News from the Alaska United Methodist Conference

e~Aurora

A weekly news update from The Alaska United Methodist Conference

CONFERENCE NEWS

The conference office is currently closed (January 22-25, 2018). Crystal is away on vacation and Carlo is working remotely. Crystal will be back in the office on January 26th.

Final 2017 Apportionment Report

The final apportionment report for 2017 has been completed. You can view how your own church did and how all the churches combined did, here.

WOW! We got these dates messed up in the e~Aurora last week! They are now corrected below. So sorry for the confusion to all those that gave us a call to clarify!

Register now for the Faith-based Community Organizing learning event

This interactive workshop engages participants in tools used in faith-based organizing models across the country in ways that will revitalize leadership, develop meaningful ministry, and strengthen relationships within both the local congregation and throughout a community. This one-day seminar will offer workshops on building relational power, "one-to-one's," building effective teams, accountability, and evaluation.

The (2) one-day seminars will be led by Kelly Marciales, Executive Director of Valley Interfaith Action (VIA). VIA is a faith-based community organization that seeks to develop and empower leaders to surface local concerns and work together with public officials toward alleviating systemic injustice. VIA has eleven member congregations in its membership in communities across the Mat-Su Borough. Kelly is currently a Deaconess candidate in the United Methodist Church and is a member of Christ First UMC in Wasilla.

The first opportunity to participate in the Building Relational Churches: Faith Based Community Organizing for Congregational Renewal will be February 16 from 9 am - 5 pm. Lunch will be included in the first option. The second opportunity will be February 17 from 1 - 8 pm. Dinner will be included in the second option. Please only select one of the options during the registration process.

Anyone attending either of these options needs to register. The earlier survey does not count as your registration. The conference will pay for the travel of the clergy and one lay person from each church to attend the learning event.

WOW! We got these dates messed up in the e~Aurora last week! They are now corrected below. So sorry for the confusion to all those that gave us a call to clarify!

Winter Rendezvous committee meetings registration is now open

You can now register for the upcoming conference committee meetings. There are various events scheduled during February 15-17 so make sure you know what they are.

The Leadership Team will hold a retreat February 15th from 10:30 am - 6 pm.

Conference committee meetings will begin with dinner at 5:30 pm on February 16 and then break into committees at 6:30. If your committee needs more time than allotted on the 16th, they will continue meeting at 9 am on February 17.

Anyone attending either of these events needs to register.

Read the information letter from the Bishop and Superintendent

Annual Conference Housing Survey

We are pleased to announce that we will be traveling to Seward Memorial UMC in Seward, Alaska for Annual Conference this year. It will be held June 1-2, 2018 with pre-conference workshops on May 31st.

Please fill out the following survey to help us and our local hosting committee plan for our housing needs.

The hotel rate is unknown at this time. It will be based upon how many rooms are needed.

Please complete the survey by January 25.

AC Housing Survey

Pastors/Churches: It is important that the conference office has accurate Lay Delegate information as we start preparing for Annual Conference. If information has changed since your charge conference or the information you submitted was incomplete, please send the updates to the conference office ASAP. We strive to make sure delegates are kept informed but we can't do that if we don't have accurate contact info.

First UMC Foundation grants available

The First United Methodist Church Foundation is accepting applications for grants to be used as educational benefits, scholarships, out-reach to the community and the world, and capital projects. Applications should be a concise request using the form provided by First United Methodist Church, Anchorage and can be found on the FUMC website or the church office. Submissions must be received by January 31, 2018 at the street address given below. Award recipients will be notified in March 2018.

FUMC Foundation - Grants

725 W 9th Ave

Anchorage, AK 99501

fumc@gci.net

907-272-2112

Alaska Forum on a Way Forward

Anchorage's St. John UMC will host a Forum on a Way Forward for conversation on a way forward for United Methodists. The forum will be held on Saturday, February 3, 2018, in the sanctuary of St. John UMC, 1801 O'Malley Rd., Anchorage AK 99507, from 2pm to 4pm.

The forum will feature a panel of six, each of whom will deliver a short presentation, followed by responses and questions from the audience. The panel will include the following people:

Lonnie Brooks, Lay Member of St. John UMC and Secretary of the Alaska Conference Leadership Team

Elaine Stanovsky, Bishop of the Greater Northwest Episcopal Area, which includes Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho

Donna Pritchard, Senior Pastor of Portland, OR First UMC and Member of the Commission on a Way Forward

Carlo Rapanut, Superintendent of the Alaska Conference and Clergy Delegate to General Conference 2019

Jo Anne Hayden, Alaska Conference Lay Leader and Lay Delegate to General Conference 2019

Susan Williams, Lay Member of Anchor Park UMC of Anchorage and a Director of United Methodist Women INC.

Andy Bartel, Lead Pastor of St. John UMC of Anchorage, will be the Forum Moderator.

We anticipate that the first hour of the forum will be consumed by the presentations with the second hour being devoted to open conversation.

This will be the first event of its kind in the Greater Northwest Episcopal Area and, likely, one of the first in the entire Church. It might be unique, up to now, in including on its panel an active member of the Council of Bishops as well as a member of the Commission on a Way Forward, both of whom will be fielding questions on the work of those two bodies related to human sexuality and how the Church will be in ministry with people who are LGBTQ.

This forum is intended to prepare people in Alaska to engage in the "Table Talks" or round table conversations about human sexuality that will happen across the Alaska Conference from March-May 2018. The forum will be made available throughout the State of Alaska electronically for those who are unable to attend in person.

Clear Appointment Openings

A list of churches that are open for appointment can be found on the Greater NW Area website. As appointments are announced and the appointment process unfolds, new clear openings will be added to the list. See the latest.

NATIONAL NEWS

Tax Reform - What You Need to Know Webinar

The new tax law has implications for employers, non-profits, churches, and individuals. On Wednesday, January 24th, GCFA will sponsor a one-hour webinar on Tax Reform. This webinar will be presented by Blake Harrison, CPA, who is the Senior Manager of Tax Services, at LBMC, GCFA's internal audit firm. In his presentation, Blake will break down the details of the new law and help you to understand its impact.

If you have a specific question about how your work with the church could be affected, email it to sharedservices@gcfa.org. Your question will be submitted to the webinar leader and every attempt will be made to answer your questions during the presentation.

WHAT: Tax Reform - What You Need to Know
OUTLINE: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is now in place. It is wide-ranging tax reform that will impact ALL taxpayers including individuals, and churches. In this presentation, we will break down the details of the new law in order to understand its impact. We will also address questions individual taxpayers and non-profits should be asking.
WHEN: Wednesday, January 24, 2018, 11:30 am CST
WHERE:  Participate online using WebEx
HOW:  To register, click here. (Limited to the first 500 registrants.)

GCFA's looking forward to hosting this webinar on a topic of concern for the people of The United Methodist Church.

*Please note if you are unable to attend, the recording will be posted on the  GCFA website after the Webinar.

Scholarships offered for 2018 UMEIT and NWCU events

The Council of Bishops is offering scholarships for young adults (age 21-35) to attend the 2018 United Methodist Ecumenical and Interreligious Training (UMEIT:USA) and the National Workshop on Christian Unity (NWCU) this Spring.

UMEIT is the annual training in the United States for United Methodists engaged in ecumenical and inter-religious ministry through the church. The NWCU is an opportunity for Christians who care about ecumenical and inter-religious ministry to learn and network.

The 2018 sessions will be in Silver Spring, Maryland, from April 16-19, 2018.