Sunday, March 11, 2012
Laity Celebration Service
Peachtree City UMC, 225 Robinson Road
Bishop Michael Watson, featured preacher
Lay Speaker certificates will be presented

The LaGrange Link

Welcome to The LaGrange Link, a newsletter with information for clergy and laity of the LaGrange District. Our goal is to update this information monthly, so please check back frequently for news. And share our website with others in your congregation. A monthly newsletter is emailed from the district office. If you are not receiving this email news and would like to, please go to the conference website, www.ngumc.org. From the top of the home page, click on "Resources", then click on "Email Newletter Preferences" on the left side of the page. On this page, enter your name and email address, then click the box next to "LaGrange District Newsletter" and any other information you would like to receive. Enter the security code shown and click "Submit".

District Ministers' Meeting
All appointed clergy are reminded of the District Ministers' Meeting to be held on Monday, February 13 at the Coke's Chapel UMC, 4096 Lower Fayetteville Road, Sharpsburg. Refreshments will be served beginning at 6:15pm with the meeting starting at 7:00. The Clergy Spouses' Group will also meet.

Vital Congregation Goals
Every church in the district is expected to enter online Vital Congregation goals by February 29. (For more information on this program, see the DS's article on the home page.) Below are step-by-step instructions for how to enter these goals:

Go to www.umvitalcongregations.org
Click on "Setting Goals" on the gray tab
Click on "Congregations: Click Here to Set Your Goals" (on the right side of the page)
Search for your church by location, conference or general church number
Enter goals for the next 4 years
Click "Submit" at the bottom of the page

If you have problems entering this information, please call the District Office for assistance.

Laity Celebration with Bishop Watson
All clergy and laity in the district are invited to take part in the Laity Celebration to be held at the Peachtree City UMC on Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 3:00pm. This will be a special service to celebrate the various laity programs in the district. All those persons who have been approved as Lay Speakers for the 2012 year will be recognized and receive certificates. Bishop Michael Watson will be the featured preacher and there will be special music. The offering for the day will go towards a Stop Hunger Now project for the LaGrange District. Plan to be present for this exciting event!

Bishop Robert Schnase at LaGrange College
Bishop Robert Schnase, author of "Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations", will be in LaGrange March 14-15. On Wednesday, March 14 at 6:30pm he will be speaking at LaGrange First UMC on "What Does it Mean to be a Vital Congregation." On Thursday, March 15 he will be leading a presentation for clergy on the topics listed below:

1:30 - 2:30 - "Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations" - a brief overview of the Five Practices, why these concepts are so powerful, how they help us fulfill our mission, how to imbed them into congregational culture, and how not to use them.

2:30 - 3:30 - "How Does Your Church Work - Congregational Practice and Systems for Ministry" - how do things really happen in local congregations? Are our systems conducive to fulfilling our missions or do they impede our mission? How do we move toward excellence and fruitfulness?

3:30 - 4:30 - "Personal Practice: What Do I Have to Do with the Mission of the Church?" - How do we contribute to our congregation's fulfilling the mission of Christ? What are our patterns of personal invitation, and how do we foster an outward-focused congregational culture? How do we become more intentional in our personal practices of invitation, worship, learning, serving and generosity?

While it would be most beneficial to attend all three of these sessions, you may attend just 1 or 2. There is no cost for this event, but you do need to pre-register your attendance for the workshops on Thursday by contacting Laura Faulkner at lfaulkner@lagrange.edu or 706-880-8340. These workshops will be held in the Dickson Assembly Room in the Turner Student Center on the campus of LaGrange College. Parking is available in the parking lot across the street from the main campus on the Vernon Street (Highway 109) side. Take the pedestrian bridge over to campus and walk past the library towards the dining hall. Turn left and go down the hill to the Turner Student Center.

Important Information for NGC Retirees and Surviving Spouses:

On behalf of the North Georgia Board of Pensions and Health Benefits, we invite you to join us for an important information session about retiree health care. The 2012 Annual Conference will consider a new approach to providing health coverage for our retirees/surviving spouses in 2013. Based on the General Board of Pensions and Health Benefit’s recommendation, we are exploring a partnership with Extend Health which would work with our retirees/surviving spouses.

Unlike past Medicare supplement plans provided by the conference, Extend Health would assist participants in choosing a tailored program uniquely suited for them. The North Georgia Annual Conference would fund a Health Reimbursement Account for each person to help underwrite health care needs. As an added bonus, the cost savings will help the Annual Conference pursue its goal to create a sustainable program for our retirees/surviving spouses in the future.

