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 Greetings, HCSA Members and Friends!
We have just returned from this year's HCSA Conference on September 18-19, and it was a great time!
The uplifting music and devotions prepared us to relax and take in the informative workshops. We reconnected with old friends and welcomed new ones. And, the Murder Mystery Dinner Theater had us rolling with laughter!
Our new venue--MainStay Suites--met our needs perfectly, and the staff was extremely helpful and accommodating, so we will be back there again in 2015.
It was a delightful time of fellowship, learning, and entertainment. On behalf of the executive team, we look forward to seeing you on September 17-18, 2015!
Karen
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Business
Meeting
Highlights
We welcomed these new members:
Penny Bever
Ebenezer UMC
Knoxville, TN
Walter DeFrancis
George Street UMC
Jefferson City, TN
Elizabeth Hubbs
Seymour UMC
Seymour, TN
Bonnie Lundy
Munsey Memorial UMC
Johnson City, TN
JaNae` Swanson-Brown brought us some exciting news during her treasurer's report. The HCSA has made a formal request to the Holston Conference treasurer, Rick Cherry, to add a line item to the Annual Conference budget to help fund the HCSA Conference. We have requested $2,000 per year to use as seed money to secure speakers, etc. We have not gotten official approval yet, but we are optimistic.
If our request is approved, our funds would be housed in and managed through the Conference finance department. Since Holston Conference is audited every year, the HCSA would no longer need a finance committee to protect our funds as is currently stated in our bylaws. A motion was made and approved that if we do maintain funds through the Conference office, then we will eliminate the finance committee. We will keep you posted on our progress.
Officers for 2014-15 were elected. The names and positions appear below under "Contacts."
Also, these Nominating Committee members were elected:
Lori Sluder, Chairperson Episcopal Office Holston Conference
Reba Hall First UMC Madisonville, TN Maryville District
Ruby Brown Camping & Retreat Ministries Holston Conference Johnson City, TN
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HCSA
2015 ANNUAL
CONFERENCE
September 17-18
MainStay Suites
Pigeon Forge, TN
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PAUMCS
2015 ANNUAL CONFERENCE
April 16-19, 2015
Atlanta, GA
WORKSHOPS
Servant Leadership
Dr. Quincy Brown
Threshold Church
Newman, GA
Laughter Is a Necessity, Not an Option!
Cathy Lee Phillips
Author
How Is Your Personality and Communication?
Rev. Phil Schroeder
Director, Congregational Development
North Georgia Conference
Have You Heard about Vital Congregations?
Rev. Jasmine Smothers
Associate Director, Connectional Ministries
North Georgia Conference
OUTINGS
World of Coca~Cola
Historic Downtown Atlanta
Atlantic Station
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CONTACTS
Karen Wright
President
Connectional Ministries
Holston Conference
865.690.4080
Lori Hopper
Vice President
Oak Ridge District Office
865.482.3209
JaNae` Swanson-Brown
Treasurer
Connectional Ministries
Holston Conference
865.690.4080
Ginger Marshall
Secretary
First UMC
White Pine, TN
Morristown District
865.674.2869 Thanks to Cynthia Hulse, Friendsville UMC, Maryville District, for serving as Vice President for the 2013-14 year! 
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Morning Devotions
On Thursday, Rev. Betty Furches of Friendsville UMC, Maryville District, led the singing and provided the devotion. She proclaimed that our ministry in the church is "noted and necessary" and reminded us to feed ourselves spiritually. Betty was later joined by Rev. Melissa Smith of Allen Memorial UMC, Cleveland District, and the two of them served communion together. The accompanist was Billie Baxter from Friendsville UMC.  On Friday, Mollianne Reese from Camp Wesley Woods in Townsend, TN, blessed us with her music and cheerfulness while leading us in some camp-style songs and movements. Then, Rev. Chris Luper of St. Stephen UMC in Charlotte, NC, offered a devotion in which he affirmed following Jesus' example of sometimes seeking renewal away from the demands of daily ministry.  | |
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 Workshop 1 - Missions, Part 1
Koni Purscell, Church&Community Worker, Big Stone Gap;
Harry Howe, Executive Director, Project Crossroads,
Marion, VA;
Danny Howe, Missions Director, First Broad Street UMC, Kingsport, TN
This panel of outreach experts focused on serving the needs of our neighbors in Holston.
