The Florida Conference is dedicated to bringing you news stories about United Methodists here and beyond. Whether the news is about the global church or the church on the corner, look for it here. You’ll also find thought-provoking commentaries and opportunities for education and fellowship. Have a story to share? Email webadmin@flumc.org or click here to use our convenient “Submit a story” form.
Creation Care Christian Observers
Soon I will be traveling to Madrid, Spain, to meet with 22 other Creation Care leaders from around the world selected as Christian Observers at the United Nations annual climate conference called ...
Branches provides a lifeline where it’s needed most
The family service organization in Miami-Dade County offers education, nutrition, and financial planning to help many people break the cycle of poverty
Old racial wounds start to heal through honest conversation
Grace UMC in St. Augustine helped the city confront its racial divide and reach a joyful conclusion.
Council of Bishops focuses on “justice, reconciliation, and healing.”
Semi-annual meeting includes a renewed commitment to relationships, which are at the heart of Jesus’ prayer for unity with his disciples.
Feel led to become FLUMC Lay Leader? Apply now!
The Conference is accepting applications for this important position.
Oviedo and University Carillon join community landscaping blitz
There was pressure-washing, marathon style. There was the cutting back of overgrown trees and bushes, enough clippings to fill 75 industrial-sized bags. There were touch-ups and spruce-ups. Just in ...
Florida’s need for immigration services is acute
In the 20 years since its founding, Justice for Our Neighbors has opened 17 offices in 15 states, including two in Florida. And, according to the National JFON website, it had its busiest year in 2018, serving 4,395 new clients from 112 different countries.
Children’s Home chapel gets a facelift
It’s part of a lot of exciting changes on the campus of the Children’s Home. Gym renovations also recently were completed.
"I was called to mission work in another country."
Deb Ralph of Oakhurst UMC in Seminole is leaving for a mission trip to Kenya, where she will work in discipleship and assist Bishop Justus Bundi Miriti with the project for disabled children.
Apportionments and End of Year Payments
Apportionment payments for 2019 must be received in the lockbox at Regions Bank or paid on line by Friday January 10, 2020. This is not a postmarked by date but is the last day by which monies must ...
Apportionments for 2020 are now available
Apportionments for 2020 are now available on the conference website.
Conference has new emphasis on Hispanic/Latino ministries
A refugee from Castro’s Cuba whose family endured imprisonment and forced labor for their religious devotion, Rev. Dr. Rini Hernandez will lead the effort. He has been a church-founding pastor and Methodist district superintendent in both Cuba and Florida.
Alturas churches serve community ecumenically
The congregations routinely get together to do things, like the upcoming fall festival, which serves as a Halloween alternative. There are the Christmas cantata, the Easter sunrise service at the lake on the property of the Methodist church and the Fifth Sunday sings.
Bishop Carter's 'Growing the Center' presentation to be Livestreamed Sat., October 26
Bishop Carter's presentation will include insights regarding leadership in a season of change.
Irma recovery: homes to be dedicated in Spanish
The Florida Conference will dedicate three rebuilt homes—one in LaBelle and two in Clewiston—with two of the ceremonies conducted completely in Spanish, a first.
SERVE to show teens their power to make a difference
The SERVE Retreats, which are open to middle and high school students from across the state, will focus on local service this year, national service in 2020 and international service in 2021.
Disney grant to fund ‘Hotels to Home’ ministry
The Community Hope Center, sometimes known as Hope 192, recently received a $75,000 Disney grant that will be used to start a program known as “Hotels to Home.’’
Resources for November's Native American Heritage Month available
The beginnings of Native American Heritage Month go back to 1915, when Red Fox James, a Native American of the Blackfoot Nation, rode a horse from state to state seeking approval from 24 state ...
Children’s joyful dancing part of worship service
“They are part of a dance company. No experience is needed. It’s an outlet for them to express spiritual joy without competition and feeling they have to be perfect.”
Church partnership bringing arts to its community
Mandarin UMC and the emerging Fine Arts Conservatory team up to fill the gaps in art education, painting, sculpture, theater and music in the community surrounding the church.
‘Matthew 25 Challenge’ focuses on lives of the least
The “Matthew 25 Challenge,’’ a weeklong event held at Orlando’s Pine Castle United Methodist Church, energized its members by not only giving back, but also by undergoing real-life exercises that were everyday occurrences for the least of their brethren.
Fifteen ways to pray for your pastor
October is Pastor Appreciation Month. One of the best ways we can support our pastors and show them our appreciation is to regularly pray for them. But it can be difficult to know exactly what we should pray for. To help get started, the denomination assembled fifteen areas of pastors’ lives and ministries where they would value your prayers.
UMW retreat celebrates 150-year legacy
UMW members had to overcome the rules of society and the limits imposed by their own national and racial identities to assume vital leadership roles.
Ministry is window into the world of immigrant teens
“Picture My Life’’ is a photography exhibit that is spearheaded by UMCM-Suncoast, a Largo-based organization that addresses poverty through innovative educational programs.
Art in the Park is Fresh Expression
Art in the Park is a Fresh Expressions outreach of St. Mark’s Ocala United Methodist Church.
Hispanic Heritage Month celebration and worship resources
United Methodist Communications provides resources for outreach, celebration and worship.
Small church is committed big time to literacy
Trinity UMC’s biggest commitment is helping kids learn to read, focusing on the second graders—those about to enter the crucial third-grade year when reading competence becomes critical for further advancement.
