Bishop Gwinn calls for Budget Summit on August 16
Bishop Al Gwinn invites all conference boards and agencies hoping to receive funding through the 2009 Budget to send their executive committee to a "Budget Summit: Living into the Vision" to be held Wednesday, August 16, 10 a.m. until 12 noon at Garner UMC in Garner. Conference Connectional Ministries Executive Director Charles M. Smith and Conference Treasurer/Business Manager Sharon Strother will join Bishop Gwinn in leading a discussion of budget building to better match up vision and priorities with adequate funding. The summit will work from the Conference Vision and the Council of Bishops' Seven Pathways for Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World. The concept of zero-based budgeting and the timeline for the budgeting process will be discussed.
Scouting ministry "fall roundup"
Boy Scout partners will be holding their annual "fall roundup" for new Cub Scout and Boy Scout members in August and September. Scout leaders will be asking pastors and church leaders to promote this recruiting initiative by using special bulletin inserts, allowing the distribution of flyers before and after church events and services, placing supportive announcements on local church websites, welcoming scout speakers, and posting announcements on street-side church marquees. Pastors and church leaders are asked to do everything possible to welcome all these promotion opportunities. Look for BSA website references at www.nccumc.org for specific fall roundup information in your area.
Is your congregation ready to welcome visitors?
Back to School time is when people visit congregations looking for a church home. Igniting Ministry will have "welcoming" spots running on cable television nationally. The NC Conference Communications Commission will have additional "welcome" broadcast spots on most of the ABC, CBS, NBC affiliates in the conference, as well as additional cable and radio buys in some districts. Congregations should plan to welcome visitors and helping them feel at home, especially during late August and most of September. The NC Conference TV spots run the week of September 4 and 18. For assistance with welcoming:
Connecting Worship and Back to School: http://www.gbod.org/worship/default.asp?act=reader&item_id=1770&loc_id=9,10,32,54 and Igniting Ministry: http://www.ignitingministry.org/
The Third Sunday in August (August 20) is Golden Cross Sunday and the Fourth Sunday (August 27) is Disciple Bible Outreach Ministries (DBOM) Sunday. Each should be observed with an offering. If there is a conflict in your congregation for the designated date, take an offering at another appropriate date.
Register now for Financial and Retirement Planning Worship
There are spaces still available for registration for the 2006 Financial and Retirement Planning Workshop. This one day Financial and Retirement Planning Workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, August 23 , at Hayes Barton UMC in Raleigh. The workshop will include vital financial and retirement planning information for any pastor. If you will be considering retirement in the next 10-20 years, this event will include essential facts for you. Encourage your spouse to attend. If you are younger and/or new to the United Methodist ministry, this workshop will help you prepare with accurate, current, and practical information for that "distant" event. Additional information and download of the brochure are available from the Conference Pension website , OR contact Sharon Saige in the Conference Treasurer's office (ext. 316) for more information.
E-Mail survey about conference insurance plan
On Friday, August 4, an e-mail survey was sent on behalf of the Insurance Committee to all active pastors in the conference. The purpose of this survey is to gather information regarding the enrollment of local church lay employees in the conference insurance plan. Thank you to all who have participated so far! Responses have been invaluable. If you have not had a chance to respond to the e-mail, then please do so by August 31, 2006. Please send your response to JoAnna Cafferty, in the Treasurer's Office, at jcafferty@nccumc.org . For more information regarding the enrollment of lay employees in the conference insurance plan, please refer to Numeral V, Section D, page 312 of the 2005 Conference Journal or contact any member of the Benefits Team at 1-800-849-4433.
Discovery Weekend training
Discovery Weekend is a spiritual life retreat weekend for middle school youth hosted and led by senior high youth and adults within a local church. Melody Traylor, founder of Discovery Ministries, will conduct a training/introductory workshop at Garner UMC on Sunday, October 15 from 2-4pm. More information is available at the Discovery Ministries website: www.discoveryministries.org . There is no cost to attend the training but a call to Garner UMC to let them know how many to expect is appreciated.
Listen to the Children
The books made up of children's drawings and prayers from across Methodism in NC that were published for the Children's March on the State Capitol in June are available for anyone who would like one (while copies remain). They were available for download via the children's march website that is now inactive. To have a copy of the book mailed to you, please contact Robin Harry at rharry@nccumc.org .
Safe Sanctuaries
Joy Melton, author of the books on Safe Sanctuaries will be in the Conference on October 27 and 28 to lead a follow-up resource event for churches implementing safe sanctuaries policy and procedures. The resource event will be from 10am to 4pm each day. Friday, October 27 will be at Garner UMC and Saturday, October 28 will be at Queen St UMC in Kinston. Pre-registration will be required - watch for further details on this. Every local church is expected to have a policy adopted and to have begun implementation of the procedures and practices for safe ministry by charge conference this fall.
