Since you have not had a District Newsletter since April 1st this one will be long!
If you have any News of your church please send that to me to list in our weekly newsletters. I would like to acknowledge: Bible Studies, Safe Sanctuary (refreshers or courses), Fundraisers (BBQ, Rummage sales, Bazaars), Missions, Outreaches, what your groups are doing (UWF, UMM, and Youth), any new members, baptisms, confirmations, trips and so forth.
Let's fill up our calendar and show just how amazing Finger Lakes is!
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UNY Communications Team wins two UMAC first-place awards |
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The United Methodist Association of Communicators (UMAC) held its annual award ceremony virtually on March 31, 2022.
The Upper New York (UNY) Conference Communications Team won two first-place awards, both related to the Advocate.
One first-place award was for special publications in the Annual Conference/Local Church Division; the Celebrating Who We Are (2021: Issue 1) issue of the UNY Advocate won this award.
The UNY Advocate also won the first-place award in the category of Electronic Publications in the Annual Conference/Local Church Division. The Celebrating Who We Are (2021: Issue 1) and the Dismantling Racism (2020: Issue 4) issues of the Advocate were featured in the entry.
Additionally, the Rev. Dr. Maidstone Mulenga was awarded Communicator of the Year. Maidstone is currently the Director of Communications for the Council of Bishops. As an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church, he served as pastor in several churches in the former Western New York Conference from 2000-2010. He served as Director of Communications for the UNY Conference from 2010-2012.
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Bishop Webb Announcements |
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Upper New York Area Resident Bishop Mark J. Webb and the Upper New York Conference announce two appointments. View the full list of changes here.
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Upper New York Area Resident Bishop Mark J. Webb and the Upper New York Conference announce two appointments. View the full list of changes here.
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Laity Gatherings with Bishop Webb
Next month, Upper New York Area Resident Bishop, Mark J. Webb, will be hosting regional gatherings with laity for a time of worship, conversation, and celebration of mission and ministry. This will be a time to converse about the current realities within the UMC and the opportunities found in our call to live out the mission of Jesus Christ for today and into the future.
The following are the dates and times for the gatherings with Bishop Webb:
June 12, 2022 @ 3:00 p.m. 4:30 p.m.at LeRoy UMC
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Lament for Ukraine
“Like stampeding buffaloes, tanks roll in a path of destruction; roads are paved with destroyed vehicles and ruin. Bombs fly like diving birds of prey, destroying homes; rubble is strewn across the city. Striking like lightning, drones shoot missiles into communities; children cry out in fright as their homes are destroyed – who shall comfort them? Streams of refugees flee on broken roads; where are the hungry to find food, or the sick to find care?”
This is just a small caption of an eloquent lament written by Melanie Simmons, pastor at Georgetown UMC and South Otselic UMC.
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Trauma evident in Ukrainian refugees
Many Methodist women and men in various countries prove to be wide-hearted and helpful. However, the longer people in Ukraine have to live with the war, the more psychological support will be required. Click here to read a summary of the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe’s efforts to support Ukrainian refugees.
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Focus on our Children & Youth |
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Winston’s experience at Endwell UMC
Winston is an eighth-grader at Endwell UMC who has recently gone through the confirmation process. He describes some of the experiences he has learned through Endwell’s Children’s Church and his confirmation mentor, Dave Alexander.
In the next couple of weeks, local churches will receive the next issue of the Advocate, which is filled with inspiring stories about churches who are reaching out to youth like Winston through unique ministries.
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Focusing on our children and youth
The most recent issue of the Advocate focuses on children and youth throughout the Upper New York Conference. In his introduction to this issue of the Advocate, Upper New York Area Resident Bishop, Mark J. Webb, encourages church leaders, grandparents, and parents to seek new ways to minister to children and youth.
Click here to read Bishop Webb’s inspiring letter.
Click here to read or download this issue of the Advocate.
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News Links From the Conference |
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If you want to keep in the know of what is happening in the Upper New York Conference and the United Methodist Church please consider these links.
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Lakewood UMC
Since the dedication ceremony in October 2018, the Lord's Pantry outdoor Blessing Box at Lakewood UMC has been assisting the community by providing food and other necessities.
It is available 24/7 to any person or family that may need food or hygiene items. It is sustained by donations from the congregation. Alongside the Blessing Box is a clothesline, which provides various sizes of seasonal clothing. Lakewood UMC believes this scripture describes perfectly describes the mission of their blessing box ministry: And he answered them, "He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise." Luke 3:11 RSV
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Skaneateles UMC
On Saturday March 26, Skaneateles UMC raised funds for Ukrainians by selling authentic Ukrainian meals to their community. This was made possible by a Ukrainian friend teaching pastor Justin Hood and members of his congregation how to cook chicken kiev, vegetarian cabbage rolls, pierogies, and raspberry filed cottage cheese doughnuts.
