NEW! Thoughts from our District Superintendent:

just wondering…

some thought for the e-news while we are

still in Epiphany

Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world.” 

     Think hymn 188… Christ is the World’s Light

Jesus also said that we are the light of the world.

       Think…. This little light of mine…I’m gonna let it shine.

Imagine the candle that represents Christ as the light of the world.

Imagine our candles being lit from the light of Christ. 

What happens? Is the light of Christ diminished by our lights being lit?

The light of the Christ candle is not diminished by our candles being lit!

And… our lights look just like the light of the Christ candle! 

What happens when Jesus is the light of the world and we take our light from that light…is that there is more light in the world. Things become clearer, people become clearer…there is more clarity all around. There is a growth of understanding. It is easier to see the way forward. 

If the light of Jesus brings hope, joy, peace and love…then our lights should also. 

AND… imagine Christmas eve for a moment…we are probably singing Silent Night and passing the light of Christ around until the whole sanctuary is full of light.

What if we took our lights (Christ’s light) out into the world (which God made) … and what if we offered to light the candle (think life-light) of the people we meet out there? With all this light…there is a possibility that clarity, understanding, hope, joy, peace and love might be illuminated so that God’s kin-dom would shine forth. 

May it be so!

Blessings,

Ted Anderson

District Superintendent

SAVE THE DATE for Regional Meeting with Bishop Hector

Bishop Héctor Burgos, who prefers to be addressed as Bishop Héctor, is eager to meet laity and clergy throughout the Conference and has scheduled dates for regional meetings.

The meetings will be as follows

(please attend the meeting closest to you):

·        Feb. 9, 2023 – Lakes Region–Leroy UMC

·        Feb. 16, 2023 -Northeast Region–New Hartford

·        March 1, 2023 – Lakes Region–Auburn UMC

·        March 2, 2023 – Northeast Region–Plattsburgh UMC

·        March 15, 2023 – Southern Tier Region—Olean: Christ

·        March 16, 2023 – Southern Tier Region—Central Endicott

The clergy meetings will be from 1-3 p.m.

The laity meeting (and clergy unable to attend the earlier time)

will be from 7- 8:30 p.m.

NEW! All Annual Conference Newsletter

Mt. View District has again shared with us their

All Annual Conference Newsletter.

This is a great tool for all questions and information

concerning AC.

Please click here for the newsletter

NEW! UMCOR Cleaning Buckets for Buffalo

In the aftermath of the Christmas Blizzard, many have

asked “What else can we do?”.

Buy items from the Upper New York Mission Central Hub’s

“Cleaning Kit" Amazon Wishlist now through March 1st and have your items shipped to Harris Hill United Methodist Church, located

in the Buffalo area. 

Amazon Wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3U03Y63G93KQA?ref_=wl_share

Harris Hill United Methodist Church’s “Go! Ministry” was prepared to respond to their community's cleaning needs after the blizzard with UMCOR Cleaning Buckets. They graciously provided these buckets to their neighbors and helped many make sense of the mess that was in front of them. Let's help replenish their buckets!

If you are dropping off in person, please call Harris Hill UMC to schedule a drop off at (716) 632-4688

Buying from somewhere else?

Ship to: 8495 Main St, Williamsville, NY 14221

Certificates of Insurance for your Church

Please refer to the link below to obtain a certificate of insurance for your church - they are only good for one year.

Please refer any questions to Tracy Rickett at the

conference office 315-898-2017

CLICK HERE for the instructions

Scholarships Available for

United Methodist Students!

Applications are now open for scholarships from the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation. Every year, UMHEF awards $2+ million

to students planning to attend one of the 100+ UM-related colleges, universities, and seminaries across the country.

Don’t let finances get in the way of achieving your dreams of a

quality education! Apply by March 1 at https://umhef.org/apply. 



NEW! informed to transform

 (workshops confirmed as of today)

Just tuned for more details to come



Informed to Transform will occur on zoom during

the first 2 weeks of March!

Each evening, Tuesday – Thursday, there will be one or more workshops offered.

Please register (for FREE) so that a zoom invite

can be sent out. 

Born in Crisis, Shaped in Controversy  - United Methodist History with John Tyson

   Wednesday March 8  6:30-8pm

SPRC with Pastor Christine Mitchell and Carl Vullo

Thursday March 9    7:00-8:30pm

Interested in Ministry?  Why and How with Ann Kemper

       Tuesday March 14 7-8:30 pm

Church Finances with Susan Ranous 

       Wednesday March 15 7-8:30 pm

Intentional Discipleship  with Jennifer Green

and the Hilton UMC

       Thursday March 16 7-8:30 pm

Report your church statistics on ACStats

Annual Church Statistics (ACStats) is the one-stop location for United Methodist data that tracks membership, expenses, and income.

It's designed to help churches submit year-end statistics to the Upper New York (UNY) Conference digitally in a way that's cost-effective.

This user-friendly platform replaces Ezra as the method of

reporting your church statistics.

March 17, 2023, is the deadline to complete the 2022 statistical report for your church; however, you cannot enter any data to the 2022 statistics tables until Jan. 3, 2023.

In the meantime, you may familiarize yourselves with the new ACStats platform by reviewing the user's guide for local churches. Translated reports are available in Spanish and Korean. 

Click here to learn more.