Candler DVD Unites Christmas Scripture, Art and Scholarship

Candler School of Theology at Emory University has released 'A Thrill of Hope: The Christmas Story in Word and Art,' a new DVD presentation that blends the school’s spectacular collection of the art of John August Swanson with the well-known biblical narrative of the Christmas story.   The 50-minute DVD presents the familiar story of Christmas as told in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. There are six 7-minute sections, or “chapters,” each featuring a passage of...

Pastor Launches MyMarriageCoach.com

Want to take your marriage beyond ordinary? Need a coach to encourage and equip you? Rev. Jay Tenney, pastor of Barnesville First UMC, has developed a tool to help: www.mymarriagecoach.com. The simple, confidential marriage assessment tool asks couples to answer 100 quick questions individually or together that evaluate ten key ares of the marriage including faith, finances and communication. "As a pastor involved in marital counseling, I've discovered that there are a ...

The Journals are Coming! The Journals are Coming!

North Georgia Conference 2009 Journals began shipping the week of November 16. DVD versions will be mailed after Thanksgiving....

Update: North Georgians Have Given $1.2 Million to CCPI

The North Georgia Conference has made $1,211,504.40 in donations to the Central Conference Pension Initiative (CCPI) and 971 churches and individuals from our conference have made pledges. These gifts go toward pensions for clergy in Central Conferences (conferences outside the United States) who often serve in areas of great need only to face hunger and poverty in retirement.  "For individual and church gifts to CCPI, North Georgia is the leader in the...

Alonso's Violin: UMVIM Volunteer Makes Connection in El Salvador

By Randel Sink Special to the North Georgia Advocate Our team had just spent a week in El Salvador building a home for a local family. The rest of the group returned home. I stayed behind to work with Juan de Dios, the head of the Iglesia Metodista, the Methodist Church in El Salvador. Casa de Juan is an unusual place. Aside from the additions to the basic house over the years, adding more rooms and bathrooms to accommodate more people, Casa de Juan is blessed with many interesting souls...

Georgia-Florida UM Federal Credit Union Offers Shelter from Credit Card Rate Increases

If you have a credit card from any of the major credit card issuers, you might notice a sharp increase in your interest rate and fees within the next few months. This warning was issued by Keystone United Methodist Federal Credit Union this week, the credit union that serves United Methodists in the Western PA Conference, and was echoed by the Georgia Florida United Methodist Federal Credit Union. As credit card companies race to beat the deadline for new regulation that will go into effect in...

Housing Needed for Disaster Response Work Teams

There is a pressing need for housing for work teams on the west side of Atlanta. More than 100 teams from outside our Conference are planning trips to North Georgia to rebuild and repair homes and buildings that were flooded in September. The teams have 6 to 8 members on average, but some have as many as 14 to 30. Their needs include a place to sleep, as well as a place to cook or volunteers to prepare meals. Many teams work for 5 to 6 days, but one group may be here for as long as two months....

Conference Website Wins Top Honors From Communicators

The North Georgia Conference website, which was redesigned and launched in April, has earned honors as the best overall site in the denomination.   United Methodist Association of Communicators (UMAC) named ngumc.org as the best website in its field at the UMAC annual meeting, Oct. 21 in Nashville.   Secular judges, with backgrounds in Internet technology, praised ngumc.org as “a great website that is user friendly with intuitive layout and navigation.” The North...

Rev. Quincy Brown Named Vice President of LaGrange College

LaGrange College announced the promotion of the Rev. Dr. Quincy Brown to Vice President for Spiritual Life and Church Relations at its Board of Trustees meeting last week. Previously the school's chaplain and director of servant-leadership, he joined the college in 1997. "We aim to become even more intentional about pursuing our mission of 'inspiring the soul'-both on campus and throughout the region," said LaGrange College President Dan McAlexander. "We are pleased to...

Clergy E-mail Target of Phishing Scam

Attention North Georgia clergy: Please do not reply to an e-mail sent to clergy "ngumc.net" accounts asking for a reply with personal information and passwords. This is a phishing scam and an attempt to get your personal account information. The e-mail starts "Attention E-mail Account Holder." The North Georgia Conference will never request your e-mail address and password. If you have questions, please contact the conference IT office directly at support@ngumc.org....

