07/09/08

MERCI needs flood buckets to be sent to the Midwest
MERCI has received word that the Iowa conference is seeking help and has places for volunteers to reside. MERCI requests flood buckets, supplies for buckets or money ($54) for the supplies or shipping. Persons interested in volunteering for work in Iowa should contact Ann Huffman at MERCI, 888-440-9167 so that travel can be arranged in the most economical way. Each NC Conference district disaster response committee member should establish a central collection point in their district to collect flood supplies. MERCI will arrange a pick up of flood bucket supplies if districts are unable to deliver the materials to MERCI. The response to the request made at Annual Conference has been most gratifying. For more information on the contents of a flood bucket, please see Flood Buckets .

On-line Data Collection System to be down for updates
The charge conference forms will be unavailable on the On-line Data Collection System from July 1-15 so that updates for this year's charge conference season can be made. Appointments will also be updated at this time so any changes of appointment may not be accurately reflected until July 15. If your correct information does not display after that time, please contact helpdesk@nccumc.org . Remittances, health insurance and pension payment options will remain open and accessible during this time .

Conference Board of Trustees seeks your input
The 2008 Annual Conference approved a proposal by the Conference Board of Trustees to sell the existing United Methodist Building and build a new conference headquarters in Greenfield Park in Garner. The needs assessment phase of this building project is beginning. Comments and ideas about what should be in the building and advice from past building experiences are requested. Ideas and “best advice” should be sent to the building project team at nccbuilds@nccumc.org . All ideas will be compiled and considered during this important assessment phase. Share your thoughts and ideas with the team.

Iowa needs workteam assistance
MERCI will be putting together recovery teams for Cedar Rapids Iowa for Aug. 3-9, Sept. 7-13 and Sept. 14-20. Persons wanting to be on a team in August must be signed up by July 15. Teams for September must be signed up by Aug. 15. Travel arrangements will be made considering skills and needs of the team members. The August team will be cleaning and demolition. The September teams will be demolition and reconstruction. Teams will be called to MERCI for brief training and team building before leaving for Iowa. Training dates will be provided at a later time. Individuals or congregations interested should contact Ann Huffman or Jim Huskins at MERCI 888-440-9167.

A Festival for Children to be in Sanford
The Conference Office for Hispanic/Latino Ministry announces a Festival for Children to be held at La Trinidad UMC in Sanford from noon until 4pm on July26. There will be music, food, and games for all ages. For more information, call Rev. Izzi Perez at (919) 478-7530.

Festival del Niño - La Trinidad UMC
Día: 26 de Julio, 2008 Lugar: 407 West Main Street Sanford, NC 27332 Hora: 12:00 PM  4:00 PM. Proveeremos comida. Juegos para todas las edades. Musica, castillos inflables, ponys y mucho mas. Los Esperamos! Para information contacto Pastor Izzi Perez (919) 478-7530.

Let the Children Come…
A resource event for adults in leadership of local church children's ministry (in particular small to medium size churches) will be offered on Saturday, Aug. 23 at Page Memorial UMC in Aberdeen. Check-in begins at 9:45am and the workshops conclude at 12:15pm. There is no cost to the event and no need to pre-register. After worship led by All God's Children UMC there will be four workshop offerings on the subjects of use of One Room curriculum, involving children in mission, selection and use of curriculum resources, and churches partnering with parents for children's faith formation. More information is available at http://www.nccumc.org/childrnmin/events.htm .

Shepherding 21 st Century Sheep
A workshop on cyberspace, cybersafety and cyberministry will be offered in the fall on four dates at various locations around the Conference. The workshop will be held on Saturday mornings from 9:15am to 12:30pm as follows: Sept. 6 at Haymount UMC Fayetteville, Sept. 20 at White Plains UMC Cary, Sept. 27 at Wesley Memorial UMC Wilmington and Nov. 15 at Edenton UMC in Edenton. Teams from churches including pastors, staff, safe sanctuaries committee members, trustees, technology ministry leaders, volunteers with children and youth, parents and high school youth are invited to attend. The cost of the workshop is $5 per person. A representative from a church must register their church's team at least 10 days before the date planned to attend. More information and the registration form can be found at http://www.nccumc.org/childrnmin/cybersafety.pdf