News Releases and Articles

TRI-STATE Bishop's Day (Saturday, April 17, 2010)

                         Bishop’s Day - Tri-State District   Saturday, April 17, 2010 Rochester United Methodist Church                        34 South Main Street, Rochester, NH      9:30 – 10:00   Coffee and...

Families rejoice as mission leaders found, freed in Haiti

10:40 PM, January 15, 2010 Exerpted from UMNS report by Linda Bloom and Kathy Gilbert     As relatives and friends rejoiced, rescue workers freed the last of three United Methodist officials trapped in the rubble of a hotel in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, since the Jan. 12 earthquake. Some 55 hours after the Hotel Montana collapsed, the Rev. Clinton Rabb, head of Mission Volunteers for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, was lifted out from under a concrete slab that...

United Methodist Relief Executive Dies Before Rescue from Hotel Ruins in Haiti

UMNS Report by Linda Bloom January 16, 2010   The Rev. Sam Dixon came to Haiti to make life better for the poor and afflicted. As the leader of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, Dixon traveled the world assisting Indonesians whose homes were washed away by the tsunami, Africans whose crops had withered under unrelenting drought and Americans needing shelter after tornadoes destroyed their neighborhoods. So it came as a shock Jan. 16 when, after four days when hopes dimmed...

United Methodist TV Message Encourages Prayer and Action to Help Haiti

January 15, 2009...In response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti, The United Methodist Church will air a specially produced television spot on CNN Headline News starting today and continuing through Monday, January 18. The 15-second spot will air 17 times during general news programming during the 4-day period. Banner advertisements will also appear online on CNN's home page.   Produced by United Methodist Communications, the commercial’s message is a simple, but...

UMCOR Responds to Earthquake in Haiti

United Methodists Called to Prayer and Support   January 13, 2010...A major earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti yesterday, causing widespread destruction. Millions of people are affected and thousands are feared dead. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has close ties with the Methodist Church in Haiti and is responding to the devastating earthquake with funding, material resources and prayers.   UMCOR executive, Melissa Crutchfield says, “We are working with...

New District Superintendents Announced

Lawrence, Massachusetts…(January 11, 2010)…Bishop Peter D. Weaver has announced that he will appoint The Reverend David Abbott as District Superintendent for the New Hampshire District (NHD), and The Reverend Seok-Hwan Hong as District Superintendent for the Rhode Island/Southeastern Massachusetts District (RISEM), effective July 1, 2010. New Hampshire District: Rev. David Abbott   Rev. Abbott succeeds The Rev. John Blackadar, who is retiring this year after a career in...

Ministry Spotlight: The Children's Center in Methuen

A ministry of Christ United Methodist Church of Lawrence, MA The Children’s Center is a 134 capacity year-round program in Methuen, Massachusetts which provides quality care for children ages 4 weeks to 12 years. The Children’s Center is an ongoing ministry of Christ United Methodist Church of Lawrence, MA, and is a New England Conference Advance Special (#776). The Center operates as a non-profit and ecumenical center adhering to the Judeao-Christian...

District Superintendent John Blackadar to Retire

Bishop Weaver announced in September that The Rev. John Blackadar, Superintendent of the New Hampshire District, has requested to retire as of June 30, 2010.   "Reluctantly, I have accepted his request with great thanks to God for his joyful spirit, creative mind, gift of music, and sacrificial love for Christ," said Bishop Weaver. "For over forty years, John has been engaged in transforming ministry in countless ways including as a pastor, Conference Secretary,...

Fair Trade Possibilities with Nicaragua

By Rev. Sharon Jones, pastor, Aldersgate UMC, Chelmsford, MA   When is the last time 32 women responded to the announcement of a new class in your congregation?  Whether you’re a lay leader or pastor, all of us would be excited about the enthusiasm evident at the Iglesia de Cristo congregation in Leon, Nicaragua last September.  At their Sunday service the pastor’s wife, Bertha, and a student in their sewing school, Aracelly, shared about the possibility of a...

