I have been in Phoenix, Arizona this week presenting on Vital Congregations at the Religious Researchers Association of scholars and researchers in the field.  This conference is jointly associated with the Society of Social Scientists of Religion.  Since this is only the 2nd Academic Conference I have ever participated in, it has been a fascinating experience.  There are a couple pieces that I want to highlight about this conference and about the multiple dimensions of vital congregations.  First of all, we are not the only denomination seeking methods and answers to the challenge of decline across the church.  The Southern Baptists have been challenged by a peak and then decline since 2004.  The ELCA, the Presbyterians and the UCC are all looking at the reality of decline amongst their church membership.  On the positive note, many of these denominations are looking at new methods, new experiments and new strategies to uncover what God is already doing in the world and what our role (as Christians) would be to support that work.

Of course when you think about health and vitality in any single church or district or conference, you have to look at it from a multi-dimensional perspective.  One researcher produced a multi-dimensional assessment of congregational health and vitality that compared and contrasted the clergy perspective and the laity perspective of results and outcomes.  Another research group have looked at qualities of church life in addition to the numerical objective measures.  The biggest challenge that all these researchers face are the subjective challenges. In science you must control for certain variables.  So, the real question becomes, “How on earth do you control for the uncontrollable variables?”  For example, how do you control for a preachers’ abilities?  How do you control for a congregations’ attitudes?  (and not just one person but the whole congregation?)  How do you control for the Holy Spirit’s ability to transform?  Well, obviously these are the questions that keep on emerging.

There is one research study that has produced results that seem so obvious and simple that it’s hard to grasp how it could be true.  But, my intuition and experience confirm these findings.  This project basically said that there are only 2 FACTORS that have shown up across four countries and multiple congregations with multiple diversities and dimensions.  It has everything to do with call and response!

The 2 FACTORS are VISION and COMMITMENT.  When you control for almost every controllable variable, these two factors show up in direct affect to growth more than any other factor in the field.  It’s kind of a “duh” moment, however it is SOOO true!  Vision implies forward thinking and commitment implies investment.  Therefore, hearing and heeding God’s call for any congregation is essential to VISION.  Inviting, empowering and encouraging all leaders from young to old, to huddle around the VISION and take responsibility in your role in that vision is also essential to COMMITMENT.  It seems so simple and yet, why is it so challenging to reach?

Well – the real question becomes “Is the CALL of God for our lives today is essential to the very being of who we are???”  If so, “Are we willing to make the sacrifices in life in order to be COMMITTED to this CALL?”  I’d like to hope that there are still a few faithful United Methodists who will and can respond with a resounding “YES – by God’s grace we will!!”

Written By

Amy Valdez Barker, Vital Congregtions

A VISION OF HOPE: Reflecting the Kingdom of God

I just spent a couple days with the clergy leaders of the New York Annual Conference at their TRI-DISTRICT gathering.  There were a couple things that I really want to highlight that are hope-filled and visionary!  First of all, it’s important to acknowledge that New York City and all of its’ burroughs are located in the New York Annual Conference.  If you think about New York you think about the incredible mosaic of people this part of the country represents.  The clergy gathering was a fully colorful and beautiful image of what I hope the Kingdom of God looks like in the future.  Now, of course, I hope and pray that the diversity of ages in the Kingdom will increase and be plentiful, however, this is a great place to start re-imagining what the UMC of the future could look like all over the globe.

At one point our goal was to be a global church.  When that came to fruition, little did we know that it would mean stepping outside of our comfort zones, learning new cultures, becoming sensitive to our own ignorance and being humble enough to know that God is at work everywhere in the world.  When we said we wanted to be a multi-cultural church, little did we know that this would mean we would have to again, step outside of our comfort zones, learn new cultures and be sensitive to our own ignorance and humble enough to accept the God is at work in our brothers and sisters that didn’t look like us, talk like us or even live like us.  Global church, multi-cultural church, and beautiful church of God may be way outside of our imaginations.  But, there are some places that are faithfully living that out.  I would say, New York Annual Conference is just one of those places.

