January 22, 2019

EOC News

2019 Appointments and Changes of Status

Bishop Tracy S. Malone announced the following clergy appointments and/or changes of status since publication of the January 7 E-News. Unless noted otherwise, appointments are effective July 1, 2019.

2019 Appointments
Pastor Appointment District Effective
Ed Fashbaugh District Superintendent TR
Tal Lewis Medina UMC CN
Mike Mack Mansfield Trinity UMC MO
Timothy McCollum Coshocton Grace UMC TR
Sondra Snode Mentor UMC WR
2019 Retirements
Pastor Retiring From District Effective
James George Southington & West Farmington UMCs WR
Ralph Krall Navarre Otterbein UMC TW
Nancy Manner Alliance Aldersgate UMC TW
Bruce McLaughlin Mount Zion Community UMC TW
Carolyn Nichols Greentown UMC TW
Mark Steiger North Olmsted UMC NC
LuAnn Youngman Winfield UMC TW

View the complete list, including retirees and those concluding their ministry. 2019 Appointments and Changes of Status

Camps and Retreat Ministries

Aldersgate, Asbury, and Wanake are looking for Summer Staff
Our summer program requires a great number of qualified staff members to be successful. We are looking for outstanding Christian women and men for summer staff positions. We are looking for counselors, lifeguards, and program, food service, administration and maintenance staff. Visit www.EOCSummercamps.org and click on the “Staff & Volunteer” tab for more information. Or call the camps directly:

  • Aldersgate – (330) 627-4369
  • Asbury – (330) 569-3171
  • Wanake – (330) 756-2333

Experiences Pay Off More Than Material Gifts!
Do you want your kids to really love the gifts you give them? Consider giving them an experience like a week at camp – or give your entire family a week away at family camp. If you want to give them something that will make them feel closer to you, give an experience.

Consider these benefits of a gift of camp:

  • It always fits. You don’t have to worry about it being returned because it isn’t the right size, color or style.
  • If you go together as a family, the shared experience will help you grow as a family.
  • Camp memories never expire. They’ll hold them forever and, for many campers, their experience at camp is life-defining.

Check out camps available this summer at www.EOCSummercamps.org or call (800) 831-3972 ext. 108 to request a brochure.

Young People’s Ministries

Peace with Justice Trip to Washington, D.C.
Teens and young adults are invited to be a part of this exciting trip July 20-23. Highlights of the trip will be visiting the African American History Museum, the National Cathedral, the Holocaust Museum and the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society building; and discussions on immigration and human trafficking. Don’t miss this awesome opportunity! Registration will close on March 1. Learn more about the trip and register.

Youth Leaders Network Retreat – March 15-16
Adults who lead teens, either as paid staff or volunteers, are invited to our Youth Leaders Network Find Your True North Retreat March 15-16. We will learn how to deal with our own stress and anxiety and how to help those we lead with these issues. It is a great time to connect with other youth leaders while we fellowship, worship, and learn together. This is a VERY affordable event, so be sure you are there! Learn more and register.

East Ohio United Methodist Foundation

Grants and Scholarships
The East Ohio United Methodist Foundation’s annual grant cycle has begun, and we invite you to apply for Foundation grants and scholarships. Deadline for all is March 1.

See the Foundation’s grants and scholarships page for more information.

If you are a seminary student, or you know someone who is, there are two options available:

  • The Excellence in Clergy Leadership Scholarship is for students attending a United Methodist seminary. Awards are up to $12,500 and involve funding from a number of sources.
  • The Firebrand Scholarship is for seminarians who are on track to be ordained as elders by age 35.

Undergraduate students who are active in their local churches can apply for a number of Foundation scholarships. The Foundation also has funds specifically earmarked for children of clergy in the Annual Conference. Church grants are available if your church is launching a new outreach program, such as a feeding ministry, after school program or other program designed specifically to reach your community outside your local church. We do not fund requests for capital improvements that are not mission-related, debt retirement, or operating funds.

Financial and Administrative Services

New Tax Applies to Nonprofit Employee Parking
Do your church employees/contractors park on a lot owned/rented/leased by the church? If the answer is “yes,” then your church may need to pay the new IRS nonprofit parking tax.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (December 2017) states, in part, that tax-exempt employers (such as churches) may need to treat the cost of providing parking to their employees as unrelated business taxable income (UBTI). The provisions are effective starting with the tax year 2018.

