Jan. 13, 2021
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In this edition
NEWS and ANNOUNCEMENTS
2022 budget requests are due March 1
Learn more about using Missioninsite
Churches make music videos available
UMFNE announces ‘Justice In Our Time Fund’
UMEM: Fixing a Hole Where the Rain Gets in
Rooted and Rising in Love: A One-Day Retreat
DON’T FORGET
Register now for the 2021 pilgrimage to Taizé
Closing date for 2020 Mission Shares is Jan. 15
NEAC Leadership Training scheduled for SPRCs, Trustees and Treasurers
Local Church History Writing Contest deadline extended
Register for the online MLK Memorial Breakfast
Anti-racism training online make-up session set
Statistical Reporting System is Open
OBITUARIES
EVENTS
Inauguration to feature COVID memorial
CLASSIFIEDS
UMC NEWS
NEWS and ANNOUNCEMENTS
2022 budget requests are due March 1
For all New England Conference programs, ministries and agencies, it is time to start thinking about your budget requests for 2022. The Connectional Table and Conference Council on Finance and Administration have developed an online Budget Request and Narrative form Deadline for submission is March 1, 2021.
Learn more about the process
Learn more about using Missioninsite
What if you could reach your neighbors with much more precision?
What if you knew more about the households in your community? For example, whether there are kids in the household or the gender of the residents. How might that information help you design your outreach efforts, even in these days of COVID-19? Missioninsite is a powerful demographic tool available for your congregation; it continues to update its platform, making it even easier for you to develop ministry plans that can connect more meaningfully with your community. In this one-hour webinar led by Director of Congregational Development Rev. Rick McKinley, you’ll learn the basics of using the platform and how you can use a new feature called “Neighbor Center.”
Registration is required. Two options:
1 pm Monday, Jan. 25, 2021 — Register
7 pm Monday, Jan. 25, 2021 — Register
Churches make music videos available
Zion Korean UMC in Warwick and Haven UMC in East Providence, RI, worked together to record videos of hymns and special music that churches are welcome to use in their virtual worship services. The catalog of 47 videos includes music for Lent and Easter. These pieces are licensed by CCLI.
Find the videos
UMFNE announces ‘Justice In Our Time Fund’
The United Methodist Foundation of New England (UMFNE) has created the Justice In Our Time Fund to sustain the work of anti-racism. The Foundation is investing $900,000 from its endowment along with $500,000 from the New England Conference. The initial goal for the Fund is to raise $2.5 million. Progress toward justice and racial equity requires sustained support; the Fund aims to make an immediate and long-term impact through a sustainable model.
Read a press release announcing the fund
Find more on the UMFNE website
UMEM: Fixing a Hole Where the Rain Gets in
Read a message from United Methodist Economic Ministry (UMEM) Board President Dan Dolan.
Rooted and Rising in Love: A One-Day Retreat
This one-day retreat, held online, will include a mix of presentations, small group conversations, individual reflection, and free time for contemplative wandering and prayer. Together we will explore a framework for the heart to help us become compassionate, prophetic leaders who can take up the mantle of moral leadership that this decisive moment in history requires.
10 am to 3 pm Friday, Feb. 5, 2021 via Zoom. Fee is $25; scholarships are available by request. Contact Program Director, Rev. Nicole Diroff at nicole@thebtscenter.org.
Learn more and register
DON’T FORGET
Register now for the 2021 pilgrimage to Taizé
All youth and young adults between the ages of 16 and 30 are invited to join a life-changing pilgrimage to Taizé, France, a place which is filled with deep Christian spirituality and broad ecumenism. This week-long experience will be led by Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar. The 2021 pilgrimage will be July 23 to Aug. 2. Register by Jan. 15, 2020.
Learn more and get registration materials at www.neumc.org/taize
Closing date for 2020 Mission Shares is Jan. 15
The closing date for 2020 Mission Share Remittances is Friday, Jan.15, 2021. All 2020 Mission Share remittances must be in the office of the Treasurer by that date to be credited as 2020 payments. Churches can check the balance of their Mission Shares for 2020 on this page. The page can be found under the Finance/Benefits tab, click Mission Shares, then Mission Shares-Current for All Churches, and then click on your church name. This page will be updated until the Final Closing on Jan. 15, 2021.
