A weekly news update from The Alaska United Methodist Conference |
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Bishop Stanovsky postpones retirement
With renewed focus and changing circumstances in the church, Greater Northwest Episcopal Area Bishop Elaine JW Stanovsky announced that she is postponing her retirement, earlier planned for Jan. 1, 2022. She leads the Alaska, Oregon-Idaho and Pacific Northwest conferences. She expresses hope that her retirement will follow the election and assignment of new bishops in 2022.
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Register for Camp now!
CREATION SPEAKS! ARE WE LISTENING?
In the beginning, God created. God is still creating now. What do God and Creation have to teach us about how to live today?
Creation Speaks invites us to look to God’s Creation, including each other, as we listen for God’s voice in the world today. By looking anew at the Creation story, campers will imagine what each part might teach us about God and our place in the world. Light, water, earth, seasons, animals, humans, and even a day of rest will invite campers to listen for God, still speaking to them today.
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Annual Conference Session |
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Annual Conference Registration is OPEN!
The registration for clergy and lay members to Annual Conference is OPEN. If you are a voting member of the Alaska United Methodist Conference, please register to attend the virtual sessions. Guests do not need to register as they will just watch the live stream.
The Alaska United Methodist Conference will meet online at the following times:
- AK Clergy Gathering – June 3, 9:00 -11:00 am AKT
- GNW Laity session – June 9, 5:30 pm AKT
- GNW Opening Session – June 20, 5:30-7:00 pm AKT
- AK individual sessions – June 22, 9:00-11:00 am & 1:00-3:00 pm AKT
- PNW/AK shared session – June 23, 1:00-2:30 pm AKT
- GNW Closing Session – June 23, 5:30-7:00 pm AKT
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Zoom Webinar Training Sessions
GNTV will again be our tech hosts for this year’s virtual Annual Conference session. There are new and improved processes for voting and participation. To help us get familiar with the technology, training sessions have been scheduled. You need only to attend at least one session but may attend more if you need the extra practice.
- Tuesday, June 1, 6:30 pm AKST
- Saturday, June 5, 3:00 pm AKST
- Wednesday, June 16, 11:00 am AKST
- Monday, June 21, morning (TBA)
This is only a save the date announcement. More information about how to register for these sessions will be provided soon.
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Annual Conference related deadlines
Please mark your calendars with the following deadlines. It takes your participation to have a great Annual Conference!
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Pre-Conference Handbook available to download
All the reports for the pre-conference handbook have been compiled and are ready for download. You will find reports from committee chairs, conference related entities, proposed budget and apportionments, statistics, rules changes and petitions. This is an important document for voting members of the Annual Conference. Please make sure you read through it ahead of the Annual Conference Session.
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Our Annual Conference theme and logo
This year’s theme for annual conference sessions across the Greater Northwest Area is “Love Never Ends,” a short line from I Corinthians 13 that captures the essence of that beloved text.
While this chapter of I Corinthians is familiar to many because of its usage at wedding ceremonies, it speaks more broadly than this practice might suggest. As he writes to a community in conflict, the Apostle Paul casts a vision of love that selflessly seeks the good of others, resists arrogance as it aims to understand, and perseveres in hope through hardship and the lack of perfect knowledge.
This theme and its visual representation seek to call to mind the love Paul describes as present in the witness of so many GNW United Methodists over a challenging year. It visually centers love while also communicating forward movement, endurance and the hopeful promise of a new day.
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Video calls out comments Asian Americans face
In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, a new video reveals offensive comments made to clergy and lay leaders in churches or other United Methodist settings. Volunteers read the statements on camera for the first time. The goal is to bring deeper understanding in the work of dismantling racism.
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Volcano eruption in Congo hits church, homes
United Methodist leaders are assessing the damage following the eruption of the Mount Nyiragongo volcano, which swept away a church and many homes.
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Protests mount against Cal-Pac bishop
California-Pacific Conference Bishop Grant Hagiya is facing public criticism, even protest demonstrations, for his decision to move three Korean American pastors from their current churches.
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Celebrating Korean pioneers in Methodist history
In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Ask The UMC remembers two pioneering Koreans in Methodist history: The Rev. Ju-sam Ryang, the first Korean Methodist bishop, and Esther Kim Pak, the first Korean Methodist female doctor.
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Celebrate Peace with Justice Sunday
Peace with Justice Sunday is May 30. This Special Sunday offering helps the church strengthen its capacity to advocate publicly in communities and nations throughout the world. The United Methodist Board of Church and Society administers the offering, which supports grants benefiting peace with justice ministries in conferences and around the world.
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Grants available from Discipleship Ministries
Churches wishing to strengthen outreach to racial minorities can apply for up to $10,000 from United Methodist Discipleship Ministries. Sept. 1 is the deadline to apply for a Racial Ethnic Local Church Concerns grant.
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Annual conferences plan online, hybrid events
Some annual conferences will do a portion of their 2021 meetings in person as the coronavirus threat subsides. Resolutions on issues including sexuality and race will be considered.
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Claremont pivots to two-campus strategy
For financial reasons, Claremont School of Theology planned to sell its California campus and move to Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. But litigation setbacks have limited how much the United Methodist seminary could get in such a sale, so the new plan is to operate both in Claremont and Salem while also offering lots of online instruction options.
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28: AC Registration CLOSES
31: Memorial Day - Office Closed
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1: Memorial roll names DUE
3: AK Clergy gathering 9-11 AM
8-10: Crystal on vacation
9: GNW Laity session 5:30 PM
14: GNW Cabinet
19: Juneteenth
20: Father's Day
20: GNW Opening Session 5:30-7 PM
22: AK individual sessions 9-11 AM & 1-3 PM
23: AK/PNW shared session 1-2:30 PM
23: GNW Closing Session 5:30-7 PM
28-29: GNW Cabinet Retreat
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Upcoming Clergy Birthdays
June 8 -
Jim Doepken
June 10 -
Carlo Rapanut
June 15 -
Matt 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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