Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I am announcing that the East Winds District will be having a Clergy Retreat from 12:00 pm February 28, 2025 to 12:00 March 1, 2025 at the Colombiere Retreat Center in Clarkston, MI. Our reflection passage will be Isaiah 6:8. There will be time for us to be still and know God is with us, help us to care for where we are with our faith communities and our denomination and begin to dream dreams and plant seeds for mission for the future. There will also be time for reflection, meditation, conversation and worship.
Please save the date and look for more details in coming newsletters.
District News
Puzzler’s Corner- The Best Thursday in November
Last Thursday night, I settled in to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers battle the Cleveland Browns for the first of two meetings this season. The game was played in Cleveland, and snow was falling as the contest began. Over the course of the next 3 quarters, what started as a light dusting became what the announcers described as snow globe snow. It was a typical lake effect storm. The kind I remember from childhood.
The snow, during the game, reminded me of the times I would go downtown for the Thanksgiving Day parade. And I couldn’t help but remember how dedicated my mom was to this particular holiday. One of her part-time jobs was to cook for other families, so she loved being home to cook for us. Her dinner rolls were the best. But, they were only part of the classic meal she prepared each year. A roasting pan full of stuffing, not including what made it into the turkey, the turkey, greens, sweet potato casserole, macaroni and cheese and sweet potato pie for dessert.
And that was just the food. My parents always opened our home to someone for the holiday. A friend going through a divorce or grieving the loss of a loved one. New parents who couldn’t imagine cooking and caring for their bundle of joy. Someone from church or work who would otherwise spend the day alone. Sometimes the kids table was just as full as the adult one.
Our meal was not complete until we all shared something we were thankful for. Just before the blessing of the meal and my dad’s carving of the turkey, we would go around the table(s) and say thank you for family, friends, good grades, good times, and especially love. A tradition we have shared with the next generations of Crawfords, Milliners, Adornos and Mbanugos.
This Thursday, whether or not we will celebrate with turkey and all the fixings, or other family traditions, I hope you also take the time to share how you have been blessed. I want to wish you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving. And Amen.
Puzzlers Corner- A Call For Prayer
Next week, our nation will be voting to elect our next leaders at all levels of government. I don’t believe that I am alone when I say that I am feeling some anxiety about what may unfold on November 5th and the days that follow. I ask for each faith community to consider being open on Tuesday, offering a place for people to pray. I also ask that we lift one another up in prayer as we go to the polls, wait for the results of the election and know that the Lord is with us now and always. And Amen.
ABAR Group Training Sessions
Do you need your ABAR Training, but do not want to complete it alone?
Join one of our East Winds District-sponsored group sessions to begin or continue your training of the modules.
In each 3-hour long training, there will be time for both large and small group discussions. You must come with an open mind, a willingness to dialogue, a collaborative spirit, and a desire to learn.
If you are unsure how to log into the Michigan Conference ABAR program, please come 30 minutes early for assistance.
Cost: pay for your ABAR Training. There are no additional charges to join the group. A donation basket will be out to give a love gift to the host church.
Requirements: you will need to bring a laptop or tablet with keyboard and be able to log into your ABAR account.
Registration: https://michigan-reg.brtapp.com/EWABARGroupTraining
Date/Time/Locations/ABAR Training Program Module Currently Scheduled
Wednesday 10/30; 1pm – 4pm; Pigeon 1st UMC— Anti-Racism Essentials
Wednesday 11/13; 9am – Noon; Lexington UMC— Systemic Racism
Thursday, 1/16; 1pm – 4pm; Bad Axe UMC— Identity
Thursday, 1/23; 1pm – 4pm; Flushing UMC — History
Thursday, 2/6; 9am – Noon; Faith Community Church, Perry— Identity
Thursday 2/20; 9am – Noon; Davison UMC— History
Thursday 2/27; 9am – Noon; Marysville UMC— Identity
Thursday 3/6; 1pm – 4pm; Lexington UMC— History
Grant Thank You
Outreach Grant Thank You
In April of 2024, the East Winds Finance Team and Leadership team approved a outreach grant for Flushing Christian Outreach to help them purchase and install a walk in freezer to replace their chest freezers that did not always work causing them to turn away frozen food donations. Last week we received the following Thank You from Flushing Christian Outreach. Click Here to see the Thank You
Fearlessly Inspired
As we consider all that we experienced during this year’s Annual Conference, I hope that whether you were present in person, or were able to be with us online, that you were inspired by our time together.
The theme of the Annual Conference was to Fearlessly Embrace Our Future. Our Guest Speaker was Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli, the Senior Pastor at Foundry UMC in Washington, D. C. In her Keynote Address and sermon, she encouraged us to focus on what it means to be United Methodist, to be engaged in mission and ministry and to create new relationships, as well as deepen existing ones with one another and with our Lord.
Rev. Dr. Jennifer Browne, the Assistant to the Bishop and Director of Connectional Ministries, spoke with laity and pastors who are engaged in innovative missions and ministries in their neighborhoods. From basketball to creating a space for children who have immigrated to the greater Detroit area, we learned how faith communities are transforming neighbors and neighborhoods following the example of our Lord and Savior.
