I N D I A N A S O U T HI N D I A N A S O U T H

WESLEYANDECEMBER 2010

The Eckart Family

&

The Englands

Wish You

A Merry Christmas

& A Happy New

Year!

A husband waits to find out what his Christmas bonus will be. A motherwaits for her pie crust to turn golden brown. A child waits to unwrap the BIGpresent under the tree. Customers wait in lines. Drivers wait for parkingspots. Students wait for winter break from school. People wait for a lot ofthings around Christmas, but what they wait for now is much different thanwhat they waited for years ago.

With great anticipation, Mary waited for the birth of her baby.

There is no greater anticipation than that of a mother awaiting the momentwhen she will hold her newborn child for the first time. For nine months shedreamed of the time she would see the delicate face and tiny hands God hasso wonderfully knit together in her womb. The anticipation Mary experi-enced as she carried the Christ Child must have been far greater than the an-ticipation any mother has ever experienced. Within her womb, the Son ofGod was growing and developing. What her Son would accomplish would farexceed all of her motherly dreams and desires, for the mark her Son wouldmake on humanity would make way for the Salvation of countless lives. Yet,for nine months, all Mary could do was patiently wait for this miraculousbirth.

With confident expectation, Simeon waited for the Messiah. Notonly did Simeon have faith in Old Testament prophecies, but he also had aspecial assurance of the coming Christ. The Gospel of Luke tells us the HolySpirit had revealed to Simeon that the Messiah would come in his lifetime.Because of his confidence in the promise of the Holy Spirit and his belief inthe prophecies of the Old Testament prophets, Simeon waited for the birth ofChrist with great expectation. In his old age, Simeon was devout worshiperin the temple and had not given up the hope of seeing the promised Savior.Simeon lived his life in expectation of the coming Messiah. So great was thatexpectation that, after seeing the baby Jesus, his life had come to completion.

With devout preparation, Anna waited for fulfillment of God’s

mysterious promises. She must have wondered what the purpose of herlife was. After a brief marriage, she was widowed, never to marry again. InBiblical times, this would have meant a loss of status and income, becauseboth were dependent on her husband. Anna’s life could have been a time ofdeep sorrow and begrudging dependence. However, Anna committed her lifeto something greater. She did not have the assurance of the Holy Spirit asSimeon or the experience of giving birth to the Son of God as Mary did.Rather, Anna committed herself to worshiping, praying, and fasting in prep-aration for the unknown blessing God would bring. Day and night, she wor-

Waiting for Christmasby Pastor Kelli Ward

Youth Pastor – Evansville Forest Hills

Continued on next page

Page 2 / December 2010 INDIANA SOUTH WESLEYAN

INDIANA SOUTH WESLEYAN(USPS 334-970)

December 2010Vol. 37 No. 12

Executive Editor Dr. Mark Eckart

Office Editor Cindy Caniff

Periodical postage paid at Orleans, IN 47452and additional mailing offices.

Publication Office: P.O. Box 174,Orleans, IN 47452

Published monthly by the Indiana SouthDistrict of The Wesleyan Church.

Postmaster send address changes to:INDIANA SOUTH WESLEYAN

PO BOX 174ORLEANS, IN 47452

SUPERINTENDENT’S SCHEDULE

December 2010

3 Pastor’s Annual ChristmasDinner

5 A.M. Blue RiverP.M. Grace Pointe

12 A.M. Terre Haute NorthsideP.M. Terre Haute Hulman St.

25 Merry Christmas!

26 A.M. Faith Pointe

January 2011

1 Happy New Year!

3-7 The Gathering –Jacksonville, FL

16 A.M. Evansville North ParkP.M. Potter’s Shop

23 A.M. MeccaP.M. Prairie Creek

30 A.M. LawrenceburgP.M. Madison

shiped in the temple. Rather than turning from God because of her painand loss, she committed to worshiping Him, preparing herself spiritually,and waiting for His unforeseen blessings.

The Advent season is a time set apart when Christians follow these ex-amples of anticipation. During this time, we reflect on the blessings wehave been given and thank God for the Salvation He has provided. Weprepare for the growth that God means to continue in our lives. It is a timeof expectant waiting while we eagerly seek God’s presence in our hearts,lives, and world. As we spend time preparing for Christmas dinner withour families and dreaming about presents under the tree, let us not forgetto await the celebration of Christ’s birth with anticipation, expectation,and preparation.

Missionaries to SupportFred and Carol Cromer haveworked in Zambia since 1991 in theo-logical education and literacy. Afterministering in Zambia for 18 years,Global Partners has appointed them tomissionary service in South Africa tocontinue in the work of theological ed-ucation in the African WesleyanChurch and to assist in training tutorsin literacy.

