News

Appointments List Now on Line!

The 2010 Appointments list is available now to view or download from the Conference website. The "Appointments" link, the third item under "Quick Links" on the right side of the Home Page at www.cnumc.org, has been re-directed from the midyear appointments listings to a new Appointments page, where the 2010 list has been uploaded in several ways: in its entirety – including appointments for all districts – and as a series of by-district lists: each...

Churches Challenged to Raise Hunger Awareness, Take Action to End Hunger

September is National Hunger Action Month Hunger is a year-in, year-out problem. But during September hunger advocates, agencies, and alliances across the country work together to focus attention on the issue of hunger in America.    Make no mistake – there is hunger in this, the wealthiest nation on the planet! Some 49 million Americans now live with food insecurity – the situation in which one never knows from day to day if they will have enough food for their...

Last Chance: Less Than Two Weeks Remains to Sign up for CLayM (DVD Study)

Get in on the ground floor as the Conference Lay Minister (CLayM) program expands to enable at-home study. The first cycle of CLayM@Home is scheduled to get underway by September 1st - so register now! The new CLayM@Home alternative allows participants to study largely on line or by DVD, making the training easier to accomplish for those with fulltime jobs or other constraints.   Applications are being accepted now – both for the traditional program hosted at the United Methodist...

Disciple Online Groups Forming

Groups are beginning to take shape for the second year of online Disciple Bible Study, dubbed Disciple Online. Enrollment is open at www.BeADisciple.com/discipleonlinecourses for individuals who wish to participate in Disciple I, Disciple II, and Youth Disciple in an online format, taking part with others from around and outside this country.  Participants follow the standard Disciple format: Study the Bible on their own during the week, then meet with their group members at a set...

Transformational Leadership Course Being Offered in Great Northern District in October

Transformational leadership is the art of developing teams of leaders who are fully alive in God. Would you like that to describe your leadership style? Sign up for a two-weekend course in Transformational Leadership for Clergy and Laity, to be taught in October by Anne Dilenschneider, D.Min., at Fortuna United Methodist Church in beautiful Humboldt County, California (within the Great Northern District). Sessions will be Friday-Saturday, October 15-16 and 29-30. (Friday times are 7-10 p.m....

Materials Available on Web Will Help Boards of Ordained Ministry, District Committees

By Vicki Brown* A variety of resources for those who work with candidates for ordained ministry are now available on the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry's website.   "We wanted to make training materials and other resources easily accessible in a variety of formats," said the Rev. Sharon Rubey, GBHEM's director of Candidacy and Conference Relations. "Also, using the website rather than printing the materials means we can quickly post new materials as...

Churches Struggle to Stay Connected to College Students

By Renee Elder* Congregations routinely celebrate college-bound youth with farewell gifts, and parties featuring slideshows of preschool Christmas pageants, high school mission trips, and almost everything in between. But youth leaders and pastors who want to extend the relationship into the months and years ahead often struggle to find the right approach.   "It's hard," says Carol Ellis, director of Youth and Children's Ministries at Main Street United Methodist Church in...

Sign up for September Church Transformation Leadership Institute in Missouri

Churches are dying all over the country. Have you seen this happen? Is there anything sadder than seeing a church slowly dying for years and then having to close its doors for good? If you've experienced this first hand or seen it happen in your area, you undoubtedly realize that unless our shrinking churches transform now into growing, vibrant congregations, we will see more of them die on our watch. But how? Are you searching for a comprehensive process?   If so, sign up to...

Clergy Sexual Boundary Training: Dates Added in September, February, May

Are gifts from parishioners really gifts? Can pastors be friends with parishioners? What about that $500 check at Christmas from a parishioner – should the pastor accept it? What about going to a doctor who is your parishioner? Sexual Ethics Training isn't just about the obvious! Join your colleagues and explore the many dilemmas pastors, church staff, congregational leaders, and parishioners face in their relationship with each other. Dates have been added in September, February, and...

October Worship Design Studio Retreat at Lake Tahoe Is Open for Registration

You're invited to spend three days on the shores of Lake Tahoe, in the company of people who are passionate about planning meaningful and memorable worship – to be guided by Dr. Marcia McFee! Over the course of the October 24-37 Worship Design Studio Retreat, you'll move through the seasons of the liturgical year, and be steeped in music, visuals, texts, ideas, and inspiration – so that by the time you leave, you'll have thematic plans for the entire 2010-2011 year!   Online...