Many members of the congregation were involved in this effort as well as local restaurants who lent the church their kitchens and equipment.
The church sold 425 meals and raised $8,000 to bring food, medicine, and shelter to Ukrainians still facing hardship in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
Click here to read more about this unique and inspiring ministry.
Is your church also raising funds for Ukraine? We’d love to hear about it. Send your story to news@unyumc.org.
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Esperance-Sloansville UMC |
IIn the season of Lent, the Esperance-Sloansville United Methodist Church fulfilled their outreach ministry to the local community through Easter food baskets. Each Sunday in Lent, they had one or two food items that their food pantry team assigned, and congregants brought the food items when they came to church.
The church also had a lot of donations from local fresh markets, farms, and even other local churches and individuals who purchased fresh fruits, veggies, and eggs.
Pastor Jongdeok Park said, “As a result, it was amazing to see that not only canned foods, but also, we could provide fresh food items to those in need for their Easter dinner through abundant supports and donations. This year, we had 11 families in need, yet we were able to provide 16 food baskets to them (as some of them had a large number of members in family).”
On Saturday April 16 for packing and handing over the Easter food baskets, local Girl Scout troop members came and helped them out with blessing words, "Happy Easter."
Pastor Jongdeok Park said, “Through the Eater Food Basket ministry in 2022, we saw God who provided abundantly and exceedingly what we needed for our neighbors as well as God who is faithful to care for those in need through our church and its ministry. “
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Brag about your church’s mission and outreach ministries
Where does your church shine when it comes to mission and outreach? How is your local community benefitting from your outreach ministries? We want to know.
Please feel free to email pictures and an article to the Finger Lakes District AA to have your story placed in the District Newsletter.
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Nominations for 2022 Denman recipients being accepted through July 1, 2022 |
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The Denman award honors United Methodists in each Conference whose exceptional evangelism brings people into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. Each year, Annual Conferences join the Foundation for Evangelism in recognizing one youth, one clergy member, and one lay person in each Conference.
The 2021 recipients in the Upper New York Conference were Pastor Della Ludwig (clergy) and Pastor Sean Chanthasone (clergy). The 2020 recipients were Nolan Carner (youth), Rick Fisher, Jr. (laity), and Pastor Jose Rodriguez (clergy).
The deadline for submitting your 2022 nominations to the Conference has been extended to July 15, 2022.
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At this stage of the pandemic, the impact of COVID across the Conference varies by county. To determine how your church can continue to keep participants safe, please consult the CDC website for recommendations.
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New York State required sexual harassment annual training prevention reminder |
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New York State Law requires that employers who have at least one or more employees must conduct sexual harassment prevention training for all employees on a yearly basis. The timing of when to hold the yearly training is up to the employer as long as it is completed annually. A notice of the employer’s sexual harassment policy must be provided to all employees during this time and the employer should maintain records of the training for audit purposes.
Safe Sanctuaries training does not exempt churches from the New York State sexual harassment prevention training requirements.
Click here to learn more about what’s required in the training, how to create a sexual harassment policy if you haven’t already, and free training opportunities offered by New York City that satisfy the state’s requirements.
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Bishop Yeakel’s memorial service to be held May 20 |
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Bishop Joseph Yeakel died on July 4, 2021, at the age of 93. He served as Resident Bishop of the New York West Area, which at the time included three Conferences (Western New York Conference, Northern New York Conference, and Central New York Conference) from 1972-1984 and is fondly remembered.
His fall 2021 Memorial Service was postponed due to the concern of COVID-19 at the time. The Memorial Service has been rescheduled for Friday May 20, 2022, at 3 p.m. at University United Methodist Church, 324 University Ave., Syracuse, NY, 13210.
A number of rooms are being held at the Collegian Hotel (formerly the Genesee Grande), which is directly across the street from the church.
Questions can be directed to Upper New York Conference Episcopal Office Manager, Mary Bradley, at bishopsoffice@unyumc.org or 315-898-2020.
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Pastoral Wellness Initiative |
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UNY Pastoral Wellness initiative launches
Over the past year, the Upper New York (UNY) Conference has formed a Wellness Team, comprised of Conference leaders and wellness experts. The Wellness Team was derived from conversations among the UNY Conference Leadership Team and the UNY Operational Team and formed to gain a deeper understanding of the stresses those in pastoral leadership are facing, and to form some holistic solutions.
The Wellness Team is now working on collecting data specific to the UNY Conference.
They recently sent a survey to UNY church leaders to determine such factors as
- What spiritual practices do they engage in regularly?
- What would help them in their spiritual growth?
- What helps them to take a Sabbath?
In addition to the Wellness Team issuing a survey, in the coming months, the UNY Cabinet and Wellness Team will partner with the UNY Communications Team to publish stories of how pastors are successfully supporting their personal wellbeing. Resources will also be shared on ways in which church leaders can replenish their souls.