Koni shared about her Church and Community Renewal ministry in the Big Stone Gap district where her work supports food banks, thrift stores, community gardens, children's ministries, and Christmas assistance programs. More information here.
Harry described his wide range of ministries at Project Crossroads, which include home repairs, medical care, firewood, and home ownership. More information here.
 Danny illustrated how local church outreach, such as clothing, firewood, and home repair ministries, can have a far-reaching impact that blesses the recipient and the giver alike. Examples of local church outreach here.
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 Workshop 2 - Missions, Part 2
Rev. Melissa Smith, UMVIM Jurisdictional Secretary;
Jim Fetzer, Disaster Response Coordinator,
Holston Conference;
Rev. Mike Sluder, Connectional Ministries Associate Director for Missions, Holston Conference
This panel of missions experts broadened our view to regional and global ministries. Melissa warmed our hearts with tales of memories and relationships formed during UMVIM trips and challenged us to make our own memories through UMVIM. More information here. Jim described how teams from Holston respond to disasters and offer such assistance as flood recovery, and he explained how we can get involved through ERT training or financial support of this ministry. More information here.  Mike focused on Annual Conference mission initiatives, such as the Hands-On Mission project, and the importance of adhering to published items, quantities, and collection procedures to best serve our brothers and sisters overseas. More information here. | |
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 Workshop 3 - Safe Sanctuaries & Finance
Gaye King, Connectional Ministries Associate Director for Advocacy, Older Adult, and Children's & Family Ministries,
Holston Conference
Rev. Dan Taylor, Director, Clergy Services,
Holston Conference
Gaye reminded us that child abuse can happen anywhere, urged us to maintain a current Safe Sanctuaries policy in our local churches, and offered some tips that we could use right away. More information here. If you would like to have Safe Sanctuaries training in your church, help is available. Find a trainer in your district here.
 Next, Dan explained how to determine full-time or part-time status for clergy. [We thank Dan for subbing at the last minute for Carol Wilson, Executive Assistant to the Bishop and the Director of Communications.] More information about finance here.
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 Workshop 4 - Social Media & Technology
Rev. Chris Luper, Director of Student and Social Media Ministries, St. Stephen UMC, Charlotte, NC
JaNae` Swanson-Brown, Connectional Ministries,
Holston Conference
Chris emphasized the increasing reliance on social media for interaction and connection. He advised all churches to have a website because that is where potential visitors will check us out first. More information about Chris here.
Next, JaNae' spoke to us briefly about the newly redesigned Holston Conference website at holston.org. If you are interested in having Holston host your church's website, contact Donna Hankins at [email protected].
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 Workshop 5 - Wellness
Carla Rafferty, Assisted Living Administrator,
Asbury Place, Maryville, TN
Carla received rave reviews for her workshop on wellness. She explained the dimensions of wellness and offered numerous tips on maintaining our health and independence before then leading us in some simple exercises that we could do right at our desks. I hope you're using your rubber bands! More information about Asbury Place here.
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 Ministry Assistants in Mission
This year our mission emphasis was collecting food for Second Harvest based on their list of staples that can feed a family of four for 5 days. We donated 555 pounds of food--that is 444 meals! Good job, HCSA!
We want to apologize for the confusion about the project regarding whether or not attendees could take a sample kit back home to use as a model. The executive team had not clarified this point amongst ourselves, which caused the confusion to spread to the actual project.
 We don't know if anyone actually left with a kit, but if so, we are confident that the food reached someone in need, and we could not be prouder of our generous donation to Second Harvest. Thank you, Ministry Assistants!
View the Second Harvest receipt and letter of acknowledgment here. | |
 Mix and Fix
Thank you all so much for your input regarding the bylaws. The one clear result that emerged is that a review of the bylaws is in order. Therefore,
if you are interested in serving on a committee to review the bylaws, please contact Karen at [email protected].
As for the four items we discussed, we received the notes from 10 out of 11 tables. Here is a brief summary of the results:
1) HCSA name change: Most attendees were in favor of a change; a handful were not.
2) Meeting annually vs. biennially: Everyone wants to meet every year.
3) Finance committee: About 2/3 of the group agreed with eliminating the finance committee; the other 1/3 disagreed. [This issue was potentially resolved during the business meeting the next day. Please see the business meeting notes.]
4) Ad Hoc committee to review bylaws: Most participants thought this was a good idea. | |
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Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church
PO Box 850
Alcoa, TN 37701-0850
865.690.4080
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