January is a Time to Celebrate Christian Unity
Bishop Ward weaves the themes of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and the Martin Luther King, Jr., birthday to highlight the desire for God’s people to live in unity and love and to allow God’s light to bind people, even through their differences, into a beautiful tapestry. Connections
Bishop’s Bookshelf Now Available Online
In the fall, Bishop Ward mentioned that she would be sharing some of the books which have enriched her life and invite suggestions of books which have enriched your life as well. The Bishop’s Bookshelf is now online and includes books that she recommends in preparation for the 2014 Annual Conference. Go to bookshelf to check out some of her recommendations.
NC Conference Seeking to Help Young Adults Discern Call
The NCC Taste & See Internship Program is designed for individuals ages 18-25 who are discerning a call to ordained ministry. This ten-week internship experience takes place during the summer, as young people serve in and amongst NC Conference churches. If you know of someone who might be interested in participating in this program or if your church would like to host an intern, please visit Taste and See to learn more. For more information, contact Laura Fine Ledford, lledford@nccumc.org.
Reggie McNeal Workshops Coming to Greenville
The Sound District invites persons from throughout the conference to come hear Reggie McNeal at Saint James UMC in Greenville. There will be two sessions – one for laity and one for clergy. “Get Off Your Donkey” will be a presentation for laity from 3-5 p.m. on Jan. 26. “Creating Movement NOT An Institution” is a presentation for clergy on Jan. 27 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Both sessions are open to all and free of charge but registration is required at Reggie McNeal.
UM Foundation Endowment Helps Sick Children
UM Foundation is trustee of an endowment called the “One Who Is Loved Fund.” This permanent endowment makes possible love gifts (not to exceed $1,000 per year per child) to benefit children under the age of 19 who have special needs such as specialized medical equipment or supplies/medicine, transportation to hospitals or treatment centers, or other special needs. Pastors of the NC Conference are encouraged to recommend children for the “One Who Is Loved” Fund. Requests for consideration for gifts should be directed to UM Foundation, 700 Waterfield Ridge Place, Garner NC 27529. Deadline to apply is March 3. Contributions from others are invited and encouraged to enable this special granting fund to serve the needs of more children.
Congregational Care Teams Day of Learning
Modeled after Christ’s work, a shared (clergy and lay) Congregational Care model can help even small churches keep congregants well cared for in times of need. Congregational Care pastors, Karen Lampe and Wendy Chrostek from Resurrection UMC in Kansas City will empower leaders of all-sized churches to frame a new and broader congregational care model, solidly grounded in theology and demonstrated by their best practices. Presented by The Academy for Leadership Excellence, the event will be hosted at First UMC, Cary on Tuesday, Feb.18, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Visit www.theafle.org for registration information or call 919-208-2169.
Lake Junaluska Peace Conference March 27-30
Faith, Health, and Peace: Seeking the Basic Right to Good Health for All God’s Children The 2014 Peace Conference seeks to affirm the basic right to good health from the perspective of faith traditions, lift up “the leading causes of life,” and explore ways faith communities can combat the causes of poor health, such as disease, violence, and poverty. Early registration ends Feb. 15. Register at www.lakejunaluska.com/peace or by calling 800-222-4930.
Workteam Being Organized for Costa Rica
Bud Budzinski (Faith: Burlington) will be leading a workteam to Costa Rica June 28 – July 5 which will be working with conference missionary, Wil Bailey and the Costa Rican Missions Project. The cost of the trip will be approximately $1200. Persons interested in participating should contact Bud at 252-432-2810 or friartuc@nccumc.org.
Cokesbury’s Christian Education Showcase Sale
Cokesbury is having a VBS Showcase sale Jan. 20 – Feb. 8. Group Publishing’s VBS resources are 10% off and all other VBS resources are 15% off, plus shipping is just $3.95 when customers use offer code VG14. Michael Boone, Cokesbury Community Resource Consultant, will be hosting four VBS showcase events on Saturdays in February, where church staff and volunteers can come and get a hands-on look at the new curriculum for this summer. Each event will run from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Events planned in the NC Conference are Feb. 1 Highland UMC, Raleigh; Feb. 8 West Nash UMC, Wilson; Feb. 15 Edenton Street UMC, Raleigh; and Feb. 22 Duke Memorial UMC, Durham. All North Carolina Showcase events can be seen at VBS Showcase. Orders for this sale can be placed three ways: from the Cokesbury VBS homepage, by calling 800-672-1789 or by contacting Community Resource Consultant, Michael Boone at: mboone@cokesbury.com.
Make Your Church Super Bowl Party Legal
Many churches host a viewing of the Super Bowl as an opportunity to engage in “friendship” fellowship – a type of evangelism engaging members with members and hopefully with non-members also. What many church people do not know is that the NFL has strict copyright restrictions which can make viewing parties illegal. But the good news is that there are ways to host them totally within the law. To see how, go to Super Bowl.
Extension Ministries Forms due Jan. 31
All provisional or full elders and deacons that are members of the NC Conference are required to fill out our Extension Ministry Forms for the reporting period of Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2013 by Jan. 31. Forms and instructions are located at Extension Ministries. You must complete this form using your nccumc.org address. If you have problems logging into your nccumc.org address, please contact Linda Smith at: lsmith@nccumc.org or 800-849-4433, Ext. 238.