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NORTH COAST DISTRICT NEWS
February 26, 2021
“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can.
In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can.
As long as ever you can.” 
EAST OHIO CONFERENCE NEWS
Livestreamed East Ohio Conference Information Forum About General Conference
Saturday, March 13 from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

You are encouraged to participate in a livestreamed East Ohio Conference information forum at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 13 to learn about the postponement of the 2020 General Conference and the Special Called Session of General Conference.

The Conference Council on Ministries, members of the East Ohio General Conference delegation, and Bishop Tracy S. Malone will give leadership to this forum, which will provide information about:
  • why the 2020 General Conference has been postponed, and
  • why the implications of further delaying General Conference warrants the need for a Special Called Session of General Conference.

The information forum will be livestreamed on the East Ohio Conference website. There is no registration for this forum, which will consist of presentations of information and a Question & Answer session. Instructions will be given during the livestream explaining how you will be able to ask questions remotely during the forum. 
EOC Black Clergy Share Their Experiences of Race and Ministry

The East Ohio Conference Black Pastors' Fellowship and the office of Multicultural Vitality have produced a new video series aimed at creating discussion and moving all of us towards racial justice. Each video is accompanied by questions to be answered either for personal reflection or as part of small group discussions.

"For too long we have swept our racial matters under the rug or hidden them in our closets. We need to heal on purpose. We need to intentionally work on things that have kept us away from each other and have led to a lack of understanding between the races,” said Rev. Angela Lewis, pastor of Doylestown UMC and vice-president of the EOC Black Pastors' Fellowship.

Pastor Stanley Miller, Rev. Dr. D. Anthony Everett, and Rev. David Whitt
“I’m a long-term Christian but I am not a long-term pastor so I’m growing as I learn about the issues that pastors have to deal with and this issue with race is a huge one. I came out of corporate America and I learned very quickly that if you were a person of color you had no standing.” – Pastor Stanley Miller, Oberlin Rust UMC and Lorain Wesley UMC

“The Church is supposed to be one that doesn’t see Jew or Gentile, male or female, it does see race, it does see ethnicity, – and it does see male and female, for that matter – and so there’s a problem there.” – Rev. Dr. Anthony Everett, former pastor of University Circle UMC

Rev. David Whitt of Twinsburg Faith UMC has never forgotten what a neighbor told him when he was struggling taking a garbage can to the curb as a kid. “’You know, David, one day you can grow up and you can be a garbage man.’ What she was really saying was ‘that’s the best you can do.’”


To connect to the Monday highlight articles about EOC Black Clergy in Ministry throughout February, click HERE
For more information, please click HERE for a full flyer of the event.

You may also find more information and connect to register on the Rocky River UMC website HERE.
FROM THE OFFICE OF CONGREGATIONAL VITALITY
Two upcoming webinars designed to work in conjunction to help churches navigate worship in the midst of this pandemic. Please click on each image for a link to more information and registration.
Almost overnight, we found ourselves in a new, unfamiliar world. The COVID‐19 virus changed everything about our lives, including how we worship. What is the church to do in such a time as this? With the social distancing practices preventing our physical gatherings, how do we connect and make our message resonate with a world in chaos? We can’t continue with a “business‐as‐usual” approach where Sunday morning worship is concerned.

Join author, creative worship, and guest readiness coach Jason Moore for a 2‐hour webinar for how to face these unique challenges to worship. Jason will lead your church into a deep dive through the questions and answers that must be asked and addressed as we worship today.
Before the global pandemic, the few congregations that streamed worship were simply broadcasting the in-person experience for those already gathered in their buildings. In March 2020, most congregations transitioned to on-line worship, many for the first time. The methodology for streaming worship completely shifted paradigms. As we move back into our buildings, we mustn't return to making people at home observers after talking directly to them for so long. We also can't take an approach where we treat the in‐person crowd as the studio audience, providing the laugh or clap track, for the people watching at home. Neither of these audiences should feel secondary.

