News

Online Registration Opens for 2012 Summer Camps

Registration is open now for this year's summer camps at Monte Toyon, Lodestar, and the Urban Camp in San Francisco. Click on the Registrations tab on the Home Page of the Conference website at www.cnumc.org and select "Youth Event Registrations," or visit the Camping section of the website (www.cnumc.org/camping) to register and to access: Online child and youth camp registration Online volunteer registration Camp formsBrochures Maps Everything else you...

AGAPE Adds FUMC Santa Rosa on March 4 to Cal-Nevada Tour

Christian hip-hop artist AGAPE (Uh-Gah-Pay) has added First United Methodist Church of Santa Rosa to his California-Nevada Annual Conference tour. In addition to his performance Saturday, March 3 at St. Paul's UMC in Manteca and an appearance during worship at The Table in Sacramento, he will perform at FUMC Santa Rosa's Stony Point Ministry Center on Sunday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m.   Doors open at 7:00. Stony Point Ministry Center is located at, 2150 Giffen Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA...

'LIMITLESS: Redefine Tomorrow' Event Is for Young Women of Faith

Registration Deadline Is Feb. 22 By Connie Hunter Chair, California-Nevada UMW   August 2-5, 2012, the United Methodist Women (UMW) is sponsoring a national gathering of young women at Duke University. The event will equip young women of faith to transcend barriers and to do justice in their communities by putting faith, hope, and love into action.   The weekend will include worship and Bible study, workshops and labs, and opportunities to engage in community service (justice...

Youth 2011 Hip-hop Artist 'Agape' Brings Concert to Manteca in March

High-energy hip-hop performances that inspire the audience. Authentic faith stories that touch each listener's mind and soul. Relationship building with youth that reflects the unconditional love of God. That's what AGAPE will bring to St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Manteca, California on Saturday, March 3!   Agape (Dave Scherer) is a hip-hop artist who electrified audiences at the Youth 2011 events last summer with his dancing, rap, and storytelling that combines to spread...

Sponsor a Young Man or Woman for Chrysalis Flights at Atwater UMC

Consider sponsoring a young man or woman for the Chrysalis flights being held at Atwater United Methodist Church on the following dates: Girl's Flight – February 23-26 Boy's Flight – March 8-11 Chrysalis is the youth version of the Walk to Emmaus – a program which helps Christian youth – young men and young women – learn more about themselves and their relationship with God. Chrysalis also helps youth become leaders in their churches and...

Register Now for Fifth Annual Youth Workers' Retreat

Take a break – refresh, refuel, and re-connect. All youth workers are invited to spend a weekend in retreat and conversation with other youth workers from the Conference, at the fifth annual Youth Workers' Retreat at the Valley of the Moon Camp in Glen Ellen, California, March 23-24, 2012.   Guest Speaker Gavin Richardson is a fellow youth worker from Hendersonville, Tennessee, who is considered an innovator in ministry with youth and the church. He is a writer, community...

2012 Bishop's Confirmation Retreat Registration Opens

Registration has opened for the 2012 Bishop's Confirmation Retreats – scheduled March 9-10 at Monte Toyon and May 18-19 at Camp Lodestar. Each retreat is an opportunity for confirmation candidates to engage in a high-energy, hands-on event through worship, workshops, and fellowship with Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr. (resident bishop of the California-Nevada Annual Conference), workshop leaders, and other United Methodist youth. This can be a faith-deepening experience before, during, or...

SSP Offers Four Winter 'Weekend of Service' Project Opportunities

Sierra Service Project (SSP) is offering four "Weekend of Service" projects to churches throughout northern California this winter. Like the summer projects, the weekend sessions combine Christian fellowship with challenging renovation service opportunities to provide an intense, fun, and unforgettable experience for youth and young adults from all denominations. The Sacramento Weekend of Service projects run from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon – making them ideal for youth...

Plan Now for March Youth Workers' Retreat

If you're a pastor or worker with youth, please mark March 23 and 24, 2012 on your calendar: Those are the dates for the Conference's annual Youth Workers' Retreat, taking place in Glen Ellen, California. This event is FREE and sponsored by the office of Young People's Ministries.  In 2012, guest facilitator at the retreat will be Gavin Richardson, a fellow youth worker who is considered an innovator in ministry with youth and the church. Richardson is a writer, community builder, social...

