A mission team organizing to work in Armenia
Conference Contractor JP McGuire is leading a construction mission work team to Armenia with tentative dates of July 28 – Aug. 12. Construction experience is not necessary for this trip, just a willingness to be God’s servant in hands-on building ministry. Approximate costs of the trip is projected at $3500 – all inclusive. (more)
Free piano accompaniments available for churches without musicians
The many churches which have no musicians to provide support for their congregational singing can now download hundreds of piano accompaniments of familiar hymns from The United Methodist Hymnal for free. The growing resource is being made available as a joint project of the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD) and United Methodist Communications. More than 200 songs are available online at GBOD’s website, and more will be available soon. All of the music is in the public domain, so no royalty fees are required. They include songs related to Advent, Christmas, Lent, Passion, Easter, Palm Sunday, baptism marriage, Thanksgiving, Communion and general themes – all from The United Methodist Hymnal. To come will be selected songs from popular songbooks The Faith We Sing and Worship & Song.
Lodging information for Annual Conference
Due to the North Carolina Conference contract with the Raleigh Convention Center and the incentive they have offered to the NCC, members are encouraged to make reservations at one of the suggested hotels located downtown. The conference must meet a 500-room occupancy for at least one night between June 13-15. When calling the hotels to make a reservation, please ask for the United Methodist Church group rate. For a list of hotels and telephone numbers, go to 2012 Annual Conference and scroll down to “Raleigh Hotels.”
Resolutions to be submitted to Annual Conference
Resolutions to Annual Conference are due in the Conference Secretary’s office no later than May 13. This will allow the resolutions to be reviewed by the Resolutions Committee prior to Annual Conference. Please send all Resolutions to: smedlin@nccumc.org in Microsoft Word format. According to the Conference Rules, only one resolution per person or agency is allowed.
Kaleidoscope Weekend for Middle-Schoolers April 13-15
Don Lee Center Kaleidoscope provides middle-school youth encouragement in faith and growth in spiritual life. The weekend will feature inspiring worship services and fun recreation and games, as well as Covenant and Holy Habit groups to encourage growth in a small group setting. This year’s theme is “You Are More.” The cost for the weekend at Camp Don Lee is $95.00. Registration deadline is March 16. Go to www.nccumc.org/youth to find the 2012 Youth Events Brochure and registration form.
Unity Dialogue to meet March 22
The next Unity Dialogue will be Thursday, March 22, 4-6:30 p.m., at Fairmont UMC in Raleigh.The purpose of The Unity Dialogue is to equip the saints to listen to, and to speak, the truth in love about difficult topics, particularly regarding the Church and homosexuality. Suggested readings to prepare for this discussion would be Par 161 Nurturing Community, and New Recognition of Same Gender Relationships.
One Great Hour of Sharing: March 18
One Great Hour of Sharing is just weeks away. Now is the time to order free offering resources to use on this special Sunday. One Great Hour of Sharing provides the money to pay UMCOR’s overhead costs to make life-changing programs possible. To see more about the work of UMCOR and work made possible through the OGHS offering, go to One Great Hour of Sharing online. Bulletin inserts, posters, worship resources, stories and videos are all available for download or order at www.umcgiving.org/OGHS and www.umcor.org. If circumstances make it such that your church cannot celebrate One Great Hour of Sharing and receive the offering on March 18, please observe this special Sunday on any other Sunday that is convenient.
Worship & Song accompaniment cds now available
The Worship & Song accompaniment cd edition is now available. It contains stylistic accompaniments to each of the 190 songs in the Worship and Song hymnal supplement. There are no lyrics, just accompaniment so that congregations may sing along. All songs have a version that is exactly like the Accompaniment Edition, and some have more than one version (short choruses repeated, versions with or without modulations, very long songs cut down, and so forth). It is a boxed set with seven CDs and an alphabetized printed index. It retails for $395. This qualifies for the current 15% off music sale through Cokesbury, which runs until March 31.
Methodist University Plans Inauguration of President
Dr. Ben Hancock will be inaugurated as President of Methodist University on Friday, March 23 at the University. Since coming to MU last summer, Dr. Hancock has led the University in new directions that are serving the students, the school and the community well. For more information, click here.
Fan the Flame event date correction
The date on the Fan the Flame announcement in last week’s News Briefs was incorrect. The correct date is April 20-22. For more information, go to Fan the Flame.
News Briefs is a conference communications tool to connect local churches with the conference, jurisdiction, and the General church. The e-mail newsletter is sent weekly with announcements, event notices and dates to remember. Pastors are encouraged to make News Briefs available to church staff and committee members by submitting email addresses to the Conference Communications office (Communications@nccumc.org) and to local church members by printing News Briefs announcements in church bulletins and newsletters.