Volunteers/Co-Sponsors needed for Longest Hug Relay

On Thursday, August 8 at 6pm, Asbury First is hosting a world record attempt for the longest hug relay. Everyone gets in one long line and a hug is passed from one person to the next all the way down the line (so each participant hugs two people: the person in front of them and the person behind them). Given all of the division in the world right now, we thought this might be a fun way to bring people together-one hug at a time.

 

While Asbury First is planning to host this event, we would love for this to be a co-sponsored community event. Co-sponsoring does not cost anything. We would put your group's name/logo on our sponsors page, your name in our press releases, and ask that you help us recruit members of your community for the event. We will need 1300 people to set the record!

 

Here's the preliminary schedule for the evening:

6:00 - Parking, Registration, Arrival (food trucks and such will be present)

6:30 - Taking our place

6:45 - Relay Start

7:45 - Anticipated Relay End

 

If you are interested in being a co-sponsor with us, please send an email to  [email protected]or visit our website:  www.Asburyfirst.org/hugrelayfor more information.

 

Thanks for your consideration-and even if you can't organize a group, we would still love to have you join us :)!

 

#rocthehug  

 

Thanks

Mike Mullin

Minister for Youth and Discipleship

Asbury First United Methodist Church

When Churches Neglect Payroll Taxes

Your Council on Finance and Administration (CF&A) want to share the following information with you:

An article written by Bobby Ross, Jr., in the Church Law and Tax Report, titled "When Churches Neglect Payroll Taxes," stated that "failure to file payroll taxes on time is a fairly common issue" in churches. 

Some churches prioritize their electric bill over the IRS; others assume that because churches are tax-exempt that they don't have to worry about anything from the IRS. 

The article even cited an example of one church that had to dissolve and sell its property in order to pay the taxes due to the IRS.

Click here to read the entire article

2020 Clergy Compensation Materials

This is another reason for churches to provide the District office with an accurate Local Church- UNYAC Leadership Interface Form.

Please let the District Office know if you have had a chance in 

SPRC chair within the past year, so that we can update the conference database.

Bishop's Retreat

The 2019 Bishop's Retreat is October 22-24, 2019 at the RIT Inn and Conference Center in Rochester NY.  The theme is "Biblical Risk Takers" and the keynote speaker is the Rev. Grace Imathiu.

On July 1, 2018, Bishop Sally Dyck appointed the Rev. Grace Imathiu as senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Evanston, Illinois. Rev. Grace Imathiu was appointed Senior Pastor of Community UMC in July 2012 after serving eight years as Lead Pastor in Brown Deer, Wisconsin and earlier as Senior Pastor at Green Bay UMC, a position which included season tickets to Packers games. Go Pack Go!  Rev. Imathiu has also served churches in Kenya as a church planter; a superintendent minister overseeing 68 rural churches in Nkubu; and an urban minister to an ecumenical congregation in Nairobi with strong outreach to the neighboring slums of Kawangware. Pastor Grace is intimately familiar with the Church in its many theological expressions and social locations.

Click here for more information about the retreat

Click here to register for the retreat

When you get a call from the District Office . . 

The phone at the District Office now goes through the Conference Office system. So, when DS Vonda or Betsy calls from the Genesee Valley district office, your caller ID will display 315-898-2000 (conference office main number). 

We will leave a message for you, 

but please call the "regular" 585-340-9525 back. 

(So you don't have to go through the switchboard in Liverpool.)