Beatitudes for the Weird

Blessed are the weird people - poets, misfits, writers, mystics, heretics, painters and troubadours...for they teach us to see the world through different eyes.

Blessed are those who embrace the intensity of life's pain and pleasure, for they shall be rewarded with uncommon ecstasy.

Blessed are ye who see beauty in ugliness, for you shall transform our vision of how the world might be.

Blessed are the bold and whimsical, for their imagination shatters ancient boundaries of fear for us all.

Blessed are ye who are mocked for unbridled expression of love in all its forms, because your kind of crazy is exactly that freedom for which the world is unconsciously begging.

Blessed are those who have endured breaking by life, for they are the resplendent cracks though which the light shines.

~Jacob Nordby

Holy Week Schedule

Palm Sunday - 10:30 am

Maundy Thursday - 7 pm

Good Friday - 7 pm

Easter

8 am - New Day worship

8:30 am - Easter breakfast

9:30 am - Easter Egg hunt

10:15 am - Praise singing

10:30 am - Festival worship

11:45 am - Fellowship time

Advance Mission: Water!

More than 844 million people around the world lack access to drinking water. Be a part of the solution to this crisis with the help of the Advance Mission Kit: Water! The new kit of resources empowers you to educate others about the water crisis, provide opportunities to connect with Advance programs and missionaries, and support vital ministry work through awareness and fundraising.

What does the future hold for Wesley House?

The Wesley Foundation Board recently took inventory of the ministry’s present status, and has concluded that the present ministry strategy is not working, and has not been working effectively for some time.

+We do not presently have a ministry director and efforts to attract qualified, motivated individuals to the position have been challenging.
+No students currently reside in the house and it has been increasingly difficult to attract student renters.
+The house is in need of serious repair work: a recent assessment placed the necessary repairs at a cost of $40,000 for even basic habitation.
+We currently have very few reliable sources of funding.
+Student life has evolved dramatically in recent years; students are largely unresponsive to our current strategy.

The Board has determined it is time for a new vision for the Wesley House – and we need your help!

+Is it time to close Wesley House?
+Shall we use the grass lot for campus parking?
+Is it time to sell the parsonage and/or the Wesley House and move to a campus-centered outreach?
+Do we promote Wesley House as a gathering spot for various social justice activities?
+Shall we hire a campus minister and try to resurrect our previous ministry model?

 COULD WE COME TOGETHER AND SHARE OUR MEMORIES, THOUGHTS, VISIONS, AND PRAYERS TO SEE WHAT GOD MIGHT BE DIRECTING US TO DO WITH REGARD TO WESLEY HOUSE?

Please join us for a Visioning Event and Bar-B-Que
Saturday, May 11, 2019 12:00-2:00 pm
Wesley House, 1327 Arthur Avenue, Missoula

Hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, beverages, 

and desserts will be provided

Please RSVP by May 6 so we can have enough food

Email: grace1umc@gmail.com / phone: (406) 549-3855

(PLEASE NOTE: If you are not able to come, please share with us any thoughts, comments, ideas, or feedback you’d like – we will add these into our discernment)

We hope to hear from you soon!

Lay Servant Training in Butte

Lay Servant Training will take place Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4 at Butte Aldersgate UMC. 

About our training leaders:
Gene Haning, presenting the Basic Course, is Director of Lay Servant Ministry for the Trinity District in Colorado. He is also the Director of the Beaver Creek Christian Camp. He believes “Lay Servant Ministers can hold the church together.”
Peg Plimpton from Missoula is leading Each One a Minister. She has served as our Conference Lay Leader and as a reserve delegate to General Conference. She is a graduate of the Upper Room Academy for Spiritual Formation and a leader in United Methodist Women. She loves helping people learn how to develop and use their spiritual gifts.
Su DeBree is a semi-retired pastor currently serving churches in Whitehall, Twin Bridges and Sheridan. She is very supportive of lay leadership, has taught numerous LSM courses and looks forward to learning more about leading worship with you! 

READ COURSE DESCRIPTIONS AND REGISTER HERE: https://bit.ly/2Ibpo3I

FOR MORE INFORMATION…

CONTACT MONTNA WEST CONGREGATIONAL RESOURCE MINISTER 

REV. AMY STRADER, astrader@mtnskyumc.org

Wesley on Wednesday

General Conference is Broken; Annual Conferences Are Not

Lovett H. Weems, Jr., says the current governance structure does not fit the realities of a global United Methodist Church. He suggests that General Conference focus on theological and historical identity, mission, and values, while Annual Conferences focus on context-sensitive structure and regulations, including clergy standards.

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As if more evidence were needed to show the desperate plight of the church, the damage delivered to the U.S. church by the recent Special General Conference let the whole nation know that something is amiss in a denomination historically known as a positive contributor to our national life. Make no mistake, the issue is not that there are diverse philosophies held within the United Methodist tent. No one doubts that. Most United Methodist leaders deal with such differences with both grace and integrity daily. The problem is we have a governance structure that does not fit the realities of a global church. It is time to rethink General Conference into a more appropriate yet essential role. It is time to move from structures of control to a culture of trust and grace. The General Conference could become the primary arena for defining two critical dimensions:

Read more at this link.