10/7/2011

By Kara Witherow, Editor About 3,700 young people from 42 states and 274 churches gathered on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., July 13-16, for Youth 2011. A project of Young People’s Ministries, a division of The General Board of Discipleship, Youth 2011 is a national youth gathering for the United Methodist Church that convenes once every four years and is the largest single gathering of United Methodist youth. Among the 3,700 were 10 youth and young adults from Morgans ...

10/7/2011

By Barbara Dunlap-Berg* In 2011, natural disasters — earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, floods and fires — have dominated world news. In response, United Methodists have shared faithfully through praying, giving money, volunteering — and assembling UMCOR relief kits. “Our material resource ministry is extremely important for two reasons,” said the Rev. Tom Hazelwood, who heads disaster response in the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America. “It provides people who sit in the pew an ...

10/7/2011

By Kara Witherow, Editor Amy Utley is, in her own words, unique for a church worker. She didn’t grow up attending church and didn’t open a Bible until she was 25. But when she finally did, it ignited a passion for church work, service and Biblical education that recently culminated in her professional certification in Christian education. A family friend gave Utley, the director of Christian education at Skidaway Island United Methodist Church in Savannah, a Bible when she was in high school, ...

10/5/2011

By Kara Witherow, Editor The Vashti Center for Children and Families has, for more than 100 years, been a refuge for troubled children in southwest Georgia. A faith-based ministry providing residential treatment and community services for children and youth, Vashti is a ministry of the United Methodist Church, a mission of the United Methodist Women and a Women’s Division-owned property, one of three in the South Georgia Conference. What began in 1903 as a home and school for girls has evolved ...

10/5/2011

By Kara Witherow, Editor Last month, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that the total number of Americans living below the poverty line – 46.2 million – was the highest total ever in the 52 years the bureau has tracked such data. And in late August, the Annie E. Casey Foundation reported that another 2.4 million children joined the ranks of the U.S. poor during the past decade. As poverty rates rise, so do those who are considered food insecure, or hungry. Since the U.S. Department of Agriculture...

9/26/2011

A UMNS Report By Joey Butler* 7:00 A.M. ET Sept. 26, 2011 | NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) The Rev. Brian Rossbert (center) is commissioned in 2010 by Bishop Richard Wills (left) and the Rev. John Collett, in Brentwood, Tennessee. The numbers of young adult United Methodist clergy like Rossbert are on the rise. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose. View in Photo Gallery There's long been talk of the "graying" of United Methodist congregations, but the same can now be said of its pastors. The annual report ...

9/16/2011

By Dr. Brad Brady We church folks are notorious for using words that we think everyone understands.  This is not a new phenomenon. I remember the interview I had with the Staff-Parish Relations Committee as I was seeking to enter the ministry in the late 1970s.  One of the committee members asked me a question using a religious term.  My mind raced to recall where I had heard that word and what I could deduce about its meaning from what I had previously heard or observed. I was not remembering ...

9/16/2011

By Kara Witherow, Editor In early 2009, Mia and Thomas Ai knew they needed God to be a stronger presence in their lives.  After searching for a church home, they thought they had found one that accepted them and their three children, Bison, 8, Maysen, 6, and Kaysen, 3, just as they are. After attending for two months, though, they were told that the church’s children’s ministry staff and volunteers were not equipped or able to handle and accommodate Bison, who is autistic. Discouraged, wary and ...

9/16/2011

ADVOCATE: Where did you grow up?  Have you always lived in South Georgia? REV. WALTON:  I was born in the inner city of Chicago but grew up in Columbus, Georgia. My mother, Minnie Lee Harris, moved back home to care for her mother, Precious Amber Johnson, after she had a stroke. My five siblings and I grew up caring for my grandmother. I believe it taught me to be compassionate and concerned for those unable to care for themselves. I grew up in the East Wynnton area of Columbus not far from ...

9/7/2011

A UMNS Report By Linda Bloom* 7:00 A.M. EDT Sept. 7, 2011 In 2001 the United Methodist Committee on Relief established a “listening post” at John Street United Methodist Church just blocks from ground zero. A banner expressing support hangs outside the church. A UMNS 2001 file photo by John C. Goodwin. View in Photo Gallery As a professional case manager, Catherine Earl does not routinely keep in touch with former clients she has assisted through the United Methodist Committee on Relief. ...

