Hosted at Muldoon Community Assembly, Friday, April 29, from 9:00am to 3:00pm.  For more information, contact Alaska Youth Ministries at 907-562-2247, or visit the website at www.akyouthministries.com.

Under the advisement of Dr. Richard Hammar and our insurance company, we are now requiring that all workers applying to help at Network camps involving minors be screened for criminal records.  Potential workers will submit a release form to the Network Office with their application to be a camp worker, and the Network Office will run the criminal records check.  We will maintain a database of all approved workers, and the criminal records check will only need to be run every three years.

We are excited about this change, as it will provide our camps with an additional degree of safety.  Be watching for more information that will be included in camp promotions.  There will be deadlines for turning in staff applications to allow time for the background checks. 

If your church does not conduct criminal records checks as part of your screening process, I would encourage you to consider doing so. 

 If you haven't visited our new website, you will want to check it out at www.akministrynetwork.org.  It contains information about upcoming events, ministries, Little Beaver Camp, AKSOM, and important ministry forms and resources.  The website is also our communications hub, containing links to our quarterly publication, The Journey, as well as our Network Blog.

The Journey is now exclusively an electronic communication, as we are no longer publishing and mailing them in an effort to reduce costs.  You can download the Spring 2011 edition here.  The purpose of the blog is to connect you with the people and events occuring in the Alaska Ministry Network.  If you know of an event in your church that should be in the blog, please email Brad at bradkesler@alaskaag.org.  The blog can be accessed from our website, or you can click here.  You can subscribe to receive blog updates by email by using the Feedburner application on the blog.

The Alaska School of Ministry (AKSOM) announces its second statewide simulcast venue on May 7, beginning at 9:30 am. Three separate courses, one from each credentialing level, will be offered via a live stream over the Internet. The course offerings are as follows:

·         Introduction to Pentecostal Doctrine, being taught by Rev. Melanya Berg, will originate from the Alaska Ministry Network Office.

·         Pastoral Ministry, with Dr. Norman Lindsay as teacher, will originate from Muldoon Community Assembly in Anchorage.

·         Theology of Worship, under the tutelage of Rev. Gary Morton, will also originate from Muldoon Community Assembly in Anchorage. (This course can also be taken under the Christian Enrichment track of AKSOM courses.)

If you are interested in participating in the simulcast venue, please contact the AKSOM office at (907) 562-2247, or visit our website at www.aksom.net.

The goal of AKSOM in regard to simulcast courses is that the live venues, where the simulcasts originate from, will move to locations across the state. Additionally, the goal is to have at least one simulcast courses originate from a location off of the road-system. However, May's simulcast was hindered from fulfilling this goal due to scheduling conflicts and technology issues.

If this second simulcast venue is successful, beginning in the Fall, AKSOM will simulcast its courses each month. If your church would like to host a simulcast venue, please contact the AKSOM office to discuss the technology that is needed in your area.

The Alaska Ministry Network Office