Blue Cross Blue Shield sent participants’ insurance cards to the vendor today. The cards will need to be produced and mailed before participants begin to receive them. All participants are in the BCBS system, however, so coverage is active regardless of having the insurance card in hand.
Effective Leaders
2022 IRS Standard Mileage Rates Released
On December 17, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service issued the 2022 standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.
Beginning on Jan. 1, 2022, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups, or panel trucks) will be:
- 58.5 cents per mile for business miles driven
- 18 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
- 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations
The standard mileage rate for business is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile. The rate for medical and moving purposes is based on the variable costs. The charitable mileage rate is set by statute and remains unchanged. For more information, see IRS Notice IR-2021-251.
NFC December 2021 Newsletter
Creating New Spaces for New People
by Rev. Dr. Tim Catlett
Recently, I was speaking with a national church planting expert, and he said, “The pandemic will forever change the way the local church conceives of our relationship with buildings and physical space.”
For almost 70 years, members of the $10 Club and New Room Society have been helping co-create new spaces for new people to gather into communion with Jesus Christ. And while the local church’s relationship with buildings and physical space might be changing, the need for new spaces for new people to encounter Jesus Christ is as important as ever.
Over the last ten years, North Carolina is the sixth fastest growing state in the country, adding over 900,000 people. In 2020, our total population increased to 10.4 million people. While the state is growing in numbers of people, the state is also growing more diverse. NC leaders project that five of eight people added to our state through 2030 will be a person of color. Like much of our country, our state is also aging, with a continued increase in our older adult (65+) population.
Your prayers, support, and financial gifts are helping our Annual Conference actively engage in co-creating new spaces for new people moving into our communities with the hope they might encounter and enter into communion with Jesus Christ. Thank you!
We are currently actively supporting 16 new faith communities (congregations less than five years old) and exploring adding two to four additional new faith communities in 2022. This newsletter reflects on what our current new faith communities are doing. In particular, church planters will share how their teams are creatively using alternative spaces to invite new people into communion with Jesus.
Thank you again for your support. To make a financial contribution for 2021 or 2022, please visit us online, https://nccumc.org/new-faith-communities/.
An Encouragement for December
The Center for Leadership Excellence, in partnership with COSROW, is pleased to lift up the voices of women in ministry encouraging fellow women in ministry. Please enjoy this month’s Encouragement from from Ivy Parker. Ivy is a Deacon Candidate, member of Genesis UMC, and serves on the Spiritual Formation leadership team for the NC Institute of Spiritual Direction. Anyone can sign up to receive these monthly emails here.
Here we are, in the midst of the Advent season with Christmas just around the corner. This is always an especially busy time for everyone preparing for gatherings with family and friends, shopping, and attending countless holiday events. For women leading in ministry, we can become even more overwhelmed juggling family life and the additional ministry commitments required during the Christmas season. And this year, we once again have the added weight of the pandemic and its effect on all our lives and ministries. At this moment, you are probably exhausted and in need of rest. You may have asked yourself, “How can I truly be present for my family, for my congregation, and for those who are most in need of support and encouragement right now?” Maybe you have even wondered, “How can I possibly tend to everything and keep my sanity?” Maybe you even feel disconnected from Christ, who called you by name to shepherd the people of God.
On Monday, as I reflected with other women in ministry upon this coming Sunday’s lectionary gospel text from Luke 1, I was reminded of the importance of nurturing relationships with and leaning upon dear sisters in Christ for strength and encouragement. What a gift from God!
Read Luke 1:39-56:
Mary got up and hurried to a city in the Judean highlands. She entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. With a loud voice she blurted out, “God has blessed you above all women, and he has blessed the child you carry. Why do I have this honor, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. Happy is she who believed that the Lord would fulfill the promises he made to her.”
Mary said,
“With all my heart I glorify the Lord!
In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored
because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
He shows mercy to everyone,
from one generation to the next,
who honors him as God.
He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty-handed.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
remembering his mercy,
just as he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.”
Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned to her home.
Reflect: The gospel passage places us in the home of Mary’s relative Elizabeth as Mary has come to share the incredible news that she has just received from the angel Gabriel. Haven’t we all imagined just how much this encounter with the angel Gabriel must have weighed upon Mary, and all the various emotions that would come with such news? Yet, even before Mary can speak, the Holy Spirit empowers Elizabeth with just the right words of affirmation and encouragement that Mary needs to hear. So much so, that Mary breaks out in a song of thanks and praise for far more than the gift of carrying the Christ child. Her focus moves away from her current fears of what lies ahead, and instead she is filled with thanksgiving and praise to God for the ways that God has worked in the lives of the Israelite people. Her feelings of being overwhelmed and fearful have been transformed into feelings of joy and anticipation of what God has in store for her and her people.
Take Action: Put yourself in Mary’s shoes. Be honest with yourself before God about what is weighing heavily upon your heart and in your ministry. Who is your Elizabeth? Who is another woman in your life in which you can confide in and share from your heart, knowing that God will honor your time together and you both will walk away encouraged to face the coming days? Reflect further on this passage and note if your own feelings and emotions have changed. What do you have to be thankful for today? Consider writing your own song of praise noting the many ways God has worked in and through the life of your family and ministry this past year. Now allow yourself to wait expectantly for all the ways the love and grace of Christ will be made evident in the upcoming year.
In partnership,
Center for Leadership Excellence and the Commission on the Status and Role of Women
UMVIM Team Leader Training
The NCCUMVIM Committee will hold a Basic Team Leader Training on January 15, 2022 from 10:00-4:30 at the NC Methodist Building in Garner, 700 Waterfield Ridge Place, Garner, NC 27529.
This training is highly recommended for all Team Leaders of missional-exchange groups from the NC Annual Conference and required for groups applying for Conference Missional-Exchange Grants to aid in funding their trip. Note: all previously trained team leaders are due for recertification in 2022 given new policies and our fast-changing world in the midst of COVID-19.
The cost of training is $30.00 per person. Lunch will be provided.
For more information and to register, go to this link: https://nccumc.org/outreach/umvim/training/
For questions, contact Miles Baker Hunt, NCC UMVIM Chair and Coordinator at mhunt@nccumc.org
Clergy Loan Program Brings New Beginnings for Clergy
It is easy to get distracted by the demands of ministry and congregational missions. For many pastors, this constant focus on spiritual work can place financial health at the bottom of the list and creates long-term financial issues.
Let’s be honest, money is stressful. In the bible money is mentioned more than 800 times and nowhere is debt viewed in a positive way. The burden of debt can affect clergy physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
The Clergy Loan Program with the United Methodist Foundation, Inc., (UMF of North Carolina) gives clergy the opportunity for a new beginning through low-interest loans and it also helps them plan for long-term financial well-being. Access to the loan is life-changing for clergy who feel they will never be able to get out from under their debt. The foundation is about helping clergy get to a place where they have control over their money instead of being controlled by the weight of financial debt. It’s about progress and improving their overall financial outlook.
For more information about the UMF Clergy Loan program, email clp@umfnc.org or click here for applicant information.