E-News from the Valley! March 21, 2017
Click here to go to the Genesee Valley District website.
PRAYERS & CONCERNS


Please pray for the following churches this coming week:  
Dalton UMC, Dansville UMC, Eagle Harbor UMC, East Bloomfield UMC, East Rochester UMC, Elba UMC, Elmgrove UMC
CALENDAR EVENTS


March 31 - April 2  
UpWord Youth Gathering

April 18 - Prayer & Witness Gathering
Groveland Federated - 7-9pm

May 16 - GVD Clergy Gathering - "Grace"
Elmgrove UMC - 1-3pm

May 17 - Prayer & Witness Gathering
Canadice UMC - 7-9pm

June 1-3  
Annual Conference
NEW! Hilton UMC has Banners to give away
Hilton UMC has some lovely banners that have outlived their usefulness in our worship setting.  However, we feel like someone else might like them.  We have changed to using blue instead of purple for Advent.  There is an entire set of purple candles and titles for the candles (Love, Hope, Joy, Peace) available. There are also some other handmade banners for various seasons. We also have two banners with all the Natural Church Development Quality Characteristics; if anyone happens to be using Natural Church Development in their congregation.
 
 Please contact [email protected] if interested.  
NEW! Greetings friends and colleagues
 
Hi, all -
 
Due to  unanticipated circumstances, the breakfast with Rabbi Peter Stein has been changed to Wednesday, April 5, 2017, 8:00 am at the Jewish Community Center, (JCC), located at  1200 Edgewood Ave, Rochester, NY 14618.
 
Please remove the March 29th date from your calendar. 
 
As I mentioned in my previous invitation, it is important to join in solidarity  with our Jewish sisters and brothers in the midst of growing anti-semitism and recent bomb threats at the JCC. Rabbi Stein is a leader in the greater Rochester Jewish community and a personal friend. If you haven't met him, you will be delighted by his spirit and passion. 
 
The JCC has lite breakfast items for sale. RSVP's to me would be helpful so the JCC chef can welcome us. 
 
Please extend this invitation to your friends and colleagues, with my thanks.
 
I hope you can join Peter and I.
 
Blessings,
The Rev. Todd R. Goddard
[email protected]
585.703.9235 (cell)
315.524.2982 (home)
315.684.9036 (cottage)
NEW! SAVE THE DATE:  25th Annual Palestinian Dinner
 Plymouth Congregational Church
Thursday, June 1 serving begins at conclusion of the afternoon session

Authentic Palestinian food
Brief program centering on the plight of Palestinian children 
Reservations: Linda Bergh (315) 492-8507, 116 Edna Rd., Syracuse, NY  13205, or Karen Peterson, (607) 739-3141, 116 Greenridge Dr., Horseheads, NY  14845. 

Checks for $20.00 made out to "UNY Conference", with Palestinian Dinner" on the memo line/ an additional amount may be designated for the Gary Bergh Scholarship Fund, which enables young adults/ adults to travel to Palestine/ Israel to learn first-hand about peace and justice issues there.  
UpWord!17 CCYM Spring Event Registration Opens

March 31-April 2 - Liverpool Holiday Inn
6:30 PM on Friday through Noon on Sunday
Best CCYM event of the year
Registration $60/pp
Rooms $115/night (max. 5 persons per room)
Registration Deadline:  Monday, March 27.
Click here to Register:

March is the second annual UMM Conference wide fund raiser: Shoes for Service

Update: Needed Church Champions for Veterans to be the church point of contact for the Shoes for Service fund raiser.
 Funds from this project will go to support the Veterans Outreach 
Center of Rochester.
 I encourage you to check this non-profit organization on the WEB. Currently eight churches in the district are helping.  This project is sponsored by the United Methodist Men but anyone can help.
 In His Service
 George Sanford
330 413 5021

***************

This year it is to support veterans throughout the conference. One of the Veterans Support Organisations is the Rochester Veterans Outreach Center. We are asking Churches to collect shoes of all sorts to be sold to a fund raising  organization that uses the shoes to support missions to 25 countries.

Serviceable shoes will be reused for missions and the others go to recycling. Last year over $7,500 was raised by just 200 churches in the conference collecting shoes. 

Our goal is to involve men and churches of the Genesee Valley District to be involved in the Shoes for Service March Collection. 

Click here for a flyer for your church
Click here for instructions for your church
Genesee Valley District
of the Upper New York Conference 
of the United Methodist Church 

Pat VanVleck, District Co-Lay Leader
Betsy O'Flynn, Adminstrative Assistant
Rev. Vonda Fossitt, District Superintendent

1100 South Goodman St., Rochester, NY 14620
(585) 340-9525  * [email protected]