The Bear Creek fires in September 2011 forced the postponement of this event, but we’re back on track and excited to have Scott Atnip, National Development Director for UM Army, returning to our district. Scott will be here at Linden UMC on Thursday evening, February 16, at 6pm. We’ll continue the conversation we began last summer, working together to strengthen the ministries of UM Army in our own district and beyond. We’d love for you to join us, and hope that you will invite enthusiastic laypersons from your congregation to come with you as well.

Appetizers will be served, prepared by Linden’s own Keenan Attatway, a culinary arts graduate and veteran of UM Army. We will appreciate your RSVP (to desiree@lindenumc.org) so that we might prepare appropriately for all who will be in attendance.

Please print this invitation (Click Here). It can be used on your refrigerator as a reminder. It can also be shared as an invitation to laypersons from your congregation.

I hope you’ll be able to join us.

Sincerely,

Rev. Kevin Young

Linden UMC

Leaders:  Rev. Mike Cave (clergy), Carleen Alderman (laity), and Pat Miller (Chrysalis)

Location: Tennison UMC, 313 N. Church St., Mt. Pleasant, TX 75455

Dates:

Friday, Jan. 20, 5-9 p.m. Clergy Training

Lay folks are invited and welcome to join the clergy (lay board members especially )to discover how the clergy partner with the laity and the walks are designed to lead the pilgrims to a closer walk with Christ.

Saturday, Jan. 21, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Lay Training

Laity will look at reunion groups, sponsorship, training, weekend planning, and more.

Meals:  Will be provided.

RSVPs are essential!!! RSVP to Rev. Debbie Riggsby, email at

deborah817@suddenlink.net, call 903-243-3333 (cell), or text 903-243-3333.  Please include your name and number attending.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

A website is the new front door to your church. Patrick Steil, Webmaster for the North Texas Conference and owner of ChurchBuzz.org, will walk you through 10 Commandments that transform your website into the BEST outreach and communications tool that has ever been possible. Please visit the Committee Resources page for more in depth information regarding webinar details and system requirements.

Location: Online

For more information: contact: Betsey Heavner or call 615.340.7295

Webinar – Healthy Church Leaders – Key Factors

Thursday, February 23, 2012

SPRC has a key role for health of body, mind and soul for your pastor and leaders. GBPHB’s Center for Health shares key factors for a healthy ministry environment. Please visit the Committee Resources page for more in depth information regarding webinar details and system requirements.

Location: Online

The Singing Church: Current Practices and Emerging Trends in Congregational Song

Monday, March 19, 2012 – Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Join a renowned ecumenical group of outstanding scholars and musicians to explore the emerging practices, leadership skills, and repertories of congregational song.

     •Discover, renew, and reinterpret traditional worship-song

     •Learn to sing another’s song: an ecumenical and intercultural exchange

     •Sing and imagine a church that is still unfolding

Location: Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta GA

Sponsored by: Candler School of Theology

For more information: contact: call 404.727.8276

For more information: contact: Betsey Heavner or call 615.340.7295

     This application is designed to handle multiple information gathering tasks for the Texas Annual Conference, so you will see a “Switchboard” screen after you logon to the system that has buttons to take you to the specific task you want to accomplish.

     The church Level logon screen can be found by going to the conference web site and clicking on the “Login Area”.  Below the link to EZRA is a new choice titled:

Vital Signs, Church Transformation Survey, and other local church information

     which takes you to the actual web page address of: 

http://www.logicalchurchsolutions.com/Equitable/CTSLogin.aspx 

     That login is like EZRA, churches use their GCFA number with the generic password.  On the first logon they are asked to set their own password.  If they make it the same as EZRA, both systems will take the same logon.  The logon screen looks like:

     After the logon, they are taken to the “Switching Center” where they can pick the task they want to perform.  Note that this has Vital Signs and Church Transformation Survey access.  Vital Signs reporting is not completely functional yet, but will be by January 1, 2012 so it can take the place of Dove as our Vital Signs reporting system at the end of this month.

