Accelerating Church Growth

Southeast District is excited to welcome Rev. Olujimi (Olu) Brown to lead the workshop on Accelerating Church Growth. The workshop is an attempt to provide churches with the tools for growth through the use of three essential and identifiable growth components: Small Group, hospitality and creative worship. Olu Brown is the right person to provide pointers to laity and clergy in the area of church growth acceleration. He is the Lead Pastor of Impact Church, a new United Methodist Congregation...

Five Birmingham local churches will work together to pack 500,000 meals

On February 15-16, 2012, Canterbury UMC will host a collaborative effort of five Birmingham-area churches to pack 500,000 meals for the international hunger relief agency Stop Hunger Now. Organizers expect 4,000 volunteers to participate in this two day event by taking shifts and working from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. both days. The congregations involved in this outreach effort include Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, Vestavia Hills UMC, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Brookwood Baptist...

Birmingham-Southern College to present Holocaust exhibit and speaker series in February and March

Birmingham-Southern will launch an educational exhibit and lecture series beginning Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, to facilitate a platform for understanding what led to and what happened during the Holocaust, from 1933 to 1945. This is the first time these collections have visited BSC. The exhibits and lectures are free and open to the public. Tours for schools and special groups are available. “Darkness into Life: Alabama Holocaust Survivors through Photography and Art” is one of...

Fountain of Love offering materials available

It’s time! Time to order Fountain of Love Offering materials, benefitting needy elders of our Methodist Homes. The gifts of North Alabama Conference churches benefit the residents of Fair Haven Retirement Community in Birmingham. The Fountain of Love Offering provides immediate financial assistance to residents who have exhausted their own resources. Without this program, needy residents of Fair Haven would have to leave the place that they call “home.” However, because of the...

North Alabama Conference Advance Specials to participate in Alabama Gives Day on Feb. 2, 2012

On February 2, 2012 the Alabama Association of Nonprofits, in partnership with the Alabama Broadcasters Association and the Razoo Foundation, is taking one day to harness the power of individual contributions statewide. Alabama Gives Day will connect new and existing donors with thousands of Alabama nonprofits through a simple one day online giving process increasing awareness of local Alabama charities. Many North Alabama Conference Advance Special Ministries are participating in this...

New Vision UMC to hold grand opening of The Matrix Center on Feb. 3, 2012

The Matrix Center of New Vision United Methodist Church in Florence is more than a student center. It is designed to be a launching point for young people, bringing about a change in their lives and their community. The grand opening of The Matrix Center is set for Feb. 3, 2012. The Matrix Center developed as a way of addressing the best way to disciple young people today. Although, many people in youth ministry use youth talks as a primary teaching strategy, research has been shown that...

North Alabama group holds consultation and begins to look to future Hispanic Ministries

On Tuesday, January 24, 2012, a team of people active in Hispanic ministries from across the North Alabama Conference gathered for an initial consultation and to begin a strategic comprehensive planning process for Hispanic ministries in the Conference. The group met with Rev. Dionisio Salazar from the Office of Hispanic/Latino Ministries of the General Board of Global Ministries. The purpose of the day-long meeting was threefold.  to assess the current status of Hispanic...

Conference Announces new Director of Lay Speaking Ministries

The North Alabama Conference Lay Ministry Team announces that June Wilson is the newly appointed Conference Director of Lay Speaking Ministries. Conference Lay Leader Steve Lyles says, “The Board of Laity is delighted to announce that June Wilson, a Lay Speaker from the Southeast District will immediately become the Conference Director of Lay Speaking Ministries. June has full support of the Conference and District Lay Leaders in becoming the Conference Director.” He adds,...

Conference Disaster Response Team assessing storm damage and volunteer needs

The North Alabama Conference Disaster Response Team is working with District Offices and assessing damage from the storms that passed through the North Alabama Conference area in the early hours of Monday, January 23, 2012. North Alabama Conference Director of Mission and Advocacy Rev. Matt Lacey shared this message earlier today in an email to the Disaster Response Update email list. Our prayers go out to all those affected by last night's storms as lives were lost and homes and...

ERT teams needed in the Clay area beginning Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012

Below is a message from North Alabama Conference Director of Mission and Advocacy Rev. Matt Lacey. We have spoken with the EMA in the Clay area, which was heavily affected by Monday morning's storms, and as of Tuesday, January 24 at 8 a.m., they will be ready to receive Early Response Teams (ERT) from within the North Alabama Conference that fit the following criteria: Team leader must have ERT badge current in the last three years.   Team members must have had...

Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century to offer wide range of trainings during 2012

North Alabama Conference's Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century (SCB21) team historically has offered a training event in January each year. This year the SBC21 team announces they are taking a different approach to challenge and equip North Alabama’s African-American Churches. There will be a wide range of training offered throughout 2012 varying from one-day workshops to traveling to sites designated by the national SBC21. North Alabama SBC21 Convener Pastor Marcus J....

Bluff Park UMC builds Ham Mountain as Christmas outreach project

In mid-November 2011, a unique mountain appeared in the narthex of Bluff Park UMC and continued to grow over the next month. This mountain, which was actually a mission outreach effort of the congregation, was made of canned hams donated by members of the congregation to support the Bluff Park UMC Food Pantry. This successful project was the brain-child of Rev. Tom Duley, Associate Minister of Missions. The goal of the project was to do something special for the families served by the...

Fifty-five United Methodist Bishops endorse United Methodist Global AIDS Fund

Fifty-five United Methodist Bishops have endorsed the 20/20: Visioning an AIDS-Free World initiative by lending their personal and financial support. This effort by the United Methodist Global AIDS Fund Committee seeks to mobilize the denomination to raise $5 million for HIV and AIDS education, prevention, care, and treatment around the world. Retired Bishop Fritz Mutti, Kansas City, Missouri, notes that “United Methodist episcopal leaders believe that global health is integral to the...

Community joins Cherokee and Margerum UMCs to share God's love at Christmas

When Rev. Kim Teehan, pastor of Cherokee and Margerum United Methodist Churches (Northwest District), got an email from the United Methodist Choctaw Mission in Philadelphia, Mississippi, on December 9 asking for donations of clothing and children’s books for the Choctaw people, she knew this was a request that needed a response. In April of 2011 Rev. Teehan was part of the North Alabama Conference contingent of churches that participated in a mission trip to the Choctaw Mission in...

PreConference Reports deadline is Feb. 1, 2012

Guidelines for Reporting North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church 2012 Conference Vision: Every church challenged and equipped to grow more disciples of Jesus Christ by taking risks and changing lives. Conference Priorities: 1) New Congregations 2) Natural Church Development 3) Effective Leadership 4) Empowering a New Generation 5) Missions Annual Conference 2012 Emphasis: The Value of the Connection All reports submitted for publication in the Journal Volume 1...

East Lake UMC will dedicate organ on Jan. 8, 2012

For the past seven years Barry Norris, the organist and choirmaster at East Lake United Methodist Church, has worked with friends to restore old pipework from all over the eastern United States, and blend it into a musical, cohesive whole of a newly built 96 rank pipe organ. The East Lake UMC congregation will dedicate the organ to the glory of God on Sunday, January 8, 2012, during the 9 a.m. worship service. That afternoon the congregation will continue the celebration and host a Hymn...

Birmingham-Southern College to host Christian Vocation Scholarship Day on Feb. 11, 2012

Birmingham-Southern College will host its Christian Vocation Scholarship Day on Saturday, February 11, 2012, in the Berte Humanities Building. The day will be from 8:30 a.m. to approximately 1:30 p.m. and will include interviews and lunch. Birmingham-Southern College's Director of Church Relations Laura Sisson says on that day the college anticipates awarding scholarships totaling $90,000. For 2011-12, the college awarded 121 scholarships from the United Methodist Scholarship Fund....

Kay Twilley resumes mission work in Bolivia

In March of 2008, I retired as a commissioned missionary for the GBGM after eight years of service. I returned home to Birmingham, Alabama and resumed a normal life. In 2010, I returned to Montero, Bolivia with a small VIM team, reunited with friends and co-workers from Bolivia, and had conversations with them about returning to Montero to work. Nothing came of those conversations until I returned in July, 2011 for just a visit. At that time, I had several conversations with school and church...

United Methodists garner highest favorability score

About 62% of adult Americans have a favorable impression of United Methodists. That’s according to a new survey from LifeWay Research that looks at perceptions of faith groups among adults in the U.S. United Methodists had the highest percentage of favorable impressions among the faith groups included in the survey – Roman Catholics, Southern Baptists, United Methodists, Mormons and Muslims – with 15% of respondents reporting very favorable impressions and 47% reporting...

Mountain Lakes District Office moves

The Mountain Lakes District Office has moved to its previous location just off I-59 at 2804 Wills Creek Rd, Gadsden, AL 35904. The District office will be closed Monday, January 2, 2012, for New Year's and will re-open on Tuesday January 3. Mountain Lakes District Contact Information Address: 2804 Wills Creek Rd , Gadsden, AL 35904  Phone: (256) 546-7405 Fax: (256) 546-7407 Rev. Robin Scott - rscott@northalabamaumc.org Amy Marbut - amarbut@northalabamaumc.org...