NOVEMBER 5, 2018

EOC News

Special Session of General Conference 2019

Online Pre-registration
Guests and observers wishing to attend the Special Session of the General Conference, to be held February 23-26, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri, may now pre-register online.  The Special Session has been called to receive and act upon a report from the Commission on a Way Forward and recommendations of the Council of Bishops.

Guest and observer registration is required to attend the session.  There is a suggested badge fee of $7 for early registration and $10 for on-site registration to offset the costs of the credentialing process.

Pre-registration is available through January 31, 2019.

Young People’s Ministries

Project Feed logo

Project Feed
November 10 – West Elementary School in Newcomerstown
November 11 – Wadsworth Middle School
The youth of the East Ohio Conference continue to set an example of the cooperative ministry that is needed to reach out into our mission fields, both at home and around the world.

Teens and their adult leaders hope to pack 75,000 meals that will be sent to developing countries around the world.  Cost is $10/person to participate, $5 if you bring a canned food donation for the local food bank.

Learn more.

Apply for New Scholarships
Visit the scholarships page of the Conference website to find information about the following available scholarships:

  • EOC $5,000 Merit Scholarship – up to five scholarships available
  • Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. $5,000 Merit Scholarship – up to one available
  • CCYM $5,000 Scholarship – one available
  • Teen Total Abstinence $500 Scholarship – one available

Learn more and apply.

Missions

Giving Tuesday Graphic with multiple photos


Support #GiveUMC to show your thanks on #GivingTuesday
Begin the holiday season by giving instead of getting.  On #Giving Tuesday, November 27, join United Methodists across the denomination in supporting #GiveUMC by generously donating to Conference and global UM-related mission projects and missionaries of The Advance.  Each project/missionary is researched and approved by the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.  As always, 100% of all gifts made through The Advance are given directly to the designated project.

View the list of East Ohio Conference Advance projects.

When donating, be sure to write on the memo line of your check the fund # of the project to which your contribution should be directed.  Make checks payable to East Ohio Conference UMC, and mail them to:  East Ohio Conference, P.O. Box 76019, Cleveland Ohio 44101-4755.

Download #GiveUMC/#Giving Tuesday resources.

Multicultural Vitality

PerspectivesPerspectives: Understanding Poverty Simulation and Discussion – January 5, 2019   9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Join us at Dueber UMC (Tuscarawas District) for the second Conference event hosted under the Perspectives focus that assists participants in learning from a different perspectives.

Understanding Poverty Simulation and Discussion is a free, interactive experience that is open to all lay, youth, and clergy.  The day is designed to help participants begin to understand what it might be like to live in a typical low-income family trying to survive from month to month. It is a simulation, not a game. Lunch will include time for reflection and discussion.

Presented in partnership with the Board of Church and Society, Bridges Out of Poverty, Committee on Religion and Race, Great Lakes Bridges, and Thrivent Financial.

Learn more and register.  Please register by December 28.

Disaster Response

Early Response Teams Needed
Early Response Teams (ERT) are needed in Barnesville (Southern Hills District) to assist a family with a house fire restoration project.  Trained ERT with badges are preferred but not required.  An electrician is needed to repair and replace the knob and tube wiring which caused the fire.  Other projects that need to be completed at the house include: furnace repair; and demolition/replacement of the attic, and the drywall and flooring in two bedrooms, a bath and the kitchen.

Hospitality, meals, etc. will be provided by Barnesville First United Methodist. Housing is available at the Epworth Mission Center in Bethesda OH. If you would like to support this project financially please send donations to Southern Hills Emergency Response, PO Box 340, Cambridge OH 43725.

To assist, contact Southern Hills District Disaster Response Coordinator Pastor Ted Buehl via phone at (440) 454-9642 or e-mail at tedbuehl@gmail.com.

Financial and Administrative Services

Reminder: Review Monthly Statements
Your Conference Finance team reminds you to review your remittance statement each month.  We are now in the final quarter of 2018.  We want to ensure all apportionment payments are included in the current year so that each church gets the benefit of having achieved 100% of its apportionment commitment.

In keeping with the notice in the Annual Conference Journal, final payment of the 2018 apportionment year needs to be received at our lockbox on or before January 4, 2019.  Checks received in our lockbox after January 4, 2019, regardless of the postmark date on the envelope, will be counted as having been received in 2019.

Clergy

Pathways to Ministry Internship
Will Our Children Have Faith? The question posed in the title of the book by John Westerhoff applies today as much as it did in when the book was written in 1976.

“Certainly we want our young people to experience God’s saving grace and begin to live out what God wants them to be and do,” says the Rev. Larry Marshall.  “For all of us this is a life-long journey filled with as many questions as answers regarding God’s call upon one’s life.  The good news is that through prayer and discernment we are encouraged to take the next step of faith.”

