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THIS WEEK'S NEWS
Conference helping as churches see spikes in insurance premiums
Churches in KCK area gaining momentum in justice ministries
Church's response to political topics is subject of 'Layman's' podcast
In memorial, Junius Dotson remembered for seeing all the people
Church of the Resurrection brings drinking water to areas in Malawi
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Plans forming for online annual conference, May 28-29
Deadline for submitting resolutions is March 22
CLERGY EXCELLENCE
Coming this June, clergy retreats made for planning, renewal and rest
EQUIPPING DISCIPLES
Are you registered? 2nd Great Plains Laity Summit is just 10 days away
Serving with Others Grant helps Topeka church reach out
Lenten resources available from conference include prayers, activities
Information available to track mental health resources in community
Free webinar on church's direction in future set for March 18
Fontanelle plans open house for camp director home, Easter fun
DISASTER RESPONSE
CDC gives new guidelines for those fully vaccinated against COVID-19
ADMINISTRATION
Ace Hardware is newest vetted ministry partner for United Methodists
RESOURCES
Last-minute resources coming for this weekend's UMCOR Sunday
Church missions can help others close to home
ACROSS THE CONNECTION
In other news
Newsletters
Commentaries
Classifieds
Conference helping as churches
see spikes in insurance premiums
A spike in insurance premiums -- sometimes 40-60% higher than in previous years -- is facing churches in the Great Plains Conference and throughout the nation.
But the conference board of trustees and Council on Finance and Administration is trying to lessen that burden, with grants to churches seeing a spike in premiums and discussion on how to avoid it happening in the future.
Read more here.
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Churches in KCK area gaining
momentum in justice ministries
If you haven't heard much about justice ministries in your church, you soon will.
“Some churches don’t really understand it,” Rev. Bruce Draper, pastor of Roeland Park and Bristol Hill UMCs in suburban Kansas City, said. “It’s kind of a big leap from serving at (community outreach) to actually going and tackling issues. We’re slowly but surely talking about justice every Sunday and teaching them that you can be involved in the political process, but not in a political party.”
His churches, and others in Johnson and Wyandotte counties, are working with a national organization to strengthen justice ministries in their communities.
Read more here.
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Church's response to political topics
is subject of latest 'Layman's' podcast
Our country is more divided than ever. We have red states and blue states, and even red and blue congregations. Or do we? Aren't our congregations really just different shades of purple?
In the latest episode of the podcast "In Layman's Terms," Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade joins communications director Todd Seifert for a discussion about her book, "Preaching in the Purple Zone," and how a method she has developed heavily involves the input from laity to help a church determine its response to topics pertinent to our times.
Download and listen here.
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In memorial, Junius Dotson remembered for seeing all the people
At a service streamed around the globe on Saturday, United Methodists celebrated the life and faith of the Rev. Junius B. Dotson, the Discipleship Ministries executive who touched many across the denomination.
Dotson assumed the worldwide post after 14 years as senior pastor at Wichita Saint Mark UMC, the largest Black congregation in the Great Plains Conference.
During the services in Houston, his friends talked about Dotson’s impact on The United Methodist Church he loved. They celebrated him as a denomination-wide leader who never lost focus on the local church; as an advocate for a fully inclusive denomination who never forgot his roots in the Black church; and as a visionary who saw people even when they had never been to church at all.
Church of the Resurrection brings
drinking water to areas in Malawi
United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood has been working in partnership with the Malawi United Methodist Church to address a variety of humanitarian needs. Most recently, the church enabled the drilling of more than 80 boreholes in the past six months.
“Every one of those boreholes,” senior pastor the Rev. Adam Hamilton said, “provides clean drinking water to an entire village of children and adults for decades.”
Since 2010, members of the 15,000-member Great Plains Conference congregation have traveled physically and financially to Malawi through ministries that focus on health, education and economic empowerment.
Read more from United Methodist News Service.
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Annual Conference
Plans forming for online
annual conference, May 28-29
Plans for the 2021 Annual Conference online continue to evolve as Bishop Saenz and the Sessions Planning Team move forward with planning the event.
Tentative plans are for opening worship to be Friday morning, May 28, with the business session during the afternoon. Annual conference will meet Saturday, May 29, from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. CST. That is a longer time on Saturday, but this schedule recognizes that many of our laity are employed and not able to participate as fully on weekdays.
Additional details about Commissioning and Ordination, Memorial Service, and the Retirement Celebration will be announced as this schedule becomes further defined.