9/2/2011

By Rev. Robert Beckum* Your South Georgia Conference delegation will meet on Friday, October 21, for an overview of General and Jurisdictional Conference issues. We have invited representatives from the General Board of Pensions to brief delegates on the significant changes proposed for our current clergy pension plan.  The first thing that strikes me about the upcoming General Conference is the profile and makeup of delegations, comprising the voting members for 2012. Of the 988 voting ...

9/2/2011

By David Herndon When thinking of teenagers and summer, the images that often come to mind usually involve a beach, a theme park, a couch or someone sleeping until noon.  But on Monday, June 20, 50 middle-school and high-school students from three different churches in Glynn County came together for something completely different.  OKGO was a mission project that involved students and leaders from St. Simons Island’s Wesley United Methodist Church and The Chapel and College Place United ...

9/2/2011

ADVOCATE: Where did you grow up?  Have you always lived in South Georgia? REV. VARNELL: I was born in Savannah, and have always lived in South Georgia. My father was a pastor in the South Georgia Conference for almost 50 years, so I have lived in several South Georgia towns.  As a preacher's kid, I moved in the itinerant system, and continue to do so as a pastor in the Conference. I believe, as the Discipline puts it, that we as pastors are to “offer ourselves without reserve to be appointed and...

9/2/2011

By Kara Witherow, Editor Retired South Georgia pastor Rev. Hamp Watson celebrated his 80th birthday on Thursday, August 25.  To commemorate the day, he released his eighth book, “About Those Special Days.”  The book, which benefits Macon Outreach at Mulberry Street United Methodist Church, focuses on special days that the church typically observes and celebrates – days listed on the church lectionary and days not listed. Christmas, All Saints Sunday and Easter are commonly observed, but days ...

9/2/2011

By Kara Witherow, Editor Trevor Rose turned 14 the day he came to The Methodist Home for Children and Youth. Removed from his home at 13 because of neglect and abuse, Rose was shuffled between group homes before finally being placed at The Methodist Home’s St. Marys campus. Unsure of what to expect when he arrived, Rose was greeted with a birthday party, complete with gifts, a cake and ice cream. Because it was his birthday, the Methodist Home staff went above and beyond to make Rose feel ...

8/30/2011

By Linda Bloom* 7:00 P.M. EDT August 29, 2011 | NEW YORK (UMNS) Satellite image of Hurricane Irene on Aug. 27, two hours after it made landfall on Cape Lookout, N.C. Irene's outer bands had already extended into New England. Photo courtesy of NASA/NOAA GOES Project. In the six years that the Rev. Dale Ashby has lived in Downsville, the town in the New York Catskills region has flooded four or five times. This week, as the remnants of Hurricane Irene soaked an already sodden landscape, it’s ...

8/17/2011

The South Georgia Eagles, a group of retired South Georgia United Methodist pastors and spouses, will gather November 7-9, 2011, at Epworth By The Sea, for their annual retreat. Rev. Dave and Kay Hanson, Eagles’ co-presidents, are happy to announce that Rev. Lyman Coleman, a world-wide leader in small-group ministries, will lead the retreat. “Lyman Coleman has more fun leading a retreat than anyone I know!” Rev. Hanson said. Dr. Coleman has trained more than 500,000 small group leaders in his ...

8/17/2011

By Kara Witherow, Advocate Editor In early 2010, Lenore Fox was unemployed and homeless. Destitute and depleted, she turned to Columbus’ Open Door Community House for help.  Through Open Door’s Transition Home for Women, Fox found a warm bed and a place to call home.  Coming to Open Door with just the clothes on her back, Fox also wanted and needed to find gainful employment in order to become self sufficient. When she heard about the Open Door Institute, a life skills and culinary arts ministry...

8/17/2011

ADVOCATE: Where did you grow up?  Have you always lived in South Georgia? DR. MOSELEY: I’m from Reidsville, Georgia, in Tattnall County. I grew up on a farm right outside of Reidsville and have a long heritage there. My parents were always active in church so I have a strong spiritual heritage there, too. I never thought I’d be a minister, but God had other plans. After I moved away and went to college for a while my father died and I came back to Reidsville. In the process of that, I became ...

8/17/2011

On Saturday, October 15, United Methodist Women from around the conference will gather together to celebrate 39 years of mission work in South Georgia and around the world. Meeting at Macon’s Vineville United Methodist Church under the theme, “Finding Peace in a Busy World,” this year’s annual meeting and celebration will feature the work of the Vashti Center in Thomasville, Ga., one of the South Georgia mission agencies supported by the Women’s Division. Cathy Snook, Vashti’s director of ...

