Greeting

As many of you have heard by now, several tornadoes hit portions of north-central Kansas. A tornado hit Manhattan, causing damage to several neighborhoods and damaging several buildings on the campus of Kansas State University.

The town of Solider in Jackson county sustained damage with trees and power lines down and several homes destroyed.

The town of Chapman in Dickinson County in the Kansas West Conference sustained extensive damage, with an estimated 80 percent of the town destroyed, including the Chapman United Methodist Church and parsonage.

Videos of the damage can be found at the following website: http://videos.kansas.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=1930255.

More news will be posted on the conference website at http://www.kansaseast.org/ as it becomes available to our communications department. Stay on the lookout for ways you can help with the disaster response in these towns.

Gary Beach
Director of Connectional Ministries

Lost items from Annual Conference
The following items were found either during or after this year’s Annual Conference at Baker University. Please check the list to make sure you did not leave something behind.

• Eye glasses, dark brown frame, round lenses, tinted
• Table top display sign holders (6 various sized wooden pieces)
• Two choir stoles (gold on one side; red on the other side)
• Fold up umbrella, black
• Foam ear cover for a headset
• Carolyn Taylor Woman sweater, 2X, blue/grey tweed
• Partial skein of Red Heart sport yarn, black
• Axxess+ key found on the parking lot surface
• Canon BJ-100 Bubble Jet Printer

Lost items can be claimed by calling or stopping by the conference office (877-972-9111 toll free or 785-272-9111) at 4201 SW 15th St in Topeka.

Offerings totals from Annual Conference
The totals from the special offerings taken at this year’s Annual Conference have been tallied, and the results are as follows:
Joe and Shirley Edgerton in Haiti: $4,225.31
Bangladesh: $1,371.37
Hurricane Katrina: $2,985.09
Youth Service Fund: $2,734.08
Baker University: $2,436.09

News

Bridges to the Future capital campaign total announced
The current total for the Bridges to the Future capital campaign was announced at the 2008 Kansas East Annual Conference in Baldwin City last week. Before the conference, $5,172,092 had been pledged toward the goal of $5.35 million. By the end of Annual Conference an additional $12,000 had been pledged, bringing the total up to nearly $5.2 million. The campaign will continue through to the end of August as there are several churches and individuals still in the process of making a decision on their pledges. These additional pledges will help the conference reach and possibly exceed its goal.

The Bridges to the Future Celebration at Annual Conference was a time not only to share the current total for the campaign but also to celebrate the progress that has already been made and to look to the future of what the campaign will help the Kansas East Conference to achieve. A new video featuring clergy and lay people from around the conference was shared, as well as a song about the Bridges ministries written and performed by Revs. Jan and Mitch Todd. Both the celebration video and the song video will be mailed out to all churches during the first week of July for use in local churches as a way to say “thank you” for their support of this campaign.

Donation pledges can be directed to campaign director Laura Murphy at LMurphy@kansaseast.org or 913-393-4201. Additional copies of the most recent Bridges to the Future newsletter can be found in the "Updates" section on the Bridges to the Future website at: www.kansaseast.org/page.asp?PKValue=1021.

Tony Ikenberry mission update
Tony Ikenberry is a long-term volunteer in mission currently serving in Bangladesh. He is a member of the Ives Chapel UMC in Baldwin City. Tony has been sharing news of his work and life in Bangladesh. Read his most recent update at www.kansaseast.org/page.asp?PKValue=416.


Give Ye Them to Eat update
Terry and Muriel Henderson are the leaders of the Give Ye Them to Eat (GYTTE) rural development program in Puebla, Mexico. The program helps enable marginalized people and communities to meet their basic needs. Read the most recent update from the Hendersons at www.kansaseast.org/page.asp?PKValue=416.

Change coming in the new United Methodist Hymnal
Culture changes, styles change, meanings change, people change and hymns change. Every new hymnal changes the words of hymns from versions found in the previous hymnal. The reasons may be political, theological, cultural, or any of numerous reasons. The changes are greeted by some as good and by others as bad. An article posted on the General Board of Global Ministries discusses those changes, with a special look at Charles Wesley. To read the article, visit www.gbod.org/worship/default.asp?act=reader&item_id=46406&loc_id=17,823

Kansas West church pitches in to help biking pastor for Kansas East ‘Bridges’ campaign
On May 19, Rev. Peggy Hillmon, pastor at Wesley UMC in Parsons, began biking across Kansas to raise money for the church’s pledge commitment to the “Bridges to the Future” capital campaign. She asked her congregation to collect money for each of 564 bridges that she will cross on her trip.

One of her stops on the trip was at Sublette UMC in the Kansas West Conference. The Sublette Bridges committee challenged the church members to contribute an extra amount to their pledges to go toward Hillmon’s efforts for the Sublette church. For each $1.25 contributed to the Sublette donations, $.25 was donated to the Parson’s campaign.

Hillmon stopped to spend the night at Sublette UMC on May 20. The pastor, Rev. Keith Fink, presented a check for the money raised by the Sublette UMC. Hillmon said Sublette’s gift was “… a generous witness to our connectional church as together we do God’s work.”

Kansas East woman among seminary scholarship recipients
Kathy Williams, student at Saint Paul School of Theology and pastoral assistant at Grace United Methodist church in Emporia, is one of eleven scholars awarded the Georgia Harkness Scholarship for 2008-2009. The scholarship takes the recipients to Honduras and El Salvador to connect with women there to learn from each other’s experiences and dedication to the faith. Read more about the scholarship recipients on the conference website at
www.kansaseast.org/news_detail.asp?TableName=oNews_PJAYMY&PrimaryKey=oNews_PJAYMY_ID&PKValue=469.

Youth ministry opening at FirstLight
FirstLight, a church start in Gardner, is looking for a part-time youth minister for grades 5-8. To view the listing in the conference classifieds section, visit www.kansaseast.org/classifieds_detail.asp?TableName=oClassifieds_JFJX7N&PKValue=233.

Featured Events

BeADisciple.com offering online courses
BeADisciple.com is a ministry of the Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship. Its mission is to provide online educational opportunities that nurture and enrich Christian leaders, lay and clergy, for effective living and ministry. The website is offering several online workshops in June and July. The following are online courses the website is offering in June and July:

• 'The Tie that Binds' (Bishop Richard Wilke) Online Book Discussion - June 16-30, 2008
• Reading the Bible in a Whole New Way - June 16-20, 2008 ($20)
• Maximizing Disciple In Your Church: A Workshop for DISCIPLE Facilitators" - July 7-21, 2008 ($100)

To enroll in these workshops or to see what is coming later in the summer and fall, visit http://www.beadisciple.com/.


Wesley Seminary sponsors The Church Basement Roadshow
Wesley Theological Seminary announces “The Church Basement Roadshow: A Rollin’ Gospel Revival” national summer tour, featuring three of the most outspoken emergent church leaders and authors traveling around the country in a biodiesel-fueled RV to preach a message of hope. Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt and Mark Scandrette will hit thirty-two cities across the U.S. with a message that combines old time revival flair with a 21st century gospel. They’ll preach, sing and “sell healing balm” in church basements from San Diego to New York.

Full information on the Church Basement Roadshow, including tour dates, can be found at http://www.churchbasementroadshow.com/.

Annual Conference News