Vol. 4 • No. 15 
May 26, 2005
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Conference worship service will look at young adult ministry
Make plans to attend the Conference Worship Service on Tuesday night, June 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Macon Coliseum. "Our Finest Hour" will provide you with an inside look at ways to reach 18-35 year olds by allowing you to experience worship elements that appeal to young adults. Joe Peabody, Jr., a clergy member of the North Georgia Conference with a heart for young adult ministry, will be the featured speaker.  The praise band from Harvest UMC in Warner Robins will lead the music.  A special offering will be taken up to support Wesley Glen Ministries. If you have young adults in your church encourage them to come and be a part of the service.

Honor the fathers in your life with a gift to Wesley Glen
For the first time Wesley Glen Day will be celebrated on Father's Day, June 19. Father's Day reminds us of our fathers and grandfathers, and it also reminds us of our heavenly Father who takes care of us all. Honor the fathers in your life with a gift to Wesley Glen. Wesley Glen provides a loving, supportive, Christian environment to adults with mental disabilities, those who are developmentally disabled, and those with mental retardation. Some have no family, some have literally no place else to live, some would be on the streets because of lack of resources. Wesley Glen depends on your love, support and prayers as they seek to serve and minister to adults with disabilities. Remember to celebrate Wesley Glen Day on June 19.

Youth Leadership Academy 2005
July 8-10, 2005
Epworth By The Sea
For those entering 10th grade to entering college freshman
Counselors provided
Cost: Free
Click here for an application

The purpose of the Youth Leadership Academy is to call forth and train the younger generation of lay leadership for service in the Church. All youth interested in developing leadership skills, being equipped for service, and desiring a time of spiritual formation will enjoy this weekend at Epworth By The Sea on July 8-10, 2005.  Youth who are feeling God's call to a life in full-time ministry, or those seeking to serve God in all capacities inside as well as outside the church, will benefit from the Youth Leadership Academy. The weekend will include worship, informative workshops, a chance to build new friendships, and time to play together! Each participant must have the approval of his/her pastor.  Age is limited to those entering 10th grade through those entering their first year of college.  Counselors will be provided by our Summer Leadership Team. Space is limited to 40 participants.  Due to the importance of this event, the cost of the Academy is being covered by the South Georgia Conference. The Youth Leadership Academy begins on Friday, July 8th at 5pm with check-in at the Brown Center Auditorium and ends with lunch on Sunday, July 10th at 12 noon. 

The Connection at Work
When the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) put out an urgent call for health kits for their new operations in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, South Georgia United Methodists responded.

On May 31, over 600 health kits packed by South Georgia United Methodists will be delivered to the UMCOR Sager Brown Depot in Baldwin, Louisiana. The depot serves as the hub for receiving, preparing, holding and shipping material resources used in response to human suffering throughout the nation and the world.

The Rev. Wayne MacDonald, pastor of Twin City UMC, and his wife, Peggy MacDonald, will leave Sunday, May 29 to deliver the health kits. The MacDonald's, along with Luther Bell, Twin City UMC lay leader, have been making the rounds and loading up their church van in preparation.

Their first stop was at Statesboro First UMC where 60 health kits had been assembled. The MacDonald's next stop was to the Connectional Ministries Office on St. Simons Island where over 470 health kits were loaded. These kits, along with $700, were donated by churches in the Waycross District and collected at the Waycross District Mission Day in February. Last to be packed on the church van was the 100 health kits put together by members of the MacDonald's own church, Twin City UMC.

"I called one or two people looking for someone to help us deliver the kits to Sager Brown,” said the Rev. Brenda Iglehart Eddings, Conference Secretary of Global Ministries. “Within days Wayne called and volunteered to pick up and deliver them. This is a wonderful example of how the ‘grapevine' we call ‘The Connection' works!"

UMCOR still lists health kits at the top of their wish list. If you or your church would like to help, let a cash gift "say it for you" by giving to UMC OR Advance #901440, Material Resource Ministry, "Health Kits” or to assemble health kits, visit UMCOR's website for specifications and shipping information.

