Head to the Ghost Town Trail on Saturday! Walkers, runners and bikers will gather at 9 a.m. in Blacklick to raise funds for camperships and the Deeply Rooted, Upward Reaching Camping Campaign. Ask your family, friends or church to sponsor you per mile or per event. Get details
Don’t forget to register
Download a sponsor form.
Clergy Spouse Retreat: Register by August 16 for this getaway at Olmsted Manor, scheduled for Aug. (26) 27-28. Get details.
Diverse Abilities Retreat: Rev. Sally Jo Snyder, an elder with more than 25 years experience in advocacy, will lead this annual event at Olmsted Manor Retreat Center. Scheduled for Oct. 3-5, It’s designed for people living with disabilities and their caregivers. Get details.
Mission u Update: Registration closes next week for the online Mission u issue study Pushout:The Criminalization of Black Girls in School. It will be offered via Zoom on four Wednesday evenings beginning Aug. 25. Get details and register.
Help Wanted: The Greensburg District seeks an Administrative Assistant. Check out this and other postings in our website classifieds.
Empowering Women as Leaders: Dawn Wiggins Hare, chief executive of the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women GCSRW) led our first Leadership Development Workshop last Saturday. The focus was on empowering women as leaders in their ministry context. After offering background and statistics on women clergy and leaders in the denomination, she encouraged participants to look at their local churches, districts and Conference to determine whether action is needed to ensure equal opportunity. Read more.
See resources offered by GCSRW
Watch video of the Aug. 7 session
GCSRW Lunch and Learn: Geared toward clergywomen, the Welcoming a Woman Pastor (Part 2) webinar will feature Alice Williams and Claire Bowen discussing how to navigate a new appointment and what questions should be asked. It’s on Thursday, August 26 at 1 p.m. ET. Use this link to join.
It’s the second part of a series, but if you missed the first you can watch here.
Women Clergy and the Pandemic: Like many American women, four clergywomen profiled in Duke Divinity’s Faith and Leadership newsletter have struggled to balance work, home and community in lives upended by the coronavirus. Read their stories and see questions for your congregation
Higher Ed Showcase: If you know someone exploring options for higher education, send them to the UMC.org School Showcase. This comprehensive website helps students discover many options for their educational next steps. Take a look.
See how United Methodists support loans and scholarships
Leadership Institute 2021, focused on Mission, is offered as a live event at Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS and online from September 29 - October 1. Registration for the in-person event is limited to 500 and nearing capacity. The price of an individual registration for the online experience is just $79 through Tuesday, August 17. There’s also a Watch Party option. Get details
Communicating Through Change: To help leaders and communicators deliver effective messaging in changing times, UMCommunications offers the Moving the Church Forward Through Communication conference on Aug. 24-25. Participants can choose from a wide array of workshops available via Zoom. Learn more
Honoring Labor: The Faith Talks podcast at 2 p.m., Thursday, August 19 will feature a discussion on honoring labor, before and after Labor Day. Guests include Harriett Jane Olson, CEO of United Methodist Women, and the co-chairs of The Poor People’s Campaign, Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis and Bishop William J. Barber II. Learn more and register
Dixie Fire Update: United Methodists are helping survivors of the Dixie Fire, the largest fire in California history. Churches in Quincy, Portola, Greenville and Susanville are assisting evacuees. More than $10,000 worth of gift cards, emergency hygiene kits, wildfire buckets, cleaning supplies and local church assistance have been distributed. Read story
Rural Churches Can Thrive! While the demise of small, rural churches sometimes seems irreversible as United Methodist faithful grow older, there are ways to revitalize these congregations by focusing on what their communities most need. Bigger and younger is not always better, say some United Methodist experts. Read story
In Memoriam: Retired Bishop Beverly J. Shamana died last week in California at age 81. Elected to the Episcopacy in 2000 in the Western Jurisdiction, she was the second black woman elected as a bishop in the history of the UMC. She was assigned to the San Francisco Area. Read more
Talking About Money in Church: Ann Michel of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership writes that churches can promote financial transparency and enhance generosity by addressing the often-taboo subject of money more openly and faithfully. She offers seven practical strategies to improve the tone of your conversation around money and giving. Learn more.
Cultivating Generosity: One of the best ways to inspire giving to fund ministry is sharing stories of how lives have been changed, but there are pitfalls, says Joe Park of Horizon Stewardship. See what they are
World Photography Day: For World Photography Day on August 19, United Methodist Communications offers a variety of photographic resources for local churches. There’s a searchable media library of downloadable images, a training course on Capturing Better Smartphone Photos, a video tutorial on making photo slideshows and articles with tips for taking better pictures. Take a look
Facing Emotional Chaos? Men who find themselves in emotional chaos can find a way out. Prayer, forming an intentional relationship with Christ and engaging in accountability relationships with other men are key steps toward emerging from a dark stretch, the Rev. Rick Vance said during a presentation at a retreat sponsored by the Commission on United Methodist Men. Read report on retreat
Jesus' Model of How to Unplug: When Jesus took time for spiritual renewal, he went into the wilderness, writes the Rev. Rebekah Simon-Peter. She suggests that to connect with God, Christians take some time away from their laptops, calendars and smartphones. Read commentary
Note to Readers: In keeping with the advice above, the weekly WPAUMC e-news will not be published next week.