Northern Flow Weekly Newsletter January 5, 2023

The Current

January 6, 2023

Save the Date for Regional Meetings

with Bishop Héctor

Starting Jan. 1, 2023, Bishop Héctor Burgos, who prefers to be addressed as Bishop Héctor, will be the new bishop of the Upper New York (UNY) Conference. Bishop Héctor is eager to meet laity and clergy throughout the Conference and has scheduled dates for regional meetings. The meetings will be as follows:

Feb. 9, 2023 – Lakes Region–Leroy UMC
Feb. 16, 2023 -Northeast Region–New Hartford
March 1, 2023 – Lakes Region–Auburn UMC
March 2, 2023 – Northeast Region–Plattsburgh UMC
March 15, 2023 – Southern Tier Region—Olean: Christ
March 16, 2023 – Southern Tier Region—Central Endicott

The clergy meetings will be from 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

The laity meeting (and clergy unable to attend the earlier time) will be from 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

The Northern Flow District Committee on Ordained Ministry (dCOM) will be providing a training on February 11, 2023 (snow date – February 18). The main purpose of the training is the annual evaluation for the credentialing process for our Licensed Local Pastors (LLPs) and Certified Lay Ministers (CLMs). However, we wanted to invite all those in our district who might be interested in attending.

We will be meeting at the DeKalb Junction United Methodist Church (4302 Route 11, DeKalb Junction, NY 13630).

We will gather at 9:30AM with worship beginning at 10:00AM. At 10:30AM we are pleased to have Rev. Becky Guthrie share with us about ministry presence, as in relates to being present with our parishioners in the 21^st century with all the current struggles, including COVID-19. Becky will also reflect on caring for ourselves and each other. Becky is an ordained United Methodist Deacon and serves as the chaplain at two hospitals in the Utica, NY area.

Lunch will be provided and will include spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed salad, garlic toast, brownies, and coffee/tea/water. We realize that some may have special dietary needs. Unfortunately, we will not be able to accommodate them. Therefore, please provide your own lunch, if you need something different.

Following lunch we will have discussion groups and expect to end our time together at 2:30PM.

Please call/text/email Barbara Greene, our dCOM Registrar, with your reservation by January 25^th. Barb can be reached at: (315) 771-6444 or bgreene12873@yahoo.com.

Links

Report your church statistics on ACStats beginning Jan. 3, 2023. Please share this news with those in each church who work on statistical reporting.

After Jan. 3 Report your Church Statistics on ACStats

Annual Church Statistics (ACStats) is the one-stop location for United Methodist data that tracks membership, expenses, and income. It's designed to help churches submit year-end statistics to the Upper New York (UNY) Conference digitally in a way that's cost-effective.

This user-friendly platform replaces Ezra as the method of reporting your church statistics.

March 17, 2023, is the deadline to complete the 2022 statistical report for your church; however, you cannot enter any data to the 2022 statistics tables until Jan. 3, 2023.

In the meantime, you may familiarize yourselves with the new ACStats platform by reviewing the user's guide for local churches. Translated reports are available in Spanish and Korean.

Click here to learn more.

BSA Affiliation Agreement

Troops and local congregations seeking to continue or start a relationship will need to complete a new “BSA Affiliation Agreement” and “Facilities Use & Indemnity Agreement.” Click here to download the BSA Affiliation Agreement. Click here to download the Facilities Use & Indemnity Agreement.

All UNY local congregations seeking to be in relationship with a local troop should use these and only these forms.

In most areas, the affiliation agreements and facility use agreements are being implemented and the implementation is going well. There are BSA Councils that are not cooperating in a few Conferences and as the BSA learns of these, they reach out to those Councils to address issues.

If you are encountering such issues, please contact Jeffrey Hunt jeff.hunt@scouting.org of BSA, who oversees the BSA Councils across the United States.

Save the Date for March Special Session

The Upper New York Conference’s March 2023 Special Session of Annual Conference to consider disaffiliation requests will take place remotely on March 25 from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Registration will open on Feb. 1, 2023, and close on

March 10, 2023.

Local Church Financial Training

Offered via Zoom

Rev. Susan Ranous, Director of Christian Stewardship and Deacon specializing in Stewardship, Church Finances and Clergy Tax is offering a t raining from 10:00 a.m. to Noon on Saturday, Jan. 7th. via zoom.

