Leadership Day - Registration Open!!!

If you haven't already done so, please register for the Washington Region Leadership Day on January 29, 2011 from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the Conference Mission Center. For more information and to register, go to http://www.bwcumc.org/microsites/g/2011washingtonleadershipday. Each person registering much register under their own user name and password in Gateway. If you need your user name and password, contact Darryl Campbell (dcampbell@bwcumc.org) or Pam Mullay (pmullay@bwcumc.org).

Evaluations

Have you and your church done your evaluations today? The Evaluations are past due. If you have not gone into Gateway do your evaluations, please do so as soon as possible.

Cooperative Resources

There are many churches in the Washington Region that are small and cannot always afford to hire a youth pastor, office secretary, handyman or facilities person. Have you thought about working with another church near you to see if they have a similar need and can split the cost with you? A little cooperative resourcing can go a long way.

RSS Feed

Have you considered subscribing to the blog via the RSS feed at the bottom of the page. If you are using a e-mail reader like Apple Mail, Outlook, etc. you can add the RSS/Atom feed (feed://bwcwashingtonregion.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default) and get the updates right in your e-mail program. Gmail users can also add the RSS/Atom feed to the "web clips" that their gmail browser will show them when they check their e-mail.  This way, new posts show up automatically, but don't clog up anyone's inbox. Thanks to Mark Schaefer for that great suggestion!

Room Reservations at the Conference Mission Center

We now have an online room reservation system for the conference rooms at the Conference Mission Center. If you would like to reserve a room, please go to http://www.bwcumc.org/content/facilityuseform and complete the form. You will receive an email confirmation from John Gauthier once your reservation has been approved.

Daily Devotional

Sight Psalms,” a new daily devotional intended to help people reflect on God’s presence in their lives through the use of images, is now available on GBOD’s website as a part of a new page on Prayer. Each day, a new photograph will be posted to evoke reflection and inspiration with a brief verbal message accompany most photos. Sight Psalms can be found at www.gbod.org/sightpsalms where users also will have the opportunity to subscribe to have each day’s image delivered via email.

Facilities Assistant position available at the Conference Mission Center

The Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church located in Fulton, MD, seeks a creative, hard-working and dedicated individual to join its team as facilities assistant to make a difference in transforming the world.

This full-time position is available immediately to provide general operational and facilities maintenance services support including on-site and off-site event set up, inside and outside building maintenance, minor preventive maintenance and repairs, and supply/equipment on-site and off-site storage maintenance.

Special Aspects of Position

• Exceptional customer service and effective communications skills required.
• Flexible schedule required to accommodate tasks which include occasional evenings and weekends.
• Ability to lift up to 75 lbs.

Salary is in low $30s.  Interested individuals should go to http://www.bwcumc.org/employmentopportunities  for a detailed position description and application requirements.  EOE  Position closes January 15, 2011

Human Relations Day

Human Relations Day is January 16, 2011. For a web graphic, please go to: http://www.umcgiving.org/site/c.qwL6KkNWLrH/b.3833823/k.5822/Special_Sundays__Human_Relations_Day__Support_Materials.htm

The Interpreter

The Interpreter is a useful publication of United Methodist Communications. In the past they have sent information in the late summer, early fall about their free subscriptions for church officers via hard mail. Now, this information is being shared via email. Please consider contacting them in one of the following ways, so that your new or continuing church officers can receive this magazine.

Here are three easy ways to enroll:

• Online: http://www.umcom.org/subscriptions/
• Fax your updated enrollment forms to: 615-742-5499.
• Mail updated forms to: Interpreter, P.O. Box 440229, Nashville, TN 37244-0229

Complete your enrollment form today to equip your leaders for the new year! You will need to get a user name and password from your church office. You also can call United Methodist Communications customer service at 888-346-3862. Please contact customer service if you have misplaced your current user name and password.

Statistical Reports
Just a reminder that you cannot begin filling out the statistical report online until January 1, 2011. For more information about the reports you can go to http://www.bwcumc.org/statisticalreports.


Leadership Day

Registration for Leadership Day has begun! Please go to http://www.bwcumc.org/microsites/g/2011washingtonleadershipday for more information and to register! Tell your friends...


Conference Holidays
Just a quick reminder that the Conference Mission Center will be closed on the following days:
December 24, 2011
December 27, 2011
December 31, 2011


Happy Holidays from your Regional Administrator!
As the 2010 year comes to an end, I sit back and reflect upon my time as the new regional administrator. It has been a crazy few months since I first started way back in May. I survived my first Annual Conference; squeaked through the charge conference season with barely a scratch; and have tried to make friends with the Gateway system!


I am thankful to God for giving me the opportunity to work with great people here at the Conference Mission Center and in each and every one of the churches in the Washington Region.


May God bless you and your families during this holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


Pam Mullay

Washington Region Leadership Day

The Washington Region Leadership Day will be held on Saturday, January 29, 2011 from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the Conference Mission Center, 11711 East Market Place, Fulton, MD 20759. Check-in will run from 8:30 - 9 a.m.

Leadership Day focuses on training for clergy, church leaders, laity and others who want to make an impact in their local congregations and communities.

Registration is now open. http://www.bwcumc.org/microsites/g/2011washingtonleadershipday

Space is limited, so there will be no walk-in registrations the day of the event. You will need to register for one morning workshop (10:15-12:30) and one afternoon workshop (1:15-3:00).

The following workshops are being offered:

• Staff/Pastor Relations Committee (SPRC)
• Finance/Treasurers
• Partners in the Mighty Works
• Vacation Bible School (morning only)
• Worship
• Leadership Development
• Small Group Development
• Engagement in the Community (afternoon only)

Leadership Day is worth .5 CEU's.

