Gateway Training
Registration for our Gateway Trainings is now up and running. Please go to http://www.bwcumc.org/gateway/gatewaytraining to register. Registration is free but required since many of our trainings are limited due to space constraints. For most of our trainings we will be offering them at multiple locations and multiple times. You can select which location and time work best for you.



Discipler Groups/Charge Conference Schedules – Please check the listings since some changes/updates have been made to the schedules!
The Discipler Groups and Charge Conference Schedule listings can be found on the website. Discipler Groups at http://www.bwcumc.org/resources/disciplergroups and Charge Conference Schedule Listings at http://www.bwcumc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/WashRegionChgConf2011.pdf.



Churches that applied for the Small Employer Tax Credit
From: BWC Benefits Office (pastors and church admin – please be sure to get this information to the appropriate people in your church)

This is in response to inquiries from several local churches who received follow-up inquiries from the IRS regarding their claims. The General Board has issued information regarding how to respond to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests for documentation for the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit—specifically what to provide as a “certificate of insurance” or “insurance policy.” More details are provided http://www.gbophb.org/TheWell/Root/HFLX/4272.pdf.

If you are not one of the churches that applied for the Tax Credit, please disregard this message.



Free Resources for Your Church
What does it really mean to be a United Methodist? Here are resources that we hope you will encourage your churches to use, they will find the answer to this question—and more—in these resources.

These free resources are available to you and are shipped via UPS at no charge.
Order online at www.umcgiving.org/store; e-mail csc@umcom.org; call toll free (888) 346-3862.

“The People of The United Methodist Church” U.M. Handbook—Product #8420020
“Together We Can” brochure—Product #420809
“Who We Are” brochure—Product #420709
“Together We Can” DVD—Product #500310
“Why We Apportion”—Product #500810
“Why We Give”—Product#500710

Thank you for making these materials available through your congregations’ generous support of the World Service Fund apportionment.



Interpreter Enrollment – Free Subscriptions
Pastors/Church Leaders: It’s time to enroll or re-enroll so you can receive free subscriptions to Interpreter magazine - the denomination’s top-rated resource for ministry tips and tools.

Interpreter magazine will send the 2012 enrollment forms directly to each church, and should arrive sometime in early August. Your support for taking advantage of this subscription opportunity can make a difference. Please fill out your enrollment forms as soon as they receive them to take advantage of the opportunity to equip 10 of your leaders with this important “how-to” publication.



Bishop’s Day Apart with Laity Event Information
Bishop’s Laity Day Apart
Saturday, September 24, 2011
9:00am-3:00pm
Frederick: Trinity United Methodist Church
Come and join Bishop Schol as we fellowship and are inspired by Kim Miller, the worship leader at Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church in Ohio. The theme for the day will be Vital Worship: Celebrate, Engage, Inspire, and Transform. This is going to be an amazingly uplifting day for all of the Conference laity. For more information and to register go to http://www.bwcumc.org/events/bishopsdayapart. We look forward in seeing you.



Discipleship Academy – New Class Added
A New Fall Class will been added to the Discipleship Academy web pages today under Other Classes and Workshops and School of Church Leadership.

How to Start New Worship Services -- Rev. Andy Lunt, Instructor
According to Dr. Charles Arn, president of Church Growth, Inc., eight out of ten congregations that add a new style of worship service to their weekly schedule will experience a measurable increase in 1) total attendance, 2) total giving, and 3) total conversions.

This workshop will address the nuts and bolts of starting a new worship service in your congregation. This “how to” workshop will offer practical experience to address what it takes to start and grow a new worship experience so that it becomes an established part of you church’s ministry and helps your congregation to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

The workshop will be most helpful if a team including pastor and laity attends from each congregation. The session will include times for beginning to talk about and develop specific strategies for each congregation’s particular setting.

For more information contact Christine Kumar at ckumar@bwcumc.org
Instructor: Rev. Andy Lunt
Registration fee: $35, optional box lunch $10
NO walk-in registrations will be accepted.

