Sept. 11, 2023 | "Transformed Lives Transform Lives"

Bethany Korean UMC started 10 years ago with the support of BWC and was chartered in 2019. The Rev. Dae Sung Park and the congregation will celebrate and share their vision for the future on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m.

The BWC's Rev. Andy Lunt and Ted Brown have written a book, "Empowering Leaders, Tools to Change Church Culture." Read a review.

Bishop LaTrelle Easterling's podcast, "Thursdays at the Table," begins its second season with a conversation with the Rev. Willie Jennings, a professor at Yale and the author of The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race. Listen.

The Gender, Race, and Ministry study, a two-year effort by the BWC’s Board of Ordained Ministry (BOOM), explores how race and gender impact people's experience of ministry.

Read a story about the findings.

BOOM will host an online conversation about the study, which will include time for questions and discussion, on Oct. 5 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Register now.

Training Tuesday webinars return this week for its fifth year. Developing Missionally Vital Leaders is the theme of this fall's first Training Tuesday webinar on Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. Learn about resources to grow in leadership and find out how you can become involved with the BWC's new Leadership Development Academies: Fresh Expressions Academy, Church Planter Discernment Academy, Journey to Beloved Community, Certificate in Congregational Leadership program and the non-anxious leadership training. Register.

Coming this fall:

• Sept. 19: Charting a Course Toward Vitality – Using a Missional Action Planning (MAP) framework, learn about resources for your church to grow. Register
• Oct. 10: Hope and Healing in the Midst of Conflict – Best practices on conflict transformation for Staff-Parish Relations Committee members. Register
• Oct. 24: New Possibilities: Creating a Leadership Pathway for Your Church, based on Ken Willard’s book Church Ecology. Register
• Nov. 7: Aligning Money and Mission – Explore renting well, using assets, building projects and other issues and challenges facing church Trustees. Register
• Nov. 14: Budgeting as a Response to Vision – For finance committee members and others as they create and develop church budgets. Register
• Nov. 28: Toward Better Meetings: Crafting Meaningful Discussions, Decisions and Change – How to develop an agenda and run an effective Church Council meeting. Register

Interested in performing in United Methodist's Got Talent? Watch this sample audition video.

Register now for a day of fun and fellowship at United Methodist's Got Talent: Beginning at 11 a.m. on Sept 30, youth and youth leaders of BWC and Pen-Del will spend the day at Camp Pecometh enjoying games, inspirational talks, music, and a talent show as they begin a new school year. All youth are invited to attend. Performing is not required. The cost is $5 per person for lunch, snacks, games and more. For every four people registered, the fifth is free using the discount code Talent! Register.

A special Hispanic Quality of Life Retreat for people living with HIV/AIDS will be held Sept. 30 from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Emmanuel UMC in Laurel. The Rev. Giovanni Arroyo, General Secretary of the Commission on Religion and Race, will speak on "Are God and the Angels with Me?" To register, contact Angel Ortiz at 443-994-4643.

Congregational Pathways are initiatives that assist churches in discovering their next faithful step in becoming more vital. Beginning Sept. 13, churches can submit their Intent to Apply forms. Learn more at www.pdcbwc.org/vitality-pathways.html.

Applications for Congregational Development Grants are now being accepted. All materials must be uploaded by Oct. 1. Do you have an innovative and exciting idea for a new faith expression or new worship service? A plan for a new ministry that will help your congregation go to the “next level?" Or are you developing a way to reach new people who are not yet a part of any church? The BWC's Congregational Development Grants can assist you in launching your new ministry initiative, congregational renewal project, or leader development ministry. Learn more and apply.

The denomination's Commission on Religion and Race will hold a Facing the Future Conference for all clergy serving in cross-racial, cross-cultural and multicultural ministry settings on Nov. 14-16 in Atlanta, Ga. Learn more.

Becoming a CLM: The BWC's Lay Servant Ministries program has extended the application deadline to Sept. 30 for the 2023-2025 cohort of Certified Lay Ministers. Classes will begin in October. If you or someone you know is interested in or has heard the call of God to serve as a Certified Lay Minister, check out the application packet. Questions may be directed to Linda Flanagan, the Conference Director of Lay Servant Ministries. Learn more.