     The main thing for December is to tell your pastors that they can access the Church Transformation Survey now on-line and begin their work on it.

     The system only has year 2010 historical data in place, but more will be added as time permits.  Nothing is pre-filled in, so all boxes will have to have the data typed into the form.  The Switching center looks like the following:

     You can play with it yourself if you borrow one of the churches GCFA numbers, but please pick a church that is providing you with one of your auditors and please coordinate with that person since you will be setting a new password on the GCFA Number username and the church should always know that that is. 

     Please be sure to advise everyone that this is all brand new software and ask them not to be disturbed if they find a few things that will need to be corrected.  Just report them as soon as possible and they will be resolved quickly.

     There will be a new Training Video on how to access this system added to the “Training Videos” area under “Resources” on the conference web site added before Friday.  Target is tomorrow, but if it is not there, it will be by Thursday.

     Our biggest challenge will be to get people who are in remote and poor internet areas able to view the Training Videos.  If we have to put them on DVD’s and mail them to some people we can do that if necessary.

This application is designed to handle multiple information gathering tasks for the Texas Annual Conference, so you will see a “Switchboard” screen after you logon to the system that has buttons to take you to the specific task you want to accomplish.

The church Level logon screen can be found by going to the conference web site and clicking on the “Login Area”.  Below the link to EZRA is a new choice titled:

Vital Signs, Church Transformation Survey,

and other local church information

which takes you to the actual web page address of

http://www.logicalchurchsolutions.com/Equitable/CTSLogin.aspx

That login is like EZRA, churches use their GCFA number with the generic password.  On the first logon they are asked to set their own password.  If they make it the same as EZRA, both systems will take the same logon.  The logon screen looks like

The video is posted on line and can be viewed by simply clicking the link below. This first video is a short tutorial in how to find the Charge Conference documents in Dove and how to open them and save them back into Dove for future use.

Please click the link below to play the video:

“How to Access Charge Conference Documents in Dove”

http://www.ourchurchvideos.com/77002/txcumc/view_video.php?viewkey=3eee609d05b90c14222f

We will be adding more as we introduce additional technology changes such as how to enter Report Day Data in the new GCFA system named “Ezra”.

Thanks,

Ivan K. Krowl

Sarah and Ralph’s life together was a classic love story. They met, fell in love and married. For 40 years Sarah was a school teacher and Ralph worked as a machinist. They were frugal and saved a little each month. At age 75 Sarah’s son was killed in an accident, the next year Ralph suffered a stroke which left him unable to walk and Sarah was diagnosed with health problems. With her deteriorating health and the lack of sufficient income, it was impossible to care for Ralph.

Sarah contacted a local Methodist Retirement Community campus and was relieved to know that on that same campus, she could get the assistance she needed while Ralph could receive the more intensive care he needed. Thanks to generous donors like you and the caring staff of MRC their love story continues.

Sunday, May 8 is not only Mother’s Day, it is the day set aside by the Texas Annual Conference for Methodist Retirement Communities Foundation. The MRC Foundation changes the lives of many low-income seniors in our state. We do not receive an apportionment from the conference and we rely solely on donations to support our ministry. Through your love offering, you can help a Sarah or a Ralph have a comfortable, loving home with excellent care.

Did you know that …

• 40% of seniors in Texas in retirement homes run out of money.
• Texas ranks 49th (worst) in current Medicaid funding.
• Methodist Retirement Communities covered over $3 million in expenses for needy residents in the last three years.

Give God thanks for your Mother with a gift to another. This year consider an alternative Mother’s Day gift for your mother. When you have donated, you can download and print a note card with a sentiment that tells your Mother you have made a gift in her honor to the MRC Foundation to support senior adults in need of care.

Make a Donation

Download Mother’s Day Sentiment Card

View Mother’s Day Appeal Video

To learn more about our retirement communities, go to www.mrcaff.org.