Communications and News

The Christian Community Development Association will hold its 25th annual national conference Sept. 11-14 at the Hyatt Regency, 601 Loyola Ave., in New Orleans. The event, especially helpful to local churches in urban settings and transitioning communities, offers practical training for creative and missional expressions of the church. Workshop tracks include: New Neighbors; Education-D...

Rev. Ellen Alston Rev. Dr. Van Stinson Rev. Dr. Ralph Ford Several appointments have been made for District and Annual Conference leaders for the 2013-14 conference year. All of these appointments start July 1, 2013. Rev. Ellen Alston, currently the Alexandria District Superintendent, will move to serve as the Monroe District Superintendent. The Alexandria District is being ...

Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey received the 2013 Women of Excellence Award during Wiley College’s annual convocation held March 26 on its campus in Marshall, Tex. The convocation was one component of a week-long observance filled with “women of excellence” activities. This year’s conference activities focused on achieving excellence through a “march of solidarity”; worshipping for ...

The cabinet has continued to "tweak" the district lines to accommodate charges but more importantly to respond missionally to the needs of our churches and districts. The list below outlines the district lines. As always, throughout the year there could be additional "tweaks" as we continually address the missional needs of the annual conference. In Christ, Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey ...

Rev. Ann Sutton, Louisiana Conference mission secretary and pastor of Northwood UMC in Lafayette, invites all local churches to consider inviting several missionaries to visit during their time in our conference this summer and fall. “They have been sent to the ends of the earth and now they are coming to us. These missionaries can be your guest,” said Rev. Sutton. Marsha Alexander, ...

The Baton Rouge District will host the first listening post for the Louisiana Conference Structure Revision Team on April 14 at First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge. The event will be held in the church's Conference Center at 3 p.m. The purpose of this event is to give people an opportunity to provide feedback on the conference structure and how it could better meet the missional...

Faith Crossing United Methodist Church, serving the Walker/Denham Springs area, recently distributed food items to 351 families in need—triple the number served last month! “We estimate that the food will help to feed anywhere from 1,500 to 1,700 folks. Church volunteers unloaded and distributed two full semi-trucks,” said Rev. Leslie Stephens, pastor. The church is excited about the ...

Every year, the Louisiana Commission on the Status and Role of Women (COSROW) recognizes a woman in the Louisiana Annual Conference who has made contributions as a caring Christian in her congregation and community in the spirit of Sojourner Truth, who broke barriers for many in the area of justice and compassion. The SoJourner Truth Award, presented during the COSROW luncheon at Annual ...

Participants from Nevada, Georgia, Texas, Ohio, Mississippi, Iowa and Louisiana gathered at The Wesley Center from Jan. 6-11 for the 2013 Louisiana 5 Day Academy for Spiritual Formation for a week of worship, learning, celebration and prayer. The theme for this year was Spiritual Leadership in Times of Change and lectures were presented by Daniel Wolpert (Director of The Minnesota ...

The position of Certified Lay Minister (CLM) was approved by the General Conference in 2004.The first two CLM’s in the Louisiana Conference were certified in 2010. Five were certified in 2011 and one in 2012 for a total of eight Certified Lay Ministers in the Louisiana Conference. We need trained lay persons who have strong spiritual centering and want to take a stronger leadership role ...

New Orleans - Walter M. Kimbrough, president of Dillard University, joins 99 other African American history makers and industry leaders who are being honored during Black History Month by NBC's theGrio.com. The list was announced on the "Today" show on NBC News. This is the fourth year that NBC's the Grio.com has recognized African American industry leaders who are making a difference ...

Spearheaded by First United Methodist Church and the LSU Wesley Foundation, the imposition of ashes last Wednesday became an evangelical experiment when both groups “took to the streets” of Baton Rouge with this important Lenten ritual. Those administering ashes stood at the downtown corner of North Boulevard and Third Street, a local coffee shop and the Free Speech Alley located on LSU’...

SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary College is once again offering high school juniors and seniors the unique opportunity to attend the High School Leadership Academy. Held on campus July 14-19, this intensive, residential Academy will help students develop an understanding of service-minded leadership through the integration of living, learning, and action. "The Academy encourages students to ...

Asbury United Methodist Church in Bossier City, First Grace Community Alliance of New Orleans and Bethany UMC in New Orleans have been awarded the spring 2013 Peace with Justice Awards. The grants, totaling $4,900, were awarded by the Conference Board of Church and Society and funded through the Peace with Justice offering given annually by Louisiana’s United Methodist congregations. ...

United Methodist churches and conferences can now easily organize an HIV testing event with the assistance of a manual and instructional DVD developed by the Louisiana Annual Conference. Spearheaded by members of the conference Global Health Initiative, the organizational tools were created with the assistance of a grant provided by the Domestic HIV/AIDS Fund for the United Methodist ...

NASHVILLE, Tenn.––Has your church always wanted to claim it is a national champion? It may make such a claim if its church-sponsored team can win a summer 3-on-3 national United Methodist Men basketball tournament. A total of 32 teams from United Methodist churches across the nation will participate in a 3-man basketball tournament to be held July 12-13 at Belmont University in ...

As part of their Christmas Eve celebration, North Cross United Methodist Church in Madisonville led a “Christmas Cookie Crusade” immediately after each of their services. Revs. Lamar and Erin Oliver got the idea for the project while driving home from the church’s 11 p.m. serve on Christmas Eve in 2011. They noticed that there were so many places open for business. Erin's commented, "I ...

Young adults may now apply for the 2013 class of Mission Interns and US-2s. Feb. 15 is the deadline to submit application materials for these long-term mission assignments through the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries. Mission Interns will now commit to 25 months of service that include 20 months of international service, followed by two and a half months of ...

  Members of Zachary United Methodist Church in Zachary launched Operation Adopt a Soldier in October. The congregation decided to adopt a platoon that was recently deployed overseas. During the three month campaign, ZUMC gathered enough items to send 44 boxes overseas. The items that the congregation was asked to provide included devotionals, puzzle books, stationary, health care ...

The newly formed Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence Committee for Bethany United Methodist Church recently participated in the first New Orleans Human Trafficking Working Group Conference. The conference, “Preventing Human Trafficking at the Super Bowl and Beyond: Mobilizing the New Orleans Community to Prevent and End Trafficking in Our Midst,” focused on strategies to raise ...

Jan 5, 2013 is the deadline to apply for a Peace with Justice grant from the Louisiana Conference of The United Methodist Church. What is peace with justice? It is a faithful expression of shalom in the Bible. It calls the church to “strengthen its capacity to advocate publicly in communities and nations” throughout the world. The peace with justice program of The United Methodist Church...

A mail ballot of the Conference members (delegates) from the 2012 Annual Conference session was conducted in October. The ballot was in regard to the tax status of the Retired Ministers Homes’ Board. Conference members approved the changes as presented in the motion from the Retired Ministers Homes’ Board. This decision allows the Board to apply for tax exempt status as a non-profit ...

Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home in Ruston, Louisiana has achieved licensure to operate as a Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF) by Louisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals. “Our staff made this happen,” states Rick Wheat, president and CEO of Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services. “Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home is now licensed to provide ...

Just as our brothers and sister in states affected by Hurricane Sandy will need Louisiana’s help, there are survivors of Isaac in our own state that still need the vital assistance provided by disaster response teams. Currently, the Louisiana Disaster Response Ministry is working approximately 50 cases in LaPlace and 50 cases in Maurepas, both hard hit by the Aug. 29 storm. Teams are ...

Is your local church congregation or ministry active in a shared ministry with other faiths, or church congregations or ministries of other denominations? You qualify for this award! Are you an active bridge builder who brings together ministries and people of different faiths or different Christian denominations? You qualify!   If you qualify, the Commission on Christian Unity and ...

The Louisiana Annual Conference is currently involved in making significant transitions precipitated by proposed conference staff and budget changes--as well as studying and recommending an alternative structure of the organization for ministry and mission of the conference. In 2008 the appointive cabinet began to examine these questions: “What does it mean to be a vital congregation? ...

