• 'Twas the month of Christmas
• Reconciliation Grant Applications Available
• Trying to find a needle in a haystack?
• Young Adult Retreat: Potluck
• Ministers' Institute
• Ordination of Jason Grow, January 2nd
• CYF Assembly Had Great Attendance, Great Leadership
• Norwalk CC Artist Profiled for Nativity Scene Sculptures
• Christmas Offering
• Linda Lighthall - Woman to Woman invitation
• Eureka College offers full-tuition Ministry Fellowships
• HELM Leadership Fellows Applications

Twas the month of Christmas, and all though the church building
All the members were preparing, lights, stars, trees Oh all the decorating!
Churches all around doing community service and outreach with care
In hopes it brought smiles to families who need love & prayer.

The youth of Ankeny were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of selling their God's Creation 2011 Calendars danced in their heads.
And Highland Park CC, Winner-Ideal Parish in Winner, SD and FCC Woodbine collecting mittens, scarves, shirts and caps
Had just the right idea to keep school children warm from their arms to their laps.

When all of a sudden the United Protestant Church in Silver Bay, MN heard lots of chatter
Members were congregating together to see what was the matter
Being creative making stocking stuffers, ornaments, jewelry and wooden toys
To make improvements to the church and bring lots of joyful noise!

The Advent Season began at FCC Cedar Rapids with hanging of the greens
Indianola Heights CC decorates and follows with a tasting party, holiday candy, pork and beans
When what to Woodlawn CC wonder, Peanuts for a Holiday sale
Chocolate peanuts, Cashews, pecans; a tasty treat that will never fail.

With College Avenue CC, so lively & quick
Giving Christmas gifts to Central Iowa Shelters, they understand the Holiday caring trick.
Lake Harriet CC in Minneapolis, MN started knitting for their Holiday Tree
To donate to refugee ministries and continue to spread the holiday glee.

On FCC Burlington! On Central Christian Waterloo!
For boys and girls, preschool to 14, Christmas Shoebox Ministries all a new!
To the store they go! School supplies, hygiene items from the mall!
A smile on a child's face! A special gift for all!

FCC Center Point is making Christmas baskets for neighbors in need
Items to bring Christmas cheer & food to feed!
FCC Fairfield, FCC Nevada & Ankeny CC has a Candlelight Service for Christmas Eve
FCC Mount Ayr & Runnells CC are having a birthday party for Jesus; come join the celebration, eat cake and believe!

And then, in a twinkling, celebration heard of the Savior's birth.
Estherville's Christmas Program of hope for all the Earth
A bundle of Children's Christmas Program to come and see
Howard Street CC Colfax, Highland Park Des Moines, FCC Keokuk, St. Charles Parish, FCC Ottumwa, Waukee CC will have lots of laughter and glee!

Christmas Caroling full of singing & smiles at Woodlawn CC in Lake City
A Puppet Production at FCC Panora with skits, songs, bells & youth so pretty!
Cookbooks for sale at FCC Woodbine for Christmas gifts
Bringing holiday joy despite the big white snow drifts!

FCC Fort Madison Christian Ed presents the Christmas story shadow play
While FCC Burlington has a Children's Christmas Eve Choir to brighten the day!
Central CC of Boone & FCC Newton are buying gifts for the Angel Tree
And United Church of Christ Atlantic & FCC Sac City baking cookies for sale to eat and bring glee!

The children's eyes how they twinkle! Their noise is like cherry.
Noelridge CC providing Holiday Outreach to make Christmas very merry!
FCC Adel having festival of trees and selling cheese balls
Elkhart CC & Covenant CC of Urbandale are having programs of Christmas Music, singing deck the halls

For New Church Ministries, Region and Camp... a special Christmas Offering,
Also supporting Christian Conference Center, Poland Mission trip and Disciples Network Gathering
Packing over 15,695 meals shipped to natural disasters victims in over 60 countries is a great way to volunteer
Feed My Starving Children program at FCC Mahtomedi, MN helps families throughout the year.

Throughout the Region, we remember the reason,
For lights, Christmas carols, plays and gifts throughout the season!
So may Disciples Churches getting the holiday giving spirit so right!
Giving a Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!

Want to do something about racism, poverty and injustice? Reconciliation Grant applications are online at: http://www.uppermidwestcc.org/2010/10/14/reconciliation-grant-applications/.

All proposals must address at least one of the following reconciliation priorities:

• Strike at the root causes of poverty and racism;
• Seek to change unjust systems (e.g. laws, institutions, company practices);
• Seek to overcome the injustices faced by racial minorities and the poor;
• Seek to address the empowerment of minority and/or poverty groups through opportunities for self-development.

