OMD Up-Close

A monthly feature electronic magazine of the Ohio-Meadville District

August 2010

Resources for Starting Your Church Year

Summer has flown by and Labor Day is fast approaching. With that comes Ingathering services and the official start of most church's program year. To help your congregation put its best foot forward and be prepared for the fall, we are offering this round-up of resources. Find the help you need to create inspirational worship services, provide creative leadership, create in-depth religious education offerings and more. And make sure you checkOMD Now and our calendar frequently where new offerings will be posted as they are arranged.

Meet Your Staff

One of your best resources in your district staff. This year your staff/consultant resources are expanding to include the new Central East Regional (CERG) Consultants. You can learn more about CERG on the CERG website. You can learn what the OMD Staff are working on at the OMD Staff Blog

CERG Staff

OMD Staff

Mark Bernstein is the new Regional Consultant for Growth Development. In our district many will know him as our part-time growth consultant. Mark will work with congregations, assisting them with the following topics and issues: outreach and recruitment strategies, creating a welcoming culture, path to membership, internal communication processes, managing conflict, volunteerism/service ministry, and retention strategies.
Patricia Infante is the new Regional Consultant for Faith Development. Pat was formerly the Program Consultant for Lifespan Faith Development in the Joseph Priestley District. She will be working with congregations and district staff who are focused in the various parts of Lifespan Faith Development including religious education for all ages, youth ministries, young adult minstries and multigenerational programming.
Rev. Renee Rutchotze is the new Regional Consultant for Leadership Development. She will start in the position on September 1 and will focus on working with congregations with developing leaders and improving the skills of their current leaders.
Beth Casebolt is the part-time Communications Consultant and will primarily work with communications in the region and supporting staff in their work.

Jan Gartner, Lifespan Faith Development and Youth Ministries Consultant, joined us on August 1, 2010. Jan is the go to person for anyone with questions around Lifespan Faith Development, Youth and multigenerational programming in congregations and clusters. You can learn more about Jan at her staff page.
http://www.ohiomeadville.org/leaders/staff/yacm.html">Rev. Evan Young is our Young Adult and Campus Ministry Consultant. He is very part-time but very effective in working with congregations who have questions about young adult ministry or campus ministry programs. If your congregation is interested in expanding or improving your programming in either of these areas, please contact him.
Beth Casebolt is our District Administrator. She is the official keeper of the district calendar, handles our bookkeeping, maintains all our email lists and runs all our communications including the website. Congregations who have questions about communications - web, social media, newsletters, podcasts, video, etc - should contact her for assistance.
Rev. Joan Van Becelaere is our District Executive. She works with congregations on leadership and stewardship issues, helps district committees with program planning and assists congregations in transition or conflict.
The district also uses Adjunct Consultants for additional support when scheduling doesn't permit a staff person to be there. You can learn more about what services these consultants offer and how much they cost at their webpage.

Upcoming Events

Leadership Day (formerly President's Day) is an opportunity for all elected leadership, clergy and DREs to come together for a day to network, particpate in workshops and learn more about nurturing our congregations. September 25, 2010 at First UU Columbus. This event is free, but a donation for lunch is requested. Registration deadline is September 10, after that a $10 late fee will be charged. Register and learn more...

Green Leadership is a special conference focusing on how our leadership can help our congregations and communities in the movement to be greener and environmentally friendly. David Orr is our keynote speaker. October 23, 2010 at Youngstown UU Church. This event has a registration charge, but a discount is offered for congregations sending 3 or more participants. Early registration deadline is October 3. Register and learn more...

A Committee on Ministry Training for all current and future Committee on Ministry members and clergy is being presented on September 11, 2010 at East Shore UU Church in Kirtland, OH. Register and learn more...

Additional webinars and events are listed on the OMD Calendar. You can get details from the Conferences pageor the Webinars page

UUA Resources

The UUA has developed a wonder resource library on their website that can be a help for any UU leader. To find out what they have visit their website: http://www.uua.org/resources/index.shtml

Serving as a congregational leader? We recommend you subscribe to Interconnections and check out theCongregational Monthly Bulletin. Interconnections is a monthly newsletter with all sorts of leader information on a variety of topics. The Congregational Monthly Bulletin has information about upcoming events and flyers from various UU groups each month.

There are also a number of UUA blogs to help folks on specific topics. These are great sources of information and you can search back issues.

Interconnections Tipsheet - a companion to the Interconnections Newsletter http://tipsheet.blogs.uua.org/
Congregational Stewardship http://congregationalstewardship.blogs.uua.org/
Green Sanctuary is a new blog just created this June http://greensanctuary.blogs.uua.org/
Social Justice, titled "Inspired Faith, Effective Action" http://socialjustice.blogs.uua.org/
New Media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc) http://newmedia.blogs.uua.org/
Standing on the Side of Love has postings from various events around the country http://www.standingonthesideoflove.org/blog/
Beacon Broadside is sponsored by Beacon Press http://www.beaconbroadside.com/
UUs in the Media is a round up of all the various news stories featuring UUs this week http://blogs.uuworld.org/media/

Other Resources

Church of the Larger Fellowship has all sorts of program to help small and not so small congregations. Small congregations can join the Church Online Program. The Make a Sunday Program helps any size church create complete worship services. Adult online RE classes are offered year round - 2 of them are free and run continuously. For those wanting an outreach program, check out the Prison Pen Pal Program. They also offer jewelry and service covers for purchase. Learn more at www.uua.org/clf

Leading a Small Congregation? Then Small Talk is a must for you. This monthly newsletter is covers a different topic in how to deal with different issues in your small congregation. Back issues are available on the website and you can subscribe for email delivery. Visit http://www.spiritoflifepublishing.com/newsletters.html

The district has a host of resources on a variety of topics on our website including websites, documents, powerpoints and more. Check out the Resources section to see what is available. And don't forget the district library. We have books, videos, audio recordings, curricula and more.

Connect to the District

The best way to connect to the district is through our various email lists, specifically this one. If you need to subscribe, please contact the office at office@ohiomeadville.org">office@ohiomeadville.org

On facebook? Find us at www.facebook.com/ohiomeadville. Prefer Twitter? www.twitter.com/ohiomeadville

Ohio-Meadville District

Serving UU Congregations in Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and southwest New York

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