Chris Wilterdink (WJ)

Baltimore-Washington Conference By Melissa Lauber In a ceremony spanning 1,862 miles and two time zones, on May 15, Rebecca Skalla was baptized in Highlands Ranch, Colo., and confirmed at Mt. Zion UMC in Highland, Md. Congregations at both locations watched via Skype. It was the United Methodist connection at its best, said the Rev. Malcolm Continue Reading...

As another round of Annual Conferences approaches, the events and offerings upcoming in 2011 begin to take center stage – and a very important focus is arising across the country: leadership training for young people. While this value seems universal across the UMC, putting the value in to practice looks very different across regions and Continue Reading...

The 2011 Young Adult Retreat for the Pacific Northwest Conference is coming up this weekend, April 8-10, 2011. As of current count, they are over 100 young adults and counting signed up for the weekend! Young Adult Ministry, specifically special events seem to be one of the tougher ministry areas for the UMC to engage Continue Reading...

The social media landscape allows us to share as much or as little information as we wish, including our contact information, names of family, important dates, even our location in real time! Young people often take the stance of ‘more is better’ in terms of information they share – choosing to filter very little of Continue Reading...

Every year at graduation time, our youth group interviews graduating seniors asking them for thoughts and reflections upon their time in youth group. While most of the responses are positive and uplifting, there are also comments that feel candid and make me revisit the dynamics of our youth group. The question: “What would you tell Continue Reading...

After attending the 2011 Do No Harm Event in Houston, I returned home to Denver with a bunch of best practices suggested by Pastors, District Supers, and Specialists regarding a church’s use of social media. I will  offer up some of the best practices shared at the various meetings during this event. First up, appropriate Continue Reading...

The numbers are in for Christmas 2010 – one of the year’s hottest sellers was Microsoft’s new Kinect addition to their X-Box system. What is Kinect? It is a wireless sensor bar that senses a person’s movement – effectively allowing a person to control the video game without the need for a controller. As many Continue Reading...

I recently attended The National Religious Institutions Roundtable hosted by the FaithTrust Institute. The purpose: to bring leadership from various religious institutions to share expertise and resources for addressing domestic violence issues. The United Methodist, American Baptist, Presbyterian USA, American Methodist Episcopal, United Church of Christ, and Roman Catholic Churches represented a wide breadth of Continue Reading...