The Life Enrichment Center is pleased to announce that opening of a new meeting facility, the Linda and Lee Pearson Meeting Facility (Pearson).  This meeting room will be a wonderful addition to the ministry of LEC.  Groups needing a space for 50-120 people will find this a warm and usable space.  It is equipped with an excellent [...]

Rev. Jess Schload, Director of the Life Enrichment Center is pleased to announce that construction on a new meeting facility has begun this past week.  The meeting building will meet a huge need for LEC, allowing the service of more groups and growth in ministry.  “A continuing issue in trying to sustain our growth and [...]

I always looked so forward to lighting the candle.  I am sure my mother worried and kept a sharp eye on me, but I was ready.  As the light was passed down the aisle at St. John’s Lutheran Church, my time was coming.  Then it would arrive.  I would hold my candle at an angle [...]

Thanksgiving is upon us. It is a time each year when I, and all of us, should stop and reflect on everything we have to be thankful for in this life. It is so easy to be cynical, to complain, to not appreciate all we have been given. Can you name 10 things you are [...]

What is a retreat?  When and how can one take a retreat?  We often think of two types of retreat. One is the retreat centered on a community of folks coming together for a purpose.  An example would be a group of women from a Sunday School class decides to go to a retreat center [...]

I have been asked to lead communion for the United Methodist Men’s Retreat this weekend here at the Life Enrichment Center.  I am honored to do so.  I have always felt that the service of the bread and cup is central to who we are as Christians.  We have been encouraged to preach the Word [...]

What is the difference between a vacation and a retreat??  I think it could be a fine line.  Both can be renewing, uplifting, and refreshing.  Both can also be exhausting, and could leave you returning with less energy then when you left for the retreat (vacation). Retreats usually have a spiritual purpose, but vacations can [...]

This morning at our morning praise time for the Foster Family Camp we co-sponsor (this is a partnership with the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home) we looked at the text from 1 Corinthians 12 in which Paul compares the church (Christ’s Body) to a human body.  Can the eye say to the ear, “I don’t [...]

Back in the 1980’s I had the pleasure of serving a church in northeastern Indiana. This small church, surrounded by farm land just outside Ashley, Indiana, was a family church with wonderful folks who were committed to family and to this church – The Pleasant Chapel Church of the Brethren. I could say a lot [...]

I had too much fun last week!!  Way too much fun.  I had the privilege of being the camp director for our “Grandparents and Me” camp.  I have been doing this four summers now, and I look forward to it each year.  I have been working and/or volunteering in the camping/retreat ministry for nearly 30 [...]