More Details on Pastors' Leave

Overall Schedule:

Although the due date is not until mid-January, the baby could come anytime now! Therefore, we are prepared for the interim pastor, Rev. Cliff Ives to begin soon.Cliff will begin preaching January 7. Pastor Jamie will be back after four weeks of leave beginning February 5. Pastor Gwyneth will be out for another two weeks, through February 18. The pastors then plan to take vacation during the School Vacation Week the 3rd week in February, Feb 19-25. Both pastors Gwyneth and Jamie will be back to the church full time beginning February 26.

Worship:

Rev. Cliff Ives will focus primarily on preaching. Chris Ward will be putting bulletins together, including selecting hymns, setting up folks to do children’s messages, and other details of worship. If you have any information to provide for worship, please see Chris.

Contact and Office Hours:

Cliff is planning to work at the church Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday of each week he is serving. He can be reached at home by phone at 797-8930 for pastoral care needs. However, since Cliff is only working half time, please contact Chris Ward first if at all possible - 767-2516 (home) 775-5678 (work) christine.e.ward@smithbarney.com (work email).

Pastoral Care During Pastors’ Leave:

Rev. Ives has many years experience as pastor, district superintendent and bishop, and is more than willing to provide pastoral care during his ministry time at Peoples. However, if there were a major crisis, pastors Jamie and Gwyneth will be close by and will do what needs to be done given the nature of the crisis.

In addition to Rev. Ives, a team of Peoples people have been preparing to serve as “ministers of care” to provide additional pastoral care during the pastors’ leave – and as a new ministry that we hope will continue beyond this short term need.

The training has emphasized skills and gifts in visitation, including bringing communion to shut-ins from the Lord’s Table each month. The ministry of visitation is an incredible blessing not only to those visited but to those visiting.

Those who are on the team so far include: Chris Ward, Doreen Gay, Tom Nelson, Barbara Nelson, and Earle Harvey. Chris Ward will be serving to connect these ministers with folks who would like a visit, going in two’s if at all possible, either with the pastor or with another lay person.

Furthermore, if you feel led and called to serve on the ministers of care team, please let the pastors know and we will get you set up for the next round of training in a few months. What a wonderful way to serve the church body!

Email During Pastors’ Leave:

The pastors will not be checking email on any regular basis while on leave. If you have a prayer request, prayer update, or other announcement that you would like emailed out to the church body, you may email it to the church office (info@peoplesumc.com) or to Susan Angell (angelsuzieq@aol.com) to forward out to the church route list. The church secretary, Maryjean Raymond will also be emailing the prayer requests shared Sunday morning as noted on the cards, but not until Tuesday mornings.

Newsletter During Pastors’ Leave:

We will be printing a combined January-February edition of the newsletter, which will include both calendars. However, if you would like an article posted online during our leave, you may provide the information to Art Tordoff (atordof1@maine.rr.com) or Ellen Dunn (Yadoo@aol.com) who are both able to post articles, including photos. If you would like the church to be notified about the article, you may contact the church office or Susan Angell who can email the church, as explained above.

Committee Meetings:

The interim pastor will not be attending church meetings in any official capacity, except perhaps to get to know you all better during his time at Peoples. However, if your committee would like additional leadership support, please feel free to contact Chris Ward to see if she is available.

Where Will the Pastors Be?

For the first week after delivery, the pastors plan on being in South Portland. For the remainder of their leave, they hope to be living primarily at their winterized camp in Bridgton, Maine about an hour away. Chris Ward and Rev. Cliff Ives have all of the information necessary to contact Pastors Gwyneth and Jamie should there be any crises or issues to discuss.

How the Leave Schedule Was Determined:

The United Methodist Church has implemented a family leave policy that emphasizes the importance of providing not only physical healing time for mother as is required by law, but also support and bonding time for both parents with a new baby – including adopted children. What a wonderful witness this is to a world to reveal the importance of children in and to the church.

However, pastors Jamie and Gwyneth are not planning on taking full advantage of the United Methodist Church’s redemptive policy (8 weeks paid leave plus an additional 4 weeks unpaid leave). Both pastors will only take 4 weeks, and Pastor Gwyneth will take an additional 2 weeks.

Prayers Please!

Please keep Rev. Cliff Ives in prayer as he prepares to serve at Peoples, and for Chris Ward who will working closely with Cliff to plan worship, pastoral care and other needs as they arise.

And please keep Pastors Gwyneth and Jamie, as well as Faith and Dena in prayer as they prepare for the arrival of the new baby, and for a safe delivery, healthy baby, and for their time together on leave that it would truly be redemptive. Please also pray for their time returning to the church full time after their leave, with a new family member! Thank you!