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...

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...

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...

Asbury UMC to host a Prayer and Missions Conference in February 2012

Asbury UMC in Madison will host a Prayer and Missions Conference on Feb. 24-25, 2012. The event is entitled, Poured Out, A Conference on Prayer and Missions and will feature more than 60 workshops on various aspects of prayer and missions. The conference is part of Asbury’s seventh Global Impact Celebration. Just as in 2008 and 2010, the Asbury UMC congregation invites others to be a part of this experience. John Bailey, Asbury’s Director of Missions shares that, “We are not...

Young Adult Missionary applications due Feb. 5, 2012

For 60 years, Global Ministries has been sending young people into service. Through the US-2 and mission intern programs, we have enriched the lives of thousands of young men and women, and through their witness touched uncountable youth, adults, and communities. The US-2 and mission intern programs develop church leaders, as young people work in communities that face issues such as poverty, racism, or environmental justice. US-2s serve two years living out faith through social justice in...

Back to School benefit concert featuring the Dill Pickers to raise funds for Urban Kids program

On Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011, Urban Ministry is hosting a "Back to School with Urban Kids benefit concert Featuring the Dill Pickers.” The concert will be at 3 p.m. at Birmingham First UMC (518 19th St. N Birmingham). All proceeds of the fundraiser will go to the Urban Kids program of Urban Ministry. Urban Kids has been in existence since the late 1980s. Currently the program offers an After-School program four days a week and a seven-week Summer Day Camp. Each year, 30 3rd-8th grade...

Chapel Hill UMC's children collect school supplies for children in need

Chapel Hill UMC’s (Northwest District) children’s group, dubbed "God's Gang," decided that during Vacation Bible School they would collect school supplies for disadvantaged children in Decatur. Sunday School Teacher Mrs. Aileen, made a school house and the children went to work. At the VBS "Shake it Up Cafe" there was a baking contest for members of the church. Each contestant had to bake two entries -- one for the contest and one to auction off. The winner of...

UMVIM, SEJ Update focuses on missionaries Teddy and Sylvia Crum

In July, Malawi and missionaries Rev. Teddy and Sylvia Crum were the featured  in a United Methodist Volunteers in Mission, Southeastern Jurisdiction (UMVIM, SEJ) Update. The Crums are from the North Alabama Conference. They began serving in Malawi this summer. Below is the UMVIM Update. It is reposted here with permission.   July Focus: Malawi Teddy, Sylvia and Lily Crum are missionaries of the General Board of Global Ministries from the North Alabama Conference. In mid-2011,...

Hartselle First UMC youth roll up sleeves and exemplify God's presence in storm recovery

Three months ago, on April 27, 2011, tornadoes devastated areas throughout the North Alabama Conference. Since the first moments following the storms United Methodists have been working together and with others to help rebuild their communities and the lives of people affected by the storms. That work is continuing for the long haul. Recently, Rev. Tom Fowler, pastor of Coutland UMC, wrote an email to Northwest District Superintendent Rev. Mike Stonbraker telling the story of how...

Fultondale UMC Students to spend 21 nights under mosquito nets to end malaria

Students from Fultondale UMC (Central District) are on a mission to heal. Joining together with 11 million United Methodists, they are fighting to wipe out malaria. To raise money for Imagine No Malaria, students are asking people to make a pledge for each night a student sleeps under a mosquito net in front of the church. The effort began July 17 and the students are planning to continue until August 7. Imagine No Malaria is an effort of the people of the United Methodist Church to raise $75...

United Methodist Women compile more than 800 UMCOR kits at spring event

The North Alabama Conference United Methodist Women collected and compiled more than 840 UMCOR kits and donated money to purchase another 133 kits during their 2011 Spring Event “Refresh and Retreat” on April 8 and 9 at Camp Sumatanga. The local units throughout the Conference collected items for Baby Layettes and Birthing Kits. Then at the April event attendees worked hard to check, prepare, compile, and pack the kits. Hands-on-Mission Task force chairperson Jo Anne Minnitt says,...

