Watoto Children’s Choir (From Kampala, Uganda)
The Watoto Children’s Choir will be performing on Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 7 p.m. at the Brighter Day United Methodist Church (Congress Heights Campus), 421 Alabama Ave, SE, Washington, DC 20032. Everyone is invited to attend.


Discipleship Academy
Lay Speaking and classes on church leadership are being offered this March and April. Detailed information can be found on:
http://www.bwcumc.org/microsites/g/cls/clswashington(lay speaking) or http://www.bwcumc.org/microsites/g/scl/sclwashington (church leadership)

Registration is online. Due to space and food constraints, we will not allow walk-in registrations on the day of the event.
Registration closes on March 5 for the March 19 and 26 classes in the Greater Washington District. Please be sure to register on Gateway as soon as you can. A flyer was sent out last week to all pastors and churches. Please share this information with your congregation!

ERT Training
The Washington Region of the The Baltimore Washington Conference needs YOU to Volunteer to be Trained as an ERT Member.
What is an ERT? An ERT is an Early Response Team.

What does an ERT do?
• Provide a caring Christian presence in the aftermath of a disaster.
• Takes steps to prevent further damage to a person’s property. i.e. tarping, chain saw work, debris removal, cleaning out flooded homes, manage donated materials, observe survivors’ needs, etc.
Training is March 5, 2011 Time: 8:00am - 4:00pm at
Fairhaven United Methodist Church
12801 Darnestown Road
Darnestown, MD
Fellowship Hall
To register contact Rev. Gerry Green at 301-330-9828 or therevjr@msn.com of your interest to attend. He will answer any questions, provide the details, and sign you up for the training. Registration ends February 28, 2011.
Cost: $25 for training which will include a background check

Who can register : YOU if 18 or older and interested in being trained and certified to respond to natural disasters within in the Baltimore-Washington Conference or by invitation to other conferences.



PASTOR’S FORUM – EMERGENCY APPEAL TO HELP WOMEN VETERANS

Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 10 AM
Douglas Memorial United Methodist Church
800 11th Street NE, Washington, D.C. 20002
202-397-1562
The Pastor’s Forum is sponsored by the Urban Connection of Greater Washington, a group of 13 United Methodist Churches, who have opened their doors to service meet the needs by providing essential services and programs. We are asking for your support. Many women Veterans experience mental and physical trauma during their deployment or military service. The number of homeless women is increasing and a great number are unable to find employment post deployment, as a result, they are losing their children.

Currently, there are 13 Women Veterans Resource Center satellites in the Washington area offering a variety of services for women Veterans. We are asking churches of all denominations to join in this ministry of serving women Veterans and their families by becoming a satellite.

The Women Veterans Resource Center satellites allow us to minister to these women Veterans with counseling, food, career clothing closet, job readiness skills, housing, drama therapy, computer services and a host of other services.

The Center for Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnership, the Mayor’s Executive Office of Veterans Affairs, the Center for Minority Veterans, the Veteran History Project and other Veteran Agencies are working collaboratively with us to provide information on services available to our women Veterans, and how to access these resources. Our goal is to have you, our churches adequately informed so that you churches can pick up a part of the responsibility to help our women Veterans and their families.

STAND WITH US......

......We are called of God to serve the least, last and the lost.....


Celebration Service for A. David Argo
Join us as we celebrate A. David Argo as he completes eight years of service as District Superintendent for the Washington Region.

Saturday, June 4, 2011 at 3 p.m.
Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church
3401 Nebraska Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20016

Light refreshments will be served.
Cards or letters of appreciation can be sent to Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, 11711 East Market Place, Fulton, MD 20759.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP by Mary 30, 2011 to the Washington Region at washregion@bwcumc.org.

Renewal 2011
This is a great way to train and support worship arts leaders (musicians, worship committees, preachers) in the local church.

Journey to the Mountain
July 11-14, 2011
Colorado Springs, CO

For more information, go to www.UMFellowship.org/Convocation.

“Nothing but Nets” Expands Imagine No Malaria
The BWC campaign has expanded into the dominion wide campaign called . . . Imagine No Malaria is an extraordinary ministry of the people of The United Methodist Church to eliminate death and suffering from malaria in Africa by 2015. Imagine No Malaria is our next step in the fight against this killer disease.
The collective embrace of Nothing But Nets has shown we have the capacity to do more. Think of Imagine No Malaria as “Nets Plus.” God has provided an opportunity to rethink how we reach beyond our church and connect with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and that opportunity is Imagine No Malaria.
“Plus” means a comprehensive approach to empower an entire continent to eliminate death and suffering from malaria. Because malaria knows no borders in Africa, we are taking a comprehensive approach to help blanket the continent.

־ Prevention: Continue to provide life-saving bed nets through Nothing But Nets. We will also work to break the mosquito life-cycle by draining water whenever possible.
־ Education: We will train community health workers to reach and teach people in rural areas with critical information to flight malaria.
־ Communication: Where TV and newspapers are not available, we will help deliver messages of hope and healing through radio and cell phones.
־ Treatment: We increase access-to-quality-care by equipping hospitals and improving health infrastructure to adequately serve the needs of the communities.

We work with partners like the United Nations Foundation, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the people of Africa to achieve a sustainable victory over malaria.

NOTE: Resources to help share information about this ministry are available on the BWC website. You will find hands-on activities, flyers, bulletin covers, posters, newsletter ads, a training presentation and much more.

How is your church making a difference through Imagine No Malaria? We'd love to hear how you are serving in this ministry. E-mail czimmerman@bwcumc.org with your story.
Donations checks can be made payable to “BWCUMC” but in the memo line please put “Imagine No Malaria” and mail it to the BWC Conference Mission Center, 11711 East Market Place, Fulton, MD 20759.



Questions about taxes, W-2 forms and I-9’s?
If you have questions about taxes, W-2 forms and I-9’s, please go to http://www.gcfa.org/ls_CTP.html. We suggest you access the information from GCFA then contact accounting professionals for any additional information.



Updating Leadership in Gateway
It is very important the all new leaders be assigned to your church in Gateway. To do this, you will need to log into Gateway and then click on Committee Overview. Then click on Committee Participation and Update. Then Local Church Leadership Committee. For more information on how to make changes to your Leadership Committee, you can go to http://www.bwcumc.org/content/gateway-resources and click on the Introduction To Gateway Manual.


Free Resource: Guide to Business Digital Etiquette
A fellow member of PAUMCS (Professional Association of United Methodist Church) shared this link to this Guide to Business Digital Etiquette. The guide touches on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, teleconferencing and more. It has some good information that we can keep in mind for personnel policy manuals, when speaking to small groups, and more. To access the guide, go to www.officeteam.com/candidatefreeresources and click on the listed link.