This is the time of the year when all our churches and ministries are in high gear to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.   For the Church, the holidays give us opportunities to touch our communities with the message of hope and be a blessing to our missionaries in ways that the rest of the year may not afford. 

            Some of things that are memorable for me during the holidays are: sending Christmas boxes to our missionaries; sending boxes to villages with hats, gloves, and socks for children; Samaritan Purse shoe boxes; Christmas boxes for needy families; giving turkeys and hams to our seniors; preparing Christmas boxes for our college students and military personnel; decorating the church; the church Christmas program; Christmas Eve Communion service; board and staff Christmas party; Christmas caroling; preparing Christmas sacks to hand out the Sunday before Christmas; and of course, preparing and ministering the Christmas message.

            As varied as our Christmas church events might be and as often as we might change the presentation, the message of Christmas never changes.  It always brings Light and Hope to the hearts of people.

            As we celebrate the Advent of Christ and share His Light and Hope with others; may the Joy of Christmas invade our hearts and the hearts of those we come in contact with - Joy to the world!  The Savior is born!  Merry Christmas!      

Pastor Bill Welch

       We are getting excited about Network Conference 2011, you won't want to miss it!  The dates are  April 25-28, and it will be held at Anchorage First Assembly.  Max Wiltshire will be speaking at the Monday night missions banquet and at the seminars.  Max has a powerful ministry in Australia.  Pastor Glen Berteau will be speaking in the Tuesday and Wednesday evening services.  Pastor Berteau is Pastor of Calvary Temple Worship Center in Modesto, California.  They have seen explosive growth and the ministries of the church have seen over 130,000 people saved.  Dr. Warren Bullock will be speaking at the Credentialing Service on Thursday evening.  Dr. Bullock is a former Superintendent of the Northwest Ministry Network and is the current Non-Resident Executive Presbyter for the General Council representing the Northwest Region.

       The Holy Spirit Conference is coming soon!  The dates are January 16-19, and will be held at Muldoon Community Assembly.  January 16th, the service begins at 6:00.  On the 17-19, sessions will be at 9:30am, 10:45am, 6:15pm, and 7:15 pm. Speakers will be Dr. Joseph Castleberry, Alvin "Dobie" Weasel, and Jack Rozell.  If you can't be here live, you can watch online, as Voice to the Village will be streaming this event.  www.voicetothevillage.com. 

       Just a few administrative reminders.  First, the Direct Giving Form is a way for churches to get giving credit for donations to approved ministries that do not already come through the Network Office or General Council.  That form can be found here, and is due on January 10th for 4th quarter giving.

       Ministers, do not forget to fill out a housing allowance form before the end of the year, if this applies to you. That form can be downloaded  here.

       All Developping Assemblies in the Alaska Ministry Network are required to fill out quarterly reports with one copy going to the Network Office, and the other copy going to your Presbytery.  That form can be downloaded here.

       If you have any questions about these issues or other administrative items, please feel free to give me a call.

       The Alaska School of Ministry is partnering with Voice to the Village in a pilot program to make AKSOM classes available and accessible to more students across Alaska. Although AKSOM's dedication to have a face-to-face relational teaching model has not changed, the ability to maximize resources, travel schedules, and teaching opportunities dictates that we take advantage of existing technology to accomplish our goal of training leaders in the Great Land.

       On February 5, 2011, all three levels of AKSOM courses being taught that month will be simulcast on the Internet. Anyone with adequate access to the Internet will be able to "sit in" on these classes and is invited to do so.

A Link to each class will be available via the AKSOM web page. Current students will be gathering at existing AKSOM venue locations or, under certain conditions, will be allowed to view from their home location. To continue the active learning environment that AKSOM promotes, all students, regardless of their location, will be able to ask questions and contribute to the class. Online testing will be available as well.

       Two of the February AKSOM classes will originate from Anchorage. One of the classes will originate from Bethel. The goal is to introduce a cross-cultural learning experience and help students understand that they are part of a very large AKSOM family.