April 13, 2010
Iowa Conference News
Academy for New Ministry Development
The Academy for New Ministry Development will be having their next session on Thursday, April 22nd at Marion First UMC located at 1298 7th Avenue. Their phone number is (319) 377-4856. For a map and directions, check out their website at www.fumcmarion.org. An agenda of the event is provided below.
We would like to invite all pastors and church leaders to attend the dinner, worship and presentation given by the host (teaching) church and Pastor Mike Morgan. This is a great opportunity for you to bring a team of people and experience what is happening at another church so that it stirs the discussion and fans the flames for your own congregation. We ask that anyone not currently part of the Academy for New Ministry Development pay for their own dinner ($9/person). To register, please contact Barb Mann as soon as possible at barb.mann@iaumc.org. Thank you.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm Dinner provided by host church
6:00 pm – 6:20 pm Worship at host church
6:30 pm – 7:30 pm Host church presentation
7:30 pm – 8:00 pm Q & A
Chad Jennings, Chair
Academy for New Ministry Development
Thank You Note from Meskwaki Ministry of Presence
Click here to read this week’s Thank You Note
Change the World Weekend Event – a Labyrinth Walk in Iowa Farmland for All Ages, April 24, 2010
Join Malcolm-Sheridan UMC as they participate in the Change the World Weekend event by walking the labyrinth in beautiful Iowa Farmland. More information on this event can be found by clicking here.
Youth Ministry List-Serve
Youthworkers and all others interested in keeping up to date with announcements concerning youth ministry events, resources and trainings opportunities in the Iowa United Methodist Conference are encouraged to sign up to be included on the conference youth ministry list-serve. Go to the Stay Connected section of the conference website, check the Youth Ministry e-news box, fill in the requested information, and hit ‘submit’.
31st Thanksgiving Ingathering
We all celebrated the 30th birthday of the Thanksgiving Ingathering in 2009 with amazing results! Thank you, everyone, for responding so generously! This year, our 31st, has great potential for a record year.
The new Ingathering Booklets should have arrived at your church by now. Inside the booklet you will notice a new additional kit for UMCOR, the “Birthing Kit”. The items requested are much different from the Iowa-Nigeria birthing kit. Note: The UMCOR birthing kit has a misprint! “3 pieces of clean string” should read “each 12” long”. Not “each 12’ long”. If you are preparing the birthing kits for both UMCOR and Iowa-Nigeria, please mark on the box which project it is for so there is no confusion.
Also, the correct e-mail address for the youth event contact person for the Mt. Pleasant site is (Jason Collier) ciyouth@iowatelecom.net.
If your church has not received the 2010 Thanksgiving Ingathering Booklets or you have any questions, please contact Ranee & Gaylen Goettsch at
1-800-228-2853 (or e-mail) ranee.goettsch@hotmail.com. Also, Gene & Lois Novak at 319-377-2092 (or e-mail) lgnovak@aol.com.
Please pray for the Thanksgiving Ingathering and its mission to “care for the least of these”. Pray for the various ways you would like to be a part of the 31st Thanksgiving Ingathering!
In Christ’s Service,
RANEE & GAYLEN GOETTSCH
IOWA THANKSGIVING INGATHERING COORDINATORS
United Methodist and Other News
Midwest Mission Center now UMCOR Cooperating Depot
The Midwest Mission Distribution Center at Chatham, Ill., south suburb of Springfield, and the United Methodist Committee on Relief have signed a memorandum of understanding as of February. MMDC is now a Cooperating Depot in the UMCOR relief supply network. This means that MMDC is an official drop-off site for UMCOR kits and works closely with UMCOR and other cooperating depots to provide relief supplies to devastated areas nationally and worldwide. All shipments of "UMCOR" kits are made only with the approval of UMCOR. MMDC will continue to make kits and projects specific to the Center such as Haiti School Bags, Children's Hospital Gowns, "Cover Them with Love" quilts, Haiti School Desks and Medicine Cabinets as well as the UMCOR kits. The Center will continue to take bikes and sewing machines for this part of the ministry. For more information, contact Pat Wright, executive director, Midwest Mission Distribution Center, 1022 New City Road - PO Box 56, Chatham, IL 62629, phone 217-483-7911 or visit their website.
United Methodists invited to make difference, end malaria
On April 24-25, United Methodists are encouraged to join with others in their community to make a difference locally and globally by participating in a service or fundraiser that helps effect long-lasting change. On April 25, World Malaria Day, The United Methodist Church will formally launch Imagine No Malaria, a $75 million campaign to eradicate deaths caused by malaria by providing bed nets to malaria-affected regions of the world. For more information and church registration for this event, visit http://rethinkchurch.org/changetheworld.
Cokesbury to donate part of sales to Imagine No Malaria
“Change the World: Recovering the Message and Mission of Jesus,” by Mike Slaughter, has sparked a global movement by United Methodists to serve their communities. As part of this effort, Cokesbury, the retail division of The United Methodist Publishing House, has agreed to donate 5 percent (up to $50,000) of all product sales from April 7 to April 10 to the Imagine No Malaria campaign. Customers can shop online (Cokesbury.com), by phone (1-800-672-1789)
or in-store.
mid-week update is a ministry of the Communications Ministry Team
of the Iowa Annual Conference
