Calling all Alaskan women.....young and experienced and all in between. Early registration for UMW Assembly ends November 30th.  We need 13 more people and we will reach our 30% increase goal. If you know of women who are interested in social justice invite them. If you know people who love great music, invite them. If you know people who want to change the world, invite them. If you know people who like to party and celebrate invite them. UMW is 150 years old! Invite your mom, your sister, your daughter or pastor.  All are welcome to attend Assembly.

 

Watch the assembly video 

 

If we reach our 30% goal before all the other conferences, members of our conference will get to meet Leymah Gbowee Nobel peace prize winner. This Assembly will be awesome. You will not want to miss it! It will be life impacting. Awesome music, drama troops sharing scripture, international choirs will rock the house. If you need CEU credits what a great way to earn them. 

 

Key note speakers

Michelle Alexander is author of the critically acclaimed "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," a stunning account of millions of African Americans imprisoned and then relegated to a permanent second-class citizenship and legally denied enfranchisements won in the Civil Rights Movement. A legal scholar and civil rights litigator, Ms. Alexander has taught at a number of universities.  Her background is vast and too much to list here.  If you would like, you can watch her speak here.

 

Leymah Gbowee received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her work in leading a women's peace movement that brought an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. Ms. Gbowee shared the prize with Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Yemen native Tawakkol Karman. Ms. Gbowee and President Sirleaf became the second and third African women to win the prize, preceded by the late Wangari Maathai of Kenya. Ms. Gbowee is the founder and president of Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa based in Liberia. Her foundation provides educational and leadership opportunities to girls, women and youth in West Africa.  See her speak here.

 

Visit the assembly website for further information and to register

 

Don't wait. 

 

Bonnie Miller is the person to contact about the Alaska block of hotel rooms. If you have any questions about assembly call me, Susan Williams, at 907-317-0406. 

 

I  hope to see you in Columbus!

God's Mechanics... the popular idea that somehow religion and science are at war, ignores the fact that an awful lot of scientists and engineers are also churchgoers. How do they do that? What does religion look like to someone immersed in technology? And what can their viewpoint tell the rest of us? 

 

The Cardinal Newman Chair at APU will host Br. Guy Consolmagno, S.J., Ph.D., the Director of the Vatican Observatory (Rome Italy and Tucson, AZ), for a free public lecture "God's Mechanics: The Spiritual Life of Techies" on Tuesday November 28, 2017 (7:00-8:30 p.m. at St. Patrick's Church on Muldoon Road). Consider taking advantage of this unique opportunity.

 

United Methodist churches will host a come-and-go event in each city at a location bustling with holiday foot traffic. The festivities include free hot cocoa, a chance to join in a community service project, such as donating coats or canned goods, and an invitation to join local congregations for Christmas services and events. You can even share prayer requests or engage in a conversation about the true meaning of Christmas.

 

"This tour is a unique way for the church to reach out to people who are experiencing loneliness or who want to give back to the community at this significant time of year," said Dan Krause, chief executive of the denomination's communication agency. United Methodist Communications is coordinating the month-long expedition in partnership with local churches. "We want to invite everyone to visit a United Methodist church and join with others to continue to explore the true meaning of Christmas." 

 

A survey conducted by Pew Research Center in 2013 indicated that the activities that people least liked at Christmas time are the commercialism/materialism, money/expense, and shopping/crowds. What they most look forward to is spending time with family and friends (69%) and religious reflection/church (11%).

 

Throughout December, The United Methodist Church will utilize television and digital advertising to explore the true meaning of Christmas as part of a national advertising campaign, "Their words. Our beliefs," which features children discussing faith. The holiday messages ask, "Children know the true meaning of Christmas. What if we all did?"

Follow the tour online at UnwrapChristmas.org.

 

United Methodist congregations will host hot cocoa fellowship events in many cities across the U.S. where the tour truck is not able to visit. These mini-events will extend a warm holiday invitation to connect with a local community of faith.