Tentative General Conference dates publicized
Special Session of General Conference 2019, St. Louis, MO After the pandemic-caused postponement, the new prospective dates for The United Methodist Church’s General Conference are Aug. 31-Sept. 10, 2021. The Council of Bishops disclosed the proposed dates, including...
ERT Certificate Training – January 7, 2023
January ERT Training (Southwest Area) Date: Saturday, January 7, 2023 Time: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm Where: Bethlehem UMC (13586 S Old Moneta Rd, Moneta, VA 24121) Instructor: Steve Cass Cost: $35 For more information, contact Carolyn Koontz
Youth Mission Encounter events offered at four locations
The Virginia Conference Serving Office is offering four locations for a winter Youth Mission Encounter Event on the theme Community in the Midst of Challenging Times. A time to learn and share will be held at the following: Feb 4 - Occohannock on the Bay (led by the...
Open eyes lead to new windows for family in need
Open eyes lead to new windows for family in need By the Rev. RJ Jun, Director of Serving Ministries The Serving Ministries office received a call from The Open Table in August. This agency is an Advance Special Partner of the Virginia Conference...
EVC will shut down December 12; UnityWeb Database begins January 2023
The Virginia Conference’s UnityWeb database is the new web-based system used to connect local churches, districts, and conference people and structures. This database will replace the Equipping Vital Congregations (EVC) system during the second half of December and...
VAUMC ERT TO FL
Members of a volunteer team from the North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church clear storm debris and damaged kitchen items from a home that was flooded by Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, FL. PHOTO: Mike DuBose, UM NewsJoin the VAUMC ERT to Florida ...
VAUMC ERT to FL snapshots
VAUMC ERT to Florida ERT (Early Response Team) is a group of certified volunteers deployed to areas hit by disasters to help clean up the house so homeowners can start the recovery journey. The rebuilding phase starts after ERT members finish cleaning up. Usually, the...
Conference invited to Richmond event to bid farewell to Bishop Lewis
Bishop Sharma D. Lewis will be ending her episcopal tenure in the Virginia Conference and beginning as the episcopal leader for the Mississippi Conference effective January 1, 2023. Virginia Conference members will have the opportunity to show appreciation and bid...
Aren’t we all odd buckets?
By Bill Pike , Trinity UMC, Richmond On the morning of Friday, November 11, I suspect some of the bucket brigade who showed up at the Virginia Conference office to move and load flood buckets are a bit stiff, maybe achy in the arms and shoulders, and moving a little...
United Methodist churches throughout Virginia aid in disaster relief
Bucket brigades formed in large and small congregations to create cleaning kits needed for disaster relief November 10, 2022 GLEN ALLEN, VA – The Rev. Bob Pihlcrantz, the disaster coordinator for the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church (VAUMC),...
Love Has No Boundaries
Luray United Methodist Church and Our Brothers and Sisters in Stavropol By Walt Surratt, Luray UMC (Editor’s Note: Some Virginia Conference congregations have an ongoing relationship with United Methodist congregations in Ukraine and Russia. A previous story focused...
Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson assigned to Virginia
November 4, 2022 Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson was assigned to the Virginia Conference (Richmond Episcopal Area) during the morning business session on November 4, 2022 during the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. Bishop Haupert-Johnson was elected bishop by the...
SEJ passes three resolutions in evening session
By Jessica Brodie LAKE JUNALUSKA, North Carolina Nov. 3, 2022—With episcopal elections finished, delegates to the 2022 Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference turned their attention to three resolutions, ultimately passing all of them Thursday night even amid much...
‘You are my family’ Dr. Robin Dease elected SEJ’s third bishop
By Jessica Brodie LAKE JUNALUSKA, North Carolina—It took the entire afternoon and into the evening, but on the 25th ballot of the 2022 session, the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference elected South Carolina’s Dr. Robin Dease as its third and final bishop. Dease’s...
SEJ Thursday Morning Brings Strong Word but No Election
By Jessica Brodie LAKE JUNALUSKA, North Carolina - Nov. 3, 2022—Day Two of the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference started with much hope there would be the third and final episcopal election that morning. But after two invalid votes and the withdrawal from the...
