e~Aurora
A weekly news update from The Alaska United Methodist Conference
Aurora
CONFERENCE NEWS
Alaska Pacific University Historic Site Celebration
    
Holy Land Tour
Greetings in Christ,
 
As a Host, through E.O. Tours, I have scheduled a Holy Land Tour, Journey Through the Bible, October 15-25, 2018.
     
View a copy of the brochure.  The brochure includes a printable registration form that can be mailed in.  

Click here for a direct link to the tour.  It provides more information and the option of electronic registration.
 
Here are some initial highlights for consideration:
  • The cost of the tour does not include travel to and from Tel Aviv
  • Folks with initial interest are departing from various locations
  • You'll need to arrive in Tel Aviv, October 15, 2018
  • The tour ends (departure from Tel Aviv) October 25, 2018; however, you may make prior arrangements to extend
  • The cost ($1998) listed in the brochure is a cash price (check or electronic debit)
  • You can pay by credit card with a 4% service charge
  • Early registration saves you $150 prior to November 15, 2017
  • Early registration savings reduce as the date draws near (the brochure lists increments)
  • This will be a wonderful & educational tour
  • Our schedule is customized to enable more time at sites of interest
  • While I am the Host; I'm not the Guide...We'll have local Tour Guides  
  • Lynn Kile (member of First UMC) is our Tour Coordinator
There will be upcoming informational meetings at First UMC in Anchorage.  Please contact Lynn Kile, 696-5453, or myself (Pastor Steve Fisher) 272-2112, to let us know of your interest and we will keep you updated on informational meetings.

Many Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Steve Fisher
Need a Lectern?
First UMC in Fairbanks is looking to get rid of a large lectern that they no longer need.  It is 48.5" tall, 52" wide, and 24" deep.  If you're interested, please contact Gayle Miller at gaylelm@gci.net or the church office at office@fairbanksfirst.org.

         
Anchor Park Annual Holiday Auction
Anchor Park will hold its Annual Holiday Auction on Saturday, November 4.  It will be held from 10:45 till 2:15 at Anchor Park UMC.  The cost is $17 which pays for your lunch of soup, lasagna, tossed salad, fresh baked bread, assorted desserts, tea and coffee.  ALL funds raised from the sale of items (live auction, silent auction, and flat fee purchase items) go to missions that support women, children, and youth.  Anchor Park United Methodist Women host the yearly event.  If you would like to come, please contact the church office and let them know who will be attending.  If you aren't able to make it, you can always help by donating a home crafted item or baked goods.  Find the information here. 
Call for 2018 Mission u Certified Study Leaders
The Leadership Team of the Alaska United Methodist Women is receiving applications for two study leaders to teach at Mission u events throughout the Alaska Conference.  The time frame for teaching is mid-summer through the end of 2018.
 
The studies that they are recruiting teaching leaders for are:
ISSUE STUDY: What About Our Money? A Faith Response
SPIRITUAL GROWTH STUDY: Seeking Health and Wholeness 
 
ERT Training - October 21st & 22nd
If you are interested in volunteering to respond to Texas or other areas of disasters as part of an Early Response Team (ERT), this is an opportunity to get the necessary training.  Anyone wanting to be deployed from Alaska must have this training.  The full ERT training will be on October 21st from 9:00am-5:00pm, and then advanced courses specific for hurricane responses will be on the 22nd from 2:00pm-6:00pm.  Both will be held at Anchor Park UMC (2300 Oak Drive, Anchorage, 99508).  If you are interested in more information, please contact Conference Disaster Response Coordinator, Daniel Wilcox, at danielpwilcox@gmail.com, or 907.414.7078.
Birchwood Camp News
Winter Youth Break Away

Middle School and High School Students are invited to this year's Winter Youth Break Away camp which will be held January 2 - January 6, 2018.

Bring your sleds, skates, snowshoes, and helmets...play in the snow!!!  Excellent food, fun and fellowship! Join them for Water is Life!

Registration fee: $240
Registration Open: October 1, 2017
***NEW*** Extended Camp Hours!
Check-in/drop-off 11 AM, Tuesday, January 2
Pick-up at 11 AM, Saturday, January 6

Help Wanted: Volunteer Kitchen Assistant

Have you ever wondered how we serve 150 pancakes in the morning? Or wanted Berneita's tomato soup recipe?

