News

Guest Speaker for 2012 ACS Is Featured in Latest Edition of Interpreter

The guest speaker for the 2012 California-Nevada Annual Conference Session will be the Rev. Rudy Rasmus – who is featured in the November/December 2011 issue of Interpreter, the official ministry magazine of The United Methodist Church. The article, "A Season of Hope; Will We Sing with Mary," examines the concept of finding hope in tragedy, in hunger, and in homelessness during Advent.  "I am often trying to offer a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Don't...

Third Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner Planned at Valley Faith UMC, Sunnyvale

For the third straight year, Valley Faith United Methodist Church and San Jose Tongan Fellowship, both in Sunnyvale, have teamed up to provide a free Thanksgiving dinner for the community – complete with music, food, and fellowship. This year's dinner will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 23 from 3 to 9 p.m. The churches make a practice of reaching out to groups in the community – the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) of Northern California, the Filipino Workers...

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...

Native American Ministries Giving Down This Year: Help Make up Shortfall

Native American Ministries Sunday was celebrated this year on May 8, but you may give to Native American Ministries at any time of the year! And in fact, this may be the year for extra giving. Elsie Cunningham, Director of Marketing for Native American Ministries Sunday, writes: "As I look at the financial giving reports that I received from the General Counsel on Finance and Administration, it is evident that giving in several Conferences is down significantly. In the past two...

UMAC Keynote Speaker Is Featured in Powerful UMNS Story

The keynote speaker at the 2011 annual meeting of the United Methodist Association of Communicators (UMAC) will be the Rev. Lorenza Andrade-Smith, a UM pastor who has taken a vow of poverty in order to live among the homeless for three years. When her bishop appointed her to lead a ministry to the poor and marginalized, Andrade-Smith took a leave of absence from her church and Conference duties and renounced her salary and all her possessions, including her home and car.   In a...

Faith Leaders Arrested in Capitol Rotunda Protest

Interfaith Coalition protests Administration, Congressional plan to balance the budget by placing an undue burden on the nation's most vulnerable.  Jim Winkler, chief executive of the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) of The United Methodist Church, was among those arrested yesterday (Thursday, July 28, 2011) inside the U.S. Capitol Building, as they protested threatened budget cuts they say would "balance the budget on the backs of the poor." Winkler was a part of an...

'Circles' Breaks the Poverty Cycle

Could you survive in poverty? How would you do it? If you are attending the Annual Conference Session in June, you will have an opportunity to explore these questions as well as to learn about a valuable resource for "walking with" the poor in an effective journey out of poverty. With the sponsorship of the Conference Committee on Children and Poverty, the Circle of Support small group at First United Methodist Church in Carson City, Nevada will make a presentation on Friday (June 17)...

Engage in Ministry With the Poor for Lent

Registration deadline is March 19 for "'Word on the Street': Radical Hospitality with the Homeless" workshop. In his new article, "Lent Is 'a Very Good Place to Be,'" Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr. recommends an upcoming workshop as an "excellent" activity for Lent, for those in the Sacramento area.   "'Word on the Street': Radical Hospitality with the Homeless" will take place on Thursday, March 24, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at Sacramento's First United...

'Stations of the Poor A Prayer Pilgrimage': A Special Easter Weekend Event

A rare reflective opportunity for Easter Weekend is being offered in downtown Sacramento, by Side-By-Side Ministries With the Homeless. "Stations of the Poor – A Prayer Pilgrimage" is modeled on the traditional Stations of the Cross service, which takes participants on a symbolic journey with Jesus through His final hours. Stations of the Poor is a real journey, going from place to place in the Loaves & Fishes area where homeless persons find services.   It is a...

A Story Needing to Be Told

By Chaplain Sarge Wright John Taylor, now a retired United Methodist minister living near Shingle Springs, California, has been a longtime friend and colleague. He has a zest for living and an intense life mission that has been both interesting and productive.   John was introduced to Heifer Project International by the Rev. Bill Beck in 1970. His first service opportunity was to deliver pregnant cows to Korea in 1971. This experience introduced John emotionally to HPI, but also led...

