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e~Aurora (a weekly news update)
The Alaska United Methodist ConferenceOctober 20, 2015
In This Issue
~Superintendent's Blog
~Stewardship Opportunity
~5 Ways to Celebrate INM
~Calling All Quilters!
~Sexual Ethics Website
~Inclusive Church Workshop
~Cameroon Team Provides PET
~Giving Tuesday
~FREE Webinars
~2016 UMW Call for Study Leaders
~Save the Date




ACS Print  

20/20 Vision:
Leading to God's New Horizons



 

Upcoming  Clergy
 Birthdays!   


October 31 -
Sandy Ward

November 1 -
Phil Campbell

November 6 -
Tafa Fulumua

November 17 -
Jean Bruscia



Contact Information

 

Superintendent
Carlo Rapanut

cell 907-854-8340  





Ministry Quicklinks





Join Our Mailing List





2014 Conference Journal
 
 
The Conference Journal is posted on our website and you can access it anytime you would like.  Download it onto your computer desktop for easy research.


Superintendent's Blog
Carlo's blog this week is the last of his series.  It is Call (Last of 6 Parts).

To catch up on previous blog posts you may have missed, click here.
Stewardship Training Opportunity
On Tuesday October 27, the Rev. Dr. Ken Sloane, director of Stewardship with Discipleship Ministries of the United Methodist Church, will be at St. John to lead a workshop for local church leaders. This 90 minute workshop is meant for lay people and clergy alike. We will gather from 6:30-8pm in the St. John sanctuary. We are hoping to livestream this event so that churches from all across Alaska can participate and glean from Ken's wisdom. Please join us as we learn and discover new ways to cultivate great stewardship practices within our local churches.
5 Ways to Celebrate Imagine No Malaria During Your Church's Fall Events
1. Trick or Treat or Trunk or Treat for Imagine No Malaria using INM donation boxes, which are available for free. Make sure to snap a picture of you or your kids with the box and tweet it with hashtag #MalariaIsScary or email it to inminfo@umcom.org!

2. Family game night featuring the malaria-themed Jeopardy game

3. Pumpkin decorating contest with voting for best pumpkin donations to Imagine No Malaria

4. Include an Imagine No Malaria display at your church's Fall Festival with facts about malaria deaths in Africa and facts about how The United Methodist Church is helping

5. Invite children to make Imagine No Malaria-themed crafts, including fans, donation boxes and pipe cleaner mosquitoes

Hashtag your pictures with #MalariaIsScary
Calling All Quilters!!!
United Methodist Women are actively preparing for the church's 2016 General Conference in Portland, Oregon, May 10-20.  As in previous General Conference meetings, United Methodist Women will again have an active role in the General Conference prayer ministry.  One prayer ministry activity planned is to offer quilted finger prayer labyrinths for delegates and guests. 
 
We are seeking UMW members that enjoy quilting to assist us by making the finger labyrinths. Do you have women in your conference, district or local units who would like to help by volunteering to quilt finger prayer labyrinth squares for the delegates and guests?  We need 2,000 and the variety of labyrinths made by women from all over the country will bless the recipients and lend to the support and outreach we hope to extend.  Here is the pattern for the finger labyrinths.   Each labyrinth will be tagged with a card identifying that the labyrinth is "handmade with love and prayer by United Methodist Women".
 
Anyone interested in quilting the finger prayer labyrinth squares should email GCprayer@unitedmethodistwomen.org with an estimate of how many they might be able to make and to receive further instructions for shipping the completed labyrinths by the deadline.
 
Deadline for submission of labyrinths is January 15, 2016.  If there are questions, email me at GCprayer@unitedmethodistwomen.org.
Church Sexual Ethics Website Relaunched
The United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women has launched a redesigned website, umsexualethics.org, that offers resources to address sexual ethics and misconduct. The site includes materials for victims and those accused of sexual misconduct, as well as individuals in conference leadership charged with handling cases of sexual misconduct in a congregation.
Inclusive Church Workshop: Welcoming Transgender Persons
Saturday, Nov 7, 10am - Noon. Lutheran Church of Hope 1847 W. Northern Lights Blvd. Anchorage

For clergy, church leaders, youth & children, hospitality ministry leaders, and any interested congregants

Free of charge; good will offering will be taken for Identity, Inc.  
 
Public testimony before the Anchorage Assembly showed misunderstanding about transgender people. Join us to better understand: Who is your [transgender] neighbor? 
Topics include:
** What are we talking about in "gender identity?" 
** How can I better understand my transgender neighbor?
** How can the church support transgender persons and their families?
** How do we educate others? And thoughtfully address those pesky bathroom questions?
** How can we help transgender people know they are invited and welcome at our church?

Presented by Christians for Equality & Identity INC. Workshop leader is Rev. Drew Phoenix of the Balimore-Washington (UMC) Conference. For more information or to register by e-mail, contact christiansforequality@gmail.com or call Nora at (907) 250-3642
Cameroon Team Provides PET for Polio Victim
The 2015 Cameroon Mission team, sponsored by St. John United Methodist Church, delivered a PET mobility cart to a young university student as part of its volunteer work in Kribi, Cameroon in West Africa this past May.

