NORTHWEST DISTRICT

From Your Superintendent...

Over the past several weeks I have been able to meet with almost all of the preachers in our district, and what a blessing that has been for me! To hear your faith stories and how you received and answered the call to ministry has truly inspired me. I am convinced, now more than ever, that the churches of the Northwest District are led by called, gifted and Spirit-empowered pastors! As I have traveled through the district for these meetings, I have also been blessed by the hospitality of the churches in places like Americus, Butler, Columbus, Cuthbert, Fort Valley, Vienna and Upatoi. I am so grateful for the welcome and support I have received in every place. Thank you! In September and October, I will be in several places throughout the district, meeting with Staff Parish Relations Committees. Committee Chairs will receive an invitation with the list of the dates and locations. They will need to call Gail in the District Office to reserve their times. I look forward to getting to know each of you and learning more about where you see new life and what you hope for in your churches. I am excited about this new season we are entering and the emerging opportunities for each church to be Alive Together in Witness. Football season is here, and that means Friday night lights, Saturdays between the Hedges (and on the Plains) and the NFL on Sunday. Two of my all-time favorite football coaches are both named, “Vince.” One is the late Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers, and the other, well, you probably know who that is. My brother has a program that our Dad got from a 1967 Packers/Colts game. Green Bay player, Fuzzy Thurston, a friend of a friend, passed it around the locker room and had every Packer sign it - including Coach Lombardi. My brother now owns this amazing piece of memorabilia. And this is one item that really makes me struggle with that Tenth Commandment! Lombardi was famous as a winning coach, and also for the memorable things he said. Two of my favorites are: “The only place where success comes before work is in the Dictionary,” and, “The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall.” On the first day of training camp in 1961, after a season in which the Packers had fallen to the Philadelphia Eagles in the championship game, Coach Lombardi began with another memorable quote. He gathered his team around him, and holding up a football before them, he said, “Gentlemen, THIS is a football!” Lombardi set a tone that day which became a Packer tradition. He wanted his players to know that no matter how much success they had in the past; no matter how much experience and knowledge they thought they possessed; nothing would ever take the place of the fundamentals of the game. Where did he start? THIS is a football. This past Sunday, Amy and I were worshipping in one of the churches in our district. After reading the text for the day, the pastor raised his Bible toward the congregation and said, “This is the word of God, for the people of God!” And we all said, “Thanks be to God!” That weekly affirmation invites us all to a posture of humility. No matter how much we have seen or experienced in our relationship with God; no matter how much we think we already know; you and I humbly acknowledge our need to regularly return to the fundamental truths of God’s word. I thought about Coach Lombardi and his commitment to the fundamentals of the game. Like that legendary coach, our preacher that morning lifted up before us our fixed point, our source of truth, and our standard for faith and practice, reminding us again, Ladies and Gentlemen, THIS is the word of God! Alive in Witness With You,

Alive with you in witness, Steve

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2019-2020 District Directory 

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District Newsletter for 

September 2019