February 8, 2010
Iowa Conference News
How Iowan’s are helping Haiti: Here are a few examples of what Iowa churches are doing to help those in need in Haiti. Please send information to us on what your church is doing so we can share with others! Send to darci.hartman@iaumc.org.
First UMC Marengo started off working to help Haiti by taking a special offering in worship. We pulled together over $1000 for our small town church! Now we are hosting the screening of a film called "The Road to Fondwa." It is about a rural community in Haiti that has been working to improve their country one student at a time. This community was hit very hard by the earthquake and we are hoping that donations collected during the showing of the film in our community might do a small part to help them recover. We will also be collecting health kits from people in our community at that time.
Peace, Katie Dawson
Woodward UMC had a potato dinner after Higher Power performed our Sunday morning service. The potato dinner raised over $1000 dollars for Haiti sponsored by our Missions Committee.
Paul C Thompson, Chairman SPPRC, Woodward UMC
Christ United Methodist Church in Douds is sponsoring a concert for Haitian relief on Sat., Feb. 20 at 7:00 p.m. in the Van Buren Elementary gym at Douds. Performing will be Greg Brown, a nationally-acclaimed singer/songwriter from Douds. There will be a free will offering in lieu of admission, and the church will be providing concessions. 100% of the proceeds will go to UMCOR. More information about Greg Brown can be found at redhouserecords.com.
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.
Rates currently starting at 6.05% for new loans as of February 8, 2010
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
United Methodist Student Merit Day Scholarships
are provided by the Iowa Conference Board of Higher Education and Campus Ministry. Churches in the Iowa Conference are invited to make one nomination per church for this scholarship. Guidelines and an application (due by March 15, 2010) are available here. United Methodist Student Merit Day Scholarships are funded each year through the United Methodist Student Day Offering (celebrated on Sunday, November 28 in 2010). Other scholarship assistance is provided through Iowa United Methodist Foundation Scholarships and through the United Methodist Division on Ministry with Young People, United Methodist Board of Higher Education and United Methodist Higher Education Foundation. Scholarship criteria, amounts awarded and application deadlines vary. For more information or to download these applications go to United Methodist Scholarships.
United Methodist and Other News
Change the World - April 24-25, 2010
What if…on one weekend all around the world, 11 million United Methodists came together to work with their local communities? What if…as we serve people locally, we unite globally to eliminate a preventable, treatable disease that kills one child every 30 seconds?
On April 24 and 25th, your congregation is invited to participate in Change the World, an event that will reveal the many ways that faithful Christians everywhere are serving God.
Getting Started:
- Consider how your congregation currently impacts its community. Do you have a food pantry, a clothing closet, an ESL program, a tutoring program, etc.?
- Schedule an activity for either an existing or new outreach ministry on either April 24 or 25, 2010.
- Invite both your congregation and local community to be involved.
- Use the Rethink Church World Malaria Day Sermon Starter coming soon to www.rethinkchurch.org/changetheworld.
- Collect a special offering to combat malaria.
There is one body in Christ and through the United Methodist connection, we can sense its heartbeat in a coordinated event such as Change the World. Go to www.rethinkchurch.org/changetheworld for more information, or send an email to changetheworld@umcom.org.
One Great Hour of Sharing - March 14, 2010
When a massive earthquake leveled the capital city of Port-au-Prince in
Haiti and decimated outlying areas last month, UMCOR was there to bring
comfort to survivors and set a direction for long-term recovery efforts.
UMCOR used 100 percent of your donation to respond to the tragedy, just as
it did after a series of typhoons struck the Philippines last fall and
when a tsunami devastated Indonesia in 2004.
When you give to One Great Hour of Sharing this spring, your gift will
help cover UMCOR's cost of doing business and allow us to keep our promise
that 100 percent of every other contribution you make to a specific UMCOR
project will be spent on that project and not on administrative costs.
One Great Hour of Sharing is March 14.
Order your free offering envelopes or posters by calling 888-346-3862.
Check the UMCOR website for worship materials in support of this important
offering. Gifts to this fund can be made all-year long. Please give now.
And, please pray for those who are hungry, displaced, sick or in poverty
because of these and other natural and human-made disasters, and for the
workers who minister to them.
mid-week update is a ministry of the Communications Ministry Team
of the Iowa Annual Conference
