♦ WHERE HAVE ALL THE TURKEYS GONE? Four turkeys, ready to be used for a free community dinner at Calvary UMC in Lewiston, Maine, disappeared. Either they flew the coop (a resurrection miracle), or they were stolen. The story made the front page of the local paper...apparently no other big robberies in town that day.

The next day, turkeys at Calvary UMC were on the front page again. This time to tell the story of a nearby restaurant that generously replaced the turkeys, plus cranberry sauce and all the other "fixings"....the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fowl. In addition, the fire department collected $500 and an anonymous man dropped off a check for $100 to help. Plus, new people who did not know about the church's community dinner ministry read about it in the paper....and applauded the church's creative Wednesday night meals....and some new folk showed up to share in the feast of love and generosity...."taste and see that the Lord is good!" (Ps. 34:8)....all the time!

♦ WHO IS MISSING? Last fall at the North Perry UMC (in northern Maine) "Rethink Church" charge conference, Superintendent MacHugh asked the small membership (but big vitality) congregation to think about who was missing from the church. Kevin Raye, the Church Council Chairman (and also a Maine state Senator) writes recently that the question "really prompted us to think -- and to act." In December the members came up with a list of people to contact....including families with kids who might be interested in Sunday School (even though they didn't have one at the time!).

They started to contact people, developed a Facebook page, got news in the local weeklies and in January started their new Sunday School (eight members of the congregation volunteered as teachers....so they could rotate responsibilities). Some folk who visited their Facebook page started coming, others appeared and "as a result," Kevin writes, "our January attendance has soared, with an average attendance of 35.25 -- almost triple last January's average of 12.5." There are nine kids and two teens in Sunday School, seventeen attended the church council, and the men are now hosting a breakfast for the congregation on the last Sunday of the month (one of the new persons is a chef)....39 showed up for the first one.

Kevin concludes, "It is amazing...the exciting things the Lord is doing in our little (but growing) congregation....In fact, at our council meeting on Jan. 17th, one of the new ladies noted that our congregation is very young and we might want to think about how to attract more 'elderly people.' When was the last time you heard that?!?!"

So......who is missing from your congregation?.......and what are you going to do about it?

♦ "THESE METHODISTS who love to sing in four-part harmony are the sort of people you can call up when you're in deep distress. If you're dying, they will comfort you. If you are lonely, they'll talk to you. And if you are hungry, they'll give you tuna salad..... By our joining in harmony, we somehow promise that we will not forsake each other." Garrison Keillor

Partners in Ministry, lets keep the turkeys coming, the outreach going, and the harmonies singing!

Grace and Peace,

Pete