June 2007 Discernment Events Planned to Assist Laity in Finding God's Will for Their Lives

To "discern" means to recognize or identify. United Methodist laity—women and men—seeking to discern God’s will for their lives will have that opportunity in late June, 2007.

A Deaconess and Home Missioner Discernment Event, open to persons of all ages living in the United States, will take place at Camp Sumatanga in Gallant, Alabama (near Birmingham) on June 8-10, 2007. Preference will be given to those living in the Southeast Jurisdiction. Regional events to be held in the Southcentral, Western and Northcentral Jurisdictions are tentatively scheduled for the fall and winter. Please contact the Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner at blouter@gbgm-umc.org or 212-870-3850.

Space is limited for the event and the deadline for application is May 1st. All costs, including travel within the US, lodging, and meals, will be covered by the event sponsor -- the Office of Deaconess and Home Missioner of the General Board of Global Ministries, the mission agency of The United Methodist Church.

The discernment event will include Bible study, worship, conversation, reflection, and information on the deaconess and home missioner relationship to the Church. It will be held at Camp Sumatanga, a facility of the North Alabama Conference.

Applicants will be notified if they are accepted by May 10th. The application form can be found at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/media/mpdocs/2007JuneDiscernmentApp.doc.

Deaconesses, who are laywomen, and Home Missioners, who are laymen, are called by God to a full-time vocation in service with those who are marginalized and in need in the world today. This community of laity has responded to the call of God in their lives and has been commissioned by The United Methodist Church to full-time ministries of love, justice, and service.

The Office of Deaconess was established in 1888 by the Methodist Episcopal Church and provides laywomen the opportunity to serve in a life-time lay relationship in servant ministry.

The Office of Home Missioner was established at the 2004 United Methodist General Conference providing laymen with an opportunity to serve in a life-time relationship to the Church. This is the first opportunity for laymen to be in an official life-time relationship in ministry since the termination of Diaconal Minister by the 1996 General Conference.

For more information on the June event or the regional events, or to express interest in becoming a deaconess or home missioner, contact Becky Louter at blouter@gbgm-umc.org or 212-870-3850.