Breakthrough Workshop: Compelling Communication

If you’ve ever wondered about how to effectively market your church, what makes a good e-newsletter, or whether live streaming worship makes sense for your congregation, then don’t miss our upcoming communications workshop!

United Methodist Communications and communicators from Minnesota and the Dakotas are teaming up to equip you with best practices, practical tips, and information that will help your church reach new people and better engage with your members through strategic and purposeful communication. We promise you will leave inspired armed with ideas and best practices to employ in your own ministry setting. Click here for full information.

A Way Forward update

The Commission on a Way Forward held its first meeting in Atlanta, Georgia January 23-26, 2017, with 32 members from nine countries in attendance.

Led by commission moderators Bishop David Yemba, Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball and Bishop Ken Carter, members worked and worshipped together and began the foundational work integral to their charge of developing consensus about how to move forward amid different theological understandings of LGBTQ identity.

“We need to diagnose what is happening in our churches, in our denomination and in our world,” said Bishop Ken Carter. “We sometimes pre-arrive at a diagnosis. Let us be careful and deliberate and thoughtful and take the time we need to diagnose what is going on in our church.” The moderators are not members of the Commission, but help to facilitate the conversation. Click here for more from UM News Service.

2017 Lenten Study

Make plans now to join the 2017 conference Lenten study. The Dakotas Conference study will be based on the book, "Dare to Dream," by Mike Slaughter. Bishop Ough and the Dakotas Conference Cabinet members will present weekly video messages for churches and individuals, which will be available here to view and download in February 2017.

Are your goals too small? Are you living the “just get by” plan? Or is there a greater “God dream” for you that, if lived to the fullest, could permeate and inform every move you make?

Dare to Dream is a startling and inspiring program by popular author and pastor Mike Slaughter that draws on the Bible and a lifetime of ministry to help us discern God’s dream for us and learn to live it out, prayerfully and enthusiastically. Participants will learn how to develop a life mission statement that helps them fully commit to a God-directed lifestyle.

Breakthrough Ministry Grant: Next Deadline January 31st

Breakthrough ministry grants are offered to churchs and related organizations from the Dakotas United Methodist Foundation and Dakotas Conference of the United Methodist Church. Grants will be awarded quarterly.  Applications are due on January 31, April 30, July 31 and October 31 annually.

Click here for a grant application

Men's Retreat

Calling all MEN!!!  Join us for a men's retreat at Storm Mountain Center on Friday and Saturday, March 3 and 4.  We will begin with registration on Friday from 6 to 7 pm and conclude on Saturday at about 3:30 pm.  We will use the DVD-based study  "Uncommon" from Tony Dungy as our primary teaching material.
During the retreat, we will share in meals and fellowship, learn about living a high-impact, character-filled life for God, worship and praise God, and enjoy the beauty of one of our great camps.  If you need a little time away to recharge your life and to get started on the path to living with true significance, join us for this great retreat!!
Pastors - please display this poster at your church and encourage men to attend this retreat.  If you or someone from your church has any questions, there is contact information at the bottom of the poster.
Please RSVP to Pastor John Britt via e-mail by February 27th so SMC can plan for accommodations and food and so that we can prapare the correct supply of materials for the retreat.  Thank you!! - Pastor John Britt and Pastor Karl Kroger

Myth or Fact Workshop

This workshop is open to church treasurers and finance committee members as well as anyone interested in giving and stewardship. This workshop will be held at Mitchell First UMC on Feb. 11, 2017, from 9:00am through 1:00pm. Lunch is provided.

Please email the Foundation office or call (605) 990-7790 so we know how many to plan for lunch.

Sponsored by the Dakotas Council of Finance & Administration, Dakotas United Methodist Foundation, and Sioux Falls First United Methodist Church.

Annual Conference 2017 Update

Plans are underway for "Encounter the Spirit - LIVE Expectantly", the twenty-fourth session of the Dakotas Annual Conference, June 8-10, 2017, in Bismarck, ND. Special conference rates are available at several Bismarck hotels.

Book your hotel now, and look over the schedule for pre-conference workshops, luncheons, teaching sessions and more.

Rev. Junius B. Dotson, General Secretary of UMC Discipleship, will be our teaching speaker at Annual Conference 2017.

Click here for a printable list of all the hotel contact information, booking links, codes and walking maps.

Click here for a printable PDF file of the Annual Conference 2017 schedule.

Summer youth mission opportunity

Sioux Falls First UMC invites all youth grades 6-12 to a weeklong summer mission opportunity serving various agencies in Sioux Falls, S.D. Intentional Ministry Promoting Active Community Transformation (IMPACT) will take place June 18-23, 2017.  Registration is now open.

Contact Andrea Johnson at (605) 336-3652. 

Click here for more information from Sioux Falls First UMC.

DWU seeks development officer

Dakota Wesleyan University is seeking a highly motivated and dynamic individual to serve as a Development Officer for the Annual Fund.  For details, please click here.

If you are interested, please follow the instructions on the pamphlet or contact Kitty Allen at DWU.

Rabbi Wolicki to visit and lecture at DWU

Rabbi Pesach Wolicki is the Associate Director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation. He has spent the last 12 years as Dean of Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah, a post secondary academy of higher Torah learning. He is a widely respected in the world of Jewish.

education as an innovator. He is known for his engaging, enthusiastic, and interactive teaching style.

The events at DWU on March 15-16, 2017, will include: Youth Night, a 2017 Stark Lecture, and a pastor’s conference. Click here for full details.