Northern Flow/Mohawk Weekly Newsletter April 4, 2024

Northern Flow/Mohawk

Weekly Newsletter

April 4, 2024

2024 District Days with Bishop Hector

Save the date for 2024 District Days

Northern Flow District

April 11th

Gouverneur First UMC

In the new year, Bishop Héctor will be visiting local churches in all 12 districts from February to April. District Days are a way for the bishop to meet with laity and clergy across Upper New York. Clergy meetings are scheduled for each visit from 1-3 p.m. and another meeting will be held for laity (and clergy who couldn't attend earlier gathering) from 7-8:30 p.m. All United Methodists of Upper New York are invited and encouraged to attend a gathering closest to you.

Operation: Home Repair

Volunteers are needed for the 2024 Operation: Home Repair, a summer home repair mission project based in and around Schoharie County. This unique effort brings critical home repairs to neighbors as a collaborative effort of the Mosaic Cooperative Parish of United Methodist Churches, a group of 10 churches working together on the southeastern edge of the Upper New York Conference. This year repairs will take place over two weeks, July 8th - July 19th, and volunteers may participate for any or all of that time period, including the weekend. While skilled volunteers are always valuable, you do not have to have any particular skill to volunteer. Projects will likely include repairing decking, plumbing, building ramps, installing gutters, repairing leaky roofs, painting, and outdoor clean-up.

Volunteers are welcome from all across the conference. Youth aged 18 and under must be accompanied and supervised by a parent or youth leader. Housing can be arranged for volunteers coming from further away. Lunch, water and coffee will be provided on site for all volunteers.

If you feel called to join in this impactful mission work, please complete this volunteer application and submit by May 1^st. Any questions may be directed to Cobleskill United Methodist Church at cobyumc107@gmail.com.

Application

Mohawk District LSM

Advanced Course Schedule

Greetings to all,

The 2024 Spring in-person LSM Advanced course schedule is attached for your convenience.

Please note the Grace period for Lay Servants to obtain their continuing education has expired. If you have not taken an advanced class since 2020, you will need to complete a class by December 31, 2024, and submit your annual report, to maintain your status as an active Certified Lay Servant/Lay Speaker/Lay Minister.

Schedule

Seeking AC volunteers

Excitement is building as we move closer to the 2024 Annual Conference (AC) Session, to be held May 30-June 1 at the SRC Arena on the campus of Onondaga Community College in Syracuse.

In the midst of all that happens at AC, there is a great need for people to serve as volunteers at various times throughout the three days. Consider living out your discipleship by serving as a volunteer.

Volunteers are needed to greet and escort attendees, assist staff, and lend a helping hand.

Stewardship with Susan Ranous

Thursday, March 21, 2024

11 WAYS TO SUPPORT STEWARDSHIP FOR YOUR CHURCH #4

For the fourth week sharing about the VANCO stewardship booklet on the 11 Ways to support stewardship for your church. This week, we are discussing Online Giving. For many of us, online giving wasn’t a “thing” until COVID, and it was one of the limited ways people could easily continue to give.

There are multiple ways to “do” online giving:

Online Giving Pages – This is often done through the church’s website. It should be as easy as the click of a button. Not only does this make it easier to give, but, if set up well, it will also provide a list of funds available for giving. Pictures and the story behind each fund is helpful for those who may not be familiar with the different funds that the church has. Two thing I hope you take away from this, if nothing else, is (a) give information about what people are giving to. Telling the stories is motivating to givers! (b) make it as easy as possible to give online. If people have to search on how to give and where to click, they may give up.

Mobile app giving – This is an app givers have downloaded onto their phone. I don’t know about you, but my phone is usually with me. If I am sitting at church or worshipping virtually, or hear about something that a church is doing, or lives being changed because of the church, I want to be able to give that gift right away. An online app is a good way to do that. Many apps have other information as well, including calendars, etc. Having a QR code available in every pew or in the bulletin or posted in the chat/message box of online worship can make it even easier for those who haven’t downloaded the app!

Text Giving – This is quick and easy (just like a QR code). Someone texts a 5 or 6 digit code and the giving is that easy!

Review what you have currently for online giving and how it is set up. Can people access it easily and give easily? Test it! Are you providing enough information for people to text, or download apps or understand online giving? Are you utilizing all of the parts of your online giving program so that you are getting the most out of it, as well as your people getting the most out of it?

Test your online giving if you have it or set it up if you do not!!

If you wish more information on anything you’ve been reading about, please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or sranousacctg@twcny.rr.com or susanranous@unyumc.org. I’d be happy to help or answer any questions.

Contacting Northern Flow/Mohawk District Office

If you are trying to reach the district office please use the following information:

Email tammymcadam@unyumc.org

DS Rev. Weeden mikeweeden@unyumc.org

Phone 315-535-5149

Fax 315-535-5151

Mailing Address PO Box 208 Gouverneur NY 13642

Office Hours Monday - Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

We are completely working from home and this is the best contact information to be able to reach us.

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