There was also a Mission Festival celebrating the ways United Methodists across the state are answering God’s call on their lives. We opened worship on Thursday with the hymn: And Are We Yet Alive? Over the next few days we answered that question with a resounding yes! We are dedicated to wearing the mantle that the Lord has placed on us to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
May we continue to be in prayer and conversation with our Lord as we consider what’s next. I invite each of us to consider how we can widen the circle of those who are with us today, creating space for those who are on the outside looking in, those who are on the doorstep, ready to cross the threshold and those who hunger and thirst to be spiritually filled, but don’t know how to take that first step. May we rejoice in all that we have done, as we continue to ask what more can we do. Know that God is with us every day in every way. And Amen.
East Winds District Lenten Mission Project
February 14th thru March 31st
Lets find a way through this time of Lent to show our appreciation for the heroic jobs that they do day in and day out. (Firefighters, Paramedics, Law Enforcement (state & local), EMT’s, 911 & Police Dispatchers, Air Med Flight Crews, Chaplains)
Ways you can do this:
Honor Breakfast, Honor Dinner, Raise Funds, Prayer Service, Provide Lunches, Gift Card Collection, Care Packages, Devotionals, Bibles, Send Thank You Cards
Tips to Spot Scammers
Tips for spotting a scam
By Barry Trantham, East Winds District Finance Committee Chair
Pretends to be someone you know.
Scammers often pretend to be contacting you from the IRS or Social Security Administration, or from a company you’re familiar with like your bank. They might make up a name that sounds official or say they’re calling on behalf of a loved one.
Recently our Treasurer received an email from an employee stating they have a new bank account and to please update their bank account information for deposit their payroll.
Presents you with a conditional prize or problem.
Scammers may say you’ve won a prize that’s too good to be true, and you have to pay a fee to receive it. They might say you’re in trouble with the government, or a family member is in trouble and needs money.
Pressures you to act immediately.
Scammers want you to act before you have time to think about it. They may say a family member has an emergency or your computer has a virus. Sometimes they threaten legal action, arrest, or freeze your bank account.
Ask you to pay in a specific manner
Scammers will often insist you pay by sending money through a payment app, wire transfer or by purchasing a gift card and then reading them the number on the back of the card. Some will send you a fake check, ask you to deposit it, and then ask you to send them the money.
Actions to help protect yourself from scams
Block – filter unwanted emails to your spam folder and block unwanted calls and texts.
Resist – Don’t let anyone pressure or threaten you into giving them personal information or money.
Refuse – Even if it’s a business you recognize, don’t give them personal or financial information
Pause – If anyone says you must act immediately stop and ask yourself “Is this how a legitimate company would act? If something seems off it probably is.
Validate – Instead of clicking links in emails and text messages or calling the numbers provided to you, use a company’s contact info from the official website.
Talk – If someone tells you to keep a secret or says something suspicious that makes you uncomfortable, stop and do a gut check with someone you trust.
Finally, the scammers are constantly using new tricks to get you money. One of these new tricks is to use Artificial Intelligence to mimic the voice of a loved one and ask you to send money to post bail or pay a deductible for an emergency medical procedure.
The best way to defeat the scammers is to call the loved one on the number you know to be their number to verify the request.
Puzzler’s Corner: I Love It When A Plan Comes Together
Puzzler’s Corner Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8
“I Love It When A Plan Comes Together.”
This famous quote is attributed to John Hannibal Smith, the leader of a fictional team of do-gooders who seek to wipe out injustice as they stay one step ahead of the law. The t. v. show that coined the phrase had a 5 year run and later became a film. The premise on which The A-Team was based was not new.
Many films have used an intricate plotline to tease the audience with a series of twists and turns until, in the final scene of the movie, all the breadcrumbs or pieces of the puzzle come together and make everything clear. The reboot of the Ocean’s Eleven (Twelve, Thirteen and Eight) series is another example. We are merely observers as we follow how a team or group achieves success in their attempts to change a life, right a wrong or offer someone a chance to start their lives again.
Some groups are already established at the beginning of the film, while others must recruit members in order to anticipate and care for every contingency. Once the task is accomplished, or the goal is met, the group sometimes separates, and we are left to wonder what happens next.
Our Lord has provided each of us and all of us the opportunity to be part of His eternal plan. Each person is called to share the gifts they have received to help accomplish God’s purpose for all of creation.
The words from Ecclesiastes remind us that for everything there is a season. We may be involved in God’s plan for a moment, a month, a year or a lifetime. We may have the same tasks before us and repeat them again and again. Those persons who make prayer shawls or quilt blankets, for example, may follow a pattern that they have memorized because they’ve followed it so many times.
We are also invited and encouraged to try new things as the world around us continues to change in ways we did not predict or foresee. I don’t believe Zoom was familiar to most of us before the COVID pandemic affected how we relate to and interact with one another. Like the A-Team, we are asked to adapt our gifts and skills to fit the situation, not for our sakes, but for the sake of the people our Lord has called us to help. During conversations in your Mission Zones and your faith communities, I ask you to prayerfully consider how we can continue God’s mission in and for the world.
We may never learn how the good we do today will affect the lives of the people we help, or those who they in turn help. As Christians, we are continually being invited to be part of God’s team for the transformation of the world. As we look forward to how we can make a difference in the lives of others in the coming weeks and months, may we explore how, together, we can bring God’s plan together for all of His children. And Amen.