WOC logo
                                                                                                           NewsNET March 18, 2015 - Vol 8, Issue 10
Building homes in Guatemala

Destination Known, mission ministry at EUM Church in Greenville, is in their tenth year building homes for families living in the garbage dump communities in Guatemala. A team of eleven people from EUM traveled to Guatemala in February to build two more homes. During this week-long mission trip, the team worked to build homes for families that make a living in very harsh conditions around the city garbage dump. These families live in shanties made of wood and metal fastened together with anything they can find. Most of them have dirt floors that allow the garbage to wash through during the rainy season, and many have no electricity or running water. At the end of the week, it is a blessing to present them with keys to a new home made of cinder blocks with cement floors, a new tin roof, electricity and running water. This house may only be about 100 square feet, but it is so much more to the family that receives it!  Read more.

'Flat Wesleys' help children learn, practice intentional discipleship

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.   

Best-selling Christian author to speak at King Avenue 

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 ChurchHailing 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

Great fundraising idea for Imagine No Malaria
In the Wisconsin Conference, Rev. Joyce Rich offered how her two congregations are each doing something unique to support Imagine No Malaria (INM). At Bethel, the kids are using coloring pages to raise money during Lent! Each week, they color a different INM coloring page and "sell" the artwork to the congregation for $10 each. Church members take home a unique piece of art - and a household in sub-Saharan Africa gets a bednet. "In short, every time you cover your refrigerator with new artwork, a family is covered with a bed net," Pastor Joyce said. At her Caldwell church, a banner ordained in mosquitoes is hung in the sanctuary. For each mosquito to 'disappear,' someone gifts $25 to INM. Your church can do this as well using the Imagine No Malaria Coloring Book or the Hidden Picture Puzzle, both church resources found in The Box. Send Dave Boling photos of the artwork! 
United Methodists gather to care for creation

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. 

Vision to Victory 2015: "Religion, Race and Revival"

Each year, United Theological Seminary holds Vision to Victory, a celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In light of recent heightened racial tensions centering on acts of racial injustice and violence in our country, the celebration has been expanded to a three-night event, "Religion, Race and Revival."  Revival services will be held, calling ourselves and our community to accountability over issues of racial injustice and reconciliation. Preachers for the event are Dr. Frank Thomas, Rev. Vanessa Ward, and Bishop Gregory V. Palmer. All services are open to the public. Event details
Finding Your Calling is About Learning Obedience

studying_girl.jpg 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

Important deadlines for 2015 Annual Conference

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. 

Upcoming EventsUpcomingEvents

Passages

 

Let us remember in prayer those grieving the loss of their loved one, and remember in thanksgiving the life and ministry of:

 

Phyllis Jean Goff, 81 , who died on January 17. Jean was preceded in death by her husband, Rev. William J. Goff, who was a retired elder at the time of his passing. She is survived by children William (Janet) Goff, Deborah (Stephen) Radomski, and Judith Goff; six grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Jean's nursing career was a ministry of its own, and her work with delinquent youth, prison inmates, the mentally ill, and the infirm elderly clearly reflected what it meant to her to be a Christian. As a pastor's wife, she served alongside her husband in churches in the Rocky River Conference (1956); Western Pennsylvania Conference (1958); and his appointments in West Ohio as Protestant Chaplain, Ohio Penitentiary Columbus (1967); Protestant Chaplain, Ohio Reformatory for Women, Marysville (1973); and York Center United Methodist Church (1993) in West Mansfield.

Obituary. Services were held in January at the United Methodist Church of the Master in Westerville. Condolences may be made online at Hills Funeral Home


Rev. Dr. M.A. "Bill" Kunkle Jr., 82, who died on March 14. Bill is survived by his wife, Esther, and children Cheryl Sue (Charles) Ross, James William (Krista) Kunkle, and Michael Aaron (Erica) Kunkle; grandchildren Nicole Renee (Craig) Brocato, Ryan Michael (Jenn) Whyms, Jamie Christine Kunkle, Molly Lilias Grace Kunkle, Esther Marie Kunkle, Deborah Marie Fidler, Jesse Morgan Bucher, Evan Matthew (Hailie) Bucher and Michael Aaron Kunkle Jr. Bill served in the West Ohio Conference at Jamestown, Owensville, Prospect Street, Pharisburg and Magnetic Springs United Methodist Churches, retiring in 1994. Obituary  Services were private. Expressions of condolence may be sent to Mrs. Esther Kunkle, 142 South Franklin Street, Richwood, Ohio 43344 

Quick Links
 
Deadline for News.NET articles is noon on Friday. Articles are published based on available space and relevance.  All articles are subject to editing.
Please submit article requests to