Download the printable version of the May 27 issue of GPconnect.
In this edition:
THIS WEEK'S NEWS
Bishop Saenz shares his thoughts on reopening buildings
In Kansas, governor gives control to counties for their own health orders
Revised annual conference coming Friday night, Saturday
Coronavirus updates from the Great Plains and beyond
Great Plains team receives seven top awards from UM communicators group
GENERAL CONFERENCE
Dates set for General Conference, postponed to August, September 2021
CLERGY EXCELLENCE
‘Threshold’ discussion on new ways of ministry continues next week
Clergy Faith & Wellness: How is it with my soul?
EQUIPPING DISCIPLES
Praying for a better world post-pandemic
Daily devotions return Monday -- we want your stories of God's grace!
MERCY & JUSTICE
Webinar series on pre-existing disparities continues Thursday
ADMINISTRATION
Kansas Area UM Foundation scholarship applications available
Conference offers half-price WW memberships to clergy, staff, spouses
New clergy benefits, Saturday’s Annual Conference discussed on webinar
RESOURCES
Wesley seminary offers online courses on Bonhoeffer, Thurman
ACROSS THE CONNECTION
Hutch DS Livingston gets 'drive-by' retirement celebration for retirement
In other news
Newsletters
Blogs and commentaries
Classifieds
Bishop Saenz shares his
thoughts on reopening buildings
Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. has issued a letter for churches sharing some of his thoughts about reopening church buildings as Kansas and Nebraska move into new phases of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The conference is urging caution in reopening to ensure, as best each congregation can, the health and safety of parishioners and the communities our churches serve.
The bishop’s letter includes links to guidelines provided by the conference staff and a link to a worksheet meant to help churches think through the myriad considerations as churches look to reopen their buildings.
Read the letter.
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In Kansas, governor gives control
to counties for their own health orders
In Kansas, Gov. Laura Kelly’s reopening plan has moved from an order to a recommendation, as of May 26, 2020. The authority has been passed to the 105 counties to execute their own health orders. The Rev. Hollie Tapley, conference disaster response coordinator, is working to obtain each health order for instruction and reference. Of the ones she has received thus far, counties are doing things differently to phase in reopening. Because these are executive health orders, Tapley encourages you to secure a copy from your county health department to aid in the direction of reopening in-person worship. Once she has obtained copies for her reference, she will be happy to guide you through the order, if you have questions.
A note from Hollie:
During this time of discernment for your local congregation, spend time thinking and praying for all aspects of what it means to begin a new and powerful form of worship and ministry. This is not a decision to be entered into lightly, yet prayerfully, and for the foundation of doing no harm. Thank you for all you are doing to be the church and to make disciples for Jesus Christ.
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Revised annual conference
coming Friday night, Saturday
The Great Plains Conference will conduct its revised annual conference session starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 30. Because of concerns for the health of participants and because of technological limitations for many of the clergy and lay members to annual conference, this revised meeting will take place via a telephone conference call.
Only clergy and lay members with both voice and vote will receive log-in information for the call. Registered participants who have indicated they have a hearing impairment will receive an invitation to a Zoom video-conferencing webinar so they can see closed captioning. And the Zoom webinar will be streamed on the conference’s Facebook page for people who want to watch and listen in on the proceedings.
Everyone is invited to take part in two video worship times. The first will take place at 7 p.m. Friday, May 29, on the conference’s Facebook page. It will be available for download and viewing from the conference’s website starting at 7 p.m. that night as well.
The second includes the fixing of appointments and a celebration of retirees and will be available on the conference’s Facebook page 10 to 20 minutes after the conclusion of the teleconference call Saturday, May 30. It also will be available on the conference’s website at that time.
Download the revised annual conference workbook.
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Coronavirus updates from
the Great Plains and beyond
The new additions to our Ministry Amid Coronavirus page are church members who had a quarantine talent show, and helping citizens of a small town pay overdue utility bills.