8/10/2011

CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION INFORMATION AND BROCHURE Grab a compass, jump in the Jeep and join the journey at this year’s KidzQuest retreat, set for September 30 through October 2 at Epworth By The Sea on St. Simons Island. Designed for students in the third through sixth grades, this annual children’s retreat promises to be high-octane, fast-paced and bursting with learning, worship and fun.     This year’s theme, “The Great Adventure,” will explore how a believer’s relationship with God can ...

8/5/2011

By Rev. Ben Gosden It’s become everyone’s guilty pleasure. It’s that one place you go when you don’t feel like working or paying attention and you just want to see what’s going on in the world. It’s become one of the biggest time-wasters in life and yet, it’s also become one of the first places where we share and announce life events. Relationships are no longer “official” until they are announced here. Acquaintances and friendships are not legitimized until they are “official” here. Job ...

8/3/2011

By Heather Hahn* 7:00 P.M. EDT July 29, 2011 | NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) Members of the Connectional Table, meeting July 25-28, endorsed five proposals that would change The United Methodist Church’s structure and potentially its funding. East Ohio Area Bishop John L. Hopkins, the Connectional Table’s chairperson, called the proposals “far-reaching.” “What we’re trying to do is simplify the church and integrate it more,” he said. He added that the changes are intended to help the general church’s ...

8/2/2011

By Kara Witherow, Editor This ain’t your mama’s church. With advertising materials that show a man’s heavily tattooed arm pointing to a passage in the Bible and copy that reads, “Same Bible, Different Church,” Gateway Community United Methodist Church hopes to attract people who might be more like the man in the photo than the “typical” churchgoer. “Our marketing targets those who might not feel comfortable in a more traditional church setting,” said Rev. Andy Lamon, pastor of Gateway Community ...

8/2/2011

ADVOCATE: Where did you grow up?  Have you always lived in South Georgia? REV. MARTIN: Macon is my home.  I spent the first 17 years of my life here in a great neighborhood in Shirley Hills with lots of kids and historic Alexander III School.  Church was also a big part of our lives then. My parents were married at Mulberry; I was baptized and confirmed there. I participated in the great city-wide youth programs offered at Mulberry. Those times were foundational for me. Church, community, ...

8/2/2011

By Christie del Amo Johnson, Vineville United Methodist Church* While his friends are outside playing during the summer, every Tuesday and Thursday 8-year-old Artez Pennymon has been hitting the books, or one book in particular: “Super Fudge” by Judy Bloom. “We’re practicing reading,” he says. “It’s like school, but better.” Artez and more than a dozen other students are part of the Allen Academy, a summer reading program in the Pleasant Hill community of Macon.  Housed at Greater Allen Chapel ...

7/28/2011

GBOD — A national Prayer Ministry Training session for all who are helping to make prayer the foundation of the 2012 General Conference will be offered by The Upper Room Ministries on Aug. 27 in Orlando. Rev. Tom Albin, dean of The Upper Room Ministries, a division of the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD), said the training session comes in response to the call from Bishop Larry Goodpaster, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, to pray for the General Conference, which will ...

7/13/2011

By Kara Witherow, Editor For the first time in almost two months, the Slay family has a roof over their heads. Seven weeks after a tornado ripped the roof off their Yantley, Ala. home, the blue tarps that covered their storm-damaged shelter have been removed, thanks, in large part, to 12 hard-working men and women from Albany, Ga. A disaster-relief team from Albany First United Methodist Church traveled to Yantley, a rural area in southwestern Alabama just 25 miles east of Meridian, Miss., from ...

7/13/2011

ADVOCATE: Where did you grow up?  Have you always lived in South Georgia? REV. HULING: I grew up in Macon, Georgia, except for a two-year hiatus below Miami.  My dad worked for the Air Force, but we generally stayed in Macon.  We went to Southside and then to Aldersgate; Aldersgate was my home church through my teen years. I’m a South Georgia Methodist – it’s in my blood. ADVOCATE: How did you get started in ministry?  REV. HULING: I went to the University of Georgia and graduated with a B.S. in...

6/29/2011

Churches looking for new ideas, networking opportunities and practical, quality training for their pastors, parishioners, staff and leaders need look no further than this year’s Pathways to a Healthy Church conference. Scheduled for Saturday, August 20 at Trinity United Methodist Church in Warner Robins, the training event will offer participants nearly 40 workshops, plus four all-day workshops, to choose from, each designed to help congregations become healthier and to fulfill the mission of ...

