News Digest of the Pacific Northwest United Methodist Church

United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) continues to offer support to those affected by the wildfires in Southern California.
It will be some weeks before the situation is such that volunteers will be an effective help. At that time UMCOR will notify the Jurisdictional Volunteer In Mission Coordinators (UMVIM) who will begin assessments and volunteer management training with California-Pacific Annual Conference staff . Anyone wishing to volunteer should contact the UMVIM coordinator for the western jurisdiction, Kurt and Jan Kaiser. Or in PNW conference, pleasecontact UMVIM coordinators Rev Ruth Mathis (ruthrev@aol.com) and Ronda Cordill (r_cordill@hotmail.com). Please do NOT go to the disaster region without the invitation from your UMVIM coordinators.

How You Can Help Now. Cash gifts are the most useful for the recovery effort during these early hours. Checks can be mailed to UMCOR PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087. Write "UMCOR Advance #901670, Domestic Disaster Response," on the memo line of your check. One hundred percent of every donation to any appeal, including appeals for California wildfires, goes to support the designated program.

Our Passion for Justice IV

Come join the Vancouver District for our fourth annual Passion For Justice Event. This year our keynote speaker will be Rev. Dr. Robert (Bob) Edgar (UM Elder, New Jersey Annual Conference), currently President and CEO of the national advocacy group Common Cause, formerly General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. The event will be held at Vancouver First UMC on Saturday, November 17, 2007 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Registration will begin at 9:30 am. Pre- Registration is $10.00 per person or $100.00 per Church - early registration deadline 11/12/2007. Registration at the door $12.00 per person. For more information and registration form please contact Sherry Wilson at 360-695-8598 or e-mail vandistumc@saw.net

October 19, #84

Update on Journals

To date, the Conference Office has distributed approximately 400 new Journals to pastors and churches without having to mail them. We have approximately 400 left to distribute. If you are a Pastor of a church who has not yet received their Journals and can stop by the Conference Office, or know someone who will be in Des Moines and can stop by the Conference Office and pick them up for you, please call Anna and let her know. We would like to save shipping costs. We will begin mailing Journals Wednesday, Oct. 24. You may reach Anna at: 800-755-7710/206-870-6803 or aconklin@pnwumc.org.

For those of you who have already received your Journals, please make the following changes to your Camp Sites and Directors page: Director: Brian White (please remove the Interim); address should be: N 22787 Twinlow Rd; email: twinlowcamp@msn.com; website: http://www.twinlowcamp.org

Jubilate News

Jubilate! Choir of the PNWUMC extends an invitation to join our 11th musical mission and international tour to the Philippines in August 2008. David Valera, Director of Connectional Ministries, and his parents will be our hosts for our two-week stay in Manila and the Baguio Episcopal Area. The Philippines offer us the only United Methodist Church connection in Asia. For details, go to the Jubilate! web site: www.gbgm- umc.org/jubilate! or contact Diane Walker, Registrar, at dbwalker@uidaho.edu. Registration date has been entended beyond the original date.

Attached is a release reporting the election of Bishop Felton E. May (retired) as interim general secretary of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries. The item can be found online at:http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/pr.cfm? articleid=4688

5 Day Academy for Spiritual Formation

"The Soul of Community: Formative - Redemptive - Prophetic" is the theme for the 2008 PNW 5 Day Academy for Spiritual Formation. Early registration deadline is November 30, 2007. Please see the PNW Conference website for a brochure and registration form or contact registrar DeLois Turley at dgturley@comcast.net or 9206) 363- 5223 for any questions or further information.

October 15, #83

The Episcopacy Committees of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska Conferences join Bishop Paup in announcing that his oversight of the Seattle Episcopal Area will be conducted from Alaska between October 17 and December 21, 2007. While he will be spending over 20 days of this period outside Alaska to fulfill commitments in PNW and in the wider connection, this "residential" approach will focus on United Methodist presence in Alaska in the midst of rapidly- changing opportunities. Although Bishop Paup has served Alaska for nearly 12 years, this will be the first time he has offered "residential" presence. Contact with the bishop can continue to be made through Mary Tapp, his Administrative Secretary in the Seattle office. Those in Alaska can contact him through the Alaska Conference office.

