The bishops of The United Methodist Church completed their Spring 2023 meeting on Friday in a gathering that was awash in the spirit of collegiality and search for the betterment of the worldwide denomination.
Announcements
Survey for United Methodist Laity
The NC Conference committee on Lay Servant Ministries invites all NC Conference United Methodist laity to complete this survey. Help us plan upcoming Lay Servant Ministries classes that meet the needs and interests of our laity! Whether you are a member of a United Methodist Church or are currently seeking a United Methodist community to call home, we want to hear from you.
The window to win a gift card for completing the survey has ended, but we are always happy to hear from you. Thank you in advance for completing our survey!
Blueprint For Wellness Coming to Annual Conference
The Blueprint For Wellness (BFW) health screening includes a blood draw and a few measurements, such as blood pressure and waist circumference. This screening is open to enrollees (participants and spouses) on the conference’s active health insurance plans.
Attendees will receive:
- $100 in Pulse Cash in their Virgin Pulse well-being program. This incentive reward is redeemable as a transfer to your checking account or can be redeemed for gift cards, merchandise, or a charitable donation.
- Up to 140 Wellness Credits for achieving healthy results. Earn a total of 150 Wellness Credits before the end of the year and receive an additional $150 in Pulse Cash.
- Free, personalized, confidential data on 30 health factors that can be shared by the participant with their primary care provider. Healthcare providers have indicated that this valuable information supports them in creating an overall plan for the health of their patients.
BONUS: This year’s results can be entered in the Virgin Pulse Health Check. When participants and their covered spouses take the Health Check they avoid a higher deductible in 2024. Plus, you’ll have a baseline for next year’s BFW screening.
Registration is strongly recommended. Walk-ins are very limited. Register by June 2 in either of these ways:
- Log in to your Virgin Pulse account and find Quest Blueprint for Wellness Screening under the “Benefits” tab or through Benefits Access (for participants) under the “Well-Being” tab.
- Call Quest Diagnostics at 1-855-623-9355. Employer group = HealthFlex or United Methodist Church
If you can’t attend the BFW event, you can complete the BFW at a Quest Diagnostics facility or via Self-Collection Kit, or with a Physician Results Form. The deadline for completing both the BFW and the Virgin Pulse Health Check is August 31.
Embracing Change … A New Leadership Fellows Experience
Just as churches need to evaluate their ministries, the Center for Leadership Excellence regularly seeks feedback and makes significant and minor adjustments. We are excited to announce a big adjustment to the Leadership Fellows Program.
We’ve made the program more accessible to clergy and laity…Leadership Fellows is now a nine-month program with three retreats and six short Zoom sessions nestled in between. The retreats start with a shared lunch on Mondays and end at noon on Wednesdays. Zoom sessions will be an hour and a half and scheduled during lunchtime to impact laity work schedules minimally.
We’ve kept all the effective components of coaching, community, and professionally-designed content while keeping tuition what it was when we started the program in 2011. And now, since we have condensed the program from two years to one, Fellows can complete the program at half the cost.
We hope you join us for the Fall 2023 cohort. If you’re interested, let’s schedule a 15-minute Zoom call to answer your questions!
Thank You for Praying During Appointment Season
View a special message from Bishop Shelton sharing thanks for your prayers during the appointment-making season and encouraging everyone across our connection to continue praying as new pastors join congregations.
Last Month in the NC Conference: April 2023
We’d like to keep everyone up-to-date about the happenings all across the NC Conference offices and committees, so we’ll be posting a roundup of all the major news at the end of every month.
Here’s an overview of NC Conference events and updates from the month of April.
NC Conference
- View a quarterly newsletter with a list of grants, scholarships, and loans available to United Methodist churches in ministry leaders in the NC Conference.
- Watch Bishop Shelton’s Easter Sunday message and the “Easter Video After Party.”
- Read daily Lenten Reflections from clergy and laity across the Conference centered on Graceful Hospitality.
- Bishop Shelton announces new Cabinet appointments for the North Carolina Conference, effective July 1, 2023.
- Bishop Shelton values relationships and continues to seek connection with the clergy of the North Carolina Conference. She will travel across our connection in May to meet with the clergy.
Center for Leadership Excellence
- Twenty pastors attended a clergy care spiritual retreat at the Saint Francis Springs Prayer Center.
- Held the final session for the Class of 2021-2023 Leadership Fellows.
- Thirty applications were received for youth, laity, and clergy for the Denman Awards for Evangelism.
- Started three cohorts of Proclaiming the Word, online groups led by pastors to support Certified Lay Speakers in building community and strengthening preaching skills, supporting over twenty lay speakers.
Christian Formation
Media Center
- View resources for the Welcoming People of God.
- View Creation Care resources for spring 2023.
- View anti-racism resources for your whole church.
Outreach Ministry
- View speakers and learn more about “Redeeming Creation 2023.”
- Congregations for Children and United Women in Faith hosted an event, “Our Faith, Our Children, Our Public Schools,” on April 22.
- Disaster Ministries hosted a training retreat for over 25 Early Response Team Leaders and District Disaster Response Coordinators. View upcoming training events.
- The Conference Health Team shares updates on telehealth news, Medicaid expansion, and COVID-19.
- NCC UMVIM shares ten ways they can assist your mission journey.
- Applications for The Gary Wayne Locklear Mission Endowment were received.
Race Equity and Justice Ministries
- The United Methodist Strengthening the Black Church in the 21st Century (SBC21) and the General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR) issued a joint statement condemning the actions of the Tennesee House of Representatives. Read the full statement.
United Methodist Collective of North Carolina
Youth Ministry
- Middle schoolers met for Kaleidoscope, a weekend retreat focused on four holy habits to help you grow closer to God.