The Upper Midwest Region's Reconciliation Ministry Grants fund for 2011 is approximately $15,000. It is anticipated that projects will be funded with awards ranging from approximately $1,000 to $3,000 each.

Please contact Don Hiscox at dh@uppermidwestcc.org or 515.577.9020 with questions or to apply.

Many people have called regional staff members, frustrated and worried because they're not sure where to find information on the regional website. We're sorry the website can sometimes feel cumbersome. So to help you get what you want, instantly, we recommend using the site's search tool. In the upper-right corner is a box with the words "Search this website..."

But for those seeking and not finding, here's a Top Ten list of the hardest things to find on the website:

1. Remittance Form | Search | Direct Link
2. Expense Voucher | Search | Direct Link
3. Regional Prayer Calendar | Search | Direct Link
4. Parish Papers | Search | Direct Link
5. Reconciliation Grant Applications | Search | Direct Link
6. DT Express (The "Disciples Together" Express, our regional e-newsletter) | Search | Direct Link
7. Directory of Cluster Members | Search | Direct Link
8. Letter of Calling and Agreement | Search | Direct Link
9. Interim Minister Letter of Calling and Agreement | Search | Direct Link
10. Regional Transition | Search | Direct Link

Potluck: What Will You Bring to the Table?

We will be trying out, or "getting a taste of," the summer camp curriculum:

• We begin at 7:00pm Monday, December 27th
• Bring a favorite hors d'oeuvre or munchie snack to share with everyone on Monday evening
• Bring a board game, cards, or other interactive game to play
• Prepare for mission work in Des Moines on Tuesday, followed by games (volleyball, dodgeball, etc.)
• We'll finish on Wednesday morning.

To register, download the registration form or register online at: http://www.uppermidwestcc.org/eventname/2010-young-adult-retreat/

January 24-26, 2010
All Ordained and Licensed Clergy Invited
Speaker: Dr. Tom Clegg, President of the Missional Transformation Network

Ministers' Institute begins on Monday, January 24 with registration at 1 p.m.
Tuesday's program begins at 9 and concludes that evening at 9, with dinner time free.
Wednesday we begin at 9 and conclude at 11 a.m.

To register, print out this form and mail it and payment in to: Christian Church in the Upper Midwest, 5064 Lincoln St., Newton, IA 50208

The Christian Church in the Upper Midwest
and Waukee Christian Church
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

cordially invite your presence and prayers
for the ordination to Christian Ministry
of

Jason T. Grow

On Sunday, January 2, 2011
at 6:00 p.m.

Waukee Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
29043 T Ave.
Waukee, Iowa 50263

Dessert reception following the service.

(Photo courtesy of Bob Mayfield)

81 youth and 22 adults gathered last weekend at the Christian Conference Center for the annual CYF Assembly. This year's theme: "Faithbook: Connect. For Real." In a spin off the social networking giant Facebook, the organizers structured the weekend around each person's friendship with God.

Friday: Finding Home (Psalm 139:1-12) -- Home is always available, always near.
Saturday: Logging God into your life (Isaiah 2:2-3) -- Learning anew God's presence -- and changing how we connect with it.
Sunday: Adding God as a friend (Hosea 6:3) -- Adding God as a Friend/Ongoing Priority lets us constantly see God's will.

Peter Mitchell (Photo courtesy of Bob Mayfield)

Peter Mitchell, minister at Bondurant Christian Church, keynoted the event.

"That's the first time in my life that I've ever paid attention to a sermon and enjoyed it." (An unnamed youth and/or adult -- name withheld to protect said person).

(Photo courtesy of Bob Mayfield)

The Upper Midwest Youth Council (UMwYC) ably took control of leading small group meetings throughout the weekend.

The remake of the Christian Conference Center confused none of the youth familiar with the social networking site. The "great hall" at the Conference Center was filled with individuals' "walls" where youth could post content, pictures, and messages throughout the weekend.

Brent Reynolds, chaplain at Culver-Stockton College, came to the event and talked about "future planning" with the kids and talked about college, Disciples colleges, and Culver specifically. Brent also promoted the upcoming CYF Winter Retreat hosted at Culver-Stockton College on January 15th-17th. For more information, go to: http://www.culver.edu/hereiam/.

KCCI (a Des Moines tv station) recently profiled Norwalk Christian Church member Sarah Pratt for her work on sculpting a Nativity Scene for the St. Joseph Emergency Family Shelter. Pratt is known to many in Iowa as the "new butter cow lady." Sarah worked with Norma "Duffy" Lyon on the Iowa State Fair butter cow displays for about 15 years before taking over for the 2006 Fair.

