NewsNET February 15, 2010

DEADLINE IS MARCH 15, 2010. Please send recommendations electronically to the conference secretary, Cean Wilson at lcwilson@wocumc.org with "2010 Recommendation" in the subject line. Questions? email or call her at 614-764-1632.

Change the World: Imagine No Malaria

What if... on one weekend all around the world, 11 million United Methodists came together to work in their local communities?
What if...we unite globally to fight a preventable, treatable disease that kills one child every 30 seconds?
Would You Help?
April 24-25, 2010. Build community locally. Fight malaria globally. Change the world. [more]

Black History Month: Songs of Protest

This week marks the 50^th anniversary of the start of student sit-ins and the arrival of Freedom Rider busses from the north to protest the segregation of lunch counters in downtown Nashville in February, 1960. There were demonstrations, busses, beatings, arrests, jail sentences, speeches and marches, but there were also prayers and singing from the jail cells. Here's an article and two of the improvised songs the demonstrators sang in jail. [more]

Oasis House offers peace for women

In local parlance, North Dixie Drive in Dayton is known as the "Dixie Strip." Home to a seedy assortment of businesses including adult bookstores and strip joints, it's also the unlikely location of a courageous United Methodist outreach ministry of Higher Ground UMC, designed to help young women forsake drugs, stripping and prostitution for more meaningful lives. Since 2005, Rev. Sharon Amos has slowly built a ministry called Oasis House for Women. [more]

Scholarship opportunities for college bound seniors

Looking for additional ways to fund your education? Have you been or plan on being a leader in the UMC? If so, the West Ohio Conference Office of Next Generations Leadership currently has multiple scholarship opportunities available for you. Scholarships are awarded on a combination of academic merit and past church leadership. There are also scholarships available specifically to support the needs of an ethnic minority student. Applications are due April 1, 2010, so please act quickly! [more]

Achieving Excellence in Ministry: Equipping the Saints for Ministry

The Black Methodists for Church Renewal 43rd Annual Meeting this March in Florida will emphasize praise and worship and holy conferencing. The effort is to give us time to move rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God. We emphasize two of the focus areas - leadership development and creating new places for new people - by emphasizing effective and innovative ministry techniques. [more]

Ohio Wesleyan students 'Belly Flop for Haiti'

How can a fundraising effort make a big splash and be a total flop at the same time? When the "flopping" is the fundraiser. Students at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, OH, held a "Belly Flop for Haitian Relief" February 6 at the school's indoor pool, raising more than $1,000 for the United Methodist Committee on Relief's Haiti Emergency fund. [more]

Our Shared History

Serving the Church's "Ministry of Memory" so we may continue to learn from our past and anticipate our future, West Ohio Conference Commission on Archives & History preserves a fascinating record of the shared history of Methodism in Ohio. This month on their webpage, look for information about Black History Month and applications for 2010 Local Church Historian of the Year. In addition, churches celebrating significant anniversaries in 2010 of their founding are recognized. Applications for both are due soon! [more]

West Ohio pastor publishes book

Cancer is a Four - Letter Word: A Pilgrimage into the Emotional, Sexual, and Spiritual Aspects of Prostate Cancer was written by Rev. Larry Kreps, St. Andrew's UMC in Findlay. The book chronicles his journey and other men's experiences of recovering from a disease that produces very personal side effects. Each chapter concludes with questions to deepen a man's conversation with his partner or support group. Books are available at Amazon.com or larrykreps@yahoo.com.

Regaining Our Strategic Focus

Learn innovative opportunities of congregational leadership with the Metro Ministries Academy this April in Ohio. Regaining Our Strategic Focus: Intentional Ministry for Intentional Results features speaker Dr. Rodney T. Smothers. Dr. Smothers is currently serving the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church as senior pastor of St. Paul UMC, Oxon Hill, Maryland. [more]

Missional Renewal of the Small Membership Church

Small-membership and rural congregations are facing unique challenges due to population shifts and economic changes. Small, yet significant, many of these churches and their clergy feel ignored and neglected and there is an urgent need for transformative leadership, as well as creative and integral approaches to mission and evangelism. Dr. Anthony Pappas (Entering the World of the Small Church) and Dr. Robin Knowles Wallace (Worshiping in the Small Membership Church) will offer seminars at the upcoming Mission & Evangelism Institute this March in Ohio. [more]

One Great Hour of Sharing - March 14, 2010

When the first tremors of the earthquake in Haiti rocked that island nation, United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) staff were already in the country, strategizing how United Methodists could help improve the lives of the people there. Their work is a direct result of the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering, which supports UMCOR operating expenses so that 100% of gifts to UMCOR go directly to where suffering is happening. This year more than ever, we hope you'll give your people the opportunity to join with other faithful across the church and support this very important Special Sunday. [more]

New dates of note

March 7-13...National Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS. Download a planning tool kit.

October 14-16... Lighten the Burden AIDS Conference III, Dallas, Texas, sponsored by United Methodist Global AIDS Fund. Registration information forthcoming.

March 4-5... African American Women & AIDS: Enabling, Enriching & Enhancing Individuals, sponsored by the UMC Global AIDS Fund Committee, Columbia, S.C., more information forthcoming.

April 8-11...Caring for Creation, Lake Junaluska; plenary presentations and 20 workshops to help members of the faith community learn how they can become caretakers of the Earth.

May 1...Herding Cats: High-Level Leadership and the Emotional Side of Organizations, Findlay; an informative and inspiring experience for all who serve through leadership in relationship systems.

Passages

Steven J. Oliver, Lay Supply Pastor, died on February 11, 2010. Messages of condolence may be sent to his wife Sue and family at 321 E. Spring Street, Knoxville, OH 45871. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on February 28 at the Scottish Rite Valley Temple, 525 W. Riverview Avenue, Dayton, OH 45405.

Rev. Lewis (Jack) Theodore (retired 1997), died on February 8, 2010. Messages of condolence may be sent to his wife Janet at 29676 Middlebelt Road, Apt. 2202, Farmington Hills, MI 48334.

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