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July 12, 2018

Dear Reader,

Where do you get news?

Facebook, Fox, MSNBC, or NPR?

Each week we work to give you some news in the UM Connector. The hope is to inspire, engage, and inform you. United Methodist Communications took those three words as a focus some years ago. I think it’s a good one.

My hope is that in each UM Connector you will find stories that inspire you by seeing what other congregations or ministry settings are doing and consider how that could affect the context where you are reaching out the hand of Christ.

By sharing issues of the world, we hope to engage you. It may not always be happy news, but how we treat others in our communities, on our borders, and around the globe are part of our Christian life together.  We cannot ignore these places.

And we hope to inform you. To help you know more about what The United Methodist Church is, where it came from, and where It’s going. Along with that goes resources and opportunities for learning and growing. Because we are always learning.

Are you looking for more news? Each week we can only pick a few stories to share with you, but there are more. If you are looking for more news of the church, I suggest you check out the United Methodist News Service’s new website at www.umnews.org. You’ll find stories of the church in action and in mission. You can even subscribe to a daily or weekly digest.

While your checking that out, we’re going to take a little break. Communications Associate Kristen Caldwell is on vacation next week, and I’ll be attending a website developers meeting, so we’ll let the UM Connector take a week of vacation too.

And if you said Facebook was where you get your news, be sure to like the Oregon-Idaho Conference page to get daily info and stories.

Greg Nelson, Director of Communications


CONFERENCE NEWS

Adamah to offer spiritual community, housing in Portland

 A new spiritual community for young adults – along with some much-need affordable housing – is currently under construction in Portland.

House Adamah is set to open later this summer, offering housing for five individuals looking for intentional Christian community, in what was once the parsonage for Lincoln Street United Methodist Church.

Adam Jenkins, a leader at Gresham United Methodist Church, has been working with the Missional Wisdom Foundation and Lincoln Street UMC to get this project off the ground.

Read more of this story on the Conference website.

Last chance to join the Holy Land trip this fall

July 15 is the last chance to sign up for a Holy Land Pilgrimage Tour in October. Anyone who would like to learn more about this sacred space that is home to the world’s three Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Muslim) is welcome.

From a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee to Bethlehem and Nazareth, the itinerary includes all the “traditional” Biblical sites.  Pilgrims will also visit the ancient cities of Hebron and Jericho, as well as refugee camps in Palestine, and Israeli settlements to provide a variety of perspectives on the Occupation.

The United Methodist Church has passed resolutions on "responsible" tourism to the Holy Land, and this trip will follow those guidelines by utilizing a Palestinian Christian travel agency and guide, as well as by visiting many places that are usually omitted from the standard "tourist" itinerary.

Interested? Get details from the conference website, and contact trip organizer, Dee Poujade today at traveling.mimi@gmail.com.


AROUND THE CONFERENCE

SPIRIT ALIVE: Gone volunteer in 'missioning'

Rev. Lowell Greathouse, coordinator of mission and ministry for the Oregon-Idaho Conference, is gone to Kenya for three weeks on a United Methodist Volunteers in Mission trip to visit the Maua Methodist Hospital. But he didn’t go without offering a few words about what it means to be in mission in the world.

“It is one way that together we can make a difference in the world. But as anyone knows who has ever participated on a mission team, those who are going are changed and blessed by these experiences far more than they are able to contribute to the lives of others. These encounters make a difference to everyone involved.”

Read more of Lowell’s blog on the Conference website

Inspiring Generosity: Celebrating Mr. Roger's kindness

After recently attending a screening of the documentary "Won't You Be My Neighbor" Cesie Delve-Scheuermann reflects on the life, legacy and TV show of Mr. Fred Rogers and how that might apply to the work in our churches.

"Mister Rogers’ was a gentler, more genteel person who recognized that feelings didn't make you weak and that kindness showed strength of character. And…it was all rooted in a strong, profound Christian faith."

Read more of Cesie’s blog on the Conference website.


AROUND THE GLOBE

Bishops amend what’s heading to GC2019

The Council of Bishops has amended its call for the 2019 special General Conference.

Under the new call, delegates to the denomination’s top lawmaking body will receive petitions from the 32-member Commission on a Way Forward — not the bishops themselves. The bishops appointed the commission to help the denomination find a way through its intensifying debate over how the church ministers with LGBTQ individuals.

“The purpose of this Special Session of the General Conference shall be limited to receiving and acting upon a report from the Commission on a Way Forward based upon the recommendations of the Council of the Bishops,” said the amended call by Bishop Kenneth H. Carter Jr., Council of Bishops president.

The special General Conference, the denomination’s top legislative assembly, will be Feb. 23-26 next year in St. Louis.

The amended call means that delegates will receive legislation for not only the bishops’ recommended One Church Plan but also the Traditional and Connectional Conference plans the commission brought to the bishops.