BMCR meeting: The Baltimore-Washington Conference caucus of Black Methodists for Church Renewal will host the 54th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Jurisdictional BMCR at the Maritime Conference Center in Linthicum, Oct. 5-7. The theme is “Remaining Steadfast: Forging Ahead.” Local leaders are also seeking vendors and exhibitors. Learn more and register before Sept. 30.

The BWC's Creation Care Team offers resources and opportunities for United Methodists to put their faith into action as caretakers of God's creation. Learn more.

The Why Worship Conference for pastors and worship leaders will be held Oct. 21 at Wesley Freedom UMC in Eldersburg; 1 CEU will be awarded through the BWC. Learn more and register.

National UMC and WesleyNexus present the second annual Weaver lecture on science and religion on Oct. 21 at 4 p.m. at National UMC in Washington, D.C. The lecture will feature Dr. Catherine Keller, on “Earth Matters: Generation, Motivation, Eco-civilization.” Keller’s work explores the ecological and environmental crises of our time through the lens of religion, science, feminism, and philosophy. She will address that generational divide and how we might find new motivation across generations to arrive at a vision of eco-civilization.

Learn more about church grants for those working with immigration ministries: Mustard Seed Migration Grants.

The BWC's Camp Manidokan near Harper's Ferry is seeking a Program Director. Learn more.

This year's Communication Learning Week, set for Oct. 16-20, will be a weeklong virtual learning experience filled with recorded workshops, Q&A sessions and strategic resources designed by a host of church communications professionals. Courses will cover a wide range of topics, such as content for digital congregations, rural church communications, news writing and storytelling, just to name a few. Join our waiting list to be informed of when registration opens and also get the opportunity to take advantage of the early-bird registration discount. Get ready.

Local Church Events:

Glen Mar UMC in Ellicott City will host a Health Fair and Blood Drive on Sept. 16 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Discover booths that will share health education information, conduct preventive screenings, raise awareness of health risks, and demonstrate healthy habits.

The 13^th annual Hyattsville Multicultural Community Health and Wellness Fair will be held on Sept. 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at First UMC, 6201 Belcrest Road in Hyattsville.

Asbury UMC in Washington, D.C. will celebrate its 187th anniversary on Sept. 16 and 17. The celebration will include an art exhibit: "Amazing Grace! Imaginings," featuring the collected artworks of Grace Coolidge Hines. A conversation with the artist will be held Sept. 16 at 3 p.m. A jazz concert, featuring the acclaimed jazz ensemble, FAME, is scheduled for Sept. 16 at 5 p.m. and Bishop LaTrelle Easterling will preach at the 10 a.m. worship service on Sept. 17.

New Waverly UMC in Baltimore will be hosting another Pop-Up Jazz Jam featuring the Ed Hrybyk Trio on Sept. 19 at 5:30 p.m. Bring a lawn chair.

Mt. Tabor UMC, on Route 108 in Etchinson will host Westward Road in concert on Sept. 24 at 6 p.m.

St. Paul's UMC in Kensington is hosting a community-wide Grief Workshop on Oct. 7, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. The event will be facilitated by Dr. Tina Lightner-Morris, who will address the many kinds of loss, from those that are most familiar to us, such as the loss of a loved one, to those that are more subtle, such as the loss of community, employment, independence, or financial stability. While there is no charge for this workshop, registration is required.

Taylorsville UMC in Mt. Airy will hold a Christmas Bazaar, with a fried oyster luncheon, on Nov. 11 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Lessons in Leadership

Level Up is a video series that provides lessons in church leadership using best-selling secular writings by the Rev. Jack Shitama of the Center of Vital Leadership. This week, Shitama explores how "Effective Ministry Leaders Understand the Three Types of Conflict."

In the Mission-Shaped Church blog, the Rev. Tom Bandy explores how, as churches wrestle with the business – or “busy-ness” – of outreach, we forget that outreach is about embracing people and not just managing tasks. Church people ask the wrong question. We ask: What does God call us to do? What we should be asking is: Who does God call us to be with? Read more. 

See church classified ads now online.