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Conference Journal

Superintendent's Blog

Here is my blog for this week: What is our Faithful Response?

Have a wonderful week.

Annual Conference Registration is OPEN!

Register now for Annual Conference! The registration process is a little different this year so make sure you don't miss anything! Early registration deadline is April 26th.

On the conference website, you will find an array of Annual Conference related items: forms, workshop information, award opportunities, schedule, etc. Start taking a look at things so that you become familiar with the events and so you don't miss submission deadlines.

Apportionment Report

Here is the first apportionment report of the year. You can find it on the conference website here.

Phyllis Sullivan is Turning 90!

Come to an Open House Cake and Punch Social in honor of Phyllis Sullivan's 90th birthday. The celebration will occur on Friday, April 15th from 2-5 pm at Anchor Park UMC (2300 Oak Drive). Everyone that knows Phyllis is invited to attend. Phyllis currently attends Christ First UMC in Wasilla. If you are not able to attend, please send her a card at 1725 Tillicum Avenue, Wasilla, AK, 99654. No gifts please!

Come Fly a Kite

You are invited to come fly a kite at an Earth Day Event here in Anchorage on Saturday April 23. For those of you not in Anchorage, we encourage you to consider a similar event in your community. Earth Day provides a wonderful opportunity for all of us, who care about the earth and all life to join together and say so. The plan is to gather on the Park Strip between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. ... to fly kites in celebration of wind and all the other systems that provide beauty and life on this planet!

Bring your own kites, if you wish. Decorate them with your church's logo, or with a slogan and/and symbols celebrating earth and life. For those who don't have a kite when they arrive, there will be kite-making materials available.

Food vendors will be also be invited, so plan to eat lunch there. This event is presented by Citizens' Climate Lobby and other local community groups.

Come Celebrate 50 Years!

East Anchorage United Methodist Church will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary on Sunday, April 24 at our 9:00 am service. All are cordially invited, especially those who have been a part of our journey in ministry over these 50 years.

Make a Prayer Lantern for GC2016 Climate Vigil

United Methodists are invited to celebrate Earth Sunday by making or decorating a prayer lantern for use at climate vigil before General Conference 2016. The Pacific Northwest Conference is hosting the vigil on May 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the Oregon Convention Center Plaza. The Rev. Jenny Phillips writes about how churches can make the lanterns to celebrate Earth Sunday.

Read story

Click here to learn more about the vigil

Click here to RSVP on Facebook

Help Support a Mission Trip

The Juneau Youth Cooperative Ministry is heading to Cost Rica in June. They are asking for your prayer and financial support to make it happen. They have already raised over half of the $25,000 needed to go. Here is a letter from their leader, Rev. Melissa Engel.

Cook Needed at Birchwood Camp

Birchwood Camp is hiring 2 additional positions on their kitchen team- a lead cook and an assistant cook. Cooks are responsible for food preparation, serving, storage, and clean up, under the supervision of Birchwood Camp's Food Service Manager. Hours range from 10-40 hours per week depending on the camp's summer schedule. Flexibility and willingness to work a varied schedule, including many weekends, is a must. For more information, job descriptions, or to apply for a position visit: http://birchwoodcamp.org/get-involved/job-opportunities/

GC2016: Should Bishops have Term Limits?

Multiple proposals heading to General Conference would limit how long bishops can serve and, in some cases, require them to face re-election. The bishops themselves also have been studying bishop tenure. Read the story.

Lay Leaders Seek End to Guaranteed Appointment

At the 2016 General Conference, the Association of Annual Conference Lay Leaders will renew the fight to end guaranteed appointment for ordained elders of The United Methodist Church. It will require amending the denomination's constitution - a high hurdle. Read the story.

Multi-Campus Church Pastor to Lead Discipleship Ministries

The Rev. Junius Boyd Dotson, senior pastor of a 3,500-member multi-campus church in Wichita, Kansas, will take the helm of United Methodist Discipleship Ministries. The former top executive of the agency resigned abruptly in January. Read the story.

Annual Conference Award Nominations

Each year at Annual Conference, people receive awards for various things. If you would like to nominate someone for any of the awards that the conference presents, please fill out the nomination forms from the conference website. The awards being presented this year are the Harry Denman Evangelism Award for Clergy, Lay, and Youth and the Outstanding Lay Person of the Year. There are lots of wonderful people in our communities who deserve these acknowledgements. Take a moment and nominate them! Nomination deadline is April 26th.

