What do you get when you combine Dinner Church with Messy Church? A Messy Dinner Church. Rev. Meg Gaston tells the story of Pass It On Cafe, a place where community meals meet art projects. 

COVID has been hard on leaders and many are exhausted, discouraged, and in need of time away. The Leadership Development Team wants to help nurture your spirit in order to be renewed and restored in life and in ministry. This could be possible through a private, renewal retreat or by engaging with a spiritual director. Ministry leaders (clergy and lay professionals) who sign up for an offering and pay a personal investment of $50, are eligible for up to $500. Funds are available because of the generosity of churches who pay their apportionments.

Six months into stay-at-home orders, every church has had to make significant shifts in their ministry. In this episode of Means of Grace, Jesse Enniss talks with Rev. Dr. Andrea Smith, pastor of West UMC in Mooresville, NC, and Rev. Dan Hester, pastor of Skyland United Methodist Church in Asheville, NC about leadership in this time of change. They discuss how they have adapted their use of technology, their engagement with their communities, how they, as leaders, have been making decisions, and so much more! Listen for free at www.wnccumc.org/meansofgrace or wherever you get your podcasts!

Who are these with you?
We all know about Esau and Jacob’s reunion. Jacob comes home after decades away and, always the strategist, he surrounds himself with family, extended family, and servants as he makes his final approach.
Esau looks up and asks the question – Who are these with you?
This is how we answer the question at Methodist Home for Children.

Wesley Community Development is seeking to develop some best practices for local churches regarding cell tower leasing.  Please complete this survey if your church is in a lease agreement for a cell tower on church property.  Thank you in advance for helping them assist local churches throughout our Conference.

Recently, the Executive Team of the Association of Annual Conference Lay Leaders (AACLL) published a letter to all laity in the UMC. Entitled "Called to Witness, Care, and Act", the letter provides both encouragement and a call to action to laity in light of the dual pandemics with which we find ourselves engaged, COVID-19 and the sin of deeply rooted racism.

A new advertising campaign from The United Methodist Church urges people to find hope together amid the challenges posed by this year’s COVID-19 pandemic and heightened racial tensions.

"With the number of coronavirus cases across the country, fall and winter holiday celebrations are likely to look very different this year. Adjust your church plans now for fall festivals, Halloween and Christmas. With a little creativity you can create celebrations that are fun and safe. Here are a few ideas to get the creative juices flowing."

Chenequa Walker-Barnes, PhD at the McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, is closing out the Recover. Restore. Retreat. webinar series. She’ll be speaking on theories and praxis to COVID disparities in the Black community. You do not want to miss this.

Racial Healing and the Gospel of Reconciliation
The first session will be held Wednesday, October 21st, 9 a.m. EST
Rooted in 2 Corinthians 5:16-20, this workshop will teach reconciliation as spirituality, highlighting biblical examples of reconciliation and our call to be ministers of reconciliation as followers of Christ. With this theological foundation, participants will learn practical strategies for the Church to live out our role in the reconciliation process