The 2012 Pastor's Report

November 6, 2012

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

For those not in attendance at last week’s Charge Conference, I want to share with you this year’s pastor’s report, which offers the main highlights of our year together.  I invite you to read it and join with me in celebrating another great year of putting God’s love into action, even despite our recent church fire.

 

Pastor’s Report
St. Paul’s UMC Charge Conference
October 29, 2012
Magrey R. deVega

When you walk through the fire, you won’t be scorched and flame won’t burn you. I am the LORD your God, the holy one of Israel, your savior. – Isaiah 43:2-3
 

       This will forever be a memorable year in the history of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.  On February 26, 2012, a fire that started on the north stove of the kitchen destroyed the entire kitchen and Schuldt Dining Hall, and caused significant smoke damage to the sanctuary and Feller Lounge.  The devastation was shocking news to a congregation that had never had a fire in its 154-year history.
        But just as a fire in nature has a way of forging the potential for new life, this congregation has displayed an amazing vitality in the weeks and months following the disaster.  We relocated our worship service to the Cherokee Community Center for seven months, and continued gathering for excellent, inspirational worship without suffering our normally sizable drop in summer attendance or giving.  In fact, the different space created an opportunity for a casual, fun worship environment, and the great sound system ensured that people could hear everything from the stage.
        By far the greatest blessing through this ordeal has been the amazing leadership offered by some incredible leaders and committees in the congregation.  The Board of Trustees, led by the inimitable Don Witcombe, were immediate, proficient, and thorough in their response and recovery efforts.  The Building Committee, led by Gene Anderson, has faithfully engaged a long, comprehensive process of designing the new facilities with our architects and engineers, negotiating through tough decisions, and soliciting feedback and support from the congregation.  And many in the congregation have stepped in to offer many hours of volunteer service to help us work through this recovery.  
        On September 30, a little over seven months since our fire, we returned to worship in the sanctuary.  After a thorough cleaning by ServiceMaster, a new coat of paint (including a repair to the ceiling in the southwest corner), and new pew cushions and carpet, the sanctuary feels (and, more importantly, smells!) as good as new.
        We are now in the process of completing our negotiations with the insurance company and general contractor to begin work on the new kitchen and dining hall. The church’s leadership has spent much time designing the facilities that this church will need to carry out its mission through future generations, and they have paid careful attention to make sure that all the plans comply with newer code requirements.  We look forward to seeing the new rooms when they are completed.

        We celebrate the fact that even though the fire was the major headline in our church family over the past year, it did not preclude us from doing some amazing work for the kingdom of God.  Last December, St. Paul’s had a very busy Advent season, introducing some new ways to engage people in the work of mission throughout the community. We started a Winter Outerwear Ministry that solicited donations from the congregation and aided dozens of families with coats, jackets, and other cold weather clothing.  For the first time, St. Paul’s sponsored a Bell Ringing program for the Salvation Army, providing volunteers to ring bells and solicit money at Fareway, Hy-Vee, and K-Mart during the weekends of December.  Your support raised over $3,500, 90% of which stayed right here in Cherokee. And, the Missions Committee offered its second annual Alternative Christmas Gift Catalog and saw an increase in the number of gifts people gave to Heifer International, Church World Service, and Stan Sitzmann’s Needy Children Project.  Finally, the youth program did another service project for the Midwest Christian Children’s Home.
        Last February, a week before the fire, we hosted another successful Pancake Day Race and Shrove Tuesday Service, raising around $1,000 for the two local food pantries.  And then in May, despite the fire, we were able to participate once again in Cherokee Hot Dog Days, thanks to Jeff Blum, Rodney Bainbridge, Darly Gochenour, and several other wonderful volunteers. We used that as an outreach opportunity to promote our upcoming Vacation Bible School.
        And what a VBS it was!  We relocated our program to the lower level basement, which we remodeled with a new kitchenette, carpeting, and a fresh coat of paint thanks to Rod Brown.  As a result of the great leadership and creativity of coordinator Karen Long, we were able to have over eighty children participate in a powerful experience of God’s love, made real for them.  Thanks to their efforts, and those matched by the congregation, the children were able to raise over $1,500 for needy street children in India through a United Methodist-sponsored program.
       Speaking of children and youth, these months have been marked by amazing growth in our ministry to our young people.  Craig and Monica Schmidt continue their tremendous work with our senior high, now hosting about twenty teens in their home every Wednesday.  Our kids are even exchanging friendly debates with their classmates about which church has the best youth group! Thanks to Emily Kramer, we have started a new program for seventh and eight graders on Wednesday nights, and we are getting about eight to ten kids, with new kids every week.  And we are grateful once again to John Chalstrom for coordinating a ski trip for the kids last February, which attracted about thirty kids, our highest total ever.
        We certainly cannot summarize the past year without celebrating the incredible way this church offered ministry and hospitality to the thousands of bicyclists that came through Cherokee in last July’s RAGBRAI event.  We offered two feeding sites, a lunch-time “Cowboy Oasis” on our church’s front lawn, and an evening meal at “Mustang Sherry’s” at the community center.  We offer great thanks for the leadership of Jenny Burroughs (who ensured that we carefully followed – and passed! – all health code regulations), John Cook, Sherry Held, and their great team of volunteers.  Additional thanks to Kristal and Curtis Phillips for arranging our use of the corn roaster for the event.  In all, we served about 1,000 hungry bicyclists, who were grateful for the great food and warm hospitality.  And, we hosted about 75 riders in our own building, along with hundreds more housed by individual church members.  We were glad to welcome the thousands of bicyclists to Cherokee, and thrilled to say good-bye to them when they left!

