Vol. 7 • No. 1  
January 3, 2008
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CONFERENCE NEWS

Two Safe Sanctuaries Training Scheduled for 2008
If you have not already attended one of the Safe Sanctuaries trainings and would like to, please make plans to attend one of the following. Click here for registration details. Click here for more information on Safe Sanctuaries.
--Saturday, January 26, 2008 at Pittman Park UMC in Statesboro
--Saturday, February 16, 2008 at Waycross First UMC in Waycross

Advance Special Applications are due Jan. 31
January 31 is the deadline for Advance Special Applications. Click here to download the form or contact Rev. Denise Walton at 888-266-7642 or denise@sgaumc.com for more information.

Sexual Ethics Workshop Offered February 14
The South Georgia Conference requires that all ministers under appointment by the Bishop take a five hour course in sexual ethics every three years, beginning June 2005. This means that by June 2008 every minister under appointment should have attended one of the workshops. The next scheduled workshop is February 14, 2008 , at Epworth By The Sea from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Lunch is on your own. To register send an e-mail to williamscenter1@yahoo.com. This event is being sponsored by the Conference Commission on Pastoral Counseling.

Speedwell UMC, Vineville UMC Receive Igniting Ministry Grants
Speedwell UMC in Savannah and Vineville UMC in Macon have both received grants for matching funds for Lent 2008 advertising. Vineville UMC wil be using the grant for radio advertising, while Speedwell UMC will be using the money for television, radio and cinema. We are excited that these two churches are spreading the message of "Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors" in their community. To find out how you can do the same click here. Two more opportunities exist to apply for a 2008 matching grant - Back-to-School and Advent. Applications must be submitted from May 1 - June 1, 2008. Click here to learn how to apply.

Macon District Children's Jamboree to Feature Hey Ya
Don't let your kids miss out on an exciting distirct-wide jamboree February 10, 2008, from 5pm-7:30pm at Vinvelle UMC in Macon. Hey Ya, with his highly energetic personality, will lead BINGO and will also be sharing his testimony. For those of you who attended the 2007 KidzQuest you will remember how much fun Hey Ya was. Music will be lead by Exodus, the youth worship team from Vineville. Cost for the event, intended for third graders through sixth graders, is $3 per person. Click here to download a flyer with more information. Please contact Kim Brooks at 478-745-3331, ext. 111 if you have any questions.

Development Conference Set for January 9
The Methodist Home Foundation and the South Georgia UM Foundation are co-sponsoring a Development Conference at The Methodist Home for Children and Youth in Macon January 9, 2008. The purpose of this gathering is to promote giving to our institutions and churches, as well as cooperation and collegiality among peers. This one-day conference will provide a relaxed and informative atmosphere for dialogue and relationships. Guest speakers include Mr. Pete Cates, J.D., Kentucky Giving Initiative, and Mr. Jeff Barker, Director of the St. Marys UM Foundation. There is no charge for this event. However, you are asked to RSVP by e-mail (sgumf@bellsouth.net) so that a sufficient amount of materials can be prepared. Click here to download a letter of invitation, which includes a schedule of the day and contact information if you have questions.

Georgia Campus Ministries Join Together for Mission Trip
Campus ministries across Georgia are gearing up to travel to New Orleans, LA May 14-18, 2008 to work with UMVIM in their ongoing mission to help families rebuild their homes. The theme for the trip is “Restore,” based on the scripture 1 Peter 5:10. The hope is that as team members work with the people in New Orleans to restore their homes they would see the Lord at work restoring lives—both the people of New Orleans AND the Georgia students who are serving. Students and young adults from across the state of Georgia are invited to participate and unite for a common mission---to serve the Lord and participate in His restoring work! The cost of the trip is $150. To register yourself or your group, go to www.gaheid.com/restore.html. There are two forms to download and fill out (one per participant). Registration forms and payment should be mailed toTammy Gann, 103 Herty Dr., Statesboro, GA 30458. Have questions? See the website for more information and for contact numbers.

Columbus District Leadership Training
"Training Tomorrow's Leaders for Today" is a is a one day district-wide training event designed to equip congregational leaders with tools to be effective in the area they have been called to serve. The training will be held at Wynnton United Methodist Church on January 12, 2008, from 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Cost for the event is $6, which includes lunch. Please contact the District Office, 706-561-4541, with the total number of participants from your church so that adequate lunch preparations can be made. For more information and a list of workshops, click here. This training is being sponsored by the Columbus District and the Office of Connectional Ministries.

