WI Conference Weekly ENews - February 23, 2022

Statistical Reporting deadline - Monday, February 28
 
Thank you to the 210 churches who have already submitted their 2021 statistical reports!  We appreciate your work.  And the 128 churches who have started.  We hope you are able to gather your last bits of information and HIT THE SUBMIT button by Monday.  For those 120 churches who have not yet started, please let us know how we can assist you.  Sometimes the first year is hard.  Please send your questions to statistics.wisconsinumc@gmail.com and we will be happy to assist.
 
We have found some churches keyed and saved their information but did not submit. To verify you have submitted,  log back in, look on the top left of Table 1 for Status.  If it says Submitted, then you are done.  If it says Not Submitted, you need to take one more step.  See the tab marked SUBMIT, then select Submit Church Stats.

Sun Prairie UMC Shares Confirmation Retreat

The 2022 Confirmation Class had their confirmation retreat this past weekend. We had 20 confirmands and 8 adult leaders do prayer reflection,  play together and took a color personality test to find out how best to work with people who are different than we are. We also had 3 mission projects that we took part in. We made 600 cookies to donate to a free weekly community supper in Sun Prairie, made 60 Blessing Bags to take to the new tiny shelter homeless encampment in Madison, and we volunteered at Cards Closet, a community organization that gives away clothing to families within our school district who are in need. It was great to be able to retreat together after 2 years of the pandemic, and to be able to laugh together, bond together, and serve our community.

Afghan Refugee Response Team Update Greetings, friends in Christ! I give my personal thanks to the people of the UMC, Wisconsin Conference, for your generosity to the Afghan Refugee Response Program of the Wisconsin Council of Churches. My name is Rev. Peder Johanson and I serve as the Volunteer Coordinator for this new ministry. Thanks to the gifts of your church and others throughout Wisconsin, we have been able to serve congregations and communities as a point of connection and support as they seek to serve our new Afghan neighbors and the agencies and organizations helping them begin a new life here. Read More BSA Update - Questions About Chartering & Membership A webinar was held on Feb. 17, led by BSA Chief Scout Executive, Roger Mosby, and UMC Leadership Team lead, Bishop John Scholl. Some 800+ persons attended. Also presenting at the webinar were Jeff Hunt, VP of Council Operations for the BSA, and Steven Scheid, Director of the Center for Scouting Ministries of United Methodist Men The point of the webinar basically was to clarify the distinction between BSA chartering and membership: Chartering is organization to organization (UM local church to Scout unit) Membership is about the scouts themselves and their membership in BSA Read more   Stewardship Isn’t Just About Giving Saving Grace Grant – Offering Financial Wellness for Churches and Communities The Wisconsin United Methodist Foundation wants to help your church improve financial wellness in your church and community through the Saving Grace Grant.  The Saving Grace Grant Program is designed to offer training, financial incentives, and seed money for launching Saving Grace in your context. The program has two tracks. Track one is for clergy and their spouse/partner, is six sessions long, and includes financial incentives up to $865.99 for attending all sessions.  Track two is three sessions, is designed for potential local Saving Grace leaders (lay or clergy), and offers up to $765.99 in financial incentives for attending all sessions.  All sessions for both tracks will be held via Zoom.  For more information, session dates, a breakdown of financial incentives, and to sign-up, visit: https://www.wumf.org/assets/SavingGraceGrant2022.pdf  Questions? Email Rev. Jason Mahnke, Director of Programming and Campaigns at jason@wumf.org.  Groups start in April and space is limited. Register today!   WI UMW Mission Action Day (Virtual) - April 9! WI UM Women's Mission Action Day will be April 9, 2022 from 9:00 am to Noon.  The theme this year is "A Time to Connect with our Wisconsin Native American Sisters". The presenters this year are  Candi Cornelius, MSN RN, CLC-Oneida Prenatal Care Coordinator and Alice Skenandore, Founder and Director of Wise Women Gathering Place.

Nominations for Annual Awards now being accepted

We are currently accepting nominations for our Annual Awards given out at Annual Conference.  Nomination deadlines are April 16, 2022.  For a complete list of the awards and how to submit nominations, click here.
 

Application for the Thelma Gregg Award can be found here.