Western Jurisdiction Conference | Nov. 2-5, 2022

Starting next week the Western Jurisdiction Conference will begin in Salt Lake City, Utah. Three new bishops will be elected. Eight Alaskan delegates will be there. Former Conference Superintendent, Carlo Rapanut, is among the candidates for election as a bishop. You can find out more information here. Please keep everyone involved in your prayers.

Church and Clergy Profile forms due Dec.1

With the transition to retirement for our Bishop and the upcoming election of our new one, all Clergy and Churches are being asked to update their profiles. Last week a follow up email went out to clergy with instructions on how to access the People Portal. Once you have successfully logged into your personal People Portal, you will find your Clergy Profile form to the left. If you have problems, please contact the conference office and I can assist you. In addition to the Clergy Profile, this Biographical Information form needs to be filled out and returned. | PDF | Word

Each Church Profile also needs to be updated and that will be done through the Church Dashboard. Once you are on your church dashboard, you will find the Church Profile link to the left. 

Both of these profiles need to be completed online through these means. They are to be completed by December 1, 2022. Both the Church Dashboard and the People Portal can be accessed from the Conference website at the bottom of the page.

Clergy Wellness Webinars Available

Given the stressors of clergy as our churches adjust to a post-pandemic reality, it seems like a good time to remind pastors that there are some excellent webinars that might be helpful. The recordings are available from the Board of Ordained Ministry at very low cost. Of particular relevance are the following titles:

• Coming Out of the Dark: Grief, Trauma, and Life After COVID—led by Sue Magrath, MC
• Staying Sane in the Time of COVID—led by Sue Magrath, MC
• Stress and Resiliency—led by Denise McGuiness, PhD, MDiv

These recorded webinars are available by clicking this link:

https://regionalmediacenter.org/product-category/clergy-wellness/

The cost for a 3-hour webinar is $15 or a 2-hour for $10. Should you have any difficulty accessing these webinars, you can contact Stephanie Franklin at SFranklin@pnwumc.org.

PCWR follow up

Thanks to all who attended the Professional Church Workers' Retreat recently. If you have not done so, please take a moment to fill out the evaluation form and return it soon. Thanks!

Evaluation form

Resources for Native American Hertigate Month (American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month)

November is Native American (American Indian and Alaska Native) Heritage Month. ResourceUMC has compiled some resources for personal learning and local church engagement. Also, the GNW Circle of Indigenous Ministries has provided a resource page for creating Land Acknowledgments on the GNW Area website.

Disaster Response for Western Alaska

When the remnants of Typhoon Merbok hit Western Alaska in mid-September, the wind and storm surge hit villages all along the coast for 1000 miles. Alaskan Conference Disaster Response has been actively involved since the storm. Through the winter and into spring, we will continue working with other agencies as well as the state and FEMA to identify potential rebuilding projects. Additional recovery grant requests through UMCOR will also be considered.  

Give funds to support both the ERTs and our recovery efforts:

Online - https://bit.ly/alaskaresponse

By text - Donors who text the code "ALASKARESPONSE" to 44-321 will see this campaign page.

If you have any questions, please contact Dan Wilcox (Conference Disaster Response Coordinator), at danielpwilcox@gmail.com, 907.414.7078.

Lots happening at Birchwood Camp

Silent Auction

The Birchwood Camp Annual Auction is almost here! Bidding starts on November 14th and will end on November 20th at 6pm AKST.

Bid on handcrafted items, collectibles, vacation rentals, fun family packages, and more! Your donation will help complete the flooring project in the Lodge. You may also choose to send kids to future camps by donating to the Scholarship Fund. Click this link to view and explore the auction site.

Winter Youth Break-Away Camp

Registration for Winter Youth Break-Away is now open. January 4th-7th. For 6th through 12th graders. Register here.

New Maintenance Project

The kitchen and lodge floor and walls are going to be upgraded to better align with food health and sanitation standards. Birchwood Camp stayed in operation with uncertain income over the last two years, and now we need our community and generous donors to help us complete this project. Will you join us in ensuring another generation of use for the most frequently-used building on camp? Make a Donation

Conference Journals have been mailed out

The 2022 Conference Journal has been handed/mailed out to those that receive it based on their position with the conference. We will have a link soon for the digital download from the conference website. Please make note that this will likely be the last year it will automatically be printed and mailed out. Starting next year, we plan to move to a Print-On-Demand Journal, like the PNW and OR-ID Conferences, which will come at a cost to those that want the journal. We have provided these journals for no fee for many years now. It is a costly process to print and mail them. Often, they just sit on a shelf and are not referenced at all. We would still have the free version for download so that you can access it at any time if you do not want to pay for a book. This is one of the transitions we are starting to make as we make our way to becoming a missional district of the PNW Conference.

Charge Conference paperwork ready for download

Conference Superintendent Christina DowlingSoka is planning Church/Charge Conferences with all the Alaska churches. As those meetings get scheduled, now is the time to start filling out the paperwork. The superintendent is asking that the paperwork is completed and emailed at least one week prior to your scheduled meeting. You can find the Church/Charge Conference page here.

In honor of Bishop Elaine JW Stanovsky's retirement and her legacy of supporting the work of indigenous ministries during her 14 years of episcopal service, the Greater Northwest Area cabinet announces that a special offering will be taken at charge conferences this fall for the Circle of Indigenous Ministries. Learn more on the GNW News site.

Jurisdiction advised to elect 14 US bishops

Faced with uncertainties around the denomination's finances and future membership, jurisdictional leaders are recommending United Methodists elect fewer U.S. bishops than there will be vacancies. But after the Northeastern Jurisdiction met for a special session Oct. 15, it’s clear all five U.S. jurisdictions will be holding episcopal elections.

