September 2016

A Word from our District Superintendent

The summer has flown by! It has been a time of delightful Sabbath as I’ve enjoyed a renewal leave. Lee and I have seen wonderful theater in Ashland, enjoyed a beautiful week in Bend, played with our family at Camp Magruder, and actually finished 1/8 of the projects on our home list! In between, the back deck sang its siren song. As you read this, I will be with my youngest son getting the grand tour of Minneapolis with all his favorite people and places. (Anyone for raspberry ice cream in a wasabi-flavored cone? No cheese on a stick for us at the state fair!)

I do hope that you have also found respite and refreshment, body and spirit. I am so looking forward to hearing your summer stories. Even as I’ve enjoyed renewal leave, I’ve been thinking about our gatherings this fall--for one-to-one conversations with clergy, meetings with SPRC leaders, and regional celebrations of your ministries. We’ll welcome our brand-new Bishop, Elaine Stanovsky, too, with events planned by the Conference Episcopacy Committee. I’ve experienced her leadership at general church events and am impressed by her attentive listening and thoughtful questions. (The inside scoop from my clergy sister who serves in Rocky Mountain AC: “You are getting a great Bishop!”)

As happens with “well-laid plans,” the fall schedule comes with a wrinkle for me. Since last spring, I have been working with my doctors on a long-needed knee replacement. That surgery is finally scheduled--for September 1! Not convenient, but very necessary. After an initial recovery period, I will be back on the District by phone, text, and email, and in person with you all by month’s end. You are most welcome to be in touch with me about your ministry, or, of course, contact our awesome Administrative Assistant, Linda Grund-Clampit. I give thanks for her excellent leadership on the District this summer, and her generous spirit in all she does. 

The event this most affects is our All-District Colloquy in September. That gathering is cancelled. The first clergy colloquies will be in October, as will the first regional celebrations and charge conferences (as needed). 

My prayers are with you in these last, lovely summer days. And many blessings for a great new year of ministry to your communities. 

Peg

lofsvold@mac.com

A Word from our District Superintendent
New Beginnings
District Fall Schedule
Other Fall Opportunities
Planning for Worship and Special Offerings
Cascadia District Prayer Calendar
Resources

New Beginnings

• New Bishop: Elaine Stanovsky will be the new Bishop for the Greater Northwest Episcopal Area, which includes the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference, effective September 1. You can read more about her on the conference website. Bishop Hagiya has been assigned to the California-Pacific Annual Conference.  You can read his goodbye here.  More information will be coming about opportunities to meet Bishop Elaine around the conference.

• New Conference Lay Leaders:  Two women from the Cascadia District will serve as lay leaders for the Annual Conference through June 2020 - Jan Nelson of Morningside (Salem) UMC will be Conference Lay Leader and Emilie Kroen of Tualatin UMC will be Associate Conference Lay Leader. You can hear Jan's comments to the Laity Session of AC after her election this past June here.

• New District Lay Leader: The Cascadia District Lay Leader for this next quadrennium is Paula Sadler of Tigard UMC. Read her introduction here! You can contact Paula at jpcsadler@aol.com

• New District Lay Servant Director: All three of the women leading us in this new quadrennium (Jan, Emilie, and Paula) have been or are currently Lay Servants.  This is a training program to help lay persons improve their skills in ministry (which is not just for clergy!).  Read more about the Lay Servant program here, or contact our new Cascadia District Lay Servant Director, Pam Robbins, of Tualatin UMC, at walkdeeper@me.com

• District Superintendent Peg will have a new knee . . . see her comments above.  Please keep her in prayer as she has surgery on Sept. 1 and for her quick recovery!

• New compensation form will be used this fall.  We hope it will be posted online and available for your use next week. It is a one page form (with one page of instructions you will need to use!)  Linda in the District Office is available to interpret the form and support you, and we are eager to hear your feedback.

• New newsletter format . . . is coming! This newsletter format (all in the e-mail) is a transitional phase to the anticipated new format.  We are hoping to have a weekly e- newsletter with a couple of stories per week and lots of links to upcoming events and resources.  So a shorter read at a sitting, but still rich with content.  Thank you for your patience as we transition, and we would love your feedback!

• New Cascadia District Facebook Page: Like us! We try to have a post every day and include news about Cascadia District churches as well as content from the Conference and general church, with a selection of news, ideas, and inspiration. www.facebook.com/CascadiaDistrict 

     

District Fall Schedule

• No All-district Colloquy this year due to Peg’s knee surgery.  Colloquies will begin in October.  See information and schedule at www.umoi.org/cascadiacolloquy

• Cascadia District Church Extension Society Annual Meeting, Sat. Oct. 1 noon to 2 p.m. at Bethlehem House of Bread. You are invited! For information and to make your reservation, click here.

• Most Fall Reports will be handled at a regularly scheduled local church board meeting this fall.  Find more information and checklist of reports due at www.umoi.org/cascadiadistrictfallchargeconferences The exceptions are: compensation, lay servant approval, and candidate approval.  These will be handled at the . . .

• Fall Celebration Gatherings, which are being organized geographically.  These are to be a time of worship, fellowship, celebration of what God has been doing among you, and sharing dreams God has given you.  Only a few minutes of this time will be needed for business. If your church is not yet committed to a gathering, we will be in touch with you early in September to schedule. [If you need a “regular” charge conference meeting for any reason, please contact the district office to request.]

• DS one-to-one meetings with clergy and DS meetings with clergy and SPRC to do evaluation: Peg will begin scheduling these when she is back in the office in mid-September following her surgery. 

Other Fall Opportunities