Annual Conference 2011 to collect and assemble health kits

Earlier this week Rev. Matt Lacey, Conference Director of Advocacy and Mission, made this post to the Conference Mission Blog. Every Annual Conference meeting, some person at some point during the meeting will ask me: "Matt: I enjoy a good speaker and debating contentious resolutions like any good United Methodist. But wouldn't it be nice if, you know, we did some hands-on ministry work at Annual Conference? I mean, isn't that what Jesus would want us to do?" It's a good point. A...

WE Community Gardens to hold fundraiser at Café Dupont on March 19

Three years ago, Community Church without Walls and Urban Ministry partnered together to turn an overgrown vacant lot in West End into a community garden. Rev. R.G. Lyons, pastor of the Community Church Without Walls, says, “As church members from CCWW began clearing the lot, we could not have imagined the transformative impact the garden would have on our entire community in three years. It has become a place that brings people together across racial, generational, and...

UMVIM regional office has a new home

A large suite of offices in Vestavia Hills, walls and shelves covered with interesting artifacts from all over the world, is the new home of the Southeastern Jurisdiction United Methodist Volunteers in Mission. When Paulette West  was hired as its Executive Director, one of her objectives was to move the office to the Birmingham area. In December, this objective was met and West and her staff are now up and running in the new location. West is the first female and the first...

SBC21 event helps local churches focus on missions and equips them for church growth

Clergy and members of black churches throughout North Alabama gathered in Birmingham on Jan. 21-22, 2011, for the North Alabama Conference's annual Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century (SCB21) event. This annual training event seeks to empower local churches for growth. The focus of this year's SBC21 event to equip local churches is missions. The weekend featured times of worship, networking, fellowship and learning from nationally known preachers and presenters. The event...

Restoration Mission transforms community one heart and one house at a time

This weekend, January 21-22, 2011, the Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century (SBC21) annual training event will seek to empower local churches for growth focusing on the Conference priority of “missions.” This article features one of the churches participating in the SBC21 event that has been involved in missions for more than twenty years. Restoration Mission: Transforming Our Community Restoration Mission, under the leadership of Rev. Al and Sister Pashion Lewis,...

Conference Mission Grants awarded to 34 mission ministries

Thirty-four mission ministries related to or in partnership with North Alabama Conference congregations have been named recipients of the 2011 North Alabama Conference Servants Like Jesus Mission Grants. These annual Servants Like Jesus Mission Grants support efforts that encourage church members to get out into the world and make a difference. The grants work toward the Conference vision of every church to be challenged and equipped to grow more disciples of Jesus Christ by taking risks...

Nauvoo UMC celebrates two years of serving community through Christian’s Place Mission

In December 2010, the congregation of Nauvoo UMC (Southwest District) celebrated the two year anniversary of Christian’s Place Mission. This outreach to the Nauvoo community fed 1,993 clients in 2010. A total of 3,168 people have been fed since the mission’s opening in 2008. Carole Newman, Director of Christian’s Place Mission, notes some of the other ministry highlights during 2010. These include: Purchase an old house with two parcels of land diagonally from the...

A Mission Message from Bishop Willimon

Through our program of connectional giving (apportionments) the North Alabama Conference supports a number of missionaries in various places of need around the world. One of our most effective mission leaders is John Funk, a missionary with the Board of Global Ministries who serves in Rio Colorado, Bolivia, as Director of the Rio Colorado Technical Agricultural High School. After a career as a school teacher and successful business manager in the computer industry, Mr. Funk was called by God to...

Children of Fayette First UMC collect 536 pairs of shoes for mission project

More than 300 million children and 1.5 billion adults worldwide do not have footwear. In an effort to do their part in lowering this number, the children of Fayette First United Methodist Church challenged church members and the community the first 2 weeks of September to donate their gently worn shoes to those in need. With the help of the non-profit organization Soles4Souls, these shoes will be distributed free of charge to people in need around the world, regardless of race, religion,...