A weekly news update from The Alaska United Methodist Conference |
|
Annual Conference information
Registration for the 2022 Annual Conference Session is now closed. If you are supposed to be registered and have missed the deadline, please contact the conference office immediately.
An addendum to the Pre-Conference Handbook will be coming out this week. Our goal is by Wednesday afternoon. Please keep checking your email to make sure you don't miss anything. If you don't receive these emails or they accidentally get deleted, please reach out to the conference office. We truly don't want to miss those that need the information but sometimes things get over looked. Thanks!
VOTER ID'S will be sent out directly to all individuals who have registered and have met the criteria to be a voting member. These emails will come from the Conference Office in the next few days. Please keep an eye out for this important email. These are unique voting numbers that are random and should not be shared with anyone as each person will have their own.
-
Greater Northwest Laity Session - June 14, 5:30 p.m. AKT. This event is for all Lay Members to Annual Conference. They have been sent a specific link to participate directly from the Conference Lay Leader, Jo Anne Hayden. If you did not receive this link, please contact the conference office or Jo Anne to participate. ALL OTHERS are welcome to watch the live stream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZhR-iVtBm0
-
Alaska Pre-Conference Informational Meeting - June 14, 6:30-7:30 p.m. AKT. This meeting, which follows the Laity Session, is for all clergy and lay members to annual conference. This is an opportunity for discussion on petitions and reports in the pre-conference handbook. Be sure to review the Pre-Conference Handbook before the meeting. Those people can participate here: https://greaternw.zoom.us/j/98796443846
-
Greater Northwest Opening Session - June 19, 5 p.m. AKT. Clergy and Lay Members will have a unique link sent to them by email. However, this will be a live streamed event so anyone can watch it here: https://youtu.be/uKPVSkpZ2tI
-
Alaska Conference Plenary Session - June 20, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. AKT. All voting members will receive their specific link information by email once it is available. Anyone interested in watching, can do so through our Alaska Conference YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/AKUnitedMethodist. A more direct link to the actual live stream may be sent out once that has been set up.
-
Pacific Northwest Service of Commissioning & Ordination - June 22, 10 a.m. AKT. If you would like to watch those in the PNW Conference be commissioned and ordained, you can watch the live stream here: https://youtu.be/0wBHsVYynZY. Meghan Woods will be commissioned and will start serving at Seward Memorial UMC and Moose Pass UMC on July 1.
-
Oregon-Idaho Service of Commissioning & Ordination - June 24, 10 a.m. AKT. If you would like to watch those in the OR-ID Conference be commissioned and ordained, you can watch the live stream here: www.umoi.org/ac
-
Greater Northwest Closing Session - June 25 - 8 a.m. AKT. Clergy and Lay Members will have a unique link sent to them by email. However, this will be a live streamed event so anyone can watch it here: https://youtu.be/j2ScPQwD5XM This will consist of a shared plenary session and closing worship including a celebration of the bishop's ministry as she will be retiring at the end of this year.
Pacific Northwest Conference's website has a section that allows folks to check to make sure they will be able to participate effectively during the sessions. You can view what they have posted and watch a GNTV Member Training. Keep in mind this is specific to PNW and not Alaska. Check it out if you want a refresher: https://www.pnwumc.org/ac2022/webinar-access/
If any of the Lay Members missed the New Lay Member Orientation, it was recorded and that information can be shared with you. Either contact the conference office or Conference Lay Leader, Jo Anne Hayden, for that information.
|
|
Would you like to go on a mission trip in July?
The United Methodist Church of Chugiak is sending a small work team to Nome to install flooring at Nome Community UMC from July 11-16. They will be sleeping & cooking in the church and laying vinyl panels & carpet throughout the church.
Because of the scope of the work, we could use a few (3?) more workers for the week. If you are interested in doing some good work for the good people of Nome, please contact Pastor Jim Doepken (pastorjim@gmail.com).
|
|
Jurisdiction commits to Tongan relief
Through song, dance, tool drives and other efforts, ministry settings across the Western Jurisdiction are doing their part to provide support and relief to the small island nation of Tonga in the aftermath of a devastating volcanic tsunami in January. Kristen Caldwell reports how United Methodists in the jurisdiction are reaching out to Tongan siblings across the ocean.
