WPAUMC e-news for May 26, 2010

Dunn Installation Set: Alyce Weaver Dunn will be installed as the Johnstown District Superintendent at 6 p.m., June 20 at Belmont UMC in Johnstown. All are invited to attend.

Licensing, Lay Minister Training Deadline Near: July 15 is the deadline to sign up for August sessions of both Licensing School and Certified Lay Ministry training at Olmsted Manor. Space is limited, however, and it’s first-come, first-served, so don’t wait until the last minute. Click here for additional information and links to the application/registration forms.
Trucker Needed: The Eastbrook Mission Barn is looking for a licensed (CDL) trucker, preferably with a semi rig, to volunteer to deliver a load of verified UMCOR kits to the Sager-Brown UMCOR Depot in Baldwin, LA. All expenses will be paid. If you can make this delivery, contact Rev. Nelson Thayer at 724/ 462-4090.
VIM Team from Rescue Mission Heads for Haiti: The Rev. Rick Nelson was pictured on the front page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in an article about a Light of Life Mission team heading for Haiti. The Rev. Pam Armstrong, who serves at the mission and organized the trip, and was quoted about it in a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review story. She was pictured in the Sunday, May 23 Trib Express, but we can’t find that photo online. Both she and Nelson are in the same Trib photo gallery shot, though.
Relief Camps Highlight Haiti Challenges: An NPR story on Haiti relief camps highlights the challenges facing Haitians and relief organizers in the aftermath of the January earthquake. Learn more.
Global Child Death Rates Drop, UM Efforts Help: The New York Times and other media reported this week that globally death rates for children are dropping and Bishop Bickerton says he’s encouraged by the research. Read more on the United Methodist connection.
UMNS Features Latrobe INM Efforts: Check out the story on UMC.org about the congregation’s extraordinary Imagine No Malaria campaign. Yesterday’s Daily News Digest from UM Communications featured a link to the story and a picture from Latrobe.
Join 2010 Annual Conference Choir! Sing in the choir with clergy and laity from across Western Pennsylvania. Beverly Peterson, choir director at Grace UMC in Warren, will direct. Expect to sing during the opening worship or weekend worship services at Annual Conference 2010, June 10-13 at Grove City. Check www.wpaumc.org/AC2010 for the schedule.
Plan a Post-AC Pirate Outing: Join United Methodists at PNC on June 18 for the Pirate game against the Cleveland Indians. Learn more.
Evaluating Sunday’s Sermon: Whether a sermon was good or not, most church-goers are kind enough to say it was. Those comments are often just the expected conclusion to the preacher-congregation encounter, writes Nathan Kirkpatrick of Duke’s Institute for Preaching. So how do you know if your preaching is effective? Read more.
Preaching Seminars: The Erie-Meadville District will sponsor a series of four morning preaching seminars this summer. Clergy and lay speakers are welcome to attend any or all. For details, click here. The series begins June 17 at Edinboro UMC with John Zimmerman leading discussion of use of media in worship.
Bible Study Resources: Abingdon Press has published four resources designed as companions to the Wesley Study Bible. These studies, from top authors, help readers examine life topics, their core beliefs, and key Bible passages through a Wesleyan lens. These resources work well with Sunday Schools and small groups as well as individual studies. To check them out, click here.
Does Size Matter in Churches? Lew Parks has served churches of all sizes. It’s exciting to serve large churches that grow, he says, but he’s not convinced of the view that portrays small churches are casualties in an age of survival of the fittest or Luddites in an age of technology. Read more from Leading Ideas.
Why Oppose Capital Punishment? This week’s Faith in Action reprints an article by Bishop Scott Jones of Kansas giving reasons that go beyond the UM Church’s official stand that addresses Christian values and the sanctity of human life.
Jerusalem Prayer: As part of a May 29 – June 4 week of advocacy for a just peace in Israel-Palestine, Jerusalem churches have a prayer they hope congregations around the world with share with them. Read more.
Free E-book on Campus Ministry: The Promise of Campus Ministry: Theological Explorations is a new electronic book that explores campus ministry as “a calling from God framed in the Wesleyan tradition,” said the Rev. Bridgette Young, one of the book’s editors. The chapters each contain an essay and response and address various topics. To read or download, visit www.gbhem.org/publications.
Church Secretaries Retreat: Rev. Michele Wobrak will lead the 2010 church secretaries’ retreat July 18-20 at Olmsted Manor. It’s titled Love Yourself? Deny Yourself? The Truth About Self-Care. The event is designed for those who work in church offices as paid staff or volunteers. It’s open to all, whether United Methodist or not. Click for details.
Climbing Out of Poverty: This New York Times story shows how child care subsidy cuts are affecting those trying to work their way out of poverty.
Music for the Spirit: The Pittsburgh Symphony offers discounted tickets to its June 12 performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Mendelssohn Choir and Children’s festival choir at Heinz Hall. The concert is at 8 p.m., but at 7 p.m. there will be a Concert Prelude discussion by “a distinguished panel of spiritual leaders.” (We know of one spiritual leader who probably will be otherwise occupied.) Learn more. For discounted tickets, call 412.392.4819 and mention code 13660.
Baritone Offers Recital at Salem UMC: Joel Herold, a baritone who joins Fort Worth Opera in the fall as a Young Artist, will offer a recital entitled Shades of Love at Salem UMC in Wexford at 7 p.m., June 13. It includes selections from Mozart, Shuman Ravel and others. Herald grew up in the church, where his grandparents are members.
Upcoming events:
Last Transitions seminars for congregations and clergy facing a change in appointment: May 27 at the UM Cneter in Cranberry; June 2 at Marienville UMC and June 9 during the Laity Academy at Grove City College.

United Methodist Center, PO Box 5002, Cranberry TWP., PA 16066-0002 | Ph. 724-776-2300 | 800-886-3382