WPAUMC e-news for June 2, 2010

See You At Annual Conference: To read an overview of plans for next week’s Western PA Annual Conference session at Grove City College, click here. For an agenda and other details, go to www.wpaumc.org/AC2010 and click the appropriate links.

E-News on AC2010 Hiatus: Since we’ll be shifting operations to Grove City next week for annual conference, there won’t be a regular Wednesday (night) edition of the e-news. If the need arises, we’ll send a special edition. You can keep up with what’s happening through the AC2010 link above or watch for updates on our Western PA United Methodist Church Facebook page or at WPAUMC on Twitter.
Lower Mission Share Budget Proposed: A $9.5 million Mission Share budget will go before annual conference members next week. It’s $387,000 less than the current budget. Learn more.
Mission Opportunities: Mission/Volunteers in Mission coordinator Diane Miller has some new blog posts with opportunities for you to be in mission this summer. Check them out.
WPA-East German Haiti Team Forming: The WPA-East German Partnership will sponsor a joint mission team to aid Haitian refugees in the Dominican Republic through The Least of These Ministries, coordinated by Steve Hull of Baltimore-Washington Conference. The work trip is scheduled for October 4-18. Rev. Dr. Michael Wetzel, manager and emcee for the East German Brass Band that visited here last year, will lead the Germans on the team. Rev. Joe Stains will coordinate the Western PA contingent. Details will be available soon on wpaumc.org and at the East German Partnership display at annual conference. Contact Stains at jrstains@verizon.net.
New in the Media Resource Center: YES Lives in the Land of NO by BJ Gallagher & Steve Ventura. Learn ways to deal with negativity faster, more effectively, and with a lot less discouragement and despair in less than 10 minutes. Go to yeslivesinthelandofnofilm.com for a preview and more information.
Nyadire Intern Named: Ben Dempe, a junior at Allegheny College and member of Mt. Lebanon UMC, has been selected by The Nyadire Connection as its first intern. He’ll spend 10 weeks this summer living at the mission in rural Zimbabwe and helping with the Internet café, the Home of Hope orphanage outreach program and other projects. Learn more.
Computer Connections: A donation of 22 scratch and dent Apple computers through the humanitarian non-profit ComputeReach allowed Warren UMC in Pittsburgh’s Hill District to provide computers to families of children in last year’s summer programs. Dave Sevick of Calvary UMC in Pittsburgh, who founded the non-profit, and Bob Donaldson, who volunteers with him to refurbish computers for Goodwill Industries, thought Warren could use the machines, which couldn’t be sold through Goodwill because of the scratches and dents. Dave recently returned from the Nyadire UM Mission in Zimbabwe where he helped develop the Internet café with computers The Nyadire Connection bought through Goodwill.
Youth Imagine No Malaria: Rev. Erik Hoeke writes about how his West Newton UMC confirmation class is on fire with enthusiasm for saving lives through Imagine No Malaria. Read blog.
Happy Birthday, UMCOR! The UMC Relief agency celebrates its 70th anniversary this week. UMCOR’s 70 Years of Hope slideshow offers a glimpse of the organization’s ministry of love, hope and action. Watch now and share this presentation with your church.
UMCOR is responding in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Agatha, which swept through Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras over the weekend, killing 179 with hundreds more missing, mostly in Guatemala. Two days earlier in Guatemala, the Pacaya volcano began erupting and mudslides and sinkholes forced the evacuation of thousands.
Honduran Connection: Bishop Bickerton’s son TJ is serving in the Peace Corps in Honduras, but the area where he’s serving wasn’t hit by the storm. TJ’s experience inspired the Bishop’s latest The Journey Continues column for the Interlink.
Israeli Flotilla Attack Condemned: The General Board of Church & Society has condemned the interception in international waters by Israeli troops Monday that led to the deaths of nine persons on a humanitarian aid mission to Gaza. The nine were part of an international “Freedom Flotilla” of six vessels carrying nearly 10,000 tons of food and medicine to Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade for three years.
What’s On Your Agenda? J. Clif Christopher says the first item on a church council agenda says a lot about a congregation. “We should be starting our church council meetings with how we are doing with what we exist to do,” he writes in a recent Leading Ideas article. “How have we done since our last meeting in making disciples of Jesus Christ?”
Can’t Stop at One Dessert? That’s one anecdotal cause for clergy obesity cited by researchers for Duke’s Clergy Health Initiative. A study published online in the journal of the Obesity Society found that the obesity rate among United Methodist clergy ages 35 to 64 is close to 40 percent — 10 percent higher than other North Carolina residents. Think that applies here? Read a UM News Service report.
Marriage: Good, Bad, Faith-full? Marriage is in the spotlight this week. UMC.org just posted a feature on how churches can mentor newly married couples. It’s the first in series from Interpreter magazine. Meanwhile, the news that Al and Tipper Gore are separating after 40 years of marriage prompted a report on NPR this morning noting splits after many years are not uncommon these days. It claimed the “’til death do us part” vow is more of challenge now. Listen.
Measuring Clergy Effectiveness: Numbers matter in defining clergy effectiveness, says Bishop William Willimon in a UMNS commentary. “Effective clergy know how to grow the church in its membership, witness and mission,” he says. It’s Wesleyan.
Visions of Sacred Community: A recent Alban Institute Conversation post draws a distinction between congregational leaders who are content with a seemingly adequate functional congregation and those who are visionary and successful in creating a true sacred community. Read more.
In the News: West Elizabeth UMC served as a comfort station and distribution point for water Tuesday after the community suffered flooding from a water main break and a later conservation order. Watch Pastor Tom Carr interviewed in KDKA report.
The Johnstown Tribune-Democrat ran a feature on the Calvary Café, a casual summer Sunday morning service at Calvary UMC in the city’s West End.
A Kittanning Leader-Times article tells about the burial service in the church cemetery for an unknown woman after Memorial Day worship at Wattersonville UMC.
Top Teacher: A United Methodist from Iowa was named 2010 Top Teacher on the Live with Regis and Kelly TV show. He was nominated by four members of his church. Read more.
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