Dear
Celebration Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
 In
this issue you will read reports from our Leader’s Retreat held
on August 3rd at Westminister UMC!
It was a great success!
At our retreat, we read about the leadership of
Nehemiah. There
are some distinct correlations in this book that directly relate
to Celebration Ministries.
-
The
enemies of Nehemiah used intimidation, fear, and deception to
defeat him and the work.
He called on God in prayer.
Because Celebration is growing rapidly and we are in
various locations, we are heeding Nehemiah’s words in chapter
4:19, 20. “The
work is great and extensive and we are separated far from one
another on the wall. Wherever
you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there.
Our God will fight for us.”
In
looking at Celebration’s “Wall” growth, we have interest in starting
a Celebration chapter from Faith UMC in Neenah, Wisconsin, Long’s
Chapel UMC at Lake Junaluska, N.C., Sunrise UMC in Colorado Spring,
Co, Grays Chapel UMC in Granklinville, NC, FUMC Bedford, Tx, and
Calvary UMC Stockton, IL to mention a few.
This is very exciting as the Lord is opening doors into other
conferences.
With
this in mind, we have expanded our prayer base as we welcome Emily
Riffe, who will be handling email prayer for chapter and conference
needs; and Marcia Seba, who is in charge of prayer and prayer room
for Annual Conference.
When
you need prayer, sound the trumpet . . . .Our God is fighting for
us!
Celebrating
Jesus,
Judy
(Posted
8/19/2002)
“The
Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me Because He has anointed Me….” Luke
4:18
Celebration’s Theme Scripture Evident at Leadership Retreat
Celebration events are a place
to meet and experience God and the Leadership
Retreat was no exception!
It was a day of inspiration, fellowship, laughter, and equipping
as 48 current and future Celebration chapter officers and ministry
area leaders from 18 churches gathered together Saturday, August
3rd at Westminster UMC. A
big thanks goes to Pastor Garry and wife Cindy Masterson for extending
their warm hospitality and hosting this event.
The day began as worship director
Beth Domingue ushered us into the presence of the Lord in a mighty
way. As the day unfolded,
we heard the Word of God through our speakers Tina Cropper, Holly
Garrett and Judy Graham. We
were encouraged and had opportunities to learn and share with other
leaders through the workshops lead by, Judy Graham, Jan Wilson,
Martha Zaruba and Diane Whittington. Through out the day, the spirit
of God was felt as we were challenged, compelled, and encouraged
to stay faithful to the call to help build God’s Kingdom through
the ministry of Celebration in our churches, families, communities,
and beyond!
These are a few comments about
Leadership Retreat….
First Pasadena’s President Tammy
Gilts said, “When I moved
to Pasadena, I found the perfect opportunity to expand my calling
to women’s ministry by starting Celebration. Celebration gives me
the tools to effectively organize, train and pray with our leadership.”
Lela Gardner of Westminster UMC
said, “I was so uplifted and received a refreshing of the joy
that is so apparent when we have a time of praise and encouragement
with other women of faith.
Christ’s presence was so comforting in that room and gives
me such a peaceful feeling that I feel filled to overflowing.”
Audrey Spencer from Mission Bend
UMC said, “The retreat was
a very welcome day away from all of the real world. The information
was very useful for those of us just starting...
The responsibility of leadership is a great one… but the
Lord takes away our fears and leads us in places we never thought
were possible. Celebration
is such a blessing and we are excited about getting our chapter
started at Mission Bend.”
To many the Leadership Retreat
was a day to restore our confidence,
to remember that we serve a God who supplies all our needs,
and that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus.
It was a day of blessings…a day to rejoice in Jesus and CELEBRATE!
Holly
Garrett
(Posted
8/20/2002)
Prayer Ministry
Expands
We are excited to announce new happenings in the
Conference Prayer Ministry. Two powerful women of prayer have
come on board to help broaden our prayer base. Marcia Seba
from Faithbridge UMC in Spring, Texas has accepted the call to organize
the prayer effort for our annual conference next year. We
feel it is God's call to Celebration to continually pray for our
leaders in the Methodist Church. Marcia will be our coordinator
to put this plan into action. Welcome Marcia!
Our conference was blessed to be able to have a private area for
persons to pray during annual conference this year. Several
messages of appreciation came forth stating the difference it made
in the sessions. You will receive an invitation from Marcia next
year (or earlier) to be a part of praying for our leaders and for
the election of delegates next year for General Conference the following
year. General Conference is where new issues and decisions
are made governing the entire United Methodist Church.
Another development in the area of prayer will be brought forth
by Emily Riffe from Westminster UMC in Houston. Emily will
send an email newsletter to Local presidents, prayer contact persons
and anyone who is interested. This will include a devotional
thought and conference prayer needs. A BIG thanks to Julie Puckett
who remains our faithful Conference intercessory prayer leader who
opens her home regularly for ones who are available to join in prayer
for our Conference needs.
I will continue to email the conference ‘prayer trac’ with one change.
Instead of sending personal prayer requests out as I receive them,
I will compile them and send them once a week, UNLESS they are emergency
needs. So, when you send your requests, please indicate in
the subject line that the need must go out immediately.
I am asking you to then print out the prayer needs, pray for them
at the time you receive them and then take them to your local group
for prayer. There are several of our local chapters who do
that. I will always try to let you know of answered prayers.
Thank you again for the tremendous difference you make in God's
kingdom and His Will being affected on earth.... by your prayers.
Jan Wilson, Conference Director of Prayer Ministries, JWilson746@aol.com
(Posted 8/19/2002)
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