NOTICE CONCERNING VOLUNTEERS: Effective immediately, all Disaster Ministries centers are not accepting volunteers, due to rising COVID-19 case numbers. This will be in effect the rest of this year and into January 2021. Please watch this website and the Disaster Ministries Facebook page for updates. Thank you.
Announcements
Voices – Episode 9: Advent w/ Molly White
This season for Advent, the Board of Church and Society of the North Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church has prepared recorded Advent evening prayers for each day. Each evening prayer will be led by clergy or laity in our Conference and focuses on the theme of Shalom.
By participating each evening in these brief prayers, you will begin to learn our Methodist Advent prayers, hear the scripture, and listen to a reflection on the text. We invite you, your family, and your churches to pray with your friends in Christ over the Advent season that our Redeemer will bring Shalom to our hearts and to the world.
Watch the daily Advent Evening Prayers at nccumc.org/advent20.
Dr. Ashley Boggan Dreff Named General Secretary of GCAH
Dr. Ashley Boggan Dreff, cradle United Methodist, professor and author of Entangled: A History of American Methodism, Politics, and Sexuality and #Nevertheless: American Methodists and Women’s Rights, has been elected as General Secretary of the General Commission on Archives and History (GCAH). Her nomination from the search committee was voted and approved at a special meeting of the Commission on Oct. 30, 2020.
Dreff will come to GCAH from her current position as Assistant Professor of Religion and Director of Women’s and Gender Studies at High Point University. “I’m so incredibly honored, excited, and humbled to have been elected General Secretary,” said Dreff. “This is a dream come true for me. As a scholar, a Methodist historian, and the child of two UMC ministers, I’ve sought professionally to be a bridge between the church and the academy.”
“The whole denomination will be well served by Ashley’s passion for UMC history and her accomplishments to both the academy, her previous service to the Connectional Table and as a lifelong United Methodist,” said Bishop Jeremiah Park, head of the GCAH Commission. “We welcome her with gratitude for what’s formed and shaped her faith journey and how that will be part of the UMC’s future as a leading custodian of its history-making future.”
By preserving and promoting the UMC’s past, GCAH helps the church live into its future authentic to its sources. It offers assistance to local churches and Annual Conferences through publications, workshops, research services, and other programs. The Commission maintains relationships with the five Jurisdictional Commissions on Archives and History, the Central Conferences, the World Methodist Historical Society, the Historical Society of the UMC, the African American Methodist Heritage Center, the EUB Advisory Council, the Association for the Study of the Hispanic/Latino UMC, and the World Methodist Council.
“These next few years are going to be history in the making for The United Methodist Church,” said Dreff.
As an independent and neutral entity charged with keeping of the Church’s permanent record, GCAH brings context and insight to the visioning, planning, and programming of the UMC.
“GCAH will continue its ministry of memory,” stated Dreff, “and part of this ministry is leading and joining in tough conversations. Going back to the days of Wesley himself, Methodism has never been a unified movement. Its history is at times oppressive, harmful, and compromising, but it’s also liberating, hopeful, and revolutionary. I hope to work with the general agencies and caucuses to highlight the good, the bad, and the complicated stories of Methodism worldwide.”
Dreff will begin her work with GCAH on January 1, 2021 after relocating to Madison with her husband, Erik, and their two children. “I hope to inspire other scholars to explore Methodism’s complex relationship with various minority groups,” she said. “If there are any burgeoning Methodist historians out there, please reach out to me for support and encouragement.”
The Stormcast – Episode 11: Louisiana Stories, Part 2
We’re heading back to Louisiana this episode for two more stories. A pastor from the Louisiana Conference shares how she was affected by Hurricane Laura, and a volunteer from North Carolina talks about his experience serving in Louisiana.
For more information:
NCCUMC Disaster Ministries
The Stormcast – Episode 10: Louisiana Stories, Part 1
Al Miller (NC Conference Disaster Ministries Director), Rev. Jason DuVall (NC Conference Disaster Response Coordinator), and Rev. Shawn Mitchell (Emergency Response Team member) share some of their experiences working in Louisiana, including partnering with UMCOR to help set up disaster operations following Hurricane Laura.
For more information:
NCCUMC Disaster Ministries
Training Opportunities
Watercooler Christianity – Episode 17: The Bible and Culture w/ Ben Witherington
Ben Witherington, Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary, joins the show to discuss his long-running blog “The Bible and Culture.” Dr. Witherington shares his perspective on how Christians should appreciate culture critically and engage in creating culture from a biblical worldview.