If we fail to think about how to create a BOTH/AND scenario as we go back to in‐person worship, we will lose so much of what we've gained in these last year. This 2.5‐hour workshop will delve into strategies for how to create powerful transformative worship where no one feels like they’re an afterthought.
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From the Office of Multicultural Vitality

Critical Conversations: Next Steps – Multiethnic Conversations
March 18 thru May 20
In our covenant together to Stand Against Racism, EOC clergy and laity are invited to participate in a weekly training designed to help participants break down the earthly barriers to becoming the church described in Revelation 7:9. Guest presenter Kimberly Chapmon-Wynne, founder and principal consultant at Mosaic Insights Consulting, LLC, will lead the 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Thursday sessions that begin March 18 and conclude May 20. Note: there is no session scheduled on Maundy Thursday, April 2.

The training will utilize the book Multiethnic Conversations: An Eight-Week Journey Toward Unity in Your Church by Mark DeYmaz along with other resources to assist participants in gaining skills to be “ambassadors of reconciliation” within our church and beyond.

CALENDAR AT A GLANCE:
Spring
Spring District Conference TBA

March
3/14: Daylight Savings Begins -- Move clocks ahead one hour!

April
4/4: Easter Sunday
4/5: District Office Closed

June
6/16-19: Annual Conference at the John S. Knight Center in Akron

August
8/29-9/7: General Conference in Minneapolis MN

November
11/10-12: Jurisdictional Conference in Fort Wayne IN
*Please remember that the District Office is always closed on Fridays*
AROUND THE DISTRICT & BEYOND
SEND ME TO THE CITY
For 18 years, The Nehemiah Mission has served the greater Cleveland area to help refugees, people experiencing homelessness, elderly persons, people with disabilities, and the underprivileged. We have hosted mission teams from across the country who have built wheelchair ramps, painted homes, ran Vacation Bible Schools, fed persons who are homeless, and met the social and emotional needs of the people we serve. That work has always been important. But it is has never been as important as it is now.

The health and safety of your team and the people we serve is our top priority. We will continue to adjust programming to adhere to state and local guidelines regarding COVID-19. That being said, we are now accepting team registrations for the summer in the hopes that inoculations will be more widespread by the time of service. We also believe that with proper social distancing measures and testing, we can have a successful summer!

Registration materials including policies and forms, available dates, and further information regarding your team's stay here in Cleveland can be found on our website. There is also more information regarding our Sowing Seeds of Hope short term mission team ministry and other ministries in which we are always in need of volunteers. Our covid-19 guidelines can be found on our registration page. Please join us! Register today!
STAY HOME
Nehemiah Annual Fundraiser: Chama Box

The 2021 Nehemiah Mission Annual Celebration Dinner is being held in your dining room! You don’t have to clean it up and prepare though, Because as much as we would love to see you in person, we’re going to hold a virtual celebration this year. 
 
Celebrate our 17th year with “Chama Box” ( Swahili for party ). It was a different kind of year, so it calls for a different kind of celebration. 
 
Beginning February 1st, 2021 we’re taking orders for “Chama Box”. In it, you will find ingredients and a recipe for an authentic African dish, some awesome hand crafted gifts from ButterPear, our “year in review”, a message from Bishop Tracy S Malone, and you’ll find out who has been named 2020 Volunteer of the Year. All this for a donation of just $100.00. You will receive your box after the week of April 6, tracking number provided at shipment, along with instructions on how to share your experience. For our PREMIUM BOX you will also received a handcrafted wood carving from one of ButterPear's artists in West Africa with a donation of $150.
 
But wait there’s more... You will also receive the satisfaction of knowing that you are contributing to the ongoing support of all this...
 
1500 Community Meals served through Bread on Bridge
100 + African refugee Children mentored, tutored, traveled, fed, entertained and loved through #Corner65
Homeless fed and sheltered and 6000 pounds of food distributed through Luke 3:11 Trailer and Sheltering Ministry
Homes restored, heated, painted and cleaned through Seeds of Hope. 
 