Website Launches Two New Features, More Ways to Connect

Did you read a great story on the Conference website? What about an event you want to share with all your friends? Do you wish the conference web content was more accessible to the Latino congregation at your church? No problem! The Conference website has two new features and a new way to connect on Facebook. At www.ngumc.org, every interior page now features a "Share" button at the bottom of the left navigation bar. (Go ahead and scroll down to check it out.) You can use the...

Conference Transitions into Long-term Phase of Flood Recovery

Thanks to individuals and Early Response Teams from all over the United States, areas in North Georgia are now moving from an early response phase to a recovery (rebuilding) phase following the flooding last month.  Disaster Response will be involved in assessments for the next two weeks to determine where the needs are for long-term recovery.  Once the assessments are completed volunteers will be able to transition into long-term recovery mode.  The Call Center, managed by...

Action Ministries Sunday Set for November 1

Sunday, November 1, has been approved as the official date for the first ever conference-wide special offering to benefit Action Ministries.  The agency has mailed promotion material to the 900+ churches in the Conference and has also posted resources at www.actionministries.net/donate/sunday-offering-hub.html for download along with a video and letter from Bishop Mike Watson.  In June the North Georgia Annual Conference voted to authorize a special Sunday offering to...

Flood Call Center at Simpsonwood is Connected to 22 Other Faith Groups

By Sybil Davidson The phones are ringing at the Disaster Response call center as volunteers from around North Georgia and across the United States are being connected to flood cleanup and rebuilding needs in our area.   The call center is getting 30 to 35 calls per day and has 2 to 3 volunteers at a time answering phones.   A typical call is from a church group offering to volunteer. The call center connects them with a repair or recovery project then ensures that they have...

Advocate Fall Subscription Campaign: Send Your Pastor to Paradise

Subscribe to the new-and-improved North Georgia Advocate and send your pastor to paradise! Well, paradise on Earth, anyway. As part of our fall 2009 subscription drive – which runs from Tues., Oct. 6 until Tues. Nov. 9 -- the North Georgia Advocate is offering some special incentives: During the five-week campaign, $5 from every annual subscription sold at $28 will go back to the local church to support missions and ministries. The church that sells the most new...

Mount Pisgah UMC Group Trains Leaders in West Africa

Their message was clear. When Christian leaders in Africa were asked what would make the greatest impact on people’s lives there, they quickly responded: Help us train, equip, and deploy leaders. Senior Pastor Steve Wood, and the congregation of Mount Pisgah UMC in Johns Creek, accepted the challenge to make disciples of Jesus Christ through this process, both locally and globally. Mount Pisgah is working to form strategic partnerships for leadership recruitment, training, and...

Bishop Watson to Lead Tour of the Holy Land

By Glenn Hannigan Editor North Georgia Advocate   The Rev. Dan Wagner calls it a "once-in-a-lifetime trip." And though Wagner just made his first pilgrimage to the Holy Land 20 months ago, he is eager for a return visit. "This is something every Christian should experience," said Wagner, senior pastor of St. Mark UMC in Augusta. "There were many deeply spiritual moments, times I felt touched by the Holy Spirit. It almost knocked me to my knees. It is hard to...

Volunteers Respond as Thousands of Homes are Reported Damaged

By Zachary Hoffman Disaster News Network Bob Relf of McEachern United Methodist Church pulled drywall from the living room of a house in Powder Springs after record rainfall left two feet of water within the home. He was a member of one of the many early responder groups reaching out to flood victims in Georgia after more than 14 inches of rain poured onto counties in Georgia overnight September 21; some places saw more than 20 inches in a 24-hour period. “As I know now, there are...

Flood Update: Two Phases of Recovery

The following update is from Mike Selleck, Director of Connectional Ministries: It's Saturday evening an the rain continues ... but, it looks as if it will pass without adding new insult to this past weeks injuries. Next week will be busy as clean up begins in earnest. Remember please that disaster response comes in two phases: early responders and long term recovery. Phase One (Current Response Level) Early responders do the dangerous and urgent work of saving people, pets, and...

Conference Establishes Flood Response Call Center

In response to the flooding in the North Georgia are, the Conference has set up a call center to help match cleanup and repair needs with volunteer teams.  The Call Center will operate Monday to Friday, 7am-7pm and is managed by United Methodist Volunteers In Mission and the North Georgia Conference Disaster Response Team in accordance with Georgia Emergency Management Association and Federal Emergency Management Association.  The phone number for the Call Center is 678.533.1443....