Vital Congregations is about celebrating places where little successes are happening.  I want to celebrate the little success that I witnessed in this conference.  The new bishop of this conference, Martin McLee, fostered in the Holy Spirit in an awe-inspiring, prayer-filled worship that brought people to tears.  The bishop in an attitude of humility and trust, allowed the clergy of the church to confess from their hearts their own personal challenges with the work of ministry.  He gave them permission to come humbly before God and their fellow leaders of the church to pray whatever they needed to pray.  Brothers and sisters from each corner of this tri-district area prayed with fervor, sometimes out loud, sometimes with song, passionately giving it all to God.  The confession allowed them to see the new vision that Bishop McLee was casting before them.  A new church!  A church filled with God’s children!  A church who will be faithful to the working of the Holy Spirit.  A church that is ready to embrace the communities in which God has planted them.  A church ready to go beyond the walls of the church and invite people of all races, cultures, ethnicities, economic backgrounds and more into a deep and transforming relationship with Christ.  This singing bishop has given the New York Annual Conference a new song to sing!  From my witness, I believe they are ready to sing God’s song again!  May God bless these conferences moving their people towards hope, health and vitality!

Written by

Amy Valdez Barker

Lessons from the Kresge Kids

By Sharon Yancey

Isaiah 25:6
And the Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain.

They started praying weeks before the van left to pick up children who had been invited to Anna Kresge UMC in Cedartown. They weren't sure who would be waiting to get on it, but get on it they did. Kresge had an all too common problem: few children were attending their church. But a committed group, including several senior adults, decided to extend the table and reach out to children not reached by any church. The van returned loaded with children, and then went back out for even more children waiting to come.

On a June summer evening, Kresge went from an average of 10 children to 40! The church now welcomes 65 children, and pastor Rebecca Holmes tells me adult attendance is growing too. Three vans go out each week, including the van from nearby Aragon UMC.  Has it been perfect? Hardly. Have these children increased worship attendance or giving? The jury is still out. But lives have been forever changed, including the adults who now consider Wednesdays the highlight of their week.

I offer some lessons learned from the Kresge Kids; they offer unique insights on those who are not yet at the table.

It starts with prayer:  Prayer makes the impossible, suddenly possible. Wesley was right, God is for us. Are we praying like we believe that?

Children are important to God:  They are Jesus’ future church. Do whatever it takes to make them a priority ministry. The church they inherit will be very different from the one we know today. We are going to have to do things differently.

Senior adults are a powerful resource:  When brought into process to become change agents, they will amaze us.  They care about their ministry legacy.

There are children in your community not being reached by anyone: Ask God to show you where they are. Your church may be the only church they can walk or get to. Be a lighthouse for children who don’t know what a Bible is or if Jesus is just someone they heard about from their mother’s new boyfriend.

It is all about the kids: Is Sunday the best day, or would Wednesday be a better day? For Kresge, it was Wednesday evening. For the unchurched, and for many in the fold, Sunday mornings are just hard. We have some work to do on why church matters.

Adam Hamilton recently stated: The future of our church is in the hands of those can communicate with 5 and 10 year olds. Well said, and I too want our church to have a hope and a future. Meanwhile, the vans keep rolling out on Wednesday’s and Kresge is changing their community.

Thank you Kresge Kids; glad you found your place at the Lord’s table. May God give us the courage to make room for all of the others not yet there.

Sharon Yancey is founder of The Matthew Initiative, a non-profit foundation that provides the seed funding and staff expertise to help new churches and churches who need to grow again, start a dynamic children's ministries program. Contact her at Yancey.Sharon@gmail.com.

In Sunday’s sermon, the pastor quoted Diana Butler Bass’s last critique of the Christian Church today.  She said, “Why is it that the American Christian church choices are either cold intellectual or ignorance on fire?”  Her obvious reference was to the Christian church landscape that seems to be riddled with a theological tug of war between a liberal/conservative bend in understanding of God.  If a church is intellectually critical of theology, doctrine, etc. then in practice it seems to be cold, uninviting, unpassionate, less exuberant about their faith.  If a church is on fire with God, filled with the Holy Spirit and emblazoned with a passion for the Divine, then the assumption is that they are ignorant, shallow and less likely to wrestle with the complexity of the Christian faith.  Of course, these are over-exaggerations of the extreme Christian congregations, but tidbits of truth tend to emerge from these colloquial statements.  The question is can a highly-vital congregation be “Intellectualism on fire?!!”

