New Market United Methodist Church

07/05/2026

We had a wonderful church service today with our new Pastor Pierre. He gave an inspiring sermon of togetherness and acceptance. Pastor Pierre plays the piano with beautiful gusto and sings quite well. We had prelude and an beautiful baby in the pews! We welcome you to come and experience our excitement with us. Sundays, 9am in the Sanctuary. 🌟🎶🙏💫

06/15/2026

06/14/2026

❤️Annual Conference Day 3❤️

Today began with some legislative work as we voted on Action Item #601 a Resolution opposing conversion or reparative therapy and legislation permitting it. This piece of legislation was submitted by the LGBTQ+ Full Inclusion Committee of the Iowa Conference and before voting began one of the authors of the resolution shared his story as a survivor of conversion therapy. The action item was passed.

Following our first piece of legislation we voted on the resolution for the approval of local church closures. This year we voted on and honored the faithful communities of:
Carter Lake
Cedar Rapids, Sharon
Davenport, Faith
Des Moines, Christ
Des Moines, Jordan
Duncombe
Indianola, Farmers Chapel
Norway
Oxford
Turin
Woolstock

Following a break we had a learning session on Building Beloved Community when Christian Nationalism was on the rise. Presenters included: Rev. Heecheon Jeong, Dr. Jeff Anderson (IAUMC Legislative Advocate), Rev. Dr. Lydia Esther Muñoz, and Rev. Jonathan Heifner.

Today the laity voted on their delegates to General and North Central Jurisdictional Conference, and were able to complete their voting in one vote!! Four laity were elected, with the same number for alternate and reserve delegates. The elected delegates include:
Nitza Dovenspike
Lindsay Drake
Angela Hansen-Abbas
Judi Calhoon
Kade Rogers (Alternate)
Ronald Peeler (Alternate)
Blessing Cunigan (Alternate)
Myah Ford (Alternate)
Shannon Meister (Reserve)
Erica Shannon Stueve (Reserve)
Kae Trittle (Reserve)
Kathleen A Mitchell (Reserve)

Mid-day we had a memorial service in which we honored clergy and clergy spouses who have gone on to glory within the last year.

Following the memorial service we voted on two more pieces of legislation:
Action Item #603 -Resolution Encouraging a May Date for Annual Conference. This resolution was not passed.
Action Item #604 - Resolution for Voting Rights Protections. This resolution was passed.

We ended our day with an address from our Conference Lay Leader, Angela Hansen-Abbas and Laity Session in which we celebrated the good work laity all across the Iowa Conference have engaged in!

For more information regarding this year’s Annual Conference visit: https://www.iaumc.org/AC2026

06/13/2026

❤️Annual Conference Day 2❤️

Today we received several reports from various ministries and agencies including:
- General Board of Global Ministries and General Board of Higher Education who shared about the good work that UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) has been doing over the past year in thanks to faithful giving on the part of local churches as they reported that last year $377,700 was given to advance specials!
- Catie Newman the Disaster Response Coordinator for the Conference reported that 101 tornadoes have occurred in Iowa since January 1, 2026! She also shared how local churches can help communities who have been impacted by severe weather.
- New Communities of Faith shared about new communities of faith that have formed in the last year (from new churches to Bible studies to small groups) and encouraged each church to believe in their ability to begin a new community of faith!

The bulk of our day was focused on electing clergy delegates for General Conference (May 8-16, 2028 in Minneapolis, MN) and the North Central Jurisdicitional Conference (July 12-15, 2028 at the West Ohio Conference). Four clergy are elected, with the same number for alternate and reserve delegates. All delegation members engage in preparation for these conferences.
The elected delegates include:
Rev. Katie Dawson
Rev. LaTonya Calderon
Rev. Ron Carlson
Rev. Heecheon Jean
Rev. Michel Lundula (Alternate)
Rev. Andrea Kraushaar (Alternate)
Rev. Nate Nims (Alternate)
Rev. Brian Milford (Alternate)
Rev. Tim Bonney (Reserve)
Rev. Gregory Neal (Reserve)
Rev. Brian Oliver (Reserve)
Rev. LeAnn Robine (Reserve)

Tomorrow the laity will vote on the lay delegation for these two conferences.