--Rev. Nancy Lambert
clergy excellence director/assistant to the bishop
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Deadline for submitting
resolutions is March 22
For the purposes of the Great Plains Annual Conference, a resolution asks the Annual Conference to take a stand on a particular issue or to direct somebody within the Conference to consider a specific action. A Petition is passed on for consideration at General Conference. Therefore, it would be rare to submit a “petition” for consideration at Annual Conference in 2021 unless it is possible to submit petitions again for the upcoming General Conference.
Petitions and resolutions for consideration by the conference must originate from an individual or entity within the Great Plains Annual Conference. These may include, but are not limited to: congregations, groups within a congregation; individuals (both lay and clergy), district organizations, or conference boards and committees.
The deadline for submitting resolutions for the 2021 annual conference is March 22. Resolutions should be submitted to the conference secretary at gpsecretary@greatplainsumc.org.
Guide to Submitting Petitions and Resolutions.
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Clergy Excellence
Coming this June, clergy retreats
made for planning, renewal and rest
Jesus took time away for prayer and silence before proclaiming to the crowds. You are invited to take time apart in a retreat setting with other colleagues and create long-range plans for worship and preaching with retreat leader Rev. Dr. Theresa Mason. The cost is $150 and includes lodging and meals if registered by April 15. It will be $200 after that time.
Participants are invited to plan worship and preaching for six months to a year in a retreat setting with other colleagues. You’ll be able to brainstorm and bounce ideas off colleagues and/or plan alone. You can expect blocks of time for planning, spiritual renewal and rest.
Choose one of two weeks:
- Sunday, June 6 (8 p.m.) to Thursday, June 10 (2 p.m., with option to stay until 5 p.m.) at St. Benedict Center in Schuyler, Nebraska
- Monday, June 14 (8 p.m.) to Friday, June 18 (2 p.m. with option to stay until 5 p.m.) at Spiritual Life Center in Wichita
Space is limited, so register early! Participants may arrive early or stay longer by making arrangements directly with the retreat center. Check out the website to hear testimonies of past participants, learn more about the retreat, and register: www.greatplainsumc.org/atimeapart.
Questions? Email Rev. Ashlee Alley Crawford, aalleycrawford@greatplainsumc.org.
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Equipping Disciples
Are you registered? 2nd Great Plains Laity Summit is just 10 days away
Registration is still open for the second Laity Summit, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 20. The cost is $10.
Here is information on the workshops, the "Festival of Booths" and schedule for the Laity Summit.
The Laity Summit includes your choice of one-hour workshops in the morning and afternoon, opening and closing worship and a keynote presentation by Rev. Dr. Scott Hughes, executive director of congregational vitality and intentional discipleship for Discipleship Ministries. There will be a 30-minute lunch break.
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Serving with Others Grant
helps Topeka church reach out
The school year has looked differently for many schools this year across Nebraska and Kansas. Several churches have worked on partnering with schools in their community. As we approach Spring Break, dream about how God may use you to connect with your community and partner with schools nearby now or in the new school year. To apply to Education Partnership Grants or any other Serving With Others grants for Education Partnership, Mission Engagement, or Social Justice, apply at www.greatplainsumc.org/serving-with-others-grant.
Check out this Education Partnership testimony from Jaymie Genovese at Susanna Wesley United Methodist Church, about a Learning Lab partnership with the school next door.
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Lenten resources available from
conference include prayers, activities
As we continue in the third week of Lent, share these resources with your congregation to use and continue our Lenten spiritual practices this season from the Great Plains Conference.
- Lent in Box — Pray using 5 prayer practices to use during Lent
- Small Group Guide — To pray Lectio Divina through healing, hope, reconciliation, restoration, and compassion healing,
- Holy Week in a Box — Use an object, read a Scripture, Do a response, Wonder and Pray each day
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Information available to track
mental health resources in community
We are living in a world that is slowly addressing the stigma and discrimination about mental health. As a part of serving others and loving our neighbor, we offer prayers and walk alongside people to offer Christ’s healing. As a part of our overall health, it is imperative that spiritual leaders speak openly about mental health as well as physical health.
The church can be a safe and welcoming place for peace-seekers and those in need of care to know Christ and address mental health resources in our areas. To help with resources and connecting people in our communities to mental health resources, here is a tool for congregations to access mental health resources in our communities.
See attached document.
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Free webinar on church's
direction in future set for March 18
The Global Leadership Network is hosting a free webinar from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. CST Thursday, March 18. The featured speakers will be:
- Dr. Henry Cloud, who will speak on self-care and leadership health
- Michael Todd, who will address how to leverage digital ministry and social media to reach new people
- Craig Groeschel, who will share why he is more optimistic than ever knowing that it is possible more than 50% of church attenders will not return to a church building
- A panel discussion with a team of pastors from Life.Church who will share their thoughts on what future gathering will look like
This is a free event so you may want to invite pastors, staff and laity to join. You can register and get information at https://globalleadership.org/churchnext.