Applications still being accepted for summer camp counselors
Do you know a college student looking for a summer ministry opportunity? Epworth By The Sea may just be the place for them. As a camp counselor, they will be able to minister to hundreds of youth and children throughout the summer, while making Christian friendships with other staff members that last a lifetime.  As a paid position, staff members on the Leadership Team will commit to nine weeks of service which will include serving at mid-high camps, elementary camps, as well as traveling to local churches. The summer will run from May 24 – July 26, 2008. Applications are available online and interviews will be completed by February.  For more detailed information please call Adam Ricker at 888-266-7642 or click here.

CONNECTION NEWS

UMCOR sees critical need for medicine boxes
(UMCOR) Since the war ended, the Liberia Annual Conference has found it difficult to offer needed resources—especially medication to provide basic health care to the 1 million people living throughout the country. Medications purchased locally are expensive. It was therefore a blessing for them to receive 10 medicine boxes donated by the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).

UMCOR wants to continue hearing testimonies like this one, but they need your help. UMCOR has depleted its stock of Medicine Boxes. Help them replenish supplies immediately to deliver life saving medicines to places like Liberia that need it the most.

The Medicine Box helps the day-to-day treatment of common ailments that plague babies and their mothers, children, and adults. The Box contains 18 essential medicines and medical supplies that are enough to respond to illnesses and injuries in a population of 1,000 people for a period of three months. The cost of the Medicine Box is $425. Learn how your church or community group can be involved in this life saving program by visiting UMCOR's Medicine Box web page.

Help them restore their stock of Medicine Boxes. Send your gift to UMCOR Advance #982630, Medicine Box.

Sager Brown needs help in shipping supplies
(UMCOR) All over the world there is an increasing demand for basic and essential supplies to be delivered to help those most in need. But without the means to ship supplies to their destination, they are of no use.

Medicines, food, hygiene kits, clothing, and soap can help meet the daily needs of survivors of a natural disaster, economic crisis, or conflict of war. Help the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) move these supplies to the people who need them most by helping them with the cost of shipping. It costs an estimated $6,700 to ship a 40-foot container of goods from Sager Brown, the United Methodist Relief Supply Depot, in Baldwin, La., to its final destination overseas.

UMCOR's Contain Your Joy Advance enables them to ship much needed supplies all over the world — but the fund is desperately low. Please give to Contain Your Joy, UMCOR Advance #982730.

'The Great Debaters' movie spotlights black colleges
(UMNS) Oscar winner Denzel Washington will donate $1 million to United Methodist-related Wiley College to reestablish its debate team. School officials announced the gift Dec. 17 - less than a week after the actor came to Marshall, Texas, for the Wiley College premiere of Washington's "The Greater Debaters."

The movie, opening Dec. 25 in U.S. theaters, is a fictionalized account of the remarkably successful 1935 debate team at Wiley College, a small United Methodist-related, historically black school in Marshall, Texas. The film is nominated for a Golden Globe Award for best motion picture drama. The story focuses on four young debaters and their mentor, Melvin Tolson, who taught at Wiley and coached the champion debate team. Washington directed the film and also stars as Tolson, a poet and author.

Despite his hectic schedule of interviews for the film, Washington looks relaxed and rested as he talks about the significance of black colleges for African Americans in the early 20th century.

"It was the first time they got an opportunity to get a college education," the actor says in an interview with United Methodist News Service. More>>

Church hymn-singing has evolved over centuries
(UMNS) When Charles Wesley began penning his more than 7,000 hymns back in the 18th century, hymn-singing was not part of the worship life of Anglican congregations. In fact, until 1821, hymn-singing was illegal in the Church of England. Wesley, remembered Dec. 18 on what would have been his 300th birthday, was creating something for the Anglican Church for which it had no use, according to church music scholar S T Kimbrough. "Hymn-singing was considered something that dissenters did," he said. In the early days of the Methodist movement, it was in small group meetings, called bands and classes, where Wesley's hymns were sung. More>>

Workshop aims to develop servants, not suckers
(UMNS) The woman looks lost and helpless. Tears run down her face. There she stands as you look up from your desk in the church's front office. She asks for money to buy food for her children. Or, a man approaches as you return to your car at the mall loaded with Christmas packages. "I lost my job, my car broke down. I need some money to get home," he says. "Any little bit you can spare would help." What do you do? Hand over a few dollars? If so, do you walk away feeling like you have just been "taken"? You are not alone, according to Beth Templeton, who has spent 25 years working with homeless and poor people. She offers a plan to help you be a servant instead of a sucker. More>>

Connection News in Korean
Click here.

