Vol. 5 • No. 7  
April 4, 2006
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In This Issue of The Link:
Feature Story
--As Easter draws near, are you prepared for visitors?
Conference News
--Annual Conference Agenda
--Online Registration for Summer Camps has begun
--Pictures of Female Clergy Still Needed
--Faith and Health Ministries Symposium...Still Time to Register!
--Mission Celebration Luncheon Set for May 20
--Dublin District Lay Speaking Courses--Basic and Advanced
--Discipleship...Now! Seminar
Connection News
--'Tell Kathy Jesus brought some food'
--Church Serves Hurricane Survivors through UMCOR
-- “Empowering Ministries of Health: Mobilize, Transform, Advocate”
--United Methodist panel addresses church property issues
Resources
--Easter Worship Experience Graphics Available for Purchase
--Site offers online resources for youth, young adult workers
Mark Your Calendar
--Upcoming Conference Events
--Summer Camps

FEATURE STORY

As Easter draws near, are you prepared for visitors?
You may find people in your pews on Easter Sunday who have never been there before. Are you prepared to welcome them with open hearts, open minds, open doors? Let them know of the joy of the Easter season and the wonderful Savior we serve. Just a reminder: make sure your Easter services and times are on your answering machine!


CONFERENCE NEWS

Annual Conference Agenda
The agenda for the 2006 Annual Conference Session can be downloaded by clicking here. Click here for other Annual Conference information.

Online Registration for Summer Camps has begun
Summer is just around the corner and with it brings summer camps! Online registration has begun for all camps (see dates below). Click here to register and to find out more details about camps. Brochures will be mailed out later this month.
MID HIGH CAMPS
Mid-High Mania 1: June 12-16
Mid-High Mania 2: June 19-23

10th - 12th GRADE RETREAT
In Focus Retreat: July 7-9
ELEMENTARY CAMPS
Elem. Camp 1: June 26-30
Elem. Camp 2: July 10-14
Elem. Camp 3: July 17-21

Pictures of Female Clergy Still Needed
In celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Full Clergy Rights for Women, the Connectional Ministries Office is in the process of producing a video to be shown at the 2006 Annual Conference. One of the aspects they would like to incorporate into the video is female clergy in the South Georgia Conference in ministry.  If you are a female clergy and have not yet sent in a picture, please do so by the end of this week. If you have any questions, please feel free to call Kelly Roberson at 888-266-7642.  You can send the pictures to kelly@sgaumc.com or mail them to P.O. Box 20408 / St. Simons Island, GA  31522.

 Faith and Health Ministries Symposium...Still Time to Register!
If you haven't already done so there is still time to register for the Faith and Health Ministries Symposium scheduled for April 22, 2006 at Mulberry Street United Methodist Church in Macon from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. The purpose of this event is to gather health professionals interested in serving as Health Ministers in their local congregations. The Faith and Health Ministries Symposium will challenge health professionals to help churches build on that understanding by reclaiming the healing and wholeness ministry of the church. A variety of models for organizing, educating, motivating, and advocating for holistic congregational and community health and welfare will be presented. Topics and speakers will include Parish Nurses, Lay Counselors, Lay Health Promoters and Stephens Ministries. To register call Brenda Iglehart Eddings at the Connectional Ministries Office, toll free 888-266-7642 or 912-638-8626.  The registration fee of $10 is payable at the door. Click here to download a flyer.

Mission Celebration Luncheon Set for May 20
The South Georgia Outreach Ministries Team and the Conference Secretary of Global Ministries request the honor of your presence at the third annual Mission Celebration Luncheon. The luncheon will be held on Saturday, May 20, 2006 at the Rumford Center on the campus of The Methodist Children's Home in Macon. It will begin at 11:00 a.m. The cost per person is $10.00 or $15.00 at the door. Click here to download the 2006 Mission Celebration Luncheon Invitation and RSVP card.

Dublin District Lay Speaking Courses--Basic and Advanced
The Dublin District will be holding Basic and Advanced Lay Speaking Courses May 5-6, 2006 at Gethsemane UMC in East Dublin, GA. These courses are intended for lay speaker certification and spiritual growth. All laity and clergy are invited to attend. Click here for more information and a registration form.

Discipleship...Now! Seminar
The Georgia Christian Council is sponsoring a seminar on May 4 entitled Discipleship...Now! The purpose of this seminar is to learn better how to be effective disciples in today's world by learning from the experiences of one another. A registration fee of $15 applies. 0.5 CEU's are available. Click here for a flyer and registration form. For questions, contact Rev. Leland Collins at 478-743-2085.

