The Annual District Day of Learning for the Delaware Bay district was held at PUMC on Saturday March 7. About 220 people from around the district attended the event. We started off in the Fellowship Hall by catching up with friends over coffee and donuts, and then we began our time together with a service of worship in the sanctuary.
Worship
The theme of the worship service and of the entire day was "God Is." Pastor Sue Flicker challenged us with the letters:
GODISNOWHERE
What does that mean? What is your reaction to "God Is"? There are two interpretations of the above jumble of letters.
- God Is Nowhere
- God Is Now Here
(Ok THREE interpretations: "God I Snow Here")
Pastor Erik Ostrow read several selections from the Psalms looking at the various ways that God answers our question of "God Is ___":
And so we see from these Psalms that God is Good. All of the attributes speaks to His holiness and Goodness. In these verses we read that God Is:
Our Helper, Our Companion, Our Rock, Our Salvation, Our Defense, Our Expectation, Righteous, Praiseworthy, Father to the fatherless, Defender of widows, Our Generous Provider, A Mighty Voice, Strong, Awesome...
Many things; but "Nowhere" isn't one of them!
Why isn't God "Nowhere?" How is God with us? Our District Superintendent, Dr. Jisun Kwak, answered this question with a challenge during the communion service. In John 17 Jesus prayed that we (the Church) would be with Him just as He (Jesus) is with the Father.
In verse 18, Jesus prayed:
As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
So where is God? God Is... us! God Is... the Church! We are called to be Christ in the world. The people of the church- even the people of the United Methodist Church in the Delaware Bay District- are called to be Helpers, Companions, Defenders of Widows. We are called to show Jesus to the World; to lead people to the grace and salvation that is in Christ.
Workshops
After the worship service, we broke up into workshops to consider how we can be Christ in the World. How can we grow closer to God? How can we become more like Him so that when people see us they see Christ? How can we make our churches more open to the Spirit so that we can be used to build the Kingdom of God?
A series of 24 workshops were led by presenters from all over the Conference who are experts in the discussions they facilitated. Workshops on ministry teams such as Trustees, Staff Parrish, and Missions were held. We were also able to learn more about topics such as the conference's communication resources, what it means to worship, how to hold small groups, create food pantries, planning a strategy of moving from cruise control to Christ controlled.
A workshop entitled "Worship is Vital for Vital Congregations," was facilitated by Rev. Hector Burgos. Rev. Burgos is serving as the Conference Director of Connectional Ministries. The real question before churches today isn't "How to worship." We shouldn't be spending a lot of time discussion worship forms until we come to grasp with the questions of "What is Worship?" Worship was defined as a "feeling or expression of response to God." The essence of worship is people glorifying God. It's All to God, With God, and For God. We are the actors... God (not the congregation) is the audience. We need to come to worship with an expectation that we will encounter God. The various forms of worship- music, forms of communion, formalities, liturgies; they all give different people "Voices" that they can use to glorify God. The first priority is to instill the purpose of worship, and then to be inclusive so that everyone has a voice to express their praise to God.
Lunch!
Yes- we're Methodists, and we all love to eat! We also love to catch up with old friends and to share new ideas.
The United Methodist Women of PUMC provided a lunch of soup, rolls, salads, and LOTs of deserts. And so, in between the morning and afternoon workshops, attendees were treated to a fantastic lunch and enjoyed our time in the Fellowship Hall before moving on to the afternoon sessions.
Check out a few pictures taken in the Fellowship Hall during the lunch break...