Reaching Out with Prayer Balloons

As part of the Change the World campaign of the United
Methodist Church, the Oxford UMC has been invited by Sheila Harrison, Project Coordinator, Rethink Church, UMC to release another set of Prayer Balloons on April 25.

We discussed this and have decided to launch 70 Prayer Balloons after our regular Morning Worship Service. We will pick up the balloons Saturday afternoon and attached the prayer cards to them and store the balloons in one of the Sunday school rooms until Sunday.

After our Worship Service, all members of the congregation are invited to take a balloon or two outside in front of the Church for the Prayer Lift Ceremony. Prayers will be offered for the balloons flight and for those people who may find one
of the balloons with the attached prayer card.

We shall also be praying for our friends, and neighbors, and
the many, many people who yearn to feel the love and grace of God in their lives. We will be praying that the Holy Spirit touch
their lives and they come to a wonderful, intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Along with our Community Involvement Project on April 24, we are pleased to be connected with and be a part of such a wonderful campaign as Rethink Church and the 'Change the World' Weekend. This is an interesting and fun way to involve the local congregation in a world-wide event designed to help reach people outside of the church walls.

Up, Up & Away With Prayer Balloons

PRAYER LIFT 2010 - March 14, 2010

Members of the Oxford United Methodist Church prepare to launch a second volley of prayer balloons after Sunday’s Worship service.

The first set of prayer balloons were released Sunday, March 7 as part of the Oxford church’s Prayer Lift 2010 campaign. "This is one of the ways we are participating in the United Methodist Church’s RETHINK CHURCH program," said Pastor Eldon Fablinger.

RETHINK CHURCH is a national program designed to redefine the church experience beyond the church doors and invite people to become engaged in the world. The campaign seeks to offer the church, not as a place to come to and stay within, but as a base of operation for expressing faith by moving out into communities and around the globe.

The hope is to spark a conversation about what it means to live as a person of faith, a disciple of Jesus Christ, in the 21st century, and the objective is to answer the question - "What if church were a verb?"

Pastor Fablinger said "Prayer Lift 2010 is a creative and fun way to lift the love of God beyond the walls and pews of the church." "It’s a great way to involve people from all age groups in a festive event that helps us all realize there are many people outside of the church and our community who need prayer, who need to feel the love and presence of God, and to let them know we are praying for them," Pastor Fablinger added.

Attached to each balloon is a card proclaiming God’s love for whoever finds the card, and lets them know the people of the Oxford United Methodist Church are praying for them, even though we don’t know their exact needs. "We may not know anything about the person who finds one of these cards, but we know God does and we can lift them in prayer knowing God hears and answers the prayers of the faithful," Fablinger said.

Prayer Lift 2010 is one way we are 'reaching upward and outward with the love and grace of God' to our fellow man, Pastor Fablinger said.