Is it possible in our church and in our divergent Christian culture today for the people of faith to be “on fire” and “spiritually filled for God and YET be bold enough to explore the rich complexities of the Christian faith?  Are we brave enough to ask questions when the answers are foggy and the rationale may seem weak, but yet there is something drawing us back to the connection of this community that we can’t explain?  What if our questions don’t get the kind of answers we are looking for?  Do we give up and just go home, writing off the passion that burns in our hearts and indigestion or do we turn fully into the mystery and embrace the faith element that invites us to continue to explore?  I believe the answer of intellectual fire is at the heart of the Wesleyan movement in the world of the past and the world of the future.

John Wesley seemed to relish the conversations that would often lead to debates and disagreements.  He found them inspiring and maybe even embraced them as a spark to his exploration of his relationship with the Divine.  He welcomed persons who disagreed with his theology and used it as an opportunity to learn and uncover more about God and God’s people, rather than shying away from the dialogue.  But, none of this was ever done without a distinct and grounded spirituality that was like a heart on fire in that day and age.  Wesley introduced the early concepts of “intellect on fire” to the world which in the 17th Century took off across the globe like wildfire.  People were hungry for a religious experience that valued the very intellect God had blessed them with and be able to allow them to nurture the fires burning in their soul.  The fire and hunger wasn’t simply for knowledge, but for a relationship with God that could be experienced, emblazoned and maybe even physically “warming” to a lost and cold soul.  It was a church that was both/and!  A church that was both inviting of the intellect and embraced the fire of the Spirit within us.  People were hungry for this kind of church back then and they are hungry for this kind of church today.

Question is….are we ready and willing to be the church that is “Intellect on Fire!!”?

Written by Amy Valdez Barker

Project Manager, Vital Congregations Project

The first Vital Congregations Conversation was rich and fruitful for many who participated.  I was thrilled to have historians, evangelism professors, missiologists, theoreticians and practitioners in the room discussing the multitude of perspectives about the church.  We contemplated the role of the local congregation today and the challenges we face in the U.S. culture today.  What does it mean to be a relevant church for God’s children today?

From the academics in the room we learned that in our postmodern world, narrative is the essential and not truth.  In other words people are looking for the story that brings meaning to our lives and where they can see themselves in that story.  That’s why so many children, youth and young adults are enamored by movies where they can find themselves in the story.  My own children watch a movie and immediately afterwards discuss “who they are” in the movie.  The challenge that we face as the church is that we have not presented a compelling enough narrative of the biblical God story that captures the heart and minds of the next few generations.  Our second challenge is that we have assumed that people will get the story because we (the leaders of the church) get the story.  Maybe we think it happens by osmosis or by the power of our preaching, but as the Barna Research group has pointed out to us, more and more Christians are biblically illiterate.

From those in the field we learned that we have not invited enough people into shared leadership.  Everyone has gotten the “God-complex” disease and we think we don’t need one another to save the church.  Our reality check is this – there is only one Savior – and none of us gets that title.  One leader put it so eloquently when she shared that “Seminarians are coming into vast spiritual wastelands and when they turn the faucet of all that they have learned on full blast, the ground cannot contain the flood.”  In the unchartered territories of the American culture, we, as leaders in the church need to become adventurers again, willing to scout out the terrain and learn from the locals.

One of the most important things that I believe we learned in the conversation is that the question of “WHY United Methodism” today remains collectively unanswered.  We have lots of stories and maybe a ton of anecdotes, however the compelling narrative of WHY Christian United Methodism today has yet to be discovered and conveyed in a language the next generations can claim.  I ask the question of myself daily and daily I return to the covenant prayer:

“I am no longer my own, but yours.  Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will.  Put me to doing, put me to suffering.  Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for you.  Let me be full, let me be empty.  Let me have all things, let me have nothing.  I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and your disposal.  And now, O Glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am yours.  So be it.  And the covenant I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.  Amen.” (John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer)

Written By

Amy Valdez Barker

Vital Congregations Initative

Denominational Leaders, Congregational Developers and Professors

Imagine More Highly Vital United Methodist Congregations

EVANSTON, Illinois, June 2012 – Only six weeks after the 2012 General Conference,  denominational leaders met together to discuss imagine more highly vital congregations in The United Methodist Church.  The UM Vital Congregations Initiative held a conversation on the campus of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary on June 12-13.   For two days, United Methodist bishops, pastors, laity, researchers, practitioners, leaders from various United Methodist boards and agencies, and evangelism professors from some of the United Methodist theological schools came together for a conversation regarding the future of growing highly vital congregations within The United Methodist Church.