SEJ elects Shelton as bishop, explores resolutions and hears thoughts on future from young people
By Jessica Brodie LAKE JUNALUSKA, North Carolina (Nov. 2, 2022)—SEJ elected Dr. Connie Shelton as its second bishop late Wednesday, ending a day filled with 12 ballots, passage of a $1.5 million jurisdictional budget, committee reports and a bit of contention over...
SEJ elects first bishop of session
By Jessica Brodie LAKE JUNALUSKA, North Carolina—“We have an election.” With those words from Bishop David Graves, the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference welcomed its first episcopal election of the 2022 session, announcing Tom Berlin as the first-elected bishop....
Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference elects Tom Berlin as bishop
By Heather Hahn Contributions by Madeline Pillow White Nov. 2, 2022 | LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. (UM News) The Rev. Thomas M. Berlin, lead pastor of Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, Virginia, has been elected as bishop in The United Methodist Church’s Southeastern...
Ballots continue during Nov. 2 SEJ afternoon session
By Madeline White Bishop Sharma D. Lewis, episcopal leader of the Richmond Area, presided over the afternoon session beginning at 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, November 2, 2022. Ballot #1 was shared, and there was no election. Three hundred and fifty-two (352) votes...
SEJ Kicks Off With Opening Worship, Morning Business, First Ballot
By Jessica Brodie LAKE JUNALUSKA, North Carolina—Delegates, reserves, bishops, volunteers and members of the media filled the seats of Stuart Auditorium early Wednesday, Nov. 2, for the first day of the 2022 session of the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. The...
Clergy Excellence announces new program and administrative coordinator
The Center for Clergy Excellence is excited to announce that the Rev. Lyn Harding will be joining the staff as the Program and Administrative Coordinator. Harding was ordained Deacon in Full Connection in 2013. She has served in the local church at Reveille, Shady...
Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference is this week
As a reminder, the 2022 Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference (SEJ) takes place on November 2-4 at Lake Junaluska, NC. The Southeastern Jurisdiction of United Methodist Church is a regional body comprised of 14 conferences, including the Virginia Conference. This...
Three churches closed, 10 churches disaffiliated at special annual conferences
Two called special Annual Conference sessions were held on Oct. 29, 2022. The first session passed three resolutions that closed three local churches under Paragraph 2549 of the 2016 Book of Discipline. The three churches that closed are New Hope UMC, Rocky Mount, VA,...
Conference Center joins the Cleaning Kit Collection
Conference Center Staff join the 2022 Special Cleaning Kit Collection. Read how 20-30 people assembled 100 Cleaning kits!
Agenda Update: October 29 Annual Conference re: Paragraph 2553 Disaffiliations
October 24, 2022 Please note that the agenda for the October 29, 2022, 9:30 a.m. called Annual Conference on church disaffiliations under Paragraph 2553 has been slightly modified. Following questions raised by a member of the Annual Conference, the Virginia Annual...
2023 Annual Conference Logos
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Bishop Lewis shares her report made to the Southeastern Jurisdiction
RICHMOND AREA REPORT Bishop Sharma D. Lewis The Virginia Annual Conference focus in 2016-2020 has been on casting and implementing the new conference vision. The vision of the Virginia Annual Conference is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who are lifelong learners...
November 2022 SEJ Conference
Jurisdictions are regional bodies that: Promote the evangelistic, missionary, educational, and benevolent interest and institutions of The United Methodist Church; Elect and deploy bishops to residential assignments; Appoint various committees to nominate leaders to...
Annual Conference Offering for Wesley Theological Seminary
From left to right - Jim Andrews, Rev. Barbara Miner, Rev. Tom Berlin, Rev. Dr. Jim Driscroll (Military Chaplaincy DMin Director), Rev. Dr. Peter Moon, Rev. Dr. David McAllister-Willson (President of Wesley Theological Seminary), Rev. Seungsoo 'RJ' Jun Photo credit:...
Ginter Park UMC Celebrates 12th Anniversary of Pumpkin Patch Days with events throughout October
by the Rev. MiRhang Baek at [email protected] Ginter Park United Methodist Church 1010 W Laburnum Ave, Richmond, VA 23227-4520(804) 262-8651ginterparkumc.org Ginter Park UMC is blessed with 1, 414 bulk pumpkins this year, along with the hundreds of “specialty...
Share your bucket story
Share how your church is joining in the 2022 Cleaning Kit Collection!