Denman Award Winner - David Means

David Means of Aldersgate UMC in Juneau was a Harry Denman Evangelism Award winner at the 2023 Alaska Annual Conference in Fairbanks, Alaska.  He was nominated by Rev. Kristi McGuire.

David is well-known to many throughout the life of the Alaska Conference. He has been on many of the Conference committees and boards including the Trustees, Committee on Finance and Administration, and the Leadership Team. David has served in almost every area possible to support the ministry of the Alaska Conference and his local congregation. Moreover, Superintendent Christina DowlingSoka says, "He does a superb job serving as the chair of our lay servant ministries committee."

While David reaches out to the community in many ways, it is his work in an Aldersgate UMC Adult Book Study and covenant group that highlight his work in evangelism.

According to Rev. McGuire, this study and covenant group “has kept disciples together and has maintained, restored, and reignited their faith in God through Christ. This group has been with each other through many sufferings and struggles. David has ministered to this group of adults as a teacher and leader. Each person who participates has shared with me the importance of David’s work in their faith. This group has met weekly almost non-stop – even on Special Sundays where you would expect them to take a Sunday off.  His innovative evangelism has been simple, consistent, focused, [with] thorough study of John Wesley, Scripture, and the United Methodist Faith.”

This work became all the more important during a global pandemic. 

Thank you, David.

Ordinand - Rev. Murray Crookes

Meet Murray Crookes, Ordained Elder 2023

I am Murray Crookes, child of Alan Crookes and Doris Main (Schaefer) with roots from Europe (Crookes), Canada (Gildersleeve), America (Schaefer) and Siberia (Walunga). I was born in Ketchikan, grew up in Craig, Sitka, and later in Pawhuska, OK, the home of my step-father, Miles Main. My parents were raised Seventh-Day Adventist and met at a church summer camp and both attended Auburn Academy. My maternal grandmother also attended a Seventh-Day Adventist boarding school, but it was a very different kind. I was raised in a non-religious home and didn’t learn about Jesus until I was a teenager, attending home church with my aunt Lucy in Gambell, AK. I was baptized and joined First UMC of Pawhuska, OK and was briefly the choir director my senior year of high school. I attended Oklahoma City University with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and Spanish. I studied abroad at a Methodist university in Argentina (UCEL), where I met Chivi, my amazing wife. We started our family in Sitka, then went back to Oklahoma for seminary at St. Paul School of Theology, where I served in the Oklahoma and Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conferences. With the whole family, including Alana, Lucia and our dog Lady, we moved back to Alaska to plant Every Nation UMC and finish the candidacy process through the PNW, where I was commissioned (2021) and Ordained (2023). I’m now looking forward to our next steps at Anchor Park UMC, with Every Nation UMC, and the Alaska Native HOPE Network.

Picture caption:

Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth ordains Murray Crookes as an elder during a June 15 2023 Service of Commissioning and Ordination held at Mason United Methodist Church in Tacoma, Washington. The service was part of the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.

Photo by Paul Jeffrey/Life on Earth Pictures

Certified Lay Ministry courses being offered

Pastor Andy Bartel will teach a Certified Lay Servant Ministry Basic Course on Wednesday evenings in August from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 2-30. This class will meet both in person at St. John UMC and via Zoom, with a limit of 12 people. Sign up here.

Pastor Andy will also teach a Certified Lay Servant Ministry Preaching Course on Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. Oct. 15-Nov. 12. This will be a hybrid class as well, meeting in person at St. John or via Zoom with a limit of 6 people. Completion of the Lay Servant Basic Course is required before taking this course. Sign up here.

Now hiring a Project Manager (PM_ for the Citywide Childcare Cooperative (CCC) at First UMC, Anchorage

This project will create an innovative Worker-Owned Cooperative childcare start-up in downtown Anchorage serving up to 52 children and their families. The PM will manage the CCC program launch including coordination with community partners to achieve stated goals: 1) develop business model, 2) develop operations and licensing, 3) complete building renovations and safety upgrades, and 4) CCC pilot program launch.

Full-time, salary exempt position in Anchorage, Alaska, $60,000-$75,000.

Interested candidates should submit resume and cover-letter to citywidechildcarecoop@outlook.com.

See full position description here.

Deaconess Chivi's journal now available to order

If you were in Fairbanks during Annual Conference, you heard Bishop Cedrick promoting my self-published book titled "A JOURNAL TO LIBERATE YOUR HEART". I finally created an order form, linked at the bottom of this paragraph.

If you have any questions, or would like more information, please feel free to contact me at deaconesschivi@gmail.com.

Journals are $9.00 each, and I can mail them to you, or deliver them if you are in the area.

You can find the order form here: https://forms.gle/6JWemuzV3wQyVBkN6

Thank you for your support!

-Deaconess Chivi Capezio Crookes

Belonging: An Intergenerational Soul Care Retreat

United Women in Faith is offering a new approach to personal enrichment focused on giving care to your whole person—mind, body, and spirit. Our approach to Soul Care embraces both self-care and spiritual rejuvenation.

The retreat will enrich us through thought-provoking speakers, music, poetry,

playshops, sacred circle discussions, networking and more! The retreat provides us opportunity to bring new women into our United Women in Faith Sisterhood. Each woman registering is to invite a friend not already in UWF, and because this will be an intergenerational retreat, we are striving for a diverse blend of women.

Our “BELONGING” retreat theme will bring us into intentional community as we slow down, reflect and renew. While we do, we claim the joy, the hope, and the fulfillment of being in harmony with self and spirit.