Read more of this story from United Methodist News Service.

Translated Way Forward coming July 30

Expect to see the Commission on a Way Forward’s proposals in weeks — not months.

The organizers of General Conference, the denomination’s top lawmaking assembly, announced that they expect the needed translation work to be completed by July 30 — after which it can be made public.

The report is being translated from English to the three other official languages of General Conference  — French, Kiswahili and Portuguese.

“As a matter of equity throughout the international church, it was deemed important to ensure that the report become available in all four languages at the same time,” said a statement by the Rev. Gary W. Graves, secretary of General Conference.

Read more of this story from United Methodist News Service.

New primary school enriches Angola village

The village of Ságua, one of several riverside communities of the Kwanza, has existed for more than 50 years, but it never had a school. That situation changed in June with completion of the Bishop Gaspar João Domingos Methodist Primary School.

Located 40 miles east of the city of Luanda, in the municipality of Icolo and Bengo, the school is named for Domingos. The bishop, who grew up near Ságua and has long been committed to establishing a school there, serves the Angola West Episcopal Area.

The structure includes a cafeteria, a principal’s office, a teachers’ lounge and three classrooms to accommodate 30 students each. With classes in two shifts, 180 students per day can be taught, 90 at a time.

Read more of this story from United Methodist News Service.
 

Megachurch weighs leaving the denomination

The largest predominantly African-American United Methodist church is spending the month of July in discussion, prayer and fasting about leaving the denomination.

One of the largest churches in the denomination, Windsor Village United Methodist Church of Houston is listed at 18,042 members in the 2017 Texas Conference Journal.
 
“We’re working through it,” said Floyd LeBlanc, chair of the staff parish relations committee. “We’re praying and seeking wisdom and discernment from God for his preferred path for this congregation.”
 
The United Methodist Church will have a special General Conference in February 2019 to try to deal with longstanding divisions over the denomination’s stance on homosexuality, and LeBlanc said Windsor Village is weighing whether to remain under the stressful circumstances.
 
Read more of this story from United Methodist News Service.

Bishops seek declaratory decisions on three plans submitted to General Conference

WASHINGTON –  The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church is asking the Judicial Council for declaratory decisions on the constitutionality of the petitions submitted by the Commission on a Way Forward to the 2019 Special Session of General Conference.

In an electronic vote on July 7, 2018, the bishops agreed to seek a ruling from the highest court in the denomination on whether proposed legislations known as the One Church Plan, the Connectional Conference Plan, and the Traditional Plan are constitutional.

“We are asking for this so that we can gain greater clarity about constitutional issues within the three plans, and in service to and support of the delegations, who will do extremely important work in a very limited amount of time,” said COB President Bishop Kenneth H. Carter.

The Special Session of the General Conference has been called for February 23-26, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Fall meeting of the Judicial Council is set for October 23-26, 2018.
 
Editor’s note – It may not be clear to all why the bishops have taken this step. I believe it is a way to help ensure smoother proceedings at the February General Conference. Any approved plan is likely to be challenged and end up before the Judicial Council, which could upset the action of the General Conference session. So this action may help, by seeking that opinion before the conference begins. – Greg N.


RESOURCES & OPPORTUNITIES

Franciscan Center offers year-long spiritual leadership training

“Spark: Igniting Heart, Mind and Soul for Leadership” is a year-long, three retreat journey in community with spiritual leaders.

The training is focused on those who are stuck in the daily stress of leadership, want to lead with less anxiety and more spiritual centeredness and want to discern a new vision for leadership in these times.

Organizers promise by the end of the year-long journey participants will be: ‘less anxious and stressed, clearer about current realities and challenges, and energized by practices that sustain a soul-centered life.”

The three residencies will take places at the Alton Collins Retreat Center in Eagle Creek October 15-17, February 25-27, 2019; and October 7-9, 2019. The cost is $1,795.

Leaders of these three-day retreats are

  • Rev. Margaret Marcuson, a pastor-turned-consultant-coach-author on church leadership and is the past president of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.
  • Larry Peacock is director of the Franciscan Spiritual Center and is an ordained United Methodist minister, spiritual director and author.

For more information on the “Spark” event, visit the Franciscan Spiritual Center website www.francisspctr.com or email info@francisspctr.com.


COMMENTARY

Reclaiming Jesus: A Confession of Faith in a Time of Crisis

By many voices


                  … It is often the duty of Christian leaders, especially elders, to speak the truth in love to our churches and to name and warn against temptations, racial and cultural captivities, false doctrines, and political idolatries—and even our complicity in them. …

Watch the video (recommended) or read the statement.

 



 
 

 


This week in the
Annual Conference

Monday, July 16

Personnel committee meeting.


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