“…I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13 – 14 (NRSV)

Christian formation is the process of being conformed to the image of Christ by the gracious working of God’s spirit, for the transformation of the world. In short, it is our journey toward becoming more Christlike.

Click on the image at the left to access a Flash presentation that shows how following John Wesley’s rules in both doctrine and practice leads to transformed lives and a transformed world.

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2 Conferences at 1 Location taking place at the SAME TIME!!!!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Christ United Methodist Church
Chapel Hill, NC

Youth workers (Paid & Volunteer) can attend the 6th annual PR1ME Youth Worker Conference, while you send your youth who are leaders in their youth ministries, schools and communities to the 3nd annual The Edge Youth Leadership Conference.  Each conference will feature top-quality speakers, seminars/labs and a wonderful time of fellowship, nurturing, equipping and networking.  Each of these 1-Day equipping conferences will feed your soul as well as give you tangible ideas and strategies to immediately put to work in your programs. Learn more and register.

If reading the Bible through this year is one of your goals, here is an easy to follow plan. Whether this is your first time through or not, this chronological reading plan is easy to follow and offers insights into events as they occurred. It also offers a PDF page to print out and keep in your Bible to mark off your progress.

Next year’s Vacation Bible School programs are now available from Cokesbury. Check them out on the Children’s Ministries page.

Each year the General Board of Church and Society sponsors a young adult clergy leadership forum on Capitol Hill. Since 2004 over 400 young adult clergy have participated in these forums. The North Carolina Conference has one person already registered and we have room for one more. To qualify you must be an elder or deacon, age 35 or under and currently serving full time. The General Board of Church and Society covers each participant’s room expenses for three nights, program expenses, and meals. The Conference will cover registration fees and travel expenses. If you are interested in being one of our two representatives, please contact Brian Wingo, chairperson of the Conference Board of Church and Society, or Christine Harman, or Robin Harry. The application deadline is January 4, 2012 and space is limited. Click here for more information.

The following story from The United Methodist News Service demonstrates the breadth to which churches must be concerned with providing Safe Sanctuary for children, youth, and vulnerable adults.

Church awaits judge’s decision in abuse case

HOUSTON (UMNS) – A United Methodist congregation is awaiting a trial judge’s decision after a jury found that the church bears partial responsibility in a molestation case. The case involved a babysitter who was connected briefly to the church. Representatives of Atascocita United Methodist Church and its Weekday Learning Center say they are hopeful the judge will not uphold the jury’s verdict regarding the church’s liability in the case. The jury voted Oct. 11 to award more than $1.4 million plus $20,000 in additional damages to the parents of two boys who were sexually abused in 2008 by the babysitter, whose services were advertised in a flier that was placed in students’ backpacks at the preschool. Almost two years ago, Morgan Bryant, now 20, pleaded guilty in criminal court to one count of aggravated assault of a child under 14. In its Oct. 11 decision, the jury put 90 percent of the fault on Bryant. It also put 5 percent of the fault on his mother, Beth Bryant, a teacher at the center, who had helped her son put together the flier. The jury put 5 percent of the fault on the church and the preschool.

The jury found that the flier misrepresented Morgan Bryant’s qualifications. “We countered with the fact that the young man in question was known to the parents through the teacher, the teacher’s older daughter had babysat for the boys on another occasion, and the flier could hardly make us responsible for the completely unforeseeable conduct of this young man, known to us as a polite honors student and Eagle Scout who was the son of a trusted and experienced teacher,” said the Rev. Andy Noel, the church’s senior pastor, in a statement to his congregation.

Noel said the church’s attorneys are “hopeful that the trial judge, having now given the plaintiffs their opportunity in court to try the case and achieve whatever measure of satisfaction that comes from the jury’s verdict, will now apply the law to these facts and issue a judgment in our favor.” If not, he said the church “will be anxious to appeal.”

“Our community and church are heart-broken over what has happened to the victims of this heinous crime,” he said. The church has offered pastoral assistance and prayer support to the parents. “We pray that healing can begin for all who are involved in this tragic situation,” he said.

What Every Child Should Experience in United Methodist Congregations is a guide for leaders and teachers of children in the area of faith formation. This resource contains a comprehensive guide to scripture significant for children as they develop cognitively and theologically. It is meant to closely follow the three-year lectionary cycle. This resource also contains a chart of what children need and understand developmentally around the beliefs and concepts of God, Worship, The Bible, Home and Family, Everyday Life, Community and Wesleyan Heritage. Click here for the PDF document.

Five caregiving ministries in the North Carolina Conference have been awarded grants from The Comprehensive Plan for Older Adult Ministries. The Plan was authorized by General Conference and is administered through the United Methodist Committee on Older Adult Ministries which is related to The General Board of Discipleship.

This year, the Committee received 76 grant proposals requesting a total of over $230,000. Every proposal was read and thoroughly evaluated by a representative body of clergy and lay members. With $75,000 allocated for grant funding in 2011, the Committee was able to select 45 projects. The five North Carolina Conference projects receiving grants are:

Compassionate Friends – Durham, NC

Millbrook Enrichment Respite Center – Raleigh, NC

Volunteer Elderly Care Services – Pembroke, NC

Ruth Sheets Adult Care Center – Raleigh, NC

Hillsborough UMC Savvy Senior Saints – Hillsborough, NC

Congratulations to these vital ministries on behalf of older adults!

The Office of Christian Formation is announcing the launch of “Setting the Course – A Journey for Intentional Faith Formation in the Local Church.”

‘Setting the Course’ will be an opportunity for pastors to establish or refine the process of growing disciples through an intentional path of faith formation in our Wesleyan tradition. It will be a combination of training and implementation accountability in an incubator-like environment. Participants will develop a customized process to be launched in their local church along with receiving guidance for identifying and equipping a lay team to help in the implementation of that process.

Orientation/Kickoff will be held Thursday, August 11 at the Conference Building in Garner. Day-long monthly sessions will be the second Thursday of each month running from September through May.

To enroll or get more information, contact Dr. Christine Harman, Christian Formation Team Coordinator, at charman@nccumc.org or call 800-849-4433.

Emily Farnell, a junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is a member of the General Board of Church and Society’s Board of Directors. At their recent board meeting, she presented a sermon based on Ephesians 4:25 at their closing worship. She is originally from Smithfield, N.C., where she is a life-long member of Centenary United Methodist Church.  Click here for a text of her message.

It has been said that the issues that are faced by the people who sit in our pews are issues the church must face as well. The United Methodist Church understands the gospel to be both personal and social and what we say about social issues is written in the Social Principles. Try this short quiz to see what you know about the church’s stance on a variety of issues.