December, 2022

Dear South East District Friends,

This week I had the opportunity to meet our new bishop, assigned to us in early November after the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference. Bishop Tom Berlin will begin as the bishop of the Florida Conference on January 1, 2023. (Scroll below to read more about Bishop Berlin.)

This month we will spend celebrating ten years of faithful leadership by Bishop Ken Carter who has been assigned to the Western North Carolina Conference beginning January 1. (Scroll below to learn about ways you can honor Bishop Carter.)

Some may argue that a bishop has little effect on the lives of laity and clergy in local churches and the ministries they pursue. My experience over twenty-five years of ministry is that this is not true. The four bishops I have served under in two different Conferences have impacted me personally and have inspired the ministries on the ground in local churches and districts. They have led through hard times and national crises. They have modeled faithfulness, hard work and thoughtfulness in ministry. It has been a joy in my life to be mentored by the people who filled the role of bishop. I suspect many of you feel the same.

What I want you to hear are a few impressions from my time spent with Bishop Berlin this week. First, he has a story of faith and call to ministry that includes strong United Methodist roots, significant mentors such as a coach and pastor to his college ministry, and mission work in Appalachia. He is known for his hard work and collaborative spirit. He has traveled often to Africa and Cuba to form partnerships with Methodist ministries there. He believes the church can transform the lives of individuals and the shape of communities. He is excited to come to Florida with his wife, Karen, and he has four grown daughters. I left my time with him this week feeling inspired, excited and very hopeful.

We have been blessed with incredible leadership in the Florida Conference. You are incredible leaders in your church and communities. It is such a gift to be in ministry with you and to now receive a new episcopal leader to guide us. We will look forward to welcoming Bishop Berlin to the district in the spring. Please, for now, begin praying for him and for his leadership among us. He is praying for us!

Friends, we have entered the season of Advent and I trust it will be a season of peace and joy for you. Where there is strain, conflict or pain in our lives, I pray this season may be one where rest and renewal may prevail. The Prince of Peace is coming, dear friends. May the Christ child be a blessing to each of us and our hurting world.

Abundant peace to each of you,

Cynthia D. Weems

South East District WON the District Challenge!

 Thank you so much to all the churches that donated to the FL JFON District Challenge. 

 Our district raised over $7,000! The three districts together raised over $11,000.

 We couldn’t have done this without you!

Farewell Celebration for Bishop Ken & Rev. Pam Carter

We welcome our new Bishop Tom Berlin to the Florida Conference!

Bishop Tom Berlin states, “I want to be in ministry with you.”

To read more about our incoming bishop, go to the link below:

 CLICK HERE.

Apportionment payments for 2022 must be received in the lockbox at Regions Bank or paid online by Monday January 9, 2023.  This is not a postmarked by date but is the last day by which monies must be received in the Conference or our bank lockbox to be included in 2022 apportionments receipts.  Any payments received after that date will be applied to 2023 apportionments.  Any payments received between January 1 and January 9 must be clearly marked as to which year they are to be applied.

All apportionment payments should be accompanied by a completed Remittance Report. 

The Remittance Report is located on our website: http://tools.flumc.org/apportionment_giving.asp

To pay online go to the conference website.  Here is a link to take you to that page: Payment (eservicepayments.com)
 
Any amounts due for Ministry Protection and Health and Benefits at the end of the year will continue to show as outstanding on your statement in 2023.

To be considered a 100% connectional church in the Florida Annual Conference Journal, 100% of 2022 apportionments must be received by January 09, 2023, and all outstanding Ministry Protection and Health and Benefits obligations must be received by December 31, 2022.

Deacon
Clergy serving as Deacons in a local church or community setting continue to be linked to the annual conference though several means.  Each Deacon is directly related to a charge conference and may fulfill certain roles in that context. And, each Deacon gives an annual account of their ministry. Click HERE to go to the Office of Clergy Excellence page for the Deacon Annual Report. 

Extension Ministry Clergy
Clergy serving in appointments beyond the local church continue to be linked to the annual conference though several means.  Each extension ministry clergy is directly related to a charge conference and may fulfill certain ministerial roles in that context.  And each clergy in an extension ministry appointment gives an annual account of his/her ministry. Click HERE to go the Office of Clergy Excellence page for the Extension Ministry Annual Report.

 

Year-end Local Church Statistics

 Forms are available online beginning January 1, 2023. (Table 1, Table 2, Table 3). Please complete these online by 5:00 pm Friday, February 3, 2023.  Click Here for instructions page.

 

Church Profile – reviewed and updated annually. 

These forms are to be reviewed and updated annually by all church SPR Committees and all clergy in the Florida Conference. All church SPR Committees must update online annually and may begin after December 1. The Church Profile deadline requires it be completed online no later than one week prior to the pastor’s DS consultation, if having. The final date to update the Church Profile is January 31, 2023. Click here for the Church and Pastor Profiles start page.

Pastor Profile – reviewed and updated annually.
All pastors must update online annually and may begin after December 1. The Pastor Profile deadline requires it to be completed online no later than one week prior to the DS consultation. Though you may not anticipate a move, it is important that both the Pastor Profile and Church Profile be current and up to date at the first appointment-making session of the Cabinet. The reports should be an honest reflection of the pastoral ministry and the profile of the church. The final date to update the Pastor Profile is January 31, 2023. Click here for the Church and Pastor Profiles start page.

Click HERE for the detailed instructions for accessing both the Church and Pastor Profiles. Follow the step-by-step instructions to access the appropriate profile. The final date to update Profiles is January 31, 2023.

 

 

Join us... Register Today!

 

Through your contributions and other UMC grants, the Conference is hiring for Disaster Recovery workers for the SW Florida area, primarily Lee County. We need Case Managers, Team Leaders, Volunteer Coordinators, Construction Coordinators, and other roles pertinent to managing and maintain grant funds.  All available positions may be found on our FLUMC - Home website (www.flumc.org).  

So, Church Families, please let anyone you know who wants to bring their empathy and empowerment to our SW FL neighbors that we welcome their application and resume.

Missional Vital Signs (MVS) for the local church was updated April 2022. It important to remember that these numbers represent people and the vitality of the local church. They are indicators of the behaviors that produce them, and this tool can be used to discern the health of the church – what works, what does not, where should we make changes, and most importantly, how can we bring more disciples to Christ? The local church should continuously be aware of their MVS’s so that they may evaluate and make adjustments. Healthy churches are aware of their stats and can quickly adapt.

This information is gathered weekly and may be reported weekly or monthly through the church dashboard online by the “MVS Reporter” designated by the church and updated in the church dashboard. There is now the ability to enter missing data over the previous two years.

If your church receives funding (equitable compensation) that is contingent on turning in your data by the 10th of the month. 

Please click here for a helpful video overview and guide sheet of the New MVS Weekly Reporting site.

Other resources:

Explanation of MVS’s
MVS data gathering sheet (PDF)
MVS Weekly Reporting Guide Sheet (PDF)
Tracking Online Video Views (PDF)

 

Be ready! Youth 2023 is happening next July in Daytona Beach. For more information, please go to the link below or contact Rev. Kathy Nolasco at knolasco@plantationumc.org

https://www.umcyoungpeople.org/youth2023

 

Our District Office will be closed on the following dates:

December 23 & 26-30, 2022

 

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