CONNECTION NEWS

'Tell Kathy Jesus brought some food'
(UMNS) Kathy Powers gets to her office at 7:15 every morning and waits for God to walk through the door.

"I am anxious to start work, knowing that at some point in the day, God is going to make his presence known to me, either through a volunteer that shows up unannounced or someone calling to help us fulfill a need that maybe we didn't even know we had yet," she says. "We do high fives around the office all day shouting, 'Wahoo! There he is again.'"

Powers is the volunteer coordinator for the Westbank storm station, one of six relief/recovery stations set up by the Louisiana Annual (regional) Conference after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the state in August and September 2005. More>>

Church Serves Hurricane Survivors through UMCOR
(UMCOR) All along Beach Drive, the highway that parallels the Gulf of Mexico from Pascagoula to Pass Christian, Miss., are signs painted by hurricane survivors: "Do not tear down." "This was our home." Lining the streets are huge piles of timbers, concrete, clothing and sails. One can still see cars pan-caked under a bridge, a derelict house atop a railroad siding, shrimp boats deposited hundreds of yards from water.

In the midst of this, the church is serving survivors. United Methodist donations enable the United Methodist Committee on Relief's (UMCOR) recovery work to be comprehensive for the next several years. Thousands of volunteers are removing some of the 50 million cubic feet of debris deposited by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, and have begun to rebuild in towns that are issuing building permits.

UMCOR partners from the affected annual conferences are finding and serving the elderly, people with disabilities, and others with special needs. Their work ensures that the most vulnerable have access to the services, aid, and benefits they need. Another sign along Beach Road conveyed a message of hope and recovery that UMCOR is delivering on behalf of the church: "We are blessed. Glenn alive." You can continue to assure that survivors feel alive and blessed through your gifts to UMCOR Advance #982523, Hurricanes 2005. If you have a team interested in serving in the still devastated areas, click here for contact information to set up a trip.

“Empowering Ministries of Health: Mobilize, Transform, Advocate”
(GBOD) Dr. Gary Gunderson will deliver the keynote address, “Boundary Leaders” at the General Board of Global Ministries Congregational Health Ministries Conference in Memphis, Oct. 8-11, 2006. His keynote speech will present concepts of boundary leadership and real-life lessons of how boundary leadership can be used to align faith and health assets and enhance the overall health of the community. Visit the GBGM website for more information.

United Methodist panel addresses church property issues
(UMNS) Do the property rights of a local congregation ever supersede the rights of the denomination? That is one of the questions U.S. civil courts are answering in the affirmative, and denominational questions related to property issues are on the rise. As a result - and in light of secular legal and regulatory changes - the United Methodist General Council on Finance and Administration has created a panel to work on challenges facing the denomination with regard to corporate, property and trust issues. Warren Plowden, chancellor of the South Georgia Annual Conference, has been chosen to serve on this panel. More>>
RESOURCES

Easter Worship Experience Graphics Available for Purchase
Lumicon is offering several Easter Worship Experience Graphics. Each of these worship experiences contains a PDF file with various resources for planning, three still graphics for your slide backgrounds, and an MPEG video clip (“A Promise Remembered” has several clip versions to choose from). Each experience costs $29.95, and the resources are completely downloadable the instant you complete your online purchase. Click here to preview and to get more information.

Site offers online resources for youth, young adult workers
(UMNS) Youth and young adult workers now have a place on the Internet to find United Methodist resources to help them in their ministry. The Resource Hub is an online database created by the Division on Ministries with Young People at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. It includes more than 500 resources gathered from the general agencies of the church, said the Rev. Micki McCorkle, director of leadership development with adults who work with young people. More>>

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Upcoming Conference Events
Keep up with what's going on in the South Georgia Conference!
 --Methodist Children's Home Celebration Day - April 8
--UMM Retreat - April 21-23
--Faith and Health Ministries Symposium - April 22
--Creating a Culture of Community - April 27
--Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century - April 28-30
--Moving Ministers' Workshops - May 16-18
--Mission Celebration Luncheon - May 20
--Annual Conference - June 4-7

Summer Camps
Click here for more information on summer camps or to register online.
--Mid-High Mania 1: June 12-16
--Mid-High Mania 2: June 19-23
--Elem. Camp 1: June 26-30
--In Focus Retreat: July 7-9
--Elem. Camp 2: July 10-14
--Elem. Camp 3: July 17-21