Author: devadmin

Hello from Naivasha! It took planes, trams and automobiles but 23 hours after our departure from Orlando we have arrived!

Thankfully, our travels were uneventful and everyone managed to get some sleep on the plane – or should I say planes. We did change planes in Dubai!

We are excited for our first full day in Naivasha Thursday when we will be spending time with the Panua youth and spreading God’s love with all of the wonderful people we meet.

More to come tomorrow and thank you to everyone at FUMCWP for your prayers!

By Bob Constant

The churches that make up the United Methodist Church in Florida are organized into what we call the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. The Florida Conference is one of a number of conferences throughout the world that make up the worldwide United Methodist Church. The Florida Conference has an annual meeting in June of each year. To that meeting, each church sends the clergy appointed to the church (in our case, David, Jayne, Gary, and Craig). We also send an equal number of lay people as representatives of our church to this conference. This year, my wife Nancy and I, along with Ivor and Mary Scott Singer, were privileged to represent First United Methodist Church of Winter Park to this important meeting, which was held in Lakeland (on the campus of Florida Southern College) from June 7-9. The theme of this year’s meeting was “Remembering Who We Are.”

As part of this theme, we spent a considerable time considering the theology of John Wesley, an Anglican minister who lived in the eighteenth century and is considered the founder of the Methodist movement. Two of the presentations stood out most prominently in my mind. We heard Dr. Paul Chilcote, a professor of Christian theology at the Dunnam campus of Asbury Seminary in Orlando, who delivered a talk on the “Spiritual DNA of Methodism,” in which he outlined three critical Wesleyan contributions to our understanding of grace, salvation, and Christian community. We also were privileged to hear a sermon by Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, the presiding bishop of the North Georgia Conference. Her sermon was entitled, “God’s Extreme Makover: What is the Method?” in which she considered Paul’s statement: “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17) in powerful Wesleyan terms. These presentations are available to view at the livestream website.

These presentations (and others) were very timely discussions that touched on the function and work of the church, particularly in times when there is controversy that rises from within the church. We are currently experiencing such a time. Over the next year, the global United Methodist Church and conferences and local churches will be asked to grapple with the question about marriage and ordination of our brothers and sisters within the church who belong to the LGBTQ community. To help our congregations pursue thoughtful and loving discussions about these difficult issues,  the United Methodist Church has developed a curriculum called Point of View (POV): Join the Conversation. This curriculum helps to support participating congregations by having facilitated discussions with emphases on empathy, understanding, and generative dialogue. The curriculum is not designed to support any one position regarding these issues, and there is no intent with the program to change the opinion of the participants. The main intent of the POV program is to foster positive and respectful communication amongst the participants. We were given a brief presentation about the work that has been done in producing these POV sessions at our recent annual conference. From that presentation, we understand that we will not be informed about any decisions that will be required on the part of our congregation until after a special general conference (that is, a conference of global delegates called especially for this purpose) which will be held in February, 2019. Still, after hearing the presentations about the POV sessions, I am very hopeful that our congregation would benefit from these types of discussions about the marriage/ordination of LGBTQ  individuals in the POV format. I would strongly encourage our members, no matter what their opinion about these issues, to participate in one of multiple POV conversations, which are tentatively scheduled to be held between August and November of this year. More information about the POV curriculum can be obtained at the Florida Conference website.

On Sunday, May 20th, we got to hear from 8 of our graduating high school seniors. They told stories of their faith formation through our church and through our vibrant family. They told stories of being Christ-like servants, gracious hosts, and passionate seekers through a myriad of our programs and ministries. Then, as a church, we prayed over the students and their families, finally following through on our baptismal vow:

With God’s help we have proclaimed the good news and have walked with you by the example of Christ. We will surround you with our prayers, that you may continue to grow in your trust of God, and be found faith in your service to others. We will cheer you on, that you may be true disciples who walk in the way that leads to life.

View Senior Insert HERE!

Senior Speakers

8:00am Senior Speeches – Andrew Thomas and Erin Wright

9:30am Senior Speeches – Joey Cocchiarella, Spencer Clayton and Emerson Zumwalt

11:00am Senior Speeches –  Kelly Wright, Ray Adams and Autumn Day

Praying for Members of Our Vibrant Family

As we strive to serve in the image of Jesus the Christ we become aware that Jesus prayed unceasingly for others. There is a community of believers in our church who pray for members.  This Intercessory Prayer group receive a list of individual prayer concerns and joys weekly from Rev. Gary Rideout.