Helping Hurricane Dorian survivors
Many of you and your congregants have been asking how you can help the Bahamas after the devastation of Hurricane Dorian. A Hurricane Dorian fact sheet was sent to your districts Thursday to update them on current activities in the Bahamas and how we, as The United Methodist Church, are responding—both now and over the next few months.
Ecumenical ministry serves nearly 3,000 west coast children
First Sarasota was one of 17 different churches that hosted a Day 4 Hope event over three separate weekends before students headed back to school. Another 23 churches across Sarasota and Manatee counties worked as partners.
Bishop Carter encourages offering to UMCOR
Bishop Carter encourages reception of an offering for the United Methodist Committee on Relief in the midst and aftermath of Hurricane Dorian.
‘Hippie Church’ is an open, unstructured and inclusive third place
Rev. George Potter, a substance abuse counselor with Recovery Ministry, thought about starting a fellowship, something open and unstructured, for people who felt excluded or uncomfortable in a traditional setting.
Resources for churches responding to Hurricane Dorian
In addition to our partners at Johns Eastern, we have engaged the Aon Global Rapid Response team to aid in the timely processing of our claims. The Aon Rapid Response experts will arrive at the hardest hit areas within 48-72 hours after landfall of the storm.
Cornerstone dares to happen so many can dream
Founded over a century ago, Cornerstone Family Ministries is motivated by reverence for the past, goals for the present and dreams for the future of children living at-risk or unchurched.
New leader carries torch for Archives and History ministry
Judi New sees the role more as an important caretaker than a job. After all, she is caring for the church’s heirlooms and artifacts, some that date back to the late 1700s.
Students learn about living in meaningful service
“You hear about fighting poverty. Well, there are so many different types of poverty. There’s material poverty, of course. We know that one. But there’s emotional poverty. There’s spiritual poverty. We want students to see poverty everywhere in a way that calls them to minister to it. Sometimes, it’s right in front of you.’’
Good Samaritan works to close gaps in school needs
Good Samaritan members have organized teacher appreciation luncheons and served as classroom helpers. They have been mentors and reading buddies to the children. They grilled hot dogs at Conley Elementary’s “Back to School Bash.’’
Artist’s spiritual gift brings Bible stories to life
Recently in a children’s classroom, William Joyner painted a mural that is roughly eight feet high and 15 feet wide so that three- to five-year-olds can visualize the story of Noah’s Ark.
A Call to Discipleship: Living as Disciples of a Non-Violent Lord in a Time of Violence
What is God’s dream for us? How can we become the answer to the words we say in worship, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done”? (Matthew 6). In Wesley’s words, we are being called “to reform the nation, particularly the church, and to spread scriptural holiness over the land.” -A letter from Bishop Ken Carter
Summer camps inspire youth to ‘do amazing things’
“I’m always in awe of how many clergy and lay people have heard the call to Christ right here on our grounds. There’s something special about this place that inspires people to go back out to the world and do amazing things.”
Two fall gatherings with Bishop Carter are slated
Events are scheduled for October and December.
Fresh Expressions thriving at New Hope, Brandon
Beginning in late May, New Hope added four new ministries to its Fresh Expressions lineup: a food co-op, Basketball Church, Meet and Walk and a student-led Caffeine and Christ that meets at a local Starbucks.
'Prayers, Pajamas, Preschoolers Party' teaches kids how to talk to God
Citrus Church invited preschoolers and their parents to wear pajamas to the weeknight party at the Summerport Clubhouse in Windermere. Inside, children and parents rotated among eight separate stations that were designed to teach children how to talk to God.
Japan team finds their mission bridges cultural differences
The mission to the Asian Rural Institute in northern Japan had “a different feel. We were immersed in a community of people who were on mission themselves. We were brought in and made part of the family.”
Bishops call for new ways of embodying unity through mission, relationships
The bishops of The United Methodist Church will seek to strengthen annual conferences in 2019 through the ministries of sending and missional strategy, Bishop Kenneth Carter, president of the Council of Bishops, has said.
Mission u: on missions with children for children
At the United Methodist Women's Mission u in July, hands-on mission experiences shaped the lives of the young children and older youth who participated in making a positive difference in other children’s lives.
Small churches can make a big difference
Faith UMC, Jacksonville, partners with World Relief Services (WRS) to host a four-week camp for refugee children. This year about 50 children from Asia, Africa and the Middle East attended.
Conference is planting a church in women’s prison
Bishop Ken Carter began discussions three years ago about starting a United Methodist church inside the Lowell Correctional Institute in Reddick, about 15 miles north of Ocala. It houses about 3,000 women, the largest female prison population in the United States.
Opioid crisis series: Clergy embrace becoming foster parents
The Revs. Matt and Beth Johnson in Morgantown, W.Va., answered the call to become foster parents to children living in what Matt called “a rough situation.” After a two-year process, they were able to adopt the brother and sister they were fostering.
Lay ministers are key to congregational care
Certified Lay Ministers serve to enhance the quality of ministry, much like the class leader did in early Methodism, through service in the local church.
Sanford Picnic Project is a 10-year-old Fresh Expression
Celebrating their 10 year anniversary this August, the Picnic Project is a free community meal held every Sunday that is served restaurant style inside the First United Methodist Church of Sanford.