July 31: Last day to see photo exhibit in Memphis about HIV/AIDS pandemic

July 31 is the last day to see a free photo exhibit running simultaneously at three locations in Memphis: Church Health Center, Methodist University Hospital and St. John’s United Methodist Church,   The exhibit, "30 Years/30 Lives: Documenting a Pandemic," which has been on display since mid-April, follows the lives of 30 people in South Africa, the United States, Mexico, and Thailand who have been touched by the HIV/AIDS pandemic either personally, as a...

Atoka UMC and town celebrate centennials this summer

Atoka UMC and the town of Atoka, TN are celebrating their centennials this summer. The Town: The 2011 Centennial Celebration starts Friday evening, June 24. On Saturday, June 25, Atoka UMC will host displays and exhibits related to the centennial. The celebration continues through Sunday evening, June 26 with a praise and worship service and fireworks in the town park. The event celebrates the 100-year anniversary of Atoka as an incorporated community in Tipton County, Tennessee.   The...

New senior pastor appointed at Christ UMC in Memphis

Bishop Richard J. (Dick) Wills, Jr. of the Memphis Conference announces the appointment of Rev. Shane Stanford as the next Senior Pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis, TN. Stanford will begin work July 10. Rev. Stanford formerly served as Senior Pastor of Gulf Breeze UMC in Gulf Breeze, FL, one of the largest UMC congregations in the United States with an average weekly worship attendance of more than 2,400. “Shane Stanford is an amazingly gifted person. He is a...

Memphis First UMC featured on UMCgiving.org Web site

Two Memphis, Tenn., churches celebrated their shared heritage while honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during a shared worship service. Click HERE to read article....

Memphis First UMC celebrates first 185 years

By Sandra Mathias, Communications Director, Memphis First UMC   On the first Sunday in February 1826, the same year Memphis was incorporated, a 23-year-old Methodist circuit rider, the Rev. Thomas P. Davidson, rode into a dusty riverboat town on the bluffs of the Mississippi River.   This was the humble beginnings of the first church of any denomination in Memphis - First United Methodist or "First Church."  There were three in...

Conference has presence on social networking site, Facebook

United Methodist organizations from Zimbabwe to the United States and from the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to Parsons First UMC in the Memphis Conference, are using the social networking Web site Facebook (www.facebook.com) to make disciples of Jesus Christ. In the Memphis Conference, there are several Facebook pages being used to help congregations of the United Methodist Church connect and work together in mission.   General Background   Facebook started in...

Heartsong Church in Cordova has ‘open doors’ for Muslim neighbors

Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors. That slogan of the United Methodist Church is one that this month is being prominently modeled by the congregation of Heartsong Church in Cordova, TN as it literally opens its doors to the Memphis Islamic Center (MIC) for its observance of the holy month of Ramadan, which began Aug. 11.   Heartsong Church is part of the McKendree District of the Memphis Conference.   “They are in the final phase of building an Islamic Center for worship...

Bearing Fruit: Our moments of transformation encourage and inspire others

'Bearing Fruit' is a column dedicated to stories about spiritual transformation in the Memphis Conference. This first column, by Susan Engle, sets the stage for others to share their transformation stories. Engle is the leader of the Memphis Conference Intentional Discipleship Action Team. Transformation takes all kinds of shapes and forms. It is sometimes so gradual that we don’t even notice God has been working until we realize our vision has changed or that we are reacting...

Missouri volunteers do mission work in Memphis

A group of 202 United Methodist volunteers from the Missouri Conference visited the Memphis Conference in June to do mission work at agencies and churches needing assistance. While in the Memphis area, the volunteers were housed at Collierville UMC.   Beverly Boehmer, Missouri Conference Coordinator of Youth and College Ministries, was the group’s organizer. She dispatched small groups to different project locations.   FirstWorks   FirstWorks, a program for...

‘Ending Slavery’ event in Collierville on Aug. 14

“Ending Slavery” is the name of a free educational program at Collierville UMC on Saturday, Aug. 14, from 3 to 5 p.m. Christa Hayden is the guest speaker. She is Mid-Atlantic Regional Director of Church Mobilization for the International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org), a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression.   The agenda includes a screening of “The End of Slavery,” as well as...

Five-Day Academy for Spiritual Formation set for Oct. 17-22

“Journey into Joy: the Pathway & the Pilgrimage” is the theme of the Five-Day Academy for Spiritual Formation set for Oct. 17-22 at Camp Garner Creek in Dickson, TN. Sponsors are the Memphis and Tennessee Conferences, along with the Nashville Area Clergy Orders, Fellowship of the United Methodist Church and The Upper Room Ministries.  Faculty include the Rev. Marjorie Thompson, author of Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life, and Dr. Loyd Allen, Sylvan...

Need a speaker? Call Lakeshore's Bill Walker

If you need a speaker for a large or small group, call Bill Walker, Lakeshore’s Director of Development, at 731-584-6102 (office) or 731-267-2143 (cell). Email him at bill@lakeshoreuma.com. Walker is available to talk about Lakeshore United Methodist Assembly in Eva, TN, the Memphis Conference’s very own camping and retreat center for more than 50 years. See Lakeshore's web site at www.lakeshoreuma.com...

Navigating a landscape of hope in Haiti

This July, 2010 letter is from the Rev. Cynthia Fierro Harvey, head of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) on the work of UMCOR in Haiti in 2010. 443 individuals and churches in The Memphis Conference have given more than $312,000 to UMCOR for work in Haiti as of the end of July, according to The Advance office of the General Board of Global Ministries. To learn more, visit UMCOR’s Haiti Emergency page at umcor.org.   Over the course of our 70-year history in relief and...

Guidebook has details about UM-related schools

The Guidebook of United Methodist-Related Schools, Colleges, Universities, and Theological Schools is now available for purchase. Order online for $5 at www.cokesbury.com or call 1-800-672-1789.   The Guidebook contains information about 121 United Methodist-related schools, colleges, universities, and theological schools. It is designed to help high students, parents, counselors, youth workers and clergy easily compare tuition, degrees awarded, and possible financial...

Dinner Theatre: 'The Odd Couple' at Aldersgate UMC in Jackson

The Aldersgate Theatre Company, a program of the United Methodist Youth Fellowship at Aldersgate UMC in Jackson, is offering dinner-threatre performances of the play, The Odd Couple (female version), at its church activity center, located at 1050 North Parkway. The comedy, by Neil Simon, is directed by Garrett Henson.   Performances are Aug. 6, 7, 13 and 14 at 7 p.m. and Aug. 8 and 15 at 1 p.m. Dinner is being catered by Baudo’s Italian Restaurant. Tickets are $20...

Raleigh UMC rethinks Church, opens doors to hope at Community Job Fair

Raleigh United Methodist Church is rethinking church and reaching out to its community.  The north Memphis congregation held its first Job Fair on February 10. Sixteen companies and 800 job seekers participated. About a year ago, the church’s Outreach Committee started offering bi-monthly workshops for the unemployed and the underemployed who were seeking to better their economic situation.    The workshops dealt with financial understanding, resume preparation and...