Countless ways to make an impact at the Detroit Annual Conference

• By RJ Walters, Editor •

Detroit Annual Conference is a time of year where old friends join in healthy debate, make decisions about the future of the local church, and a share few memorable meals together, but it is also an annual celebration of purposeful giving.

The 2011 Detroit Annual Conference offers attendees a variety of ways to make a difference locally and globally, with special offerings and collections taking place throughout the four-day event.

To bring to life the theme of engaging in ministry with the poor, the DAC Program Committee is asking clergy and laity to give back to the community that has hosted Detroit Annual Conference for 42 years.

In cooperation with Adrian First United Methodist Church, the Program Committee is sponsoring a collection for food pantry items that will be distributed in Adrian.

Annual conference attendees are encouraged to bring the following goods: diapers and wipes for infants through size 6; toilet paper; boxed milk (that does not require refrigeration); canned fruit; and cereal.

According to county agencies there were more than 600 homeless people in Lenawee County in 2010 and untold more in need of a helping hand.

Another collection aimed at helping people close to home is the Bishop’s Seat Cover Project — an ongoing initiative to collect new underwear for children and youth in the Detroit Conference.

Churches can collect new packages of undergarments in creative ways such as hosting an “Undie Sunday” or making it a youth group-led mission. Underwear should then be delivered to the Ministry Fair at annual conference by May 21.

Any questions about the Bishop’s Seat Cover Project should be directed to Rev. Cathy Freeman at 734-665-5632 or cathyfreeman27@yahoo.com.

The Conference Board of Global Ministries is asking people to remember those suffering in Haiti as well, by helping with a collection of medical supplies.

Individuals and churches can purchase specific medical supplies listed on the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) website at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/.

Medical supplies kits are the only collections being accepted for this specific initiative and every container must include a $20 check made out to “Detroit Annual Conference” to cover shipping costs.

Sticking with the theme of international mission, a special offering will be taken at the opening worship on May 19 to support The Advance’s Hot Lunch Program in Haiti, as well as a safe haven known as Children’s Village in Liberia.

Through the Hot Lunch Program, Detroit and other conferences provide meals for nearly 20,000 children attending United Methodist-supported schools in Haiti.

Lunch costs continue to rise due to hikes in the cost of rice, fuel, and charcoal.

The Bishop Judith Craig’s Children’s Village in Liberia provides a safe and nurturing haven for children who have been orphaned by war, abandonment, death of parents due to HIV/AIDS, or extreme economic difficulties.

For more information on these projects, visit The Advance website at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/advance/.

Youth will also be getting involved in the giving through a fundraiser for SPLASH (Saving People’s Lives and Giving Hope) that is being run by the Conference Council on Youth Ministry.

Youth will be selling buttons and raising awareness about how the conference can help its neighbors in the Liberian United Methodist Church.

Through past efforts, the CCYM has raised enough money to build a well at the Liberian Annual Conference’s new youth center.

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Detroit Annual Conference offers youth, young adults a place to explore and connect

• By Ang Hart, Detroit Conference Director of Youth and Young Adults •

“Don’t forget about us!”

Such a declaration might be the cry from youth and young adults in the United Methodist Church as the procedures, schedules and legislative jargon of annual conference start filling bulletins and meetings at local churches.

If a church is still finalizing whom to send as their “at-large laity member” for Detroit Annual Conference, they should consider sending a youth/ young adult. It will encourage them in their ministry to the world and connect them with other passionate young people in the United Methodist Church.
Annual Conference is one of the most exciting events of the year for United Methodists. We all get geared up to see each other, worship together, learn together and discuss important world issues as a body.

This is no different for young people. There are many different activities the young people can participate in that make Annual Conference special for them as well.

Youth who come to Annual Conference are instantly welcomed into the world of the Conference Council on Youth Ministries, or CCYM.

They are asked to come and sit with the other youth, and begin to make new friends.

For young adults it is a bit more scattered at the beginning, but there is a special schedule that they are invited to in order to get to know others, learn a bit more about the system, and be inspired.

For those who know a young adult going to conference, feel free to share this with them so they don’t feel so lost.

The youth stay on the same schedule as everyone else most of the time, but travel as a pack to be close to the adults in charge.

They get to do their own work after the day is done, which includes writing their own report, putting together their table for the ministry fair, and getting together whatever fundraiser they are doing for Youth Service Fund (YSF) or Saving People’s Lives and Spreading Hope (SPLASH).

(For more information on either of these topics, please contact Ang Hart, email below.)

The youth enjoy ice-cream socials and strawberry shortcakes just like everyone else, but with their own added twist of youth and energy.

Conference always ends with the youth getting to have a little fun with the Bishop and two District Superintendents — in front of everybody. It is a must-see part of conference, and the youth love to plan this out.

The young adults have a set schedule for the evenings so that they can be intentional about spending time together.

Wednesday night is the CCYAC’s meeting. The council gets most of its business done there so that the rest of conference is open to spend time with all of the young adults. If a young adult is interested in joining the commission, they are welcome to join them at this meeting.

Thursday the Commission invites all the young adults to dinner at the nearby Applebee’s. This is a time for the youth and young adults to kick back and make memories.

Friday is the Poetry Slam, where anyone is welcome to come bring his or her own work to read, and the Rev Jeff Nelson is the main attraction.

It is a spirit-filled event that is becoming quite a tradition. The location changes every year, but the young adults will pass out flyers to let people know where it will be held.

Saturday, the last night of conference, is just general hangout time, with board games and no shortage of fun.

Youth and young adults stay in the same dorm — as long as their registration form is properly marked.

If you want more information on all of the activities of the young people at Annual Conference, please contact Ang Hart at ahart@detroitconference.org.

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Fall Rally showcases leadership skills of Detroit Conference youth

By Ang Hart, Detroit Conference Director of Youth and Young Adults

Imagine you have taken on the leadership role of an event.

For this event you must find a band, a speaker, and food to feed the entire crowd, put together games for everyone, do it all on a tiny budget, and entice people to come.

Oh yeah — and you have four months to do it in.

This year at Conference Youth Assembly (CYA) — a camp for the youth leaders of our conference, the Conference Council on Youth Ministries (CCYM — the group who puts on conference wide Youth events, with Youth being the ones in charge) had a dilemma. Due to unforeseen circumstances, both the chair and the assistant chair of the Fall Rally had to step down.

This is the first time this has ever happened in the more than 10 years that the event has been running.

Usually, the assistant chair helps for their first year and is in charge their second year, so they have had time to watch this huge event take place.

Then, of course, the chair is the big person on campus, running the whole show.

But this year, the CCYM had no idea what was going to happen until camp came around. We were all praying that a strong leader would step forward, and one did — Taylor Pryde.

She is a junior at Hartland High School and on her Facebook page her Religious Views read “Jesus Freak and proud of it!” She is highly involved in her church, her community and now, on the CCYM.

She had four months to pull off a huge event and she did it brilliantly.

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