Another Great Year

November 10, 2010

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

For those of you not in attendance at Monday night's night’s Charge Conference, I’d like to share with you my pastor’s report that was included in the packet of material. It is a kind of “state of the church” summary of all that we have experienced and achieved in the past year. The process of writing this report is becoming one of my favorite activities every year, as it gives me a chance to reflect on all that we have done together to put God’s love into action. This year was no exception:

Pastor’s Report
St. Paul’s UMC Charge Conference
November 8, 2010
Magrey R. deVega

The best way to evaluate this past year and celebrate all the ways that St. Paul’s has put God’s love into action is to consider our four-fold mission statement:

WORSHIP: We worship with joy, because Christ is among us and deserves our praise.
Worship continues to be central to the life of the St. Paul’s community. Every Sunday is filled with opportunities to experience God and grow in our faith through dynamic, diverse, excellent worship experiences. This past year saw changes in worship leadership, as we welcomed Larry Hunecke as our new Chancel Choir Director and Joe Vannatta as our Bell Choir Director. We give thanks to Sherry Held and Amy Stief for their wonderful service in those capacities prior to the new hires.
Our sermon series have been varied and relevant, and have included series titled, “Believe It or Not,” “Facing Life with Faith,” “The Seven Next Words of Christ,” “The Hebrews Hall of Fame,” and a series on Elijah and Elisha.

GROW: We grow in our faith, practicing every day what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
We continue to make progress on our goal of starting new small groups every year and anticipate having a total of six new small groups started in the next few months.
Children’s and Youth Ministry continue to be vibrant and active. The youth went on a Ski Trip in February, and did a service project at the Midwest Christian Children’s Home last December. The Children had another wonderful Vacation Bible School and Children’s Sabbath, and raised money for the program called Kids Against Hunger.

CARE: We care for each other as an encouraging, supportive, and growing family.
The Helping Hands program, under the guidance of Sheree Hausmann and Marlene Kelly, continues to link the skills and energy of people in the congregation with those in need. The Visitation Program continues to link lay visitors with shut-ins and homebound persons. They receive audio recordings of the service and a bulletin, and check on them for pastoral and personal concerns. We are grateful for the wonderful team of visitors who make these connections every week.
St. Paul’s added two new Alcoholics Anonymous groups, both of which meet at noon every week, to bring to five the total number of AA groups hosted by the church. St. Paul’s continues to be the center of recovery and support in Cherokee, including Moms on Meth, Narcotics Anonymous, and the Foster Care Review Board.
As always, our Funeral Luncheon Team continues to provide an amazing level of generous hospitality for families grieving the loss of loved ones. Theirs was a formidable task repeated dozens of times over the past year, and they provided wonderful luncheons with grace and warmth. Thanks to Phyllis Parrott and Donna Henrich for their coordination.

SHARE: We share with others to meet their physical and spiritual needs, and invite all people to faith in Christ.
God’s love has been put into action in remarkable ways this year. We are on track once again to achieve Third-Mile Status with the Conference’s Rainbow Covenant Missions initiative, including first-time offerings for the Iowa-Nigeria Partnership and the P.E.T. Project. In fact, a sizeable offering of $1,600 was received for P.E.T., enough to purchase four mobile transportation units for immobilized people around the world.
We made strides in offering our time and energy as well. St. Paul’s and the wider United Methodist Church were recognized by the Cherokee City Hall for their local relief efforts following the devastating flash floods in June.
Of course, February featured another successful Great Cherokee Pancake Day Race and Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. The event raised the visibility of both St. Paul’s and the town of Cherokee, including terrific coverage by KTIV television news, the Sioux City Journal, and local newspaper and radio. It raised several hundred dollars for the two local food pantries and involved dozens of runners. We look forward to next year’s race in March, as hopefully warmer weather will further increase the number of racers and participants.
This year saw the inauguration of our participation in Soles4Souls, an initiative that collects shoes of any size, style, or condition and sends them to needy people around the world. This year has been a tremendous success, as over 400 pairs of shoes have been collected and distributed.

Finally, this past year saw improvements to the campus and plans for the next renovation. We completed the addition of a new parking lot across the south alley that increased the number of handicap-accessible spaces. The Building Committee worked with an architect to develop plans for renovation to the Education Wing, including several feedback sessions with the congregation. What has emerged is an exciting plan for improved energy efficiency throughout the building along with other infrastructural improvements. This project will prepare the eastern part of our campus for state-of-the-art, environmentally responsible ministry for generations to come.
To that end, we are moving into our Capital Campaign titled “Together in Faith” in the middle of November. We hope to raise close to $1 million, so that renovation can begin early 2011. We are eager to see the Spirit move through the congregation’s generosity and faithful commitments.

Once again, these are exciting days to be a part of St. Paul’s UMC. I count it a deep privilege to have served another year as this church’s pastor, and I look forward to another great year of putting God’s love into action.

Grace and Peace,

Magrey

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
http://www.cherokeespumc.org



MAGREY IN FLORIDA
I am currently in Leesburg, Florida, spending a week with the Florida Annual Conference Board of Ordained Ministry. We are reviewing applications of candidates for ordained ministry. Thank you for your prayers for safe travel and discernment for this and other conference boards across the connection as we do this important work.


CAPITAL CAMPAIGN BEGINS SUNDAY
Join us as we begin this exciting new chapter in the life of St. Paul’s. Our campaign is titled “Together in Faith: Building a Better Future.” As part of our campaign, we are inviting people to bring in pictures and other personal items that share your favorite Thanksgiving and Advent/Christmas memories. Thanksgiving items will be displayed in the narthex on November 21, and Advent items on November 28. You can be bring them to the church office any time before then, and they will be secured for safe keeping and returned to you. For more information, contact Nancy Knapp.