As you may know, the Building Committee has been working tirelessly to accomplish the long held dream to build the house of the Lord right here in the village of Stoddard. Their effort is starting to produce some fruits. As it was reported earlier, on January 16th, the Building Committee met with the District Board of Church Locations and Buildings to further discuss our building plans. After a week of deliberation, we have received good news indeed. The District Board of Church Locations and Buildings has approved Stoddard United Methodist Church to move forward with the building plans. Isn’t that good news?

This is the response we have been waiting and praying for. With this one step completed, here comes another thing we need to do as a church. The Charge Conference will be called (date to be announced) in the near future to approve the final project including the building and funding plans. I am proud of all of you. Remember, together we can do more, but alone we can fail.

Common Ground Campus Ministry is organizing a service/cross-cultural trip to Pine Ridge Reservation in western South Dakota during UW-L’s spring break. The goal of the trip is to build relationships between the college students and people on the reservation with the hope to make this trip an annual event every spring break. We will be following the scheduling and priorities of our hosts, so the schedule will not be well-defined as is usually the case with VIM and other types of mission trips. Sleeping will be on the floor of fellowship hall of the church on the reservation. We will cook for our group using church kitchen facilities

This trip will be March 12 – 18. There will be three days of learning about Lakota culture & history (Sunday – Tuesday). There will be also one day of “tourist” activities in the Black Hills with students (Wednesday). Some service projects will be decided on-site. We need a few people with construction/carpentry skills & tools to lead projects. Anyone interested in supporting the students by helping lead projects, please contact Anna-Lisa Hunter by February 10 at 608-799-4547 or email at [email protected].

After years of marriage, many times couples tend to forget the once cherished wedding vows. Are you looking for a way to renew your vows? Are you looking for a meaningful way to celebrate Valentine's Day? This year Valentine’s Day falls right on a Sunday. We are planning to lead a Renewal of Vows Ceremony for Married Couples on February 14th at Stoddard United Methodist Church. During a short ceremony, couples that will sign up will be invited to join in a rite of marriage renewal. There will be a slideshow of wedding photos on the screens. 

If you are interested in participating, for the sake of preparation, arrangement and planning, please give Pastor Kyabuntu a call at 608-457-2706 (O) or 608-304-3192 (C) or email at [email protected]. To be included in the slide show (optional), again e-mail a copy of your wedding photo to Pastor Kyabuntu. Or you can bring to him the hard copies. We will scan them and return them to you afterward. 

The vow renewal service is a great opportunity to invite others to Stoddard United Methodist Church. If you know someone who might want to renew their vows, tell them about it. After the ceremony, we will celebrate with a cake. Do not forget to invite your family.

When God calls us to Himself and gives us a vision, He does so for a very specific purpose. The Bible gives many examples whereby God called ordinary people as we are and gave them a vision. Nehemiah is one of those people who was called by God for a specific purpose. After accepting the call, we understand that Nehemiah demonstrated his passion for the work of God. He developed a heart for God’s people and did something tremendous about it. His path was not that easy though. He faced challenges and oppositions but because of his determination, commitment and actions, Nehemiah was able to see the vision being accomplished and the project becoming a reality. By doing so, God was given the glory and honor. Do we have people like Nehemiah in our midst? If we are to give God the glory and honor He deserves, we are in need of people like Nehemiah. This year for us at Stoddard United Methodist Church is a year of rebuilding: rebuilding lives, rebuilding small classes, rebuilding committees, rebuilding physical elements of our ministries, rebuilding… Shall we rise up together and build?

“Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” Nehemiah 2:17