        Even by numerical standards, this has been a great year.  Last March, our statistical report to the Conference celebrated forty-eight new members at St. Paul’s over the prior twelve months, nearly half of them by profession of faith.  That means many new folks have joined the church who have never made a commitment to Christ or joined another local church.  And, once again, we achieved third-mile status in our Rainbow Covenant Missions giving, the highest distinction offered by the Conference.
But of course, numbers don’t tell the whole story.  St. Paul’s has continued to provide great pastoral care and support to people in need throughout this past year.  Our Visitation Program continues to link lay visitors with shut-ins and homebound persons.  We continue to be the epicenter of care for people seeking health and wholeness, with four Alcoholics Anonymous groups, Moms on Meth, Narcotics Anonymous, and our Wednesday morning weight-loss group, called WOW (“Weight Off Wisely”).
        Our Funeral Luncheon Team continues to provide incredibly generous and gracious hospitality for grieving families in Cherokee, and we extend special thanks to Bethlehem Lutheran Church and Memorial Presbyterian Church for allowing us to use their facilities for funeral luncheons and weddings.  Finally, our 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 prophet Isaiah offered a word of encouragement to God’s people, that when they go through the fire, they would not be burned.  It is that same promise of comfort that gives us hope as we look ahead to even brighter days together.  These last few months, while memorable, have been a blessing to us.  God has brought us together, uniting us with determination and joy for the future.  Now more than ever, 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
Email:  mdevega@sp-umc.org


PRAYERS FOR THE COUNTRY, AND BE SURE TO VOTE
We join with all Americans today in exercising the privilege and responsibility to vote for our elected leaders.  As you make your choices, please offer a prayer for civility and fairness in all of today’s proceedings, along with unity for our country starting tomorrow.

CONFIRMATION SUNDAY
This Sunday we observe an important milestone in the faith journey of our eighth graders.  We celebrate the commitments they will be making to Jesus Christ, the church, and the ministries of St. Paul’s.

STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN:  THE SPIRIT OF ST. PAUL’S
We continue our annual stewardship campaign, themed “The Spirit of St. Paul’s,” with a sermon this Sunday titled “The Spirit of St. Paul’s Present.”  Watch your mail in the next few days for the arrival of a special mailing from the church, which contains a copy of the 2013 budget and your commitment card for this year.

OUT OF TOWN
I am currently in Leesburg, Florida, for one of my two annual weeks serving the Board of Ordained Ministry of the Florida Annual Conference. I will be returning on Friday in time to preach this Sunday.  In the event of an emergency, I will be checking email periodically, or you can contact the church office.

THANK YOU FROM ELLEN HENDERSON
“Thanks to all for your cards, memorials, and prayers for Don Henderson.  He is in a better place.”  - Ellen Henderson and Family