Contribute to the GNW Tongan relief fund
The Greater Northwest Episcopal Area is blessed with several Tongan churches and siblings who have shaped our collective ministry. When you make a contribution to the GNW Tongan relief fund you will help purchase shipping containers to send much-needed supplies like food, clothing, water and tools. Additionally, we will use this fund to support long-term response by sending UMVIM-lead rebuilding teams. A task force of the GNW Area Tongan leaders is being created to help discern the distribution of these funds.
|
|
Clergy session vote highlights LGBTQ divide
The Florida Conference clergy session last week decided against approving an entire 16-person slate for advancement on the track to becoming ordained elders or deacons. The decision roiled the conference, reverberated across The United Methodist Church and underscored the denomination’s conflict over full LGBTQ inclusion.
|
|
Protocol's day has passed, some negotiators say
More than a quarter of the leaders who negotiated the proposed Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation say they “can no longer, in good faith, support” the proposal. The negotiators said they reached this conclusion after discussions with General Conference delegates and members of their constituencies.
|
|
IRS increases mileage rate for remainder of 2022
The Internal Revenue Service today announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rate for the final 6 months of 2022. Taxpayers may use the optional standard mileage rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business and certain other purposes. For the final 6 months of 2022, the standard mileage rate for business travel will be 62.5 cents per mile, up 4 cents from the rate effective at the start of the year ... These new rates become effective July 1, 2022.
|
|
Still in Mission episode 44 and a special episode
Global Ministries is excited to invite you to join them for #StillInMission Episode 44!
United Methodist Missionaries are #stillinmission and we hope that you will join them to learn more!
PS. Have you heard? Global Ministries will be having a special episode of #StillInMission on June 23, 2022 at 12:00 ET. This table talk discussion will feature women missionaries serving on the continent of Africa as they discuss what it is like to engage in mission as a woman in the church and in the world. Click here to learn more and to register.
|
|
New leadership for immigration ministry
United Methodist immigration ministry National Justice for Our Neighbors has announced a new leadership team, with co-executive directors Melissa Bowe and Alba Jaramillo set to take the helm of the advocacy network. Jaramillo was the executive director of Arizona Justice for Our Neighbors and a national and local leader in immigration advocacy and human rights. Bowe has served in multiple roles at National JFON over the course of nine years, most recently as deputy director.
|
|
Online history courses available
The United Methodist Commission on Archives and History has launched a new online teaching platform, the UM History Hub. The hub currently offers registration for the Local Church Historians' School; an online course that focuses on past splits, separations and reconciliations of the denomination; and another course for young people on Wesleyan heritage.
|
|
Join the Racial Justice Prayer & Action Challenge
Religion and Race invites congregations to take part in a six-week challenge starting on Juneteenth (June 19) that uses the power of prayer, communal worship and suggested individual practices to promote racial justice. Downloadable resources include original items written by Christians all over the world. They are available in multiple languages.
|
|
Ways United Methodists can take a stand against gun violence
In the wake of the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde and Tulsa, many United Methodists may be considering ways to respond to gun violence in their midst. United Methodist Communications has suggested strategies and practices available for those who wish to take a stand.
|
|
14: GNW Laity session (5:30 p.m. AKT)
14: Alaska Pre-Conference Informational Meeting (6:30 p.m.)
19: Father's Day
19: Juneteenth
19: GNW Opening Session (5 p.m. AKT)
20: Alaska Conference Plenary Session (9 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
22: PNW Service of Commissioning & Ordination, (10 a.m. AKT)
24: Oregon-Idaho Service of Commissioning & Ordination (10 a.m. AKT)
25: GNW Closing Session (8 a.m. AKT)
|
|
4: Independence Day - Office Closed |
|
Upcoming Clergy Birthdays
June 15 - Matt Reinders
July 11 - Bob Smith
Joseph DowlingSoka
July 21 - Lisa Talbott
|
|
|
Conference Office
907-333-5050
Superintendent - Christina DowlingSoka
Director of Connectional Ministries - Lisa Talbott
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
We acknowledge that the Methodist Church is complicit with and rooted in the colonization of Alaska and recognize that we live in that ongoing legacy. We lament the harm and trauma that our faith community causes. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Movement, summarized God’s directives with three Rules: do no harm, do good, and attend to the ordinances of God. We also celebrate the grace, the love, and the good that our church does that calls us to re-imagine mission through intentional discipleship with one another.
We will live into the transition to a Mission District committed to:
Alaska Conference Values
- The love of God, neighbor, and self, demonstrated by the deliberate embracing and valuing of differences, the leveling of imbalances between people and systems, and the intentional dismantling of inequities in whatever forms they present themselves.
- Healing, grace-filled mission with communities and churches that prioritizes local experiences and shares resources across time and distance through equitable relationships.
- Living into connectionalism by belonging to and trusting in one another to nurture relationships that celebrate the gifts each of our communities bring, allowing us to move forward in a decolonized way.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
