News

Clergy Pictorial Directory

Calling all clergy (active and retired)! Pre-register online now to have your photo taken for the pictorial directory at Annual Conference Session. In addition, we encourage clergy spouses, Conference and district lay leaders, Conference committee and commission chairs, and Conference staff to have their photo taken. The photos will be uploaded to the CA-NV Annual Conference website's online directories and used in news articles as needed.   Lifetouch will be set-up, for your...

Cambodian Leadership Development Training in the Cal Nevada Annual Conference

  Elk Grove, Calif.--On May 11, seventy United Methodist Cambodian laity and pastors gathered at Point Pleasant United Methodist Church in Elk Grove for a Leadership Development Training. The training was sponsored and organized by Lake Park United Methodist Church. The funding was provided by a grant from the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM). The purpose of the Cambodian Leadership Development training was to strengthen and empower the Cambodian Churches and its members. The...

Pick-up Choir at Annual Conference

There will be a pick-up choir at the 2013 Annual Conference Session. The choir will sing during the ordination service on Saturday. They are recruiting singers with the ability to read music or learn music quickly. There will be a few practices during the session. All persons are invited. For questions or interest, contact Gayle Basten at pgwumc@wmca.net. ...

Oklahoma Conference Asks Collaborative Response

OKLAHOMA CITY (UMNS) —"I know you are seeing and hearing news reports about the devastation and want to assist. … Do not self-deploy. Best practices in times of crises call for a collaborative response, so people who can help are directed to where that help and those skills are most needed and will be most effective," wrote the Rev. Richard Norman, disaster response coordinator for the Oklahoma Conference. The confirmed death toll was at 51 with hundreds injured after a...

UMCOR Relief Supplies Needed

NEW YORK (UMNS) — The United Methodist Committee on Relief, the denomination's disaster response agency, has urgent need for relief supplies. UMCOR Sager Brown in Baldwin, La., and UMCOR West in Salt Lake City, Utah, are running very low in their inventory of layette, sewing and bedding kits particularly, but other relief supplies are needed as well. Learn how to assemble kits Church bulletin inserts  ...

UMC Reports 3,175 New Places for New People Worldwide

NASHVILLE, Tenn.— The United Methodist Church established 3,175 new places for new people to worship God around the world during the past quadrennium, according to a new report detailing for first time the work of church planting throughout the entire United Methodist connection.   The Worldwide Church Plant Update, which was presented last week to the Council of Bishop's Congregational Vitality Team, includes 684 new churches started by annual conferences in the United States,...

Saying Farewell to United Methodist Reporter

DALLAS (UMNS) — United Methodists across the United States are sharing a sense of loss following the news that UMR Communications, publisher of the United Methodist Reporter, will shut its doors May 31. After years of financial struggles, the board of UMR Communications unanimously voted May 16 to shutter the Dallas-based nonprofit, ceasing a publication that has been covering Methodism since 1847. Read full story here.  ...

Iliff Names New President

DENVER (UMNS) — The Rev. Thomas V. Wolfe, senior vice president and dean of the Division of Student Affairs at United Methodist-related Syracuse University, has been named the 14th president of the United Methodist Iliff School of Theology. He is an ordained elder in the Upper New York Annual (regional) Conference. He begins his new position on Aug. 1. Read news release here.  ...

Garrett-Evangelical Selects New President

  EVANSTON, Ill. (UMNS) – The Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary Board of Trustees selected Lallene J. Rector to be the next president of Garrett-Evangelical. Now the seminary's vice president for academic affairs and academic dean, Rector will succeed Philip A. Amerson, who will retire on Dec. 31 after nearly eight years as president. Read news release here.      ...

Myrlie Evers Calls for Day of 'Unity and Faith'

  JACKSON, Miss. (UMNS) — Myrlie Evers — widow of assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers — has written a letter inviting faith leaders in Mississippi and around the world to join in the launch of the Inaugural Medgar Evers Sunday, June 9. On this day, they are encouraged to remember Medgar Evers by serving and by sharing a message of "Unity and Faith." Tamica Smith-Jeuitt of the Mississippi Annual (regional) Conference shares how United Methodists...

