Congregational Vitality

Workshop to Turn Tippers into Tithers – January 11
Clergy are encouraged to bring a team of at least three members of their finance and stewardship teams to The Bridge in Carrollton on Saturday, January 11 to learn how to turn tippers into tithers.

During the 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. workshop on that date, participants will learn:

• recent trends in charitable giving;
• principles of giving; how to develop a year-round process of discipleship, financial education, and stewardship; and
• how to make a customized ask during their church stewardship campaign.

Participants will develop and take home an action plan, and they will be offered ongoing coaching.

Early bird cost is $99/church team if registered by December 26. Learn more and register.

Missions

Support #GiveUMC on #GivingTuesday
On #GivingTuesday, December 3, 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.

View East Ohio Conference Advance projects.

Each project/missionary is researched and approved by the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM), and 100% of all gifts made through The Advance are given directly to the designated project.

When donating make checks payable to East Ohio Conference UMC, write the fund # of the project on the check, and mail it to: East Ohio Conference, P.O. Box 76019, Cleveland, OH 44101-4755.

General Commission on the Status and Role of Women

With Appreciation

“Thank you for the many kind expressions of condolences on the loss of my dear brother Willie Robinson Smith III. I am eternally grateful for the outpouring of your love and prayers.”

-Bishop Tracy S. Malone

Media Center

The Media Center recently acquired the following resources:

• BAHT: A Real-Life Story of Human Trafficking exposes the modern-day issue of slavery through real life stories spurring young people to fight injustices in the world and their own community.
• Reach Out; Don’t Freak Out helps teenagers discover both the simplicity and necessity of sharing their faith.
• Upside Down; Is Better Than Right Side Up shows how Jesus surprised his audience—and surprises us. Teens think we know the story’s point and how things will resolve—but then Jesus flips things upside down. It isn’t what we expected.
• The Word; See It; Experience It; Believe It engages students in building a lifelong habit of reading, studying, and following God’s Word.
• Constantly Connected; Managing Social Media Addiction examines the world of Facebook, Instagram, and other social media sites to help kids understand why it’s so easy to get addicted to all-day, all-night social media and online gaming.

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 at www.rqmweb.com/eocumc.

Message in the Movies

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Fred Rogers was a one-of-a-kind force of nature. At one time he considered becoming a Presbyterian pastor, but instead was seminary-trained and ordained in a specialized ministry to use television as the medium to promote spiritual values. Working out of Pittsburgh (close to his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania), he created Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, a children’s show that ran for 31 seasons with over 900 episodes. While the show basically helped kids to use their imagination in ways that would widen the circle of acceptance and understanding, it wasn’t afraid to deal with themes such as war, racism and grief. The puppet characters from the Neighborhood of Make Believe (including Daniel Tiger, Prince Tuesday, and X the Owl) became stars in their own right. As a child, Fred was often picked on in school and was a quiet, soft-spoken introvert. His television persona was also quiet and calm and a comfort to thousands of children (and their parents) who needed someone willing to listen and walk alongside of them. In many ways, Mr. Rogers modeled the ministry and methodology of Jesus of Nazareth.

Read entire review.

Events: December 2 – December 15

Click to view East Ohio Conference Calendar

• • Dec 4 & 11
    Gentle Yoga @ Chardon UMC
  • Dec 4 & 11
    Peace After Divorce Workshop @ Church of the Lakes UMC
  • Dec 4 & 11
    GriefShare @ Church of the Lakes UMC
  • Thurs, Dec 5
    Live Nativity @ Willoughby UMC
  • Fri, Dec 6
    Early Response Team Training @ Christ UMC
  • Sun, Dec 8
    A Downtown Willoughby Christmas-Holiday Concert @ Willouhby UMC
  • Dec 9-14
    Midwest Mission Journey @ Midwest Mission Distribution Center
  • Dec 13-15
    Life Size Candyland Game @ Vienna UMC

(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

• Assistant Church Administrator – Strongsville UMC
• Director of Youth and Discipleship Ministries – New Philadelphia First UMC
• Piano/Organ Accompanist – Lockwood UMC
• Administrative Assistant – Willoughby Hills UMC
• Custodian – First UMC of Massillon
• Worship Leader – Heart 4 the City Mission
• Youth and Family Ministry Director – Strongsville UMC

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

To Subscribe

To subscribe to E-News and all East Ohio Conference news updates, enter your email address in the “Follow News via Email” widget on the right sidebar. Information from this E-News may be copied and used in your local church. The next scheduled edition of the E-News is Monday, December 16, 2019.

Deadline for submission is Thursday, December 12. Send articles to swilliams@eocumc.com.