DS Newsletter
January 18, 2024 SNAD DS NEWSLETTER Volume 2 Issue 3
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity!
Psalm 133:1
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Eileen and I returned safely home, as planned, on December 12 and hit the ground running. A BIG THANK YOU to Rev. Ray Stillings for covering for me while I was out of the office!
We hope your celebrations of Christ’s Birth were precious and memorable. We understand you also have had many events transpire, some happy and some with sadness, but we know God is also continuing to complete His Call on and in your lives! With you, we are experiencing that He is STILL enough for and in every situation!!
We have been busy in preparing for the Midyear Leadership Convention that begins one week from today and look forward to fellowshipping and sharing with you the many things God is doing in the Southwest Native American District Church of the Nazarene. There will be information shared that will carry us into the District Assembly in June. The dates for these conventions have been given previously but I encourage you to continue to inform and encourage your congregations to attend. Please see more information below.
Please remember to let me know of the following items:
(please write these down or e-mail them to me—do not only tell me verbally—I forget---just ask Eileen 😊).
Dates & locations of upcoming Zone Rallies.
NDI, NMI, & NYI events.
Any specific needs (even wants) of your church. I receive questions from churches as to when a Work & Witness Team can come to a specific church. Any information you can give me would help me to connect you with a possible Team but I also need to know how your church will assist in hosting a Team. I am still hopeful that there will be Teams that will come out of SNAD not only to our own churches but to those outside of SNAD.
Your praises and prayer requests. Thank you to those of you who have given Eileen and me the privilege to praise and pray with you personally either in person or via a telephone call.
Your questions----I may not have the answer but I will do my best to help you find it!! And please do not hesitate to remind me if I do not get back with you in a timely manner.
DATES to know and remember:
SNAD Midyear Leadership Convention: January 25-27, 2024, at Phoenix First Church of the Nazarene
(19201 N. 7th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85027) . These dates have been set and shared for several months. The agenda has been posted on the SNAD website (snadcotn.org) and is also attached to this e-mail. Please share this agenda as able.!!!!!! Required and Mandatory SNAD interviews for those having completed the ministerial course of study and looking to be ordained in June 2024 and those with current and possible upcoming SNAD District Pastoral Licenses will be held on Saturday, March 9, 2024, in Winslow, Arizona. The Ministerial Board will meet the day before on Friday, March 8, 2024, but the interviews for the persons in the mentioned categories (potential Ordinands and those currently holding or ready to hold District Licenses) will be held on Saturday, March 9. If you have any questions about this, please contact Rev. Carla Durby immediately—602-509-1709. Rev. Durby is our SNAD Ministerial Liaison. Some of you have had the privilege to meet her in person. She will be at the SNAD Midyear Leadership Convention next week and will be meeting individually with ministerial students, district licensed pastors, and anyone that would have interest in being a ministerial student. Please sign up for a time slot with Rev. Durby as soon as you arrive at the convention.
SNAD District Assembly: June 6-8, 2024, at Phoenix First Church of the Nazarene. We are looking forward to at least four people becoming Ordained Elders and excellent and fun Pastoral Annual Reports! A special celebration is being planned for immediately following the Assembly—we hope to see you there!! Rev. Dr. Chrisian Sarmiento is the General Superintendent that will be presiding over the Assembly. Preparations for this time have also begun.
SAVE The DATES, please, for PALCON (Pastors and Leaders Convention) to be held at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California. This will be for the whole family and we are working on making it very affordable. I have been involved in the planning and have at least one more meeting before the SNAD Midyear Leadership Convention begins next week. More information to share at the convention is hopeful! The dates to save are July 22-24, 2024.
I realize your schedules are busy and most of our church leaders are or have been bi-vocational and must request time off from their other jobs to attend the above-mentioned events. I am in this same position as God still has me working in the jails of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. I honor and respect and thank you for the time and effort you share and invest with the Southwest Native American District Church of the Nazarene and others.
Keep on in Jesus!! We are STILL in this together!
Sincerely in Christ,
Mike
Rev. Michael J. Andrews, DS (District Superintendent/Servant)
P.S. Please forward this SNAD DS NEWSLETTER to anyone that would want to receive it and send their e-mails to me to be included in the mailing next time. Also, be free to make copies of this letter as it would be of assistance to you and your church. Thank you!