Durham District United Methodist Women

 

In God’s Mission We Are Sent Out…!

Again, Jesus said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you,” and with that, he breathed on them and said,

“Receive the Holy Spirit.”--John 20:21-22 NIV

2009 – to Create                                                                                         

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

  Psalm 51:10

2010 Reading Program list is available here! 

The Purpose of United Methodist Women

The organized unit of United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose purpose is

• to Know God and

• to Experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ;

• to Develop a creative, supportive fellowship; and

• to Expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church

  We have been discussing our new concept of missions and racial justice since the beginning of this year. We are to be in mission “with” and not just in mission “to” or “for.” We need to work together, side by side with our brothers and sisters and build relationships. As we enter a new “reporting” year, and soon to enter a new “calendar” year, your Durham District Mission Team will work to help each local unit to be in mission with a marginalized group of brothers and sisters in your community. Because we are “rethinking” our racial justice program, which I see more as social justice, there will be no Conference or District Racial Justice workshop to attend this year. But our Charter for Racial Justice is still in effect and if you need a copy, contact our Secretary of Program Resources, Patricia Russell. We cannot offer a mission event on the district level if we are to be in mission in our own communities.  Instead, we will be focusing on racial justice, or social justice, in some way at each district meeting and event. We will be asking you, our local units, to give us examples of how you are working in mission “with” groups in your community. We will be giving you examples of places in your community and we will be brainstorming together to identify areas where you can be in mission “with” and building relationships with people in need. We are called to be the hands and feet of Christ. When we are helping the “least important ones” we are using our hands and feet and doing God’s will. Micah 6:8 says: The Lord has told us what is good. What he requires of us is this: to do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God. (The Good News Bible) Deciding what to do can sometimes be difficult. Theologian and author Henry Blackaby has said that if you're not sure what to do, look for where God is at work and join him there.

  One of the books I have recently read from the reading program list is Creating a Habitat for Humanity:  No Hands but Yours.  In this book, the author, Jonathan Reckford, talks about discontent and holy discontent.  "Our society is full of discontent and there is a difference between discontent and holy discontent," says Reckford. "Holy discontent is where you see some terrible event on the news and instead of saying 'Wow, someone should do something about that' you say, 'I can't stand that, I've got to do something about that,' so you then get off the couch and go into the community and become a part of that change." Terrible events happen every day, on a regular basis. We come together when there is a major catastrophe. Let us come together for every day catastrophes. It is my prayer that we will all be “holy discontent” when we hear of someone in need.