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Fontanelle plans open house for camp director home, Easter fun
After months of tireless labor from many volunteers, Camp Fontanelle is excited to conduct an open house at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 21, for the renovated director's house. The Camp Fontanelle Development Plan form 1959 says the lumber for the director's home came from salvaged Cedar Bluffs Church and built in 1960. There have been minor updates done throughout the years, but this renovation is a floor to ceiling renovation.
The site council and all of the volunteers invite you to attend. Please wear a mask. There will be refreshments served at the 7:24 Shelter.
The next week, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, March 28, Camp Fontanelle will conduct its annual Easter Family Fun Day at the 7:24 Shelter.
Egg hunts will begin at 2:30 for the younger crowd. At 2:55 a hunt will be conducted for grade-school age and younger, and the final Easter Egg hunt for all ages will be at 3:25 p.m. Please bring your own Easter baskets or bags for collecting eggs.
Other activities will include half-price ziplining for $5, Jumping Pillow, Pedal Karts, Barrel Train rides and the Petting Barn will be open. This event is free to the public. Due to COVID-19, egg dyeing will not be available this year. We hope to be able to bring this activity back in 2020. Learn more about the Easter event.
Finally, don't forget to sign up for summer camp. The Early Bird Special for the Guardian Angel and SonShine Camps, which offers 50% off the camp fees, will end March 31. Go the camp website and click on the COME TO CAMP! tab to access the registration system.
Please contact the camp at fontanelle@greatplainsumc.org or 402-478-4296 with any questions.
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Disaster Response
CDC gives new guidelines for those
fully vaccinated against COVID-19
Released this week, the Centers for Disease Control has updated its public health recommendations for those fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.
Download the seven-page document here.
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Administration
Ace Hardware is newest vetted
ministry partner for United Methodists
The Connectional Relations team of the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) is announcing that the newest vetted ministry partner is Ace Hardware. Ace, a national retailer, has more than 2,400 participating locations in the United States and will offer discounts for purchases made for the church.
The partnership will allow churches to shop online and in local Ace Hardware stores and receive 10% off purchases, which can increase available funds for ministries. A local church or other United Methodist entity who sets up an account with Ace will receive the 10% discount on facility supplies, paint, cleaning, and maintenance supplies. With locations across the country, Ace offers accessibility in communities of all sizes, affording the church the opportunity to make purchases from the Ace Hardware broad product line of facility supplies and help churches reduce expenses. To learn more about the Ace Hardware program for churches, click here.
Read more here.
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Resources
Last-minute resources coming for this weekend's UMCOR Sunday
March 14 is UMCOR Sunday. This special offering underwrites the administrative costs of the United Methodist Committee on Relief so that all designated gifts will go to the project givers specify. Resources, including worship ideas, are available to help churches celebrate the day.
Find resources.
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Church missions can
help others close to home
When United Methodists hear about church missions, they may think of big, organized programs: missionaries serving far from home or the annual church mission trip. But Jesus often talked about missions as simply helping the people we encounter every day. Get Them Talking, a series of resources to help families start conversations about issues of faith, has more on helping others.
Find out more here.
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Across the Connection
In other news
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Newsletters
- Discipleship Ministries: Young People’s Ministry, March 9, 2021
- The Source, March 9, 2021
- Mission Link from Dr. David Upp, March 2021
- Discipleship Ministries: Path 1 News, March 8, 2021
- Discipleship Ministries: Worship Planning, March 8, 2021
- United Methodist Now, March 8, 2021
- Leading Ideas Talks, March 6, 2021
- GCFA Collaborator, March 2021
- UMCOMtigo (in Spanish), March 4, 2021
- Compass, March 4, 2021
- Ministry Matters, March 3, 2021
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Commentaries
- It is time to separate: With the future of the church moving even further into the future, the Rev. Stephen W. Rankin says he believes the time has come to separate. "As Genesis 25 says of Rebekah's twins, we are like two nations struggling in the same womb," writes the former Southern Methodist University chaplain, now living in Parkerfield in Cowley County, Kansas.
- Confronting three crises in church: Congregational leaders are in the precarious position of responding to three simultaneous crises: the pandemic, racial reckoning and political violence, writes David R. Brubaker. The Eastern Mennonite University professor offers steps for dealing with these crises.
Classifieds
Classifieds are posted for 30 days unless otherwise requested.
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