God called Fred to missions while hewas in college at Bartlesville. Fred and Carol pastored an inner-citychurch in Kansas City for ten years prior to leaving for Zambia.

Fred and Carol’s goal is to develop Spirit-filled leaders in the AfricanChurch who can lead their people into spiritual maturity.

If you wish to help support them, you can send your money to

Global Partners, P.O. Box 50434, Indianapolis, IN 46250-0434,

Fund # WM04-0172.

If you would like to contact the Cromers, their mailing address isP.O. Box 88, Manzini, Swaziland ortheir email is bafundiscromer@gmail.com.

INDIANA SOUTH WEBSITECheck out our updated website at www.indianasouth.org. There

are some new pictures and a new look to the site. Jon Plank does profes-sional websites such as the Collingsworth family website, and I had him togive ours a new touch as well.

PRAISE THE LORD – HOPE FOR HAITIBy now you have received your cou-

pons to pass out in your church for

Hope for Haiti. We are trusting God to

help us with this project. We have re-

ceived over $800.00 toward this pro-

ject! Here is a note from one of our

churches: Just wanted to share the

good news! We took an offering for

Haiti this morning and raised almost

$600!! Praise the Lord!! –Pastor Aaron, Blue River

MINISTERIAL

CONVENTION 2011

March 7-8, 2011

St. Paul UMC Bloomington, IN

Guest SpeakerDr. H.B. London

UPCOMING SATURDAY

CLASS

February 5 & 19, 2011

Pastoral Counseling

Professor – Dr. Mark Eckart

At Paoli Wesleyan Church

INDIANA SOUTH WESLEYAN December 2010 / Page 3

FAMILY FUN FEST AT GRACE FELLOWSHIP (PRINCETON)

Here are a few photos taken during an outreach project called the Family

Fun Fest. Our best estimate is that about 200 people came out for the event.

We provided free food, prizes, a cake walk, Jesus videos, inflatables for the

kids, and a live band. Only God knows how many seeds were sown that day.

– Pastor Tony Friedman

Here is a picture of Pastor Skip Breeden along with his family and some of

his church family. They dressed up in “pilgrim attire” to celebrate

Thanksgiving. The Medora church rented the community building and many

people from the church and the community as well enjoyed a delicious meal.

Here is a picture of some of the people I had lunch with recently at our

Spencer church. Rev. & Mrs. Jim Knight have pastored there for a few

years now. During that time God has helped them to pay off right at

$50,000.00 in debt. The church owed this debt when they took the church.

They are also current with their U.S.F. payment this year. We praise God for

how HE has helped them with this challenge.

CHRISTMAS FUNNYFrom Swindoll’s Ultimate Book

of Illustration & Quotes

A lady had a circle of friends for whom

she really wanted to buy Christmas pres-

ents. Time slipped away and it was so busy

at work for her she just wasn’t able to get to

the store to purchase those gifts. Time was

running out. So not too many days before

Christmas she decided to give up on the

gift idea and just buy everybody the same

beautiful Christmas card. She went to the

local gift store and hurriedly went through

the now picked over stack of cards and

found a box of fifty, just exactly what she

wanted. She didn’t take time to read the

message, she just noticed a beautiful cover

on it and there was gold around it and a flo-

ral appearance on the front of the card and

she thought, “That’s perfect.” So she

signed all of them, “With all my love.”

As New Year’s came and she had time

to go back to two or three she didn’t send

from that stack, she was shocked to read

the message inside. It said, in a little

rhyme, “This Christmas card is just to say,

a little gift is on its way.”

CONDOLENCEOur thoughts and prayers go out to Rev.

Bence Mil ler and family on the

homegoing of his wife, Cordelia Miller.

Rev. Miller pastors the Columbus Central

Wesleyan Church.

CONGRATULATIONSTo Pastor Wayne & Kelli Ward on the

birth of Maria Sue, November 19th. She

weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces and was 19 ½

inches long. Welcome to the world, Maria!

