Office (570) 823- 0345 Treasurer: Jeff Acornley 91 Matson Ave Wilkes-Barre, PA 18705 Promotions Director: Dennis Handley 683 Simpson Howell Rd Elizabeth, PA 15037 Home (724) 751-0930 International Mission Board Rev. Rodney Hall and the Tamaqua PM Church hosted the fall meeting of the IMB on October 15, 2009 with devotions centering on 1 Peter 5:1-4, “To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” (NIV) Reports from our missionaries were read and discussed by the board members with a general overall observation that funding is down for each of the missionaries, but the Lord has been providing and his work keeps going on. The board was encouraged that Sarah Kidd has been working hard to reach the support levels that are required by her sending agency and the board is grateful that many of our churches have responded by allowing her to speak and partner with their members. We are also encouraged that the IMB has been led to support the work in Colombia led by Wilson Romero and we are helping them work through the process of incorporation in their country. We have also been introduced to Ishmael and Georgina Noriega, the first missionaries sent out by the Colombian churches; they have started work in El Salvador. The IMB would like to thank all who faithfully contribute to the Lord’s work and we are happy to tell you that because of you faithfulness we have been able to gift our missionaries and support some of the fields and projects that have been laid before us. Please remember our Director Rev. Fred Jeffrey, Rev. Bill Vasey and Diane Duntze as they are recovering from surgery. In His service, Rick Clemson, President IMB Special Praise The IMB was able to send off the final payment for the translation work and printing of the Joyabaj Quiche Bible. We received funds from the estate of Jessie Robinson, and we praise God for the gift. (Hint: Remember God’s work in your will!) Please note the change of address for IMB funds. If you send funds to the old Florida address, the monies will be delayed in getting to our missionaries. The new address is: Mrs. Paula TenBrink 10015 AL Hwy 40 Henegar, AL 35978 Pastor Gro The holiday season is a great opportunity to share God’s word with others through creative outreach ministries as well as welcoming visitors who are seeking God during this time. Remember to gather names and addresses for each contact. Send out a “handwritten” letter of welcome to each contact. Send them a gift and good information about your ministry. Also, have a good sermon series or special programs ready for January as you encourage them to keep attending. Keep writing follow-up letters and connect them with a good, friendly person from your church. Have a Blessed Christmas. Christian Tours for 2010 Want to enhance your spiritual life? To increase your knowledge of the Bible by experiencing it first hand? Then come join us on a tour of the Holy Land, March 16-23, 2010. Take this "Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus" tour with Rev. Reg Thomas and the Jacobs' Brothers. Call Rev. Thomas for information at 570-823-3425. Want to experience the wonder of Guatemala's mission field? Tour Utatlan School, Guatemala City, etc. July 5th to the 14th, 2010 with Miss Dory Lewis (608-884-8138) and Rev. Reg Thomas. |
|||