NCCUMC Updates

E-mail Issue Resolved

Douglas Ward — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:09:31 +0000

The Information Technology (IT) Office has completed repairs on all Conference e-mail delivery systems. All of the major Internet Service Providers (ISP) have been informed of our repairs and have now removed our servers from their spam filters. Please do not send a repeat e-mail if you have sent one recently that has not been returned. If you have not received a bounce error or the recipient has not yet received the message, then it is still sitting in our e-mail queues. Now that all of the major ISP’s have removed us from their block lists we anticipate full resumption of e-mail delivery within the next twelve hours.

All Internet Service Providers are now accepting our e-mail with the exception of Roadrunner. Due to their draconian inbound rate limiting policies, delivery of the Roadrunner backlog in our queues will take several more hours. Unfortunately there is nothing further that the IT Office can do except to wait for their policy limits to time out. If you have sent e-mail to a rr.com e-mail address and it hasn’t yet bounced, then it is still sitting in our queues waiting to be delivered. Please do not send it again. It should deliver or bounce within the next twelve hours.

On a related note, we have initiated limits on the rate at which we send e-mail to any rr.com e-mail address. This is done in the hope that we will not trip these policies again. While this may introduce a small artificial delay in delivery during times of regular usage, we hope that this change will prevent wide scale outages of service to this domain during times of peak usage. We regret having to take this step but are forced to do so. As we move forward the IT Office will be monitoring the effects of our own rate limiting policy to make sure that it does not have a large impact on overall operations. Roadrunner’s inbound policies affect e-mail traffic from all companies, not just ours.

Those of you who have been reporting issues over the last few days regarding e-mail not delivering properly should check your e-mail accounts tomorrow to see if the e-mails have delivered. Please continue to contact Douglas Ward directly with any questions, concerns or outage reports.

E-mail Delivery Issues

Douglas Ward — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:33:40 +0000

The Information Technology (IT) Office is addressing an issue involving spam e-mail being sent through our e-mail servers. This has caused a considerable amount of backlog for our legitimate traffic since our servers have been blacklisted. You may be receiving a high volume of e-mail errors at this time. We are working to resolve these issues and expect full e-mail delivery to be restored within the next 12-24 hours. As always, updates will be posted on this website. We regret the inconvenience and appreciate your patience while we work to resolve this issue. Please feel free to contact Douglas Ward with any questions or concerns.

New Resource on Jewish Practices for Christians

ldallas — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:51:16 +0000

The Media Center has a new DVD study, Mudhouse Sabbath, that offers “seven ways of Christian formation inspired by the Jewishness of Jesus.”

“After her conversion from Orthodox Judaism to Christianity, Lauren Winner found that her life was indelibly marked by the rich traditions and spiritual practices of Judaism. She set out to discover how she could incorporate some of these practices into her new faith. Winner presents eleven Jewish spiritual practices that can transform the way Christians view the world, and God.”

The DVD has seven sessions: Christianity and Judaism, Sabbath Keeping, Hospitality & Mindful Eating, Jewish and Christian Prayer, The Practice of Fasting, Mourning Well, and Doorposts. The study comes with the book that it is based on of the same name.

Dr. Lauren Winner is a bestselling author and Assistant Professor of Christian Spirituality at Duke Divinity School.

Call, email, IM, tweet, or stop by the Media Center to check out DVD406: Mudhouse Sabbath.

Can I Have Your Information?

Douglas Ward — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:48:39 +0000

The Information Technology (IT) Office has been receiving multiple reports regarding the following sample e-mail:

From: Customer Care Centre
Date: July 23, 2010 9:50:04 PM EDT
To: undisclosed recipients: ;
Subject: Alert!!!
Reply-To: customercaredpt01@live.com

An HTK4S virus has been detected in the nccumc.org Webmail server,and all nccumc.org webmail accounts need to be upgraded immediatly to prevent damage to the nccumc.org webmail. You are therefore required to provide your account identities listed below to enable us verify and perform maintainance in your account with the new HTK4S anti-virus/anti-Spam version 2010. failure to provide your valid information, your account will be suspended temporarily from our services.

Full Name:………………
User Name……………
Password:…………
Date Of Birth:………..

Copyright nccumc.org Webmail 2010 All Rights Reserved

This is not a legitimate e-mail message. It was not sent by a representative of the IT Office. We will never send any of our e-mail accounts a message asking for personal information. If you receive this type of e-mail requesting any kind of personal information then it is not legitimate and you can safely delete it. The only way in which we collect personal data is through our Online Data Collection System. Please feel free to contact David Reid or Douglas Ward if you have any additional questions or concerns.

