Daily Digest - October 11, 2012

"In everything we do, we strive to be the presence of Christ. When people have lost homes, jobs and even loved ones, more than anything else, they need to talk about their losses." - The Rev. Clay Whitaker, leader of a Texas Conference early response team helping in Louisiana.

Mississippi needs teams for 50 sites

JACKSON, Miss. (UMNS) - The Mississippi Annual (regional) Conference disaster response coordinator says the conference is ready to receive early response teams for 50 sites in Jackson County with an additional 18 sites needing tarping, reports Amelia Fletcher, Alabama-West Florida Conference disaster response coordinator. The teams that deploy should review mold remediation and bring tools with those tasks in mind, she said.

For more information, contact the Rev. Wayne Napier at 228-216-2560 or [email protected].
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Early responders help Louisiana; more needed

BATON ROUGE, La. (UMNS) - The heart and soul of The United Methodist Church is steeped in the Wesleyan tradition of doing good, and no one lives that better than the early response teams that have helped in Louisiana. However, more help still is needed.

Early response teams return to help.
How to help in Louisiana

'Nones' rising: What does it mean for us?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - A recent Pew survey showing a dip in the number of U.S. Protestants and a rise in the number of religiously affiliated offers some disheartening news for United Methodists. One finding: 88 percent of those answering "None" on the religion question also say that they are not "looking for a religion that would be right for" them. The Rev. Taylor Burton-Edwards, director of worship resources at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship, examines the reasons behind these statistics and suggests how United Methodists should respond.
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Camp provides hope for Liberian refugees

BUDUBURAM, Ghana-"The most listened to woman on radio in North America" is using her big voice to speak for voiceless children and adults living in a Liberian refugee camp.
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First Thursday prayer and fast

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (UMNS) - First Thursday was introduced at the 2010 annual conference session by the Illinois Great Rivers Conference cabinet. It is as an invitation to clergy and laity to join the cabinet in a monthly day of prayer and fasting to call upon Christ to send the Pentecost power of the Holy Spirit upon the church. The practice continues.
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NEXT to feature TED-style talks

ST. LOUIS (UMNS) - The launch team for NEXT, a United Methodist event for college students, is determined that the new gathering on Nov. 9-11 will be different from other United Methodist conferences. So the team has turned to the popular TED talks for inspiration. Instead of long speeches, participants at the conference will hear short, 12- to 15-minute talks from young adults who are involved in creative ministry, interfaith work, church planting and micro loans for students who have a social justice project. The United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries and United Methodist Communications are among the event sponsors.

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