Registration is available ONLINE only. http://www.bwcumc.org/microsites/g/2011washingtonleadershipday 

We will not accept paper, phone calls or walk-in registrations due to space and food considerations.

Cost is $35.00 and includes lunch. Deadline to register is January 15, 2011.

Please note that on Leadership Day, from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. only, we will be accepting in-person registration for the spring Discipleship Academy. While online registration is preferred, this registration is intended for those who have difficulty registering on Gateway. There will be special parking spaces in the front of the Conference Mission Center for easy entry and exit during the day. You do not have to be registered for Leadership Day in order to register for Discipleship Academy classes. Payment of check or credit card is due upon registering. 


Please also note that you must register individually through Gateway in order to receive CEU credit. If you log in as your self and register for another person, they will not receive the CEU credit and there is a chance that their name and email will take over your Gateway account.

Statistical Report Training is Today!
Just a reminder that training for how to complete the statistical reports will be held today from 1-3 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the Conference Mission Center. If you would like to attend, please feel free to stop by.


Prodigal Worship Conference Early Bird Registration

Register for the Prodigal Worship Conference for only $69- early bird special. Come and experience worship that transforms individuals, congregations and communities. Mark Beeson, Kim Miller and Marvin Moss are the featured keynote speakers and 20 workshops offered. For more information and registration visit, www.bwcumc.org/prodigalworship.

Heeding God's Call

Dear Clergy Friends:   We call your attention to what could be a real Kairos moment with the convergence of a three part series in the Washington Post (Oct. 24-26) entitled “The Hidden Life of Guns”, the distribution last year of God’s Renewed Creation: Call to Hope and Action of The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church and the recent adoption of Ending Gun Violence: A Resolution and Call to Action by the National Council of Churches of Christ. Both the Bishop’s Foundation Document and the NCC Resolution call on denominations to take action to prevent gun violence and recommend a program called ‘Heeding God’s Call.’ Heeding is a faith- based movement which focuses attention, persuasion and public pressure on those gun shops and gun shows which sell guns into the illegal distribution system. These are the guns used to threaten, wound, maim and kill.

We imagine most of you have read the alarming Post series, but in case you haven’t we urge you to do so, particularly the article on Realco Guns of Prince Georges County(PGC) in suburban Maryland. You can find it at the link below: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/23/AR2010102302994.html

The full Post series describes gun shops within your Conference bounds that are the major source of crime guns in DC, Northern Virginia and Southern Maryland. It’s well-documented work and is consistent with data that slightly more than 1% of gun dealers nationally are responsible for nearly 60% of the guns recovered from crime by law enforcement. The series details the sleazy businesses that willingly supply the illegal distribution system that fuels gun crime and violence. 

The bottom line is that these are guns sold to straw purchasers and buyers who turn them over to illegal gun traffickers, criminals, domestic abusers, even hit men. While DC has no walk-in gun shops, it is ringed by more than 100 shops in Maryland and Virginia. Of the 996 guns successfully traced in 2009 by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that were recovered from crime within DC, one-fourth came from Maryland dealers, one-fourth from Virginia dealers and the rest from shops elsewhere. The top known crime gun supplier in the area is Realco of PGC. Heeding God’s Call was co-founded by a Presbyterian layman, Bryan Miller. Heeding’s work with ecumenical leaders resulted in the September ‘09 closing of the Philadelphia gun shop most notorious for the number of guns it sold that ended up in crime. Heeding is working with ecumenical leaders in Richmond, VA, Harrisburg, PA and Columbus, OH and has recently been wholeheartedly endorsed by the three leading ecumenical organizations in Baltimore. Heeding/Baltimore took its first public action in October. The site below gives a description of Heeding and its unique approach to reducing the movement of guns from legal sale at gun shops to illegal street sale: www.heedinggodscall.org.

Heeding does not focus on political or legislative solutions, which always move at glacial speed and in the end may be divisive within congregations. It calls instead for a spiritual awakening within the church and asks people of faith to rediscover their moral voice and authority as we work for peaceful communities. It calls on people of faith to focus on the trafficking of guns that are sold illegally to dangerous individuals. This is not a political issue; this is a moral, spiritual issue.

We invite you to an information meeting with Bryan Miller on December 16 at Western Presbyterian Church at 1:30 P.M. The church is in Foggy Bottom on the orange/blue line- 3 blocks away from the metro stop. Parking is also available in the church garage.  (2401 Virginia Ave. N.W. Washington D.C. 20037).

We will learn about the possibilities for an effective faith-based witness that Heeding God’s Call offers us. If there is enough interest among the clergy assembled, we will organize ourselves and bring others to Realco Guns and begin the process of seeking to persuade the company to adopt the 10-point Voluntary Code for a Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership which has been signed by Walmart, the biggest firearms dealer in the country.

Again, we repeat - this is not an anti-gun campaign.  We seek to organize the church and others against illegal guns going to dangerous individuals. Please RSVP at your earliest convenience to Jim Atwood at jatwood1959@aol.com or 703-569-0046. Thanks for your attention.

Yours in Christ,

Dr. John Wimberly, Pastor, Western Presbyterian Church

Rev. Jim Atwood, (Ret)

Live Job Training from General Board of Discipleship

The General Board of Discipleship (GBOD) will be hosting two one-hour live job training sessions with follow-up resources online for:

Local church SPRC chairs on January 20, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. EDT/ 6:30 p.m. CDT/ 5:30 p.m. MDT/ 4:30 p.m. PDT 

Local church finance chairs, treasurers and financial secretaries on January 27, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. EDT/ 6:30 p.m. CDT/ 5:30 p.m. MDT/ 4:30 p.m. PDT

These sessions will be hosted by Betsey Heavner of GBOD Leadership Ministries. For more information or to sign up contact Betsey Heavner at bheavner@gbod.org.