From your District Superintendents to the Virginia Annual Conference:

Release April 26, 2022: As we anticipate the coming Annual Conference, we, your eight district superintendents, are excited about the new possibilities ahead. All sixteen current VAUMC districts have been working diligently and carefully to craft plans to move forward as eight new districts following Annual Conference. We have been inspired and motivated by the work of our fellow districts and their teams throughout this process and are eager to share that with you as we come to Annual Conference.

Each of your District Superintendents has been working with a local team to help develop new district structures for our district-level work, projected to be starting July 1, 2022. It is anticipated that once the Annual Conference votes on the final number of Districts, we will see new Districts doing new things all across our conference. We have been listening, asking questions, challenging the status quo, and searching for the best funding and structures possible to meet the unique needs of our areas, and this work has been done by laity and pastors in the areas they serve. We are incredibly thankful for the participation of so many people in this process, from those who took surveys and participated in listening sessions, to teams of people asking the hard questions of “How can our district help the local churches best?” Out of this time of listening and creation, we have been innovating and restructuring in ways many of us never imagined when we started.

We don’t know what the future holds, and that is probably the biggest challenge of this season. How will our denomination change in the next season of ministry? Who will come with us on a journey to focus our attentions on making disciples and transforming the world? We don’t know, and yet in that space between now and the unknown future, we will innovate and experiment and learn new things.

As your District Superintendents, we are enthusiastically optimistic that with God’s help, we will help further the mission of Christ in the Virginia Conference. We ask for your approval of eight districts at Annual Conference so this work can move forward.

Your District Superintendents,

Denise P. Bates, Danville & Lynchburg

Charles F. Ledlum-Bates, Rappahannock River & York River

James H. “Jay” Carey Jr., Farmville & James River

Sarah L.K. Calvert, Alexandria & Arlington

J. Douglas Forrester, Roanoke & Staunton

Victor R. Gomez, Harrisonburg & Winchester

Hyo J. Lee, Charlottesville & Richmond

Seonyoung Kim, Eastern Shore & Elizabeth River

Our deepest sympathy to Rev. Barry Burkholder (Fletcher's Chapel UMC) and Rev. Gerry Burkholder (Zion UMC)  in the loss of their daughter,  Keri Marston.  Please remember them as well as Keri's husband and two young daughters in your prayers. 

SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS NOW AVAILABLE

Guidelines and Applications for the 2022 RRD Scholarship Program are now available.  

The firm deadline for applications to be received in the district office is May 16, 2022 at 4:00pm.

Native American Ministries Sunday, May 1

What is Native American Ministries Sunday?

Native American Ministries Sunday is one of six churchwide Special Sundays with offerings of The United Methodist Church. Native American Ministries Sunday serves to remind United Methodists of the gifts and contributions made by Native Americans to our society. The special offering supports Native American outreach within annual conferences and across the United States and provides seminary scholarships for Native Americans.

How does The United Methodist Church distribute the offerings received on Native American Ministries Sunday?

The annual conference treasurer retains 50 percent of the receipts to develop and strengthen Native American ministries within the annual conference. The annual conference Committee on Native American Ministry administers this portion. If there is no Native American ministries within the annual conference, the annual conference treasurer remits this 50 percent to the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA).

The annual conference treasurer remits the remaining 50 or 100 percent of the receipts to the GCFA. The GCFA treasurer distributes net receipts, after payment of promotional expenses, to the administering agencies:

• Scholarships for Native Americans attending United Methodist schools of theology and schools of theology approved by the University Senate of The United Methodist Church: 50 percent (General Board of High Education and Ministry)
• Expansion of the number of target cities in the Native American Urban Initiative: 50 percent (General Board of Global Ministries)

For more information on Native American Ministries Sunday including how you can give to this ministry, click here for the FAQs.

Camp Rainbow Connection Needs Volunteers!

