WI Conference Weekly ENews - February 1, 2023

Conference News  l  Denominational News  l  Local News  l   Mission News  l  Events  Resources  l  Classifieds

Bishop's Day Apart For Clergy & Laity

All Clergy members of the Annual Conference are invited to the Bishop’s Day Apart. These gatherings will occur in each district, providing clergy with a worship experience, Bible study, conversation about moving forward as a denomination and fellowship. We pray that you will join in this special time with Bishop Jung. All clergy will receive an email with an invitation to register for the event. If you do not receive the invitation, please contact Lisa Wink at lwink@wisconsinumc.org.

Join us for Rev. Dr. Amanda Stein's Installation as 
District Superintendent! 
Saturday, February 11 at 2pm, First UMC, Mineral Point, WI 

*Please check the SW District of the WI UMC Facebook page for more information

NW District Youth Snowtubing At Trollhaugen- SIGN UP NOW!
Feb. 11th, 1PM, Youth 6th- 12th Grades

Calling all Northwest District Youth! You are invited to a Youth Snowtubing day at Trollhaugen, located at 2232 100th Avenue, Dresser, WI 54009. The event will be held on Feb. 11th and begins at 1pm (meet at 12:30pm). Snacks will be available afterwards at 3pm. 

This event is for Youth 6th- 12th grade and is FREE! Please invite all of your friends to this one of a kind event! Families are also welcome; admission is $16 per person.

Sign up here / Learn more / Watch FUN snowtubing video created by Pastor Paolo Vasquez

Bishop's Convocation Of Laity Leadership 2023
Saturday, March 4, 2023, 9:00am - 4:00pm

You are invited to join us at this year’s Bishop’s Convocation of Laity Leadership 2023. Worship, sing praise, study scripture and interact with new and old friends. If you are a United Methodist, this day will help you better understand your church. Roland Fernandez, General Secretary of Global Missions, will help us gain knowledge of the connection of our local church to the rest of the world. Register now, no cost, free food, spirit lifting, and future benefiting event! 

Stevens Point: St. Paul's - The Springs UMC
600 Wilshire Blvd, Stevens Point, WI 54481

Registration deadline is February 17, 2023 at noon.
Register here 

Bolivian General Assembly XXVIII Video
Pastor Anita Lang

Having been a delegate on behalf of Bishop Hee-Soo Jung and the WI Conference, I presented a plaque to acknowledge the autonomy of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Bolivia and to acknowledge the partnership between the WI Conference of the United Methodist Church and the Evangelical Methodist Church in Bolivia.

As equal sister churches, we continue to work together and strengthen our relationship. Together, we are building the kingdom of God among cultures, languages, and one faith in Christ. -Rev. Anita Lang, Global Ministries - Chair 
Watch Video of Presentation Ceremony

"Taking the Church to the Next Level"
April 22  /  10am - 3pm  /  Sun Prairie UMC  /  In-person or Zoom

You are invited to an interactive workshop for church leaders (especially churches using the Accountable Leadership Board model) to intentionally take the church to the next level of effectiveness.

The workshop will be led by Rev. Dr. Joseph Bishman. Dr. Bishman served 3 churches and served as District Superintendent in the W. Ohio Conference in his 41 years of ministry. Bishop Ough gave him permission to establish in his district a consultation model and a leadership team with the task of making new disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Led by Dr. Bishman, the leadership team trained numerous pastors and leaders, which led to the development of a simplified church administration model led by an Accountable Leadership Board. Dr. Bishman now serves as a consultant, in partnership with Rev. Sue Nilson Kibbey and other coaches, helping congregations of all sizes transition from a business structure to a discipleship model to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Registration deadline is April 14 at noon. Registration Fee: $30 per person, In-person or Online.
More information: https://na.eventscloud.com/nextlevel2023

Continuing Education Course, Spring 2023
The Apostles in the Bible and Beyond: Thomas, Peter, and Paul

This Continuing Education Event, led by Dr. J. Samuel Subramanian, Ph.D., will explore the life and ministry of three apostles, namely Thomas, Peter, and Paul. We will look at the Biblical references to Thomas, Peter, and Paul and how they are being portrayed in the Apocryphal Writings which are not part of the New Testament Canon. This will help us to get a comprehensive view of who they are in the Biblical and Extra-Biblical Traditions. 

Cost: $45 for all three sessions (Handouts included)
CEU: 1
Dates: February 27; March 27; and April 24, 2023 (8:30am – 12:00 noon)
Location: Shell Lake United Methodist Church, 135 Reinhart Dr., Shell Lake, WI 54871
Contact: Pastor Jean Waldron, 715-468-2405 or 608-632-2792 (cell) / jeanlwaldron@gmail.com

More Information

Mission Zoom Webinar
Saturday, February 25, 8:45 am-12 noon

Are you looking for a way to develop or increase enthusiasm for missions in your local church? Does your Mission Committee need some inspiration or assistance in planning for 2023? What exactly is the Rainbow Covenant and why is it a part of conference missions? Where do we go to learn more about global missionaries and projects?

Join members of the Conference Mission Motivation Committee on Saturday, February 25 between 8:45 and noon – on ZOOM – to discover and share plans for staking a claim for missions in your local church. Committee chair Mary Balson will share an invitation to covenant together to lift up missions in our conference.
View agenda and register today

Winter Laity Training South West District

What does it mean to be a lay leader in the local church? What does it mean to be a lay member to Annual Conference? Living these important positions isn’t as easy as getting your name in the Charge Conference paperwork. Join our South West District Lay Leader Robin Kelby to learn how to approach these vital roles. No matter how long you’ve been a lay leader or a lay member, this class will provide resources and support, as well as an opportunity to meet others in the district!
 
We will be meeting in a hybrid format in January and February. Each lay leader and lay member class will be taught twice to reach as many folks as possible (no need to attend both Lay Leader/Lay Member sessions!)

Lay Member to Annual Conference Dates:

• February 18th from 10 AM to Noon at Platteville UMC (and Zoom!)

Baptisms and Confirmations Resume at Goodman UMC

Goodman United Methodist Church is known as” the Little Red Church where something is always going on” in our community. Unfortunately, one thing that has not been going on for several years is baptisms. That all changed in 2022 when we had 7 baptisms, 6 of them being in one day. Along with the baptisms we had 9 confirmations and 1 Reaffirmation Membership transfer. Afterwards we had a special dinner and the entire church celebrated with our 10 new members! 6 of the 10 are teenagers and 4 are adults. The kids are the ones that started everything. Once they were old enough to be confirmed they all agreed to take time out of their busy schedules to take the needed classes to prepare to be confirmed and some of them also convinced their parents to take this journey with them. Special thanks go to Pastor Linda Pliska who was our pastor at the time. She took the time to teach the classes and helped make our Baptism and Confirmation Sunday a special day!

Seeing the plaque for this award on our wall would add to the joy we all felt by welcoming these individuals into Christian fellowship. -Submitted by Karen Gardner

Teapot Bouquets For Shut-ins
Briggsville and Moundville UMC (Trinity United Parish)

Moundville UMC and Briggsville UMC have a women's group called Church Chix. We meet monthly for breakfast (provided by the ladies of the host church). It's a time of fellowship sharing both laughter and tears, meditation on God's word and prayer. We also take outings together to plays, movies, etc. Some of our most recent mission work included collecting food during Advent for the local food pantry and mittens for the local elementary school. At our January gathering we took a collection of teapots left from a church catering event and filled them with flowers and candy to be delivered to shut-ins for Valentine's Day. Pastor Jim Cotter wrote a responsive reading used during the Sunday worship service to dedicate the teapots:





Prayers that these teapots, along with a visit, will brighten those who receive them. Submitted by Linda Krueger

Share Your Story!

We are called to share the good news in all the ways we can. Sharing your stories is way for us to be in community together. Every church has a story to tell and we want to hear about them and what is happening in the life of your church.  We want to hear from churches around our conference so if you have a story that you would like included in an upcoming ENews please use the link below and fill out the form.  We would love to have pictures to accompany the story! Submit story here

Share Your Event!

We're looking for events that celebrate local church communities across the state. Help us spread the word about your upcoming event by sharing it with us here!  Please be sure that your submission provides complete details. Subject to our editorial review, we will add your event to our Events Calendar and share it in the weekly Enews. Submit your event here 

The Recap | Episode 4
United Methodist Videos

Gain a better understanding of what is going on in The United Methodist Church, find inspiration in stories of ministry and learn how our denomination is transforming the world.

In this episode
Finding hope amidst local church disaffiliations | Migrant ministries in New York City | Recent bishop elections mark historic firsts | #BeUMC

Two Shipments Leave for Guatemala; One Shipment to Honduras
Midwest Mission Distribution Center

In 2022, we sent 48 international shipments to help people in crisis around the world. Brad Walton, Operations Manager, has aspired to send even more international shipments in 2023. We are only four weeks into the year, and six international shipments have already left our warehouses. 


On Thursday, January 26, two shipments left for Guatemala. The first shipment was a general in-kind (GIK) shipment heading to Mixco, Guatemala. This means that it contained supplies that will be distributed by Food For The Poor (FFTP) to their partner organizations in-country. Those organizations will then distribute to those in need. 
Read more

29 Ways To Participate In Black History Month
United Methodist Race & Religion

WASHINGTON — Black history is relevant to anyone interested in the story of America. The United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race has created a list of 29 ways that churches and individuals can participate in Black History Month. 
View resource