A weekly news update from The Alaska United Methodist Conference
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Spam emails from Bishop Stanovsky
Many of you may have received a fraudulent email from someone posing as Bishop Stanovsky on Saturday. Please do not respond to these emails in any way.
Most of the time these phishing attack are not the result of anyone's account being hacked. The names and email addresses of conference and district staff, as well as those of local church leaders, are often available in publicly accessible locations like the conference website, local church websites, and the Find-A-Church database on UMC.org. Unfortunately, while it is important to provide contact information to people for legitimate reasons, it also provides an opportunity for unscrupulous criminals.
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Certified Lay Servant classes offered
Rev. Andy Bartel will be offering the Certified Lay Ministry BASIC and PREACHING courses again this fall on Wednesday evenings from 6-8 p.m., both in-person in Anchorage and via Zoom.
The Basic class will run Sept 14, 21, 28, Oct 5, and 12. The Preaching class will run Oct 19, 26, Nov 2, 9, 16. Space is limited, and is open to all Alaska United Methodists.
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Would you like to send a work team to Nome?
The United Methodist Church of Chugiak took a 7-person work team to Nome Community UMC from July 10-16 to install flooring. Pastor Jim Doepken and four members of the Chugiak church were joined by one from Fairbanks First UMC and Pastor April Hall of Kenai and North Star UMCs. They worked hard, laying flooring over a portion of the Nome church. This meant cleaning and repairing the old floor, stapling underlayment/subfloor, and applying vinyl flooring with glue. It is a lengthy process. You can read more about their work and see pictures at the UMCC website HERE.
However the work is only approximately 1/3 done. To assist the Nome church this year, The UMC of Chugiak and Nome Community UMC are hoping to get two more teams to Nome to install flooring... one in August and one in September. While a few members of the Chugiak crew are looking to get back in September, we are hoping there are others who would like to get to Nome and do some good work for that community. Dates are unclear at this time, but if a "construction foreman" or a couple of really skilled workers have a week that works, the trip could be planned around them.
If you would like to lead or be a member of a team, please reach out to Pastor Jim Doepken. If a church would like to mobilize a crew for August, that would be awesome. The Chugiak team learned a lot about what to do (and what not to do) when working on the flooring.
Please note, the best size for a team is no more than 8 people. That's how many will fit in the Nome UMC van.
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District Superintendent killed in carjacking
Many are feeling shock and grief after a United Methodist district superintendent was shot and killed in an apparent carjacking. The Rev. Autura Eason-Williams was a beloved leader in the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference.
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Hispanic pastor made large impact
The Rev. Roberto Gómez had a 43-year career as a United Methodist clergyman, making a large impact as pastor, district superintendent, general agency board member and more. He also pushed successfully for a Spanish-language hymnal for the denomination. Gómez died May 26 at age 75.
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United Methodist Communications to host a Podcast-a-thon
United Methodist Communications has announced plans for the inaugural United Methodist Podcast-a-thon event to take place on August 2, 2022.
The day-long event will showcase eight podcasts from the United Methodist general agencies delivered via Facebook Live on the ResourceUMC Facebook page.
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106 Florida churches sue to exit denomination
The Florida Conference is facing a lawsuit filed by more than 100 churches that want to leave The United Methodist Church with property and transfer to a breakaway, theologically conservative denomination.
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Church and Soceity announces 2022 grant funding cycle
Grants support local UMC churches, annual conferences, caucuses and community partners to further ministries of Justice and Peace.
The time frame to submit grant applications to The General Board of Church and Society is August 1, 2022 to September 16, 2022 via their new online application system opening on their website (Grants page) August 1, 2022.
Funding is provided through three grant programs: Ethnic Local Church Grants, Human Relations Day Grants, and Peace with Justice Grants.
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Book aims to empower dementia caregivers
People want to help caregivers of dementia patients but usually don’t know how to best help. A new book by Elizabeth Shulman, a former United Methodist pastor and health care chaplain, offers group exercises to empower caregivers and to help congregations be in ministry with them.
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Church and fire company serve community
The Nisbet Fire Company sits across the street from Nisbet United Methodist Church in this rural Pennsylvania town, and their relationship is deeply rooted. Community activities in which they cooperate include Easter egg hunts, yard and craft sales and a community Christmas dinner.
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New coloring pages release from IFCU
A new batch of coloring pages from Interfaith Federal Credit Union: Direction, Patience, and Balance, have been released. IFCU invites you to color, display and gift these pages out into your community as a way to inspire smiles and spread joy. This makes the total number of designs at 18.
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Course helps churches create impactful imagery
A new course from United Methodist Communications aims to equip church leaders to easily create graphic designs and videos for social media, presentations and more. "Outreach and Design Using Canva" is scheduled for Aug. 15-Sept. 9. Designed with busy schedules in mind, the course will be delivered in a self-paced online format. Optional live web session gatherings are set for 1 p.m. U.S. Central time Tuesdays and Thursdays. Registration will run through Aug. 10.
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Guide offers discounts, resources for ministry
The General Council on Finance and Administration has released its updated Ministry Resource Guide. The free guide features special offers, discounts and programs from vetted ministry partners and is designed to help local churches and other United Methodist ministries.
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24-28: Christina at DS/DCM Training out of state
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4: AUMC Professional Church Workers Check-in
4-5: Crystal out of the office
16-19: GNW Cabinet Retreat - Christina & Lisa attending
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Upcoming Clergy Birthdays
August 13 - Bennie Grace Nabua
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Conference Office
907-333-5050
Superintendent - Christina DowlingSoka
Director of Connectional Ministries - Lisa Talbott
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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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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.
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