Another small group who intercede in prayer on behalf of our community is Gathered In His Name. This group uses the prayer list but also prays for our church leadership, our mission teams, specific ministries, and world social justice issues.

As a congregation, we are all called to pray for those whose names are in the bulletin each Sunday. We are not given the specific prayer concerns, but we can ask God to bless these individuals. It is a privilege and honor to pray for others. By doing this we are caring for and supporting members of our vibrant family through God’s grace.

If you have a prayer request or if you are interested in joining one of these groups, contact Rev. Gary Rideout at gary@fumcwp.org.

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20

As we are living into our vision of being a vibrant family, there are several on-going conversations within our church. One of those conversations is about the South Street property, Trinity Christian Academy (TCA), and the Foundry Orlando.

South Street Property. We know the original agreement with the Florida Conference regarding the South Street property stated that the property reverts back to the Conference should we choose to not use the facilities. The South Street facility is aging and in need of serious renovations. Earlier, a feasibility study found that to maintain the building, there are over $400,000 worth of repairs necessary. With this in mind, our Trustees recommended, and Leadership Council approved, that we leave the South Street property due to the amount of resources required to maintain it.

Trinity Christian Academy. Earlier this year, we announced the relocation of the TCA preschool ministry to the facility that formerly housed Reeves UMC. Even though that church is now closed, TCA is still transferring to this location for the start of the fall school year. This property transfer allows for more classrooms and an overall increase in facilities – all for less cost than the school was paying at the South Street location. With the location change, there is an increase in registration for the fall school year and many age groups are waitlisted for enrollment already! For more information on TCA, click here.

Foundry Orlando. We know that our former South Street ministry is continuing under the new name of the Foundry Orlando. This new approach to serving youth in the Orlando area aligns with our church’s vision of being Christ-like servants. Next week, we are presenting a proposal to the Florida Conference about the location, future resources, and long-term sustainability of the Foundry ministry.  For more information on the direction for the Foundry Orlando, click here.

Continuing the Conversation. We are currently exploring ways to strengthen TCA by broadening ministry opportunities at the Reeves location. Now that Reeves UMC is closed, Pastor Patti Thue is assisting us in the smooth transition of TCA to the Reeves facility. She is currently working on behalf of the East Central District of the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. Our church vision, that launched in January 2018, offers our ministries a refreshed direction for growth and service.

As we strive to live into our vision, we remember our call to be like Jesus, serving those in need.  Our own Panua Partners in Hope ministry in Naivasha, Kenya, has been working diligently through the year to be good stewards of God-given resources as we serve orphaned and vulnerable youth.  In the US and Kenya, Panua has seen amazing transformation take place in the lives of challenged youth in Naivasha, and in the hearts of our prayer partners here in the US.   Panua’s stories of hope and success continue to inspire us all. 

The Panua Executive Board is pleased to present our 2017 annual report.  We are humbled by the continued progress of our Panua youth – persevering through difficult & hopeless days, to see that God is truly at work in their lives and is offering transformation.  Please click anywhere on the image below to view the report in its entirety and see how God is transforming lives in Naivasha, Kenya and here in the US.

Kinfolk + Covenant House BBQ Picnic
By Caroline Miller

I started officially interning with Kinfolk in August 2017 as their volunteer outreach coordinator. This has been a great opportunity for our church’s young adults to serve non-profits in the Orlando community. When I started my other internship at Covenant House Florida in January working with their transitional housing program, Rights of Passage Apartment Living (ROPAL), I noticed that there was not a lot of opportunities for the ROPAL youth to engage socially with each other. After speaking with Jon and my supervisor at Covenant House, we came up with the idea of having Kinfolk host a barbecue picnic for the youth.

After much collaboration, we organized to meet at Mayor Carl T. Langford Park in Downtown Orlando. We grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, played corn hole, and just had an enjoyable day together. The youth who were able to come had not had the opportunity to even meet each other, and two of them came to find they were neighbors! It is so important for this youth to have a system of support during this stage of their life, just like the support I have been so fortunate to have with our Kinfolk ministry. It could not have been a more beautiful day. Overall, it was a successful example of the message Kinfolk is built on, our lives truly are holier when they are shared together.