DBOM’s NC Training and Certification Event – August 22
On Aug. 22, the state-wide training and certification event for the Disciple Bible Outreach Ministries volunteers will take place at Jamestown UMC in Jamestown from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. The event is free. All DBOM volunteers are required to be recertified. In addition, new volunteers and those interested in learning more about DBOM’s ministry are encouraged to attend. DBOM’s certifications will be presented following the event and are valid for five years. Special guest for the event include Bishop Larry Goodpaster, Bishop Ken Carder, Chaplain Betty Brown and Dr. Michael McGuire. Sign-up on the DBOM website at www.disciplebibleoutreach.org. For more information call the DBOM office at 336-454-5348.
Celebrate DBOM Sunday – August 23
On Aug. 23, the churches of the NC Conference and the WNC Conference will celebrate DBOM Sunday and will receive a Special offering in support of DBOM’s prison and local church ministries. Offering envelopes have been packaged for each church and are available from your district offices. Please help DBOM’s ministries in the prisons and pews of North Carolina by supporting DBOM Sunday.
Assist Golden Cross help layperson medical expenses
August 16 is the designated Sunday for an offering for Golden Cross. Golden Cross is a ministry that reaches out to laity in the Conference who are dealing with financial hardships brought on by medical expenses. Golden Cross Sunday on Aug. 16 has been selected as the date to reach out to laity through an offering. If Aug. 16 is not an appropriate date for a congregation, another Sunday can be selected. Richard C. Vaughan, conference director of Golden Cross, is available to answer questions or to provide additional information (910 754-4840 rvaughan@nccumc.org.
Clergy responses needed for insurance survey
The NC Conference Insurance Committee requests clergy input on the options available through the conference health insurance plan. All actively serving clergy are asked to take a seven question on-line survey to assist the committee with making future plan design decisions. Please complete the survey by Aug.24 for presentation to the committee at its next meeting. Responses will be anonymous and confidential. Additional questions or comments on the survey can be directed to Caroline Thornton at caroline@nccumc.org.
Cokesbury’s Christian Education Showcase
While planning for Christian education in local churches, be sure to visit the Raleigh Cokesbury Bookstore where the Christian Education Showcase is in progress until Aug. 22. Cokesbury now carries children, youth, and adult curriculum from several popular publishers. Go to Cokesbury and look in the upper right corner to get a discount on curriculum purchases.
Duke Endowment to provide scholarships for health and spirituality renewal
The Durham District has received a $30,000 grant from The Duke Endowment for rural church pastors to attend the Davidson Clergy Center, an ecumenical ministry in Davidson. Though not a part of the Clergy Health Initiative, this renewal program will address comparable questions of health and spirituality. The Duke Endowment grant will provide nine full scholarships, including travel expenses, for eligible pastors to attend Davidson Clergy Center’s Five-Day Renewal Program. These grants are open to pastors and district superintendents serving Duke Endowment Rural Churches in the North Carolina Conference, listed at www.dukeendowment.org. Awards will be made on a first-come, first-served basis. Confidentiality is always honored. To apply or learn more, contact the Durham District Office at 919-682-6439.
Join the Voices for Recovery 2009
September 2009 is the 20th year that National Recovery Month will be observed. The United Methodist Church is a planning partner in this national observance and all churches are invited to participate. The theme for the Recovery Month 2009 is “Join the Voices for Recovery: Together We Learn, Together We Heal.” Resources are available for celebrating this observance by contacting www.umc-gbcs.org to obtain worship helps and by visiting www.recoverymonth.org or calling 800-662-HELP to receive more information and order or download a planning toolkit and other useful materials.
Exploring faces and solutions to eliminate poverty
The people of the NC Conference are invited to the “Poverty in Appalachia Mission Event.” This is a holistic event exploring the faces of poverty and equipping participants to engage in lifestyles and solutions to eliminate poverty. The event is hosted by First Broad Street UMC, Kingsport, TN. The invitation is from Bishop James Swanson of the Holston Conference. The event will begin at noon on Friday, Sept. 11 and will conclude with a worship service at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12. Cost is $18 per person if registered by Aug. 31, $20 if registering after that date. (This will include Friday supper, Saturday breakfast and lunch.) For those interested in more information about this event or to register, contact Danny Howe in the mission office at First Broad Street UMC, 423-224-1531 or by e-mail: dhowe@fbsumc.org. The website is www.abolishingpoverty.org.
Bishop’s Day Apart scheduled for September 15
The Bishop’s Day Apart for Reflection and Renewal will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at Nashville UMC, Nashville. A boxed lunch will be served with a suggested donation of $5 to help cover the cost of the meal. The day will begin with a gathering at 9:30 a.m. The program will begin promptly at 10 a.m. and end by 3 p.m. An update on the Clergy Health Initiative will be included in the day’s presentations.
Legacy Building Sunday set for September 13
Sunday, Sept. 13 has been designated as Legacy Building Sunday, a day to celebrate the lives of local church members who have made endowment gifts or other legacy gifts for missions, ministry, and capital projects here in the North Carolina Annual Conference. It provides an excellent opportunity to talk about how persons can support ministry through wills and planned gifts. If your church has an elected Legacy Leader, it would be an excellent time for this person to speak to the congregation about leaving a legacy. The North Carolina Annual Conference Legacy Partners stand ready to assist you in planning for this special day. The Legacy Partners website provides further information and a bulletin insert for Legacy Building Sunday http://umlegacypartners.org/lbsunday.html.. If you need more information, or desire a guest speaker for that Sunday, contact Rev. Jim Mentzer at jmentzer@nccumc.org or 919-836-0029.
Convocation on the Black Church to be held in September
“Can These Dry Bones Live?” a Convocation on the Black Church will be held Sept. 18-19 at Hay Street UMC in Fayetteville. Sponsored by the conference Committee on Strengthening the Black Church, the event will include sessions about Risk-Taking Mission through Evangelism and Outreach and Revitalizing the Church. For more information and to access a registration form, go to Convocation on Black Church.
Pilgrimage Leadership
Those youth and youth groups willing to offer leadership at Pilgrimage, Nov.13-15, at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville must do so by Aug. 31. The opportunities (and how to sign up) are as follows: a) House Band – youth must submit an application (available upon request from senicholson@nccumc.org and must attend the audition; b) testimonies – youth must submit their testimony in writing to senicholson@nccumc.org or Youth Ministry, PO Box 10955, Raleigh, NC 27605 with a recommendation from their pastor or adult youth leader as well as contact information for that adult; c) dance, drama, etc. – youth groups offering an act of worship such as dance, drama, etc. must submit a description of the act of worship and the leader contact information; d) DVD’s – youth groups wishing to offer a DVD from their group must mail it to Youth Ministry, PO Box 10955, Raleigh, NC 27605. The DVD must meet the following criteria: involve the whole group, relate to the theme “Peace Like a River”, and offer good audio and visual quality (in other words clarity in picture and verbally understandable). Note: DVD’s of youth group mission trips will not be accepted. Pilgrimage brochures will be mailed out for the second time in early August. The brochure and poster are available for download at www.nccumc.org/youth/events/