The divergent group of stakeholders, led by Vital Congregations team leader Bishop John Schol, dialogued on how the local church can connect with new mission fields. “We have some challenges,” said Schol, “we see this in some of our statistics, but we have a bright future as we live out of our vision as United Methodists, to connect with new generations of believers and grow highly vital congregations.”   The conversation stemmed from the adaptive challenge presented by the Call to Action Steering Team in 2010.  Since its adoption by the Council of Bishops and the Connectional Table, the bishops and the Connectional Table have committed to a 10 year sustained effort to direct the flow of prayers, attention, energy and resources to an intense concentration to increase the number of vital congregations in the denomination.

“We were delighted to host this groundbreaking group where the very best of church plans continue to be shaped by quality research and conversation,” said Philip Amerson, President of Garrett-Evangelical.  “It is clear other voices are needed at the table but this was a remarkable gathering to bring leaders in various capacities in our denomination together to explore growing vital congregations.”

The Call to Action Steering Team engaged Towers Watson in 2010 to identify the number of highly vital United Methodist congregations and what they do to be vital. They found that 15% of the United Methodist congregations in the United States were highly vital. Highly vital congregations are dynamic congregations that grow over time, involve more of their disciples in ministry, engage in the community and give generously to mission. To increase vitality, highly vital congregations strengthen worship, clergy leadership, lay leadership, and ministry, particularly small groups, mission engagement, and children and youth ministries.

Six weeks earlier at General Conference, the denomination celebrated the goals of 79 conferences toward growing vital congregations, which included goals set by 73% of the congregations in the United States. “The conversations among United Methodist circles in the current climate of declining numbers has often and too easily relied on blaming of others for our challenges,” said Amy Valdez-Barker, project manager of the Vital Congregations Initiative.  “It is time to work together across generations and differences to bear hope and engage in vital witness and mission in our communities.”

Participants shared the importance of discovering and communicating our common identity as United Methodists and sharing the stories of hope for a vital future. They also agreed that the development and sharing of tools, resources and best practices for the multitude of contexts represented in United Methodist congregations will be critical as the denomination moves forward.  “This is a great starting place,” said Greg Bergquist, the new Cal-Nevada Conference Superintendent in charge of Leadership Development.  “You can count us in! We would love to participate in the group that wants to be explorers in this Vital Congregations Expedition.”

The Vital Congregations Initiative will continue to be overseen by the Council of Bishops and the Connectional Table. A goal to double the number of highly vital congregations in the United States is supported through the recent goal setting by congregations and conferences. A group of conferences willing to explore and experiment with growing and sustaining more congregations will be organized later this year as part of the next step of growing the number of vital congregations.  To learn more, go to www.umvitalcongregations.org.

Romans 12 Newsletter
Issue #127
May 10, 2012

The Love Feast

Fairmount Avenue United Methodist Church is a medium sized congregation in St. Paul, Minnesota. Covenant Discipleship groups have been part of their ministry of accountable discipleship since 2007. Currently approximately 45 people participate in several Covenant Discipleship groups. Each group develops a covenant that includes things such as regular Scripture study, prayer, participation in acts of compassion, and so forth. The groups meet weekly to support and hold each other accountable as Christian disciples.

Like all small groups, Covenant Discipleship groups require intentional pastoral and congregational support. Every three months at Fairmount Avenue United Methodist Church all members of the various Covenant Discipleship groups are invited to a time of fellowship and worship. This “Quarterly Conference” is a time for the members of the various groups to share stories and give testimony to how participating in the group has helped them to grow in holiness of heart and life. They share some of the problems and challenges each group encounters, and how they deal with them.

The Quarterly Conference closes with a Love Feast. In the 18th and 19th centuries the Love Feast was a very important expression of Methodist spirituality. John Wesley borrowed and adapted it from the Moravians. The Love Feast is an informal time of worship that includes prayer, hymn singing, Scripture, preaching, testimony, giving to benefit the poor, and sharing bread and water. Since it is not sacramental, the Love Feast is often lead by a lay person. It is a time for Covenant Discipleship group members to give personal testimony about their experience and struggles with God and discipleship.