Connection News in Spanish
Click here.

RESOURCES

New Music Copyright Developments for Churches
The music publishing and recording industry continues to prosecute illegal use of copyrighted music and videos in the courts, and there are fines being levied in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. This article discusses a new development that has implications for churches that make use of copyrighted and recorded music and videos in worship. Click here to read the article.

Worship Planning for a VERY Short Ordinary Time -- Year A, 2008
(GBOD) The Christian Calendar this year offers up the shortest Ordinary Time after Epiphany in our lifetimes. (March 22 - the very earliest date for Easter - will be reached again in 2285.) Epiphany has readings specified for its day, which is a Sunday this year. The following Sunday is Baptism of the Lord. And just three weeks from then is Transfiguration Sunday. That leaves only two weeks of actual Ordinary Time in which any sort of "continuous readings" are offered in the lectionary. More>>

Suggestions for Holy Week
(GBOD) Lent comes early with Ash Wednesday on February 6, which means there is an exceedingly short period for planning and preparing Holy Week and Easter services. There are numerous variations and services available, a number of them on the GBOD worship website. Here are some helpful links:

--Especially helpful for information on conducting and planning your own Tenebrae service is http://www.kencollins.com/how-05.htm
--Also see Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenebrae_(service)
--The UM Book of Worship has a full Tenebrae service at no. 354.
--One that is quite different may be found on the GBOD website by clicking here.
--There is another Holy Week service that could easily be adapted to a Tenebrae with the addition of candles for extinguishing. Click here.
--There is another that can be added to with music and other elements at http://www.worshipandchurchmusic.com/tenebrae.html.
--You might consider the exact opposite of the Advent candles for Lent, that is, a weekly extinguishing of candles on each of the Sundays in Lent. Here is a complete set of meditations and suggested liturgy to do this: http://www.gbod.org/worship/default.asp?act=reader&item_id=26091&loc_id=962,509 All of these services may be enriched by suitable music for choir, soloists, bells, or other instruments and, of course, congregation. Be sure to consider the difficulty in reading from a hymnal as the light diminishes, as well as the impact a projector and screen will have on the darkness.
--Other services for Lent and Holy week are available by clicking here.

New Resources from UMCOR
(UMCOR) Read about UMCOR Azerbaijan's Pharmaceutical Distribution Program in this new church bulletin insert. UMCOR is bringing hope to thousands of families like Layla Ismailova who was struggling to take care of her ailing elderly mother and young child. Read how UMCOR helped turn Layla and her family's life around for the better.

In UMCOR's New Report to Donors, learn how a brighter future is being secured for hundreds of refugees returning to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran. UMCOR supplied them with milk-bearing goats that are helping to supplement their income—enabling them to stand on their own feet again. Download the report today and learn more about what your generous contributions to UMCOR programs can do.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

All Upcoming Events
 -- Ministry Exploration Event - January 4-6
--Development Conference - January 9
--Columbus District Training Event - January 12
--Warmth in Winter with Ed Kilbourne - January 14-16
-- Macon District Lay Speaking Academy - January 25-26
-- Safe Sanctuaries Training - January 26
-- Peace Conference - January 31-February 2
-- Winter Camp Meeting - February 3-6
--Confirmation Retreat 1 - February 8-9
--Local Pastors' Licensing School - February 8-15
-- Day of Love and Justice at the Capital - February 11
-- Sexual Ethics Seminar - February 14
-- Safe Sanctuaries Training - February 16
--Confirmation Retreat 2 - February 29 - March 2
--Spouses Retreat - March 13-15
--UMW Spiritual Growth Retreat - March 28-30
-- UMM Spring Retreat - April 25-27
--Celebration Day for The Methodist Children's Home - April 26

Safe Sanctuaries Trainings
The following Safe Sanctuaries training dates have been set. Click here for more information on Safe Sanctuaries.
--Saturday, January 26, 2008 at Pittman Park UMC in Statesboro
--Saturday, February 16, 2008 at Waycross First UMC in Waycross