Videos and Podcasts

Throughout the month of January, we are highlighting the work we do together as the Free Methodist Church in Southern California through year-end reports shared by the people who serve us all in the boards and committees of the conference.

– About the Superintendent Nominating Committee
Within the Free Methodist Church, superintendents provide for vision alignment and implementation, leadership development, and guidance for the administration and growth of the church. The Superintendent Nominating Committee is responsible for evaluating and recommending Superintendent candidates for the Annual Conference. As with all Free Methodist Church leadership, the board is composed of an equal number of ministerial and lay (non-ordained) leaders.

https://fmcsc.org

Throughout the month of January, we are highlighting the work we do together as the Free Methodist Church in Southern California through year-end reports shared by the people who serve us all in the boards and committees of the conference.

– About the Board of Administration
The Board of Administration (commonly called the BOA) functions as the standing administrative committee of the conference between Annual Conference seatings. Their focus is to create and manage policy of the entire conference within the limits of the Book of Discipline. As with all Free Methodist Church leadership, the board is composed of an equal number of ministerial and lay (non-ordained) leaders.

https://fmcsc.org

Recently I read a question that caused me to reflect on the idea of success and ministry. “Can I live a life of faith in the world and trust that it will bear fruit?” For almost 30 years, the idea of success in ministry has been an ever-constant question of formation for me. How about you? What does success look like for you?

Ruth Haley Barton states that one of the top reasons pastors leave ministry too soon is the discouragement and sense of failure around how they measure success, how they compare with others, and how others measure their success and critique them on that basis.

This video is an attempt to answer the question, “What is success?” as I have wrestled and continue to see Christ form in me what success looks like. I pray it helps you stay the course to the high calling of being a pastoral leader.

We believe in you,
Fraser

It’s easy to forget that Veterans Day was originally Armistice Day… the day people all around the world celebrate the cessation of hostilities during World War I. It’s a day to celebrate peace, not war. It’s a day to celebrate the connections we have with not only our allies and friends, but also the people against whom we have fought.

It’s a day to care for the people who served in the armed forces and to actively consider the cost of war for those who live it.

Reverend Cheri Coleman, Free Methodist Church elder, board certified trainer of chaplains, and educator at the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System, shares her experience providing support and healing to veterans who have served the United States in conflicts over the last 80 years.

What have we become? During times of adversity, challenge, and trouble we’re forced to adapt and change to meet the moment.

So what have we become? More like Christ? More like the world? Stuck?

God’s plan for us, collectively and as individuals, requires something of us: A change of heart. A change of purpose. A change of what we do so that we can become more like God.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” – 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

We invite you and your church leaders to join us at 9am on Saturday, October 23 for a time of prayer and spiritual formation. It’s an opportunity to discover what God has in store and to decide whether you’re ready to become what God wants you to be.

There will be worship, guided prayer, and times to connect in prayer with other leaders from across the conference. We are providing both an in-person and virtual experience to allow for all of our churches and leaders to be involved.

So mark your calendars and invite your church family to be part of this important event.

# Watch Online or Attend in Person

Free Methodist Prayer Gathering 2021
Chapel of Change, Paramount
6701 Alondra Blvd, Paramount, CA 90723

9am-12:30pm, Saturday October 23, 2021

In a ‘typical’ year, food insecurity — which is a disruption in regular eating because of limited money or other resources — affects 1 in 10 households in the U.S. (Economic Research Service, 2019).

34% of all LA County households (approximately 1.2 million households) experienced food insecurity between April and December of 2020.

On Saturday, October 2, 2021, the small church plant led by Howard and Sorayda O’Dell – House of Redemption – held a food distribution event in partnership with A World With Compassion, a local food distribution non-profit. In just a few hours their small group (less than 20 volunteers!) provided food, prayer, and encouragement for 153 families – approximately 500-600 people.

Since House of Redemption first connected with A World With Compassion, two more local Free Methodist churches have joined up to help with food distribution events.

Find out how your group can get involved at fmcsc.org

Pastors are doing too much, the congregation is doing too little, and the work of the local church feels unsustainable. Some of this has become more apparent because of the global pandemic and the tumultuous events of the past year. Some of this has been a problem for much longer.

How do we invite congregants to more fully engage in the local church?

Join author, professor, and executive coach Courtney Davis as she addresses the problems of declining service to the church on behalf of congregants, how to build volunteer teams within your church, and how to retain those volunteers for the long haul. She will share models of leadership development for congregants that are necessary and sustainable for our local churches.

# Downloads
– https://fmcsc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Courtney-Davis-Engaging-Your-Congregation-Slides.pdf
– https://fmcsc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Courtney-Davis-Engaging-Your-Congregation-Slides.pdf

# About Courtney Davis
Courtney Wong Davis, PhD, coaches executives and organizational leaders to explore creative solutions to complex challenges, clarifying individual values, understanding organizational culture, and facilitating confidence in moving in a new direction. She is also associate professor of communication management at Azusa Pacific University, where she teaches organizational, small group, and professional communication, while currently pursuing her coaching certification from the International Coach Federation.

Her first book, Leading Small Groups that Thrive: Five Shifts to Take Your Group to the Next Level (Zondervan, 2020), is grounded in social science research and translated to make a practical contribution to equip small group leaders to facilitate individual spiritual growth.

We are honored to announce that Cheri Coleman has been awarded the Free Methodist Chaplain Association Distinguished Service Medallion for her outstanding ministry representing the Free Methodist Church, highlighting over 20 years of service through chaplaincy and education. The award was presented to her on August 25, 2021.

Cheri currently serves as a chaplain and Clinical Pastoral Education Educator at Loma Linda Veterans Affairs Hospital, where she supervises chaplain residents, co-supervises the Holistic Mental Health specialty interdisciplinary training program, leads several support groups for veterans focused on well-being and spirituality, and serves on the Ethics Committee, the Whole Health team, and Patient Centered Care team. Her work includes educating and caring for patients, their families, staff and trainees.

Exhausting, Lonely, Chaotic. These are some of the words our ministry leaders have used to describe the stress of pastoring through a pandemic. If you have experienced fatigue or burnout in your ministry this past year, Trisha Welstad has hope for you.

Trisha’s heart is for pastors and ministry leaders to grow and thrive in congregational leadership, because when our church leaders are healthy, they can enrich and sustain the vitality of our congregations. Through support from colleagues, mentoring, and creating safe space to relax, pray, and rest, it’s time to find practical and purposeful ways to meet your own spiritual and personal needs to better help those you serve.

# Downloads and Resources
https://fmcsc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/FMCSC-August-Training-Takeaway-Resources.pdf

# About Trisha Welstad, DMin

Trisha Welstad is passionate about investing in leaders to see them become all God has created them to be. As an ordained Free Methodist elder, Trisha has served with churches in Los Angeles and Oregon, leading as a pastor of youth, leadership development, a church planter, and as a co-pastor of a church restart. She is a loving and whole-hearted leader whose vision for the world is for all people to own their unique identity and welcome one another to work together in mutually honorable ways that create healthy and sustainable relationships with God, self, others, and the planet.

Trisha serves as the executive director of The Leadership Center, directs The Institute for Pastoral and Congregational Thriving at Portland Seminary, and teaches apprenticeship courses for Portland Seminary. She has her doctorate in Leadership and Global Perspectives.