Total continues to rise: AC has now raised $178,921 for Sudan
The 906 churches of the Holston Annual Conference have now raised $178,921
for its partnership mission in southern Sudan and $60,011 for
children’s ministry, for a total $238,933 in record-breaking offerings
during the 2008 annual conference session.
The Sudan offering exceeded a $125,000 goal to build a school and
clinic, while the "Change for the Children" offering was the
conference's highest ever, topping the 2007 Change for Children
offering by $10,000. In addition, the United Methodist churches of east
Tennessee, southwest Virginia, and north Georgia sent 7,200 supply kits
to Liberia and Zimbabwe, surpassing the 2007 total of 6,300.
The conference theme was "Offer Them Christ," and members were urged to
return to their Wesleyan roots and preach the gospel to break a long
cycle of declining membership. Each of the 1,107 clergy and 892 lay
members received the book, Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of
Living, by United Methodist Bishop Rueben P. Job. Three worship
services centered on the three rules, with sermons titled "Do No Harm"
and "Do Good" presented by guest Bishop Larry Goodpaster of the
Alabama-West Florida Conference. Bishop James E. Swanson Sr., resident
bishop and presiding bishop, delivered the sending forth message, "Stay
in Love With
God."
Read the complete UMNS wrap-up report
