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Rev. Dr. Denise Smartt Sears, Superintendent
Rev. Dr. William G. Smartt, Assisting Elder | Mr. QuiShaun Hill, Administrative Asst.

Metropolitan District, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 1922, New York, NY 10115
Phone: (212) 870-3090 | Fax: (212) 870-3091
METdistrict@nyac-umc.com
New York Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church

METNews - February 2017


 

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

The Statue of Liberty is still standing. I see it when  crossing  the Brooklyn Bridge to visit my family,  or when  flying to LaGuardia Airport. Lady Liberty is holding the torch of light.  A broken chain still lies at her feet, as a symbol of, “all are welcome here.” She stands as a symbol of American liberties for immigrants; a sign of the commitment to freedom after the reign of Napoleon III.

Emma Lazarus, in 1880, only saw the torch while it was on display before it was erected. Yet she realized the necessity for the project and the difficulty of raising money for Russian-Jewish refugees of 1881.

The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of exiles. From her beacon-hand
Grows world –wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air bridged harbor that twin cities fame.
“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-toss to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
- Emma Lazarus (November 2, 1883)

What a strong message for immigrants of any day.

Days like this make me thankful that my great-grandparents had the vision to send their sixteen-year-old daughter to the United States with her uncle and two cousins. Mr. Joseph and Mrs. Mariah Cummings thought that Grandma Iris would have more opportunities in the United States of America.  It was 1902 when she arrived by boat to Ellis Island. She came to worship at the Methodist Episcopal Church, St. Mark’s in Montclair, New Jersey; and years later, Newman Memorial in Brooklyn, until 2002 when she joined the church triumphant. Grandma’s journey to the United States was one of choice, but it was a long arduous trip. She was discouraged to continue her education, and had to work.  Her male cousins were given opportunities that allowed them to become a medical doctor and a lawyer.  Grandma did not have a college education, but she was a wise, faithful woman, who was a living example that God’s love is sufficient. She was full of grace, and had a welcoming spirit. Whether you were sitting beside her in church, or traveling on a city bus, Grandma had a word of hope, an Upper Room devotional guide book and a piece of Chiclet gum for you.  In times like these my prayer is Psalm 91, my Grandmother’s favorite:

You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, ”my refuge and my fortress; my God in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence; he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. (Psalm 91:1-4 NRSV)

God is our refuge! Live as those who walk in the light, and let the light of Christ be a symbol of hope to all!

In faith,


Denise Smartt Sears


Rev. Dr. Denise Smartt Sears

Grandma

 


Bishop Bickerton: A Statement on Executive Orders

1/30/2017

Dear Friends & Colleagues,

A few weeks ago I made my way to New York City for a meeting. As has become my routine, I drove to the White Plains train station to catch my ride. When I pulled into the parking garage, there were plenty of empty spaces The only problem was that each one of them had the same message: “Metered Parking. Permit Only. All others towed.” Six floors of empty spaces and one message: “You can’t park here.”
 
I didn’t panic because I knew that the seventh floor had an unrestricted section where anyone could park. However, when I arrived on the seventh floor I quickly discovered that all of the unrestricted spaces had been taken. There was no room for me.
 
After several attempts and a few missed trains, I finally found a spot some distance away from the station. All I wanted to do was catch the train that would take me to the place I wanted to go.
 
My own minor encounter with exclusion pales in comparison with the recent Executive Orders to close our borders and build walls. It’s one thing to not be able to find a place to park and catch a train. It’s another to apply that circumstance to someone’s family and life. All they want to do is catch the train to a better life, a life filled with hope, healing, and possibilities to become a fuller expression of who they were created to be. 
 
The hope for healing and possibility is at the heart of who we are as a people of faith. In the Old Testament we are told in Leviticus and Deuteronomy that we are to treat the foreigner as our native born, to leave food for them, and to “love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:18-19). In the New Testament, Jesus was constantly inviting in the loners, losers, and lost ones of the world and imploring his followers to respond favorably to those around us. “Just as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it me,” was his plea (Mattthew 25:40).
 
When the church was established, they quickly began to use the word “sanctuary” to describe the most sacred part of the religious building. The “sanctuary” was a safe place, a refuge from the storm, a haven for protection from the forces at work around us.
 
Today we find ourselves immersed in a struggle where our President has declared that there is no room for the foreigner, no place for hope of a greater life, no sanctuary from the storm of life, no opportunity to catch the train to a better life. These decisions are separating families, dismantling communities, and creating a greater division among us that only adds to the discord we feel and the conflict we sense emerging around us.
 
