|
|
To submit news items, stories, or corrections for inclusion in the newsletter, email the conference Communications Office at [email protected].
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top Story
|
|
Three VAUMC members to be commissioned EarthKeepers
|
Global Ministries will commission 67 new EarthKeepers in an online service on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 8 p.m. EST. From the Virginia Conference, the following individuals will be recognized:
|
Rev. Dori Baker
Lincoln Baker
Jaydee Hanson
|
This service will affirm the EarthKeepers in their call to the ministry of creation care and bless their work in their communities. The service will be livestreamed at www.facebook.com/GlobalMinistries.
Global Ministries EarthKeepers is a training program to equip United Methodists in the United States for environmental stewardship. Participants discuss theology, United Methodist resources, community organizing and antiracism, and then use what they learn to develop an environmental project for their churches and communities. The program supports people looking to turn an idea into action and those who want to deepen an existing ministry. Participants develop plans in conversation with their peers, troubleshooting ideas and sharing strategies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Find Soul Feast webinars, resources
Bishop Sue and Martha Stokes, conference lay leader, invite the Virginia Conference to explore spiritual disciplines from September 2024 to June 2025. The book, Soul Feast, by Marjorie J. Thompson will help guide this initiative with a different spiritual practice focus each month. On the first Monday of each month, there will be a live webinar to discuss the next spiritual discipline and suggested resources will also be shared. The webinars will be available with Korean and Spanish subtitles for later viewing.
It will be recorded and made available for later viewing.
Learn more, find resources, watch past webinars and register for upcoming webinars...
|
|
Bishops hear call to be an ‘Ephesians church’
|
UNITED METHODIST NEWS--On U.S. Election Day, United Methodist bishops heard about the ongoing work of overcoming racism and tribalism. A theologian urged them to look to the Bible for guidance.
|
|
|
|
UM Day at the General Assembly
|
|
In the Virginia Conference we have been change makers in our great Commonwealth for over 30 years. We are excited to be back in person in Richmond for United Methodist Day at the General Assembly on January 30, 2025, after two years of meeting virtually. When we gather together will have arranged visits with our Senators to discuss issues that are relevant to our faith with direction from our friends and partners at Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP). You also have the opportunity to speak to your Delegates if you plan the visit and we can help you schedule that if needed. One of the ways we put our faith in action is by advocating for the least, the last, and the lost at the General Assembly. We hope that you will come and join us virtually in Richmond as we continue our legacy as change makers here in our Commonwealth.
|
Early Bird Registrations valid through December 20, 2024 – $25
Regular Registration closes on January 17, 2025 – $35
Student Registration – $10
|
|
If you have any questions about this event, please contact Heather Wray at [email protected]
|
|
Registration closes on January 17, 2025
|
|
|
|
Register for VWU no-cost professional development workshops
|
Registration for Virginia Wesleyan University's winter session of no-cost, in-person and online professional development workshops is now open. In partnership with the Virginia Beach Department of Economic Development, Virginia Wesleyan offers a continuing series of courses through VWU Global Campus. These classes join other comprehensive non-degree courses designed to provide advanced skills valued by employers.
|
|
Register today* to get access to these training courses and improve your professional skill set—perfect for job seekers, business owners, students, recent graduates, and volunteers.
|
|
In-Person Workshops: November 25 - December 20, 2024
|
CompTIA A+ Boot Camp
CompTIA Data+
CompTIA Security+
Entrepreneurship
Public Speaking Mastery
Online Workshops: December 15, 2024 – January 25, 2025
|
Developing Leadership: From Theory to Practice
Building Strong Internal Teams
|
Students who successfully complete their course(s) will earn a certificate of completion. For more information, contact VWU Global Campus at 757.233.8789 or at [email protected].
|
|
|
|
|
|
November—Native American Heritage Month
by: Larry Jent
If the months of the year held a beauty pageant, October would win—hands down. Oh sure, April and May would get a few votes. The verdant promise of new life budding… Trout lilies, bloodroot and serviceberry rising triumphantly from the snow… Black bears shake off their slumbers, as do their two-legged kin.
But none can match October’s glory. The busy-ness of life gives way to the touch of frost. The engines of chlorophyll and photosynthesis coast to a silent stop. The green fades away, revealing the true colors locked inside the leaves. All Creation shouts a glorious farewell, as winter’s rest creeps in.
But—glorious as they may be—these are not my favorites. My soul lives for November.
