NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Installation services were Oct. 15 and Oct. 16

The Northern Maine and Mid-Maine districts hosted installation services for their new district superintendents on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 15 and 16, 2016, respectively. Click the links to see photos from the welcomes for Northern Maine District Superintendent Jackie Brannen and Mid-Maine District Superintendent Karen Munson. Mid-Maine photo by John Baker-Streevy.
Northern Maine
Mid-Maine

Bishop Devadhar visits the Vermont District

See photos from Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar’s visit with clergy and laity on Oct. 17, 2016 at xx UMC in Barre, VT.
See photos from the bishop’s visit to the Vermont District
See photos from the bishop’s visit to the Tri-State District
See photos from the bishop's visit to the Mid-Maine District

The bishop’s remaining District visits:
Oct. 23 – Central Massachusetts
Oct. 27 – Northern Maine
Nov. 7 – Rhode Island/SE Massachusetts
Nov. 12 – Connecticut/Western Massachusetts
Nov. 17 – Metro Boston Hope
Dec. 3 – New Hampshire

Your generosity at work …

Your mission shares are making a difference in so many ways across the New England Conference. Conference Director of Congregational Development Rick McKinley is making a series of short videos to highlight them. This video focuses on The Jesus Life Center, a new Brazilian ministry that has grown out of the Adlersgate UMC in Worcester, MA.
Watch the video
See more from the Jesus Life Center’s official opening celebration
See the first video in this series on First 12 training

Eleven from New England attend Wesleyan Covenant Association

The Rev. Thomas Bentum was among the 11 from New England who attended the Wesleyan Covenant Association meeting earlier this month. Rev. Bentum shares his perspective on the gathering.
Read more
Read UMNS stories about the association:
Evangelical group plans for ‘new day’ in church
Group: Accountability needed to avoid church split

Great items up for bid at JFON Silent Auction

The Justice for Our Neighbors (JFON) Annual Dinner and Auction will be Nov. 5 at Lexington UMC in Massachusetts. There are some exciting and interesting items up for bid to help support this important ministry. Here are just a few:

A week's use of a 4-5 bedroom vacation house in St. Augustine, FL - house is located about 2 blocks from the beach!
A magic show given by a professional magician who performs at White House Easter Egg Roll
A pair of Special Edition Beats Solo 2 wireless headphones
Handcrafted items including jewelry and a hand knit sweater
Theme gift baskets and gift cards

Items for the Silent Auction are still being accepted. If you would like to donate an item, please contact Martha LaMontagne at mclamon20@comcast.net or Laura Rice at freshpond@juno.com

New England youth invited to pray for end to gun violence

According to the nonprofit Sandy Hook Promise, 114,644 people are shot in the U.S. each year; 14,783 are aged 18 or younger.

One way United Methodists respond to tragedy is by offering prayers and support. The New England Conference Lay Servant Ministries for Youth program is coordinating a powerful prayer piece for Say Something Week, Oct. 24-28, 2016.

Say Something Week teaches students how to look for warning signs, signals and threats – especially in social media – from a peer who might be planning to hurt themselves or someone else and to say something to a trusted adult to get help and save a life.

Say Something Week was created by Sandy Hook Promise, which is founded and led by several family members whose loved ones were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012.

All youth in grades 8-12 are invited to join hundreds of churches, schools, and youth organizations from across the United States who will be taking part in Say Something Week.

To be a part of this prayer event, youth should send an email to Debi Henry, Conference Director of Lay Servant Ministries for Youth, at neumcyouth@yahoo.com. Please include your name, grade, telephone number, church and district. Henry will contact interested youth with details prior to Oct. 24.

Local Pastor Licensing School begins in January 2017

The 2017 Local Pastor Licensing School in New England will begin with a week-long session Jan. 8-13. There will be three additional Saturday sessions on Feb. 4, Feb. 11, and March 4. For more information or for registration forms, please contact the registrar, Deborah Venator, at bomregistrar@yahoo.com or (603) 892-0359 or learn more on the Conference website here.