At Fairmount Avenue UMC the Love Feast continues to be a powerful means of grace that encourages members who are striving to grow in holiness of heart and life with the support and accountability of their Covenant Discipleship groups.

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Some Questions for Discussion

• How does your congregation help members to be accountable for their Christian discipleship?

• What ministries of your congregation might be enhanced by including a Love Feast?
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Steve Manskar is Director of Wesleyan Leadership at the General Board of Discipleship. He can be reached at smanskar@gbod.org. You can read more about the Love Feast in The United Methodist Book of Worship (#581).
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About Romans 12

Romans 12 is a project of the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church to communicate effective principles and practices demonstrated by congregations that are actively making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

These congregations are marked by:
- Clarity around the mission and vision of the congregation.

- Practice of spiritual disciplines, both corporately and individually.

- Nurture of growth in discipleship through mutual support and accountability.

- Cultivation of intentional and mutual relationships with the most vulnerable–the poor, children, the imprisoned, the powerless.

- Consistent concern for inviting people into relationship with Jesus Christ, combined with wise practices for initiating them into the Body of Christ.

- Connectional relationships that facilitate participation in God’s mission of global transformation.

- Shared clergy and lay leadership.

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Romans 12 Newsletter. Issue #127. © 2012 GBOD. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to copy this newsletter for use in United Methodist congregations. This newsletter is provided as a service of the General Board of Discipleship and is funded through World Service apportionment giving by local United Methodist congregations.To subscribe or discontinue a subscription contact Deb Smith at dsmith@gbod.org. For previous issues of the newsletter go to www.gbod.org/Romans12

GBOD | The United Methodist Church
www.GBOD.org
Toll-free: (877) 899-2780

Equipping World-Changing Disciples

“Creativity is dangerous….It’s pleasure is not the comfort of the safe harbor, but rather the thrill of the reaching sail!” – Robert Grudin

Last night’s worship service was “EMBARK.”  It was the culmination of the “Goal-Setting Challenge” issued by the Vital Congregations Project through the Council of Bishops and the Connectional Table for every congregation in the United Methodist Church to set goals and a vision for fruitfulness for God’s mission across the world.  The music, the sweet family of 5 singers from Congo and the choirs, dancers and Bishop Yemba preaching a message that invited conference attendees to embark upon a journey with Christ, daring to cross the lake with Jesus by our side.

The highlight for me was watching the bishops come down with the origami shaped boats that Stefany and I had folded for them, carrying the goals for fruitfulness from each of their conferences.  Watching each and every one of them coming from their different seats (and perspectives) coming together to the center aisle and then walking down carrying the same vision of disciples in worship, new disciples, disciples growing in their faith, disciples going out and serving God through serving others and disciples being generous with one another with the gifts that God has blessed them with, that was the exciting part!  United in a vision of fruitfulness.  The image of them walking down with the light behind them, illuminating the possibilities for a bright future sent chills up and down my spine.  For me, it was a Holy Spirit moment!

The Vision for fruitfulness includes The UMC having…
3,648,626 disciples worshiping weekly.
794,074 new disciples professing their faith.
Disciples growing through 443,952 small groups.
806,770 disciples serving God through mission in their communities, in their regions and all around the world.
Disciples giving $3.6 BILLION to missional ministries for God’s mission in this world!

For all the challenges and all the divisions that are often accentuated during this political process called General Conference, I am thankful that God is still moving in us, through us and even in spite of us.  I am thankful that we can embark upon a future filled with hope and possibility.  I am thankful that we can be inspired to step out boldly in faith, because we know that in spite of the waves, the winds and the potential storms, Christ is with us!

EMBARK Worship

WEDNESDAY at 1:30 PM – Press Conference about next steps for Vital Congregations.

Here is a story that was submitted via the Vital Congregations website of a church moving towards health and vitality.  Read about this congregation from Atlanta, GA.