I believe that we tend to operate most days with a short-term memory. It was not all that long ago that seven brothers immigrated to the United States to find a better life. Four of the brothers settled in Pennsylvania. Three of them to West Virginia. Their names were Bickerton. It was not all that long ago that a man brought his wife and young child through Ellis Island from Syria and began working in a produce warehouse along the Ohio River. His name was Cassis. It was not long ago that a child of the Bickerton family met a child of the Cassis family and fell in love. They married and began to build a life together. They named their first son Tom. I would not be here today had it not been for a place that welcomed the immigrant, provided a place for them to seek employment, and encouraged them to build a life within the bounds of our borders.
 
My story is not unlike countless numbers of other stories that bear witness to what really made America great. It welcomed those who were struggling to find their way and offered them the hope of a better life. 
 
That’s where we come in. It is time for us to be the church that we profess we are. While we cannot change Executive Orders that oppress and alienate, we in our churches can create an atmosphere of grace and a posture of love that points to a better way.
 
I would encourage all of you to take to heart the biblical mandate that has been proclaimed in our churches for centuries. I would implore you to take seriously the word “sanctuary” and provide opportunity to make that word come alive in your context.  I would ask you to consider what it means to create a story that is far different than the rhetoric we are being exposed to by those who currently have control of the microphone. 
 
Specifically, I would urge you to consider the following:

  1. Pray, Teach, and Preach
    Open the doors of your church to offer constant prayer vigils, provide resources for prayer at the altars of our churches, and have leaders present to pray for those who seek something more. We must create a climate among our people where they are seeking, in prayer, the will of God and the courage that God provides for us to play our part in the redemption of the world. 
     
    Explore the scriptures and take leadership to offer words of guidance and hope based on the Word of God. Teach about how we, like Jesus and many others after him, can play a role in bearing witness to grace, hope and love for all of God’s children. Preach about welcoming the stranger, feeding the poor, and including the ones who are left out. Remind your people that we were once foreigners and bridge the gap with the offer to love others as we ourselves have been loved.
     
  2. Walk the Streets
    It is time for us to take the word transformation more seriously. If we want to transform the world, we must be in the world we hope to transform. If all we do is pray and preach to those who make up our membership, we will have missed the grand opportunity to more intimately know the hungers and hurts of the people around us. 
     
    I urge you to walk the streets of your community and discover where the hurts and fears reside. Go to places where you wouldn’t normally go, speak a word that creates a pulpit of grace wherever you may be, ask questions about what the real needs are, and love, simply love, the ones who need a word of hope and healing.
     
  3. Consider becoming a “sanctuary”
    Our President has signed an Executive Order that will pull funding from cities that are sanctuaries. The church will not do the same. We need to identify, train, and equip churches throughout the New York Annual Conference to become sanctuary churches in the literal sense – places of refuge, protection, and safety. We will strive to do our part in the Annual Conference to resource and equip churches that make this decision. What we need today, however, are churches that are making the decision. There are dangerous storms brewing. Won’t you consider becoming a refuge from the storm? 
     
    If your church is willing to play this important role, please contact your District Superintendent and indicate your willingness to be trained and equipped.

This issue is not the only one facing us in these uncertain times. We must not forget about the positions taken and the actions carried out that are creating racial and gender biases which make children of God feel less than they were created to be. Our prayer and our intentional work must center around what it means to be hope to the hopeless, joy to the joyless, and love to those who are made to feel less than God created them to be. We must do this for all of God’s children.
 
I want to play my part in truly making America great again. It all begins with providing a place to park and an opportunity to catch the train to a better life. 

Won’t you join me?

The Journey Continues, . . .
 
 
Thomas J. Bickerton
Resident Bishop


https://ny-reg.brtapp.com/2017NewYorkBMCRCaucusWeekend



Please note: This evening's meeting is more for laity than clergy.


2017 MET Leadership Training 

Thank you Metropolitan District for making the 2017 Leadership Development Day a success. 


Special Thanks to:

Rev. Dr. Marvin Moss & Salem United Methodist Church
Host

Rev. David Gilmore, Director of Congregational Development and Revitalization
Facilitator of Creating New Space for New People

Mr. Joe Andreana, Interim Deputy Director, United Methodist Frontier Foundation
Facilitator of Finance / Stewardship

Rev. Dr. Denise Smartt Sears, Metropolitan District Superintendent
Facilitator of Leadership Development



from Ross Williams, CFO & Director of Administrative Services

January 17, 2017

Dear Pastor, Finance Committee Chair and Treasurer,
 
Welcome to the 2017 Statistical Table process!  The system in which you will report your 2016 data will be available for approximately 6 weeks beginning today, January 17th until the evening of Wednesday, March 1st.
 
This process consists of submitting data in three tables:  1) Membership Data, 2) Financial Data and 3) Stewardship Data.  The submissions are used by both the Conference and the General Church for statistical information and analysis, decision making and to set apportionments (both for the church and for the conference).
 