Attend Free Screening of Powerful, Award-Winning Film

Side-By-Side Ministries invites you to attend a free showing of an award-winning film, Lost in Woonsocket, on Tuesday, September 7 in Sacramento. There will be two showings, with an opportunity after each to meet a key figure in the film. Lost in Woonsocket introduces viewers to Normand Cartier. Living in a tent in the woods, suffering from addiction and estranged from his family for more than 13 years, Cartier had all but given up hope of recovery. The film crew from the award winning A&E...

September is National Alcohol & Drug Addiction Recovery Month

Theme is 'Join the Voices for Recovery: Now More Than Ever!' WASHINGTON, D.C. | September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month – an observance that marks its 21st year. The 2010 theme is, "Join the Voices for Recovery: Now More Than Ever!"                                      &nbs...

United Methodist Afghan Expert Killed in Early-August Massacre

By Elliott Wright New York, NY | A United Methodist layman who devoted his life to the people of Afghanistan was among the 10 persons killed on August 6 as the group returned to the city of Kabul from an eye care camp in a remote northeast part of the country.   Daniel Terry, 64, had been in Afghanistan for 40 years, more than 30 of those under the auspices of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries. He and his wife, Seija, raised their three girls there and called...

Bishop Dew Memorial Service Video Uploaded to 'REEL Witness'

A video of the Saturday, August 7 memorial service for retired United Methodist Bishop William W. ("Bill") Dew, Jr. of Elk Grove has been uploaded to "REEL Witness," the online video library of the California-Nevada Annual Conference. Click here to play the Bishop Dew memorial service video (runs 80 minutes).   We invite you to visit REEL Witness frequently to play this and other videos of interest. Navigate to REEL Witness from the Home Page of the Conference...

Don't Miss Adam Hamilton Webinar on August 26

Be sure to sign up for a free webinar on Thursday, August 26 from 8 to 10 a.m., Pacific time, with the Rev. Adam Hamilton, founding and senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas – one of the fastest growing, most influential mainline Protestant churches in the country. Since its founding in 1990, the Church of the Resurrection has seen its adult membership grow from four people to 13,000.   Adam Hamilton will be guest speaker at the 2011...

August Webinars: Human Trafficking, 'The Land Between,' UM Pastor Adam Hamilton

When Christine Caine, on a mission trip, met with victims of human trafficking, one young woman screamed at her, "If what you say about God loving me and wanting to rescue me is true – then why didn't you come sooner?" "Why didn't I?" Caine wondered in horror. She realized that none of the things that had kept her from "coming sooner" had been more important than helping these young victims.   After crying and begging forgiveness, Caine – a...

Ruling Intensifies Debate on Homosexuality

A UMNS Report By Heather Hahn A federal court's rejection of California's same-sex marriage ban is receiving condemnation and praise from United Methodists. One thing both sides agree on: The ruling only adds to the longtime debate on how the church ministers to gays and lesbians.   "It certainly won't mitigate the tension," said the Rev. Norman Carter, a retired Arkansas pastor and member of the Confessing Movement, an unofficial United Methodist group that views...

Bishop Brown Quoted in Sac Bee Story on Immigration Reform

A July 18 story in The Sacramento Bee quotes Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr., resident bishop for the California-Nevada Annual Conference (region) of The United Methodist Church, on the topic of immigration reform. The story "Broad Coalition of Faith Leaders Urges Immigration Reform," by Jennifer Garza, reports that faith leaders are speaking up on the issue "From their pulpits to TV talk shows." The call for immigration reform, Garza writes, has come from a variety of faith...

PSR Applauds Federal Decision Striking Down Proposition 8

BERKELEY, California - Pacific School of Religion and its Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry are applauding the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker, announced this afternoon, that California's ban on same-sex marriage violates the United States Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law. The decision, along with Judge Joseph L. Tauro's July 8, 2010 ruling in Massachusetts that the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is...

Extrum-Fernandez to Head Board of Pensions

OAKLAND, California—The California-Nevada Annual Conference Board of Pensions has announced the election of Paul Extrum-Fernandez to the position of Executive Secretary (Conference Benefits Officer), effective August 1, 2010. The appointment follows the July 9 announcement of Grady Knowles' retirement. After 31 years of service, Knowles stepped down as Executive Secretary on July 31, but will continue on the staff of the Board as a consultant over the next several months, to assist in...