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Indiana Yearly Meeting of Friend
The Communicator
Committee Day
March 3, 9 am
Friends Memorial
Reconfiguration
Update
1. Draft descriptions of two possible resulting yearly meetings were mailed to
each meeting in IYM and emailed to The Communicator mailing list. Giving input
on a draft does not commit an individual or a Meeting to membership in the
yearly meeting it describes; Meetings' affiliation decisions will be a later
part of the process. Feedback on the proposed “Yearly Meeting A” and “Yearly
Meeting B” documents are being
received through March 5. Your thoughts may be sent to
iym.a2012@yahoo.com (for comments on “Yearly Meeting A”) or
iym.b2012@yahoo.com (for comments on “Yearly Meeting
B”). US mail responses can be sent to the yearly meeting office.
2. The Reconfiguration Task Force is scheduled to meet on February 25 to discuss
legal and financial ramifications of reconfiguration, then again on March 10 to
review the feedback received to date and discuss next steps.
Congratulations to Rex Jones,
pastor at West
River Friends, who will marry Paula Cardosa on Saturday, April 14th, in
Speedway, Indiana. Rex has announced his retirement from his pastorate at West
River, effective June 30th.
Salem Friends
will soon have four new members joining
their fellowship. They continue to meet with their sister church, Dublin,
and they have 14 signed up for a new Bible Study on “Disciples and Other
Sinners.”
Westfield young adults attended the Passion Conference
in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta with
45,000 other young adults. For four days they worshiped God, heard great
teaching, and met other young adults who are passionate about serving God. This
conference raised $3.1 million to fight modern day slavery in the name of Jesus
Christ. There are 27 million people around the world in slavery—that’s more than
any
other time in history!
Last year’s Pastor’s Short Course speaker Mike Chong Perkinson
is returning to Indiana along
with
Kingdom Quest and
Organic Reformation co-author
Tom Johnston. They will be the keynote speakers at the New Church Development
Conference this May 17-19 in Richmond. The event is hosted by Bethany
Theological Seminary but is open to all who are interested in attending. A
discounted early registration fee is available through March 15. For more
information or to register visit
http://www.brethren.org/churchplanting/events.html.
The Spring Pastors
Summit
will be held at Marion First Friends Church on Thursday, March 22, from 10 am to
3 pm. The cost for the day-long program is $8 which includes lunch and the day’s
program. The sessions will feature Jen Stormes sharing her life changing
testimony along with times of worship, group discussion, and prayer. Please call
or email the yearly meeting office to reserve your spot.
Quaker Haven
will hold their
Renewal Campaign Fundraising Dinner, Saturday, February 25, 6 pm, at the
Mooresville Friends Church, 50 N Monroe St. They hope to raise the final $25,000
of the $145,000 goal by Memorial Day for the Friendship Lodge
remodeling project. For more information, contact Quaker Haven at
574-834-4193 or info@quakerhaven.com or www.quakerhaven.com.
White’s need your help.
One way your congregation can help
vulnerable children is to host a White’s Sunday (or make a church gift). White’s
Spiritual Life Program is completely funded through donations. God’s people can
make a huge impact on young lives, some learning about Jesus for the first time
through this program. Could your meeting designate a part of one service in the
coming months to highlight White’s and take a special offering for this mission?
They have fliers and an introductory presentation on CD and bulletin insert
envelopes that they can provide. For more information you may call 260-563-1158,
ext 1346 or visit www.whiteskids.org.
Friends United Meeting
is not able to thank all of the IYM
meetings and individuals who have made donations to them so they wish to thank
all of you and they extend their heartfelt gratitude.
A new online master’s degree program
is coming to Barclay College this fall. See
http://barclaycollege.edu/matl-academics#matl-ps for more information.
Sixth World Conference of Friends
will be held, April 17-25, in Nakuru, Kenya. This will
be the most representative World Conference of Friends ever. There are delegates
registered from over 100 yearly meetings and groups of Friends in 42 countries.
"Thirsty?
Come Drink of the Living Water" (John 7:37-38)
will be the theme for Indiana Yearly Meeting
sessions
scheduled for July 26-29, 2012,
at Quaker Haven Camp.
Plan now to attend.
With Our Sincere Sympathy
Clyde Monroe
(Back Creek Friends) passed away February 12. Clyde served IYM on several
committees and was currently serving on the Ministry & Oversight and as an
officer of Quaker Men.
Darian Davis (21 years
old)
was killed in an automobile accident,
February 2. She is the granddaughter of Pat Shrock (Sycamore Friends). Pat has
served in several capacities in both IYM and FUM. She is the current USFWI
president.
Good Morning!
Has your
community changed much in your lifetime?
Where I live we’ve experienced exponential growth in just the last twenty
years. Those who have lived here their whole lives are a minority; the
demographics have changed and so has the local culture. The area where I was
raised experienced a contrasting change years ago when local jobs disappeared,
along with the gas boom, and country roads once dotted with homes and families
became desolate. Change happens, and the community that escapes this is rare
indeed.
I recently read
about a southern Florida church that struggled to adapt to its changing
community. Originally a strong inner-city congregation, the church began to
struggle; its community had changed, but the church had not. Many of the
predominantly rural churches in Indiana Yearly Meeting face a similar struggle.
Our countryside roads once lined with small farms are now lined by a few large
farms and rows of former farmhouses now rented out to folks who seem
out-of-place to us. In some cases frontage acreage has been sold to folks
fleeing the urban life who build their large homes on once productive farmland.
Though they live in the country, they may still carry an urban mindset.
It is likely that
your community has changed and it’s also likely that your church has struggled
to adapt. We know the kind of people who lived around us years ago, but many of
those folks are gone. The way we “did church” back then worked well, but the
same approach doesn’t always resonate with today’s neighbors. What would it look
like for your church to adapt to your changing community?
-Doug Shoemaker
Camp
Dates
Junior High Camp (7th & 8th grades) -
June 10-15
Beginners Camp (K—2nd grades) -
June 15-17
Senior High I (9th—12th grades & 2012 grads) -
June 17-22
Junior Camp (5th & 6th grades) -
June 24-29
Kids Camp (2nd—4th grades) -
July 15-18
Senior Camp II (9th—12th grades & 2012 grads) -
July 29—August 3
IYM Upcoming Calendar
2/25
Reconfiguration Task Force, IYM office, 9 am
3/3
Committee Day, Friends Memorial, 9 am
3/10
Reconfiguration Task Force, IYM office, 9 am
3/12
Executive Committee, IYM office, 6:30 pm
3/22
Pastors’ Summit, Marion First, 10 am
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Most Recent Communicators
February 1, 2012 -
Communicators/Communicator20120130b.pdf
January 11, 2012 -
Communicators/Communicator20120118b.pdf
December 21, 2011 -
Communicators/Communicator20120111b.pdf
December 7, 2011 -
Communicators/Communicator20111219b.pdf