3 NOVEMBER 7, 2008 The Louisiana Conference United Methodist Women will hold their biennial Spiritual Retreat at the Wesley Center beginning Friday, February 20 at 1:00 p.m. through Saturday, February 21 at 12:00 noon, 2009. PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW! You will not want to miss this Retreat. The Theme is: “Listening with New Ears“. We are blessed to have Reverend Janet Wolf as our Spiritual Retreat Leader. Reverend Wolf has a Masters of Divinity from Vanderbilt University in 1988. She is from the Tennessee Annual Conference, United Methodist Church:  Reverend Wolf is cur- rently Chair, Division of Church Vocations at American Baptist College. The retreat scripture readings will come from: Mark 9:1-8, Mark 9:14-39 (The Transfiguration); Luke 6:20-26 and Luke 13. The Louisiana Conference United Methodist Women held their Annual Meeting at the Wesley Center on Saturday, October 11, 2008 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The meeting was scheduled to be held in Lake Charles on September 19-20, 2008. However, due to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, was cancelled and rescheduled for October 11th to coincide with District Elected LeadershipTraining (DELT) event, which was chaired by Dolores Giles. Edna Brown Hickman, Vice President of the LA Conference UMW presided over the meeting in the absence of President Harriette Elrod, who could not be with us because of the hospitalization and critical illness of her husband. The Theme was “Resurrection Women: Living Simply to Resurrect the Earth” with scripture coming from Genesis 1:26-30. Our theme song was: “For the Beauty of the Earth.” Sammie Jo Perkins served as song-leader The main agenda items from the Conference Officers were: Lighting of Mission Candle Approval of Conference Goals of 2009 Approval of Budget for 2009 and Recognition of Five Star Units Presentation of the Social Action Awards Presentation of Mission Study and Mission Today Certificates Recognition of the 2008 Woman in Mission award recipient Presentation of Reading Certificates Changes to travel reimbursement in the conference Standing Rules & Guidelines The Chair of the Committee on Nominations, Lueburda Myers presented their report. Melba Stine led the service honoring the retiring conference officers. Installation of Officers for the 2009 Executive Team of the Louisiana Conference UMW was done by Myrna Freeman. Our Pledge Service was conducted by the District Treasurers. The total amount of pledges came to $229,500.00 for the year 2009. We collected over $700.00 for our offering. Our Special Mission Recognition Pins went to Taylor Phillips and Myrna Freeman, Chair and Vice Chairpersons of our 2008 Annual Meeting. The Invitation to 2009 Annual Meeting was given by Carolyn Bowers, President of the New Orleans District. We are excited about meeting in New Orleans in 2009 and look forward to the great hospitality that will be extended to us! The United Methodist Women brought many items for our Mission Agencies. They were taken to the various agencies by UMW members from those areas of the conference. The Annual Meeting was adjourned. Lunch was served and DELT followed lunch. All of the day’s activities were con- cluded by 2:30 p.m. Highlights of the 2008 UMW Conference Annual Meeting By Edna B. Hickman, Vice President Louisiana Conference UMW UMW Spiritual retreat scheduled Feb 20-21, 2009 Conference UMW Calendar of Upcoming Events Year 2008 Program, School of Christian Mission Committees – November 15, 2008 Conference Officers Leadership Training Event – ST. Louis, MO. – November 21-23, 2008 Year 2009 United Methodist Women Sunday – January 25, 2009 Midyear Executive Committee Meeting – February 19, 2009 UMW Spiritual Retreat – February 20-21, 2009 West Gulf Regional School Planning Team meeting-Dillard University- February 28-March 1, 2009 Concurrent Finance, Membership and Nominations Committee – March 21, 2009 West Gulf Regional School, Dillard University, New Orleans, LA- June 25-28, 2009 Conference UMW Executive Committee Meeting – July 21, 2009 Conference UMW School of Christian Mission – July 22 – 25, 2009 UMW Executive Committee Meeting – September 17, 2009 UMW Annual Meeting , New Orleans, LA– September 18 – 19, 2009 UMW District Elected Leaders Training – October 10, 2009 Program, School of Christian Mission Committees – November 21, 2009 Wolfe to lead February UMW spiritual retreat Janet Wolf received her Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt Divinity School and was ordained as an elder in the United Methodist Church. She served as a pastor of rural and urban congregations for 12 years before being appointed in 2000 as Director of Public Policy and Community Outreach with Religious Leaders for a More Just and Compassionate Drug Policy, a national interfaith coalition working on alternatives to incarcer- ation and restorative justice. In 2005, Janet was appointed to American Baptist College, a his- torically Black four year college that was home to more national civil rights leaders than any other college in the country. She is a partner in the Living Room, a community of folks living on the streets, providing a safe space for conversation, community and retreats; and Hobson United Methodist Church, a multiracial, intentionally inclusive, congregation in Nashville. Janet has worked with clergy, congrega- tions, seminaries and communities across the U.S. and Canada - preaching, teaching and leading workshops, retreats, pastors’ schools and conference events. She is the author of a chapter in a soon to be published book “I Was In Prison”: United Methodist Perspectives on Prison Ministry edited by James M. Shopshire, Sr., Richmond Stoglin, and Mark C. Hicks; Nashville: General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, 2008 and is work- ing on a new book to be published in 2010: For the Love of God: Letters of John, Women’s Division, United Methodist Church . Rev. Wolfe Louisiana Conference UMW Special Section