Dear Pastor/Friends,

 

We are still thanking the Lord for the outstanding Shepherds' Sabbath with our general superintendent, Dr.  Fili Chambo. Thank you to all who helped organize and facilitate the event! I will always remember, especially, the beautiful healing service we experienced on Friday evening. 

Kochersperger family

I had the privilege of installing two great new pastors on our district this past

month. Congratulations to our Amarillo North Beacon church on the installation of Pastor Steven Kochersperger on January 5th and to Seagraves on the installation of Pastor Bonnie Brown. Incidentally, each of these churches completed  major renovations of their parsonages recently in preparations for the arrival of their new pastors!

 

I want to express special appreciation to our Ministerial Credentials and Ministerial Studies boards for their outstanding work recently in preparation for the district assembly. Earlier this month, four days of interviews were completed, preparing the granting and renewal of numerous district licenses. Also, this year we are anticipating a tremendous ordination class including nine ordinands and three credentials recognitions. We are so grateful to the Lord for those on our district He has called and who are preparing for a lifetime of ministry.

 

It certainly is hard to believe that our Vision Conference and District Assembly are just around the corner (April 15-17 at Ft. Worth First Church). We are only 30 days away from the end of the church year! Pastors, please take a moment to double check your church's budget payment status by CLICKING HERE. I know you will want to make every possible effort to accomplish, by God's grace, 100% participation in our giving for others and Funding the Mission. I am very aware that much of this rests on the pastors...and I admire and appreciate your efforts in this regard!  Also, please make every effort to prepare and receive all who are ready for membership. Church membership is an integral part of our polity. I hope that each of our congregations will prepare and receive new members every year.

 

Our General SDMI has initiated a new policy regarding the inclusion of on-line worship participants in our attendance statistics. I think this might greatly affect some of your reports this year. Churches may include in their regular worship attendance the number of confirmed devices or individuals who have: 1. remained connected during at least 50% or 30 minutes of the streamed gathering or recorded content. 2. Engaged the broadcasting church by online registration or identification, or have been been given an opportunity for personal participation or communication (chat rooms, prayer requests, etc. 3. Received weekly personal contact/follow-up by a designated individual from the hosting congregation. The key to this is that our churches want to take care to engage online participants in the same manner they do those present at their physical gatherings. My prayers are with you as you use virtual worship and koinonia to build the Kingdom and minister to your community!

 

I was very pleased to learn of the success of the Human Tracking Ministry workshop hosted by Amanda and Steve Pettit, the directors of our newest Compassionate Ministry Center (Rescue Hill CMC) in Arlington. It is so beautiful to learn of the growing number of our congregations who are partnering with their communities and others to aid and assist those who have been caught up in HT. This type of special ministry (and ministry to those in the illicit sex industry) go deep into our heritage on the WT district...and back to the ministry of Jesus himself. If you would like to know more about how your church can become involved, I would encourage you to reach out to pastors Steve and Amanda, Lori Key, Zack Smithson, or Travis Zackary.

 

Susan and I had the privilege of visiting one of our newest church plants this past Sunday as we joined Pastor Alfredo and Candy Alvarez for worship at FW Rios de Alabanza y Adoracion, their Spanish-language church plant in Watauga. I want to commend Brother and Sister Alvarez for their outstanding and faithful work! 

 

Finally, congratulations to Wichita Falls Lakeview and their pastor, Eric DeLuna. I participated in  Eric's first-ever pastoral review last Tuesday evening...and it was outstanding. We are so grateful for all the Lord is doing at Lakeview, and I am grateful for the encouragement God must experience when our churches are doing well and there is such appreciation and harmony between our pastors and their leadership. 

 

For you and with you,

 

Pastor David Downs

 

 

T he Minions have arrived: 

Last week was an exciting week at the Cactus Nazarene Ministry Center as we have welcomed our two interns for the spring semester! (Featured Left)Tabitha Hart, of Rensselaer, Indiana, and (Featured Right) Kaylee McElrath, from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Both are social work students from Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais. To complete their undergraduate degree, these ladies chose to spend their remaining 450 hours over the course of the semester working here at CNMC, and we couldn't be more thrilled this is where they chose to spend their time! Their work here will consist of a myriad of things, including helping with The Well Health Center, BLAST, which is an after-school program, community needs assessments, and social service needs throughout the ministry center. Tabitha will also be working with Monica Loya in immigration services, while Kaylee will be working in support services at JBS. In addition, both are looking forward to helping support community partners, like CareNet, in their community outreach efforts as well.One of their main goals for the semester is working within the community to compile a Systems Map of the community services and resources. They both will be building relationships with community leaders, members, and residents to do a thorough community needs assessment. The goal of this project is to be able to outline resources and services currently available, as well as gaps and barriers to service that are present. 

Both of these ladies prayerfully chose to spend their semester at CNMC and are passionate about the work that they will be doing in this community. "I definitely feel called to be here. I am stepping into that with faith wherever I go," mentioned Tabitha. "I am believing that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be integrated and support this community. I am excited to be a part of the many services and needs that CNMC meets, I am going to learn so much" says Tabitha Hart.  Kaylee mentioned that the emphasis of cross-cultural unity has been what has stood out to her most since being here. "I love that I am surrounded by a multitude of cultures; unity and connectedness is supported in this community, and I am excited to be a part of that this semester."

With January being Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, The Well Health Center and CNMC hosted a Women's Wellness Day on Saturday, January 18th. Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, Texas Tech Physicians Obstetrics and Gynecology, Breast Center of Excellence, as well as The Well Health Center were among the organizations represented that served our community with health services and educational tools. CNMC welcomed women with a fun goodie bag, and our wonderful volunteers helped them navigate the services available. Our co-director Denise Anderson was able to help communicate with individuals whose primary language was not english, in order to ensure that their needs were being fully met. Co-director Phil Anderson used his artistry with pour-over coffee to build relationships with community members as well. We had over twenty women come and receive women's health services, a bulk of them going through The Well Health Center for pap services. It was a very successful day in reaching uninsured Texas Panhandle women.