Olive Crest United Methodist Church
7180 North 60th Street
Omaha, Nebraska 68152

Our Pastor

Rev. Debra Tompsett-Welch

Need a Daycare?

Hearts

Minds

Doors

Olive Branch Newsletter For July 2001

Missions

By Kurt Lambrecht

ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2001

To My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Greetings once again!

So we have made it through another Annual Conference. Though I think I missed some of the more . . . "interesting" parts on Sunday as they worked to finish up all of the work and going through all the new legislation before the conference, as well as putting out the new appointments. (We have Reverend Michael for another year! YEAH! Though it would have been nice of them to do so before the last minute. Guess that goes with the change of command as our new Bishop, Rhymes H. Moncure, Jr. took over the reins of the conference. They wanted to wait to set appointments as long as possible so the Bishop could get a good "feel" for his new area of operations.)

Unfortunately (or is it fortunately?), most of the stuff I was there and voted on was pretty much cut and dried, mainly language changes to prior legislation and whatnot, some of it going back to the combining of the Methodist Church and the United Brethren Church (the language about the merger was still in a future tense, and we had to vote to update it to state the process was complete. Isn't legalese such a wonderful language? But with all that, the dinners with the other laity, worship service, being pummeled by beach balls by the members of the youth Annual Conference (YAC) (as well as all the other fun distractions to try to keep us on our toes), and the speeches and reports from committees, the thing that stood out the most for me was the first worship service held at First UMC at 11:15 (which, like many group projects involving lots of people, started later than planned). We started with a few hymns, a couple of prayers, and into the liturgy and the sermon, done by Bishop Moncure himself.

The lesson was on John 2:1-11, about the wedding feast, and Jesus turning the water to wine. But doing something different from the norm (which I think is a trademark of our new bishop) and talking about Jesus or the disciples at the feast, and this being the first of the miracles he performed, and spoke instead on Mary, and why she asked her son to do something about the lack of wine. His examples ranged from the realistic (the loss of face in the community for the families involved, and as a bad omen for the marriage) to the somewhat comical (that the disciples were literally drinking the family out of house and home), but he finally settled on it being an allegory, and a sign of things to come. Pressing on, he said that we all have times when we feel like we have run out of wine, that we have been pushed to the extreme and cannot do any more, for ourselves, for our families, for the church, or for anyone. To finish his lesson, he states that the family of God, and the church, are the places to go when you are feeling that way, that the family strengthens us, and allows us to do more than we thought possible. As the Scriptures say, "All things are possible in Christ Jesus".

It isn't too surprising that the service followed that message with the hymn "Precious Lord, Take my Hand," with the lines "I am tired, I am weak, I am worn". It was not only a message for Annual Conference (which, after only three days, I felt all of the above--tired, weak, and worn), but for all of us, for after conference, when we went back out into the "normal" world. There is a lot going on in all our lives, and sometimes we feel like we are on a boat about to be swamped over by the waves. But, if we gather together, work with each other, and gather in faith together to pray and worship, all things are possible.

Now, on to the boring stuff. I would like to thank everybody again for their all their help with gathering food and funds for the Pearl Food Pantry. With the contributions from my friends and I in the improvisational acting group of which I am a member, we gathered up as much food at one time as we do at Thanksgiving time. Now, I should have planned to do this again this last Sunday, but I forgot to look at a calendar until it was too late, and realized that there are only 30 days in June, not 31 as I had thought. So, as to give everybody time to gather things, the next Push for Pearl Pantry will be Sunday the 8th of July.

Also, in the next month to month and a half, I should be getting my information on CROP Walk for this year. So start breaking in those walking shoes in now, if you plan on joining us on our 10K walk to help stamp out world (and local) hunger, so you are ready and raring to go.

As for Missions, due to the amount of traveling and other activities in the summer months, we have decided to put off the International Missions Fair until September, I believe the weekend after YAH does it's play this year for fund-raising for the Day Care. To that end, also on the 8th, we will have a short Missions Committee meeting after church in the Chapel. If that is not amenable to your schedule, let me know so that we can reschedule for a time that is better for all of us. Unfortunately, with me working 6 days a week (5 of them nights), Sunday is the only free day I have usually. So hopefully we can work around all our schedules and get this bird off the ground.

Finally, I was looking through the latest issue of the Interpreter the other day, and right inside the front cover was a listing of what part of our apportionments go towards. I am asking Reverend Michael and Gabbie to put a copy of this in behind my article, so those of our family who do not get the Interpreter can see it. It helps to know where our money is going, so it doesn't feel like we are paying taxes to the church. This money is going out to do God's work here and abroad, and helping our fellow man is part of what we as United Methodists are all about. So please look at that article, so you can see what our apportionments are used for.

Well, that's about all for now. Take care, everyone, and I hope to see you all in church this Sunday. As always, I remain
     Your Most Humble and Obedient Servant in Christ Jesus
     Kurtis W. Lambrecht, Hunger and Missions Chairperson

World Service Fund
Through World Service, you become a partner in ministry. You reach out in love and compassion in the name of Christ.

Through this apportionment, United Methodist churches:

• under gird a network of missionaries and others who serve in the name of Christ and The United Methodist Church around the world;
• strengthen evangelism efforts, stimulate church growth, expand Bible studies and nurture spiritual development;
• support specific local church work with children, youth, singles, students, persons who are mentally and physically challenged, adults and older persons;
• enrich our congregational life with worship, retreat and camping resources, leader training and stewardship development;
• provide leadership and coordination for denominational ministry with youth;
• continue nearly 200 years of commitment to quality college and graduate education;
• certify United Methodist professional Christian educators, communicators and musicians;
• assure United Methodists speak and work to help build a more ethical, just and humane world;
• continue a proud tradition of cooperation and dialogue with other faith traditions through interdenominational and ecumenical work;
• give our denomination a presence in the mass media and make new communications technologies accessible to the church; and
• express our commitment to God's reign through ministries of peace and justice, and efforts to build a church and a society truly inclusive of all persons regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or handicapping condition.

Back to Top     This Newsletter's Table of Contents     Newsletter Selection Menu     Home Page

Upcoming Events