Our coronavirus page includes best practices for returning to houses of worship, updates from Kansas and Nebraska health departments and more.
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Great Plains team receives seven top
awards from UM communicators group
The Great Plains Conference's communications team received seven first-place awards and 11 awards overall last week from the United Methodist Association of Communicators.
Among the first-place awards was communications director Todd Seifert's "In Layman's Terms" podcast about the rebuilding of the town of Greensburg, Kansas, after a 2007 tornado, which won the best of class award in the audio category.
The Great Plains won in the website, mobile app, news series, streaming, advertisement promotion, media presentation and podcast categories during a virtual gala on the organization’s website and on its Facebook page. The annual meeting and awards banquet scheduled in March was postponed because of health concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more here.
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General Conference
Dates set for General Conference,
postponed to August, September 2021
Organizers have confirmed that the next General Conference will be Aug. 29 to Sept. 7, 2021, in Minneapolis, despite pleas that the decision-making body not meet at the start of the academic year. The Council of Bishops also set the dates for Jurisdictional Conferences: Nov. 10-12.
Read GC story from United Methodist News Service.
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Clergy Excellence
‘Threshold’ discussion on new
ways of ministry continues next week
“Practical Questions for New Ways of Ministry” will be the topic of the next Zoom webinar in the series “At the Threshold: Ministry in Liminal Time,” hosted by the Rev. Ashlee Alley Crawford, clergy recruitment and development coordinator, and the Rev. Shelly Petz, clergy wellness specialist.
The webinar will be at 10:30 a.m. CT Thursday, June 4. Several Great Plains pastors will identify some of the questions — and opportunities during this new season. Register here.
Past discussions can be found on our podcast page. Listen at this link.
Feel free to reach out with possibilities or questions to Ashlee, aalleycrawford@greatplainsumc.org, or Shelly, spetz@greatplainsumc.org.
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Clergy Faith & Wellness:
How is it with my soul?
Among the many things many of us are missing this year due to the pandemic is the event that was meant to begin tonight -- Annual Conference. If you are grieving this opportunity to gather “where laity and clergy come together to worship, remember, dream, sing, do business, learn, and connect,” the Rev. Shelly Petz is right there with you!
Read her latest Clergy Faith & Wellness blog.
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Equipping Disciples
Praying for a better
world post-pandemic
"Amid this unsettling time of pandemic and the multitude of emotions we are experiencing, as Lay Servants let's join together (virtually of course) to focus on turning a negative (Pandemic) into positives," Esther Hay, Blue River District Lay Servant Ministries director, writes in the newest LSM blog. "Everyone is welcome to join the journey."
Hay literally spells out the good that can come from the pandemic.
Read it here.
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Daily devotions return Monday --
we want your stories of God's grace!
Our daily devotion series based on the book "Catch Fire in 50 Days: Joining the Movement of God’s Mission in the World” concludes this Sunday.
The next day, we will return to original daily devotions created by the clergy, laity and staff of the Great Plains Conference. Daily lectionary verses are available for inspiration, but if there is a verse that is on your heart, please feel free to use it instead. Write a meditation on the scripture of about 300 words and a two-sentence prayer for reflection.
We welcome a variety of experiences and viewpoints -- you do not have to be a seminary scholar to share your view of God's grace and Christ's love!
Use this link to sign up.
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Mercy & Justice
Webinar series on pre-existing disparities continues Thursday
The May 21 kickoff of the General Board of Church & Society’s webinar series, “COVID-19: Pre-existing Disparities Exposed,” was viewed by 589 participants enjoyed this discussion addressing systemic racism and discrimination during COVID-19. A recording of the session can be found on the GBCS’ YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UChiecGLe0FLypfTFCJ9Po7w
Information about the ongoing webinar series can be found using this link, where you can also register for any or all of the sessions taking place at 1 p.m. CT every Thursday through June 18: www.umcjustice.org/what-you-can-do/seminar-program/covid-19-webinars.