October 10, #82

UMNS Article

The United Methodist News Service released an article today regarding the United Methodist Associate Pastor who disclosed her homosexuality during a recent Sunday morning worship service. To view the entire article, please click here: http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp? c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=2433457&ct=4508923

October 9, #81

Pre-Christmas/Advent Resource from the PNW Stewardship Emphasis:

Congregational Study & Resource Guide for "Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case for a More Joyful Christmas" (by Bill McKibben)

To download this FREE Study & Resource Guide, please go to http://www.lnelsonww.pages.web.com/umfnw/id20. html, or call 800-488-4179 for a hardcopy.

It's easy to get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of Christmastime that we forget to ask: what is the real point of celebrating Christmas? Bill McKibben's (a writer and United Methodist Sunday school superintendent) practical little book - "Hundred Dollar Holiday" - suggests that, "The point is to emerge from Christmas with some real sense that Christ has come into your world." His book proposes ways in which we can better prepare our hearts to receive Christ, by letting go of some of the commercialism and frenzy that distract us the real point of Christmas.

The PNW Conference Stewardship Emphasis has created a free, one-to-three-session Study Guide to foster conversation and action around McKibben's book. In addition to thought-provoking discussion questions, the guide contains prayers and a resource section for celebrating a more meaningful and joyful Christmas. To download this free Study & Resource Guide please visit http://www.lnelsonww.pages.web.com/umfnw/id20. html, or call 800-488-4179 for a hardcopy. (To order copies of the book itself - at $12/each - please call the UM Foundation of the Northwest's Seattle office at 206-784-2369 or Alternatives for Simple Living at 800- 821-6153.)

NEWS fom the National Libraries of Medicine

Looking for handouts for health fairs and other events? Want to direct people to a reliable source of health information? Order free MedlinePlus cards, bookmarks and promotional materials. Go to MedlinePlus at http://medlineplus.gov/ and use the "contact us" link to request materials. Also visit http://www.informationrx.org to order information prescription pads as part of the Information Rx program to direct patients to MedlinePlus for quality health information they can trust. MedlinePlus is produced by the National Library of Medicine, an arm of the National Institutes of Health.

Parish Nurses, Health Ministers, Health Ministry Teams

We are attempting to update and compile a list of persons involved in Health Ministry in our Conference. If you are a Parish Nurse, Health Minister, a member of a Health Ministry Team or any other form of health ministry in your congregation, would you please send your name, address, phone and e-mail and a brief description of your ministry to Pat Truitt, Conference Health & Welfare Team chairperson, 23441 147th. Ave. S E , Kent, WA 98042, phone 253-630-1268, or e-mail pjtruitt@comcast.net. In addition to this information, please indicate if you give your permission to have this information added to a National UMC data base which is being compiled by Sharon Hinton, RN, BSN, PN, LP of the Rural Nurse Resource Parish Nurse Community Outreach of Floydada, TX, who is doing this under assignment of the General Board of Global Ministries Congregational Health Ministries. A database that we worked on a couple years ago has not had the desired outcome and we are not able to access that data for the current list.

Nov. 17 Homelessness Conference Provides Tool-kit for Organizations

You are invited to attend the Unite to End Homelessness: It All Starts At Home Faith Community/Service Organization Symposium on November 17, 2007 at Bellevue City Hall, 450 110th Ave. NE, Bellevue, WA (repeated November 18, 2007 at Temple B'nai Torah, Bellevue, for those who observe a Saturday Sabbath). The event, sponsored by the Fannie Mae Foundation, the Church Council of Greater Seattle, the City of Seattle, and King County, among other organizations, will bring together groups from across King County to discuss in practical, hands-on terms, how to create permanent housing and integrate that housing with appropriate services. The symposium will be based on the actual programs and experiences of faith communities and service organizations in King County, and will be "taught" by the people who are actually implementing those programs. Each attendee will go home with a resource book that can be an ongoing reference manual as each group explores its options. For more information, visit www.thechurchcouncil.org or contact Ann Erickson at 206-525-1213 x 3035 or AErickson@thechurchcouncil.org. To register for this free symposium, go to http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/22110. We hope to see you there!

