October is Pastor Appreciation Month

Every year, the month of October is observed as Pastor Appreciation Month or Clergy Appreciation Month and the second Sunday of October is celebrated as Pastor's Appreciation Day.

Pastors do so much in the life of the church and they deserve to be appreciated. What can your church do to show your appreciation for your Pastor?

ResourceUMC has some ideas

Presbyterian Apology and Reparations events

This coming weekend, which surrounds Indigenous Peoples' Day, Kunéix Hídi Northern Light United Church will be hosting three healing events to acknowledge the racist closure of the Memorial Presbyterian Church in the 1960s and the hurt brought upon the Juneau Indigenous community.

You can learn more about what happened and of the more recent years that Kunéix Hídi Northern Light United Church has put into this acknowledgment, apology, and reparation on their website.

M.I.L.E. + Eliminating Racism resources

As churches and ministry settings prepare for charge conferences, two new pages on the Greater Northwest Area website have been created to assist individuals seeking more information about Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth's vision for going the M.I.L.E. (including a video) and specific resources to begin the work of eliminating racism, cultivated by Kristina Gonzalez, GNW executive director for innovation and vitality. 

• Going the M.I.L.E.
• Eliminating Racism

Charge Conference assistance

Don't forget that Crystal in the Conference Office is available during work hours to help individuals get logged into their People Portal to work on the Charge Conference paperwork. Don't wait until the last minute!

'Housing God's Beloved' Nov. 4 event now open

Registration is now open to participate in the "Housing God's Beloved" hybrid event Nov. 4 at Parkrose UMC in Portland, Oregon, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Pacific Time. The event is open to anyone in the GNW Area to attend in person or online. A planning team is hard at work putting together the programming for the seminar/workshop/conference. Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth, who is championing the cause of going the M.I.L.E. through ministry that matters in the area of housing, will be one of the keynote speakers.

Register now!

Advanced Preaching class for Certified Lay Ministers and Lay Speakers

An Advanced Preaching Class is being offered for Certified Lay Ministers and Lay Speakers on Oct 21 & 28 via Zoom to provide students with advanced skills in preaching. Participants will receive feedback from experienced preachers on a sermon they prepare and deliver. This free course requires an Introductory Course in Preaching as a prerequisite. Do not delay in registering; space is limited to 9 students.

Learn more and register on the PNW Conference website.

Called to Preach: A Lay Servant Ministries advanced course

For those looking to take what they've learned in a Lay Servant Ministries basic course a little bit farther, this class is open to anyone in the GNW Area to attend. It runs on Thursday evenings, starting Oct. 19.

Learn more + register on the OR-ID Conference website.

Living Our United Methodist Beliefs - Advanced Lay Servant Ministries course offering on Zoom

Living Our United Methodist Beliefs (United Methodist Heritage) explores the special gifts of theology, witness, and organization that The United Methodist Church brings to the church universal, how we got where we are today, and how our distinctive emphases are still needed in the 21st-century church. This is an Advanced LSM course.

Learn more + register on the OR-ID Conference website.

Service, reception welcoming back bishop

With her return to active ministry after a church trial acquitted her, Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño led a service of worship and Holy Communion Oct. 1, World Communion Sunday, at First United Methodist Church in Sacramento. After the service, the California-Nevada Conference held a reception to welcome her back.

UM News: Church court finds bishop not guilty

General Conference delegates urged to save date

Delegates for the postponed 2020 General Conference are encouraged to mark their calendars for a livestreamed orientation and briefing taking place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. U.S. Central time Feb. 29-March 1. United Methodist Communications and United Methodist News will host the online event, which also will be recorded for future viewing.

Read the press release

Rural churches fuel economies

According to a study of 87 rural churches in North Carolina, each rural church contributes between $488,598 and $735,000 of value to its local economy each year. The economic contributions suggest rural churches should be measured by more than the length of their membership rolls and giving.

Read the story

Filipino lay leaders call for autonomy

United Methodist lay leaders in the Philippines are calling for the Philippines Central Conference to become autonomous from The United Methodist Church without going through the process laid out in the church’s Book of Discipline. The call was presented during the Board of Laity’s forum Sept. 2. However, the three newly elected bishops in the country, who attended the gathering, emphasized their commitment to preserving the unity of the church.

Read the story

Faith leaders advocate for peace, reunification of Koreas

The Fourth Roundtable for Peace on the Korean Peninsula, hosted by the Korean Methodist Church, The United Methodist Church and the World Methodist Council, featured special lectures and peace ministry reports on the status of reunification. The Roundtable also adopted a statement pledging to seek lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Read the story

Conference introduces re-affiliation policy

After a difficult year processing over 190 church disaffiliations, the Alabama-West Florida Conference board of trustees shared its newly adopted re-affiliation policy. “We’ve talked about disaffiliation for long enough; the conversation needs to turn towards reconciliation,” said the Rev. Nathan Attwood, who made the motion for the creation of the policy.

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Holding Sacred Space mental health seminar

Creating space in which to break the stigma of mental illness, this webinar series with special guests emphasizes the intersectionalities of mental health, faith and social action. The series, hosted by Church and Society, is comprised of six webinars that will take place throughout October. Registration is required for each webinar.

Learn more and register

Partnership with East Angola celebrates 20 years

When Bishop Warner H. Brown was elected in 2000, he challenged churches in his episcopal area to provide salary support to clergy in the East Angola Conference. Today, the Mountain Sky Conference provides $50 a month to over 100 clergy and funds an agricultural program overseen by a missionary.

Read the story