E-mail Delivery To Roadrunner Accounts Delayed

Douglas Ward — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:36:23 +0000

The Information Technology Office has been receiving reports of delayed delivery to Timewarner (Roadrunner) e-mail addresses from all over our Conference. Unfortunately this e-mail system has a rate limit for how many e-mail messages than can accept from one server per hour. Since many of our churches (as well as the Conference) attempt to communicate with this e-mail system we are well over the limit. We have initiated discussions with this Internet Service Provider to have our server white listed. Until then the e-mail is delayed and not bounced. It will be delivered later in the day after you send it. If you would like to read more about this issue you can do so here.

New DVD on Immigration and Human Trafficking

ldallas — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:25:20 +0000

The Media Center has a new DVD available. Lives for Sale is a 1-hour documentary on immigration and human trafficking from Maryknoll Media. Here is a description:

“First aired on Public Television and the Hallmark Channel, this harrowing film goes beyond the rhetoric to show why immigrants are willing to risk everything–even virtual slavery–for the American Dream. While politicians, activists and the media wrestle with the thorny issue of immigration, Lives for Sale exposes the painful, rarely seen human side of illegal immigration–especially the growing black market trade in human beings. The documentary also looks at some practical alternatives to these tragic realities.

Tracing the stories of two young women who were trafficked, one in California, the other in Florida, the documentary asks why and how this could happen in the United States–and what can be done to stem the most lucrative criminal enterprise after drugs and gun sales.”

The DVD contains a study guide, script, fact sheets, brochures, video clips, and more. This documentary is partly funded by the United Methodist Women’s Division of the General Board of Global Ministries. Maryknoll Media Productions can be viewed without special performance permission by local church groups if no fee is charged. The film may not be broadcast except over closed circuit systems. More information and previews can be found at http://www.livesforsale.com/

Call, email, IM, tweet, or stop by the Media Center to check out DVD403: Lives for Sale.

Final Resource Giveaway Extravaganza Scheduled

Derek — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:12:19 +0000

Items will be available for give away to local churches and pastors in the NC Conference on Friday, July 30 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the old Methodist Building (1307 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh). Items available include resource materials or books no longer included in the Media Resource Center, older desks and other furniture items that were not used in the new facility and various other items left in the recent move. There are several desks, bookcases and filing cabinets available. The items will be available on a first come, first served basis. If a church is in need of a specific item but cannot come on Friday, please contact Katherine Bell at kbell@nccumc.org to arrange for an appointment. Items remaining after July 30 will be donated to other charitable and/or non-profit groups.

New Resource: The John Wayne Movie Bible Study

ldallas — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:12:23 +0000

We are close to finishing the unpacking at the new Methodist building in Garner. You will begin to see new resources added to the website again. The first one is The John Wayne Movie Bible Study. This fun study uses clips from John Wayne’s “most Christian movie,” The Angel and the Badman, to explore Biblical themes. Four lessons include: The Badman (Vice), The Angel (Virtue), The Law or the Lawless (Decision), and The Pilgrim’s Progress (Redemption). The study pack includes the DVD, a leader’s guide, and a study guide. The Media Center has gained permission for churches to make copies of the study guide to provide to participants.

The author of this study, Stephen Skelton, has produced several other studies based on “primetime” entertainment. Currently available at the Media Center are Gilligan’s Island & the Seven Deadly Sins, The Beverly Hillbillies Bible Study (Volumes 1-2) and The Mayberry Study (Volumes 1-4) based on The Andy Griffith Show.

Call, email, IM, tweet, or stop by the new Media Center to check out any of these fun bible studies for your small group.

Personal Finance Webinar

jcafferty — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:54:45 +0000

You know that you need to take control of your personal finances, but the task seems so overwhelming that you’re not sure where to start. Or maybe you’ve been focusing on one aspect of your finances, but you’re concerned that other issues may be falling through the cracks.

If these concerns sound familiar, consider participating in Ernst & Young’s free personal finance webinar. This informative presentation will provide strategies you can use to develop a sound financial plan for the future. And if you’ve already started developing a plan, the webinar can help you identify aspects of your finances that may need some fine-tuning.

The webinar will be held on:

Wednesday, July 21 , 2010, 11:00-11:45 a.m., Eastern time; and
Thursday, August 12, 3:00-3:45 p.m., Eastern time

Both sessions will cover the same information, so choose the one that suits your schedule. Learn more about the webinar and register for it at www.gbophb-schedule.com.

2011 Apportionment Reports

Jennifer — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:22:28 +0000

The 2011 apportionment reports have been printed and were mailed from the Conference Treasurer’s Office today, July 16, 2010. These were sent to the pastor’s preferred mailing address. Keep an eye out for these envelopes next week, and let our office know if you do not receive your packet within a week or two. Please take the time to carefully review your reports, especially Table II, and let us know as soon as possible about any corrections that may be needed. The thank-you certificates for those churches that paid 100% of their 2009 apportionments will be sent in a separate mailing this year, hopefully within the next two weeks.