April 2015 Issue from Discipleship Ministries

Equip the church for African-American new church starts. Candace Lewis, New Church Starts (Path 1) executive director, will lead a team of successful United Methodist Church pastors in a special session on African-American church planting. The session will be April 27 at Exponential East, a four-day conference of inspiration, encouragement and equipping for church planters, in Tampa. For more information and to register, go to http://bit.ly/1ENe9mS.   Strengthen Christian faith in your homes. May is Christian Home Month in the United Methodist Church, and this year's theme is “Families: Called to Justice.” Resources from Discipleship Ministries are available to help your congregation develop and strengthen faith in the home and support Christian families in their faith journeys. For worship suggestions, family devotional ideas, retreat plans and congregational activities, go to http://bit.ly/1FEX7sC. Or for a print copy, email Nancy Dunlap at ndunlap@gbod.org.   Help your youth learn more about acts of mercy. At YOUTH 2015, the church’s quadrennial event for 6-12 grade students and their leaders, mission and workshop offerings will help youth understand what it means to participate in acts of mercy in a hands-on way. YOUTH 2015 will be June 24-28 in Orlando. Registration at $475 per person remains open until the end of May. For more information and to register, go to http://youth2015.com.   Discuss faithful environmental stewardship of God’s creation. Plan to participate in the free webinar “Called to Care for God’s Good Creation: Intergenerational Environmental Stewardship” on May 5 at 10 a.m. CDT. Ken Sloane from Discipleship Resources and John Hill from the General Board of Church and Society will discuss ways to develop, nurture and encourage faithful environmental stewardship in our churches and homes. For more information and to register, go to http://bit.ly/1yg9BqR.   Join a conversation about providing care to others. Upper Room Ministries and the Henri Nouwen Society will host a live call-in seminar, “Caregiving from the Heart: A Spirituality of Caregiving,” for both professional and personal caregivers on April 23 at 11:30 CDT. Gordon Peerman and Marjorie Thompson will discuss their own experiences with caregiving, Henri Nouwen's writing and Nouwen’s life-giving perspective on offering and receiving care. For more information and to register, go to http://elearning.upperroom.org/events/178. SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER