John Louk

We have taken the first step necessary for Salem's future construction, establishing a Study Committee. Anna Dunnwald, Kristy Flack, Dave Jandik, Dan Whitaker, Kathy Wickham, and I are working together to meet the requirements of The Book of Discipline (2008). ¶2543  Planning and Financing Requirements for Local Church Buildings mandates a Study Committee to analyze the needs of the church and community; project the potential membership with average attendance; write up the church’s program of ministry; and develop an accessibility plan. After the Study Committee finishes its work, it presents its report to the Charge Conference in order to authorize the building project and elect a Building Committee.   In order to accomplish our task, we are using a congregational study from the book Direct Hit: Aiming Real Leaders at the Mission Field by Paul D. Borden [Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006] p. 127ff. This detailed study examines Salem’s history, demographics, community, beliefs

Annual Conference, the yearly gathering of Iowa United Methodists, occurs June 4-7 in Des Moines. This year, Momodu Kamara is representing Salem along with me, and Rev. Dave and Dorothy Higdon are members of the Annual Conference too. You can keep up with what is happening at Annual Conference by checking out www.iaumc.org/annualsession . There you will see news items, announcements, photos, videos, a link to a live stream so you can watch video of what is happening live, and a twitter feed. Momodu is preaching on the Sunday following Annual Conference and will give a report to the congregation.

Check out this article : "Why a Baptist Pastor Became a United Methodist." It highlights some interesting things about us United Methodists. What do you think?

I like this video. It's actually an advertisement, but it makes me think about how we might be creative with our words as witnesses of Jesus Christ.