WPAUMC e-news for June 20, 2012

Save the Date! If you can get to the Johnstown District on Saturday, July 21, don’t miss Spirit Fest—a full day of great music, dramatic presentations, fun, food, and more.  It opens with a Bible study with Jim Walker and ends with a concert for youth at 9 p.m. And it’s all free – except the refreshments! Learn more.

Friday Night at PNC Park: This Friday night is United Methodist Night at PNC Park. You may still be able to get tickets if you order them and pick them up at the UM Center Thursday. Learn more.

Happy 150th, Cherry Run!  Cherry Run Camp in the Franklin District is celebrating 150 years this season. Their family camp meeting is July 28 – August 5 with Rev. Roy Gearhart as the weekend evangelist. Learn more.

Visit the Holy Land with Tina Whitehead:  Our Conference missionary Tina Whitehead will lead and Educational Opportunities trip to the Holy Land from Sept. 16-25.  It includes two nights in the Galilee, two nights in Bethlehem and three nights in Jerusalem.  To learn more or sign up, email tinawhitehead2@hotmail.com.

Know A Former U2 or Mission Intern? The General Board of Global Ministries wants to invite anyone who has served in one of its mission programs for young adults (even if they are no longer young!) to a special gathering Celebrating Young Adults in Mission from August 2-5 in Arlington, VA.  The programs have a 60-year history so GBGM is missing some contact information. If you know someone who has served, give them this link. Or e-mail Diane.Miller@wpaumc.org and she’ll send the info.

Pray for Uth4Missions: Youth in grades 6-12 and their leaders will gather at the University of Pittsburgh’s Johnstown campus June 25 -30 for hands-on mission work and fun.  Learn more.

Mission Discovery and Mission Adventure – There’s still time to register for one of these hands-on youth mission programs, held as part of the Cooperative School of Christian Mission in and around Grove City College. Learn more and register. Scroll down for the youth registration.

School of Mission Sampler Days: The Cooperative School of Christian Mission, scheduled at Grove City College, offers a sampler day during both the July 8-12 four-day and July 6-8 weekend sessions for those who can’t attend a full session. Sampler Days are Saturday, July 7 and Tuesday, July 10.  Learn more and register for a full session or a Sampler Day.   

Keys to Fruitful Planning: This week’s Leading Ideas offers some tips  on how to ensure that your strategic planning process is inspired by the spirit and results in a clear mission statement, specific goals and action plans. Learn more

Want to Start a Web Ministry? With 1.6 billion individuals online, it’s a great way to reach people. UM Communications offers a variety of resources and four online courses. Learn more.

New Social Principle on Finance: The 2012 General Conference adopted a new social principle on finance which says financial institutions play a vital role in society, but they must guard against deceptive and predatory lending practices. Learn more.

Worship for A Time of Transition: The General Board of Discipleship offers a liturgy for worship in the time when a pastor has departed and a new pastor has not yet arrived. Read it.

Why Are We Afraid? Fear corrodes our confidence in God’s goodness and turns us into control freaks, writes Max Lucado in a piece in the Kyria digital magazine. It’s adapted from his new book Fearless: Imagine Your Life without Fear.

Pastoral Prayer: Is you pastoral prayer more than just a pit stop in the order of worship so the choir can return to their seats or the ushers can prepare to take the offering?  Gordon MacDonald writes about how he transformed his pastoral prayer into something more spiritual. Read Praying that Makes a Difference.

Spiritual But Not Religious: Although it’s tempting to dismiss people who identify themselves as spiritual  but not religious as “salad-bar spiritualists concerned primarily with themselves, “Linda Mercadante writes, “They represent a profound challenge and an opportunity for religious groups today.” Read more from a Christian Century article by Mercadante, a professor at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio.

John the Baptist’s Bones? Claims that bone fragments unearthed by archaeologists at the site of an ancient church in Bulgaria belong to John the Baptist have been bolstered by experts who have dated the bones to the first century. "We got some dates that are very interesting indeed," researcher Thomas Higham of the University of Oxford told MSNBC’s LiveScience.  Learn more.

Larry Did It! It was pretty amazing when Jumonville President Larry Beatty successfully rappel led from an overhead balcony onto the stage (without landing on the Bishop) during the camping presentation at annual conference.  But last Monday he outdid himself—playing 108 holes of golf to raise money for Jumonville’s Kidz2Kamp program!  He garnered $5100 in pledges on the National Golfathon website.  The golf took 9 hours, plus about 90 minutes of rain delay at Seven Oaks Country Club. Larry’s average score for 18 holes was 85. Best nine-hole score: 37.  He had 32 pars and 4 birdies!

Church Secretaries Newsletter: The latest edition of The Vital Link, the newsletter of the Professional Association of United Methodist Church Secretaries is online now.  Check it out.

Resolving Conflict: Conflict is a normal part of the relational process, but when managed poorly, it can lead to personal pain, marital discord, organizational breakdown, and more, writes Rich Hoffman in an article on the Christian Counseling Associates website.  Read more.

Help Wanted: Check out our classified ads.  The latest posting is Cabot UMC’s office manager position.

Death: The Rev. Charles S. Loney, who served as a pastor and director of camping in the Western PA Conference, died June 8. Visitation and a memorial service is scheduled July 14 in Grove City. Read death notice.