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If you’ve been lucky enough to visit many of our churches, you’d know firsthand how each embraces the freedom to worship as the Spirit leads. Whether the style is liturgical or expressive, our worship is always seeking after God.<\/p>\n
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Special Relations and Special Appointments ministers are Free Methodist Elders engaged in ministry in non-traditional ways. Usually these are conference members supporting para-church ministries and church plants but may also be retired pastors or educators who continue to follow God\u2019s calling in their communities.<\/p>\n
Each year we receive special greetings from these treasured partners and share them with the Free Methodist Church to encourage and challenge our members to pray and support these ministries and ministers.<\/p>\n
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God is doing incredible things with us. We are seeing broken people being restored and transformed by the love of Christ. We are developing and empowering leaders under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. So, we are very grateful and humbled by God’s mercy in our lives. We want to send greetings and love to our FMCSC family and request to please continue praying for us.<\/p>\n
I trust that we will faithfully serve the Lord until we are no longer able to do so …….. since there is so little said about retiring or retirement in scripture except in one passage in the Old Testament, we should endeavor to press on to the goal that is set before us, then to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.<\/p>\n
May the Lord continue to bless in Southern California.<\/p>\n
I wonder at God’s goodness in terms of the students and colleagues I have been privileged to know over my years of teaching. In retirement, I have been blessed by God to be able to live on a lake in the woods in order to enjoy God’s creation.<\/p>\n
I’m grateful to have stayed connected to our Free Methodist Family! I’ve enjoyed a year of missional work through Rosebud Coffee and the opportunity to help other churches start social enterprises to bless their communities. I’m looking forward to what the Lord has in store as I help with another FMC restart!<\/p>\n
I am enjoying my professional work at an Episcopal Church in Cambridge MA. It is a lovely parish and I am delighted to use my gifts in preaching and teaching regularly. This is a progressive community which challenges me to think about my faith in Christ in new ways.<\/p>\n
Keep looking up!<\/p>\n
As I work at the Geriatric Hospital (in New Zealand) and walk alongside with many patients and residents with dementia and various levels of decreasing mental ability, I find it so comforting to be able to simply offer to them the ministry of presence; and it has certainly taken on a new meaning for me – the ability to be in the presence of another human being expecting nothing in return but simply to acknowledge the sacredness and beauty of that life for what it is, the very image of God. So I sit with them as in the presence of God Himself who encouraged us by saying: “I was sick and you looked after me…I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:31-40<\/p>\n
So my heart rejoices in the work I have been called to do as a chaplain. May all praise be to Him!<\/p>\n
Thank the Lord for keeping the Logos Evangelical Seminary dormitory where I serve safe during the past two years of the epidemic. However, since January of this year, there have been successive residents with suspected symptoms, but thank the Lord they are all false alarms. But, since mid-March, people have been confirmed to be infected with the virus. Every time it seems to have calmed down, someone confirms the infection again. But thank the Lord, because of so many more experiences of God\u2019s peace and strength in prayer to experience His truth, grace, and love. What a privilege to trust in Jesus, pray to him, and have peace with him! All the glory to him. Please also remember my ministry in prayer, so that these seminary students can experience God’s wonderful grace together and learn to be more like him.<\/p>\n
Greetings from New York! Grateful for the ability to stay connected through technology. I had a baby girl just under a year ago, so it\u2019s been a fun season of adjusting to being a family of four! I\u2019m learning a lot about slowing down and being present for the little things. Blessings to you all in Southern California!<\/p>\n
The Lord is continuing to call, lead, and grow my experience of His presence in my life as I follow each day!<\/p>\n
The Lord has been teaching me that while at my stage of life I am not called to introduce and lead change as I did as a young person, my years of experience give me an opportunity to be a reconciler and one who hears and guides from various sides of divisive issues. I become more and more aware each year of my own personal need for God’s grace as circumstances reveal more and more of my own failings. My daily time with the Lord has changed from a more intensive focus of reading and praying to more frequent contemplation and reflection as I walk for long hours each week. I feel blessed by my circumstances and grateful to the Lord for the peace he gives me when so many others around me are in turmoil.<\/p>\n
Each morning I find myself in amazement at the grace of God shaping my own heart and life while also opening doors of influence that allow me to bring the Kingdom near. My commitment remains to the threefold priorities of leadership formation, unity in the church, and Kingdom mission. The fulfillment has never been more vibrant. Even as I grow increasingly aware of limited time and energy, I am deeply compelled in this labor. I find it interesting that as I divest positions, titles, and power, true influence for the Kingdom in the hearts and lives of other leaders and organizations — especially young ones — is multiplied. It is thrilling to be in this Kingdom work.<\/p>\n
In light of the soon coming of Jesus in judgment, I pray that God would help us to be good examples of the changed lives that He has done and to share in love the wonderful offer of forgiveness of sins and eternal life that Jesus offers to everyone.<\/p>\n
Looking forward to seeing everyone at Annual Conference 2022 and hearing how everyone is doing. I missed our time together.<\/p>\n
Greetings fellow followers of Christ. GOD IS ON THE MOVE in Africa in ways like I have never seen before in 27 years of ministry. Broken lives and families are finding Christ and gaining new skills to crush poverty in over 20 villages AND those empowered are sharing their transformation with others! Even one Kenyan governor told me that “This Empowering Lives approach is a gift from God to me as a leader of my county.” WOW – this man – responsible for over one half million people is telling all of the chiefs under his jurisdiction to “Go the ELI way” which includes the Gospel. God is good.<\/p>\n