LOCK-IN 2011Louisville, Kentucky at the

Walnut Street Baptist Church

Friday, March 18th - Saturday,

March 19th

Contact Pastor Joe Gormong with

any questions – 812-299-8365

or joegormong@gmail.com

Top 5 For Numeric Gain in AM WorshipChurch Pastor Gain

Terre Haute Faith D. Gormong 35

Columbus Flintwood W. Jones 22

Marengo L. Manship 18

Bicknell M. Reed 13

Greensburg D. Preston 12

Top 5 For Percentage Gain in AM WorshipChurch Pastor Gain

Faith Pointe J. Wriston 91%

E. Enterprise D. Meriwether 75%

Holton W. Vandervort 67%

Whitehall D. Campbell 50%

Grace Fellowship T. Friedman 35%

Top 5 For Percentage Gain in Sun-SchoolChurch Pastor Gain

Poplar Grove J. Downs 50%

Holton J. Vandervort 46%

Salem S. Caniff 38%

Columbus Flintwood W. Jones 37%

Austin K. Stroud 33%

Austin K. Stroud 24 18 6 33% 32 33 1 0% 20 15 0

Bedford C. Gilmore 17 16 1 6% 18 18 0 0% 20 25 0

Bicknell First M. Reed 29 29 0 0% 61 48 13 27% 15 43 0

Birdseye H. Noll 22 18 4 21% 21 18 3 22% 0 0 0

Bloomfield Mt. Calvary M. Harper 18 18 0 0% 18 18 0 0% 10 0 0

Bloomfield Mt. Zion A. Adams 16 17 1 0% 43 56 13 0% 14 0 2

Bloomfield Southside G. Montgomery 20 20 0 0% 11 11 0 0% 10 0 0

Bloomington Central M. Linville 27 27 0 0% 33 30 3 1% 19 17 0

Bloomington Shepherd F. Shannon 13 13 0 0% 20 20 0 0% 15 10 0

Blue River A. Marshall 22 22 0 0% 25 24 1 4% 0 0 0

Boonville E. Ames No Report

Brazil Jackson E. Stewart 24 23 1 4% 29 28 1 4% 13 14 0

Carthage D. Stroud 26 26 0 0% 50 50 0 0% 25 31 0

Clear Fork C. Uebel No Report

Columbus Bethel B. Carpenter 0 0 0 0% 9 9 0 0% 0 0 0

Columbus Central B. Miller 0 0 0 0% 11 11 0 0% 0 0 0

Columbus Flintwood W. Jones 100 73 27 37% 129 107 22 21% 38 125 0

Columbus Ohio Street M. Price No Report

Concord J. Vandervort 22 21 1 5% 22 22 0 0% 21 6 0

Corydon New Hope C. Morgan 0 0 0 0% 21 21 0 0% 0 0 0

E. Enterprise D. Meriwether 9 8 1 13% 14 8 6 75% 16 0 0

Edinburgh L. Biddle 30 28 2 7% 30 28 2 7% 16 17

English R. Dillman 34 33 1 1% 52 44 8 19% 30 33 0

Evansville Forest Hills M. Stoelting 126 120 6 5% 229 229 0 0% 83 238 4

Evansville North Park S. Boardman 59 66 7 0% 73 83 10 0% 18 53 0

Evansville Trinity D. Allison 40 39 1 3% 46 58 12 0% 14 0 0

Faith Pointe J. Wriston 0 0 0 0% 21 11 10 91% 0 0 0

Fort Branch R. Comer 37 40 3 0% 45 48 3 0% 15 45 0

Franklin D. Neal 27 29 2 0% 29 33 4 0% 32 15 0

French Lick Spr. Valley J. Moffatt 62 62 0 0% 148 154 6 0% 60 60 0

Gnaw Bone E. Martin 20 15 5 33% 24 18 6 33% 12 10 0

Grace Fellowship T. Friedman 21 22 1 0% 31 23 8 35% 18 14 0

Grace Pointe N. Watters 0 17 17 0% 34 46 12 0% 20 14 0

Greenfield R. Albring No Report

Greensburg D. Preston 58 52 6 12% 99 87 12 14% 35 81 0

Greenwood J. Hughes No Report

Holton W. Vandervort 19 13 6 46% 20 12 8 67% 10 5 0

Hope First E. Boston 0 0 0 0% 10 12 2 0% 0 4 0

Lawrenceburg M. Kessen No Report

Lewis Creek D. Gates 8 9 1 0% 19 19 0 0% 0 12 0

Loogootee Mt. Zion J. Simmons 8 8 0 0% 46 46 0 0% 12 9 0

Madison Calvary M. Mahoney 24 26 2 0% 36 40 4 0% 23 36 0

Marengo L. Manship 0 45 45 0% 131 113 18 16% 66 88 0

Martinsville D. Sparks No Report

