Mission u: What about our money?
By the Rev. Neal Christie | Photos by Jesse N. Love
What are a few topics were you taught to avoid during a polite dinner table discussion – especially with people you were not quite sure would agree with?
Religion and money!
I can promise you that for the Mission u plenary study on “What About Our Money? A Faith Response” we will have deep and fruitful discussion on these topics. I’m excited return to The Pacific Northwest Conference for a second year and especially thrilled to focus on this topic in a way that brings out the best in our values and experiences as United Methodists.
Money is essential to creating a lasting and just change in the world. How we view both abundance and scarcity, our experiences of living with wealth or living in poverty…a serious conversation about money is essential for the Church’s mission and for our own lives.
Join us at Mission u as we consider money matters from a biblical, ethical, and practiced perspective, and as we learn how our money – God’s money – makes a difference in the life of the world.
The Rev. Neal Christie serves as Assistant General Secretary of Education and Leadership Formation for The General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. Learn more about Christie, here.
Mission u: Connecting with Our Missionary Conferences
By Bishop Mary Ann Swenson | Photos by Jesse N. Love
While many of you will be attending conference sessions within The Greater Northwest Area, I am preparing to come join you in July 2018 for Mission u, again.
I am so excited to participate in this learning experience with you. Before last year, I taught at our Cooperative School of Christian Mission in 1980 and the theme that year was “The Inner Life”. So much has happened in our lives and in the world in the last 38 years.
This year, our class will focus on the Missionary Conferences. We will be weaving together our own personal stories with the stories of the conferences and the biblical story.
I have a relationship with all the conferences. Alaska is part of the Greater Northwest Area and important for all of us. My mother was born in Oklahoma and her mother was active with the Indian mission work there. My relative Gail Sullivan from Garden Street in Bellingham has uncovered some of our family history relative to the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference. In 1998, Jeff and I rode our bicycle through Appalachia and we saw Red Bird Conference up close and personal.
It promises to be a great weekend again at Central Washington University in Ellensburg in July. If you haven’t already registered, do so soon and come join us. It will be great to be together to worship and learn and fellowship and grow so we can more fully be love in action.
Mary Ann Swenson is a retired bishop in the United Methodist Church. For her bio, click here.
