The following brief video segment about summer learning loss inspires and motivates our churches to create ways to supplement learning opportunities for our lower-income public school children during the summer months when they are not involved in daily, planned, organized instruction. Sending children home for the summer with donated new and gently used age-appropriate books for them to read; hosting short-term reading camps at church or at school; continuing to serve as reading buddies and reading tutors in person or virtually; encouraging and hosting weekly public library visits — all of these and many more creative ways to keep children learning during the summer will help to close the learning gap based on the economic status of our children’s families. Watch this video and share this message with others. Let’s continue to truly be Congregations for Children all year long.
Announcements
Celebrating Asian American Authors
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. We are highlighting books in our collection written by Asian American authors to honor their significant contribution to the work of the church.
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A Worship Workbook: A Practical Guide for Extraordinary Liturgy
By Gerald C. Liu & Khalia J. Williams
Extraordinary Christian worship is honest and versatile in its expressions of diverse liturgy. A Worship Workbook introduces crucial and under-examined liturgical and social concepts for students and leaders of worship. Each chapter offers a brief lesson, teaching new skills and inspiring creativity for honest, faithful, and versatile worship leadership. Learn more.
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The Great Coronavirus Pandemic and Messages from the Prophets
By Doman Lum ; Foreword by Gerald C. Liu
As we witness the mounting illness and death toll of the coronavirus, the messages of the Old Testament prophets offer comfort and truth. Doman Lum crafts twenty-one sermons which preach the good news of God’s love. It is for the individual, family, community, and nation who seek spiritual counsel in the midst of the pandemic. Learn more.
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Disciplined by Race: Theological Ethics and the Problem of Asian American Identity
By Ki Joo Choi
This book reveals the critical importance of Asian American experience for contemporary theological debates on race. The book challenges readers to move beyond conventional perceptions of Asian Americans as model minorities and to confront the ways in which Asian Americans are socially restrained by whiteness. Learn more.
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Holy Living Series: Study
By K. Kale Yu
The Holy Living series brings a fresh perspective on the spiritual disciplines, enabling us to apply their practices to our current lives. This book challenges our preconceptions of study and offers practical steps on how to develop the habit of study. Study fills us with God’s words, and the more we study, the more of God’s words fill our hearts and minds and inform our thoughts, words, and actions. Learn more.
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Spirituality of Gratitude: The Unexpected Blessings of Thankfulness
By Joshua Choonmin Kang
God invites us to enter into the world of thankfulness at every moment in our lives, even in the hard times—perhaps especially then. Pastor Kang writes, “Gratitude heals us and holds us, tethering us to one another, offering us joy and strength.” This book has fifty-two short chapters that can be read in weekly sabbath reflection or daily devotional use. Learn more.
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Outside the Gate: A Study of the Letter to the Hebrews
By Roy I. Sano
According to the Epistle to the Hebrews, Christians are always to be on the move. Christians are to go voluntarily into a kind of exile and to become strangers and sojourners on this earth while doing God’s will “outside the gate” of the mainstream society. Bishop Sano examines this theme and its meaning for the original audience and Christians today. Includes discussion questions and group activities. Learn more.
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“But I Don’t See You as Asian”: Curating Conversations about Race
By Bruce Reyes-Chow
Sitting in the sweet spot between lectures in academia and activism on the streets, Bruce invites readers into a salon-type of atmosphere to talk about race. He directly addresses cringe-inducing words and diversionary tactics, but rather than stopping there, he puts his own joys and struggles on the table for dissection and discovery in the hopes that people will reconsider their assumptions about race. Learn more.
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Spiritual Kaizen: How to Become a Better Church Leader
By Grant Hagiya
“Kaizen” is a Japanese word that translates roughly, “to change or correct for the better.” All of us can grow and develop into more effective leaders and we can do this at any time during our careers. Spiritual Kaizen works from the best secular and ecclesial models of leadership in order to draw out the best leadership practices available for current and future leaders of the church. Learn more.
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Converge Bible Studies: Practical Prayer
By Joseph Yoo
Using passages from both the Old and New Testaments, Joseph Yoo takes a look at how and why we pray, how to handle what we perceive to be unanswered prayer, and how to learn to hear and recognize God’s voice. Primary Scripture passages from the Common English Bible are included for ease of study, as are questions designed to encourage both personal reflection and group conversation. Learn more.
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Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church
By Soong-Chan Rah
Borrowing from the business concept of “cultural intelligence,” Soong-Chan Rah explores how God’s people can become more multiculturally adept. From discussions about cultural and racial histories, to reviews of case-study churches and Christian groups that are succeeding in bridging ethnic divides, Rah provides a practical and hopeful guidebook for Christians wanting to minister more effectively in diverse settings. Learn more.
