MOUNTAIN VIEW DISTRICT NEWS

The Mountain ViewDistrict Office Will Continue to Work Remotely Through Labor Day The office building is temporarily closed. Please connect with us through email and telephone. The Mountain View District Office Administrative Assistant is available via phone and email. 7 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., Monday-Thursdays generally. Call the District 607-962-8047, or send email to: mountainviewdistrict@unyumc.org. In-person assistance may be available by appointment.

Mountain View District AA will be on Vacation July 3-13 Patti will be on vacation July 3-13th. If you have an emergency please call the office phone at 607-962-8047 and leave a message. The Binghamton District DS, Nancy Adams is covering for our DS, Jeff McDowell. You could also email Nancy at nancyadams@unyumc.org

Please consider subscribing to the following links. These will keep you updated on all the news coming from the conference office during this time. It will help keep repeated emails from being received.

UNY Notes Weekly Digest The Bridge The Advocate GCFA Collaborator

Bishop Webb Announces Clergy Appointments Upper New York Area Resident Bishop Mark J. Webb and the Upper New York Conference announce appointments and retirements pending approval of clergy session. View the full list of changes here .

DS changes effective July 1 as UNY begins its Regional Superintendency Plan July 1 marks the beginning of Upper New York’s (UNY) new Regional Superintendency Plan. While UNY Conference will maintain the current 12 Districts, every District will be a part of one of three Regions. This will allow leadership and collaboration opportunities between Districts within each Region. As a reminder, here are the three Regions:   Region 1 consists of the Albany, Adirondack, Northern Flow, and Mohawk Districts. Region 2 consists of the Crossroads, Finger Lakes, Genesee Valley, and Niagara Frontier Districts. Region 3 consists of the Oneonta, Binghamton, Mountainview, and Cornerstone Districts.   With the new Regions, there will be some changes with District Superintendents (DSes). Every District will have a primary DS appointed to it with a team of three DSes working together in each Region.   Click here to learn about these changes.  6/25/2020

PLEASE Do This IF You Haven't Yet

Upper New York Requires Affirmation The Upper New York Conference is also requiring that churches affirm their compliance with safety requirements by submitting this form . Every church in the Conference whether you reopen or you choose to continue to meet remotely must submit this form. Deadline for submission has passed but............................. Please Submit As Soon As Possible. 7/2/2020

Re-opening Your Church Information

PPP is STILL Available Good news!!!!! We are being told that there is still a billion dollars (and yes that is B for billion) available as of a week ago today to apply for. The timeline is now 24 weeks. I am not sure if that means for new applicants or if for those of you that applied in the beginning. You may want to check this out to see where things are now. Click here for more information. 6/11/2020

UNY Conference Reopening Taskforce On June 2nd, the UNY Reopening Taskforce hosted a webinar on reopening your church. Click here  to watch that webinar.  Click here  to see the PowerPoint that accompanied the webinar. 6/18/2020

New York State Opening Guidelines As you know New York State has recently authorized the resumption of limited in-person gatherings in church buildings across the state, provided certain mandatory minimum safety requirements are met. These are the links that pertain to churches from the NYS website.  New York State Guidelines Religious/Funeral Services Upper New York Conference Guidelines, June 9 update NYS County Health Department links Churches are required to have developed a Safety Plan   and have it available/on file at the church and to submit a form that affirms that guidelines are being followed prior to reopening.   Every local church deciding to open its facilities for in-person activities (worship, funerals, weddings, meetings, education) must comply with these mandatory minimum safety requirements. The Bishop and Cabinet of the Upper New York Conference also fully support any church choosing to only meet remotely at this time. 6/18/2020

Upper New York ALSO Requires Affirmation The Upper New York Conference is also requiring that churches affirm their compliance with safety requirements by submitting this form . Every church in the Conference whether you reopen or you choose to continue to meet remotely must submit this form. Deadline for submission is Friday, June 26 , 2020.  6/18/2020

FAQs about churches reopening Last week, the UNY Conference published a news item overviewing reopening guideline with a link to view an up-to-date comprehensive guide to help local churches understand when they can open and resume services. Since then, we have been getting some questions. Click here for a compilation of the Frequently-Asked-Questions with answers. If you have a question related to reopening, feel free to contact our COVID-19 hotline at (315) 898-2012 or  COVID-19response@unyumc.org  and someone will contact you and add the question and answer to our compilation. 5/28/2020

Tune in to Webinars  The Conference website has webinars to assist you with the following: • How to Facebook Live • Using ZOOM to keep church connection • Online Giving • Streaming worship online Click here 6/11/20

PREVIOUSLY RUN NEWS ITEMS

Helping to combat loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic While a virus may limit where you can go and what you can do, it cannot limit your affection for others or their affections for you. Social distancing may physically isolate people, but technology and creativity can bridge the gap. The best cure for loneliness is genuine companionship. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, most churches have been actively engaged with their congregants either through internet-based platforms or through phone calls, mailings, etc. Are you looking for more safe and creative ways to help your congregants feel loved during this difficult time?  Resource UMC has provided dozens of creative ways you can help your congregants combat loneliness. Click here to read this resourceful compilation of ideas.  6/25/2020

COS input Requested To all those that are part of the Course of Study program. We will be having a meeting to discuss the COS satellite program and was looking for any input that the local pastors have concerning their experience with the past sessions. What did you like and what do you think we can improve on? I understand that the last session had to move to online – how did that work? Would you like to see more online options? This was our first year with the Satellite school located at the conference office location. Any constructive feedback is welcome and I will bring it up at our meeting in July. Please reply to candidacy@unyumc.org by July 8, 2020 with your comments. Thanks in advance for your help Betsy O’Flynn COS Registrar