Click here to learn more about the UNY Pastoral Wellness initiative.
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Pastors facing stress and burnout
The life of a pastor is stressful under any circumstances, but the past few years have brought unprecedented challenges. Across the United States, a pandemic that emptied churches, hurricanes and tornadoes, denominational uncertainty, and racial issues have all made a mark.
Click here to read more about how stress is impacting Methodist pastors across the country.
Acknowledging the stress that is affecting pastors, the Upper New York Conference has created a wellness initiative to learn more about UNY pastors’ spiritual needs and to create resources to help them prioritize self-care. Continue following all UNY Conference news platforms for information about this initiative that will be released in the coming weeks.
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Are you a part of an accountability group? |
The Upper New York Conference vitality focus for the month of May is “accountability groups.”
Accountability groups stem from what John Wesley called class meetings. Class meetings consisted of up to 12 women and men that met weekly as a “gracious accountability” group. Their focus was to individually answer the question: “How is it with your soul this week?”
Those in Wesley’s class meetings did not study a book. They may have sung a song, read a Bible verse, and had prayer. But their main purpose was not Bible study, but a review of the state of their souls. It resulted in a wildly successful movement to revitalize the Church of England and start the Methodist movement in North America.
Are you a part of an accountability group in your church or District? What does it look like? We’d love to know.
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Who helps your pastor prioritize wellness? |
Pastors have a lot of responsibilities that go far beyond preparing for worship. They are on call to congregants who need support; they perform weddings and funerals; they have meetings throughout the week with different ministry teams at their church.
The COVID-19 pandemic placed more demands on these pastors—for many, they had to recreate the way they did worship to digital platforms.
We want to know how congregants are helping their pastors renew and replenish their souls and we’d like to share these stories with the entire Upper New York Conference.
By sharing these stories, our hope is that others throughout the Conference will be inspired to help their pastors prioritize wellness during these difficult times.
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Upper New York Annual Conference
postponed due to COVID-19 concerns
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The Sessions Committee of the Upper New York Conference gathered by Zoom on the morning of Thursday, April 21 to discuss growing concerns about the uptick in COVID-19 cases in Upstate New York and throughout the United States.
Members of the Committee shared both their own perspectives and what they have been hearing from others regarding the comfort level of gathering more than a thousand United Methodist from across Upper New York at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena. In the end, while there was a great sense of loss about not being able to gather in-person for the third year in a row, the Committee overwhelmingly agreed that the top priority had to be the health and safety of the individuals that would be asked to attend. The decision was made to institute a backup plan that has been in place since the Committee started planning for an in-person Annual Conference gathering.
Annual Conference will be postponed to Oct. 6-8, and it will be a virtual gathering. The plan is to use the same technology that was used at the 2021 virtual Annual Conference gathering, which was relatively well received.
Postponing Annual Conference creates a new set of logistical concerns to address and the decisions about those concerns will be shared once they are made. In the meantime, anyone who has already registered for the planned in-person Annual Conference gathering will receive full refunds. The processing of refunds will start immediately but could take a couple of weeks to complete. If you made a hotel reservation, you should contact the hotel directly to cancel.
“We know that there will be many different reactions to the news of Annual Conference being postponed and moved to a virtual event,” said the Rev. Joellyn Tuttle, Chair of the Sessions Committee. “Many will be disappointed; many will be relieved; and many more will be some combination of the two. Ultimately, this decision puts the health of the members of the Annual Conference first and that felt right to the Committee. Our first desire was to do no harm, and we are confident that we can pull together an excellent virtual event in October.”
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Trip to the Holy Land 2023 |
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The clergy team of Syracuse United Methodist Ministries (Revs. Andy Anderson, B.J. Norrix, Jee Hae Song, and Alicia Wood) invite you to join them on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Feb. 14 – Feb. 24, 2023.
You will explore, learn, and fellowship as you visit Caesarea, the Sea of Galilee, Cana, Nazareth, Samaria, Jacob's Well, the Dead Sea, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and much more. The cost of the trip starts at $3,448, leaving from JFK, New York. There is also an option to extend your trip through Jordan for an additional cost.
You are encouraged to register immediately with only $100. Register by May 14 ($100 off), June 14 ($75 off), July 14 ($50 off), August 14 ($25 off). Brochures with more details and registration forms are available. Please contact:
Jee Hae: jeehaesong611@gmail.com, 404-825-8025 (cell), for a brochure, online registration link, if you have any questions, or need more information.
There will also be an informational session on May 3 at Erwin First United Methodist Church that you can attend in-person or via Zoom.
