WI Conference ENews: Annual Conference Info, Farewell to Dan & Rick, New Chancellor Named, Pilgrimage to Turkey Info, Partnership with Bolivia

6/8/2021 - Conference News
Conference News

 

 

Annual Conference Ingathering 

The Wisconsin Conference Disaster Response Team and Mission Motivation Committee has been working with Midwest Mission Distribution Center (MMDC). There are several locations within each district of the Wisconsin Conference – where the supplies can be collected. 

Click here: 2021 Ingathering List & 2021 Ingathering Drop-off Sites

The link below is the brochure from MMDC to be certain that the kits you are donating are complete and include the requested items.

Midwest Mission Distribution Center Brochure

MFSA - Wisconsin Annual Conference Gathering 2021

The Methodist Federation for Social Action – Wisconsin Chapter is inviting you to a Zoom gathering on June 17th at 7 p.m. Registration is required to attend. Please email Bill Dow, pbdow@yahoo.com, by June 15th with a request for the Zoom link. It will be emailed to you 48 hours before the gathering. Only those registered will advance from the waiting room.
All are invited to attend.  Read More

Watch Annual Conference Livestream

In preparation for our virtual Annual Conference on June 18-19, we invite you to watch as a guest, the live stream of Annual Conference.

Two important pieces of information:
 

  1. Lay members and clergy members of Annual Conference have a separate link to be able to participate and vote during Annual Conference. Do NOT use the link below if you are registered to attend Annual Conference. 
  2. Anyone else who would like to watch Annual Conference live, can use this link: https://youtu.be/aYbbjVNrG0I

Join Bishop Jung and Scott Carlson on a Pilgrimage to Turkey and Greece to study Paul and the early Church
 
It is such a gift to be able to travel to the ancient world and see the places and the customs of how our ancestors in the faith have lived.  This type of intentional travel helps to bring the world of the Bible alive.  In addition we have a chance to deepen our relationships with others who travel.  When we deepen our relationships with others and with our scriptures, it fosters a deepening relationship with God. 
Traveling with the Society for Biblical Studies and Rev. Peter Miano, helps us to learn more of the roots of our faith.  Peter is also intentional about helping us understand what is happening today, in the lands where we travel. 

Come, travel with us, and allow God to walk with you and transform and deepen your faith.  More Information

Farewell Messages for Rick Churan and Dan Dick

Rick Churan is retiring from the Wisconsin United Methodist Foundation. Dan Dick is returning to serve as a pastor of a local church after years on Conference Staff. If you want to leave them messages of thanks, fun stories, or farewell wishes, we have set up separate “KudoBoards” for each of them (a way to post pictures, messages, even videos of your memories).
 
Leave your message on this kudoboard for Dan Dick’s change of appointment. https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/J6JEt5fW
 
Leave your message on this kudoboard for Rick Churan’s retirement. https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/M27qdF6z


Wisconsin Conference Welcomes a New Chancellor:
Marshall Schmitt

Following the excellent and careful leadership of Bill White – who served as Conference Chancellor for 29 years! – Bishop Jung and the cabinet of the Wisconsin Conference is delighted to welcome Bill’s successor, Marshall J. Schmitt.
Marshall is an equity partner at Michael Best (since 2007), with extensive experience of legal matters in the church.  He served on the GCF&A Legal Responsibilities Team dealing primarily with Trust Clause issues and the Supreme Court case concerning clergy housing allowance as taxable income.  He provides legal advice to his home church in Downers Grove, Illinois.  He graduated law school in 1983; has worked on death penalty, corporate conduct cases, property disputes, and intellectual property law; specializing in patent litigation.  Marshall is a member of the Northern Illinois Conference, working at Michael Best: Marshall Schmitt - Michael Best & Friedrich LLP.  We are so fortunate to receive a chancellor with so much expertise and commitment, and we welcome him while offering our deepest gratitude and appreciation to Bill White as he retires.

 

100% Apportionment Paid Tags Mailed!

2020 Tags were mailed last week to all churches who paid 100% of their 2020 apportionments.  Thank you to the 245 churches who did this during a very unusual year.  If you do not receive, or have any questions, please contact Treasureroffice@wisconsinumc.org.  We would like to include some photos of you hanging your new tag and showing your church placque.  Please send a photo and your story to Communications@wisconsinumc.org.  We look forward to receiving your photos.

"Our new apportionment tag is attached!  I've many times heard the story of how, when Howard Hintzman (now retired) was a student pastor here at Trempealeau, he told the Administrative Council that paying apportionments was so important that they must pay them before paying him.  We feel very fortunate to be able to pay in full." Pastor Mary Beth Scow

2020 Preliminary Results and 2022 Budget
 
A video that explains the preliminary financial results for 2020 and describes the 2022 budget to be presented at Annual Conference is available on the Finance web page of the Conference website.  If you have any questions, please send them to the Conference Treasurer at treasureroffice@wisconsinumc.org.  Watch video
Mission News & Information

 

 

Partnership between Wisconsin Conference and Bolivia 

Our Partnership between the Wisconsin Conference of the UMC and the Evangelical Methodist Church in Bolivia, brings the opportunity to build bridges of support, love, learning of both cultures, company and mutual celebration of one faith in Jesus Christ. They are currently working on a project to fund motorcycles to help change lives for our brothers and sisters in Bolivia.  Read More

Dementia Awareness in Hudson

To raise awareness of families coping with a member's dementia diagnosis, Hudson United Methodist Church recently participated in creating a video for St. Croix County's Dementia Awareness Sunday on 13 June. In the attached video (John.ramstad@yahoo.com to supply), Certified Lay Servant Darci Strutt McQuistion and Rev. Dr. Dawn Jeffers Ramstad share a Zoom pastoral visit about her memories when her husband, Mike, was newly diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. They are followed by technical information presented by two Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) Dementia Specialists in St. Croix and Polk Counties. Read More
Other Resources


Seminary Scholarship Applications Due July 1!

Seminary scholarships offered through the Wisconsin United Methodist Foundation have an application deadline of July 1! You can find application information here. 

Juneteenth 50th Anniversary

Northcott Neighborhood House and the Juneteenth Planning Committee invite you to be a part of the celebration of Emancipation.  To mark their 50th anniversary, Milwaukee’s Juneteenth Day Parade and Celebration is set to take place Saturday, June 19.  The Juneteenth Day Celebration in Milwaukee is among the oldest and longest running such parades in the nation.  Read More
                                       
Classifieds