UNY Conference Commission on Religion and Race Statement on recent racial violence and subsequent demonstrations The UNY Conference Commission on Religion and Race (CCORR) has released a statement about the recent acts of racial violence and the subsequent demonstrations. CCORR explains that these recent killings represent more than a few bad apples among us—they are the result of a white supremacist system that dehumanizes people of color.   Click here to read the full statement, which includes suggestions on deliberate steps to take to help address the challenges before us 6/25/2020

UNY clergy are eligible for 1 CEU from BOM The Upper New York Board of Ordained Ministry (BOM) has approved the following motion: It is moved that all clergy, including local pastors, and all Certified Lay Ministers serving as leaders of congregations, shall be eligible to receive one (1) CEU from the Board of Ordained Ministry, for leading congregations through the COVID-19 pandemic in the Upper New York Conference. Eligible clergy would apply for the certification by Dec. 1, 2020 and would need to briefly share in a paragraph for two, the nature of the work during the New York State PAUSE , how it worked, and what the response was. Eligible Clergy and CLMs would then receive a CEU certificate. BOM’s policy on this would be as follows: Pastors would apply for the CEU by filling out a short form, with a paragraph, describing what they did to keep churches connected and how it worked. Certificates would then be issued by BOM.  Click here to fill out the form. The deadline to submit the form to BOM is Dec. 1, 2020. The form should be emailed to Pastor Bob Kolvik-Campbell at pastorbob@hotmail.com or sent by regular mail to Bob Kolvik-Campbell, Christ Church UMC, 417 Park Street, Sherrill, NY 13461.

Dismantling racism resource The UMC will lead a sustained and coordinated effort beginning now and continuing through General Conference, August 29 to September 7, 2021, to actively engage in the ministry of dismantling racism and promoting racial justice. The UNY Conference Communications team will regularly share worship, advocacy, and educational resources to help with this important campaign. This week, we recommend graphics you can use on social media to promote the need to end racism. Use the hashtag #EndRacism and click here to access graphics you can use. 6/18/2020

Deadlines for Annual Reports is July 15th Deadline for the following Reports: Report of Trustees Report of the Finance Committee 2019 Local Church Financial Audit these reports due date have been extended until July 15, 2020.

Local Church Historian School The General Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church will be offering a Local Church Historian School in 2020 for church historians---or anyone interested in the story of their church. The curriculum will cover a wide range of skills necessary to become a "complete" church historian. The school will begin on September, 14, 2020. Plan now to use this opportunity to ensure that the heritage of each of our churches will be celebrated and that each church can receive the full benefit of its own amazing story. The school is free to attend. Click here to register. 6/11/2020

Is God Calling Your Congregation To Serve College Students? We are excited to offer a new lay servant course focused on empowering local congregation to grow in understanding and service to students in your local contexts! This course is open to both clergy and laity, taught by Rev. Colleen Hallagan Preuninger, Associate Minister for Memorial Church and Director of Student Engagement, Office for Religious Life, Stanford University. Dates:  7/5, 7/12, 7/19, 7/26, 8/2 Time: 3:00-5:00 pm EDT Location: Zoom Cost: Free! Materials Needed: Campus Ministry: Empowering Congregations to Support Students at Colleges and Universities by Colleen Hallagan Preuninger For more information on this course click here RSVP by July 1 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdeC-W37JSq__NnZEYurfSUQgC3m1g8kgGKeRQEbvX3Ym3xUw/viewform Rev. Colleen Hallagan Preuninger e-mail: colleenpreuninger@gmail.com   cell: 315-527-7383 6/25/2020

General Conference 2021 dates announced and will explore use of technology The quadrennial legislative event will take place on Aug. 29 - Sept. 7, 2021 , at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis, Minn.   Click here for more information ******************************************* UMC Bishops announce dates for postponed 2020 Jurisdictional Conferences The Jurisdictional Conferences in the United States will be held Nov. 10-12, 2021. Click here for more information 5/28/2020

COS Satellite School Registration for 2020-2021 Sessions All of us at Wesley and the UNY conference pray that you are well and your congregations are healthy. We are hoping to hold courses in person in the fall, but those decisions have not yet been made. Everyone, faculty and students, should be prepared to hold courses on-line should the stay at home orders and social distancing requirements remain in effect.     If you have any questions about this, please contact Sara Sheppard at ssheppard@wesleyseminary.edu   Please check Blackboard close to the start of your class for instruction information.     Thank you!   Sara ******************************************* Click here for the registration form Please remember your DS needs to sign; then the UNY COS registrar ( candidacy@unyumc.org) needs to sign BEFORE it gets forwarded on to the school. The registration form can also be found on the conference website - under Ministries in the toolbar - under Board of Ordained Ministry - right hand side of screen - COS satellite school

UNY Conference Center remaining closed to the public Please note that the Upper New York Conference Center in Liverpool, including the Episcopal office and Crossroads District office will remain closed to the public until Tuesday Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day at the earliest.

RESOURCE CENTRAL Helpful links to put resources at your finger tips!

I-9 Forms Resource UMC 2020 Annual Conference Info Cares Act Info Disciple ship Ministries

Church Reopening Guidelines Lewis Center for Church Leadership Chuck Knows Church UNY Resource Center Newslette r Link