Dear Friends,

As Hurricane Irene approaches each of you are being held up ion prayer. We are also working to keep our churches and church families as safe as possible. Please review the following materials and guidelines and keep us informed as to how we can help you at any time.

We will weather this storm together.

Grace and Peace,

Bobbie Rambach

Rev. Barbara Rambach

Raritan Valley District Superintendent

Office:908-464-4324

Cell: 908-309-0894  

Please check the conference website often at  www.gnjumc.org  for information regarding disaster response. You may also check with the Disaster Response Team website via e-mail at DisasterResponse@gnjumc.org.

• Bishop Devadhar has sent a letter through the Digest today that is also available on the conference and district website.
• Please be sure to follow directions of the state, county and municipal authorities.
• If your community is under an evacuation order, please do not try to conduct services on Sunday.
• If you are a pastor and you have problems or must leave home, call our office and let us know how you are, where you are, and how to contact you.  Take church records and keep them safe.
• Make sure your parsonage and church are secured and prepared (to the best of your ability) for flooding, power outages, high winds, or whatever else might be appropriate for your particular setting.
• Make sure that your congregation is prepared and is caring for one another - particularly those who are shut-in and sick at home.  It's suggested that you keep a membership list with phone numbers with you. 
•  It is important that we work in concert with authorities who have designated certain places as emergency shelters in our communities. Churches should NOT BE USED AS SHELTERS during the storm because they are not be covered under the Conference liability policy when the building is used in this manner.  Shelter should be provided only if the church has a PRE-EXISTING agreement with the American Red Cross or their local Office of Emergency Management in which case those organizations will provide the necessary secondary liability coverage.
• Let us know if there are needs within your congregation.  Let us know how we can help.
• Once the disaster is over, let us know how you and your congregation members can help those who become victims of the storm.

Here are the guidelines provided by the Conference.

The Greater New Jersey Annual Conference, prayerfully anticipates the landfall of Hurricane Irene the weekend of August 27th.    This website has been put up in advance to help all prepare.

Everyone is asked to:

•  Be in prayer for all who will be affected by this disaster
• Develop your own family's disaster plan
• Create an emergency kit (check Red Cross for suggested list and procedures)
• Determine a your primary and secondary rally points in the event of an evacuation.  Communicate this information to all of your family members.
• Provide security for important documents and electronic files
• Determine how will you communicate with others and have contact names and numbers available
• If you need  to evacuate, inform someone of where you are going and how to communicate with you
• If safe, assist in mitigation of damage
• Be safe, don't be a hero! Let the emergency personnel do their job.

• Local Clergy are asked to:

• Develop your own family's disaster plan
• Create an emergency kit (check Red Cross for suggested list and procedures)
• Determine a your primary and secondary rally points in the event of an evacuation.  Communicate this information to all of your family members.
• Provide security for important documents and electronic files
• If safe, assist in mitigation of damage
• Be safe, don't be a hero! Let the emergency personnel do their job.
• As possible, communicate with the membership. , especially those who are most vulnerable.  It is strongly suggested that you keep a complete membership list with you.
• If you are not properly trained, it may not be safe to offer assistance to others at this point. Your safety and that of your family comes first.
• Communicate the following information with your District Superintendent:
• How are you and how your family doing?  Are you evacuated?  Do you plan on evacuating?  If so where are you going and how will we be able to contact you?
•  How has the parsonage and church facilities/properties been prepared for this coming storm?

•  AFTER THE STORM-please call the District Office and let us know:

• how the church facilities and parsonages are
• if your church and people are able to serve
• Important things to Keep in Mind
• Do not collect any donations for this disaster, unless requested to do so or you know exactly who, what, where to give the collected items.  At this time, the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference is not collecting any items.  
• The Conference Disaster Response Committee strongly encourages the local churches within the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference NOT TO OPEN YOUR FACILITIES AS SHELTERS, unless you have pre-existing arrangements with the Red Cross, local Office of Emergency Management, etc.    
• To Those Who Have Been Affected by this Disaster
• For emergency needs please call 911.
• For non-emergency needs, within the state of NJ, please call 211
• For needs in which the Conference Disaster Response Committee might be able to help, please email: DisasterResponse@gnjumc.org
• A Word to our friends who would like to help  
• THANK YOU!  At this time we are preparing for this storm, 'hunkering down', and will then be assessing needs and abilities to respond.  Right now we do not know specifics of the type of help we will need.    Please watch this website for more information.  Most likely we will be in need of UMCOR trained Early Response Teams.  If you are a leader of an UMCOR trained ERT that might be able to respond please email: DisasterResponse@gnjumc.org.

Important things to Keep in Mind

Do not collect any donations for this disaster, unless requested to do so or you know exactly who, what, where to give the collected items.  At this time, the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference is not collecting any items.

