Children throughout the United Methodist connection are learning about the history of the Methodist movement and practicing intentional discipleship with the help of drawings of John and Charles Wesley called "Flat Wesleys." The idea for Flat Wesleys, which is based on the youth literature character Flat Stanley©, came from a desire by children's ministry leaders to inspire covenant discipleship with children. After studying Methodist heritage, congregations will receive a set of Flat Wesleys. The children will make their own Flat Wesleys, and carry them to worship services. They will have the Wesleys with them in prayer, and they will take them when they go out and do an act of service in the community. Teachers and children will then write a letter about what the children experienced while they had the Flat Wesleys and send it to another congregation along with the laminated Flat Wesleys. Read the full story  Become a Flat Wesley Congregation.   

New York Times best-selling author and popular blogger Rachel Held Evans has been a leading voice in the conversation about why millennials are absent from the life of the Church. This April, Rachel will speak at King Avenue United Methodist Church about her forthcoming book Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving and Finding the Church. Hailing from Dayton, Tennessee - home of the famous Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 - she writes about faith, doubt, and life in the Bible Belt. Rachel is also the author of Faith Unraveled (2010) and A Year of Biblical Womanhood (2012). She has been featured in The Washington Post, The Guardian, Christianity Today, Slate, The Huffington Post, The CNN Belief Blog, and on NPR, The BBC, The Today Show, and The View. Free and open to public. Event details

Care for Creation? If you do, join other United Methodists at the National Caring for Creation Conference in Atlanta this April. The theme for this year's national conference is "Environmental Resurrection: Let Justice Roll Down Like Waters" and will feature national and local leaders discussing challenges and solutions for environmental justice communities and how United Methodists and other religious peoples can assist in meeting those challenges. Matthew Tejada, the Director for Environmental Justice for the EPA, alongside Ellen Ott-Marshall of The United Methodist Church, will kick off the two-day event. Other highlights include a worship service celebrating the environment and tours of environmental justice sites and sustainability projects. Details.  Poster   There's also a Youth Climate Convergence happening concurrently. 

The idea of having a specific "calling" in life tends to be kind of a daunting prospect. We worry that we're not going to find it or that we'll be called to something we don't want to do. But, according to Rebekah Lyons, the co-founder of Q Ideas and the author of Freefall to Fly: A Breathtaking Journey Toward a Life of Meaning, calling doesn't have to be as complicated as we make it. Actually, it just starts with obedience. Read more

Request space for an event at a Lakeside facility during Annual Conference by March 20. 

Registration & Housing online registration is open. On-site housing at Lakeside is on a first-come, first-served basis, registration for conference is open until May 30.