The Book of Discipline requires pastors to give an account of their pastoral ministries to the Charge and Annual Conference.  So while various church committees and individuals may collect and provide data for this exercise, the pastor is ultimately responsible for the accuracy and completeness of these submissions. 

Certain lines within Table II will be used to determine your church’s 2018 apportionments.  Preliminary 2018 apportionments based upon this table will be published by the end of March.  There will then be a two-month period during which we work with churches who feel that errors may have occurred in their submissions.  Once final apportionments are published in late May we will be unable to make further adjustments. 

A more detailed discussion of the tables is available on the conference website, www.nyac.com/tables.
 
Each district has a District Statistician that can assist you with any questions you may have.  Their contact information is available on both the NYAC and the EZRA websites (see links above).  If you have trouble reaching your statistician you may contact Judy Walters at jwalters@nyac.com or Susan Tedesco at stedesco@nyac.com.

I would like to thank each of you in advance for your efforts to submit timely and accurate information!

Sincerely,  Ross

To Obtain Log-In information - Click Here




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You are cordially invited to participate in a health clinic at New York Methodist Hospital. Each year United Methodist ministers and/or their spouses come from the New York Conference to enjoy this experience with us. 


In the four days you are here you will receive a thorough physical examination and any follow-up tests that may be indicated. There will also be time to tour the hospital and participate in seminars on recent developments in health care. You will get a penetrating view of your mission hospital at work. In addition, you will be performing a unique function for us, for your presence here will remind the entire hospital family of our ties to the “People called Methodist,” which go back over 130 years.

Overnight accommodations and virtually all expenses beyond a $50 registration fee are covered by the hospital. Active pastors and/or their spouses from the New York Conference are eligible to participate, together or singly (once every five years). The details and registration form are included in the document linked below.

The dates for 2017 are:
February 6-10
April 24-28
October 23-27

For more information, please contact Rev. Elizabeth Braddon at 203-481-2789, 631-487-2292 (cell) or elizabeth.braddon@gmail.com.

pastors-clinic-brochure-reg-form-2017.pdf   



 

learning living being vital

Free Leadership Development Webinars

Register at www.umcdiscipleship.org/webinars

Contact: Jacqui King – Director, Leadership for Congregational Vitality

jking@umcdiscipleship.org              615.340.7295

Tues., February 7 @ 7:00 PM CST - Trustees – What’s My Role? – The trustees committee is elected by the congregation to lead in the stewardship of property. Participating in this webinar will help provide trustees with key tools for managing current and future property. This administrative leadership role involves implementing new ideas for effective property utilization, and managing property and assets. Whether you are a new trustee or a continuing trustee, consider this time of the year a good time to look at the big picture of your responsibility.


Archived Webinars: Maybe you missed the webinar for your leadership area or you want to share it with the team. Webinars are archived for future use.  Identify the webinar, click the link, enter the requested information, and the webinar will be immediately available for you to view or to share during your meeting, program, or training event.  Access the archived webinars at http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/leadership-resources/archived-webinars

These webinars are made possible by World Service Fund support!


The February meeting will take place:
Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at 7pm
Westbury United Methodist Church
265 Asbury Avenue
Westbury, NY 11590

BMCR Weekend
Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017 - 10am - 2pm
BMCR Worship Service, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017
3:30pm at First United Methodist Church, Mt. Vernon


The Disaster Preparedness workshop

February 18th at 10AM.

The workshop will take place at Faith United Methodist Church, Staten Island. Please see attached flyer. You must register on-line so that they will have a bag reserved for you.
Register here: http://www.nyprepare.gov/aware-prepare/nysprepare/registration
 
If there are not enough participants the work shop will be cancelled.
 

2017 MET DISTRICT LAY SERVANT SCHOOL


* BASIC * 

  

* ADVANCED *


 

Employment Opportunities


Do you like
 -  waking up to birdsongs and grazing deer and going to sleep hearing bullfrogs and watching fireflies and the Milky Way?
-   sharing your love of nature/outdoors with others?
 -  making others feel welcome and at home in their campsite?
 -  cooking over a campfire?
 -  meeting interesting people of all ages?

Then read more about the Kingswood Summer positions!

Perhaps you would enjoy being Program Director.  In this position you would be:
 -  engaging others while demonstrating crafts
 -  leading hikes

 -  developing programs that engage people
 -  making homemade ice cream - yum!

Perhaps being a lifeguard appeals to you. The lifeguard will be:
 -  spending each afternoon at the beach
 -  keeping the bathhouse clean and inviting
 -  using equipment to maintain the waterfront area

 

If either of these positions interest you, please read the complete job descriptions:  Program Director    Lifeguard.  (If the links do not open, please see attached files.) Please contact me with any questions.

Cheryl Winship, Kingswood Director
cwin1@frontiernet.net 


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RECURRING EVENTS



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Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.