Now is the season of spicy wood smoke, curling around the chimney, intertwining the autumn mists. The old ones taught me that those swirling wisps of fog are not mere haze on the mountains. They are the Ancestors, embracing the earth, and dancing in the sun.
November’s touch reaches into the closet as well. Out comes my wife’s favorite sweater, still carrying a faint hint of her favorite perfume. I reach for my old leather jacket, long since moulded around my shoulders like the embrace of an old friend.
Harvest is over, but the hearth is alive. Stew pots bubble their savory delights. Apple butter simmers with incense of cinnamon and sorghum. Winter squash is fresh out of the oven, bathed in butter, bringing warmth and comfort.
November pulls me into the woods with irresistible siren calls. Crunching through the carpet of October, I behold the leathery rainbow of Appalachia, and the earth wears a mantle of gold. A month ago the hills were shouting glory. Now, they whisper—all the more enticing for their understated joy.
The chilling winds cannot silence mighty oak trees, resplendent in shades of auburn, rust, and golden tan. Beech trees cling defiantly to their bronze display. In October, we could not hear their voices over the shouts of maple and gum. Now, their confident whispers steal the show. They will be there to rattle—nearly silent—as the snow graces their branches. The quiet cadence sets a sacred rhythm to the dance.
Overhead, the winged ones join the song. Raptors ride rivers of air back to Appalachia to keep vigil over the mountains. Geese, bound for the Louisiana delta, add their lonesome cries. Ducks on pinwheel wings dart along the rivers and marshes. In the forest below, the buck exults in his majestic visage. His place as king of the forest will soon fade, but for now he is the ruler of this domain.
Only the mountains live forever.
In November, all Creation embraces the death that must soon follow. As I walk through this whispering wood, I know the time is coming when I, too, must die. It is only in dying to what has been that I can embrace what is yet to be. That is the Medicine Wheel of life.
And that is why I love November.
I am sure there are seasons of the soul in the next world. I know this, because four seasons would improve the place, and I am sure the Creator realized that before me. There will be blooming resurrection, and times of warmth, with glorious shouts of color. But if you want to look me up, you will find me walking through eternal November. On crisp mornings, I may take a field trip back to Appalachia. I’ll be one of those ancestors, dancing in the mist.
|
|
A Moment for Mission
|
UNITED METHODIST RESOURCES--“Taste and see how good the Lord is! The one who takes refuge in him is truly happy!” —Psalm 34:8, CEB
|
The Maskoke Seminole language is among the 7,000-plus indigenous languages globally that are on the brink of extinction. From across Oklahoma to east of the Mississippi, only about 350 fluent Maskoke speakers remain. Marcus Briggs-Cloud is racing against time to revive the language he considers key to his tribe’s culture, history and identity.
|
|
“I [used] to think that a viable solution to language loss was that you get in a classroom and you teach the language,” said Briggs-Cloud, a former language instructor for the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma. “I realized nobody has ever learned a language sitting in a classroom.”
|
For the past 16 years, Briggs-Cloud has worked toward creating an ecovillage, located in a parcel of the tribe’s ancestral homelands in what is now Weogufka, Alabama.
|
“I wanted to make an ecovillage community where we can be good to the earth, keep our language and culture alive, and be able to live as a full-time Indian so that we don’t have to schedule a ceremony at the mercy of the American labor force schedule,” he said.
|
|
November—Native American Heritage Month—is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people. Briggs-Cloud is playing an important role. He hopes that in 25 years, Ekvn-Yefolecv Maskoke ecovillage will be a place where one can still hear the Maskoke language spoken fluently. Read more...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Resourcing Opportunities
|
Church Social Media assistance
|
If your church is interested in working with a company related to social media, a resource the Board of Communications would share with local churches is KL Media Management. KL Media Management can help churches with:
|
- content creation
- social media management
- page management
|
There is exclusive group pricing now available for United Methodist churches in the Virginia Conference. Special savings are unlocked when 51 or more churches join. Contact KL Media Management owner William "Kenny" Lucord to learn more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other VAUMC Communications Channels
|
|
|
Public Notice Board
Clergy and laity can crowdsource for ideas and resources within the connection through the Public Notice Board. Find the newest notices and share your question or find past queries at the conference website.
Also find free items for giveaway at the conference website.
|
|
Please send in questions you have that you would like to find answers to: [email protected].
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