Read the story

Kentucky student wins ecumenical scholarship

The Council of Bishops has selected Eliza Love as the 2023 recipient of a $10,000 scholarship to attend the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Institute at Bossey in Switzerland. Love, a member of the Kentucky Conference, is in the process of ordination. Each year, the council elects one student to represent The United Methodist Church in the institute’s Certificate in Ecumenical Studies program. 

Read the press release

Top executive plans to retire this year

The United Methodist Board of Church and Society, the denomination’s public advocacy arm, announced Oct. 19 that the Rev. Susan Henry-Crowe plans to retire at the end of 2022. Henry-Crowe has served as the agency’s top executive for eight years.

Read the story

Ukraine a top priority for Global Ministries

The United Methodist Committee on Relief has approved more than $17 million so far to help the people of Ukraine cope with the invasion by Russia, and more aid is on the way, the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries announced during its fall meeting. Grants to help people affected by natural disasters and to bring better and profitable food production in Africa also were approved.

Read the story

Willimon to be featured in webinar

Retired Bishop Will Willimon is the author of a new book titled “Don’t Look Back: Methodist Hope for What Comes Next.” He’ll be featured in a forward-looking webinar for church leaders and congregations. Joining him will be the Rev. F. Douglas Powe Jr., director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, the Rev. Olivia Poole, pastor of St. Luke United Methodist Church in Enterprise, Ala., and Haley Jobe, a Duke Divinity School student. The event is set for Nov. 2, beginning at 1 p.m. U.S. Central time. It will be recorded for on-demand viewing.

Learn more and register

Church makes its own communion grape juice

Lucille Ball stomping grapes is one of the classic scenes from “I Love Lucy,” and might actually be fun, but you don’t have to run around a giant vat to make grape juice.

At St. John’s United Methodist Church in Dover, NH, church members have been harvesting grapes from their Peace Garden and making the juice served for Communion for the last five years – all without even taking off their shoes. 

Read more

Church cookbooks serve as time capsules

Vintage Methodist cookbooks are time capsules, allowing a look at food culture, nutrition, family budgets and the availability of food items in a particular region at the time. In this downloadable video, Our United Methodist Table test kitchen tries two recipes from an Ohio Methodist Episcopal church’s 1914 cookbook.

Watch the video

Men's Ministries director named

The Rev. Sterling L. Eaton will begin work Oct. 31 as the new director of the Center for Men’s Ministries, United Methodist Men announced. "His depth of vocational experience, pastoral experience and leadership ability is in complete alignment with our new ministry direction," said Greg Arnold, top executive of United Methodist Men. Eaton is a Navy veteran who has been serving as a United Methodist pastor in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

Read the press release

MARCHA and JFON respond to the busing of asylum seekers

National Justice For Our Neighbors, a network of 19 immigration legal service providers, and Methodists Associated Representing the Cause of Hispanic Americans (MARCHA), the official Hispanic/ Latinx Caucus in the United Methodist Church, condemn, in the strongest terms, Governors Abbot’s (TX), DeSantis (FL), and Ducey’s (AZ) inhumane migrant relocation programs.

Governors Abbot, DeSantis, and Ducey have bused—or flown—thousands of asylum seekers to Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, Martha’s Vineyard, and even Vice President Kamala Harris’s official residence. They have done so in bad faith and without coordination with non-profits and local government.

Read more

10 free services for local churches

Join Global MInsitries November 3 at 12 PM ET as they explore the transforming work of United Methodist missionaries serving around the world.

You will have the opportunity to meet in a small group to hear a presentation from a single missionary during the call. Find out more about these missionaries below, or at www.umcmission.org

Benjamin Thomas Rose is serving as an Events and Wave Program Coordinator for the Surf Project in Ireland.

Desiree Segura-April is serving as the Resource Person for Children at Risk Ministries with the Latin American Region.

Ellyn Dubberly is serving as the Leadership Development Coordinator with the Evangelical Methodist Church in Central America.

Jennifer Moore is serving as a Christian Educator with the United Methodist Church in the Republic of Macedonia.

United Methodist Missionaries are #stillinmission and we hope that you'll join us to learn more!

Registration is limited. You will get a confirmation email once your registration is accepted. If the limit is reached, you will get priority for future events.

24 - 26: Christina in Nome

25: Charge Conference - Nome Community UMC

27: Mission District Task Force meeting

28 - Nov. 1: Christina in Juneau

30: Church Conference - Aldersgate UMC

31: Charge Conference - Douglas Community UMC

31: Halloween

2 - 5: Western Jurisdiction Conference

6: Daylight Saving Time ends

6: Charge Conferences: Moose Pass UMC & Seward Memorial UMC

8: Election Day

10: Charge Conference: UMC of Sitka

11: Veteran's Day

12: Charge Conferences - Kenai & North Star UMC's

12: Charge Conference - Soldotna UMC

13: Charge Conference - Girdwood Chapel UMC

15-17: GNW Cabinet meeting

20: Charge Conference - Christ First UMC

20: Charge Conference - Turnagain UMC

21: Charge Conference - Ola Toe Fuataina Samoan Fellowship

24: Thanksgiving - Office Closed

25: Office Closed

27: Charge Conference - Anchor Park UMC

28: Charge Conference - Anchorage Korean UMC

Upcoming Clergy Birthdays

November 5 - Kim Poole

November 6 - Fa'atafa Fulumu'a

November 9 - Murray Crookes

November 27 - Laura Krauss