St. Marys UMC Foundation, Inc. Announces Spring 2005 Grants
The Board of Directors of the St. Marys United Methodist Church Foundation, Inc. has announced it will be awarding $889,000 in grants during the Spring 2005 Grant Cycle. Grants will be distributed during the week of June 6, 2005. To see a list of non-profit organizations receiving grants, click here.

Sale of books will benefit Wesley Glen, Methodist Children's Home
The Rev. W. Hamp Watson, Jr. has edited and written two books that benefit South Georgia Conference Ministries. His new book, "More Big Words for Our Time--A Gift for the Grieving," benefits Wesley Glen, a network of group homes sponsored by the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church for adults with disabilities. This book contains six more messages from Frederick Wilson and ten messages from Watson. Watson's friends, Frederick's friends and friends of Wesley Glen have financed all the printing and production costs so that every penny of sales will benefit Wesley Glen. W atson's first book, "Frederick Wilson Still Speaks - Big Words for Our Time," which netted more than $20,000 for The Methodist Home for Children and Youth, is still available. Both books will be available in the Cokesbury Book Store at Annual Conference. For more information, contact Rev. Watson at 478-475-1763 or whwatson2@cox.net.

United Methodists to join June 6 hunger convocation
(UMNS) More than 40 top religious leaders will gather June 6 at Washington's National Cathedral in a show of force against hunger. The first Interfaith Convocation on Hunger, set for 7 p.m., is an event “unprecedented in U.S. religious history,” according to the Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, because of the diversity and level of responsibility of the religious leaders involved. Together, those leaders represent more than 100 million Americans, he added.

United Methodist leaders participating in the program are Jim Winkler, chief executive, of the denomination's Board of Church and Society; the Rev. R. Randy Day, chief executive, Board of Global Ministries; Jan Love, chief executive, Women's Division, Board of Global Ministries; the Rev. Robert Edgar, chief executive, National Council of Churches; and the Rev. John McCullough, chief executive, Church World Service. More>>

United Methodists sign letter to president of Darfur
(UMNS) United Methodists are among the signers of an open letter to President Bush on Darfur, asking for specific steps to stop genocide in the Sudan. The letter, signed by representatives of 80 national organizations, was released during a May 24 press briefing by Africa Action. Salih Booker, executive director of Africa Action, noted that President Bush has recognized the issue of genocide but that the need for immediate action remains.

Terrorists' attacks proved defining moment for Class of 2005
(UMNS) Weeks-sometimes just days-into their college career, the freshman class of 2001 focused on choosing a major, adjusting to roommates, making new friends. Then terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.

"We went from worrying about what is my life going to be like for the rest of my life to what is the world going to be like for the rest of my life," says Thomas Martin, a 22-year-old Birmingham (Ala.)-Southern College student who graduated this month. He plans to attend Duke University Divinity School in Durham, N.C., to become a United Methodist minister.

Martin and many other 2001 freshmen at the 124 United Methodist-related schools, colleges and universities are heading into the world for jobs or graduate school this year. Many say the defining moment of the attacks early in their college careers made them more political, gave them a more global outlook and created an immediate intimacy with their fellow students and professors that lasted through graduation. More>>

Connectional Table explores church relationships
(UMNS) The group responsible for developing and interpreting a global vision for the United Methodist Church spent its second meeting reviewing its relationship with bishops, annual conferences and churchwide agencies. The 60-member Connectional Table, meeting May 17-19 in Chicago, affirmed the collaborative efforts of agencies in programming and ministry in the 2005-08 quadrennium. More>>

Hurricane Adrian Leaves its Mark
(UMCOR) Hurricane Adrian rolled through El Salvador and Honduras late last week. This marks an early start to the 2005 hurricane season and the first Pacific hurricane to strike El Salvador. The storm made landfall with 75 mph winds and sustained damage to some houses in both countries, with most people able to return to their homes. Additional flooding from the storm occurred in Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Online Registration Available for Summer Camps!