CWM 2009 - SPRC/Charge Conference Schedule

Click here for CWM 2009 SPRC/Charge Conference Schedule...

CTWMA Lay Speaking Classes August 16, 18, 20, & 22

CTWMA Lay Speaking Classes August 16th, 18th, 20th & 22nd....

Vermont District Recommendations Announced

Bishop Peter Weaver of the New England Conference released the following statement on Friday, May 15:   God is doing a marvelous new creation as the United Methodist people of Vermont and the New England Conference come together to serve Christ throughout this region.  While we officially will not be one conference until July 1, 2010, many teams and taskforces of people from Vermont and the New England Conference have been working together on issues related to this transition...

United Methodist Runners to "Pray with their Feet"

Praying with their feet   Two United Methodists will be running in the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 20, 2009 and literally “praying with their feet” to benefit the Hattie B. Cooper Community Center. The center, which was founded by United Methodist Women in 1912, is a GBGM National Mission Site and an NEUMC Advance Special. The runners are Adam Eschner, a member of Thornton Heights UMC in South Portland, ME, and Tim Hegarty of Woburn UMC in Woburn, MA.  Both runners...

Vermont-New England Team to Determine District Boundaries

By Rev. Rebecca Clark, Troy Annual Conference   Coming out of the recent meeting of the Vermont-New England Transition Team, there is progress in one of the transition’s most pressing questions: What are we going to do about districts?   The Transition Team approved a plan to determine where the boundaries for districts will be for Vermont and surrounding areas. Representatives from the districts in Vermont, members of the superintendency committees, and members of both...

Transition already underway

by Rev. Rebecca Clark, Troy Annual Conference   Twenty-two lay and clergy persons from Troy and New England Annual Conferences met on Jan. 6 in Lebanon, N.H., to continue conversation around the upcoming change in conference boundaries. On this day of Epiphany, participants discussed a vision of a new conference, a “new and improved” New England Annual Conference. “We don’t know exactly what it will look like,” said John Blackadar, District Superintendent...

This is what you get when you get Vermont

by Troy Conference member and "Vermonter" Rene Wilbur, with input from Brigid Farrell Vermont, hmmm–what state is that in?...or Is that a province of Canada?   Many long-time Vermonters have most likely heard one or both of these questions in their lifetime. Sometimes Vermont is its own best-kept secret, and many residents like it that way. On the other hand, without the tourism business, Vermont would be in bigger trouble...

New England Conference holds listening sessions

During October, the New England Annual Conference (NEAC) held a series of six “listening sessions” to talk about the possibility of Vermont becoming part of that Conference instead of merging along with the New York portion of Troy Conference with the North Central, Western New York and Wyoming Annual Conferences. Three of the sessions were held close to the Vermont border -- one in Williamstown, Mass., and two in New Hampshire.   A total of 38 people attended the sessions...

Vermont Churces to Join the New England Conference

by Alexx Wood, director of communications HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania…Delegates at the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church voted to create a new Annual Conference, combining the New York portions of the North Central New York, Western New York, Troy and Wyoming annual conferences. As part of this boundaries reconfiguration, Vermont churches from the Troy Conference will join the New England Conference, and the Pennsylvania portion of the Wyoming Conference...

Welcome Vermont!

 by Alexx Wood, director of communications   After much discussion and affirmation of the proposal to include Vermont churches within the New England Conference boundaries, the 2008 Annual Conference overwhelmingly voted to welcome Vermont if the Jurisdictional Conference approves of the move.    District Superintendent John Blackadar gave the background for Resolution 209A which helps pave the way for the Vermont churches that are now part of the Troy Conference to...

CHURCH LEADERS OPPOSE GAMBLING PLANS

The news media has been covering the casino initiative in Massachusetts extensively. Church leaders from across the Commonwealth are voicing their opposition to Governor Patrick’s plan to expand gambling in the state. Bishop Peter Weaver of the New England Conference is strongly opposed to this plan. “The United Methodist Church has a long history of opposing gambling,” he stated. “Our Book of Discipline states ‘gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social,...