Northern Flow/Mohawk Weekly Newsletter April 25, 2024

Northern Flow/Mohawk

Weekly Newsletter

April 25, 2024

Operation: Home Repair

Volunteers are needed for the 2024 Operation: Home Repair, a summer home repair mission project based in and around Schoharie County. This unique effort brings critical home repairs to neighbors as a collaborative effort of the Mosaic Cooperative Parish of United Methodist Churches, a group of 10 churches working together on the southeastern edge of the Upper New York Conference. This year repairs will take place over two weeks, July 8th - July 19th, and volunteers may participate for any or all of that time period, including the weekend. While skilled volunteers are always valuable, you do not have to have any particular skill to volunteer. Projects will likely include repairing decking, plumbing, building ramps, installing gutters, repairing leaky roofs, painting, and outdoor clean-up.

Volunteers are welcome from all across the conference. Youth aged 18 and under must be accompanied and supervised by a parent or youth leader. Housing can be arranged for volunteers coming from further away. Lunch, water and coffee will be provided on site for all volunteers.

If you feel called to join in this impactful mission work, please complete this volunteer application and submit by May 1^st. Any questions may be directed to Cobleskill United Methodist Church at cobyumc107@gmail.com.

Edwards United Methodist Church

Sunday April 28th, 2024

11:00 a.m.

We will be celebrating our 50th Anniversary of the Consecration of the Church

There will be a luncheon to follow.

Come and join us as we celebrate this milestone!!

Mohawk District LSM

Advanced Course Schedule

Greetings to all,

The 2024 Spring in-person LSM Advanced course schedule is attached for your convenience.

Please note the Grace period for Lay Servants to obtain their continuing education has expired. If you have not taken an advanced class since 2020, you will need to complete a class by December 31, 2024, and submit your annual report, to maintain your status as an active Certified Lay Servant/Lay Speaker/Lay Minister.

Schedule

Seeking AC volunteers

Excitement is building as we move closer to the 2024 Annual Conference (AC) Session, to be held May 30-June 1 at the SRC Arena on the campus of Onondaga Community College in Syracuse.

In the midst of all that happens at AC, there is a great need for people to serve as volunteers at various times throughout the three days. Consider living out your discipleship by serving as a volunteer.

Volunteers are needed to greet and escort attendees, assist staff, and lend a helping hand.

Stewardship with Susan Ranous

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

11 WAYS TO SUPPORT STEWARDSHIP FOR YOUR CHURCH #7

After a couple of weeks off, we are in the seventh week sharing about the VANCO stewardship booklet on the 11 Ways to support stewardship for your church. This week, we are discussing Memorials/Legacy Gifts.

Have you considered the thought that people have supported their church or other causes that were near and dear to their heart while they were alive; might they want to continue doing that after their pass away?

While this makes sense, did you realize that less than half of all Americans have a will? What that means is that when they pass away, their resources, their assets will go to the next of kin and/or disbursed pursuant to the law and what a court of law decides.

Discuss this with your finance folks and with your congregation. Encourage them to care for charities that they have supported during their lifetimes and also friends and family that may not “follow the rule of the law.”

A wills workshop, perhaps led by an attorney, to talk about what happens without a will, and how wills and trusts work, would be well worth the time and effort.

Wills, powers of attorney, health care proxies, etc. are important documents that everyone should have in place.

I did want to mention something about memorials and legacies/bequests that sometimes confuse folks.

Memorial gifts are gifts given in memory of someone (not by the deceased person, but by friends and family). A bequest or legacy is left by the decedent, perhaps in their will or by virtue of a trust. In the United Methodist Church, those bequests must be accepted by a Charge Conference.

Please help the folks in your congregation to prepare for what happens after they pass away; giving to the church would be great, but simply making sure they do what they have to do is vitally important.

If you wish more information on anything you’ve been reading about, please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or sranousacctg@twcny.rr.com or susanranous@unyumc.org. I’d be happy to help or answer any questions.

Contacting Northern Flow/Mohawk District Office

If you are trying to reach the district office please use the following information:

Email tammymcadam@unyumc.org

DS Rev. Weeden mikeweeden@unyumc.org

Phone 315-535-5149

Fax 315-535-5151

Mailing Address PO Box 208 Gouverneur NY 13642

Office Hours Monday - Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

We are completely working from home and this is the best contact information to be able to reach us.

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