News

There are changes afoot! If you remember the ethics policy changes from the 2022 Annual Conference, you’ll know that you will have three requirements, which are just a bit different from the past: Disclosure Form This is now a biennial rather than annual form, and will include a statement asking you to affirm that you have read the Sexual Ethics Policy for Clergy and Lay Pastoral Leaders in the previous two weeks. It will be due in May. Background check This will happen biennially, in May. ...

Submitted by Debbie Mallis Each year at the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference Session, in among the budgets, appointments, reports, and celebrations are conference legislation items. Many of these actions and standing resolutions are intended to live out the values of The United Methodist Church as it exists in the Oregon-Idaho context. This article is one in a series to highlight legislative items related to social justice and values.   Last year, members of our Annual Conference voted to pass ...

Submitted by Greg Nelson with the Oregon-Idaho chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action Each year at the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference Session, among the budgets, appointments, reports, and celebrations are conference legislative items. Many of these actions and standing resolutions are intended to help us live out the values of The United Methodist Church as it exists in the Oregon-Idaho context. This article is one in a series to highlight legislative items related to social ...

by Emilie Kroen and Rev. Karen Nelson Perhaps you are among the lucky in the United States and you have a good health insurance plan. Many people in the United States have inadequate health insurance or none at all. What happens when someone without health insurance gets sick? You know the story – you may be the story. Life doesn’t have to be that way in this country. It is possible to have Health Care for All – and our faith calls us to advocate for the right to health care for all people. It ...

Portland Area Youth Workers will be hosting a regional youth event on Sunday October 9th. Live Action Clue is a fun event where youth participants become detectives and try to solve a mystery, interviewing the six suspects from the popular board game. It's a wild and fun race to the finish and there are prizes for the winners. This is the first time our area youth will come together in person since 2019 and we can't wait to restart this yearly tradition! The event is at Salmon Creek United ...

Clergy and lay-persons assigned to the local church: Are you carrying too much in this season? Struggling to balance caring for your community, church, family, and self? Trying to find your way in the new normal? You are not alone and this workshop is for you. Three clergy coaches share simple practices to ease the burden and give time to go deeper and gain support. If you are longing for a deeper transformation, you'll have the opportunity to engage the topic of overwhelm in ongoing coaching....

We’re celebrating Alaska Conference Special Sunday this Sunday, September 19th, or you can celebrate on the Sunday of your choosing this fall. Churches across the Greater Northwest Area are encouraged to think about honoring Alaska Special Sunday in ways that mirror what is being done in the Alaska Conference this year. Our focus this year will be on the statement of values agreed on at Alaska Annual Conference to guide the transition into a Mission District:  We acknowledge that the ...

Shauna Signorini, resilience and trauma educator. .     After the first year of dealing with COVID-19, many are eyeing the opportunity to climb out from under this cloud. As that happens, there is a growing awareness that the impact this pandemic has had on our lives – individually and collectively – is going to be with us for much longer than is currently known. To address the needs of staff who have suffered varying degrees of trauma, and to prepare us all for working with others, ...

Get your hands on a paperback copy of the 2019 Conference Journal by ordering your own print-on-demand copy. The 2019 Journal is available for purchase, at a discounted rate, through Lulu.com (linked here in the text). The Oregon-Idaho Conference journal features details on church structure, legislation, finances, history as well as clergy, laity and institutional directories. Please contact your District Administrative Assistants if you're having any trouble accessing and ordering your copy ...

On or near the 2nd Sunday of September, churches around the Greater Northwest Episcopal Area will have a Special Sunday Offering to Support the Ministries of the Alaska Conference. The Alaska Conference is comprised of 28+ churches and ministries spread across more than 600,000 square miles of the Last Frontier. There are urban, rural, and remote ministry locations, each offering great opportunities for spreading the Good News. These include locations such as: Nome, where the Nome Community ...