UMCOR’s Response to COVID-19
April 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected health systems globally, crippling service delivery in both high and low-resource countries. However, the effects on already weakened health systems in the developing world have been far more devastating. In recent weeks, the COVID-19 case count – first in Brazil and now in India – has risen dramatically, stressing health systems as well as the supply of essential drugs and medical equipment.
Global Ministries and UMCOR are responding to the health crisis in India by supporting long-term Indian partners who are working on the ground in emergency humanitarian and health response. Support to Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore will allow the organization to cope with the direct health consequences of the pandemic. This includes the purchase of emergency medical equipment, beginning with bedside ventilators as they expand their capacity to treat COVID-19 patients at the behest of the government. Additional hospital beds are also being requested to increase capacity. CMC Vellore is a long-established and highly credible institution in the country. Additionally, UMCOR will support Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA) to respond to the humanitarian consequences of the pandemic through information campaigns, hygiene support and unconditional cash transfers to help people meet their basic human needs. CASA is one of the largest faith-based humanitarian organizations in the country representing all Protestant denominations, including the Methodist Church in India.
Through Global Health and Humanitarian Response efforts, UMCOR will continue to provide emergency aid when needed as countries face health and humanitarian crises associated with COVID-19, such as the one being faced in India. Additionally, UMCOR’s COVID-19 response will include ongoing support of essential health services throughout the UMC health network and support of communities affected by the burden of COVID-19.
To further address this crisis, Global Ministries will again promote its UMCOR COVID-19 Response Fund (Advance #3022612) to allow those throughout the church to share in this outreach. Gifts can be made online at https://umcmission.org/advance-project/3022612/ or sent by mail to Global Ministries/UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068. (“Advance #3022612” should be written on the memo line.)
connections: Giving Thanks in the Month of May
Bishop Ward asks us to give thanks this month particularly for teachers, our Asian-American pastors and Asian-Pacific Ministries, and for mothers and other women who have nurtured and supported us throughout our life.
Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ.
It’s the beautiful month of May. Birds sing, flowers bloom. All of nature beckons us to come out and to give thanks to God. During the month of May, I invite you to give thanks for and to give thanks to three groups of people.
First teachers. This is Teacher Appreciation Week. Take time to reach out and thank a teacher. The vocation of teaching is an honored and cherished one among us, and we are grateful to teachers who, in this season of pandemic, have done amazing work reconfiguring lesson plans to teach virtually and supporting students in wonderful ways. Teachers, we give thanks to God for you.
Second, May is Asian-Pacific Heritage Month and we give thanks to God for our pastors of Asian-American heritage. We give thanks for the ways in which you lead and guide, for the ways in which your life of prayer and your deeply spiritual leadership gives our entire connection. Asian-American clergy, we give thanks to God for you.
And third, as Mother’s Day approaches, we give thanks to God for the women in our lives who have nurtured us – mothers and grandmothers and great grandmothers, aunts and sisters, cousins and friends, for nurturing women in our lives. We are deeply grateful and this month, in May, we give thanks to each of you who have had a nurturing role in our lives.
The beautiful month of May is a wonderful time to give thanks. Let us reach out in thanksgiving to one another in this holy, lovely, flowering season.
May Christ be with you as you extend thanks.
Procession of Peace
The week following Andrew Brown Jr. losing his life at the hands of sheriff deputies in Elizabeth City, an ecumenical group of clergy gathered at Mount Lebanon AME Zion Church to march to the location where he was killed.
Hurricane Preparedness Week 2021
May 9-15, 2021 is Hurricane Preparedness Week. Here are a few resources to help you prepare for the upcoming hurricane season:
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Please contact your insurance company for more information.
Read our Hurricane Preparation Checklist and articles on individual and church disaster preparation.
Create a disaster response plan for your church. Register for the Connecting Neighbors course (see below) for more information on preparing for disasters. Read the NC Conference Disaster Response Plan.
Learn how to respond and prepare for natural disasters through Connecting Neighbors and Early Response Team training. Sign up for an upcoming class or schedule a training for your church.
Additional Resources:
- Hurricane Guide (readync.org)
- Hurricanes (readync.org)
- Hurricanes and COVID-19 (cdc.gov)
- Hurricane Preparedness (redcross.org)
- Hurricanes (ready.gov)
- Hurricane Safety Tips (weather.gov)
- What to Do Before a Tropical Storm or Hurricane (weather.gov)
- Webinars for 3rd – 8th graders from the National Hurricane Center (nhc.noaa.gov)
- 2021 Hurricane Awareness Webinars (noaa.gov)
Visit our Preparation page for additional disaster preparation resources.