What if there were a safe place where adults with intellectual disabilities could go for a full week of fun, food, and Christian fellowship? Imagine such a place with dedicated one-on-one staff and every day packed with exciting activities. Well, that’s the Camp Rainbow Connection. With a thirty-five-year history of service to folks who have intellectual disabilities, Camp Rainbow delivers an exciting adventure for our campers, and a week of respite for their caregivers.

Camp Rainbow 2022—Cruising with Christ—is going to sea! Well, not literally, but the Core team agreed that a cruise ship theme offered a world of possibilities. We’ll be talking about activities, decorations, music, and games at the May 14^th Planning and Training Session. And get this, we’ll be holding the session at Richard Bland College this year. Think of how exciting it will be for new staffers to visit the facility in advance. So we invite all who might want to join this terrific group for the coming season. And for those who are hesitant, we’d love to see you at the planning session. Sit in, check us out… decide afterward. More Cruise News coming soon…

For more information, check out the Camp Rainbow Connection web page at https://www.vaumc.org/crc.

UMVIM Training

A United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) Team Leader training event will take place at Ebenezer UMC, 161 Embrey Mill Rd., Stafford, VA, 22554 on June 4, 2022, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. There is a gathering time between 8:30 and 9. This is an in-person event only. 

Lunch will be provided. An online training manual will be provided. Trainers are Tim Wells and Peter Kuebler. For more information contact Terri Morgan at tlynmorgan@icloud.com.

To register go to https://vaumc.org/june-umvim-training/

Virginia United Methodist HERITAGE

You know your Bible. But do you know your Virginia United Methodist Conference History?

Do you know?

Jack Martin has been an UMVIM missioner for over 40 years, eight years of which he served as president of the UMVIM, SEJ Board of Directors (1988-1996). In 1991, at the request of Bishop Peter Storey of South Africa, Jack led a team of UMVIMers to that country to build a church in one of the homelands there.

So, here’s your first question…

What did Black South Africans see in the work of UMVIM that transformed their thinking about “arduous labor” vs. “the sanctity of labor”?

Raymond and Winnie Wrenn raised Raymond Fitzhugh Wrenn and his brothers, Bob and Randall, in Herndon, Virginia. Raymond grew up in a rural home of scarce amenities, according to his good friend, Levi Stroud, in his sketch based on Raymond’s memoir, The Life and Times of Raymond F. Wrenn.

Here’s your second question…

Why was the Rev. Dr. Raymond Wrenn advanced from first to third grade in elementary school, and at what much-younger-than-normal age did he become a student at American University?

To learn the answers to these questions, you must read the Spring 2022 issue of HERITAGE, the historical journal of VAUMC.

To subscribe, CLICK HERE to download a subscription form and mail with your check by May 6 to Virginia United Methodist HERITAGE, P.O. Box 5606, Glen Allen, VA 23058

For more information about HERITAGE, visit the Virginia Conference website at https://vaumc.org/heritage, or contact the editor, Myra Lindsey, at HERITAGE@vaumc.org.

Tabernacle UMC in Fredericksburg, Virginia has an immediate need for a Child Care/Nursery Care worker to care for children in the church nursery on Sunday mornings and during special events. The Sunday morning hours are 9:15 am to 11:30 am. 

Interested persons must meet VA state and TUMC Child Protection Policy requirements.

For further information and full job description, please contact Pastor Ted Smith at TedSmith@vaumc.org.

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Dahlgren UMC (DUMC) has an immediate need for a Nursery Attendant meeting or able to meet VA State and Church Child Protection Policy requirements for paid child care staff. 

 This is a permanent, part-time, hourly-wage position to care for young children, ages infant-to-Pre-K, placed in the nursery during church services and special events.

Details of the requirements of the position are posted on the Church Web Site. 

Questions or expressions of interest can also be directed to the Church Office by phone: 540-663-2230 or email to office@dahlgrenumc.org. 

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