Help Birchwood serve our weekend fall/winter guests.  They have a few weekends that the group sizes are 60+ and they need extra hands in the kitchen.  Help prepare food, wash dishes, and love their guests through food!

If you are interested in this unique volunteer experience, please contact Relena at director@birchwoodcamp.org or 907-688-2734.
2017 Conference Journal
The print version of the 2017 Conference Journal has been mailed to those outside of the Anchorage area.  To save the conference money, we hand delivered journals during the clergy and committee meetings.  Lay and clergy members of the annual conference have received a copy directly or through your church.  Churches and other ministry settings also received a copy.  The digital copy of the journal will be put on the conference website once it is received.

Questions about the content should go to the conference secretary (outgoing - Teri Erbele, incoming, Karen Martin Tichenor).  Updates to the contact information should be sent to the conference office.
Charge Conference Paperwork
Superintendent Carlo has scheduled most of the upcoming charge conferences.  As you prepare for your time together as a church with the superintendent, make sure you have ALL of our required paperwork filled out and ready to submit on or before your scheduled meeting date.  Forms can be found in PDF here.  If you need something in Word, please contact the conference office.
NATIONAL NEWS
UMCOR grants to boost hurricane relief efforts
UMCOR The United Methodist response to the devastating 2017 hurricane season is getting a boost through new grants from the United Methodist Committee on Relief, part of the Board of Global Ministries. Linda Bloom reports.

Read the story
Donate to UMCOR U.S. disaster relief
Bishop: Responding to California wildfires
Bishop Minerva Carcaño, who leads the California-Nevada Conference, asks for continuous prayer and suggests other ways to help amid the destruction caused by the northern California wildfires.
 
Bishops promote Global Migration Sunday
Bishop Bruce R. Ough, on behalf of the Council of Bishops, invites United Methodists to observe Global Migration Sunday on Dec. 3, the first Sunday in Advent. "From Asia and Europe to Africa and the Americas, the plight of more than 65 million men, women and children forced to leave their homes and migrate to places unknown calls all Christians to remember what God requires of us," Ough writes.
 
CONFERENCE CALENDAR
October
21: Charge Conference - Ola Toe Fuataina UM Samoan Fellowship
22: Charge Conference - Girdwood Chapel UMC
25: Charge Conference - Turnagain UMC
28: Charge Conference - Homer UMC
28: Charge Conference - St. Peter the Fisherman UMC
29: Charge Conference - Soldotna UMC

November
4: Charge Conference - North Star UMC
4: Charge Conference - Kenai UMC
5: Charge Conference - Seward Memorial UMC
5: Charge Conference - Moose Pass UMC
8: Charge Conference - Willow UMC
9: Charge Conference - Christ First UMC
12: Charge Conference - UMC of Sitka
13: Charge Conference - Aldersgate UMC
13: Charge Conference - Douglas Community UMC
16: Charge Conference - UMC of Chugiak
19-20: UMDF Board Meeting - Carlo attending
26: Charge Conference - Anchorage Korean UMC
27: Charge Conference - First UMC Fairbanks
28: Charge Conference - Palmer UM Fellowship
30: Charge Conference - First UMC Anchorage/First Samoan UMC of Anchorage
New Office Hours
Office Hours
The Conference Office has new hours!
 
Monday - Thursday: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Friday: 9:00 am - 11:30 am 
happy_birthday_candles.jpg
Upcoming
Clergy Birthdays
 
October 18 -
Dan Wilcox

November 1 -
Phil Campbell

November 6 -
Fa'atafa Fulumua

November 8 -
Jason Cornish

November 17 -
Jean Bruscia



Conference Office
907-333-5050

Superintendent Carlo
907-854-8340
Submissions - If you have an article or event that you would like to share with the rest of the conference, submit it to the conference office by Monday evening for consideration.
AUMC Logo Mission Statement:
The mission of the United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.  Held and supported by the transforming relationship with God through Christ, we of the Alaska United Methodist Conference seek to be a community that creates a home for all peoples, finds our hope through grace and journeys together into God's preferred future.
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