:: Announcements

 
Local Chefs Help Fight Hunger

Local restaurants are joining together to make the first annual Empty Bowls a huge success at Christ UMC on Old Canton Road, Jackson. The family-oriented event will be held November 1 at 12:30 p.m. and is a fundraiser for Society of St. Andrew. A $15 dollar ticket buys a bowl of soup, bread and dessert for lunch and a hand-painted empty bowl as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the community and the world. For more information visit http://www.christunitedjxn.org  or call 601.613.9600.  

Photo: Brittany Hickman of Newk's, left, and Mike James of Fresh Market represent two of the donor businesses who are participating in Empty Bowls. Food chairman is Patty Christie, right. 

Special Offering to Benefit Methodist Hour

Churches across the conference are asked to participate in a special offering on Sunday, November 8, 2009 on behalf of the United Methodist Hour. Time That Makes a Difference shares the message of hope in Jesus Christ through television programming, internet programming, and podcasts. It airs on television stations across Mississippi and throughout all 50 states and is also carried on The Hour's Website, http://www.thehour.org.  

Churches that participate in the special offering will receive special mention in The Hour's newsletters, ads, and on the air. The Hour is operated by The United Methodist Hour of Mississippi, Inc.  For more information on The Hour and the Special offering contact Mike Boucher at 601.296.1676 or visit http://www.thehour.org.

 
United Methodist Communications reports that the www.Find-A-Church.org site is receiving 400,000 pageviews a month, indicating people are using the internet more and more to search for a church near them. Your congregation's Find-A-Church page is often the first door a visitor will enter. But only 16 percent of Mississippi churches have updated their information on the site that offers churches an opportunity to share their ministry and programs.

Is your church prepared? When is the last time you visited Find-A-Church, uploaded your church ministries, added your new worship service or announced your new Bible study?

Updating the information is easy. Click here to see a tutorial http://tiny.cc/b70xQ or use the following step-by-step instructions.

Updating Your Church Profile:

1. Go to http://Find-A-Church.org
2. Enter your zip code and choose your church from the listing.
3. On your church profile page, click "Update Your Page Now" in the right sidebar to start the update process.
4. Enter the login information and click Submit to get the Submission Form. (The GCFA number is optional.)
5. On the Submission form, review the information for your church and make any changes and additions.
6. Enter worship services and Sunday school classes by clicking on "New." Enter the daily or weekly schedule, preferred name and any notes. Be sure to click Save after each.
7. Continue your update by clicking the + beside each ministry category for a list of ministry types. Enter the daily or weekly schedule, preferred name and any notes. Or you can choose the option for no set schedule. Be sure to click Save after each ministry entered.
8. Upon finishing, go to the bottom of the form and click Submit.

Note: Certain fields are provided to us and cannot be changed by the local church, i.e. church mailing address, names of pastors and attendance figures.
Confirmation notification will be sent after your submission. You or other members of your congregation can update as often as you need to. You can expect your updates o be published to the Web within 5 - 7 days. For questions or assistance, e-mail fac@umcom.org or call InfoServ at 1.800.251.8140.

:: Knock on 9

 
Perk Campus Wesley Kicks Off Fall with Knock on Nine and Rethink Church
 
MGCCC Perk Campus Wesley found the RETHINK Church door hangers were perfect for inviting students to Wesley's kickoff at The Barn, August 20. Over 250, red and white, door hangers with the message, "RETHINK -- don't drink! Club Night @ The Barn!" were hung on each of the suite doors in all of the Perkinston campus dorms in hopes new students would choose our Christian outreach program designed to keep students from going to night clubs. The Rethink Church free music download cards and Wesley informational flyers were given to each student that opened the door when a member for the Wesley Leadership team knocked. Students wore their new Rethink Church t-shirts during the campaign.

The effort paid off as the room filled with a standing room only crowd and served over 300 plates of BBQ chicken, baked beans, and potato salad! Following dinner, Karaoke D.J., Johnny Tisdale, kicked off the first Club Night @ The Barn for the fall semester with newly released dance music followed by scores of students singing their favorite karaoke songs. Guest VIP, Gene Taylor, U.S. Congress, encouraged the students to continue to come to The Barn on club night and avoid the perils of drinking and driving.

Perk Campus Wesley is using the Rethink Church and Knock on Nine campaigns throughout the fall semester.  The men's prayer group (UMM) and the Perk Campus UMW have teamed up to restore an abandoned circa 1900 African American grave site in Saucier. They have been knocking on doors of the elderly in the neighborhood to gather names of the deceased and other information for the restoration project.

On October 31, 8 a.m., Wesley students and board members will gather along with family members of those buried at the Joe Bill and Haley crossroads cemetery to clear the site of Katrina downed trees and fill sunken graves with donated soil.  A rededication and All Saints Day celebration, led by Rev. Elijah Mitchell, is planned on the grounds followed by a noon picnic with family members.

Knock On Nine and Rethink Church has given Perk Campus Wesley a great start for the fall semester, increasing to 60, the number of students attending Tuesday's Bible study.  They will be knocking on doors again inviting students and faculty to join them for a Stop Hunger Now bagging event scheduled to close out the fall semester.

For additional information on the October 31, Grave site restoration or the Stop Hunger Now project, contact Max Parker or Susan Vuyovich at www.perkwesleybarn@bellsouth.net or call The Barn at 601.928.6009.

UMW Holds Annual Meeting

The Mississippi Conference UMW Annual Meeting was held October 2- 3 at First UMC, New Albany.  As part of the gathering United Methodist Women units from across the conference along with some husbands packaged 10,160 meals for Stop Hunger Now.  Mary Simpson, vice president and program chair for the UMW organized the event that was attended by over 200 folks. The men of New Albany First also joined in on the packing.
For more information on UMW contact Jackie S. Pennington, President at jackiebill@tecinfo.com.

MUSIC OPENINGS - Ripley First United Methodist Church, a growing church in the heart of downtown Ripley is seeking to fill the position of Organist and Choir Director. For more information please contact the Rev. Andy Stoddard at 662.837.7183.