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Tending the Soul Training
Tending the Soul, a training program in Missional Spiritual Direction and Congregational Formation, will be starting a new cohort in November 2022. The program is designed for lay and clergy. Perhaps more than any other time in our recent past, the ability to listen deeply for God, to remain centered and non-anxious, and to hold sacred space for others is an essential tool in ministry (both within your local congregation and the greater community).
Click here for more information and a brochure with all details on the program and how to apply.
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UNY Camp and Retreat Ministries to receive $118,000
in grant money
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The Upper New York (UNY) Camp & Retreat Ministry (CRM) sites will be receiving a total of $118,000 in grant money to impact sustainability for each site and foundation board development. An anonymous foundation initially offered $1,000,000 to UM Camp & Retreat Ministry sites across the United States through a Ministry Impact Grant application process. Members responded enthusiastically submitting requests totaling $4,000,000. Inspired by the wonderful requests, the granting foundation was able to offer $2,500,000, with approval for 62.5% of the grant applications.
Click here to learn how each of the UNY Camp & Retreat Centers will be using this grant money to help UNY CRM continue moving forward in its efforts to be sustainable.
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Dear Local Pastors
Please register for ALPS-MTH "fully online summer courses" by May 30.The website is www.alpsumc.org (click on the Schedule 2022 tab at the top of the web page and scroll down for the list of SUMMER 2022 courses) Click on the registration tab at the top of the page to register. This is a great time to finish one or two more courses --fully online.
Email a copy of your registration form to Pam and mail your registration check NOW -- so Pam can quickly add you to the summer course list .--while your registration form is processed through the Conference Office. Thank you.
SUMMER 2022 COURSES - FULLY ONLINE
June 17-18 and July 8-9, 2022
COS 122 (formerly 112) Theology I Rev. Dr. Phil Jamieson
COS 124 Transformative Leadership (do not take 124 if you took COS 113) Rev. Dr. Robert Brown
July 15-16 and August 5-6, 2022
COS 221 (formerly 211) Bible II: Torah & Israel’s History Rev. Dr. Russ Sisson
July 29-30 and August 12-13, 2022
COS 223 (formerly 413) Worship and Sacraments Rev. Dr. Ken Ramsey
COS 422 (formerly 412) Theological Heritage IV: Wesleyan Movement Rev. Dr. Jason Vickers
UPDATE ON FALL 2022 COURSES:
In late June, ALPS-MTH will email you additional information about FALL 2022 Hybrid courses, options on course locations, and other format information. Please check your email regularly in June (and your spam folder). Based on GBHEM policy - All Extension and Regional Schools must return to a Hybrid --one weekend residential and one weekend zoom class session format for all courses that begin after August 31.
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Go ahead and register now for the ALPS-MTH fall 2022 courses that you want and need to take. We will work on the location arrangements with you in late June and July. If you are located at a great distance from the scheduled course location and cannot make it to the location for the one weekend, contact Barbara bnye34@gmail.com Since you will only attend a course in residence one weekend, the location may not be a problem for you. Students will make their own hotel and meal and snack arrangements for all courses.
If there is a renewed Covid surge nationally or in states or locales in the fall or a local campus/course location issues a local health advisory, the course format could change OR the GBHEM policy requiring hybrid courses with a residential weekend could change. We cannot predict the fall conditions now.
The best thing to do is register for the fall courses NOW--so that we have your course registration with your home address, email, and cell phone information-- so we can make the best course plans possible at this time.
This is a time of transition. Please be flexible. We will get through this transition. Local pastors have done an amazing job working throughout the pandemic with their churches while attending COS Courses. The ALPS-MTH faculty and staff have done an amazing job converting courses to online and now will transition to Hybrid courses. Then, they may have to make last minute changes in format again-- if local health conditions change again. The fall may be challenging for all of us in some ways, but we will get through it. Thank you for your continuing support.
I hope that your ministry is going well. We continue to pray for those who have experienced loss and grief during the pandemic from Covid-19 and from other health/mental health concerns and family crises. We pray for the Church as God continues his work and allows our participation, and we pray for the world so in need of God's love, healing, and reconciliation.
In Christ,
Barbara and Pam,
Dr. Barbara Nye, Director
Ms. Pam Whitmore, Registrar
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Finger Lakes District Office Hours: |
Monday - Working from home 8 AM - 5:30 PM
Tuesday - Thursday - 1:30 PM - 7 PM
Friday - Working from home 12:30 PM - 4 PM
Appointment only for in person visits to the office. Please email to schedule an appointment.
Mask are required in the office.
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Finger Lakes District Superintendent
Rev. Nola Anderson
NolaAnderson@unyumc.org
District Associates
Joellyn Tuttle - JoellynTuttle@unyumc.org
District Lay Leader
Shafeegh Habeeb - HABEEB26332@roadrunner.com
District Administrative Assistant
Charlie Ann Camp - FingerLakesDistrict@unyumc.org
(315) 781-0188
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