NewsNET September 19, 2008

Groceries Congregations across West Ohio are called to participate in a food drive to support neighborhood food pantries. Forced to discard food due to lack of refrigeration during power outages, food pantries across Ohio are facing a crisis as more and more people are in need of safe food.

West Ohio congregations are invited to hold a food drive starting now through October 5, 2008, the weekend of the Festival of Sharing. Contact your area or regional food pantry to see what kind of food is needed, then create a list of needed food and hold a food drive in your community. For a list of Ohio foodbanks, visit Foodbanks. For a list of West Ohio funded community centers, visit Community Centers.

For more details and a flyer...Food Drive.

REPLACING SPOILED FOOD PURCHASED WITH FOOD STAMPS

The Sept. 14 wind storm that left more than 2 million Ohioans facing long-term power outages is more than an inconvenience to food stamp recipients. According to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, food purchased with food stamps can be replaced in certain circumstances, including if it spoils because of a power outage lasting longer than 4 hours.

To replace spoiled food purchased with food stamps, individuals must visit their county department of job and family services (CDJFS) and complete and submit a "Statement Requesting Replacement of Food Stamp Benefits" form. This form must be submitted within 10 days of when the food spoiled due to the September 14 event, or, if the person was away from home, 10 days from when the food spoilage was discovered. Food Stamp Replacement Procedures

EMPOWERING WOMEN FOR MINISTRY: CLERGY & LAYWOMEN

October 24-25, Methodist Theological School of Ohio

Featured speaker will be Dr. Heather Murray Elkins, Professor of Worship, Preaching and the Arts at The Theological School and Caspersen School of Graduate Studies, Drew University. She began her teaching career as an instructor in the first bi-lingual independent school on the Navaho Reservation. During her pastoral career she has served as a local church pastor, a truck stop chaplain, a university chaplain, and an academic dean. She taught Liturgical Theology at Ewah Woman's University in Seoul Korea

MOBILIZE YOUR CHURCH TO HELP END GENOCIDE

If you have ever felt like working for justice is overwhelming and even lonely at times, we want to give you a few tips for mobilizing your church. Join the movement to put an end to the genocide in Darfur and bring peace to Sudan. Engaging in the work of justice is a shared journey where we are given the opportunity to not only advocate on behalf of those who face oppression and injustice, but we have the opportunity to share this gift of advocacy.

Please consider these activities as you recruit others to join you in this crucial work of ending the Darfur genocide:

Organize your Sunday school class, youth group, campus ministry, or social justice ministry in your church to study the Christian Companion to Not On Our Watch by Don Cheadle and John Prendergast.
Welcome your friends and fellow church members to your home to take part in the free National Conference call on Darfur this Thursday, September 25 at 8 pm EST, where you will hear updates on what is happening in Darfur and tips on how to mobilize for change. The series runs through October 30th.
Sign and spread the Darfur petition to urge elected leaders to make ending the Darfur genocide a policy priority.
Share the resolution passed at the 2008 General Conference called Sudan: A Call to Compassion and Caring with your church.
Send this information to as many other people you know to follow through on the steps above.
Visit the Not On Our Watch website at Darfur Christian Action

EVENTS

Liberation! - Equipping Christian Leaders to Abolish Modern Slavery, September 27, 2008, Methodist Theological School in Ohio. For information/registration visit: Liberation.
SAVE THE DATE! Wesley Glen presents Bishop Spong on November 11, 2008, for the Harold B. Williams Memorial Symposium. Details will be coming soon.

WORKSHOPS/CONFERENCES

18th Annual Ohio Professional Association of United Methodist Church Secretaries (PAUMCS) Conference, September 26 & 27, 2008, Coburn UMC, Zanesville Brochure.
Quasquicentennial Founder's Day Celebrations and 69th Thirkield-Jones Lecture Series - "Remembering Who We Are: Seeking New Pathways" - OCTOBER 6-8, 2008,
Mission and Evangelism Institute at MTSO, October 12-14, Delaware, addresses offering Christ in a multi-religious world - A builder of thriving congregations in the United States will join an award-winning Sri Lankan theologian and author as featured speakers at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio Brochure.
Change the World Conference, October 24-25, Tipp City, are you ready to take the church into the world, rather than trying to coax the world into the church? Register today for the CHANGE THE WORLD Conference with featured speakers Adam Hamilton, Brian McLaren, Jim Wallis, Mike Slaughter ...details

VOLUNTEERS IN MISSION

HURRICANE CLEANUP CALLING YOU? TOO FAR AWAY? THINK ABOUT A MORE LOCAL TRIP! We in the Midwest are notorious for helping many of the folks in other parts of the country and world with their disaster clean-up needs. But remember-we have a lot to do right here! Right now! This spring and summer were wet and soggy in several conferences! Four North Central Conferences were hit especially hard: ILLINOIS GREAT RIVERS, IOWA, SOUTH INDIANA, WISCONSIN. Click here for information on how to help in the Midwest.

PASSAGES

No clergy passages were reported this week to the conference office.

West Ohio NewsNET is a weekly publication of the Connectional Ministries Office of the West Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church, published on Mondays. Deadline for articles is Thursdays at 5pm.

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