WPAUMC e-news for March 3, 2010

Here's your e-news for Wednesday, March 3, 2010!

Foundation Grant Deadline Near! The March 26 deadline for submitting your application for a 2010 UM Foundation of Western PA ministry grant is rapidly approaching. A maximum of $5000 is available for outstanding project proposals. Guidelines are found in the Grant Application Package on the Foundation Website.
Chile Earthquake: A feeling of uncertainty lingers for survivors of Chile’s massive earthquake as the country struggles to recover. Continuing aftershocks and televised images of damage, desperation and violence has left everyone “in a state of unhealthy alert,” said the Rev. Shana Harrison, a United Methodist missionary based in Santiago. Read Linda Bloom’s UM News Service report.
UMCOR Updates: Read The UMCOR Hotline for updates on Haiti and Chile recovery efforts.
Bishop Shares Tootsie Pops at Haiti Service: The candy was distributed at the Conference Service of Prayer for Haiti last Sunday at Grove City College in memory of two United Methodist Mission leaders who died of injuries suffered in the earthquake. Conference leaders speaking at the service gave thanks for the tremendous outpouring of support for earthquake relief in Western PA. Learn more As of today, designated gifts received through the Conference treasurer’s office for the Haiti Emergency Fund totaled $480,377.
WPA Flooding Expected, Buckets Needed: Fred Watts, Pittsburgh District VIM coordinator, notes that local weather news suggest flooding is likely in Pittsburgh and other areas of the Conference this Spring. The Mission Barn now has 377 Cleaning Buckets. More will be needed. Look for the Cleaning Bucket (formerly flood bucket) instructions on the UMCOR website.
Hunger Can Be Conquered: Churches are extremely important for pushing the moral importance of the issue of hunger, according to Wall Street Journal reporters Rober Thurow and Scott Kilman, authors of Enough: Why the World’s Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty. Read Rob Moll’s interview with Thorow in Christianity Today.
Faith and Money: Many Christians tend to over-simplify scriptures teaching about money, writes Ann Michel in this week’s Leading Ideas. She says New Testament scholar Ben Witherington provides a thoughtful analysis in Jesus and Money: A Guide for Times of Financial Crisis (Brazos Press, 2010). He seeks a more nuanced, holistic, and contextually informed understanding of faith and money. Read more.
Like Asking for Money? J. Clif Cristopher says most clergy have a very difficult time doing that. Some do it as a necessity while others never do it at all. What everyone needs to know, he writes in Leading Ideas, is that it makes a lot of sense to learn to ask. Learn more.
Finance-Administration Workshops: The first two of 10 district Healthy Church Finance events with Treasurer Pat Morris and other leaders is schedule for 6:15 p.m., Tuesday, March 9 at Trinity UMC in McMurray and Thursday, March 11 at Calvary UMC in Uniontown. Learn more.
Abingdon Explands Digital Offerings: UM News Service reports that along with more than 250 titles currently available on Amazon's Kindle, Abingdon Press is preparing to deliver content on Blio and nook platforms, as well as offering download options on Symtio and providing first chapters and metadata via Dial-A-Book. Over the next few months, the United Methodist publisher will prepare e-book versions of Enough by Adam Hamilton and The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow, a novel by Joyce Magnin that was downloaded more than 7,000 times.
Worship in a Blizzard: Despite the blizzard that recently paralyzed much of the East Coast, some clergy in Baltimore-Washington area used webcasting, social media, and conference calls to do “church”. Read more.
Deaths: A memorial service was held for Robert E. Harper, board chair of UM Foundation of Western PA, February 28 at Coraopolis UMC, where he had been a lifelong member. See other obituaries on the wpaumc.org website.
In the News: The Washington Observer-Reporter ran a feature on Washington, PA churches partnering with a local restaurant in a fund-raising buffet Friday for Haiti earthquake relief.
WICU-TV in Erie featured the UMCOR kit assembly event that Glenwood UMC hosted for the Erie churches and community.
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