A weekly news update from The Alaska United Methodist Conference
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May 29, 2020
United Methodists of the Greater Northwest,
My heart is heavy with the weight of another killing of an unarmed Black man at the hands of a white policeman. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave humanity a miracle as the Church was born: the ability to understand each other, even though they came from different cultures and spoke different languages.
Below, find the pastoral statement by Bruce Ough, bishop of the Minnesota and Dakotas Annual Conferences.
Please also join me next Wednesday for a webinar at our usual time (8 am AKDT, 9 am PDT, 10 am MDT) titled "Confronting the Sin of Racism."
While this is a shift from our planned topic, I hope you will join me in this important conversation. If you have already registered for next week's webinar, the link from your confirmation email will still be valid.
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Bishop Elaine JW Stanovsky
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Bishop Bruce R. Ough issued a statement following the
death of George Floyd. Floyd, a Black man, died May 25 in the custody of Minneapolis police after an officer was shown pinning him down while he struggled to breathe.
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Reimagining Life Together
Linked below is a new document titled Reimagining Life Together. It aspires to provide guidance on the requirements and recommendations for local churches and ministry settings to reopen buildings and return to in-person ministry activities during the COVID-19 crisis.
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I Have Some Things To Tell You: A Pastor Says Goodbye During a Pandemic
There once was an itinerant pastor who couldn’t say goodbye to her church because of a pandemic. No hugs, no long chats over coffee, no meaningful stories shared in person. So she wrote them a book. She thought it was just for them. But it wasn’t. It was for her too.
“I Have Some Things to Tell You” is part memoir, part leadership guide, and part love letter to a community who allowed a pastor to be fully human. When she fell apart, they caught her. But they never knew the full story, until now. This is the story of a woman reckoning with identity, power, gender, mental health, relationships, spirituality, and what it means to lead others while she’s rumbling with a whole new life.
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Apportionment Report
The May apportionment report has been posted to the conference website. Take a look at where your church is. Even though we are not physically meeting weekly for church, there is still a need for your tithes.
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Elnora is turning 100!
Many of you in the conference know Elnora Ouding from her many years as a lay member to Annual Conference from Anchor Park. Let us celebrate Elnora Ouding as she turns 100 on June 15!! Please send cards to her at 8211 Del Street, Anchorage, AK 99502. Elnora likes royal blue, rainbows, and flowers.
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United Methodists protest, preach, decry racism
In response to hundreds of protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man who took his last breath under the knee of a police officer, United Methodist pastors preached about the hallowed breath of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday. The demonstrations across the U.S., which focused on police brutality and violence against people of color, sometimes erupted in violence.
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Virtual choir performs 'Credo'
Produced for United Methodist Heritage Day, but timely for any special Sunday, including the upcoming Trinity Sunday on June 7, this virtual choir performs a dynamic rendition of "Credo."
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5 women bishops discuss leadership
Retired United Methodist Bishop Mary Ann Swenson has spent her career voicing the need for a church that includes all people, regardless of the amount of hate mail she received. Swenson was one of five female United Methodist bishops who took part in a panel discussion as part of a women's leadership conference hosted at California State University.
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Churches practice caution before opening
United Methodist bishops in the U.S. are setting guidelines and recommending what they think are appropriate times for churches in their conferences to reopen. Those recommendations are sometimes different from what their state governments are allowing.
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9: AUMC Clergy Session via Zoom @ 9 AM
21: Father's Day
26: Leadership Team meeting
28-30: GNW Cabinet Retreat
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4: Independence Day
13: WJ Mission Cabinet meeting
15: Tax Day
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Upcoming Clergy Birthdays
June 8 -
Jim Doepken
June 10 -
Carlo Rapanut
June 15 -
Matthew Reinders
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Conference Office
907-333-5050
Superintendent Carlo
907-854-8340
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Submissions
- If you have an article or event that you would like to share with the rest of the conference, submit it to the conference office by Tuesday at 9:00 am for consideration.
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The mission of the United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Held and supported by the transforming relationship with God through Christ, we of the Alaska United Methodist Conference seek to be a community that creates a home for all peoples, finds our hope through grace and journeys together in God's preferred future.
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