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Administration
Kansas Area UM Foundation
scholarship applications available
The Kansas Area United Methodist Foundation is pleased to announce the 2020-21 KAUMF Seminary Scholarship application is now available online at www.kaumf.org.
The scholarship is available to seminary students who are a certified candidate for ministry or a provisional member of the Great Plains Conference from churches in Kansas. The deadline to apply is July 31, 2020.
The Kansas Area United Methodist Foundation Seminary Scholarship Fund was started by the Kansas West Conference with the goal of raising $4 million to help persons called into ministry graduate from seminary without debt. We are honored to continue helping seminary students in the Great Plains Conference.
If you are interested in helping raise up the next generations of church leaders or if your church has resources dedicated to helping students go to seminary, but do not currently have students in the church to support, we would be honored to partner with you. Please contact the Foundation at 888-453-8405, foundation@kaumf.org or visit www.kaumf.org.
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Conference offers half-price WW
memberships to clergy, staff, spouses
The Great Plains Conference is offering a 50% off subsidy to all fulltime, half- and quarter-time clergy and their spouses, as well as lay staff and their spouses, in the new WW (formerly Weight Watchers.)
Peggy Mihoover, conference benefits officer, explains the offer.
Read more about the offer.
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New clergy benefits, Saturday’s Annual Conference discussed on webinar
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On this week’s Finance Friday, Conference Benefits Officer Peggy Mihoover talks about some exciting new benefits for clergy. Also, we take a look at the matters facing this Saturday’s annual conference session. Join the live webinar this Friday at noon CT/11 a.m. MT by going to: https://zoom.us/j/93991853257.
For an archive of past shows and slide decks, go to www.greatplainsumc.org/financefridays.
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Resources
Wesley seminary offers online
courses on Bonhoeffer, Thurman
Wesley Theological Seminary is now offering all its upcoming summer courses online. The semester runs from May 26 to Aug. 1, with courses starting throughout the semester. Highlights include courses on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Howard Thurman. Summer 2020 registration is now open.
Learn more or register.
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Across the Connection
Hutch DS Livingston gets 'drive-by'
retirement celebration for retirement
The Rev. Dennis Livingston and his wife Theresa greet friends and colleagues at a "drive-by retirement party" Sunday in the parking lot of Hutchinson Trinity UMC.
Livingston caps a 29-year ministry, serving former Kansas West Conference churches in Hunter-Pleasantview, Washington-Linn, St. Francis, Ulysses and Valley Center before being appointed Hutchinson District superintendent in 2012. A portion of the Hays District was added in 2017.
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In other news
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Newsletters
- Camp Norwesca, June 2020
- Leading Ideas, May 27, 2020
- A sermon for every Sunday, May 27, 2020
- MyCom, May 26, 2020
- Discipleship Ministries: Worship, May 25, 2020
- United Methodist Now, May 25, 2020
- Leading Ideas Talks, May 23, 2020
- GBHEM, May 21, 2020
- Safe Gatherings, May 21, 2020
- United Methodist Communications (in Korean), May 21, 2020
- UMCOMtigo (in Spanish), May 21, 2020
- Engage with Global Ministries, May 20, 2020
- Ministry Matters, May 20, 2020
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Blogs and commentaries
- Lamentation in a pandemic: Rev. Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe, general secretary of the General Board of Church and Society, says the coronavirus pandemic is a “great death.” It is not like the feeling that comes when one dies when one’s life is complete, accomplished, fulfilled and finished. This is a different dying and death,” she writes. “It is death of life as we knew it. It is death of a world suffering from gut-wrenching loss.”
- Celebrating Asian/Pacific American heritage: May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, and it causes the Rev. Grace Pak, director of cross-racial and cross-cultural leadership at the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race, to reflect on her own story. Park came to the United States at age 12, growing up in New York City in the 1970s with the question, “Where do I fit in as a Korean? Do I belong here?”
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Classifieds
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