It was a strange year for us, just like everywhere else. But your faithfulness helped us to adjust and adapt and keep right on looking out for God’s children. So, order your “Chama Box” and help us keep it all going in 2021 and beyond! Visit the link below to order your box today!
North Coast of Haiti Mission
by Walt Merrill

Have a heart for mission but don’t know where or how to begin? Want to be a part of the Great Commission but are unsure of your call? The North Coast of Haiti Mission (NCHM) is looking for hearts that are ready to be challenged and changed by the people of Haiti. Our mission is to provide a Christian based education to children in Haiti. Working with five Methodist Schools in the Cap-Haitien Circuit, NCHM has helped with tuition, books, uniforms, teacher salary shortfalls, security gates, internet access, running water, new roofs, building maintenance and even latrines. Our scholarship program currently supports 11 worthy students who would not otherwise be attending high school due to poverty. 

Although travel to Haiti is almost impossible now with pandemics and political unrest, this has not stopped us from starting to plan a virtual mission trip to Haiti in June and, with God’s help, an actual feet-on-the-ground visit to Haiti by the end of the year. If you have interest in one or both trips or would just like to hear more, please let us know. You can contact me, Walt Merrill, by email or call 440.328.5832. We are also a current EOCUMC Advance Special so it’s easy to make a donation to NCHM using Fund 9947. Find out more in our latest newsletter.
As leaders in our community, we are having an issues forum with two of the mayoral candidates for the city of Cleveland via ZOOM. We want to create a safe space for you to hear what the candidates have to say. Also, it is a time for you to bring your concerns. We are doing this for you.

For seniors in Cleveland, you will be ale to participate: call (346) 248 - 7799 at 6:15pm.
MetroHealth Trauma and Comfort Care Orientation Session for Congregations
Community Healing Circle and our Comfort Care Ambassador Program
Orientation session: Thursday, March 11 at 6:30 p.m. via ZOOM
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COVID-19 has created an unprecedented time of trauma and social isolation. Many within our community are separated from their families, friends, and natural supports resulting in high levels of stress, anxiety, and even depression. Studies have revealed increases behavioral health issues, crime, domestic abuse, and alcohol and substance abuse due to the pandemic. These are indeed challenging times for all of us, especially for our seniors. They are alone. They are unable to visit or have visitors. They can't hug their loved ones. Many are afraid, lonely, and alienated.
 
Here at MetroHealth, we have found that a simple telephonic wellness check is an effective tool to counter social isolation and to connect patients to services and resources. We have also found that faith communities are playing an important role in supporting community members by checking on their spiritual condition, wellness, and safety. Through their pastoral care efforts, congregations utilize their ministers, deacons, and evangelists to follow-up with persons who are grieving, ill, or in self-quarantine and, most importantly, those persons who they simply no longer see weekly or may be disconnected from the virtual activities occurring through their faith community.

The session will provide a brief description of the concepts of trauma, social isolation, and pastoral care and will layout the dates and times of a three-session training for persons interested in serving as Comfort Ambassadors within their faith communities. The session is open to clergy, lay persons, and community members interested in providing support to their neighbors and friends.

Please register HERE.

Interested in what is going on throughout the East Ohio Conference? Check out all the news, events, and more at: eocumcnews.com
Submit your request for publication of an event, job ad, or need to Stephanie at office@northcoastdistrict.com by Wednesday at 12 noon to run in the Friday NCD News. Please be aware that the less words the better! Grab attention with basic W facts (who, what, when, where, why), and if possible, provide a link to more information online. Flyers are not always easily readable in this format.
The North Coast District of The United Methodist Church
4700 Rockside Rd., Suite 300
Independence OH 44131
(216) 441-4527 • office@northcoastdistrict.com
 http://www.eocumc.com/northcoast/

NCD Office Hours:
Monday - Thursday: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.*
(*Please note that District staff is working remotely during these office hours)