All retirees/surviving spouses are urged to attend one of the six information sessions this February. We also encourage you to bring along family members, friends, and other advisors. Opportunities include:

Tuesday, Feb. 21 1:00 – 3:00 Madison FUMC

Wednesday, Feb. 22 10:00 – 12:00 Gainesville FUMC

2:00 – 4:00 Simpsonwood (O’Neil Room/Rollins Center)

Thursday, Feb. 23 9:00 – 11:00 Newnan FUMC

1:00 – 3:00 Snellville FUMC

Friday, Feb. 24 10:00 – 12:00 Sam Jones UMC

Following the Simpsonwood meeting, we also hope to post the information session on the North Georgia Conference web site at www.ngumc.org/extendhealth.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Karen Fullerton, Benefits Officer, at 678-533-1382 or kfullerton@ngumc.org. May God continue richly bless your life.

District Training Event
Thank you to LaGrange First for hosting the recent District Training Event on January 29. There were approximately 400 clergy and liaty in attendance. Twleve different workshops were offered covering various topics including Finance, Trustees, Evangelism, Missions, Committee Structure, Cokesbury Curriculum and much more. We are grateful to all those who led a workshop. Prior to the workshops, a worship service was held where participants heard from the DS on "Being Disciples". During the worship, a special offering was received for the ongoing disaster relief efforts in the Manchester area. Thanks to your generosity, $839.95 was collected for this worthwhile project.

This training event was planned by the District Connectional Ministries Committee. They are continuing to work on other training opportunities for churches throughout the year. Be on the lookout for other special workshops.

North Georgia’s United Methodist Children’s Home Competing for $25,000 from The Home Depot Foundation

in February Facebook Contest

The United Methodist Children’s Home of the North Georgia Conference has been selected as a finalist for Aprons in Action, The Home Depot Foundation’s unique Facebook voting program, and now has the opportunity to win a $25,000 gift card from The Home Depot!

Vote for UMCH and they could win $25,000 in The Home Depot gift cards to build a new playground for the youngest children on campus. Not only that, if they win the initial $25,000, then next month UMCH will compete for the grand prize of $250,000 with all the other monthly winners from the past year!

UMCH has a large number of young children on campus right now, but their playground and recreation equipment is intended for older children. With the $25,000, the Home can build two additional play areas for our younger children, and The Home Depot will even send volunteers to help do the work!

    They need your help to win the prize! Visit www.facebook.com/homedepotfoundation and vote for the United Methodist Children’s Home to win. (It’s easiest if you’re already logged into Facebook before clicking the link to vote.) You can vote once every 24 hours until February 23, so please return every day to vote so the Children’s Home can build a playground for their children! And please spread the word on Facebook and any other social media you’re a part of, so that others will vote as well.
    Thank you for helping us improve the Children’s Home for the children and families who live there!
    When voting, please click “allow” to allow The Home Depot Foundation to access your basic information, which enables The Home Depot to monitor the contest and ensure that each voter only votes once per day. The Home Depot takes their contest and your privacy seriously, and they will not access your private information.

3rd Annual District Children's Day
Begin planning now to bring children, kindergarten through 5th grade, to this special event to be held on Saturday, April 21 at Cokes Chapel UMC in Sharpsburg. The event will be held from 10am to 1pm and will feature a variety of activities for children on "The Life of Moses". There is no cost for the event, but churches do need to pre-register. Simply let the District Office know how many children and chaperones you will be bringing. This has been great fun for kids the past two years. Don't miss out!

Upcoming Lay Speaking Classes
The Board of Laity will be offering both Basic and Advanced Lay Speaking classes, as well as a Basic class for Youth on Saturdays, April 14 and 28 at the Keeney Memorial UMC in West Point. Youth classes will be held at West Point First UMC. Classes will run from 9am to 4pm on both days. The advanced class is "Lay Speakers Can Lead in Evangelism" and will use as its text, "The Faith Sharing Congregation" by Shirley F. Clement and Roger K. Swanson. On Saturday, April 14 a Refresher Class will be offered for those Local Church Lay Speakers who need a class to remain certified, or for those persons who have lost their certification within the last two years and wish to come back into the Lay Speaking program as a Local Church Lay Speaker. Brochures and registration information will be mailed out by late February. Registration deadline for all classes is April 4.

Happy Birthday to the following ministers who are celebrating birthdays in the month of February:

2 - Melanie Reeves

3 - Alpheia Murray

4 - Carol Cook

7 - Sally Oakes

8 - Bob Tobias

9 - Jennie Andone

Shannon Karafanda

13 - Dan Crawford

15 - Kory Trinrud

23 - David Brackman

25 - Mike Ayers

26 - Walter McMullen

29 - Sherry Austin