WPAUMC e-news for April 7, 2010
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Here’s your e-news for Wednesday, April 7, 2010! Tell Us About Your Change the World Events! Let us know what you’re planning for Change the World weekend April 24-25. Click here to submit details through our website or e-mail news@wpaumc.org.
Smaller Church Makes Big Difference with Nets Event: White Chapel UMC, with an average Sunday attendance of 70, took action to save lives of children at risk from malaria in Africa. When the challenge was put to children in the church, they raised $1110 with a recent Nothing But Nets bowl-a-thon, according to Mission/VIM Coordinator Diane Miller.
Going Green? Allegheny College offers a half-day workshop April 17 for congregations and clergy interested in environmental stewardship. There are workshops for those in all stages of “going green.” Learn more.
Mission Barn is UMCOR Hub! The Eastbrook Mission Barn is now officially part of the UMCOR Relief Supply Network. Representatives of Eastbrook UMC signed a memorandum of understanding with UMCOR on March 25. Read a New Castle News feature on the Mission Barn. Volunteers show up at the barn daily to help verify kits. Last week, workers from St. John and Forrestville UMC’s joined Bill Dean of Eastbrook UMC, Rev. Nelson Thayer and Bob Falla of the Mission Barn in leveling the Barn floor. See photos and become a Mission Barn fan on Facebook.
Cleaning (a/k/a Flood) Buckets Needed! A truck from Maine is expected at the Mission Barn tomorrow to pick up all 485 of the cleaning buckets (formerly known as Flood Buckets) on hand. They’re going to people affected by severe flooding during Holy Week in Rhode Island. If you can help replenish the bucket supply, there’s a recipe on the Mission Barn web page or check out this video on what to include.
Facing a Pastoral Change: There’s help available! The Conference offers TRANSITIONS seminars for laity and clergy. The first one is April 13 in Somerset. Others are scheduled at various locations. Learn more and register. You can download a brochure for your congregation members.
Reserve Display Space for AC2010! Click here to download the application form for Annual Conference display space.
Prepare/Enrich Training Offered: Looking for a good assessment tool and program to use in counseling engaged couples or marriage enrichment? Come to a training session for the Prepare/Enrich program at the Conference Center on Tuesday, May 4. The Rev. Terry Snyder will lead the training event. The cost, including materials and lunch, is $175. Clergy may earn 0.7 Continuing Education Units for the 9 am–3 pm session. Learn more or register.
Haiti Aid: Now that the international community has pledged nearly $10 billion in aid to Haiti, a way is needed to delineate roles and responsibilities on the ground, says an UMCOR official. About 900 agencies currently are working on earthquake relief in Haiti, and many critical issues remain to be sorted out. Read more.
Pray for Lost Miners’ Families: Read a UM News Service report.
Last Call Campaign! Recycle old cell phones. Schools, businesses, and communities of faith all across Pennsylvania can sign up with eLoop, an electronic waste recycler based in Pittsburgh, to join its campaign to responsibly and securely recycle old cell phones and raise money at the same time. To participate, contact Penny Holden at 724 -212-3032 or pholden@eloopllc.com for the campaign that begins on April 19 and goes through June 5. Participating organizations will receive pre-paid shipping containers to collect the phones and will receive a donation of $0.80 a pound for the phones they collect.
Native American Awareness Sunday is April 18! Last year funds received in Western Pennsylvania church offerings provided building materials for two Conference UMVIM teams who worked on the Dayspring Native American United Methodist Church in Peoria, Illinois. Click here to learn more or get resources for Native American Ministries Sunday.
Hearing Complaints About Health Care Law? Jim Winkler, who often finds himself in the hot seat as head of the agency charged with seeking implementation of the UMC’s Social Principles, writes about the recently passed health insurance legislation in this week’s Faith in Action. He says the agency staff agonized over language in the bill as it related to our denomination’s long-standing position calling for health care reform. The bill wasn’t perfect, he said, but the status quo was unacceptable, something churches pressured to make ministry decisions based on rising costs of clergy health care might understand. Read more.
National Day of Prayer Observance:The Interfaith Alliance of Pennsylvania is sponsoring the Commonwealth Interfaith Service: Prayers for Justice and Peace on May 3 at 5:30 p.m. Pine Street Presbyterian Church is hosting this service in observance of the National Day of Prayer on May 6. For more info, click here or contact Rev. Sandra Strauss at 717-545-4761 or s.strauss@pachurches.org.
Help Wanted: West Penn Hospital has an opening for a half-time chaplain; with the strong possibility of the position becoming full-time. Click here , then select “Careers” and follow the prompts to find jobs at West Penn.
Help Wanted-DCM: For UMC job postings, including Conference director of connectional ministries, check the classifieds on www.wpaumc.org.
Planning Ahead:
The Great Escape clergy retreat, set for Oct. 12 -14, 2010 at Antiochian Village, Ligonier will feature nationally known storyteller and teacher Tracy Radosevic. Click for details.
In the News: The Tribune-Review ran an Easter feature about Bob Green of Christ UMC in Youngwood, who carried a cross from there to Calvary (UMC in McKeesport). It’s a 24-mile walk and Green told the paper that God inspired him to do it when he began to tackle a weight issue by walking. Read more.
Supreme Court Change? Justice John Paul Stevens is talking about retirement. NPR pointed out today that his departure could leave the court with no Protestant members. Constitutional views, rather than religion, are usually considered in selecting a nominee for the court. Over the years, however, only 12 Roman Catholics have ever been appointed to the Court, and half of them are justices today. Two other members of the current court are Jewish. Does it matter? Read more.
Bible More Violent Than Quran? Phillip Jenkins,
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