Seventeen United Methodist-Related Colleges Make "Green" List

 Princeton Review salutes environmentally friendly colleges  Nashville, Tenn.: When it comes to improving the quality of life by caring for the environment, United Methodist colleges are receiving high ratings and the growing respect of the "green" community. The Princeton Review included 17 United Methodist related colleges in its recently released publication, "The Princeton Review's Guide to 322 Green Colleges: 2013 Edition."   The Princeton Review,...

California-Nevada Clergyperson Jeffrey Kuan Named President of Claremont School of Theology

The Board of Trustees announced today that the Rev. Dr. Kah-Jin Jeffrey Kuan accepted their invitation to be the seventh president of Claremont School of Theology, effective July 1. Dr. Kuan will succeed Jerry D. Campbell, who held the position for seven years.    "Jeffrey is a distinguished educator, scholar and minister who is deeply committed to the vibrant future of theological education," said the Rev. Dr. David Richardson, chair of Claremont's...

Bishop Hayes Invites Grief and Prayer

OKLAHOMA CITY (UMNS) — "What I would like to say to the United Methodist community and beyond is that we grieve with those who have lost life and property not only in Moore and Newcastle but also on Sunday in Shawnee," Oklahoma Area Bishop Robert E. Hayes Jr. told United Methodist News Service. "These storms have devastated our state and have inflicted tremendous loss on our people … and just affected lives in ways we can only imagine." Read full story...

Pre-Annual Conference Orientation El Camino Real District

The Pre-Annual Conference Orientation for the El Camino Real District will take place on Saturday, June 1, at Genesis United Methodist Church, 220 South Main Street, Milpitas (not far off Highway 880) from 9:15 to 11:50 a.m. From 9:15 to 10:50 a.m., pre-conference orientation will be led by the Rev. Kristie Olah, district superintendent for the El Camino Real District. Also sharing will be Chris Low, chair, California-Nevada Lay Leadership Development Committee, the Rev. Jim Luther, pastor of...

Chrysalis Retreats

The next set of Chrysalis retreats will take place at Carson Valley United Methodist Church in Gardnerville, Nevada, June 27 to 30 (for girls ages 15 to 19), and July 11 to 14 (for boys ages 15 to 19). The retreat weekends are designed to bring a person closer to God through prayer, discussion, worship, singing, and creative expressions.   Applications are due three weeks before each retreat: June 10 for girls and June 24 for the boys. Contact Lynette Grandison at...

Hosanna Arch

On Mother's Day, the First United Methodist Church in Reno, Nevada celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Hosanna Arch, an architectural icon gracing the sanctuary located at 209 West First Street in Reno. Dedicated on Mother's Day in 1943, the Hosanna Arch features the sculpted likenesses of 52 children who attended the church in the early 1940's. The children's faces, along with palm leaves and lilies, were sculpted by San Francisco artist Alice English, working from photographs...

Disaster Response: How You Can Help

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — As communities in Oklahoma, Texas and other U.S. states reel from the devastation of tornadoes, remember that The United Methodist Church has a system in place for responding. Here are a few of the places to check for information and find out how you can be part of United Methodist relief efforts: UMNS Facebook page United Methodist Committee on Relief Facebook pages or websites for individual conferences. Find a conference Facebook pages...

Responding to Children's Fear

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — Consoling children after a traumatic event can be overwhelming to the adults caring for them. If you are looking for resources to support children following a crisis or disaster, or even during a crisis, this article has links to several helpful sites. Read full story here.    ...

How to Give in Response to Disasters

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — The United Methodist Church is well situated to respond to disasters because of its churches in almost every county and community across the United States and the worldwide Methodist connection with annual conferences, central conferences and autonomous partner churches on five continents. Here is how giving works Cash donations encouraged over clothing, other items Volunteers urged to be patient  ...

Cokesbury

  Here is a video that explains the future of Cokesbury and how to obtain resources. Cokesbury Next from Cokesbury Next on Vimeo....