Registration is Open!

Early Registration $180 June 15—July 15 After July 15: $200

Registration ends August 1.

Click here: Registration Form

For more information contact

Bonita Miller 907-440-1636 OR

Janice Nightingale 907-398-7844

Memorial service for Gene Groves set for July 8

Anchorage, Alaska, resident Gene Groves died on April 17, 2023, from heart failure, at age 87. A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m., on July 8, 2023, at Chugiak United Methodist Church.

Gene first came to Alaska in 1958, with the Methodist Church as a youth pastor working in the Panhandle. He later served as Associate Pastor at 1st United Methodist Church of Anchorage.

In 1964, Gene met and married LaRae Groves, a Spanish and English teacher at East High. In 1967, they moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, where Gene served as Associate Pastor at 1st United Methodist Church of Fairbanks and Director of Wesley Foundation at UAF. They welcomed their first son Jeffry in 1967. They moved to Chugiak in 1969, and Gene served as the Pastor of Chugiak United Methodist Church for eight years. They welcomed their second son Joel in 1976. In 1977, the couple returned to Anchorage and Gene retired from the ministry. He worked in property management and banking until his retirement in 2006.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Turnagain United Methodist Church.

Read his full obituary here.

Draw the Circle Wide

Alaska United Women in Faith will be holding their Annual Gathering at Anchor Park UMC September 29 - October 1, 2023.

The scripture focus for the weekend is Romans 15:7, "So reach out and welcome one another to God's glory. Jesus did it; now you do it! (The Message)"

The keynote speaker will be the United Women in Faith National Board President 'Ainise 'Isama'u and the worship leader will be Rev. Bennie Grace Nabua of UMC of Sitka.

Registration form will come out soon. Save the date now! Learn more about the schedule here.

Statement on Supreme Court ruling on Affirmative Action

In response to last week's decision made by the Supreme Court regarding Affirmative Action, leaders of four United Methodist General Agencies – General Board of Church and Society, General Commission on Religion and Race, General Commission on the Status and Role of Women, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry – released a joint statement expressing their views on the decision.

Read their statement on the Supreme Court decision here

Africa University graduates its largest class

More than 950 students from 19 countries received degrees during Africa University’s 29th graduation ceremony, with women representing 60% of the class of 2023. The United Methodist university also saw the graduation of Collins Prempeh, the first Deaf student from the Institute of Theology and Religious Studies.

Read the story

AU: Graduate aspires to transform Deaf ministry in Ghana

New 2023 annual conference reports posted

United Methodist News is posting 2023 annual conference reports. New this week are the Alabama-West Florida, Alaska, Dakotas, Great Plains, Indiana, Michigan and New England conferences.

Read the reports

Church connects farmers and city dwellers

Every United Methodist knows that food has the power to connect and build community. The Rev. Kate Fields, a biologist turned pastor, is helping Belmont United Methodist Church near Nashville’s downtown connect with local farmers and is developing curriculum other churches can use.

Watch the video

Grants available for mental health, wellness initiatives

United Methodist pastors and laity in the United States are invited to apply for CORR Action Fund grants — for up to $10,000 — to create cohorts and small groups focused on mental health awareness and wellness. The deadline to apply is July 15.

Learn more and apply

Cyclone Freddy aid reaches Madagascar

Members of the first United Methodist church in Madagascar stepped up to be the hands and feet of Jesus for people devastated by Cyclone Freddy earlier this year. Nine volunteers traveled more than 300 miles to distribute food to families affected by the deadly storm. The aid was purchased with grant money from the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

Read the story

UM News: Bishop makes historic visit to Madagascar

Global Ministries staffer mourned near and far

Year after year, the Rev. Edgar Avitia Legarda traveled across Latin America and beyond for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, encouraging mission work and tending relationships with various Methodist groups. His June 27 death from a heart attack, at age 62, prompted an outpouring of grief among far-flung colleagues.

Read the story

Vandals cause $100,000 damage to church

Fowler United Methodist Church has learned that vandals who broke into the historic Black church earlier this month caused about $100,000 in damage. The destruction is being investigated as a hate crime. In the meantime, fellow United Methodist churches are reaching out with aid.

Read the story

Baltimore-Washington Conference: Vandals strike church

Estonian churches leave United Methodist fold

The 23 churches in the nation of Estonia have completed the steps to depart The United Methodist Church and form the autonomous Estonia Methodist Church. United Methodists in the Northern Europe and Eurasia Central Conference met earlier this year to approve a process allowing the churches to disaffiliate.

Read the story

UM News: Eurasia and Estonia begin exit from church

Check out UM News on TikTok

UM News is now providing news and features through TikTok. Find us on the social media platform as unitedmethodistnews. Initial stories focus on such diverse topics as The United Methodist Church’s growth in Madagascar, a “Moral Monday” march in Tennessee, the chartering of a Samoan congregation in Alaska and the impact of a prison ministry in West Virginia. Vernon Jordan brings the stories.

View videos

Learn about missionary work

Missionaries will share about their work during a Zoom meeting at 7 p.m. U.S. Eastern time July 6 to give prospective missionaries insights. Missionaries to Taiwan, the U.S. and Hong Kong plan to participate.

Read the press release

Register for event

How do we sustain and renew our links to the living world around us?

Humans have always been tasked by God to be stewards of the world around us. United Methodists embrace this charge in multiple ways. The first three entries in Ask The UMC’s new summer series, “Our Living World,” explore ways The United Methodist Church seeks to protect and promote our connections with animal and plant life.

Start learning