WI Conference Weekly ENews - February 22, 2023

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GCFA Celebrates Conferences Paying 100% Apportionments;
We Are 1 Of 7 Conferences!

Nashville, Tennessee – On February 17, 2023, the winter meeting of GCFA’s Board of Directors was held virtually. GCFA’s General Secretary and Treasurer Rev. Moses Kumar announced seven jurisdictional annual conferences paid their apportionments in full: California-Nevada, Dakotas, New England, Oklahoma Indian Missionary, Central Appalachian Missionary (formerly Red Bird Missionary), New York, and Wisconsin. Also announced were nine episcopal areas in the Central Conferences who paid their apportionments in full, including Davao, East Congo, Liberia, Mozambique, Eastern Angola, Germany, Eurasia, Nordic-Baltic, and Central and Southern Europe. In addition, 32 jurisdictional annual conferences and nine Central Conference episcopal areas paid 75% or more of their apportionments.
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Missions Resource Webinar This Saturday
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

Make Plans To Participate In Ingathering 2023!

Each year at our Annual Conference, churches are asked to donate items for people in need or people suffering from disasters. This year the conference Mission Motivation Committee is again working with Midwest Mission Distribution Center to collect items for the Personal Dignity Kits and Home Care Kits. Midwest Mission distributes the kits locally, nationally and internationally to those in need during times of crisis. All supplies are given free of charge regardless of gender, race or religion.

Kits and items that make up those kits, should be brought to Annual Conference at the KI Center in Green Bay. The Midwest Mission truck will be there for collection on June 9th & 10th. If you are not able to make it to Green Bay this year you can bring donations to one of the Ingathering 2023 drop off sites. Monetary donations can be brought to Annual Conference or mailed to The Wisconsin Conference, 750 Windsor Street, Suite 104, Sun Prairie, WI 53590 - please note Ingathering 2023 in the memo. To process donations efficiently and get them where needed quickly, we ask for a list of the items donated. You can help the person who delivers the items -and save everyone some time- by filling out the Donation Form ahead of time.  All items should be NEW – and all kits should have only the items requested. Thanks! View kit details

Volunteers are needed to check in and load donations at Annual Conference in Green Bay anytime during our drop off hours: Friday, June 9th 10am-4pm and Saturday, June 10th 8am-2pm. Contact bonnieclement05@gmail.com to help.

Statistical Reports DUE February 28th

The 2022 Statistics Reports for local churches are due on Tuesday, February 28th. Many thanks to those who have already started and to those who have submitted their data. If you have yet to start, please find instructions through the conference website: https://www.wisconsinumc.org/statistical-reporting. We have a new reporting system this year. There is only one week left. Start today!
 
Questions about the reports can be sent to Don Cramer at statistics.wisconsinumc@gmail.com.

Confirmation Class Visits WI Conference Offices

The confirmation class from Baraboo First UMC stopped by the conference offices on Wednesday, February 15th, for a tour and to see what happens at the conference level. They had the opportunity to meet Bishop Jung and visit with him for a few minutes. It was great to welcome them and to share how we work together in our conference.

Successful Snow Tubing Trip at Trollhaugen with North West District Youth Council, Feb.11th, 2023

What a fantastic day we all had at Trollhaugen! Registrations slowing trickled in and then boom, the next thing I knew, we were renting 47 tubes. The tubers included children, youth, whole families and adults. Six of us adults didn’t tube; instead we took lots of pictures. The weather was just beautiful – full sun with just a slight breeze. Our North West District “group” of tubers took over most of the lodge and almost all the conveyor moving belt that took you to the top of the tubing slop. The tubers were able to tube different lanes. One lane was just for children, another lane had the tuber going over 50 miles an hour, or so it seemed and another lane was open for tubers to hook up with other tubers and create a huge tube “moving machine”. Submitted by the NW District Youth Council
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Bishop Jung To Present At Garrett Seminary
Friday, March 31, 10am- 4pm, 2121 Sheridan Rd, Evanston, IL 60201

Bishop Jung will present "Heart Strangely Warmed and Awakened: Spirituality, Solidarity, and Belongingness" at the Garret Seminary Chapel in Evanston, IL on Friday, March 31st.
 
Everyone is invited (clergy, lay, and seeking/interested) to collectively and individually reflect upon their spirituality in the midst of AAPI hatred. Bishop Jung will lead meditation and other spiritual practices.
 
Please register through the eflyer's QRcode (please see the link below).
Registration Deadline: March 24th
Event Cost: Free! Lunch and refreshments provided
Learn more and register

"Taking the Church to the Next Level"
Accountable Leadership Board Workshop
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. 

Registration deadline: April 14 at noon. 
Registration fee: $30 per person, In-person or Online.
More information

Apply To Be A Global Mission Fellows
UMVIM North Central Jurisdiction

The Global Mission Fellows US-2 Application is still open! Global Mission Fellow US-2s are young adults ages 20-30 who spend 2 years living and working with a local community in the United States on issues of social injustice. US-2s must have US work authorization in order to participate in the program. If you or a young person in your life are passionate about alleviating suffering in the United States and looking for a way to put their faith into action, consider applying for the Global Mission Fellows US-2 program at umcmission.org/gmf
The final deadline is April 1.  APPLY NOW!