6/29/2011

Bishop James R. King, Jr., episcopal leader of the South Georgia Conference, will again be visiting all nine districts this fall for the 2011 Bishop’s Hour.    These Bishop’s Hours are designed to be an intentional time for Bishop King to be in each district sharing with both laity and clergy.    “The purpose of the Bishop's Hour is for me to come out and be with the people, to draw close to them and to teach and to care for them,” said Bishop King.  “The role of a Bishop is to continue to learn...

6/29/2011

By Rev. Robert Beckum It is an honor to serve in the 2012 South Georgia delegation to General and Jurisdictional Conference. As Larry Price and I lead the delegation’s work and preparation for these conferences, we want to stress the representative nature of our delegation. It is our responsibility to faithfully represent the churches of the South Georgia Annual Conference. In order to be faithful in our representation, we need your help and your input. The General Conference is the top ...

6/29/2011

By Kara Witherow, Editor There are a few universal truths for United Methodist preachers’ kids: whenever the church doors are open, they’re at church; if there’s a death or a funeral during a family vacation, the vacation is interrupted or put on hold; and goodbyes are said and new friends are made every few years as families move to new towns and new appointments. Those unique aspects of family life often bond pastors’ kids to each other. Another bond that has united five South Georgia pastors...

6/29/2011

This is the first in a six-part series that will introduce the new District Superintendents. _______________________ ADVOCATE: Where did you grow up?  Have you always lived in South Georgia? REV. BASS: I was born in Athens, Ala.  My father was from St. Cloud/Kissimmee, Fla., and my mother was from Athens, Ala. At childbirth I was given to my grandparents until the age of nine because my father was in the war and contracted tuberculosis and came back and gave it to my mother.  So at birth I was ...

6/29/2011

Macon native Jim Towson, Jr. has joined the South Georgia Conference Office of Connectional Ministries staff as Associate Director for Life Span Ministries.  Towson, who began on June 1, succeeds Rev. Adam Ricker, who has been appointed to start a new church in Richmond Hill.  "We are tremendously blessed to have Jim join our team,” said Dr. Brad Brady, Assistant to the Bishop for Connectional Ministries.  “As expected, Jim is already fully immersed with our summer camp staff in creating an ...

6/11/2011

At the 2011 Annual Conference Session there may have been a buzz about the elections and the finance report and even holding an ordination service in the dark, but the “buzz” created Monday afternoon was all about fighting the deadly disease known as malaria. South Georgia United Methodists joined hands and hearts to give more than $75,000 in a single special offering for Imagine No Malaria.  Churches were asked to take up a special offering prior to Annual Conference and bring the money with ...

6/11/2011

Did you hear it? It was faint, and you had to listen closely, but there was a “quiet chatter” during this year’s Annual Conference session. A handful of clergy and laity communicated with each other – and potentially hundreds or thousands of other people not at the Annual Conference session – through the microblogging website Twitter. A fairly new trend in social media, Twitter allows users to post 140 character updates called tweets. People use Twitter to share news, recommendations and photos,...

6/10/2011

During the Wednesday, June 8 afternoon business session, members of the South Georgia Annual Conference heard a report from the Conference’s Council on Finance and Administration (CFA). In its report, the Council recommended an amended 2011 budget as well as a severely reduced 2012 budget. On behalf of the CFA, Chairman Rev. Jimmy Cason presented the Conference with an amended 2011 budget of $12,272,099, down $323,782 from the previously approved budget of $12,595,881.  He also presented a ...

6/10/2011

During the 2011 Annual Conference session, South Georgia United Methodists elected delegates to represent them at the 2012 General and Southeastern Jurisdictional Conferences. In all, five clergy and five laity were elected to attend General Conference, the highest legislative body of the denomination, which will meet in Tampa, Fla., next year. In addition, the conference elected another five clergy and five laity to attend the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference, along with the General ...

6/10/2011

{Detailed recaps of each day’s events, including listings of who was ordained and commissioned, those who retired, and the ministers and spouses who were remembered during the memorial service, as well as the appointment list, photos and bulletin insert can be found by clicking here.} More than 1,200 United Methodists felt God’s presence during their Annual Conference session, held June 5-9 in Tifton. Whether it was through warm greetings and friendly smiles, in the bright sun and blistering ...