NEAC Leadership Training scheduled for SPRCs, Trustees and Treasurers
The New England Conference is offering online leadership training for SPRCs, Treasurers, and Local Church Trustees. Presenters are Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar (SPRC) and Conference Treasurer/Director of Administrative Services John Cardillo (Treasurers and Trustees). You will have the opportunity to ask questions and join a breakout discussion for your district. Registration is not necessary. The workshops, which will be offered via Zoom, are scheduled for 6:30-8 p.m. on:
Click the event link to get more information and the Zoom link.
Local Church History Writing Contest deadline extended
Every five years the New England Conference Commission on Archives and History sponsors a local church history writing contest, looking for the best histories of local churches written and published in the previous five years. Due to COVID-19, the Commission has voted to extend the deadline for the current contest for an additional year. First, second and third prizes will be awarded for histories published between Jan. 1, 2016 and Dec. 31, 2021. Click the link below to read more from Conference Historian Rev. Pat Thompson and find contest details.
Read more
Register for the online MLK Memorial Breakfast
The 51st Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast will be held online beginning at 11 am on Jan. 18, 2021, put on by Union UMC and St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church. This year's theme is "The Arc Toward Justice: Unfinished Business." We will remember Dr. King's exhortation to build the Beloved Community and take steps towards making this a reality today. This is the nation's longest running MLK remembrance event, and this year we are moving to an online format to bring in nationally renowned speakers and hold teach-ins with prominent social justice organizations in the Boston area. Please register now at bostonmlkbreakfast.org.
Anti-racism training online make-up session set
The Conference Commission on Religion and Race (CCORR) is finishing up the 2016-2019 quadrennial anti-racism training that was conducted in each district using the study guide offered through the General Commission on Religion and Race. This training is REQUIRED for clergy. Laity are also invited to participate. The final online session available for those who have not completed this training:
- 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021
Use this form to register The log in information will be emailed to you. If you have questions, contact Claire Holston, CCORR member, at cholstony@comcast.net or at 603-249-9191
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Statistical Reporting System is Open
Username and password information for EZRA, the statistical reporting system, was be emailed to pastors on Dec. 29th. If you do not have that information, contact Joy Mueller, the Conference Statistician, at JoyEMueller@comcast.net Reports are due on Feb. 14, 2021.
OBITUARIES
01/11/2021
EVENTS
Click image for details
Photo by Alex Hussein from Pexels
Inauguration to feature COVID memorial
The Presidential Inaugural Committee will hold a lighting ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to honor those killed by the coronavirus the evening of Jan. 19, calling it the “first-ever lighting around the Reflecting Pool to memorialize American lives lost.” It is also inviting communities around the country to join Washington in lighting up buildings and ringing church bells at 5:30 p.m. in “a national moment of unity and remembrance.” NEAC churches are invited to participate or not as they choose.
CLASSIFIEDS
Director of Pastoral Care Ministries- Maine Region
The Preachers’ Aid Society of New England has an opening for the Director of Clergy Family Services- Maine Region.
Administrative Assistant
Fisk Memorial UMC in Natick, Massachusetts is currently accepting letters of interest and resumes for the flexible 12 to 15 hours a week position of Administrative Assistant.
UMC NEWS
Ways to celebrate Martin Luther King Day under COVID
Martin Luther King Day is on Monday January 18, 2021. Americans have set aside this day to honor the memory of this great civil rights icon and social prophet. For many congregations the weekend before MLK Day is a time of celebration, community outreach and continued advocacy for justice. Many churches may not be able to observe the holiday in all the same ways they might have pre-COVID. There are, however, still many ways they can honor Dr. King’s memory and witness in 2021 while still keeping their community members safe.
Read more
End of the world as we know it
PASADENA, Calif. — The world is changing and there is no going back, writes Erin M. Hawkins, executive director of connectional ministries for the California-Pacific Conference, in the wake of last week's attack on the U.S. Capitol. "No amount of antiracism training and diversity book club discussions will fix what is core to the display of unfettered white supremacy that has been building for years and that reached an inflection point (on Jan. 6)."
Read commentary
COVID-19 is top church story of 2020
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UM News) — The church's response to the COVID-19 pandemic was voted the top United Methodist news story of 2020 by conference communicators in the U.S., Africa, Europe and the Philippines and UM News staff. Jim Patterson reports.
Read story
Missionaries cope with coronavirus challenges
ATLANTA (UM News) — Travel bans and fear of COVID-19 complicated the service of United Methodist missionaries in 2020. Recruiting for the 2021 class has started, but a smaller number will be chosen, and it remains to be seen if they'll be able to travel to their assignments. Jim Patterson has the story.
Read story
