Susquehanna LINK - April 2016 Young People’s Ministry at Annual Conference
By Audrey Wilder, Director of Young People’s Ministries
gathered community following meals on Thursday from 12-1:30 p.m. and Friday from 4:45-6:45 p.m. Those wishing to say thank you for the service will be invited to drop a donation in a jar as they leave the cafeteria.
... POPCORN Youth will be making popcorn during
each working session throughout Annual Conference. There is no charge for the popcorn, donations are appreciated. Those looking for larger portions of popcorn will be able to purchase reusable popcorn containers for $2 (supplies are limited). ... FINAL YEAR - Get ‘em before
The Young
YOUTH SERVICE FUND People’s Ministry
Retiree health coverage calls for decisive action
Conference Board of Pensions Y is
excited to continue to be a part of Annual Conference. We will carry on the tradition of raising money for, and awareness about, Youth Service Fund. Youth Service Fund is money raised by youth, administered by youth, for the benefit of youth ministries. Apply online for a YSF grant at
igniteyoungpeople.com.
This year you will be able to help us
reach our goal of raising $7,500 for YSF by donating to:
... GIFT BASKET SILENT AUCTION A variety of amazing gift baskets will be auctioned off during Annual Conference. Interested parties will be able to place bids on all baskets at the YSF table in Brubaker Auditorium. If you, your church, or your business would like to donate a basket for the auction, please contact Audrey Wilder at the conference office no later than June 1 to make arrangements.
... TABLE SERVICE
Youth at Annual Conference provide dish removal service
for
will the
Special offerings at Annual Conference Memorial Service, Thursday, June 9, 2016
The Cup of Water Fund (Conf. Advance #8160) is a fund which
is available to lay persons in our conference who are facing difficult financial hardship. These donations provide emergency grants to families or individuals who are recommended by pastors to the Cabinet. In these difficult economic times your generosity provides needed help to our brothers and sisters of the Susquehanna Conference family.
Celebration of Ministry, Friday, June 10, 2016 All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing. – Colossians 1:6 The Mongolian Mission of the United Methodist Church (Conf. Advance #2440) supports our missionaries and their work in a country where the major religion is Buddhism, but church leaders are finding people longing for the gospel. Mongolia lies between China and Russia in northern Asia and is undergoing rapid social and economic changes. In 2011 Bishop Park was named the first presiding Bishop of the Mongolian Mission of the United Methodist Church. He travels there once a year to conduct an annual meeting and to supervise, support, and strengthen the mission of our church in that part of the world.
Ordination Service, Saturday, June 11, 2016 Bishop’s Partners in Mission (Conf. Advance
#7090) calls us to Imagine No Malaria and Imagine No More Debt! One hundred percent of the proceeds from this fund go to Imagine No Malaria (the UMC’s global campaign to fight malaria) and paying down the debt of the mortgage of Mission Central so they can focus on their core mission of connecting God’s
resources with human need. Bishop Park is inviting individuals, congregations, and church groups to join him and be Partners in Mission, committing to $100 or more a year. Whatever you can give helps the lives of those locally and around the world. God is still calling us to imagine great things; he is calling us to Imagine What We Can Do Together.
Please make checks payable to Susquehanna Conference and include your church number and the advance number (listed after the name above) on the memo line of the check.
Connect with the Susquehanna Conference on Facebook.
www.facebook.com/susumc Magnify the Lord with me!
Together let us lift his name up high! Psalm 34:3 CEB
Annual Conference mission opportunity
Mission Central will be collecting pairs of new or gently-used shoes again at Annual Conference. Please place them in the Mission Central truck, which will be parked out in front of Boyer Hall. This is a collection-only event — they will not be processed at conference like last year.
be
our shares of ministry support the work of the district, conference and general church. One of the
largest lines of support is for retiree healthcare costs. Currently
retired pastors and their
spouses (or surviving spouses) over the age of 65 are eligible to be covered under our group Medicare supplement plan. Based on the retiree’s years of service, participants pay a reduced premium for this coverage which provides benefits that are over and beyond the benefit provided by Medicare. Both retirees and their spouses (or surviving spouses) are eligible to participate in the plan for the rest of their lives. In 2015 this benefit cost the conference
they’re vintage!
The Young People’s Ministry will selling ALIVE IN CHRIST (red
and black) and GROW ON T-shirts for $10 each at the YPM table in Brubaker Auditorium. Susquehanna Conference neck wallets will also be for sale for $4. Funds collected from the sale of T-shirts and neck wallets will go to subsidize new T-shirts for the new quadrennium starting in 2016.
$1.84 million and in 2016 that figure is expected to rise to almost $2 million. As you can well imagine, this rise in unsustainable costs will not stop in the future. In fact, experts tell us if we were to have no one else retire, we can expect to pay $74.9 million between now and the time the last current participant dies. Churches today face real challenges trying to do ministry in the face
of
very difficult economic challenges. We recognize
your struggles and, while
we strive to be the best stewards of your resources, we believe in caring for families who have given their lives in service to the church. Many of them faced very difficult economic times during their ministry which continues into retirement. Although “The United Methodist Book of Discipline” S¶639.6 does not require us to pay for, but merely provide access to, retiree coverage (in fact many conferences either pay nothing or very little toward retiree coverage) the Susquehanna Conference believes we should support our retirees for the dedication they have shown to us. With recent changes to healthcare laws, there are many new ways of providing access available to us. This year at Annual Conference you will hear about One Exchange, where participants will be able to pick and choose the coverage that best suits their needs. The conference will provide each participant with a pre- loaded health
reimbursement account
to help offset their expense and also a great amount of help in the plan selection process. This will help control future costs to the conference while still providing much needed assistance to retirees. Be sure to catch the Pensions and Health report at Annual Conference for more details.
A
Donations for Annual Conference flowers and worship bulletins
mounts of $15 or more may be given toward the purchase of flowers for the platform. Names of contributors, and of those persons to be honored or memorialized, will be printed in the Susquehanna DailyLINK. Name(s) and
telephone number(s), contributor(s), and the typed/clearly printed name of the honored or memorialized person(s) must be included with the request and payment.
Request and payment must be received by May 2 at the Conference Connectional Ministries Office: Attn: Lisa Bender 303 Mulberry Dr. PO Box 2053 Mechanicsburg PA 17055-2053
7
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16