"The Soul of Community: Formative - Redemptive - Prophetic"

is the theme for the 2008 PNW 5 Day Academy for Spiritual Formation. The Academy will be held at Palisades Retreat Center in Federal Way from February 24-29, 2008. Presenters Rabbi David Horowitz and Kathryn Damiano (a lifelong Quaker) will help participants discover how the early Jewish and Christian communities "caught" their faith through commitment to spiritual practices and rituals that gave meaning to everyday life. With the dissolution of our traditional faith communities and the restructuring of our contemporary faith communities, an identity crisis can be experienced. With this in mind, Rabbi David and Kathryn will review the formative, redemptive and prophetic aspects of faith communities and how that applies to our current situations and experiences of change. Early registration deadline is November 30, 2007. Please see the PNW Conference website for a brochure and registration form or contact registrar DeLois Turley at dgturley@comcast.net or (206) 363- 5223 for any questions or further information.

Please remember to check on local church events by clicking here: http://www.pnwumc.org/html/localchurch.html

Please remember to check on job openings by clicking here: http://www.pnwumc.org/html/jobopenings.html

October 8, #80

Global Mission Newsletter H.A.I.L. (Here Am I, Lord!)

Issue #6 has been posted at the conference mission website: www.pnwumc.org/missions. To have future issues of this email newsletter delivered to you directly, click on "Join Our Mailing List!" under the Quick Links section and enter your email address. If you are already subscribing to other conference newsletters, you may be told: "You are already a member of the PNW Annual Conference mailing list. If you would like to update your profile, please re-type your email address below and instructions will be emailed to you." Just follow the instructions.

September Channels

September Channels has been posted to our website. You can download either the grayscale or color version by clicking here: http://www.pnwumc.org

2007 Journal

The 2007 Journal is now available for download from our website. To view/download the file, please click here: http://www.pnwumc.org/2007annualconference

A New Heaven and A New Earth, Cultural Competency Training

A New Heaven and A New Earth, Cultural Competency Training for the Northwest with Rev. Eric Law, Tues. November 6, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM at Peace Lutheran Church in Tacoma. This is the first in a series of cultural competency trainings that will fulfill the quadrennial requirement for clergy of the PNW Conference. PNW Conference is in partnership with Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches, Evangelical Lutheran Church in American Region 1, and Episcopal Diocese of Olympia in this offering. Clergy and lay are invited to attend. Cost is $50.00 per person or up to five persons from one congregation for $150. For flyer, brochure, registration and driving directions go to http://www.pnwumc.org under events. Space is limited. Please register soon.

"Beyond the Band-Aid: Charity, Justice and the Call of Faith"

Almost 10,000 South King County families live below the poverty level. South King County has more than twice the number of public school students enrolled in the federal Free and Reduced Price Lunch Program than the City of Seattle - more than three times as many as all the rest of King County! You are invited to a conference to educate and mobilize individuals and the faith community to address hunger and poverty in South King County. "Beyond the Band-Aid: Charity, Justice and the Call of Faith" Saturday, October 13 from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM at Kent Lutheran Church. The conference will give opportunity to hear from individuals and agencies about policies to address these sources of injustice. Register by phone at 206- 464-4133 or by email at hungerforum@gmail.com

Please remember to check on local church events by clicking here: http://www.pnwumc.org/html/localchurch.html

Please remember to check on job openings by clicking here: http://www.pnwumc.org/html/jobopenings.html

October 5, #79

Prayers

Pastor Jin Ming Ma's mother who lived in China, passed away on October 1. Please keep Pastor Ma and her family in your prayers.