2010 Clergy/Laity Banquet & Barnabas Awards
The Clergy/Laity Banquet and the 2010 St. Barnabas Awards
The Clergy/Laity Banquet was held on Friday, April 23, 2010 at Wyoming UMC. The Board of Laity, led by Betty Gooch and Demetrio Beach, did an excellent job in hosting this year’s celebration. The Key note speaker, Ron Bell, Jr. gave an inspired message based on the passage from Ezekiel about the valley of dry bones in which he challenged those gathered to release, restore, and revive.
As a part of this celebration several persons and organizations were inducted into the Order of St. Barnabas. The Order is a challenge to creative stewardship. The purpose of the Order is to provide a system of recognition that will motivate churches, groups, and individuals to grow towards a Biblical standard of stewardship.
St. Barnabas was as important as the Apostle Paul to the life of the early church. It is because of his outstanding stewardship that his name was chosen to represent a process of creative stewardship and to have a society named in his honor.
The Order of St. Barnabas is a challenge to creative stewardship. Selection for the Order of St. Barnabas is recognition of an individual, group, or congregation for modeling good stewardship in the church of Jesus Christ as demonstrated through …THE FOUR MEASURES OF T (Target Prayer, Time, Treasure, and Talent).
Those who were inducted into the Order of St. Barnabas for 2010 are:
DONNA BAKER. Donna is a member of Epworth UMC, Rehoboth Beach, DE. She is the wife of Rev. Jonathan Baker. Donna is described at God’s cheerleader.
ROBERT W BATSON, SR. Robert is a member of John Wesley UMC, Mardela Springs, MD. He is the Minister of Music for 3 churches, head musician for five church choirs and two community gospel choirs.
RONALD L BROWN. Ronald Brown is a member of St. Mark’s UMC, Wilmington. Ron lives a life of Christian Stewardship. He has served on numerous conference boards. He utilizes target prayer by consistently participating in the prayer ministries of the local church.
IONA M KING. Iona is a member of Wesley Temple UMC, in Salisbury. Iona has been a member of the United Methodist Church in the Peninsula-Delaware Conference all of her 93 years. Her mission has been to reach out to women in the Salisbury and Princess Anne areas. Helping others to achieve and rise beyond their dreams is a joy for her.
SHIRLEY MURRAY. Shirley is a member of Shelemiah UMC, North East, MD. Shirley has raised funds for homeless people, poor neighbors and the general budget of Shelemiah UMC for more than 45 years.
JEREMY SMITH = Youth Award. Jeremy is a member of Mt. Nebo UMC, Sharptown, MD. Jeremy is a humble individual with a strong spirit to lead and is the youth representative to the Administrative Council. Jeremy is a student at Delaware Technical College, Member of the Delmar Fire Dept., and is an Eagle Scout. Jeremy loves the Lord and is a fine example for the youth in the Delmar area.
EDZEL & LILLIAN TURNER. Edzel and Lillian are members of Union UMC, St. Michaels, MD. . Master Gardeners, each year they donate hundreds of pounds of fresh vegetables and flowers from their garden. They also represent Union with Habitat for Humanity and serve as shift supervisors for Talbot’s Interfaith Winter Shelter.
GOD’S KITCHEN & CLOTHING & FOOD DISTRIBUTION CENTER = Organization. This ministry is a ministry of Whatcoat UMC, Dover, DE. The vision for the distribution center to the homeless and limited income population became a reality by being founded on prayer. The volunteers give tirelessly of their time providing a hot, nutritious meal each Monday night to approximately 75 persons, about ¼ of these are children with their mothers. All of the volunteers are special people who are using their spiritual gifts in ministry to inspire and empower God’s people to reach beyond their present circumstances.
THIRD SATURDAY MINISTRY = organization. Third Saturday Ministry was started by Mariner’s Bethel United Methodist Church, Dover District, in 2008 to help people of limited means who desperately needed major repairs to their homes. It helps fill the gap between what some ministries do to provide minor repairs and maintenance assistance and the construction of new housing like Habitat for Humanity. It’s a niche that wasn’t being met by anyone else. This ministry has a database of more than 100 volunteers who have already provided over 900 hours of service.
TRINITY UMC. Trinity United Methodist Church of Salisbury, Maryland has eleven major mission or ministries that are supported by the congregation. Salisbury Urban Ministries, Appalachian Service Project, Volunteers in Mission (Katrina Relief), Homeless Shelter, Christian Kitchen, Joseph House Soup Kitchen, College Care Packages, Angel Tree, Habitat for Humanity, Trinity Lunch Bunch, and Congregational Care.