We have begun receiving calls and emails regarding possible material donations for those victims of Hurricane Sandy and also generous servants wishing to go to the disaster zone and serve.
Our first advice is this: If you are not trained and certified in Early Response, please do not go to the disaster area at this time. In many places you will not be allowed to enter the affected areas and if you do get in, the area could pose significant danger to you.
If you are trained and certified in ERT, please wait for formal request to go that will be extended through our ERT channels if ERT Teams are requested.
If you have material donations, we strongly urge that you contact the disaster response centers with the New York UM Conference or the volunteer hotline for the state of New Jersey. The folks in the NY UM Conference Disaster Center ask that you send in email the listing of any donation you have. They can then determine whether or not they can receive it at this time.
This is the information as listed on the NY Conference Disaster Center website:
NY Conference UMC Disaster Response Coordinator: Rev. Joseph Ewoodzie
Contact Email: nyacdisaster@gmail.com
The disaster response call center number is: 914-615-2233. Call to notify NYAC of your immediate needs so that we can respond appropriately. A note to our volunteers: We are not first responders — please do not go to any disaster areas unless you are deployed by the conference disaster response team. Please contact the disaster response call center to volunteer your time to help during the response and releif stages of this event.
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This information is from the New Jersey state website:
Volunteers in New Jersey are being coordinated through an emergency response hotline, 1-800-JERSEY-7 (1-800-537-7397 ). Alternate numbers, for when the hotline isn’t staffed, include 609-775-5236 and 908-303-0471 or emails can be sent to Rowena.Madden@sos.state.nj.us .
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Our recommendation for response at this time is to donate to UMCOR Advance #3021787 for Hurricane Relief 2012. You can also text the word RESPONSE to 80888 to give an immediate $10 donation, or you can donate by phone at (800) 554-8583.You can also make a donation through your local church. In your Sunday offering, simply make a gift to Hurricanes 2012 #3021787. 100% of your gift will go to Hurricane relief efforts.
We DEEPLY appreciate and encourage the generous spirit of so many of our wonderful servants, and we want to ensure we respond in ways that are appropriate, safe, and helpful.
The judicial council also said that all who participated in the election could be charged with offenses. I hope they are. They knew it was a violation and did it anyway.
and the Council of Bishops accepted the outcome!
I agree with Forrest, Lori and William. I too believe we have gone way too far due to lack of leadership by our bishops. They are not leaders…just appeasers. They have ignored the disciple too long and it is now basically a joke. There is no “United” Methodist Church and I fear there never will be again due to their failed leadership. I too hope it will be an amicable split but fear it will not as the bishops will want to hold on to power and property even though most churches brought that property into the church in the 50s and 60s. They are leading us down a very disagreeable path with no regard to unity unless we bend to their progressive path. I still find it so amazing that folks like the Bishop in California would join a church knowing the discipline disallows homosexual unions and yet still proceed to accept church positions in disobedience of that disciple…and that church leaders would ignore the discipline to allow them to take the positions…and we wonder why the church is in such disarray. Bishop Ough is NOT my Bishop in any way, shape, or form and I ignore his leadership (as if he has any) and will from this point forward do as Oliveto and ignore the Book of Discipline…it is not worth the paper it contains.