Paul Obam Mambo, 23, was selected by the Kribi Handicap Association to receive this sturdy, hand-cranked cart. Paul was victim of polio at an early age and has no memory of being able to walk. As a child he was carried everywhere. Later, he learned to walk with crutches. He will begin his university studies this fall and the PET cart will enable him to transport books, bags and groceries as a student. He sends his profound thanks to the generous donors that provided the PET cart for him.

To learn more about PET, go to www.petinternational.org
Giving Tuesday, December 1
The United Methodist Church is again encouraging you to participate in Giving Tuesday, the first Tuesday in December.  After spending money on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday celebrates the ability to give to organizations and charities.  There are hundreds of Advance projects within the United Methodist Church.  We have several within our own conference.  Here is the website that gives the specifics for your donation and the matching plans from the General Board of Global Ministries.  As Alaskans we are able to start giving at 9:00 p.m. on Monday, November 30!  This is a time change from previous years as the new beginning time is based on Central Time NOT Eastern Time.

Here is a list of the Alaska projects you can support!
Mission Contexts and Relationships
Alaska Churches
931027 - Strengthening local church mission and ministry while launching new leadership for new programs.

Alaska Ethnic and Rural Camping and Conference Fund
931024 - Flying Native American and Eskimo children to Christian camps for church and spiritual activities.

Birchwood Camp
931068 - Building community on holy ground by providing program spaces and year-round staff housing.

931602 - Reaching out to all of God's children through a variety of faith based activities

3021214 - Creating a sustainable home and developing leadership for CUMC and its ministries.

Downtown Ministries, First United Methodist Church Ketchikan
3020487 - Providing a place for the homeless or temporary housing to spend daytime hours.

Girdwood Chapel United Methodist Church
931007 - Building larger facilities to greatly increase the breadth and scope of worship and social services.

Hope Retreat Center
3020590 - Replacing kitchen floor and cabinets and installing energy-efficient windows and insulation.

3021099 - Providing tuition assistance for students majoring in education, human services and healthcare.

931855 - Ministering to the Bering Sea Fishing Fleet, processors, stranded crew members and workers.

Willow Alaska United Methodist Church
931511 - Serving poor rural communities spiritually, with basic physical needs, and with help in emergencies.

Willow Church and Community Ministry
931520 - Providing Christian education to children in Anvik and Grayling and also responding to emergencies.

Missionaries
  1. Erbele, Evelyn (10832Z) - Co-pastor of First United Methodist Church in Ketchikan, Alaska.
  2. Erbele, Terence (10831Z) - Co-Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Ketchikan, Alaska.
  3. Lynch, Wilma Frances (982950) - Deaconess serving as a Church and Community Worker in Willow, Alaska.
FREE Webinars
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, October 27 - Covenant Discipleship with Children
~Tuesday, November 3 - Children's Spirituality: 8 Tools Children Use to Help Them Experience God
~Thursday, November 5 - Children's MInistry: Worship in Contemporary Settings
~Thursday, November 12 - The Means of Grace
~Thursday, November 12 - Ending the Year Strong: It's Not Too Late to Have a Better 2015
~Tuesday, November 17 - Measuring Your Effectiveness
~Monday, November 23 - 51 Ideas for Children's Ministers
2016 UMW Call for Study Leaders
The Executive Team of United Methodist Women of Alaska are accepting applications for Study Leaders for  Mission u events to be implemented from late summer 2016 through the end of 2016.   Please find in WORD and PDF, a summary of the courses to be facilitated throughout the Alaska Conference.  Information and an application is included.  Please note the deadline for applications is November 15, 2015.

You may contact Bonnie Miller at bonitajane@yahoo.com or 907-776-8555 or 907-440-1636 with any questions.
Save the Date Mark Your Calendars Now!
We have some dates to announce so that you can get them on your calendar now.  More information will be given in the upcoming weeks.

#GivingTuesday: Tuesday, December 1 (November 30 at 9:00 p.m. for Alaskans)

Creating Congregational Cultures of Generosity (CCCG): February 18-19, 2016

Annual Conference: June 3-4, 2016 with Pre-Conference Workshops on June 2, 2016.

Upcoming Events

October
     25: Turnagain UMC Church Conference
     26-28: Greater Northwest Bishop's Symposium
     28-29: Greater Northwest Cabinet meetings

November
     1: Girdwood Chapel UMC Church Conference
     7: Homer UMC Church Conference
     7: Soldotna UMC Church Conference
     8: St. Peter the Fisherman UMC Church Conference
     11-13: Carlo at Mission Leader Summit in New York
     15: Jewel Lake Parish Church Conference
     19-20: Carlo in Portland for GNW Cabinet meeting
     22: Christ First UMC Church Conference
     22: Palmer Fellowship Church Conference
     29: UMC of Chugiak Church Conference

December
     1: St. John UMC Church Conference
     7-15: Crystal on vacation
     8: Willow UMC Church Conference
     9: First UMC Anchorage & First Samoan UMC Church Conference
     11: Seward Memorial UMC & Moose Pass UMC Church Conference
     12: Kenai UMC Church Conference
     12: North Star UMC Church Conference
     14-16: Carlo in Seattle for GNW Cabinet meeting
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