Duhart appointed interim technology leader at University of Puget Sound Theresa Duhart, chair of the CIT Ministry and Webmaster for the official CME Website, www.c-m-e.org , was recently appointed the interim leader of the Office of Information Services at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.
The University of Puget Sound is a nationally ranked, liberal arts college in the Pacific Northwest with a strong commitment to teaching excellence, scholarly engagement and fruitful student-faculty interaction. The University is an independent, predominantly residential, undergraduate college with selected graduate programs building on a liberal arts foundation. Students come from 46 states and 13 countries with an undergraduate enrollment of 2,576 and 209 graduate students, and there are 960 faculty and staff members.
The primary mission of the Office of Information Services is to help faculty, students and staff use information technology to achieve their goals at the University. The chief technology officer leads the department which is comprised of 101 persons and 31 full-time staff members, and five teams - Technical Support Services, Network & Server Services, Database Services, Instructional Technology, and Operations & Administration.
Ms. Duhart has been on staff with the University of Puget Sound for 11 years serving as the director of Technical Support Services for the past eight years. Her new position will provide her with an opportunity to work on short and long-term strategic technology plans for the campus with other constituent groups, along with the daunting task of overseeing information services and administering the IT budget. Additionally, Ms. Duhart will serve as the University’s liaison to several area and regional higher education technology organizations. She will be supported by a team of consultants to assist her during the transitional period. Ms. Duhart is passionate about technology, and has worked in technology for over 25 years in the municipal government, K-12, and higher education fields. She is a part-time faculty member at Tacoma Community College. Ms. Duhart is a Microsoft Certified Professional and has numerous professional certifications in management, training and information technology. She has had several papers published through the premiere computing organization, the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) and its Special Interest Group on University and College Computing Services (SIGUCCS). Recently, Ms. Duhart and a colleague, Heidi Wasem, wrote and presented an intricate technical paper that documented a three-year project to migrate to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 at the ACM’s SIGUCCS Conference in Edmonton (Alberta), Canada. The paper was one of six selected for a first-ever Web cast and video production. Additionally, the University of Puget Sound, through the Duhart-Wasem team and the efforts of others, won a highly-touted second place communication award in the quick reference category; the first place winner was Northwestern University (Evanston, IL).
Ms. Duhart is active in all levels of the church. She is a member of Greater Love CME Church in Lakewood, WA and serves as the director of Christian Education, president of the Women’s Missionary Society, and a steward. Ms. Duhart is the director of young adult ministries for the Oregon-Washington District, under the leadership of the presiding elder, Rev. Dr. LeRoy Haynes, Jr. Under the leadership of Bishop Henry M. Williamson, Sr., presiding prelate of the Ninth Episcopal District, Ms. Duhart serves as the Alaska-Pacific Region’s treasurer and director of One Church One School, and is a member of the General Connectional Board. Additionally, Ms. Duhart serves as the Webmaster for the Ninth Episcopal District and the Women’s Missionary Council, and is a volunteer with several non-profit organizations in the Pacific Northwest.
A third generation member of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Ms. Duhart hails from Cincinnati, Ohio and Metropolitan CME Church. She has two children, Andrea Lewis, a King County (WA) Housing professional, Kendall Lewis, a Lane College student, and a 10-year old grandson, Arris.
Submitted by Dr. Victor Taylor, General Secretary of the Department of Lay Ministry.

Glory to God!

11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:11-14)

May the peace of Christmas be yours today and throughout the new year.
Merry Christmas from The Christian Index.

A Christmas Gift to God
By Rev. Dr. Leroy Johnson, 9th Episcopal District (This article will appear in an upcoming Christian Index.)
Christmas is the most popular and best known of all national and international holidays. It began as the time of year that heathens paid homage to their gods. In this vein, many, many years ago, the Christian Church decided to say a mass in recognition of their God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and they called it a ‘Christ Mass.’ This ‘Christ Mass’ subsequently overshadowed all of the heathen’s celebrations and grew into the major international Christmas recognition that we know today.
Without question, Jesus is God’s greatest gift to the world. Brother John nailed it in the third chapter, and the sixteenth and seventeenth verses of his Gospel when he said: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
In as much as God so loved us that He gave to us (the world) His greatest gift, shouldn’t we likewise so love God that we give to Him our greatest gift? Remember, God’s gift of Jesus is a tangible expression of His love for us. We, then, must FIRST learn to love God, in order to express our love for Him! Accordingly, our first gift to God at Christmas should be our love!
Brother Moses expresses it so well in his closing commands to Israel in chapter six of Deuteronomy, verses four through seven, when he said: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shall talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” What a beautiful and reverent way to learn to develop a genuine, lasting love for God.
But, let’s not stop with just one gift; we should be generous in our giving to God. Hasn’t He abundantly provided for us, more than we can ever ask or need? Our second gift to God at Christmas should be our service. Our service to God is basically, but not limited to, our time, talent and treasury. It takes time to grow and develop in the Lord: which is why Brother Peter said (II Peter 3:18) “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” Failure to give God our due treasury is detrimental to both God and our selves. Why? Thanks for asking! The answer is clearly stated by Brother Malachi in chapter three of his book, verses eighth through tenth. He says: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.” The meaning is that when individuals or nations fail to honor God with their tithes and offerings, they rob God of the opportunity to give them the blessings that He has in store for them. Tithes and offerings are like a combination lock: they open God’s storehouse as nothing else can. That is why verse ten directs: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
Our third gift to God should be our witness. In spite of circumstances, whether good, bad or indifferent, we should give God a positive witness. Nothing should stop us from sharing with everyone we meet the good news about our God, and what He’s done for each of us. When Job was at his lowest level, he had a high level witness for God. In chapter nineteen, verses 25-27, Job said: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” That Christian of Christians, Brother Paul, gave one of the most powerful witnesses to the Philippian Church in chapter three, verses 13 and 14, when he said: “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Won’t you let your witness be one of your gifts to God.
Henceforth, may your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be while.

Arrangements for Mrs. Madeline Porter. Funeral arrangements for Mrs. Madeline Porter, a past president - the second president of the Carolina Region Missionary Society, are as follows. Family Visitation at Parkwood CME Church - Thursday, December 14th from 5pm-7pm. Funeral Services at Parkwood CME Church, Tom Hunter Road, Charlotte, NC on Thursday, December 14th at 7pm. Please pray for the family of Mrs. Porter during this time. Submitted by Faye Crowder Phillips, Carolina Region Missionary President

Update and Correction on the Passing of Mrs. Pearlie Mae Cross. We regret the loss Saturday, December 9th, of Mrs. Pearlie Mae Cross, mother of Connectional Ministers' Spouses, Widows and Widowers President Mrs. Maggie C. Banks. Arrangements for Mrs. Cross are being handled through the Lakeover Memorial Funeral Home, 1525 Beasley Road, Jackson, MS 39206. Phone: 601-362-0162. The funeral service will be held Saturday, December 16, at 11:00 a.m., at the Baker's Grove Church, Pocahontas, Ms (The church may also be listed as located in Clinton, MS). Mrs. Banks can be reached at 337-785-1883. Her email address is MCBCME@Yahoo.com