Members of First United Methodist Church, Baton Rouge and clients of CAAH are shown after installing a community garden. Rev. Randy Nichols, serving through Louisiana Conference extension ministries, heads the Capital Area Alliance for the Homeless in Baton Rouge . . . Rev. Randy Nichols believes strongly that he is connected to his United Methodist roots and John Wesley’s ...

Read about the Skeeter Run in Lafayette's The Advertiser. 2013 Louisiana Skeeter Run website Get the Louisiana Skeeter Run flyers and bulletin insert! See the 2013 Louisiana Skeeter Run winners. More than 2,500 runners, walkers and volunteers raised funds and awareness for Imagine No Malaria during the 2013 Louisiana Skeeter Run, held in 10 cities throughout Louisiana on Saturday, March...

More than 200 participants attended Leading Beyond the Walls held Oct. 26-27 at the Alexander Fulton Hotel in Alexandria, left. Teams from local churches considered alternate ways of doing church in order to reach those who are unchurched in their communities. The two-day leadership event was led by Carol Cartmill and Lori Trupp, both staff members of the 8,000 member United Methodist ...

View Hurricane Sandy video Dear Friends in Christ, As we continue to hold our own brothers and sisters affected by Hurricane Isaac in prayer we now lift up in prayer our brothers and sisters who are recovering from the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy.   We know all too well about Hurricanes and Tropical Storms as we have been battered so badly ourselves. In the past eight years, our ...

More than 65 United Methodists from throughout the Louisiana Conference attended L.E.A.D. 2012-Catch and Release, held Nov. 2-3 at The Wesley Center in Woodworth. The leadership workshop focused on “catching” seekers, helping them become disciples and then releasing them into the world to serve others. The keynote speaker for the two-day event was Rev. Dr. Marvin Anthony Moss, pastor of ...

October 20, 2012 article in The Advocate on Bishop Fierro Harvey A Service of Installation for Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey was held at First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge, La. on Oct. 20 at 11 a.m.   The church’s chancel choir, led by Lamar Drummonds, performed musical selections throughout the service. Choir of the Dawn, the children’s choir from Wesley UMC in Baton Rouge, ...

Two ERT teams from Texas serving in Braithwaite and LaPlace gather for a meal after working on Isaac damaged homes. The heart and soul of The United Methodist Church is steeped in the Wesleyan philosophy of “doing good” wherever possible. Early Response Teams are fueled by this directive and by Christ’s example when they respond to help those in need in the wake of disasters ...

Erica Washington, chair for Luke’s House board of directors, meets with James Comeaux, a member of Rayne Memorial and secretary/ treasurer for the board, and Lisa Lynde, executive director of Luke’s House. The 501 (c) (3) is a New Orleans based clinic providing free health care to the area’s underserved population. Nearly five years ago, the late Rev. Connie Thomas stood with ...

Attention all voting members (delegates) of the 2012 Louisiana Annual Conference. An interim vote of the Annual Conference is being held regarding the Louisiana United Methodist Retired Ministers’ Homes Board, Inc. You will be receiving an explanatory letter and a ballot through the mail for this urgent vote. Bishop Harvey is asking that you vote on this matter by mailing the ballot to ...

Give to the Louisiana Conference Bishop's Appeal! Register for Disaster Response team here! Visit the facebook coverage here! Volunteers from Trinity United Methodist Church offload cleaning buckets and health kits from the UMCOR Sager Brown Depot in Baldwin, La. Rev. Dave Carlton, pastor, smiles at the camera. The Rev. Dave Carlton, pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church ...

Give to the Louisiana Conference Bishop's Appeal! Register for Disaster Response team here! Visit the facebook coverage here! Rev. Don Cottrill and Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey pray with Rev. Regina Hickman in front of First UMC in LaPlace. The church sustained a foot of standing floodwater during Hurricane Isaac. Rev. Regina Hickman, pastor of LaPlace United Methodist ...

