Annual Conference will be held at St. John UMC in Anchorage on June 5th & 6th with workshops on June 4th.

PRE-CONFERENCE HANDBOOK

The pre-conference handbook is now complete and ready for download or mailing.  Just visit the conference website and click on the Annual Conference tab to find the information!  If you need it mailed to you, please contact the conference office.  There is a new, updated schedule posted as well. 

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS

There will be a day of workshops on June 4th.  You can find a list of the workshops and their descriptions here. One of the workshops has been moved from the morning to the afternoon.  The links and forms have been updated to reflect this change.  You can sign up for these workshops when you register to attend Annual Conference.  If you decide to change your workshop after you have already registered, please contact the conference office to change it.  If you do not plan on attending Annual Conference but want to participate in one of the workshops, you can fill out this form.  

FORMS

Churches can submit their names for the memorial service on this form.  If you are part of an organization that would like to reserve a table for a display, fill out this form.

You are all invited to attend a retirement party for Pastor Julie Wasser.  It will be held on Saturday, June 13th at the Ninilchik Senior Center (66265 Aspen Avenue, Ninilchik, 99639).  Wine and Cheese will be available at 5 PM.  Dinner and festivities will begin at 6 PM.  To RSVP or ask questions, please contact Linda Hawkins at 907-240-5212. 

If you are reading this, you already know about our E-Aurora, our weekly email blast from the conference office. It's our primary tool for getting information out to the conference. Much of the information in the E-Aurora links to the Conference Website (alaskaumc.org) where we occasionally put longer form written pieces and which serves as the primary "face" of the conference for those outside of Alaska--such as persons who would like to serve up here at some point or those looking for a United Methodist Church while on vacation.

But the conference is also involved in Social Media as well. 

We have a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/alaskaumc) that has updates from the conference office and our Superintendent. You can comment and post there and we do have communications folks who look at it pretty regularly to answer questions if there are any.

Twitter is a little more interesting for us, because, as in many conferences, it is underutilized. We do have a Twitter account (#theaumc) and we usually tweet our Superintendent's weekly blog post. It has been used during Annual Conference, General Conference, and during learning events but we have found the amount of traffic surrounding these times is actually quite small and, therefore, we have not used it much. The same goes for our Instagram account (#theaumc). We tried Instagram at Annual Conference in 2014  but got little traction. Both Twitter and Instagram are wonderful tools but many United Methodist Conferences around the US -- most of whom have paid staff to manage their communication -- haven't been able to effectively utilize these tools for ministry. We're in the same boat. 

And, don't forget, our Superintendent and Bishop have blogs out regularly as well. These are longer-form opportunities for them to share with us.

The Council of Bishops, meeting in Berlin, affirmed a vision for a missional direction for the next quadrennium which includes partnering with schools to help end poverty, starting new faith communities, building a culture of call, reaching children with life-saving interventions, and equipping congregations with disciple-making processes to continue making new disciples and increasing the number of vital congregations.

The new strategic direction would build on and extend the  Four Areas of Focus adopted in 2008 and continue the focus on creating vital congregations, but is flexible enough to allow local churches and annual conferences to adapt it according to what works best in their areas. Goals would be developed by General Conference 2016 that would include measures to aid in tracking progress.

"Developing a strategy within the Four Areas of Focus and Vital Congregations will help measure, organize, and connect the agencies and the annual conferences towards a greater impact in each area of focus so that we can tell the story of our connection ... we have nearly a decade worth of success stories that show what United Methodists working together combined with great leadership can achieve," said Bishop Sally Dyck, chair of the Missional Collaboration Group on Vital Congregations and the Four Areas of Focus.

Conference leaders, pastors, and laity will choose from a number of options at this year's SCD. Besides the worship and plenary sessions, attendees will attend one three-hour seminar that focuses on a general topic in congregational development and one five-hour in-depth Ministry Track that is focused on equipping you to lead in your ministry setting. Attendees also will have the opportunity to participate in two Lunch Idea Marts on Friday and Saturday and to interact with an author during the Leading Edge Workshops on Saturday. In addition, attendees can choose to attend one of the four Pre-Conference Seminars, which are offered on Thursday morning.  To register and find out more, visit UMCDiscipleship.org. 

Birchwood Camp is seeking an extra cook to help provide nutritious & delicious meals to our campers and guests during the summer. Our camp cooks work under the supervision of our Food Service Manager. Position requires 20-40 hours/week during the summer; off-season work is available if interested. $11-$14/hour DOE.

Position Responsibilities include:

• Preparation of meals
• Help with serving meals
• Cleanup following meals
• Prepare snacks for campers and staff
• Assistant Cook or Lead Cook positions available

Register for Summer Camp at Birchwood Camp

Online registration is now open for Birchwood Camp's Summer Programs. These camp programs provide safe spaces for spiritual formation, genuine community, and character development at Birchwood Camp's beautiful site in Chugiak. Online registration & detailed information is available at  www.birchwoodcamp.org/camps.

Von Cawvey will present an overview program on Habitat for Humanity and lift up opportunities for service this coming construction season.  It will be held following the 9AM breakfast on Saturday, May 16th in the fellowship hall at St. John UMC.

All area men of United Methodist churches are welcome to attend. Bring a friend.

The UMM Annual Retreat at Hope was a success last month! 

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

Thursday, May 14: Supporting Covenant Discipleship in the Congregation

Thursday, May 14: Stewardship in the Digital World - Has Your Church Made the Leap?

Tuesday, June 9: Children's Ministry - Staying Connected with Families Over the Summer Months

Tuesday, June 9: Where to Get Started with Older Adult Ministry

Thursday, June 18: Planning Children's Sabbath