Martinsville Bethel J. Irvin 6 9 3 0% 13 15 2 0% 0 5 0

Mecca New Life D. Hardesty 16 17 1 0% 34 39 5 0% 0 76 0

Medora C. Breeden 18 18 0 0% 26 21 5 24% 13 6 0

Milan L. Brown 20 19 1 5% 27 26 1 4% 16 7 0

Mitchell S. Jones 39 41 2 0% 93 93 0 0% 64 51 0

Mooresville New Life M. Linville 20 18 2 11% 39 34 5 15% 20 23 0

Morgantown D Pfaff 0 0 0 0% 0 0 0 0% 28 0 0

North Vernon J. Terry 41 54 13 0% 66 78 12 0% 26 28 1

Orleans M. Hester 37 41 4 0% 41 48 7 0% 24 19 0

Otwell R. Stilwell 25 25 0 0% 28 30 2 0% 20 24

Paoli B. England 37 55 18 0% 101 134 33 0% 67 87 0

Petersburg L. Lamar 0 0 0 0% 14 11 3 27% 0 0 0

Poplar Grove J. Downs 21 14 7 50% 33 38 5 0% 17 13 0

Potter's Shop S. Avila No Report

Prairie Creek T. Fennell No Report

Rising Sun J. Kelley 6 7 1 0% 7 7 0 0% 0 4 0

Rodney M. Miller 23 22 1 5% 12 19 7 0% 17 12 0

Rushville H. Baker 2 2 0 0% 2 2 0 0% 0 0 0

Salem S. Caniff 11 8 3 38% 34 31 3 10% 0 12 0

Sandford C. Hedden 8 11 3 0% 8 8 0 0% 9 7 0

Scottsburg P. Mills 10 8 2 25% 10 8 2 25% 8 6 0

Seymour I. Holt 40 32 8 25% 51 50 1 2% 33 35 0

Shelburn B. Noel 9 9 0 9% 9 9 0 0% 0 0 0

Shelbyville Grace J. Allen 58 59 1 0% 76 76 0 0% 45 28 1

Shelbyville Westside D. Bowden 30 38 8 0% 33 57 24 0% 29 13 0

Simpson Chapel C. Johnson 3 3 0 0% 3 3 0 0% 0 0 0

Somerville D. Brandon 27 25 2 8% 29 27 2 7% 18 0 0

Southwind P. Kessen 0 0 0 0% 111 111 0 0% 31 57 0

Spearsville T. Phillips 0 0 0 0% 16 16 0 0% 0 0 0

Spencer J. Knight 8 9 1 0% 8 9 1 0% 0 0 0

Sullivan G. Larimer 45 52 7 0% 56 56 0 0% 50 44 0

Sylvania D. Taylor 41 43 2 0% 64 67 3 0% 34 33 0

Terre Haute Faith D. Gormong 153 129 24 19% 276 241 35 15% 167 143 0

Terre Haute Hulman D. Willis 53 54 1 0% 79 76 3 4% 61 74 0

Terre Haute Northside E. Hayes 25 25 0 0% 36 36 0 0% 29 22 0

Trafalgar C. Hilton 3 3 0 0% 3 3 0 0% 0 14 0

Valeene D. Manship 28 22 6 27% 90 96 6 0% 38 60 0

Versailles J. Hundley 34 37 3 0% 34 37 3 0% 22 9 4

Walker Chapel R. Hendershot 21 16 5 31% 46 38 8 21% 0 18 0

Wash. Vincennes J. Gilley 15 18 3 0% 24 23 1 4% 37 20 0

Wesley Chapel D. Little 23 26 3 0% 26 32 6 0% 24 7 0

Westport H. Weaver 46 58 12 0% 46 70 24 0% 26 17 0

West Terre Haute 6th R. Weeks 19 20 1 0% 20 22 2 0% 0 5 0

West Terre Haute 8th P. Shelton 75 77 2 0% 77 76 1 1% 70 83 0

Wheatland K. Mitchell 16 18 2 0% 44 53 9 0% 19 0 0

Whitehall D. Campbell 26 26 0 0% 24 16 8 50% 16 14 0

Wilmington Hills D. Gary 15 21 6 0% 25 26 1 0% 19 0 0

TOTALS 2115 2162 47 0% 3584 3604 20 0% 1797 2096 12

CHURCH GROWTH REPORT OCTOBER 2010

Church Pastor

SSAve.2010

SSAve.2009

SS

Gainor

Loss

SS

%

Gain

AMWshp

Ave.2010

AMWshp

Ave.2009

AMWshp

Gain/Loss

AMWshp

%Gain

PMServ.Aver.2010

Spiritual

Formation

#Saved

orSanct Church Pastor

SSAve.2010

SSAve.2009

SS

Gainor

Loss

SS

%

Gain

AMWshp

Ave.2010

AMWshp

Ave.2009

AMWshp

Gain/Loss

AMWshp

%Gain

PMServ.Aver.2010

Spiritual

Formation

#Saved

orSanct

Top 5 For Numeric Gain In Sun-SchoolChurch Pastor Gain

Columbus Flintwood W. Jones 27

Terre Haute Faith D. Gormong 24

Seymour I. Holt 8

Poplar Grove J. Downs 7

Holton W. Vandervort 6

Merry

Christmas