Seaside United Methodist Church in Sunset Beach received a $2,750 grant from The Dollar General Literacy Foundation.
In the News
UMC bishops meet, request for 2026 General Conference among other decisions
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.
Judicial Council Affirms Bishop Fairley’s Ruling at the Annual Conference Special Session
In Decision Number 1480, the UMC Judicial Council affirms the ruling of Bishop Leonard E. Fairley at the Special Called Session of the North Carolina Annual Conference held on November 19, 2022.
NC Conference Communications Team Win Awards at UMAC Conference
On March 30 and 31, UMAC (the United Methodist Association of Communicators) gathered for their annual meeting. This is the third year that the conference has met virtually.
The two-day event is a mixture of business, training, and celebratory events, including an awards presentation. Each year, communicators from across the global connection are invited to submit their work for award consideration in 10 classes covering various categories, including print and digital media, websites, audio and video production, and more.
This year, the North Carolina Conference Communications Team submitted five entries for consideration and were honored to win two first-place awards:
- The NC Conference mobile app won first place in Class 4, Internet Communications, Mobile Apps Category
- The Anti-Racism Resources page won first place in Class 8, Visual Design, Website Category
Congratulations to the entire Communications team for the first-place award for the app and to Linda Smith and Laura Dallas for their award for the Anti-Racism page.
Other submitted entries included the “Procession of Peace” video, the video of Bishop Ward’s retirement last year, and an episode of the “Deep Reckonings” podcast featuring Angie Hong. Past UMAC awards include the “40 Days of Reflections” Lenten coloring book, Every Day Grace Magazine, numerous videos, and most recently, Communicator of the Year honors for Derek Leek, Director of Communications.
Congratulations to our Communications Team for these well-deserved honors! We are grateful for all the ways that the Communications Team works to support the ministries of the NC Conference.
To see all the awards, visit umcommunicators.org.
University UMC Doors Vandalized
When you drive past University United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill, you see a series of doors. Not just the physical doors that allow entry into the church, but a display of brightly-colored doors on the front lawn, proclaiming that “GOD’S DOORS ARE OPEN TO ALL.”
There’s another door at the far end – a black door that proclaims “BLACK LIVES MATTER” in bold lettering. But since that door first made its appearance last year, it has been vandalized multiple times. But the church and its members remain committed to sharing the message that God’s doors – and their doors – will remain open.
Just like the other times the door has been vandalized, the door has been reinstalled in its place on the front lawn. Rev. Coleman had this to say: “The church says ‘No one is going to be pushed down and pressed down. We are the people who lift one another up.’ And so, we symbolize it in lifting up a thing like a door again, once it’s been knocked down, but we enact it by lifting one another up and by refusing to let racism press anybody down.”
Disaster Ministries Donates Personal Protective Equipment
Al Miller delivering N-95 masks to Cape Fear Valley Health.
Photo by Cape Fear Valley Health
The Director of Disaster Ministries, Al Miller, delivered 3,000 N-95 masks to Cape Fear Valley Health on March 24. CBS 17’s Kayla Strayer writes about the donation.
Chestnut Street United Methodist Church helped deliver 1,000 N-95 masks from Disaster Ministries to the Southeastern Health Foundation in Lumberton on March 25.
Disaster Ministries also donated personal protective equipment to NC Emergency Management at their Tarboro Logistics Center for distribution across North Carolina. Rev. Bill Haddock, Ed Rutenkroger, Sam Loy, Tommy Gilbert, and Al Miller gathered supplies from across the conference. The donation included 11,125 N-95 masks, 600 utility masks, 100 tyvek suits, and 100 N-100 masks.