Is Your Church 'Walking With the Poor'? Add to ACS Display

The Conference Committee on Children and Poverty invites you to prepare a visual display (one per church) exhibiting the ways your congregation is walking with the poor. It will become part of a larger display at Annual Conference Session. Each year CCCP looks for ways to highlight the work of congregations which are effectively walking with the poor – something which goes beyond writing checks or sending kits (though these are important), and extends to working in partnership with the...

Congregations - Help Illustrate Your Work With Poor, for Display at ACS

Each year at Annual Conference Session, the Conference Committee on Children and Poverty looks for ways to highlight the work of congregations which are effectively walking with the poor. Beyond writing checks or sending kits (which also are important), walking with the poor means working in partnership with the poor in your area to build the Beloved Community. This year, CCCP invites you and your congregation to prepare a visual display (one per church) exhibiting the ways your congregation...

Cal-Nev Churches Fight Diseases of Poverty Through Health Kits for Haiti

It's another example of Ministry in Action. Pioneer United Methodist Church in Auburn packed 1,000 health kits for Haiti in one hour on March 20 – then sent them to the UMCOR West Depot in Salt Lake City, in a shipment that also contained kits from Grass Valley, Napa, Lincoln, Carson City, Sparks, and Lake Tahoe churches in the California-Nevada Annual Conference. Campbell UMC has undertaken the mission of collecting 1,000 health kits for Haiti, as well!   See the Ministry in...

Healthcare Bill's Passage Called 'Huge Step' Toward Affirming UM Social Principles

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The chief executive of the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) says the U.S. House of Representatives took a "huge step" toward affirming the denomination's Social Principles when it passed health-insurance reform legislation on March 21. Jim Winkler says the House action affirms the United Methodist Social Principles that declares health care is "a basic human right."   The House passed the U.S. Senate version...

Leader Chosen for 'Healthy Families, Healthy Planet' Initiative

10 United Methodist annual conferences to work with General Boards of Church and Society and Global Ministries in international family-planning project. WASHINGTON, D.C. - Katey Zeh, a native Georgian, has been hired by the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) as the part-time consultant for "Healthy Families, Healthy Planet." She will serve as educator, advocate, and organizer for the initiative, which is a year-long effort to build a strong constituency of...

Christmas Eve Broadcast Is First Planned for UMC Radio in Côte d'Ivoire

United Methodist Church radio in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa will broadcast for the first time on Christmas Eve 2009 - amplifying hope in a country still healing from a recent civil war. Through December 11, you may leave an inspirational quote, Scripture, testimony of God's grace, or another positive message for playback on air. Visit AmplifyHope.org for information on how to leave your message of hope and to learn more about the radio initiative. ...

Church Launches Advent Ad Campaign

Nov. 24, 2009 | NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) What if you went shopping for hope instead of giving in to hype this Christmas?   How much difference could you make in the world?   The United Methodist Church encouraged people to think "outside the gift box" to make Christmas more about substance and less about stuff as it launched its Advent advertising campaign airing on CNN Headline News Nov. 24-Dec. 27.   The Rethink Church commercial features a homeless woman...

Shoreview UMC Joins San Mateo Neighborhood in Feeding Program

By Bruce Pettit CA-NV Annual Conference Communications Commission Shoreview, a neighborhood on San Francisco Bay in the city of San Mateo, wondered a few years ago whether the United Methodist Church was a good neighbor. Shoreview UMC's congregants are primarily Tongan and Samoan. Members had brought to the area some traditions from their home countries - such as outdoor pig-roastings, and unsupervised children at play - and neighbors were complaining about such things as odors, noise, and...

Take GBOD Online Survey on Effect of Economic Crisis

The General Board of Discipleship wants to know how the current global economic crisis is affecting practices of worship across The United Methodist Church. In particular, the board is trying to learn how the crisis affects staffing, programming, and the purchase and use of resources by local congregations, Annual Conferences, campus ministries, and other faith communities within the denomination that gather for worship.   To this end, GBOD is conducting a research survey - the findings...

The Making of Staging a Miracle - the Video

A four-minute video about the making of the 2009 Staging a Miracle production, A Hand out for Hope, at First United Methodist Church of Sacramento, has been uploaded to the website of the California-Nevada Annual Conference.   Just click on REEL Witness under "Quick Links" on the upper left side of the Home Page at cnumc.org and look for "The Making of Staging a Miracle."   The production had three performances on Saturday, August 8 and there was an encore performance during...