"God provides for us the Holy Spirit to sustain us. The Holy Spirit reminds and teaches us about the continued life-giving spirit of Jesus." Rev. Bob Ruedebusch  

Rev. Bob Ruedebusch serves as the senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota,  and will begin serving as the Southwest District Superintendent for the Dakotas Conference on July 1, 2020. Read a pastoral message here. Read more about Rev. Ruedebusch's ministry here. 

Pray with us | April 7-13 
    Lord you bring us the hope and the promise of Easter. We lift all those that gather in your name in prayer, we especially lift up these leaders this week. 

Telling the old story, in a new time: Best practices for worshiping online and beyond in a physically distanced world: View a recording of the webinar hosted by Jason Moore, Midnight Oil Productions, about how to face  unique challenges to ministry when it is not possible to gather in-person. 

April 12 | Easter will not be canceled: Join us for a message of hope this Easter: Celebrate the resurrection, in the United Methodist tradition, and watch a televised broadcast of Easter worship. Local congregations are encouraged to hold virtual worship  gatherings as planned. Consider inviting someone, who may not have a way to attend a virtual worship service, to view the broadcast. Get the details here. 

Builders Club | Spring Call for Legacy South and Celebrate Grace 
    Builders Club supports the building projects of four churches each year through the donations of hundreds of people across the Dakotas Conference. The goal of Builders Club is to assist churches in need of financial support for their building, remodel, or expansion projects. By providing support for the building projects of churches, it allows them to grow current or begin new ministries. This spring individuals and congregations are called to support Legacy South UMC and Celebrate Grace UMC.  Join | Donate online 

Online worship directory | details here
     Many churches across North and South Dakota are holding virtual worship. View a list of online services here. If your congregation is offering a broadcast, recording, or live option for worship and it is not listed, or if the information listed is incorrect, please email the information here. We will continue to update the list. 
  
COVID-19 | Resources and updates
       There are a lot of resources out there. We have compiled resources here.  If you have coronavirus-related questions for us, or things you'd like us to address please email or phone the Dakotas Conference communication team.

Annual Conference 2020 | Registration suspended until May 1
     As we deal with COVID-19, registration for the 2020 Annual Conference, to be held June 10-13, 2020, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has been suspended until May 1, 2020. The Dakotas Conference leadership will continue to monitor the situation and will announce any changes on or before May 1, 2020.

General Conference 2020  | Postponed
     General Conference 2020 has been postponed until 2021. The Commission on General Conference is working on dates with the Minneapolis Convention Center. View the press release here. 

Non Profit Church Leadership Certificate Program | Applications due May 15
     Applications are being accepted for the 2020-2021 cohort of this program at Dakota Wesleyan University. The application deadline has been moved to May 15, apply here.

North Central Jurisdictional Conference | Posponed
     The North Central Jurisdiction Conference, scheduled for July 15-18, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been posponed.  Read the announcement about the postponement here.