Friends,

I hope this newsletter finds you all well. I know that I have sent messages about using an abundance of care while serving your churches and your communities as the COVID epidemic continues. I continue to urge you to use diligence and common sense. Our area, especially the Corning area and the Horseheads area have been a hot bed of activity within our district and I am now hearing about Binghamton which has 458 active cases and over 2000 people in quarantine and are now have been listed as a yellow area of New York state which limits their in person worship to no more than 25. www.weny.com has daily revisions, at least Monday through Friday where they share the specific infected areas. They also have interactive maps for Steuben and Chemung counties. As of this past Tuesday evening there were 227 active cases in Steuben County of which the city of Corning has 153 and has yet another death, bringing the total to 7 at the Corning Center and 17 hospitalizations. As of 7:15 PM on Oct. 6^th there were 41 new cases bringing their total to 139 active cases in Chemung County, Schuyler County currently has 8 active cases, and you must consider their total population is much lower than surrounding counties, and Tioga County, NY was listed with 64 active cases but currently have 417 people in mandatory quarantine. Friends it seems to me that it is the right time to offer virtual services only, unfortunately if you do not have the capabilities for virtual service it still seems reasonable to close for in person services for at least the next two weeks. One of our greatest responsibilities is to protect those of which we serve. There are many creative opportunities that you can do, which I would be glad to help you with. Our Superintendent shared that perhaps those that have virtual capabilities join in their worship services with those that do not. As the District Associate one of my duties is to care for our Pastors and their families so friends please be safe, follow the protocols, take no risks and pray.

Did You Know?

Staff Parish Relations Committees are called to support their pastor first and foremost in the ministry. “The committee shall reflect biblically and theologically on the role and work of the pastor(s) and staff as they carry out their leadership responsibilities. The committee shall assist the pastor(s) and staff in assessing their gifts, maintaining health holistically and work-life balance, and setting priorities for leadership and service. It is the responsibility of the committee to communicate with the committee on nominations and leadership development and/or the church council when there is a need for other leaders or for employed staff to perform in areas where utilization of the gifts of the pastor(s) and staff proves an inappropriate stewardship of time.” Paragraph 258.2a in the Book of Discipline, United Methodist Church 2016 version.

Did You Know? John Wesley wrote a health manual for the common family in England called “primitive physic, or an easy method of curing most diseases.” Wesley provided remedies for a range of ailments and diseases, from headaches to the plague, and gout to obesity. Some of his remedies should stay firmly in the eighteenth century, such as drying and powdering a toad to make pills to help ease asthma! But he was also way ahead of his time in re-establishing the value of prevention rather than (by then fashionable, but expensive) ‘cures'; recommending fresh water, a light diet low in spices and salt, and exercising around two to three hours a day in order to “soften the evils of life”. Dr Richard Vautrey, Former Vice-President of the Methodist Conference and a practicing GP, said: “John Wesley took the command to ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind' seriously, working to ensure that Methodists were not only nurturing their spiritual health, but looking after their physical health as well. …All today would do well to follow his advice by increasing the amount of exercise we do and reducing the amount of salt in our diets. By doing so whilst our hearts may still be "strangely warmed" – as Wesley's was [by accepting Christ as his saviour] – they won't overheat!”

As previously communicated, New York State employers must adopt a sexual harassment prevention policy and provide training on sexual harassment prevention to their employees on an annual basis.

Each New York State employer is required to have a sexual harassment prevention policy in place. The employer's sexual harassment prevention policy must be provided to the employee at the time of hire and during each annual training. The policy can be provided electronically as long as the employee is able to print the policy for their records.

It is recommended you obtain a signed acknowledgment from the employee affirming they have received and read the employer's sexual harassment prevention policy.

There are various free or low-cost online sexual harassment prevention trainings available to your employees.

Click here to learn more.

If you have questions on this topic, please contact Tracy Rickett, Human Resources Generalist, at tracyrickett@unyumc.org or (315) 898-2017.

1. The Upper New York Annual Conference has asked every local church on the district, whether it has decided to offer in-person worship at this time or not, to complete a survey indicating its compliance with the New York State requirements. This was due by June 26th. The District will contact churches who don't respond. Click here to complete this form and indicate your congregation's compliance.

Find an overview of UNY Conference reopening guidelines here and some frequently asked questions on reopening here.

The New York State Guidelines are available online here.

for All Churches to Reopen Church

Sept. 15 - Oct. 15

Resources available click here

Aug. 29 - Sept. 7, 2021

Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis, Minn

in the United States

November 10-12, 2021

Since the members of the Council who attend will be spread apart, it will be helpful if each individual has copies of the reports in front of them during the Charge Conference, either electronically or on paper. Consider printing/distributing or emailing packets of the reports to each person.

Remember: Charge Conference Must Be Announced

AT LEAST 10 days in advance. Announce the time and date during worship, in the newsletter, in meetings, person-to-person.

It is that time of year to think about the shoebox mission for the Red Bird Mission in Kentucky. I realize that things are tough for a lot of churches but the Red Bird Mission is still in need of shoeboxes filled with personal hygiene supplies, new backpacks filled with school supplies, and new sheets, blankets, towels and washcloths. 

We are also collecting gently used clothing that is packed in cardboard boxes and labeled with Ladies, Mens, Boys, and Girls Clothing. (We are also asking people to label the shoeboxes with Adult Male, Adult Female, Boys and Girls, as this helps in getting them to the proper area once we unload at the Red Bird Mission.)

The team is also looking for monetary donations to help cover the cost of the trip to Kentucky. Please Do Not put money in the shoeboxes. Checks can be made payable to Endwell UMC to be deposited in a dedicated line for this mission. The cost of the truck rentals has gone up this year.

As of October 6th this order applied to anyone traveling from:

Click here for more information.