Featured at www.kswestumc.org:

Still time to give your opinion
The deadline to give your opinion on the effectiveness of the Back to School advertising campaign has been extended to Oct. 24. Church pastors, lay leaders and other church representatives are encouraged to take the survey, which asks simple questions on attendance figures and similar information.

Participation in the survey helps ensure continued matching-grant funding for the Kansas West Conference.

The survey is available at http://www.kswestumc.org/surveys/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=l8KM582.

Churches sought for ABIDE program
Kansas Area leaders are seeking the next class of small-membership church Incubator participants.

Twelve churches will be selected to send the pastor and a lay team to a ABIDE series of retreats beginning Feb. 26-27 at Cross Winds Conference Center in Hesston. Follow-up retreats will be March 27 and April 24, also in Hesston.

Congregations that participated in the first ABIDE class are seeing results. New Hope UMC in Topeka has nearly doubled worship attendance. Blue Mound UMC has increased worship attendance by 40 percent. Many congregations are seeing increased outreach in their communities.

Find out more at http://www.kswestumc.org/news_detail.asp?pkvalue=676.

Participate in ‘Leadership and Faith Transforming Communities’
“Leadership and Faith Transforming Communities” is a program that connects the United Methodist philosophy of “doing all the good you can” with great leadership practices and a desire to tackle a local community health issue. This initiative is a joint effort between the United Methodist Church, the Kansas Health Foundation and the Kansas Leadership Center.

Teams of four to seven people from local churches across Kansas will participate in leadership training and take a leadership role in community health issues. The church teams will work closely with the Kansas Leadership Center for six months of training and facilitation. This program is offered at no cost to participating churches.

The next session will begin Jan. 10 in Topeka. The application deadline is Nov. 1.

To participate, download a Leadership and Faith Transforming Communities application at http://www.kswestumc.org/form_detail.asp?pkvalue=463.

For more information about participation in this initiative, contact Sue Dondlinger at sdondlinger@kansasleadershipcenter.org or 316-712 4959.

Local church-history workshop, Nov. 14
A local church-history workshop will be Nov. 14 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at First UMC in Newton. Workshops will include “Archives 101,” “Celebrating Anniversaries,” “Writing a Church History” and “Starting Local Church Archives.”

The cost is $25 per person. The registration deadline is Nov. 6.

Find out more at www.kswestumc.org/event_detail.asp?PKValue=3251.

New The Parish Paper issues available
The November and December issues of The Parish Paper have been posted on the conference Web site.

The Kansas West Conference’s purchase of a subscription to The Parish Paper includes:

Permission to provide copies to the congregations within the conference in any of the following ways: e-mail, postal, newspaper, newsletter, meetings, training events and Web site.

Permission for each congregation within the conference to:

Photocopy or electronically distribute for local use as many copies as it needs
Post them on its Web site
Quote sentences and paragraphs

The new issues are available from the e-newsletter archive at www.kswestumc.org/newsletter_find.asp.

Featured at other sites:

United Methodist legislators disagree on reform details
As the debate over reforming the U.S. health care system rages in Washington, the 53 United Methodists who are members of Congress are listening to their constituents and deciding the best path to follow. But their feelings about the various reform proposals in both the House and Senate tend to echo the positions of their particular political party.

All think some reform is needed, but how to make it happen is the issue.

Find out more at http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=2072519&ct=7569473.

Advice columnist stands on her faith
Amy Dickinson, the columnist chosen to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Ann Landers, has been blessed with many “incidents”—good and bad—in her life. From suddenly becoming a single mother to suddenly becoming a grandmother, from homemaker to syndicated advice columnist, Dickinson has handled life’s ups and downs with wit and grace.

She credits her faith, family and a foundation in the United Methodist Church for getting her through.

Read more at http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=5259669&ct=7560425.

‘God, Earth, and Us’ online workshop, Oct. 26
“God, Earth, and Us: Faithful Responses to Environmental Challenges” is an online course focusing on the relationship between humans and the rest of creation. As our world faces unprecedented environmental challenges, people of faith must reflect on and respond to the Christian call to faithful stewardship.

The workshop will include:

• An easy-to-understand introduction to climate change and sustainability
• Reflection on the relationship between God, people, and the earth in the Bible and in the Christian tradition
• Space for theological reflection on faithful responses to environmental issues
• Strategies for developing a greening group
• Resources for further study, reflection and action

The workshop is offered Oct. 26 to Nov. 6.

More information and enrollment is available at http://beadisciple.com/workshops.html#Creation.

‘Small Church Leadership Institute,’ Nov. 15-19
Register now for four days of networking and learning from some of the best teachers and leaders from small church congregations at “Small Church Leadership Institute” Nov. 15-19 at Mount Sequoyah in Fayetteville, Ark.

The Kansas Area Revitalization Task Force is encouraging participation by offering three $250 scholarships to interested participants from the Kansas East Conference and three to people from the Kansas West Conference.

Kansas West members desiring a scholarship should contact Linda Louderback at llouderback@kswestumc.org. Scholarships will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Registration is $199 per person—save $10 by registering before Oct. 31—and includes program materials and meals.

On Nov. 19-21, district superintendents will be offered 48 hours with Dr. Gil Rendle in conversation about “The Small Attendance Church.”

For more information and online registration, go to http://www.mountsequoyah.org/www.mountsequoyah.org/Programs_Training.html or call 800-760-8126.