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/discipleship-academy. 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 and yesterday to all pastors and churches. Please share this information with your congregation!


Annual Conference Registration Now Open!
We are excited to announce that registration for the 2011 Annual Conference of The Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church is now open. Again this year, the conference will be held at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel, Baltimore Maryland and will be on Thursday through Saturday, May 26 – 28, 2011. Six pre-conference workshops are scheduled for the afternoon of Wednesday, May 25, 2011. Detailed information about the conference and workshops can be found at http://www.bwcumc.org/content/2011annualconferenceoverview.
We encourage you to take advantage of early-bird registration rates through March 8, 2011. Registration closes on April 8, 2011.

Details regarding the arrangements for the Ordination at Lovely Lane United Methodist Church on Friday, May 27, 2011 are still being worked out. You are encouraged to check the BWC website regularly as we expect to add new features and will continually provide updates on important information regarding the conference schedule along with other details as they are made available.
We’re looking forward to having a spiritually renewing conference this year as we “Connect as One.”

Dare to Imagine Art Contest
Imagine what the world would be like if there was no more malaria, no more suffering or death because of a mosquito. Imagine there being clean water in a third world country safe to drink. Imagine how we get there from here—how would you tell that story?

Children and youth grades K-12 are invited to participate in an art contest to help illustrate what the world would be like if there was no more malaria. Sunday school classes, youth groups and individuals alike are all invited to join in.

It’s more than a one-of-a-kind piece of art, it’s more than buying a net, it’s more than saving one child from this deadly disease, it’s “nets plus”— prevention, education, medication and treatment across all of Africa as mosquitoes know no borders.

Can you imagine what the world will look like if we synergize all of those components together to rid malaria from this earth?

Ages Groups
• Elementary school grades K-2
• Elementary school grades 3-5
• Middle School grades 6-8
• High School grades 9-12

There will be one winner from each age group. Each winner will receive:
• A cash donation to “Imagine No Malaria” in their name
• Imagine No Malaria t-shirt
• Lunch with Bishop John Schol

The contest will run February 1 through April 11, 2011 and the winners will be announced on World Malaria Day, April 25, 2011.

All entries should be submitted to:
Baltimore-Washington Conference UMC
11711 East Market Place
Fulton, MD 20759
Attn: Imagine No Malaria Art Contest

Each art piece should not exceed 11”x14” and the student’s name, grade, church name and church phone number should be attached to each piece of art. A registration form should also be completed and sent in with the art work.

We encourage creativity and therefore any medium is welcome— paper or canvas with watercolors, charcoal, oils, color pencils, pencil, chalk, markers, photography, etc. Please remember to have students sign their art pieces.

Please note that all art submitted will become the property of the Baltimore-Washington Conference to be sold at The Annual Conference in May with all proceeds going to the Imagine No Malaria campaign. For more information contact Jo Chesson at jchesson@bwcumc.org.

Special Sundays Information
One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) (April 3, 2011) is one of the six church-wide Special Sundays with offerings of The United Methodist Church. OGHS enables the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to live out its mission to alleviate human suffering.

UMCOR is the humanitarian arm of The United Methodist Church. OGHS gifts underwrite UMCOR’s “costs of doing business,” meaning that every penny of every gift you make to a specific UMCOR project will be spent on that project—not on office administrative costs. This enables UMCOR to respond to natural or human made disasters.

The OGHS offering makes ministries available in the United State and across the globe. In 81 countries in all, you assure the United Methodist Church is in the lead to alleviate suffering through OGHS.

Restoration. Healing. Hope. Jesus teaches us to bring healing and restoration wherever we can. That’s what you and your congregation do through the work of UMCOR.

Join United Methodists everywhere by encouraging your congregation to participate in the special offering that supports UMCOR’s vital work. Your gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing lay the foundation for UMCOR to bring restoration, healing and hope for tomorrow.

Call (888) 346-3862 today to order envelopes and other resources so your congregation can participate in this church-wide offering. They will be sent at no cost to your church! Find more at www.umcgiving.org/specialsundays.
MissionInsite Training – New Demographics Tool
MissionInsite is a powerful, new online tool to help equip congregations with information about their community demographics. The Baltimore-Washington Conference has purchased a subscription for this tool for all local churches in the conference. With this tool you will receive desktop, web-based access to demographic data to help you grow your congregations and enhance your ministries. In addition you will have:
• flexible web-based information system
• comprehensive socioeconomic and lifestyle data
• interactive mapping platform
• responsive system to answer individual questions
• strategic information resource for ministry
You’re invited to attend a free training that will help get you started with this user-friendly and versatile tool. Peter Wernett, co-owner of MissionInsite, will train you at three convenient locations:

May 18 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. (Washington and Baltimore Region Clergy and Laity)
Baltimore-Washington Conference Mission Center
11711 East Market Place
Fulton, MD 20759

May 19 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. (Western Region Clergy and Laity)
Emmanuel UMC
802 Summit Ave
Hagerstown MD, 21740

May 19 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. (Annapolis-Southern Region Clergy and Laity)
Mt. Oak UMC
14110 Mount Oak Rd
Mitchellville MD, 20721-1208

Registrations are required to attend this free training. Please go to http://www.bwcumc.org/content/missioninsite and click on the register now for training link at the bottom of the page.

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 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 May 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.