That next step for some might be to serve as a full-time intern during the summer of 2019.  During a 12-week placement at a vital United Methodist Church interns will learn about the gifts God has given, and what it means to be a pastor of a local church.

Learn more and apply to be an intern.

Episcopal Office

Melissa McGee Joins Episcopal Office Team
“I am happy to be here,” Melissa McGee said on her first day as the new executive secretary to the bishop, a job she began on November 1.

McGee will provide administrative support to Bishop Tracy S. Malone and the Rev. Dr. Gary George, assistant to the bishop.  She can be reached by calling (330) 499-3972 ext. 112 or sending an e-mail to mmcgee@eocumc.com.

McGee is a member of Church of the Lakes United Methodist Church in Canton.  She and her husband Andy are the proud parents of two teenage daughters.

Connectional Ministries

Courtney Gould Joins the CCOM Team
Courtney Gould is excited to be the new administrative assistant in the Conference Council on Ministries (CCOM) office.  Her first day was Monday, November 5.

Gould will serve as the administrative assistant supporting Will Jones, director of Multicultural Vitality, and the Rev. Kelly Brown, director of Congregational Vitality. She can be reached by calling (330) 499-3972 ext. 121 or by emailing vitality@eocumc.com.

Gould is an active United Methodist and clergy spouse who has a deep faith in Jesus Christ and an understanding of our United Methodist structures and processes. She and her husband Kyle are the proud parents of a toddler and a black lab.  They enjoy spending time together as a family.

Pastoral Care and Counseling

Bi-weekly Resources
In the November 15 issue:  We focus on justice ministry.

  • A Way Forward: A Prayer
  • Book: Canoeing the Mountains
  • What Does Your Building Say to Others?
  • A Meditation on Gratitude
  • Book: Sacred Rhythms
  • Self-Leadership: Natural Stress Relief
  • Spiritual Enrichment Groups
  • Listings of our Spiritual Directors

Media Center

The Media Center recently acquired the following resources:

To reserve these or other resources, call the Media Center at (800) 831-3972 x 139 or send an e-mail to sarnold@eocumc.com. Browse the resource catalog at www.rqmweb.com/eocumc

Message in the Movies

Message in the Movies banner (colorful film strip


Indivisible is based on the true story of Darren and Heather Turner, an Army chaplain and wife, and how Darren’s 2007 deployment to Iraq (as part of the surge) placed burdens upon both of their lives. The film is excellent in showing the strain on a family with a father away for 15 months overseas and the courage required of  the caregiver at home who has to watch over children and assist other wives.

Entire review and movie trailer

Credit Union

Veterans Day Closing
Our Cincinnati and Indiana offices will be closed Monday, November 12, 2018, in observance of Veterans Day.

Our North Canton office will remain open during normal business hours. Members may visit our website to view share account balances, transfer funds, and pay bills anytime: www.umethodist.com

Spiritual Retreat Event

A Day with Thomas Merton and Friends  – November 17  9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
A spiritual retreat day honoring the legacy of Thomas Merton, one of the most revered spiritual figures/writers of the 20th century, will be held on Saturday, November 17 at Baldwin Wallace University.  Retired EOC pastor, the Rev. Tom Snyder, who will lead Thomas Merton: The Man and His Times, one of the four presentations featured as part of the free event.

A Day with Thomas Merton and Friends, held at 340 Front Street in Berea, is sponsored by Baldwin Wallace University and the Cleveland Chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society.

Learn more and register.

Events: November 5- 18

Click to view East Ohio Conference Calendar.

To submit your event to the East Ohio calendar use this form.
(The East Ohio Conference only accepts East Ohio United Methodist local church, conference and general UM events for listing on the Conference calendar.)

Classifieds

Details of listings may be found here. 

Positions Available

  • Part-time Bookkeeper – Painesville UMC
  • Church Administrator – Willoughby UMC
  • Child Care Coordinator – Willoughby UMC
  • Financial Accountant – Willoughby UMC
  • Part-time Custodian – Smithville UMC
  • Pianist – Andover UMC
  • Professional Archivist – The Archives of Ohio United Methodism
  • Director of Youth Ministries – Rocky River UMC
  • Part-time Music and Worship Director – United Methodist Church of Macedonia
  • Part-time Office Manager – Salem First UMC
  • Part-time Special Needs Assistant – Rocky River UMC
  • Communications Specialist – East Ohio Conference Communications Office

To submit a classified ad please email sue@eocumc.com

Obituaries

Please pray for the families of:

  • Gary L. Rinker, retired local pastor, who died October 23
  • David J. Leenhouts, local pastor, who died October 26

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The next scheduled edition of the E-News is Monday, November 19, 2018.  Deadline for submission is Wednesday, November 14. Send articles to sue@eocumc.com