June 17, 2009
The first half of the Africa University Choir Tour of West Virginia has been a huge success! Watch a recording of them perform at Annual Conference, then find a tour date near you and go see them live. The Choir is touring to help raise $160,000 in West Virginia. The money will endow a scholarship and build faculty housing at Africa University, a United Methodist related university.
If you are looking for Annual Conference news, you can read all of the Daily Journals, a summary of the day’s events at Annual Conference, online. The Annual Conference Summary will be in mailboxes next week, in the meantime, feel free to use the online version for conference reports.
You can also go back and watch business and worship sessions online here.
For more information on 2009 Journals, Appointment List and Directory, visit the Conference Secretary’s page here.
June 16, 2009
Amendment Vote Tally
Posted by leh668 under Conference News | Tags: Africa University, Constitutional Amendments, Streaming Annual Conference, WV Annual Conference |Leave a Comment
The third and final Daily Journal is online here. It includes the vote tally for the 32 Constitutional Amendments, which you can find on page 3 of the paper.
The Altar at Wesley Chapel, Annual Conference 2009
Also, our first year of streaming Annual Conference was a hit. You can check out the archives of sessions online at ustreamtv. We had a few glitches in recording a few of the sessions that we’ll rectify next year. In the meantime all, Conference sessions are available for order by calling Mary Mayes in the AV Library: 304-344-8331, ext. 21.
Also, please show off the Africa University Choir to your friends and neighbors around the Conference. Their Saturday night concert is archived here.
The Au Choir singing at the Ministry Fair
June 2, 2009
Plans for the Africa University Choir Tour of WV are in full swing. The tour is also a fundraiser, with a goal of $160,000 dollars to be raised by the end of the year. The funds will be used for a student scholarship and for faculty housing on the campus, located near Mutare, Zimbabwe.
By now, you have probably seen the special edition of the WV United Methodist, which highlights the tour and provides information on how you can help. United Methodists are familiar with the choir – we know how good they are. And, there is a worthy cause supporting education in a place that needs it. We hope to see our churches and other venues yield good turnout.
But, also think of this tour as a great way to reach out to folks who do not go to church – for whatever reason. Let’s face it: there are plenty of folks in our communities who are cynical about Christianity. Recent Pew Poll numbers show the number of folks who call themselves ‘atheist or agnostic’ have doubled since the 1990s.
It’s a cynical world out there – but the choir tour is a chance for us to show that Christians do good in the world. So – tell your friends. Call your district office and grab some posters and/or flyers. Or download a one right here for your venue:
Suncrest UMC, Morgantown, June 15
Potomac State College/ June 16
Clay Center, Charleston/June 18
St. Paul’s UMC, Parkersburg/June 19
Johnson Memorial UMC, Huntington/June 20
Summer Youth Celebration, Buckhannon June 22
Chris Arveson in the southern district has also put together three bulletin inserts.
May 20, 2009
Check out the special Africa University Choir Edition of the WV United Methodist. It should be in mailboxes by the weekend. We’ll have more updates and tips for spreading the word up by the end of this week.
Choir Tour Dates
May 13, 2009
Rt. 97 in Pineville, WV on the morning of May 9. Photo by Rev. Melissa White
Flooding last week brought on by several days of rain devastated churches and communities across southern WV. The Conference Disaster Response Team is working closely with disaster coordinators from the Southern, Midland South and Western Districts to get assistance to those who have been impacted by high water and mud slides.
The front yard of Pineville UMC member Melinda Grant on May 9. Photo taken by Rev. Melissa White
The team is also calling for a special offering this Sunday, with monies raised directed toward flood relief in southern WV. Please designate them for “WV Floods” and send them to:
Conference Treasurer
P.O. Box 2469
Charleston, WV 25329
April 6, 2009
Front page story featuring Chaplain (Lt.Col.) Bruce Reed
The new issue of the West Virginia United Methodist is now up online. Hopefully, most of you are aware of the technical issues we have had over the past few weeks. There were several stories not included in the April issue for that reason. They will be included in next month’s paper.
In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the story on Chaplain Bruce Reed, along with Faith UMC’s Faith in Action story, and good pieces from Bishop Lyght, J.F. Lacaria, and more.
April 2, 2009
The next step nationally for the message of the United Methodist Church officially launches the first weekend in May. There are resources online for churches here.
The idea is for church to be a verb, rather than a noun. Something we do; not just a place we go on Sunday. We hope you’ll check it out!
April 1, 2009
This following statement from Dr. William H. Wilson, Director of Connectional Ministries and Assistant to the Bishop and Mr. James M. Berner, Director of Administrative Services and Conference Treasurer was issued earlier today (Wednesday, April 1, 2009):
On Thursday, March 26, the Conference Center experienced a data processing and Internet outage resulting in the loss of Internet connectivity, e-mail service, and data processing ability for the Connectional Ministries and Administrative Services staff. As of today, Wednesday April 1, those services have not been restored.
Work at the Center continues, but this issue has impacted the normal workflow and routine for the staff. If you sent something for placement in upcoming e-news publications or a prayer or death notice, we request that you send it again to the following alternate e-mail addresses of the Communications Team:
Additionally, we suggest you follow up via telephone with staff persons you may have been trying to reach over the past several days via e-mail. Complete contact information for all Conference staff is available through www.wvumc.org under the Navigation heading. Click on the ‘Administrative Services‘ and ‘Connectional Ministries‘ links for specific staff contact information.
We are working hard to resolve this issue and apologize for any inconvenience it may cause. We will issue follow-up statements as necessary and notify via this list immediately when full functionality returns.
March 17, 2009
If you are attending Annual Conference (June 11-14, 2009), check the special ‘Annual Conference’ page on this website for information and resources. By the way, the deadline for submitting reports in time to be placed in the pre-Conference workbook is this coming Friday, March 20.
Spring in West Virginia
Also, the Midland South School of Evangelism at Chief Logan State Park has extended the registration deadline through this Wednesday, March 18. Call the MS Office at 304-342-8843 to register.
Thursday will be the next publication of the E-news from the Conference Communications office. E-mail us ASAP if there’s something you’d like to see in it.
Remember, we are publishing the e-news twice per week, on Mondays and Thursdays.