Native American Sunday - April 10

Now is the time to be planning for Native American Ministries Sunday in The United Methodist Church.

The special offering nurtures mission with Native Americans and provides scholarships for United Methodist Native American seminarians. It also allows The United Methodist Church to launch and strengthen Native American ministries, both urban and rural, and to recruit and prepare Native American pastors.

The toolkit for pastors and church leaders is available online. It provides sermon ideas, children's sermons, litany, graphics for social media and worship, and much more.

One Month Left for INM!

Our Imagine No Malaria campaign will wrap up on World Malaria Day (April 25th). Although the Alaska Conference has exceeded our goal, not all of the Alaska churches have reached theirs. With $20,000 left for the Episcopal area to be raised, lets take this opportunity for our churches to reach their individual goals. You can read Julia Frisbie's latest article about all the success our fundraising has provided as we near the 1 million dollar goal.

Ketchikan Hostel Seeking a Manager

Ketchikan Hostel, a ministry of First United Methodist Church, is seeking a manager.

The hostel operates from May 28th through August 31st.

The manger is responsible for the oversite of this ministry. You will welcome and register guests from 5:00pm - 11:00pm at which time the doors lock for the night and open again from 7:00am - 9:00am. The hostel is closed during the day allowing you to explore and enjoy the community.

If you have a bucket list of places to visit this should be on it. Our island community is located in the southern southeast of the Tongass National Forest. The fish run thick and a catch is guaranteed. Hiking trails abound with spectacular views.

Go to http://ketchikanhostel.com and http://ktnumc.org for more information on both the church and the hostel.

Contact: Evelyn Erbele at fumc1@kpunet.net or by phone at 907.220.1951

UMW Quadrennial Meeting

The Western Jurisdiction Quadrennial Meeting for United Methodist Women will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah from April 22-24, 2016. Registration is still open. If you are interested in learning more about the event or want to attend, visit their website at www.wjumw.com. Missionary Paul Jeffrey will have a special presentation during the Saturday evening banquet.

UMM Retreat

The 12th Annual United Methodist Men's retreat will take place at the Hope Retreat Center on April 16th. United Methodist Men from the Anchorage Metro Area, the Valley and the Kenai Peninsula are invited. Rev. Nico Romeijn-Stout, Pastor of Discipleship
and Social Justice at St. John UMC, will be the resource person for the event and lead two discussions. The participants will have the opportunity to experience a Wesleyan class meeting. Read more about the event 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 17th - July 21st. This year's theme is "Power Up". 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!!!

Words of Prayer for the 2016 General Conference

First Sundays Bulletin Inserts now available

As part of the Greater Northwest Episcopal Area, each of the 475 local churches in the Alaska, Oregon-Idaho, and Pacific Northwest Conferences have the honor of serving as hosts for the several thousand United Methodists who will gather from around the globe in Portland, Oregon this May for General Conference 2016. Some will share in this honor by volunteering in person, but we can all be a part of a prayerful welcome.

Bishop Hagiya is inviting you and your congregation to join him in an area-wide experience of prayer for General Conference that will take place on the first Sunday of the month from March through June 2016.

Click to read a letter from the Bishop and to download inserts for use in your church bulletins. (http://greaternw.org/words-of-prayer/)

Words of Prayer - May 1 - PDF

Words of Prayer - June 5 - PDF

FREE Webinars

Below you will find a list of webinars for church leaders offered by Discipleship Ministries' Leadership Ministries division for April and June. These webinars are free of charge. You can register by going to www.umcdiscipleship.org/webinars.

April 7 - The Spiritual Life of the Media Child

April 7 - Transitions: Our Pastor is moving - Next Steps!

April 13 - Children and Covenant Discipleship

April 14 - Transitioning from Multigenerational to Intergenerational

April 21 - Vital Congregations: Living into Our Journey

May 5 - Camp and Retreat Ministry

May 5 - Let the Children Give: Raising Generous Children

May 18 - Social Holiness: The Method of Methodism

May 31 - Connecting with Communities and Schools

June 15 - Covenant Discipleship with Youth

Upcoming Events

April

11-14: Carlo in Oregon for GNW Cabinet meeting

16: UMM Annual Retreat at the Hope Retreat Center

29-May1: UMW Leadership Team meeting at East Anchorage UMC

May

10-20: General Conference in Portland. Carlo attending

30: Memorial Day - Office Closed

June

2: Annual Conference Workshops

3-4: Annual Conference at St. John UMC

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