News and events from across the conference

A family fun night of bingo and a chili dinner is planned for 5:30 p.m. Jan. 22 at Faith UMC in Smyrna at 4336 King Springs Road. 770-435-9722. www.smyrnafaithumc.org.

 

 

Athens FUMC: Bestselling author to speak 
     Bruce Feiler (“Walking the Bible,” “Abraham,” “Where God Was Born”) will be at the Athens church at 4:30 p.m. March 27, 2011, to bring a message of hope amidst cancer survival, and the value of family. Online tickets will be available at www.athensfirstumc.org in January. Seating will be limited, general admission. Feiler will sign books after he speaks. The church is at 327 North Lumpkin Street.

       Participate in informative workshops, visit a sustainable community, worship and share green ideas with others at the 2011 Caring for Creation experience March 31-April 3, 2011, at the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center.

       Incentives are available for early registration before January 1, 2011. Ethnic scholarships are available online soon. For registration, workshops, and more information visit www.lakejunaluska.com/caring-for-creation or call 828-454-6656.

 

 $30 includes registration, meals and childcare. For more information, call Rebeccah Damon at 770-536-2341 or e-mail rdamon@gfumc.com

      Harvest of Hope, a program offered by End Hunger, is offering a hunger relief mission opportunity March 6-12 in Orlando. Cost is $150, not including travel. During this year’s spring break, the college students participating saved and distributed 18,000 pounds of fresh produce, and boxed and shipped 34,000 pounds of canned goods. For more information, call 800-333-4597, e-mail sosahoh@endhunger.org or visit www.endhunger.org.

The Foundation is an affiliate of the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church, with a focus to provide resources, primarily grants, for the development of leaders with a passion for evangelism who will have a multiplying impact on The United Methodist Church.  www.FoundationForEvangelism.org.

 

     The Society of St. Andrew, a domestic hunger-relief ministry, is offering spiritual nourishment a Lent devotion called “We’ve a Story to Tell.” The daily devotions are written by writers from different denominations who share how their personal walk with Jesus has impacted their lives.

     The Society of St. Andrew is a national nonprofit program that rescues about 25 million pounds of excess produce each year that would otherwise go to waste. The salvaged food is distributed to critical feeding agencies across the country at no cost to the agencies or people served. For more information, visit www.endhunger.org.

 

Ministers and church members of all denominations are invited to “Rx for a Healthy Church,” a continuing education seminar that explores how to transform churches into vibrant and healthy centers of faith. The seminar is being hosted by the Reinhardt University Ministerial Association on Feb. 22, 2011, on Reinhardt’s Waleska campus. 

Jim Jernigan, Reinhardt’s coordinator of ministerial relations, is enthusiastic about the event. “Every year we look for a current topic that will help pastors. The seminar leaders -- Dr. Ron Flowers, Rev. Jim Hollis and Rev. Jim Burt -- will bring more than 100 years of effective ministry experience to this event. All have pastored growing churches and have a clear understanding of what it takes for a congregation to get healthy and grow significantly.”

Hollis is the founder and executive director of Proactive Ministries, a not-for-profit ministry organization that has led training with more than 900 congregations across 40 states and 42 Annual Conferences in America. He sees a critical need for this type of teaching. 

“Many of our pastors and congregations are frustrated over an absence of serious growth, both spiritually and numerically,” said Hollis. “Too often churches are not healthy and whole or prepared to grow. I’ve found that there are ministries, specifically prayer, worship, nominations and leader development, relational initiation of new friendships and strengthening stewardship, which should be major priorities, but in reality they end up as minimal priorities. We’ll address these five areas as baseline ministry priorities for church health and growth for all congregations.”

Hollis also hopes key church members will get involved. “Healthy and growing churches have laity and clergy working in harmony to build a foundation of excellent ministry both in the church and in the community. It would be wonderful to have not only the clergy present but key laity leaders as well. The priorities that will be shared will impact both the laity and clergy of every congregation.”

Flowers, also Reinhardt’s ministerial association president, is looking forward to dynamic discussion and learning. “Events like this are important opportunities for clergy continuing education and are a chance for clergy and laity to come together and learn from each other. This seminar will provide a laboratory for developing practices to strengthen all types of churches."

During the morning session, participants will review the five key ministries and how they fit together in a healthy church. After lunch, from 1 to 3 p.m., attendees will choose three ministries to explore in-depth. From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., an optional bonus – a 30-minute individual consultation session with a seminar leader - is being offered free of charge for pastors. The slots will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis as advanced reservations are received.

Flowers spent 41 years in service in the North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church, including 20 years in campus ministry at Reinhardt, Emory and Georgia State, and 15 years as the minister of program and administration at Northside UMC. 

Hollis is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and has 36 years of ministry experience in the North Georgia Conference. He was a pastor for 18 years before being appointed as a general evangelist of the United Methodist Church and starting his work with Proactive Ministries.

Burt graduated from Grace Theological Seminary in Indiana with a Master of Divinity and served as a pastor for 27 years. He started successful new churches in Illinois and Indiana. For the past four years, he has been the director of ministry development for Proactive Ministries.

The event will be held in the Falany Performing Arts Center from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Box lunches and beverages are included in the $35 per person registration fee. Participants are encouraged to sign up by Feb. 18, but walk-in registrants are welcome. Register online at www.reinhardt.edu/church_relations or by phone at 770-720-5546.

 

 

World Methodist Council; Dr. Reginald W. Ponder,former Executive Director

SEJ Council and LJA: Dr. Evelyn Laycock, Bible teacher, and Rev. Jan Brittian, pastor of Christ UMC in Greensboro, N.C.  

     Activities are planned for children, young adults and families. To register for the event, visit www.lakejunaluska.org. For details, contact Pam Naplen at 828-454-6656 or pnaplen@lakejunaluska.org.