Location: Baltimore-Washington Conference Mission Center
11711 East Market Place
Fulton, MD 20759
September 10, 2011
9am-3pm
$35 online registration paying by credit card NO WALK-INs
$10 box lunch
To register, go to http://www.bwcumc.org/academy/newworshipservices.



Personal/Office Safety Seminar
There will be five FREE seminars available throughout the Baltimore-Washington Conference to cover office, church and personal safety.

A local county police officer will be present at each location to discuss:
• Your personal safety
• The prevention of office theft and robberies.
• Office and elevator safety
• Parking lot/Garage safety
• Identity Theft
• And other useful information

Dates and locations of Safety Trainings include:
• Aug. 25, 2011, 10 a.m. — 12 p.m.
BWC Mission Center, 11711 E. Market Place, Fulton, MD 20759
• Aug. 30, 2011, 9 a.m. — 12 p.m.
Williamsport UMC, 25 E. Church St., Williamsport, MD 21795
• Aug. 31, 2011, 10 a.m. — 12 p.m.
Huntingtown UMC, 4020 Hunting Creek Rd., Huntingtown, MD 20639
• Sept. 1, 2011, 9 a.m. — 12 p.m.
Cresaptown UMC, 14805 McMullen Hwy SW, Cresaptown, MD 21502
• Sept. 8, 2011, 2 — 4 p.m.
Trinity UMC, 703 W. Patrick St., Frederick, MD 21701

The classes are FREE so register on-line today!
You will need your Gateway User ID and Password to register at: http://www.bwcumc.org/events/safetyseminars.



OCTOBER 8-10, 2011
Imagine 15,000 United Methodists all working together in mission in their communities. The Change the World Mission Day will celebrate the spirit of United Methodism, a faith built on social action. Congregations will be encouraged to move outside the walls of their local churches to serve in their communities.

Check the website below to:
• Register your church or group;
• Download lots of resources - sermon series, study tools for Youth & Young Adults, a Children's supplement, flyers, & tips for promoting your event;
• Download promotional videos; and,
• Connect with others on the event’s Facebook page.

For more information contact Olivia Gross at ogross@bwcumc.org
Imagine 15,000 United Methodists Working Together to Make Positive Changes in their Communities

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10

The Change the World Mission Work Day of the Baltimore-Washington Conference on October 8-10, will celebrate the spirit of United Methodism, a faith built on social action. We invite you and your congregation to move outside the walls of your local churches to serve in your communities.

Join us, and be one of 15,000, all lending hands and hearts to change the world by registering your church or organization at www.bwcumc.org/events/changetheworld.



Beware of Bogus Website
Please read and share the information below from Dave Schoeller, Business Data Analyst in at the Mission Center about a website address very similar to the General Board of Global Ministries.

The General Board’s web address is http://www.gbgm-umc.org/. Unfortunately, there is another website www.gbgm.org, that does nothing but immediately pop up an advertisement window and locks up your browser so that you cannot do anything other than click the “OK” button.

If you stumble on the bogus site, DO NOT CLICK THE OK BUTTON on the pop-up window. If you click the “OK” button, you may infect your computer with a virus and create a security breach on our (your) network.

Protect your PC and the BWC by using Control-Alt-Delete so that you can forcibly close your browser application. In fact, this is a good solution if you ever face that type of situation with a website that is behaving in a similar manner.



Engaging in Ministry with the Poor Workshop
Are you or your lay leaders engaging in ministry with the poor, yearn to do so but don’t know how or are looking to take another step to in developing authentic relationships and partnerships and welcome their neighbors into a worshiping community?  If so perhaps you would be interested in Working and Worshiping Together: Next Steps in Engaging in Ministry With the Poor at the  UM Church for All People in Columbus, OH, Oct. 29-Nov. 1, 2011, which will include presentations, workshops and a ministry practicum.  For more information or to register, go to http://www.4allpeople.org/training.html or contact George Howard at ghoward@4allpeople.net or - 614-445-7342.