Bishop McAlilly is calling on United Methodists throughout the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference to join together in a letter-writing campaign. Please write our elected officials at the state and federal levels, advocating for swift and meaningful gun reform legislation to be passed.

More information, sample letters, and links to legislators’ contact information can be found at  https://twkumc.org/letters-gun-reform



Please also go to the same web page above and let us know when you write letters – we are keeping track of TWK support for smart, effective gun laws!

Bishop's Blog post

Broadway UMC is offering an 8-week experience called “Beyond the Broken Heart.” Each week the group will share a meal, hear and read encouraging and insightful scriptures, reflect on a brief time of teaching, and share with one another (as you are able and as you want to – no

one has to share) your experience of loss and how you are making it through, day by day.

The meal and group time will last 90 minutes, and we will begin sessions on Tuesday, April 11 at 5:30 p.m.. Perhaps you feel this experience would not be for you, but other loved ones may benefit from it. Please pass along the information, as all are invited. Interested in

participating? Contact Joe Hansen with any questions or concerns: [email protected] or 270-331-2681.

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On each of the remaining Tuesdays in April (and many more weeks to come), you can come to hear TWK ministry leaders preach in Wightman Chapel at the Scarritt Bennett Center at 12:30 p.m. Bishop McAlilly and Jefferson Furtado will be preaching the next two weeks! Learn more about where to come or how to watch online.

Be sure and make plans for a group or individual Bible Study ahead of this year’s TWK UMC Annual Conference. This six-week session study, and each session includes several spiritual practices: reading scripture aloud, praying, sitting with God in silence, singing or listening to

music, and Visio Divina. Find the downloadable study here.

Camp Joy is our camp for Special Needs Adults at Lakeshore. For the second year in a row, I will be serving as the Dean of the camp, and we are in need of Volunteer Counselors to work with our campers. We are looking for both male and female counselors (age 15 and up). Our goal is to have at least 3 (preferably 4) counselors per cabin. Last year, we were unable to do this; we made it through, but it was more difficult on everyone. If you are interested in volunteering, you can fill out an application online at the Lakeshore website. Counselors report to Lakeshore on Sunday, June 11th and camp runs until June 16th. I can guarantee that this will be the best week of volunteering that you have ever experienced.  

United Women in Faith (UWF) is hosting their annual Spiritual Growth Retreat and invites all to attend. This year's study will be presented by Pat Dunker at Fulton First UMC, Saturday, April 15. Concord UMC has offered to shuttle a bus (contact Chris Spaeth 270-217-0365). For more information on the event and to RSVP, contact Pat Dunker at 562-306-8229. A $5 donation for lunch would be appreciated.

Administrative Assistant, Paducah, KY | Trinity UMC | Details

You are invited to attend The Gathering: Bar-B-Q Feast (with the Famous Wall of Dessert) on April 18. Bishop McAlilly will be the guest speaker. If you have any Project 20/20 glasses, they will be glad to collect them at the feast and deliver them.

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All ordained clergy, associate members, deaconesses, and home missioners: please activate your TWK email address as soon as possible, if you haven't already. Clergy voting codes will be sent from GNTV in May to your TWK email address for clergy and annual conference sessions. Click here for instructions on how to login into your TWK email and how to forward it to another address, if preferred. Please contact your district administrator, the bishop's office or [email protected] if you have questions.

Caney Fork River District is hosting Lay Servant Courses (Basic and Advanced) at Carthage UMC April 28-29. Lay servants are active, supportive members of the United Methodist Church that are committed to witnessing through church and community leadership, care-giving ministries, listening, written & spoken communications, and are willing to use their gifts and talents and improve their skills for service involved in leadership roles within their church and community. For more information on LSM, contact your pastor.

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Registration form

The Brentwood UMC Foundation is excited to offer the Howard Olds Scholarship for seminary studies. The scholarship honors the life and ministry of Senior Pastor Howard Olds and furthers the strong interest that the church and the Foundation have in supporting educational opportunities. The deadline to apply is April 15.

Learn more

Now in its second year, this one-day conference will equip church leaders and members, mental health professionals, victim service providers, social workers, attorneys, and others to appropriately prepare for and respond to domestic violence in the church and give all tangible takeaways for collaboration. CEUs pending. 

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Read this story about the UMC General Board of Higher Education and Ministry’s (GBHEM) new seminary scholarship dedicated to celebrating and continuing the legacy of Rev. Roger A. Hopson. The deadline to apply for this scholarship is March 30.

As the conference seeks to develop a pool of leaders for the 2023 TWK Nominations process, the conference nominations team invites you to prayerfully consider leaders you would recommend to serve (including yourself!). Read more and submit nominations by March 31.

Some United Methodists in our conference are feeling less comfortable in their home churches and may have even stopped attending. We are forming new spaces of relationship for seekers and those displaced by the loss of a local congregation. The Vine is a sacred space for them to connect with a community of faith right now. Let’s have a conversation and go from there! Learn more about how people can connect with The Vine.

Renasant Convention Center in Memphis

June 19 - 21, 2023

SINGERS NEEDED: Singers (and musicians) from churches and ministries are invited to join the TWK Mass Choir for the Annual Conference worship services. Music leaders, register your singers' interest in participating by clicking this link. 

REPORTS & RESOLUTIONS: Please visit the annual conference webpage: twkumc.org/AC2023 to find submission guidelines and deadlines as well as EXHIBITOR opportunities. 

ORDINATION: We have new information regarding vesting for the Service of Licensing, Commissioning, and Ordination at this year's annual conference session. 

MEAL SPONSORS: Please also note that a meal sponsorship request form is now available for groups that would like to host a lunch or dinner during the annual conference. 

VOLUNTEER: Memphis area church members, college students, spouses of voting members, etc. are encouraged to sign up to volunteer during the annual conference!

HOTEL: Hotel reservation information 

For further questions, please contact [email protected].

We thank all of you for your continued commitment to the witness and mission of the UMC! Each week, we receive more and more testimonies and photos from folks throughout our conference inspired by and passionate about the mission of our denomination. Check out this webpage to read more. We want to hear what makes you excited to stay UMC! Email us your story and your photos at [email protected].