#Giving Tuesday is Nov. 29

Nov. 29 is #Giving Tuesday. On this day, you are invited to come together with thousands of United Methodists to support the work of Advance projects and missionaries. Your generosity provides a strong foundation that allows projects and missionaries to build relationships and empower their ministries. As always, 100 percent of all gifts to The Advance goes directly to the missionary or project selected. Last year, nearly 6,000 donors from 27 countries donated $2.8 million through The Advance.
Learn more and get resources

Church and Society plans two events in D.C.

Both events will be held at the United Methodist Building, 100 Maryland Ave. NE, Washington, D.C.

Faith and Guns Forum – will be held on Nov. 14-16, 2016. This timely forum is open to all and will address issues of guns and faith, guns and policy, guns and public health, guns and survivors and guns and organizing. Attendees will also have the option of meeting with their congressional representatives on the last day and will get resources to continue the work. It will be a time of worship, hearing from experts and gaining resources to walk toward justice.
Registration is $200 per person (includes housing; double occupancy), lunch and registration fees. Commuter registration is $75. We encourage you to participate with another person from you church/community and a 15% discount is offered if you do!
Deadline to register is Oct. 21, 2016. Scholarships are available for those from Ethnic Local Churches and also for students. Please contact Aimee Hong at ahong@umc-gbcs.org for the discount codes.
Link to the registration page

Young Clergy Forum – Jan. 24-27, 2017. This event is for clergy age 35 and younger who are serving a local church full time. Learn more and register The forum has the following goals:

Connect young clergy with the ministry of Church and Society
Provide a forum to share knowledge and experience
Create bridges for future ministry collaboration
Build relationships with other young clergy from across the United Methodist connection

EVENTS

Early Response Team Training
Oct. 29 at Lake Sunapee UMC, Sunapee, NH
RISEM District Day with Doug Anderson
Nov. 5 at East Greenwich UMC, East Greenwich, RI
Justice for Our Neighbors Dinner
Nov. 5 at Lexington and St. Johns UMCs, Lexington, MA
Central MA District Day with Rebekah Simon Peter
Nov. 11-12 at Weston UMC, Weston, MA
Giving.Jesus.Generosity VMT District Resource Day
Nov. 12 at Hedding UMC, Barre, VT
Friends and Family Day at Camp Aldersgate
Nov. 13 at Camp Aldersgate, N. Scituate, RI

CLASSIFIEDS

Job Openings:
Sunday School and Children’s Ministry Director (part-time)
Harvard-Epworth UMC, Cambridge, MA
Sunday School Teacher
Pleasant St UMC, Salem, NH
Director of Children and Youth Ministries
Bow Mills UMC, Bow, NH
Free Items:
Adult Choir Robes
Exeter UMC, Exeter, NH
Choir Music Folders (30)
Exeter UMC, Exeter, NH

UMC.ORG NEWS

Laity want more representation on commission
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — More than 500 laity from across the denomination signed a letter protesting the under-representation of laity in the composition of the Commission on a Way Forward. The letter went to Bishop Bruce Ough, president of the Council of Bishops, and the council’s executive committee on Oct. 16, Laity Sunday. Kathy L. Gilbert has the story.

Judicial Council takes up gay ordination issue
NEW YORK (UMNS) — A controversial decision by United Methodists in New York last June to commission and ordain openly gay clergy candidates is one of the 11 docket items on the agenda when the United Methodist Judicial Council meets Oct. 25-28 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Lisle, Ill., in the Chicago area. Oral hearings are scheduled on two other docket items. Linda Bloom reports.

Normal life elusive for Ebola survivors
Ebola survivors in Sierra Leone face discrimination, financial difficulties, many health problems.

Ask the UMC
We have been keeping a list of intriguing questions about The United Methodist Church. Get the answers and send us your query. Ask the UMC.

Wesley Seminary students attend second presidential debate
Students in the "Religion and the American Presidency" class study ways that faith traditions impact policy and politics.

ASL glossary opens new doors to Deaf community
“We hope this will further help the Deaf community to fall in love with what The United Methodist Church offers,” says the Rev. Leo Yates.

See more UMC news