Another story of a vital congregation:
Saint Mark was founded in 1875. Situated in midtown Atlanta they had been a vital congregation for decades, launching daughter churches and many other vital ministries including a church for the deaf, a recovery residence for women in addiction, a homeless shelter, a safe house for victims of domestic violence and the first official Hispanic congregation in the North Georgia Conference. But by 1989 most of the people in their downtown congregation had moved to the suburbs and they had 300 people on the roll and 120 average attendance in worship.  A different group of people had moved into their neighborhood. They were predominantly gay men and they were dying of AIDS in astounding numbers.  Across the street from them was Atlanta First Baptist Church, pastored by Charles Stanley. Every year on a given Sunday when the Gay pride parade would go down Peachtree Street in front of both churches, First Baptist would hire guards on horseback to keep the marchers off their property. They would bar their doors except for the congregants out front calling out hateful things. But the people at Saint Mark thought differently. In 1991 they decided to invite these young men into the love of Jesus. Old women on walkers and the few children they had stood on the sidewalk and handed out flyers that said “Everyone is welcome at Saint Mark” while the people across the street hurled insults. Now some 20 years later, First Baptist has moved to the suburbs. Their church has been torn down and Saint Mark stands at the intersection of 5th and Peachtree opening their three red doors to all who would love Christ and serve him. There are now over 2000 who attend there, and average of 500 per Sunday, and 1,875 on the roll over 90% of whom are LGBT. At Saint Mark Christ is served has good as he ever has been, through feeding programs for the homeless, shelter for the abused, missions to Honduras and Africa, and hope for all in the name of Christ. God has blessed Saint Mark to be a blessing and we are grateful.

The Rev. Dr. Beth LaRocca-Pitts, senior pastor.

Romans 12 Newsletter
Issue #120
February 24, 2012

Hope and Renewal

McKendree United Methodist Church, a historical downtown congregation in Nashville, Tennessee, has experienced a steady growth in worship attendance over the last few years. Rev. Stephen Handy, senior pastor, believes the following items have contributed to this growth, making McKendree UMC a place of hope and renewal.

1. Everyone is asked to be in a “life group” (small group) of no more than eight people. Groups meet weekly and are designed to be missional, disciple forming, nurturing, and accountable. Life group members often invite others to join.

2. The church is multicultural and multigenerational, with two services, contemporary and traditional. People want to be connected to God, so the church avoids making the style of worship an obstacle by offering choices.

3. We talk about spiritual disciplines a lot, but also now more and more about generosity—not just money, but time, work, energy, and prayer.

4. The word is out on the streets that McKendree invites diversity, and a diverse church is a healthy church. The worship and small groups encourage a holistic approach to health—mind, body, and spirit. We also provide a wellness clinic, a community organic rooftop garden, and a free clothing closet.

5. McKendree collaborates with other entities such as the Veterans Administration and the Homeless Commission. We are on the streets and in the community, not just in our building.

6. We meet people where they are. Staff spend time engaging people in conversation on the streets and in the downtown coffee shops. Each week “The Encounter” offers a music, message, and missional challenge in a downtown coffee shop.

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Some Questions for Discussion

• What is the “word on the street” about your congregation?

• How are you encouraging people to be healthy— in mind, body, and spirit?

• How are you encouraging a spirit of generosity in your congregation?

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Dean McIntyre is the Director of Music Resources at the General Board of Discipleship. He can be reached at dmcintyre @gbod.org. You can read more about McKendree UMC at http://www.mckendreetoday.com.
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About Romans 12

Romans 12 is a project of the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church to communicate effective principles and practices demonstrated by congregations that are actively making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

These congregations are marked by:
- Clarity around the mission and vision of the congregation.

- Practice of spiritual disciplines, both corporately and individually.

- Nurture of growth in discipleship through mutual support and accountability.

- Cultivation of intentional and mutual relationships with the most vulnerable–the poor, children, the imprisoned, the powerless.

- Consistent concern for inviting people into relationship with Jesus Christ, combined with wise practices for initiating them into the Body of Christ.

- Connectional relationships that facilitate participation in God’s mission of global transformation.

- Shared clergy and lay leadership.

******************************************
Romans 12 Newsletter. Issue #119. © 2012 GBOD. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to copy this newsletter for use in United Methodist congregations. This newsletter is provided as a service of the General Board of Discipleship and is funded through World Service apportionment giving by local United Methodist congregations.To subscribe or discontinue a subscription contact Deb Smith at dsmith@gbod.org. For previous issues of the newsletter go to www.gbod.org/Romans12

GBOD | The United Methodist Church
www.GBOD.org
Toll-free: (877) 899-2780

Equipping World-Changing Disciples