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Conference Journal

Superintendent's Blog

We have had a busy few weeks! I leave tonight to attend the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference where I will be participating in the ordination service of Lisa Talbott of Homer UMC and the commissioning of Nico Romeijn-Sout, incoming Pastor of Discipleship and Social Justice at St. John UMC.

I will start blogging again in July. To catch up on previous blog posts you may have missed, click here.

Have a great week!

Wildfires in Alaska

By now you have all heard about the fires burning in Alaska, and knowing Methodists as I do, I know you all want to help. Until the fires are contained and residents allowed to return home, the best way to help is with "undesignated" monetary donations. An undesignated donation allows any leftover funds to be used for other disasters.

Once the recovery effort begins, requests for donations will go out along with the location of collection sites for donated items.

Let me know if you want to be more involved in disaster recovery and Early Response Team (ERT) and/or United Methodist Volunteers In Mission (UMVIM) training can be arranged. ERT's work with mops, shovels and tarps. UMVIM teams work with hammers and nails. UMCOR is anxious to provide training. Let's get geared up to provide a caring Christian presence in the aftermath of disaster.

Blessings to you all,

Debbie Ervin

akdrc99808@gmail.com

(907)878-0537

UM Bishops Reach Out After Charleston Shooting

In the wake of the tragic shooting of nine people attending Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church is reaching out to their colleague bishops in the African Methodist Episcopal Church with a message of prayer and healing.

The bishops also called upon United Methodists to support victims of violence and to work to end racism and hatred. Their message echoed that of a pastoral letter on racism issued by the Council to the people of The United Methodist Church in early May.

Read the letter from the President of the Council, Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr., to the bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church here.

Appointment Announcement
Bishop Hagiya intends to appoint Rev. Ferdinand Llenado to Bethany UMC in Tacoma, Washington. His appointment will begin July 1. He was the pastor at UMC of Sitka.

The Sailor's Bible
If you are in the Anchorage area, don't miss out on Birchwood Camp's Music and Drama (MAD) camp performance. You will have two opportunities to catch it. The first performance will be at Anchor Park UMC at 7:00 PM on Saturday, June 27th. The second performance will be at 7:00 PM on Sunday, June 28th at UMC of Chugiak. Campers learn a musical in just five days at MAD camp! Come and support these amazing young people!

Church & Society Helps Launch Alzheimer's Coalition

The United Methodist Board of Church and Society, along with USAgainstAlzheimer's, has established a new Faith United Against Alzheimer's Coalition. The church aims to promote dignity and compassionate care, provide family support and "work urgently" to find disease-modifying treatments and a cure.
Read story
Faith United Against Alzheimer's petition

Land of Lakes Choirboys to Perform Free Concert

St. John UMC is eager to host the Land of Lakes Choirboys of Minnesota, Wed., June 24 at 7:30 p.m. This is a free concert and open the community. No advance tickets needed. For a sample of the group's music, visit their website.

East Anchorage UMC Annual Yard Sale
The Annual East Anchorage UMC Yard Sale will be held this Saturday, June 27th, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. If you have any items in good condition that you no longer want or need, donate them to their yard sale. Please call Valerie Butler (333-7688) or Barbara Gierke (947-1202) to arrange a time to drop off the items at the church located at 1660 Patterson Street, Anchorage, Alaska. 100% of the proceeds will go to Midnight Sun Service Dogs.

Methodist History

Conference Historian and Archivist, Larry Hayden, has spent several years compiling information and putting them into books. You have been given the opportunity to purchase those books but now you have the opportunity to view them online for free! You can find them on the Alaska Conference website under the History tab.
Birchwood Camp History
Military Chaplain History
Hope Retreat Center History
Alaska Methodist University History

Annual Conference Videos
Videos were used during the plenaries but a couple of them didn't want to work. Please take the time to view the videos below. Here is the wonderful Disaster Preparedness and Volunteer In Mission video. Debbie Ervin did a wonderful job putting it together! Alaska Child & Family also wanted to make sure that you were able to see their video. View the 125th Anniversary of AK Child & Family video here.

Eagle River United Methodist Camp

Eagle River United Methodist Camp located in Juneau, Alaska will be having Discovery Camp for kids going into 3rd thru 8th grade. The dates for camp are July 12th - July 16th. This year's theme is "Get Real". To sign-up please contact the Sitka United Methodist Church at 907-747-8775 for a registration form. Children from other communities in Southeast Alaska and beyond are welcome to participate. Let's get together for camp!!!

Upcoming Events

June

26-28: Carlo attending the PNW Annual Conference in Pasco, WA

July

17-20: Carlo at DCM, Mission Cabinet Meeting in Portland
21-30: Carlo on vacation

Submissions

If you have an article or event that you would like the rest of the conference to know about and participate in, feel free to submit them to me each week by Monday evening. I ask that you type up what you want included and let me know how many weeks you want it published for. Thank you!

Contact Info

Crystal Feaster

Administrative Assistant

907-333-5050 phone

907-333-2304 fax

www.alaskaumc.org

umc@gci.net