Prairie Winds Area (District) - United Women in Faith - Spring Gathering - Part 2

Cornerstone UMC Pastor Mickson Celebrates Holy Communion

Prairie Winds Area's Treasurer Melody Sanders

Five-star Mission Units (units giving money in all five pledge areas)

Pictured are members from the following UWFaith Units: Balaton UMC, Hope of Blue Earth UMC, Centenary of Mankato UMC, First UMC of Redwood Falls UMC

 

Not pictured, following UWFaith Units: First UMC, New Ulm UMC; Hector UMC,  Richfield UMC

 

Mission Today Units (meeting four requirements of participation)

Picture members are from the following UWFaith Units: First UMC of Redwood Falls, Hope of Blue Earth UWF, Centenary of Mankato UWF,  East Chain UWF 

 

Not pictured, following UWFaith Units: Holy Trinity, Hector, UMC of Montevideo, Trimont UWF, Richfield UWF

  

UWFaith Reading Program Award Certificates Presented to Jean Doeden, Kathleen Svien, Connie Scott, Betty Stancer

Prairie Winds Area (District) - United Women in Faith - Spring Gathering - Part 3

Prairie Winds Area (District) - United Women in Faith - Spring Gathering - Part 4

 

Prairie Winds Area's Secretary Deb Anderson

Rev. Dr. Fred Vanderwerf

Prairie Winds Area President Betty Stancer and Rev. Dr. Vanderwerf

  

In the afternoon, Rev. Dr. Vanderwerf presented information about his service as the partnership coordinator for In Mission Together—Ukraine, working with the United Methodist Church's General Board of Global Ministries. 

"To Do"

 

Easter Blessing

This Easter Sunday, 

may your faith grow deeper 

and your spirit feel lighter 

as we celebrate the risen Lord.

Holy Saturday Reflection

 

Holy Saturday Reflection by the Reverend Jessica Rooks, District Superintendent, Mountain Sky Conference, The United Methodist Church

Matthew 27

57 That evening a man named Joseph came. He was a rich man from Arimathea who had become a disciple of Jesus. 58 He came to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate gave him permission to take it. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had carved out of the rock. After he rolled a large stone at the door of the tomb, he went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting in front of the tomb.

The scripture for Holy Saturday is brief. After a week filled with activity and events, with drama and high emotions, with betrayal, denial and abandonment, with hope at the beginning and despair at the end, today is an odd day.

Today is ‘tomb time.’ Today we sit, and we wait. Nothing of significance occurs in the scriptures. Jesus has been laid in the tomb, and now all we can do is wait.

For many, today is a preparation day for tomorrow’s celebrations. And yet, for the disciples, it was a very different kind of day. They weren’t preparing for resurrection, because they hadn’t experienced it yet. They weren’t preparing for sunrise services, easter egg hunts, family meals, sanctuaries filled with lilies, and trumpets preparing to announce the arrival of the risen Christ.

For the disciples, this day was one of disbelief, confusion, grief, and fear. Jesus lay in the tomb, out of sight, his presence gone from the world. For the disciples, the life they knew had come to an end, and the life ahead of them was not yet revealed. For the disciples, for Jesus’ mother, for Mary, for the community who had put their faith and love in Jesus, it was a day of grief and disbelief.

As Jesus lay in the tomb, they experienced their own tomb time.

What does it look like today to really experience Holy Saturday? To sit and wait. To take a moment at some point today to experience the tomb time, the grief, the disbelief, or the uncertainty of what is next. What does it look like to honor the experiences of so long ago, today, as we sit and wait on this Holy Saturday?

Prayer:

O God of the liminal moments, Today we sit in the in between: in between death and resurrection, in between pain and hope, in between grief and new life. Help us, O God, to stay present to this day, to this space of unknowing, to the uncomfortable moments of Holy Saturday, so that we would not rush through this day, missing the sacred moments that are only offered in the in between. Help us, O God, to accept the invitation into the tomb, an invitation into mystery and the unknown place of transformation. Help us to pause on this holy day, so that our hearts might truly prepare for the unexpected, the unanticipated, the unbelievable that is to come. God, be with us in our tomb time, so that we might be more fully present with Christ. Amen.

2026 Easter Message from Bishop Malone, President of the Council of Bishops, The United Methodist Church

 

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3
 
At Easter, we return again and again to the biblical witness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Each time, we rediscover a truth that does not change and a promise that never fades—a truth that holds steady yesterday, today, and for all our tomorrows.
 

The tomb is empty.
Jesus has conquered the grave.
Christ is risen.

 
And this good news meets us right where we are.
It meets us in a world scarred by violence and war…
in communities longing for justice and equity…
in families carrying both visible struggles and quiet, unspoken burdens…
and in churches seeking God’s direction amid a rapidly changing landscape.
 
The resurrection is not distant from these realities—it speaks directly into them.
In the majesty of God’s power, the cross—once a symbol of death, suffering, and shame—has been transformed into an eternal sign of life. It reveals the depth of God’s redemptive love, the radical gift of salvation, and God’s ultimate victory over pain, evil, and death.
 
The Easter story reminds us that no matter what we face—amid life’s adversities, uncertainties, and trials—God’s Spirit is at work, bringing light into dark places, hope into weary hearts, and possibility where things feel stuck or broken. What feels final is not final with God. What looks like defeat is not the end of the story. Nothing is too hard for God.
 
As Easter people, we are not called to ignore the realities around us—but to face them with resurrection faith. Each day, we choose not to be paralyzed by fear or consumed by despair. We choose not to surrender to injustice, division, or hopelessness. Instead, we rise—with Christ.
 
We rise to love more boldly.
We rise to lead with courage.
We rise to stand for justice and extend compassion.
We rise to be the Church—not only in word, but in our witness.
 
For the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us.
 
And so, even now, we depend on God’s endless grace and mercy and declare with confidence that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. We boldly proclaim that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ—our hope and our salvation—through whom all things are possible.
 
And so we sing with joy and conviction:
 

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.
(My Hope Is Built - Edward Mote, 1834)

 
Let us pray:
Risen Christ, meet us in the realities we carry today—the burdens we name and the ones we hold in silence. Breathe new life into weary hearts, renewed hope into your Church, and fresh courage into your people. Empower us to live as resurrection witnesses in a hurting world—bringing hope where there is despair, justice where there is brokenness, and love where there is division. Strengthen us to rise with you—today and every day—until your transforming work is revealed throughout all the earth. In your risen name we pray. Amen.

 
Bishop Tracy S. Malone
President, Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church