GBHEM Awards Loans and Scholarships to 40 Cal-Nev Students

GBHEM's Office of Loans and Scholarships will be awarding more than 2,600 students a total of $5.3 million in award money for 2011 – including nearly $75,000 distributed among 40 students in the California-Nevada Annual Conference. Pastors received certificates for their congregants to acknowledge these recipients on Student Day, November 27, 2011.   Overall, of those awarded, nearly 2,300 were under the age of 35, and more than 500 are enrolled in seminary pursuing a Masters of...

Sacramento-Area Youth Event Has Successful Launch

By Hulita Destiny Fakalata Y.A. at Tongan United Methodist Fellowship, Sacramento And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25)   On November 19, youth and young adults from Sacramento area churches gathered together at Sacramento Japanese United Methodist Church for a common purpose: community and the word...

Speakers Urge Exploration Participants to Take God's Word to Their Generation

By Vicki Brown* Speaker after speaker told young adults attending Exploration 2011 that The United Methodist Church needs them to carry God's word to their own generation – and speaker after speaker assured them that God will equip and support those who accept that call.   The Rev. Shalom Agtarap, the 28-year-old pastor of Ellensburg First United Methodist Church in Washington State, told the 650 people attending the national event in St. Louis, Missouri, that she had been where...

Technology and Social Media Add Layers to Exploration 2011

By Vicki Brown* Blogging, tweeting, and QR codes added new levels of connection to an event for young adults considering God's call to ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church, allowing instant connections and real-time discussions about sermons, workshops, and small groups.   The Rev. Emily Oliver, associate director of the Center for Clergy Excellence, Florida Annual Conference, took a group of 35 college students and seminarians to Exploration 2011. She said Twitter allowed...

Greater Sacramento Youth Event Is Planned for Nov. 19

Inspired by Youth 2011 (in photo), the Pentecost Circuit of Sacramento wants to keep the energy going for youth – so everyone got together and decided to start Youth Worship for the Greater Sacramento area. "We want to create the energy we saw from Youth 2011!" enthuses the Rev. Motoe Yamada, pastor of Japanese United Methodist Church in Sacramento and one of the featured speakers at the July youth event. The first Youth Worship will take place at Japanese UMC on...

Western Jurisdiction UMVIM Mission Strategy

By Phil Bandy Interim Director, CA-NV UMVIM Office The Western Jurisdiction has developed a United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) strategy. It includes: offering more local projects; urban ministry projects; and projects specifically for youth.  In recognition of the power that risk-taking mission brings to congregations, UMVIM is creating a series of projects that offer to double the impact. Focusing the UMVIM experience on our own congregations offers the...

Youth Workers: Sign up for FREE Subscription

Young People's Ministries of the General Board of Discipleship has an exciting offer for you! Young People's Ministries recently developed a relationship with Immerse: A Journal of Faith, Life and Youth Ministry. Because of this, you're entitled to one free year of the Immerse Journal, simply for being United Methodist. Pretty cool!   Simply click the link below and fill out the form in order to receive your free one-year subscription, which will run from January to...

Pasasalamat 2011 Has Youthful Focus

Each year on the weekend before Thanksgiving, the Filipino American Ministries (FAM) of the California-Nevada Annual Conference hosts a Conference-wide gathering called Pasasalamat – a Filipino word which means "thanksgiving." This year's Pasasalamat is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 19 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Los Gatos United Methodist Church. The focus will be on young people, with a celebration of the 25-Year Anniversary of Christmas Institute (CI).   Christmas...

Cal-Nev's Young People: Abundantly Blessed This Summer!

By Kelly Newell Director, Camping & Young People's Ministries Fall is in the air and our sights are on the new ministry year with our young people. But I am going into the new season slowly, as I am still enjoying and thanking God for the many blessings that summer brought to our young people.   Our summer camp programs served almost 300 young people at our beautiful sites, where through small groups, worship, recreation, arts and crafts, fellowship, and (of course!) s’mores...

Youth Group Co-Sponsors Poverty Simulation in November

"Empathy is learned from stepping into someone else's shoes. Again, again, and again. Empathy enables us to see Jesus in everyone we meet." That concept is at the heart of a Poverty Simulation, hosted by "Step Up Silicon Valley" and sponsored by the Willow Glen United Methodist Church and the Joint Youth Group, Saturday, Nov. 5 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the church.   This unique event enables participants to view poverty from different angles in an experiential...

Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church

VENTURA, Calif. (UMNS)—More than half of active churchgoers disconnect from the church by age 15, according to a new study by the Barna Group, a research company that focuses on the intersection of faith and culture. The study, part of a five-year project to learn why young adults leave church, compiled research from eight national studies and interviews with young adults, parents, and pastors. The research revealed six main reasons why almost 60 percent of young people disconnect from...