The Conference Disaster Response Committee strongly encourages the local churches within the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference NOT TO OPEN YOUR FACILITIES AS SHELTERS, unless you have pre-existing arrangements with the Red Cross, local Office of Emergency Management, etc.

To Those Who Have Been Affected by this Disaster

For emergency needs please call 911.

For non-emergency needs, within the state of NJ, please call 211

For needs in which the Conference Disaster Response Committee might be able to help, please email: DisasterResponse@gnjumc.org 

A Word to our friends who would like to help

THANK YOU!  At this time we are preparing for this storm, 'hunkering down', and will then be assessing needs and abilities to respond.  Right now we do not know specifics of the type of help we will need.    Please watch this website for more information.  Most likely we will be in need of UMCOR trained Early Response Teams.  If you are a leader of an UMCOR trained ERT that might be able to respond please email: DisasterResponse@gnjumc.org.

Songfest 2011 Is Coming!

Do you like to sing? Do you like to hear and participate in the great songs of the Christian Church, new and old? Then the Bishop's Songfest is for you!  

A great festival of Christian music will be held in Ocean Grove's Great Auditorium on Sunday afternoon, September 18th, at 4:00 PM. Hymn singing, music of praise, a gospel choir, and the Songfest Choir under the direction of Dr. Tony Godlefski will all be celebrating in song. We'll cap the afternoon with a rousing rendition of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, and everyone who wants to sing this glorious piece will be invited onto the stage of the Great Auditorium to perform it. Please mark your calendar, and come join our Bishop and the entire GNJAC leadership team as we praise the Lord in song and celebration!

The Songfest Choir

Choral singers, your attention, please! The Songfest Choir will be singing three anthems that afternoon (in addition to the Hallelujah Chorus):

        · Ralph Vaughn Williams: "O How Amiable";

        · Joseph Martin: "Jesus Is My Song of Grace"; and

        · Phillip Kern: "Behold That Star".

If your choir wishes to participate, please call Songfest Producer Rev. Rich Hendrickson to receive your copies of the music. The conference will be providing music, so if your choir participates, you'll be set with three anthems for your church's upcoming singing season! (Individual singers will be able to receive music at the rehearsals.) All other participating choirs are asked to please participate in the Songfest Choir as well.

There will be Songfest Choir rehearsals on September 10th and 17th at 10 AM at Montgomery United Methodist Church, 117 Sunset Road, Belle Mead, NJ 08502. Also, a dress rehearsal for the Songfest Choir will take place at 3:00 PM on September 18th.   Please watch this space for further rehearsal details.

Please contact Songfest Musical Director, Rev. Tony Godlefski, with thoughts or questions: PastorTony@MontgomeryUMC.org.  

Let's sing!

You are invited to participate in the celebration of shared Eucharist with our Brothers and Sisters of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on     Saturday, October 9, 2010 at the East Calvary Korean United Methodist Church of East Brunswick, NJ. 

The day will begin with worship at 10AM. In the afternoon, there will be break-out sessions at the Calvary and Aldersgate Churches. The day will conclude at 3 PM. Bishop E. Roy Riley of the NJ Synod of the ELCA and Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar of the Greater NJ Annual Conference of the UMC will celebrate at the Table.

Please read Bishop Devadhar's letter below.

Disciple 1 Online will be offered by Rev. Lin Smallwood, Sergeantsville UMC, on Sunday afternoons at 4 PM, EDT. The class will begin on Sunday, September 12th and will meet weekly at that time for one-and-a-half hours. The class is open to anyone with access to the Internet!

To register for the course, go to the following website and follow the directions for registration:http://beadisciple.com/discipleonlinecourses/

For more information call Rev. Lin Smallwood, 908-303-1891 or Sergeantsville United Methodist Church at 609-397-2333 or e-mail <lin.smallwood(at)gmail.com>

More information is also available at: http://beadisciple.com

The Conference Board of Pensions and Health Benefits has announced the dates for the annual Pre-retirement and Financial Security Seminars.

March 4, 2010-Pre-Retirement Seminar from 9:15AM - 2:30PM. This seminar focuses on those pastors that are planning for retirement in the next five years. This session will also feature a speaker from the Social Security Administration on Social Security and Medicare.

March 5, 2010- Financial Security Seminar from 9:15AM to 1:00PM - This seminar is designed to assist clergy who are more than five years from retirement. It focuses on financial planning for future needs.

Both seminars will be held at the Saint Mark United Methodist Church, at 465 Paxson Avenue, Hamilton Square, NJ.  Further questions may be directed to Alexa Taylor, Conference Pensions Coordinator at 732-359-1038.  Registration forms and directions may be downloaded from the GNJ website under Finance & Admin/Pension & Retirement/Clergy Retirement Seminars.