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1/1/2010

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12/18/2009

By Gayle White UMNS Methodism’s founder John Wesley traveled on foot and horseback to spread the Gospel in Georgia more than 270 years ago. Today, one of the state’s newest United Methodist churches sends the word out via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Worshippers are even encouraged to text message during services. It’s working. On Dec. 20, Impact Church will be officially constituted as a United Methodist church by the North Georgia Conference. With two services most Sundays drawing as many ...

12/16/2009

The North Georgia United Methodist Foundation and the South Georgia United Methodist Foundation announced plans to merge effective January 1, 2010. The boards of trustees of both foundations unanimously approved this merger. The newly formed nonprofit agency will be called the Georgia United Methodist Foundation. “This merger will greatly enhance the new Foundation’s ability to serve the financial and stewardship needs of clergy, laity, churches and agencies in the North and South Georgia ...

12/14/2009

The anonymous donor who previously gave a $500,000 challenge gift to the Central Conference Pension Initiative (CCPI) has contributed another $500,000. The phenomenal support from the clergy and churches of the North and South Georgia Conferences have made this total $1 million gift a reality. The total commitments from Georgia is now $2,452,467.37. These gifts go toward pensions for clergy in Central Conferences (conferences outside the United States) who often serve in areas of great need ...

12/4/2009

By ELIZABETH LeBLANC Before I had children, I thought that I knew everything. I would look at families and think to myself how wrong they were. I would see a misbehaved child in a restaurant and sneak looks at the terrible parents who were allowing that behavior. I was a special education teacher and I spent too much of my time judging the families I was there to serve. Why didn’t they work with their children more? Why did they have the wrong expectations for their children? I knew everything ...

11/30/2009

Look for North Georgia Conference-sponsored Rethink Church ads online, on the radio and on TV this Advent. TV spots will run during the Army/Navy football game Dec. 12, the Sun Bowl Dec. 31, and during the Gator Bowl on New Years Day. For the first time, the conference is also running ads online. CBSatlanta.com will run our 15-second ads before news videos. Radio ads will play during drive time on: 640 AM, 1400 AM, 720 AM, 94.9 FM, 105.7 FM, 96.1 FM, 105.3 FM, 96.7 FM, 92.5 FM, 98.1 FM. ...

11/19/2009

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 scripture from the Christmas ...

11/18/2009

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  lot of couples who ...

11/18/2009

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

11/6/2009

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 denomination," said Dan O'Neill managing ...

11/4/2009

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 from ...

10/31/2009

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. ...

10/30/2009

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 Georgia Conference web team -- ...

10/26/2009

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 help@ngumc.org.

10/16/2009

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 "Share" bar to ...

10/12/2009

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 United Methodist ...

10/10/2009

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 be taken in all the ...

10/4/2009

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 the proper tools ...

10/2/2009

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 subscriptions, or renewals, ...

9/30/2009

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 describe." For his return visit in ...