Churches can legally avoid this new tax if – by March 31, 2019:
          • its parking facilities do NOT have any spots designated by signs,
            gates, attendants, etc. as being only for employees/contractors;
            AND
          • its parking facilities are NOT used primarily for
            employees/contractors.

Get guidance on the parking issue from the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA).

Clergy Benefits & The Special Session of General Conference
The General Conference page of the Conference website is the place to go for the most recent information about next month’s Special Session. The latest addition is a Special Session FAQ produced by Wespath Benefits & Investments that provides “unbiased and accurate information about the UMC benefit plans, and in particular about the effects that the Way Forward plans and the 2019 General Conference may have on those plans.”

Clergy

Lakeside Chautauqua Offers Renewal Scholarship
The Bible instructs all of God’s children to build Sabbath time into their lives. For clergy to truly have a Sabbath, it is oftentimes necessary to get away from home! Lakeside Chautauqua is making that possible. Lakeside invites United Methodist clergy to apply for a renewal scholarship that will provide up to 3 nights lodging in the Fountain Inn at Lakeside Chautauqua.

Take time with God along the shores of Lake Erie for rest and renewal. You can use this unstructured time for prayer, planning and meditation. The time is yours. Lakeside provides the hotel room free of charge. The deadline for submission is February 1, 2019. Download the scholarship application form.

Pastoral Care and Counseling

Bi-weekly Resources
In the January 22 edition: We look at unity, peace, hope and the power of ritual.

    • A Way Forward: Selective Reading of the Bible
    • Unity in the Church: Sacred or Scandalous
    • Epiphany’s Peace
    • Book: Almost Everything: Notes on Hope, Anne Lamott
    • Giving Yourself, Parker Palmer
    • Book:Morning Altars:A 7-Step Practice to Nurture Your Spirit through Nature
    • The Spirit Almanac: A Modern Guide to Ancient Self-Care
    • Spiritual Enrichment Groups
    • Listings of our Spiritual Directors

Contact Us
If you have any questions or issues you would like for us to address or would like to get email alerts when new resources have been posted please contact Howard Humphress at hkhumphress@gmail.com or use our quick contact form.

Media Center

The Media Center has many resources available for Lent. Here are just a few:

To reserve these or other resources, call the Media Center at (800) 831-3972 x139 or send an e-mail to sarnold@eocumc.com. Browse the resource catalog here.

Message in the Movies

Message in the Movies banner (colorful film strip


Vice
The film initially reviews Cheney’s hard living and academic under-performance in college, primarily to set up a scene in which his wife Lynne (Adams) tells him to get his act together. Although Vice seems to want to turn Lynne into Lady Macbeth, orchestrating her husband’s moral progress, the film can’t quite commit to this wholeheartedly. And its compassionate portrayal of Cheney’s love and support for their daughter Mary (Alison Pill) – who comes out as a lesbian – humanizes the Vice President even more. This is not a bad thing, but it undercuts the overall tone of the film.

Christian Bale put on some serious weight (as well as makeup),  and he does an above average impression of Cheney but, the performance and screenplay underplay the ruthlessness that was on full display at the time. Sam Rockwell’s sympathetic portrayal of George Bush also refuses the easy choice of broad caricature. In spite of its desire to vilify Cheney, with so much back pedaling the movie fails to reach its destination.

Read entire review

Credit Union

Shared Branching
The United Methodist Financial Credit Union partners with over 330 credit unions nationwide to provide our members with more options to do your personal banking through the Shared Branching Co-Op Network!

All you need is this: Know your account number and have your government-issued photo ID ready when you walk in. Locate a branch near you on our website www.umethodist.com.

Events: January 21 – February 3

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.)

Obituaries

Please pray for the family of:

  • James W. Keller, retired Elder, died December 31, 2018.
  • Virginia R. Geiger, retired Associate Member and Surviving Spouse of Ralph Geiger, died January 12, 2019.

Classifieds

Details of listings may be found here. 

Positions Available

  • Musician – Warsaw UMC
  • Chaplains and Pastors – The U.S. Army Chaplain Corps
  • Director of Youth Ministries – Rocky River UMC

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

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The next scheduled edition of the E-News is Monday, February 4, 2019.  Deadline for submission is Wednesday, January 30. Send articles to swilliams@eocumc.com.