If you're interested in participating, please contact Carrie Boyer in the Adirondack District Office, here, or call her at (518) 608-1246. The Zoom link will be sent as the date nears.

Workshop description:

Are you new to the financial areas of the local church?
Maybe you’ve been a treasurer or financial secretary or finance chair?
Do you need some help to understand what you have to do and how to do it?

This workshop will give you the basic knowledge needed to understand what is needed and how to do the various financial tasks.

Adirondack District Offering Lay Servant Courses via Zoom

Brochure

Breast Cancer & Beyond Support Group (BCBSG)

Group Leader: Linda Fredenburg

Group Purpose is to:

Create an accepting and compassionate environment
Exchange information and emotional support between group participants
Build group cohesiveness, and enable members to meaningfully connect with one another

Benefits of Support Groups:

A sense of community
Attending the group addresses unwanted aloneness, irrespective of what is discussed.
The group functions to reduce social isolation and to provide real social support.

1) Regaining control

2) Hope

3) Stress Reduction

4) Normalizing personal responses

When: Group Meeting Dates Mondays 6;30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Place: First United Methodist Church

236 Mullin Street

Watertown NY 13601

For more information please feel free to call Linda by email at Lindafredenburg@gmail.com or phone at 315-778-7290

Linda's Story:

My name is Linda Fredenburg and I am a breast cancer survivor. I have a human services degree and was a licensed alcohol and drug counselor. I was diagnosed with breast cancer and am now Cancer free! I found lack of support in the Watertown area so I decided a support group was needed. So I leapt in and I am starting this group. I pray you will come and join us in a safe and loving environment. I will be working with the Walker Cancer Center and the doctor's and nurses there.

ANNUAL CAMPAIGNS

Stewardship with Rev. Susan Ranous

December 23, 2022

CHRISTMAS

It’s that time of year when we’re concentrating on the celebration of the birth of Jesus! Sometimes churches don’t receive an offering on Christmas Eve. I’ve heard one explanation that it’s not appropriate to ask guests to give to the church on Christmas Eve.

I don’t agree. If you’ve read some of my blogs, you know that I’ve said offer to the church and generosity should have very little to do with the need of the church to receive and pay its bills but have everything to do with the need of people to give. Giving is a spiritual discipline.

If we deprive folks from giving because they’re guests, what does that say about how we care for them. Celebrating Christmas isn’t about the Christmas Cantata, or the Children’s Christmas Pageant (although both of those things are wonderful!) What it should be about is worshiping God and celebrating Emmanuel – God With Us. And the greatest gift is Jesus, generosity is part of worshiping God.

Let’s celebrate the birth of Jesus and what it means for us as disciples. What does it mean for us as we celebrate?

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Please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or susanranous@unyumc.org if you’d like to talk about mission and money in your local church. I have some great ideas to help you understand where you are and were you’re going!

Charge Conference Forms Due Dates

Due November 1st.: NOW PAST DUE

Pastor's Appointment Advisory Form (https://uny.umcprofile.org)

S/PPRC Appointment Advisory Form (https://uny.umcprofile.org)

Pastor-S/PPRC Covenant Forms (https://uny.umcprofile.org)

*These need to be printed and mailed to the district office*

Due December 1st.: UPDATE ONLINE - DO NOT PRINT A COPY

Church Profile (https://uny.umcprofile.org)

Pastor's Profile (https://uny.umcprofile.org)

Due February 15th. 2023

Report of Trustees

Report of Finance Committee

2022 Year End Financial Report

2023 Church Budget - Your church format

2022 Statistical Reports (https://stats.gcfa.org/)

Wesley Heritage Tour 2024

Join Pastor Brett Johnson on the trip of a lifetime to visit John and Charles Wesley’s homeland of England. We will be visiting sites of great importance to United Methodists, including the Wesleys’ hometown of Epworth, Oxford, Bristol, and worship in the Wesley Chapel in London.

We will also be stopping at Stonehenge and Stratford-on-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, and St Paul’s Cathedral. Tour dates are July 13-22, 2024. Please use the following link to register: https://portal.myfaithjourneys.com/ and use group code 24002.

Contact Rev. Brett Johnson, pastor.brett.johnson@gmail.com, with any questions.