News Stories from November 2019
The UNY mission carried out through potatoes
November 26, 2019 / By Shannon Hodson / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
This past fall, The Society of St. Andrew with the help of over 100 volunteers distributed well over 150,000 pounds of potatoes throughout Upper New York with potato drops at Rose UMC, Endwell UMC, Boonville UMC, and the UNY United Methodist Center. Over 40,000 pounds of potatoes were dropped at the UNY Methodist Center’s Mission Central HUB and area food pantries, churches, non-profits, families, and individuals came to pick them up. …more
CenterPoint Christian Fellowship: Climbing the discipleship staircase to walking the discipleship pathway
November 25, 2019 / By By Wayne Clemens and Jay Scienza, Pastors, CenterPoint Christian Fellowship
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the 2019 Issue II of the Advocate. Click here to read the issue. This article was updated on March 22, 2022 At CenterPoint Church in Barneveld, New York; in the Mohawk District of the Upper New York Annual Conference, God has blessed us with incredible growth and has created an atmosphere where there is a deep spiritual longing to love God more, to …more
UNY ERT and volunteers give hope to Mohawk District storm survivors
November 25, 2019 / By Shannon Hodson / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Almost a month after the Halloween storm and subsequent Sauquoit creek flooding throughout the Mohawk District, many residents are still without heat, water, or electricity. Over 100 residents experienced flood waters that filled their basements from floor to ceiling and up to the top of the floorboards or higher on the first floor. The village of Whitesboro was hit hard by this storm. A walk down Wind Place and surrounding streets …more
Potatoes distributed throughout UNY
November 19, 2019 / By Betty Houg and Crystal Dauback
Editor’s Note: This past fall, The Society of St. Andrew with the help of over 100 volunteers distributed well over 150,000 pounds of potatoes throughout Upper New York with potato drops at Rose UMC, Endwell UMC, Boonville UMC, and the UNY United Methodist Center. Each location had 35,000-50,000 potatoes picked up by food pantries, churches, community organizations, families, and individuals. Below is a story of Boonville UMC’s …more
Friendship UMC: The story of the Friendship AWANA Club
November 19, 2019 / By By Clara E. Wilder, Licensed Local Pastor, First UMC of Friendship and River’s Edge UMC
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the 2019 Issue II of the Advocate, which zeroed in on the theme of Discipleship Systems: Beyond Sunday services. Click here to read the issue. “Where are all the children?” Is the most-asked question in one of the rural churches that I serve. I serve First United Methodist Church of Friendship in Friendship, NY. The town is in the beautiful southern …more
INR continues
November 19, 2019 / By Blenda Smith
The Conference Commission on Religion and Race (CCORR) is excited to share the results of a busy summer! We worked with the General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR) to revise the Imagine No Racism (INR) curriculum to reflect the excellent evaluations and feedback of those who experienced INR in 2018. All clergy are expected to complete the full six weeks of the INR curriculum, and many did this last year. …more
Faith Journey UMC’s Mission Central Campus opens
November 13, 2019 / By Shannon Hodson / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
In April 2016, Mike Jordan, the chairperson of Crossroad District’s Faith Journey UMC’ s trustees, convinced members of his church that it was possible to transform a dilapidated, closed-down veterinary building into a beautiful space to be the new home for their Cradle & Beyond thrift shop that had been part of St. Andrew’s UMC until the church closed. And that this could also be a …more
How generous is your church?
November 12, 2019 / By UNY Communications
Editor's Note: In the 2019 Issue II of the Advocate, we asked members of the UNY conference to tell us about how their church is generous. Below are some of the responses we received. “We have just received permission from the village board to start a ‘Worship Without Walls’ in our downtown. We are excited and will move forward from here. We held an annual Thanksgiving …more
No way to treat a child
November 12, 2019 / By Rev. Merle Showers, UNY Task Force on Peace with Justice in Palestine/Israel
Editor’s Note: Approximately 2.9 million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank, of which 45 percent are children under the age of 18. Palestinian children in the West Bank, like adults, face arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment under an Israeli detention system that denies them basic rights. Below is an example of the mistreatment these children face with action you can take on Nov. 20 to help prevent such treatment. Learn more …more
Change in insurance carrier beginning Jan. 1, 2020
November 12, 2019 / By Jack Keating and Richard Barling
Editor's Note: In early Nov. 2019, the UNY Board of Trustees sent the following letter to all churches in the UNY Conference to inform them of the plan to change the Conference's insurance carrier from Church Mutual to Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company. To: All Churches in the Upper New York Annual Conference, Each year, your Annual Conference Board of Trustees reviews our Conference-wide insurance program. The Board looks …more