Give to the Louisiana Conference Bishop's Appeal! Register for Disaster Response team here! Visit the facebook coverage here! Homes in the Maurepas, Whitehall and Killian areas are hit by severe flooding. Troy Guitreau, member of the Maurepas Volunteer Fire Department, affirmed that “a lot of people in Louisiana are suffering” from the effects of flooding caused by Hurricane ...

Dean Harvey and Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey begins her tenure as the Episcopal leader of the Louisiana Conference of The United Methodist Church September 1, 2012. Bishop Harvey was elected as a bishop in The United Methodist Church at the South Central Jurisdiction meeting this past July in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She was elected from the Texas ...

Register for Disaster Response team here! Sign for First UMC in LaPlace, LA is engulfed by flood waters from Hurricane Isaac Louisiana Annual Conference leaders are in contact with churches in storm affected areas and are still assessing damages from Hurricane Isaac. Some of the most serious flooding from heavy rains occurred in the city of LaPlace, located in St. John the ...

For a U.S. volunteer team visiting Haiti, the impact of Hurricane Isaac has shifted from the disruption of a work assignment on the island to concern for family members back home. With their return delayed because of canceled flights, the seven-member team from the United Methodist Louisiana Annual (regional) Conference had to scramble for an alternative plan, said the Rev. Tim Smith, ...

How Louisiana’s United Methodist churches can assist in storm response! The Louisiana Conference District Disaster Response Coordinators are here to help with any response efforts that result from Isaac. For those Districts/Local Churches in the wake of the storm, coordinators will assist with: 1. Assessing storm damage through conversation with pastors and local officials 2. Relate any ...

Lynn Cooper and Theresa Sandifer, members of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge, organize client intake files for The Shepherd’s Market, the church’s client-choice food pantry.   When Theresa Sandifer attended a Walk to Emmaus weekend last October, she didn’t expect to receive a calling to feed hungry people in the underserved neighborhoods surrounding her Baton...

Thursday, September 13, 6:30pm CT Five Key Elements in Successful Stewardship Strategies Stewardship in the local church is not a "one size fits all" proposition. There are some elements that consistently present in churches that do stewardship really well. Join us as we explore five important ones!   To register and save your seat go to www.tinyurl.com/5KeyElements or click ...

  Faith Crossing UMC in Denham Springs has met for the last three years in a 4,000 square ft. warehouse off of Rushing Road. The lease for the warehouse was expiring in the summer of 2012, and the church was having difficulty finding more permanent facilities or land for Faith Crossing.   “There was nowhere for us to go. We had put out several offers, but nothing materialized,” said ...

Youth ministry must be top priority for every United Methodist church   According to Rev. Ed Fashbaugh, author of Creating an Authentic Youth Ministry, “teen empowerment” is more than just putting young people on the church council. Empowerment is guiding teens in their own faith formation and allowing them to awaken to God’s presence and call in their lives.   Rev. Fashbaugh also ...

Go here to read the article in the advocate  http://theadvocate.com/features/faith/3381092-123/riding-out-the-storm

View coverage on our facebook page here!  Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, Deputy General Secretary for United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), has been assigned as the new Episcopal leader for the Louisiana Annual Conference. Harvey was one of three new bishops elected during the South Central Jurisdictional Conference held July 18-21 in Oklahoma City.  Bishop Fierro Harvey and newly...

  More than 340 guests paid tribute to Bishop William W. Hutchinson and Mrs. Kay Hutchinson for 12 years of service to the Louisiana Annual Conference during a Retirement Celebration held June 29 at the Renaissance Hotel in Baton Rouge. Bishop Hutchinson retires this summer. The Hutchinsons will be moving to Las Cruces, New Mexico. The evening, emceed by former Conference Lay Leader ...

Rev. Adam Hamilton Rev. Adam Hamilton advised Louisiana’s United Methodists to “never give up” in their mission to make disciples for Jesus Christ. Hamilton served as guest teacher during the 2012 Louisiana Annual Conference, being held June 3-6 at Centenary College in Shreveport. He presented Sunday evening and Monday morning. “A successful pastor, or layperson, is willing to ...