The registration form and information for the upcoming Fall Rendezvous meetings, Professional Church Workers Retreat, and the New Clergy Orientation have been sent out.  If you did not receive your appropriate info and feel you should have, then please contact the conference office.

Members from outside of the Anchorage area will need housing, so if you are able to provide housing for someone for one or two nights, please contact the conference office.  We do not have money in our budget to house people in hotels so we do our best to find local Anchorage homes for people to sleep at.  Sometimes transportation is also a need.  If that is something you can help out with, then let us know!  We appreciate anything you are able to help with.

After three intense weeks of missionary training, 37 young adults from 16 countries were commissioned for service on August 30th at the Revelation United Methodist Church in Harare, Zimbabwe.

The 2015 class of international Global Mission Fellows will spend two years in ministries focused on justice and community development and will serve in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. They were joined by 15 young adults earlier assigned to work in the United States as Global Mission Fellows.

More than half of the group is from African annual (regional) conferences and many will serve in parts of Africa thousands of miles from their homelands. More than a dozen of the new missionaries are graduates of Africa University, and four in the international group are from the United States. 

Global Mission Fellows is a program of Global Ministries that provides young adult mission service opportunities for young adults ages 20-30. Young adults are invited to engage with the local communities, connect the church in mission, and grow in personal and social holiness.

Learn more about the recently-commissioned 37 young adult missionaries.

No matter the nature of the work, our jobs are an opportunity to serve Christ every day.  See what Joe Iovino from United Methodist Communications has to say about our daily lives.

• Week 1:  September 1-5th            Flood
• Week 2:  September 6-12th          Wildfire
• Week 3:  September 13-19th        Earthquake
• Week 4:  September 20-26th        Power Outage
• Week 5:  September 27-30th        Lead up to National PrepareAthon! Day (September 30th )

Start registering now to attend the School of Theology, which will occur September 18-19, 2015 at St. John UMC.  You can go to our website for more information or view the registration brochure.

CROP Hunger Walks are coming up soon in Seward and Anchorage.  Those are the only ones currently scheduled to take place in Alaska.  If you are in either area, consider participating.  Up to 25% of the money raised stays in your area. 75% of the money raised goes to Church World Service. Seward will hold their walk on Sunday, September 13th.  Anchorage will hold their walk on Sunday, September 27th.  Check out CROP Hunger Walk to find out the specifics for the walk in your area.

Our church is at its best when we reach out to sisters and brothers in need.  World Communion Sunday calls the church to reach out to all people and model diversity among God's children.  United Methodists relate to World Communion Sunday by celebrating communion with other Christians around the world on this special Sunday.  Churches are also encouraged to receive an offering to support scholarships for ethnic undergraduate and graduate students.  Our gifts often enable first-generation students to attend college.

To make it easier for you to change the world October 4, please download a free eBook.  Also, download the World Communion Sunday pastor's kit.

Order leaflet offering envelopes and posters to enhance your World Communion Sunday celebration at www.umcgiving.org/ss or call 888-346-3862.  To hear World Communion Sunday in action, listen to these podcasts.

The Alaska United Methodist Women are gearing up for their Annual Gathering which will be held at North Star Bible Camp from October 9-11.  In their latest newsletter you can find the registration form and information about what the amazing weekend will entail.  If you are a woman in Alaska you do not want to miss this!  Read the latest newsletter here.

Church leaders from around our denomination are eligible to participate in these upcoming free webinars offered by the GBOD Leadership Ministries division.  You can register online by going here.  Here are a few of the webinars coming up:

~Tuesday, September 15 - Celebrating Extended Advent: Why and How-to

~Tuesday, September 22 - What is Lay Servant Ministries all About?

~Thursday, September 24 - Developing Your Ministry Plan-A Four Part In Depth Series; Session 2, Discovering Your Congregation's Niche

~Thursday, September 24 - Grant Writing 101: Launching Projects & Ministries that Make a Difference