SW District E-alert, September 23, 2015
For our Calendar of Events and the Fine Print about this publication, please scroll to the end of this email.
“I loved autumn, the one season of the year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it.” ― Lee Maynard, Novelist
New!Bishop Peggy Johnson is praying for the SW District the week of September 27 through October 3. Please email your joys and concerns to Bishop Johnson at , with SW Prayer Request in the subject line.
New!Mid-Atlantic Foundation to teach financial leadership to laity. Building on the success of its Financial Leadership Academy for pastors, the Mid- Atlantic United Methodist Foundation plans to launch a parallel Financial Leadership Series for Laity this fall. Less intense than the two-year course for pastors, the Laity Series will offer four one-day workshops over the course of one year. According to the Rev. Andy Lunt, Academy Dean and Director of Stewardship Education, the laity series will cover the same principles and best practices in stewardship and finance as the Academy. For more information, click here.
To contact Rev. Lunt, please email him at r call 443-226-2632.
New!The next bi-monthly breakfast for the SW district clergy retirees and their spouses will be held on Wednesday, October 14, 9:00 a.m., at Oregon Dairy Restaurant. No reservations necessary.Order from the menu.Come for food and conversation.
Registration Info! October 28, Bishop Johnson on the SW District.
- This event is for both clergy and laity.
- It will be held at St. Mark’s UMC, 37 E. Main Street, Mt. Joy (parking behind the church).
- The clergy’s time with Bishop Johnson will begin at 4:30 pm (registration starts at 4:00).
- A dinner for both clergy and laity will begin at 6:00 pm.
- The laity’s time with the Bishop will begin at 7:00 pm.
- Although the event will be free, registration for the meal is required. A free-will offering will be taken for the meal. To register for the meal, click here.
- This event is mandatory for all appointed clergy. Please email DRA Chris McLaughlin at if you need to make a request to the DS to be excused.
New!Georgia UMC Youth Choir Coming to the Philly/Lancaster Area.
Dear Friends,
My youth choir will be traveling to the Philly/Lancaster area for our annual Music/Mission trip and we are at this point surveying churches and other facilities in the area where we might find affordable lodging AND preliminary venues for singing. Our group will be approximately 18-25 people, including chaperones, made up primarily of students who are in grades 6-12. Our church is in South Georgia, the kids are well-mannered and we work hard to leave each facility the same or better than we found it. The kids really enjoy most sleeping on the floor at a church where there are shower facilities available. We will sing daily in a different venue (Assisted Living, Churches, etc.), do 1 or 2 work projects (Food Bank, etc.) and, of course, some of the local fun tourist type activities. Our trip is currently planned forJune 4-10, 2016. For more information, please contact me. Thanks so very much -- Mary Crowson, , Pine Forest UMC, Dublin, GA.
Reminder! Tips for Completing Your Clergy Compensation Form.
- Enter your data on Worksheet Pages 1 and 2 (or just Worksheet). Worksheets are not to be submitted to the District Office – they are for your use only.
- The pastor’s professional expense reimbursement figure does not belong in Other Cash Allowance under Step 3. It should be entered in Step 4 A only (Are you provided an accountable reimbursement plan?).
- Click the Print and Submit (or Summary for Submission) tab at the bottom. The data you entered in the worksheet will have populated this page. Print this page and obtain the appropriate signatures. This is the form that is submitted to the District Office. Make sure to keep a copy for your files!
- The compensation form is due (along with the Pastoral Evaluation and the SPRC Covenant) one week before your Charge Conference or November 15 – whichever comes first.
For all Charge Conference forms, the preferred method for submitting them is to scan the signed forms (all signatures are required), attach them to an email, and send that email to DRA Chris McLaughlin at . If that is not an option for you, please send copies of the signed forms by US mail to SW District Office, PO Box 271, Bird-in-Hand, PA 17505-0271. Please do NOT fax!
Can’t remember when your Charge Conference is? Click here
Reminder!Christmas Card Project. The Conference Prison Ministry and Restorative Justice Team encourages you to help share God’s love this holiday season with those who are incarcerated by writing a brief caring/encouraging note inside a Christmas card. These cards will be collected and delivered to inmates at a number of correctional facilities in Eastern PA.The drop-off site for the cards will be the District Office, which is in the Bird-in-Hand UMC, 2620 Old Philadelphia Pike, Bird-in-Hand, PA. The deadline to have your cards to the District Office is November 9.There are very specific directions to follow when sending these cards, so please read carefully the related documents found on the Conference website.
Reminder!EPA Licensing School News. The latest information about the EPA’s Licensing School is now available on the Conference website: click here. This program is for persons who want to be trained in a Growing Church Licensing School and persons who want to be trained as certified, licensed Local Pastors. For more information, please contact Gordon Hendrickson at , 267-258-9507.
Calendar of Events
For a schedule of Sexual Ethics Workshops, click here
For information about the Changing Racism training, click here
September 25Advanced Sexual Ethics Training
Presented by Rev. Dr. Karen McCllintock
West Lawn UMC, 15 Woodside Ave, Reading, PA
September 29Women in Professional Ministry Luncheon,11:30 am
Cat’s Meow Restaurant, 215 S. Charlotte, Manheim
October 2-4Transformational Leadership Conference, "See. Know. Love,"
Offered by the Vision Table of the NE Jurisdiction.
Being held atthe Hershey Inn, Hershey, PA
October 10Healing Communities Training, 9:00 to 4:00
St. Matthew’s UMC, Valley Forge, PA
October 27Women in Professional Ministry Luncheon,11:30 am
Gypsy Kitchen, Lancaster TheologicalSeminary
October 28Bishop Johnson on the SW District, Mt. Joy: St. Mark’s (see above)
November 7Planting the Seeds of Ministry, Hopewell UMC
Keynote speaker: Rev. Mike Slaughter
New!Access a message from Rev. Slaughter by clicking here
November 14Adjourned Session of Annual Conference
Location: Macungie campus of Bethany UMC,
3801Brookside Road, Macungie, PA 18062
2016
May 10-20, 2016General Conference in Portland, Oregon
June 5 (Tentative)District Conference, Location TBD
June 16-18, 2016Annual Conference, The Marriott, Lancaster City
July 10-15, 2016Northeast Jurisdictional Conference, The Marriott, Lancaster City
The Fine Print
Editorial Policy of the Southwest District E-Alert.The Southwest District E-alert is published on an as-needed basis on Wednesdays. Articles will appear once as New information; thereafter, they will be Remindersor Calendar Items. Spaghetti dinners, fundraisers, VBSs, bazaars, etc. are included only on the Local Church and ConneXion Events page.
The E-Alert is sent to Pastors and Church Offices on the Southwest District and to lay people who have requested having their names added to the distribution list. Please feel free to copy any article for your church’s bulletin or newsletter. To unsubscribe, please send an email ith the word “Unsubscribe” in the subject line. Appointed clergy may not unsubscribe.
All articles and announcements should be sent to District Resource Assistant Chris McLaughlin y 3:00 Tuesday afternoon for consideration. Articles should be in the body of an email or an attached Word document (please no PDFs). Submissions made by telephone willnotbe accepted. Articles may be edited for clarity and space. All decisions regarding publication are made by the District Office.
Past SW E-alerts are available on the SW District page of the Conference website: click here.