To watch KCCI's interview with Pratt, visit http://www.kcci.com/news/25954491/detail.html

Bill Spangler-Dunning's letter:
Dear Congregations and Clergy,

I know you are likely very busy during this time of year and don't have time to read long and wordy letters about why you and your congregation should care about and even more importantly give to the Christmas Offering. With this in mind I have provided a video with my own personal story about how Christmas Offering made a difference in my life. It's less than 3 minutes and if the story makes sense to you, I hope you will share it in some way with others in your congregation. 100% of this special offering supports many ministries from Camp to Transformation AND New Church to Finding Ministers for Congregations AND Pastoral Support for Ministers to the School for Congregational Learning AND Youth, Men and Women Ministries AND the Christian Conference Center AND more.

The Short answer is that Christmas Offering supports the ministry we in this Region call:

"Disciples Together"

Download the Bulletin Inserts:

Or download the Poster:

I'm Linda Lighthall, your Disciples Women's Woman to Woman representative who has recently returned from Turkey. I have stories to share and a multitude of pictures. Perhaps, as in Turkey, we can share in Tea Time. I'll be glad to come speak to your women's groups or your whole church. The Disciple Women study material will include our experiences in Turkey. It's a beautiful country and hospitality is important to the people there. I will be scheduling my speaking visits starting in January 2011. I can be reached at 515-490-4155 or lindaml12@mchsi.com.

Eureka College, Eureka, Ill., is accepting applications for two full-tuition Eureka College Ministry Fellowships for students pursuing vocational ministry in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Recipients also receive two on-site mentorships exploring ministry anywhere in the world, upon approval.

For more information or to request an application, contact Chaplain Bruce Fowlkes at bfowlkes@eureka.edu, call (309) 467-6429 or visit www.eureka.edu/admissions/doc.htm. Review of applications begins January 10.

Other Grants for Disciples of Christ Students ($1,000 each, stackable, up to $8000 maximum):

• Active members of any Disciples of Christ congregation.
• Active members who are also dependents of DOC ministers.
• Active members who are youth leaders in the regional or general church.

Eureka College offers academic degrees in a wide area of the sciences, mathematics, business administration, social sciences, fine and performing arts, humanities and education.

Editor's Note: Luke Ehrhardt, a student at Iowa State University and member at West Des Moines Christian Church is currently a leadership fellow from our region. High school seniors, please consider applying. The church needs your leadership!

If you're heading to college in the fall and plan to be a leader in your church - as a pastor or as a layperson - you should consider applying for the HELM Leadership Fellows Program. It could change the way you look at the world - and yourself.

College students who want to find out how their leadership skills can help further God's calling to demonstrate true community, deep Christian spirituality, and a passion for justice can apply now for the program. Eligible students will begin studies in the fall of 2011 at an accredited four-year college; this includes current high school seniors, community college students, or students who have graduated from high school but have not yet started undergraduate studies.

Applications are available on HELM's web site, www.helmdisciples.org. | Download an application (PDF)

The unique program provides several different ways to help students explore and strengthen their leadership potential:

• Covenants: Students design their own covenant with HELM describing how they plan to work on developing their leadership abilities. Fellows craft their own leadership development project in cooperation with a campus chaplain, director of church relations, ecumenical campus minister or another appropriate mentor. Many participate in planning and leading campus ministry programs or similar activities, while others lead youth groups in local congregations or engage in outreach programs.
• Leadership Conference: Fellows also attend annual leadership conferences, where they learn from Disciples leaders, pastors, and each other while building bonds to support each other as their leadership skills grow. The 2010 conference in Colorado Springs focused on expressing individual faith while building communities with those whose beliefs and opinions differ from our own.
• Summer internships: HELM works with Leadership Fellows to identify internships that will expose students to the wide variety of ways Disciples minister.
• Grant: Fellows receive a $2,000 scholarship at the beginning of each school year for educational use.
• Intangibles: HELM connects students with mentors within the denomination, providing students with networking and insight beyond normal connections. Students maintain regular contact with HELM staff and other denominational leaders via e-mail, denominational meetings, and informal get-togethers. This network of Disciples has helped some find additional financial aid, make decisions about transferring to a new college, or discover God's call to ministry.

The application requires an essay, three references, and official transcripts, and all materials must be postmarked no later than March 15, 2011. All identifying information is redacted before applications are reviewed by a scholarship committee. Students will be notified by April 30 whether they have been named as fellows.