BRD Monthly - February 2021

posted on February 01


Resources for Black History Month
With racial justice becoming an ever-increasing focus of the United Methodist Church, we would like to share some great resources for Black History Month.

  • United Methodist Women have curated a selection of resources and stories for Black History Month including links and quizzes from UMC.ORG.  Find them here
     
  • What's Love Got to Do with It? White Supremacy in the Church
    An introduction and invitation to examine how the church can return to love, cast out white supremacy, and practice holy imagination with Rev. Tami Forte Logan of Faith 4 Justice Asheville. This free online event will be held Saturday, February 13, from 12-2pm. More information and registration here



Conference Worship Service Gift for Sunday, April 11
The Conference will gift another virtual service as a respite for our pastors the Sunday following Easter. We will send links to the service to pastors when available as well as post access to the service on our website and Facebook.
 


Covid-19: Guidance for Observing Ash Wednesday Safely
The Western North Carolina Conference has shared a 6-page guide for observing Ash Wednesday while adhering to Covid-19 guidelines with contributions from a variety of United Methodist Church affiliates.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K5qEn0BN2mFpvIMppW0o_TxFG7YHsTJe/view

 


Church Leadership Roles & Responsibilities
Resources to help you navigate your role in local church leadership.
 
Church Council

Staff/Pastor-Parish Relations Committee

Nominations Committee

Trustees

Finance Committee


Virtual Youth Event 2021 - Planning Invitation
This past December our district office was presented with the opportunity to book inspirational speaker and former athlete, Chris Singleton for an event. We jumped at the chance and booked him for May 2nd of this year. After some discussion about what type of event we would like to hold, the suggestion was made that we take this opportunity to provide a place where youth from across the district can gather (virtually, at least).

We invite all youth leaders and interested youth who would be invited by you, to help create, plan, and coordinate an online event curated specifically to the youth in our district. Input from you is incredibly valuable as we want this event to be engaging and inspiring for everyone who attends.

If you are interested in helping with this youth event, please join us for a ZOOM meeting on Wednesday, February 3 at 12:00pm.

Please RSVP here!

 


Reynolds Ministry Grants
The Royce and Jane Reynolds Ministry Fund aims to support ministries who demonstrate an intention, plan, and ability to make disciples of Jesus Christ. All award decisions are made by a team of dedicated volunteers. The team will review and prayerfully consider all applications. The team will meet in March 2021 to make the difficult award decisions regarding which applications best match the intentions and parameters of the Reynolds Ministry Fund.

Application deadline is Saturday, February 13. More information and links to applications are provided in the PDF below.

 2021+Reynolds+Grant+App+Guidelines.pdf

 


Virtual Leadership Lunch with Mark Ralls
District Superintendent Mark Ralls invites the clergy of the Blue Ridge District to gather via ZOOM for lunch and conversation to enhance relationships and learn from each other. The topics of discussion for the next few months are as follow:


January 19 - March 16: Putting New Habits into Practice

  • February 2: Asking Different Questions
  • February 16: Seeing the System
  • March 2: Managing Polarities
  • March 16: Setting Boundaries and Establishing Attractors

Join each conversation at 12pm with this ZOOM link
 


Upcoming Events:

February 2: Virtual Leadership Lunch with Mark - Asking Different Questions  ZOOM Link Here 

February 3: Virtual Youth Event Planning Zoom

February 13: What's Love Got to Do with It? 

February 16: Virtual Leadership Lunch with Mark - Seeing the System ZOOM Link Here