Northeast District To Offer An Assortment Of Lay Servant Courses

Pastor Laura Riemer from Peace UMC in Green Bay, WI is offering a range of Lay Servant Courses in the Northeast District with the first course beginning this month. All Classes are taught IN PERSON. Participants must purchase their own books. There is a $10 per class registration fee which covers handouts, snacks, and refreshments. Course offerings include basic lay servant course, discovering spiritual gifts, leading public prayer, United Methodist heritage, leading worship, United Methodist Polity, and preaching.

CLICK HERE to view courses, dates, and register. 

Meet The New Conference Board Of Laity (CBOL) Leadership 

We are excited that Barbara Hill has chosen to become the NW District Director of Lay Servant Ministries. As such, she will be a member of the Conference Board of Laity. The members of the Conference Board of Laity enable laity to have full and equal partnerships with clergy and within the Conference, work with the Circuits to grow lay leadership and provide lay opportunities for growth. If you are interested in taking classes or teaching classes to help individuals reach their goals in become a Certified Lay Speaker or a Certified Lay Servant please go to www.wisconsinumc.org/laity and look under the Laity tab for more information.
CLICK HERE to view more CBOL Leadership

Sun Prairie United Methodist Church Gets Storage Upgrade as Part of Girl Scouts Bronze Award

Jenna Woods built and painted this bookshelf for the Sun Prairie United Methodist Church nursery to be used for books and storage as part of the her Girl Scout Bronze Awards. Thanks so much to Jenna's parents Chris and Denise Woods for doing all the "heavy lifting" on this special project.

The church will use the new bookcase to house toys and seasonal books that are rotate in and out of their larger nursery space. Jenna designed, built, and painted the bookcase. She also dropped off some new, fun pop it toys for children to use in the church's nursery area. Submitted by Amanda Hinthorn

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 

UMCOR Continues Earthquake Response

ATLANTA — The United Methodist Committee on Relief continues to work with its humanitarian partners to aid earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria. UMCOR has released initial solidarity grants to International Blue Crescent and Forum for Development Culture and Dialogue to help provide shelter, food and first aid kits to those who have been displaced. Winter weather and a cholera outbreak are complicating the response. Susan Clark reports.
Read story and watch video
To donate

UMCOR Resources For UMCOR Sunday On March 19
Resource UMC

The 2023 Special Sunday Kit provides a full package of ready to use resources to help your church celebrate the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) Special Sunday. UMCOR Sunday is a denomination wide celebration designed to raise awareness and support for UMCOR. Use these resources to explore how we give, why we give and the impact we make through connectional efforts.
Access pastor and leader kit

Personal Dignity Kits Needed In Turkey
Midwest Mission Distribution Center

Rubble. Destruction. Chaos. That’s the scene many in Turkey are experiencing right now. Some have lost their homes, others their businesses, others have lost loved ones. It’s moments like these that those of us on the outside can be paralyzed, feeling helpless when looking in on such a disparaging situation, not knowing what we can do. But there is hope. 

Are you ready to help? Midwest Mission is preparing to send disaster relief supplies through our partner, North Star Foundation. 

Earlier this week, Inna, from North Star, reached out with requests for specific needs. North Star has a preexisting relationship with the Turkish Consulate, allowing shipments to enter Turkey. After the earthquakes, North Star immediately began to collect supplies, and they set up donation drop-offs in Boston where they are located.
Read more

Join UM Communication On Feb. 24 In Prayer For Ukraine

Friday, Feb. 24 will mark the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine. Please join general secretary Roland Fernandes on Feb. 24 at noon for a responsive prayer, asking God to bring peace and comfort to the Ukrainian people. Here is the Facebook event link and you can read more here. We will also post the prayer as a downloadable resource.

Upcoming Still in Mission Episode, March 2 
Thursday, March 2, 2023, 7 p.m. (ET)

Still in Mission Episode #52 will be held on Thursday, March 2, 2023, 7 p.m. (ET). Register online here. Featured in this episode are:
 

• Joy Prim, welfare case officer for migrant workers, Mission for Migrant Workers in Hong Kong, SAR, P.R. of China. 
• Satomi McCurley, church and community ministry coordinator, Asian Rural Institute in Japan 
• Edwin Campomanes, assistant to the president for institutional development, National Evangelical Primitive Methodist Church of Guatemala
• Grace Rogers, fundraising & outreach coordinator, Florida Justice for our Neighbors in the United States. 

Tempered Resilience Book Study Is Out Now!
UMC Religion & Race

GCORR remains committed to supporting and resourcing the Church in its journey of dismantling racism. We are aware that people learn and grow in many ways due to the rich diversity of humanity. This year, we are launching a series of book study guides that correspond with books based on themes ranging from equity and ministry sustainability to how to fight racism. The study guide may be used for either individual or group reflection.
Download Tempered Resilience book study