Following the clergy delegation vote we took part in some legislation including:
- Voting on the consideration of a registration fee for future Annual Conferences. This piece of legislation was not passed through.
- Voting on a proposal regarding developing new communities of faith. This was voted to return to committee for some editorial changes.
- The biggest piece of legislation voted on and discussed today was in regard to consider the selling the Conference Center in Des Moines. It was reported that it currently costs $200,000 yearly to keep the building operational and there are an estimated $1 million in needed repairs. The Conference Board of Trustees are seeking permission to investigate the viability of the sale of the building that is estimated to be worth $3-4 million. If the building were to be sold that money would be invested with the Iowa United Methodist Foundation and interest would be used to offset the Conference budget. After much discussion it was voted to grant the Conference Trustees to investigate this matter further.

We concluded our day with a celebration of ministries with the theme of “Kingdom Cup” in honor of the World Cup!

Pastor Pierre also stopped by and greeted Pastor LeAnn and Monica! Be in prayer for Pastor Pierre as he prepares for Licensing School next week!

For more information regarding this year’s Annual Conference visit: https://www.iaumc.org/AC2026

06/12/2026

❤️Annual Conference Day One❤️

This morning began for Pastor LeAnn with clergy session. During clergy session, Bishop Kennetha Bigham-Tsai led the gathered in a moment of prayer for all who had been impacted by the early morning tornadoes, including our friends Corning.

Later in the afternoon, Bishop Kennetha called the Annual Conference to order with her Episcopal Address in which she used scripture from Acts 2 and the Greatest Commandment to remind us of our work in Christian ministry to build beloved community.

We also spent part of our afternoon celebrating the ministry of Women at the Well, which is celebrating its 20th year of ministry! Women at the Well is a United Methodist congregation that is located within the walls of the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville, Iowa. In addition to weekly worship, they also provide several different ministries designed to encourage members in their spiritual growth and as they transition into a world beyond the walls of the correctional institution. If you would like to know more about Women at the Well or would like to support their good work, you can find out more information at: https://www.womenatthewellumc.org/

Later, we received both a statistical report (based on information submitted by local churches in February) and the treasurer's report.
In the statistical report, it was noted that in 2025 there was a decrease in membership of United Methodist Churches of 4.17% in, yet we also celebrated that churches across Iowa celebrated a reported 546 baptisms and 367 confirmations of youth.
The conference treasurer's report informed us that while the Conference had a goal of receiving 85% of apportionments in 2025, only 78% was received in total by the end of the year. Congregations were encouraged to continue to faithfully give to help the conference reach its goal for 2026!

The Bishop’s Leadership Team also presented how the Iowa Annual Conference is working together to live into the United Methodist Vision to Love Boldly, Serve Joyfully, and Lead Courageously. This was done through the sharing of stories across the conference of how our local churches continue to live into this vision every day!

Finally, we passed various consent calendars and will discuss several of these items over the next several days.

If you would like more information on Annual Conference, you can visit this website: https://www.iaumc.org/ac2026

Please continue to be in prayer for all of the delegates as we continue the work of the church this week!

06/11/2026

Thank you New Market United Methodist Church Sewing Group for the donation of 6 quilts.

05/20/2026

Did you know?

That on the third Wednesday of each month the Sewing Circle of New Market UMC meets from 9-11 am to make quilts for our friends at Sleep in Heavenly Peace (Shenandoah chapter)?

These beautiful quilts will be on their way to new homes soon!

We’ll be taking a break for the summer but if you’ve been wanted to learn how to quilt or are looking for a fun way to give back to your neighbors come and join us this fall!

05/16/2026

This morning Trustee Larry McAlpin presented Rick Cabbage of the New Market Foundation with a $5000 check from the New Market United Methodist Church to be used on the new walking trail. We give thanks for those who are doing good work in our community and are grateful we can be in support of them!