mid week update, March 31, 2009

March 31, 2009

Iowa Conference News

Prayer Walk at Wesley Woods

Please join us in preparing Wesley Woods for another busy season of changed lives in Christ! We are planning a Prayer Walk at Wesley Woods on Saturday, April 25. We will meet at the lodge at 10:30 am, kick off the walk with a large group prayer, then break into teams to cover the entire grounds in prayer. If you want to participate but 10:30 does not work for you, please come and go as it is convenient.

We would love to have your church help us spiritually prepare for the upcoming season. For questions or concerns please contact Su at karnack312@hotmail.com or (515)480-7935. Thank you!

Greetings Christian Educators!

Spring is here and one of the busiest times of the year is quickly approaching. Even though we are all busy I hope you have saved May 4^th and 5^th for the Spring CEF Retreat. This spring our retreat will focus on renewal and teambuilding. Please consider this a valuable time to learn, grow, rest, and be with others that are passionate about sharing the love of God with our children, youth, and adults.

Click here for more information and for registration forms

Say “Cheese!” at Annual Conference

Photographers will be on-site at Annual Conference to take clergy photos for the 2009 Photo Directory. Each clergy member who is photographed at Annual Conference by our photographers will receive a copy of the new directory and your choice of a free 8x10 photo or a sheet of wallet size photos.

If you do not want to be photographed by our photographers, or will not be attending Annual Conference, we welcome you to submit a professionally-taken photo of yourself for inclusion in the photo directory. Please note that you need to provide a written release form from the photographer who took the photo, along with the photo, in order to be included in the directory. Photos will be returned, so a mailing address needs to be included. If no address is included we will assume you do not wish to have the photo returned. Outside photos need to be submitted to Darci Hartman’s attention in Communications, 2301 Rittenhouse St, Des Moines IA 50321-3101, and received in our office prior to June 15, 2009.

New to the Iowa Conference this year, there will be an on-line version of the photo directory. Instructions will be sent with your photos explaining how to access this on-line resource. The directory will be housed on a secure website and is not available to the general public, so you will receive log-in information with your photo. You will be able to access your personal information on-line and make changes to your address, email address or telephone number should they change.

We are asking those whose last name begins with A-L to be photographed on Friday, and last names beginning with M-Z to be photographed on Saturday. Of course, if you are only attending Annual Conference on one of those two days you are welcome to be photographed either day. Please note that photographers will not be available on Sunday.

We will update you as soon as we know where the photographers will be located, and the hours that they will be available during Annual Conference.

Laity Session at Annual Conference

Living Right Side Up in An Upside Down World

Click here for more information on this year’s Laity Session

The Iowa United Methodist Church Building Fund Trust

is offering one year investments with a current rate of: 3.10%*

This investment is open to all United Methodist Individuals, Churches and Agencies.

Investments are used to provide loans to United Methodist Churches in Iowa

Please contact us for more information:
Iowa United Methodist Foundation
2301 Rittenhouse Street
Des Moines, IA 50321
515-974-8927

*Please note rates may change without notice; rate shown is for week of 3/30/09

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Does Your Church Need a New Loan or to Refinance an Existing One?

The Iowa United Methodist Church Building Fund Trust makes loans to local churches for the purposes of building new buildings, renovation or additions to existing facilities, repairs, purchasing land or even buying a parsonage. The Trust also has refinancing options for high-interest loans.

Please contact us for more information:

Iowa United Methodist Church Building Fund Trust

churchloan@iaumc.org

2301 Rittenhouse Street

Des Moines, IA 50321

515-974-8927

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United Methodist and Other News

Living Justice Seminar Program for Young Adults

The Living Justice Seminar Program engages young adults (ages 20-30) in exploring new directions and issues of social justice. The event is organized by the Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner, and is open to women and men ages 20-30 living in the United States, and will take place at the Alma Matthews House in New York City June 13-17, 2009. Preference will be given to members of The United Methodist Church. Please contact the Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner at deaconess@gbgm-umc.org ( mailto:blouter@gbgm-umc.org )or 212-870-3850 for information.

This summer’s Living Justice Seminar Program focus will be Eradicating the Diseases of Poverty: Women, Children and the Struggle for Wholeness. Participants will focus on the health of women and children in the United States and around the world. The seminar will explore issues of maternal and infant health, the effects of Malaria and HIV/AIDS on women and children, and the impact of sustainable agriculture on the health of women and children. Participants will look at the ways women and children work collectively to improve the health and wholeness of their communities.

The Living Justice Seminar Program will include Bible study, worship, conversation, reflection and an introduction to the theme of global health. It will be held at The Alma Matthews House, a facility of the Women’s Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries. Applicants will be notified if they are accepted by May 10. The application form can be found at (web link to our site with application, reference form and brochure).

Space is limited for the event and the deadline for application is May 1. All costs, including travel within the United States, lodging and meals, will be covered by the event organizer -- the Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner of the General Board of Global Ministries, the mission agency of The United Methodist Church.

See attached forms if you are interested.

Fargo North Dakota Disaster

Dear Friends! I think you all know that the eastern half of North Dakota is undergoing a lot of “weather stress” right now. The good news is that the level in the Red River actually went down some yesterday. The bad news is the blizzard that is developing and ready to hit Fargo head on this afternoon or evening with lots of heavy, wet snow and strong winds (yippiee!, not…)

Would you please tell all of your eager volunteers that the Fargo Pastors are not ready for volunteers yet… they are still in disaster mode. Please DO NOT call the Fargo UMC pastors at this time. I have been asked to get this word out as widely as possible.

Please call my office if you would like to send a team to the flood disaster area (605-692-3390). The team would not be deployed for 3 or 4 weeks from now and then more teams will be needed for many months after that. I will keep a list and forward it to the appropriate persons when they are ready for volunteers. Leave a message on my phone if I am not here. I need your name, phone number, size of group that is interested, any special skills, and when you might be able to come. Also, they are looking for individuals with special abilities (electricians, dry-wallers) or who have certain equipment like skid-loaders, etc… We will ask that you call my office thru April. When they have a volunteer hotline set up, I will let you all know!

Again DO NOT call the Fargo Pastors at this time.

Lorna Jost
UMVIM-NCJ Coordinator
928 4th Street, Office #2
Brookings, SD 57006
P:605/692-3390; Fax:605/692-0909

http://www.gbgm-umc.org/northcentralvim/

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mid-week update is a ministry of the Communications Ministry Team

of the Iowa Annual Conference