THIS WEEK

Pray with us | February 2-8
    Lord, give us strength in our weakness. Give us faith in our fear. Give us power in our powerless. We are trusting you. We pray for all of God's people, but especially these persons. 

In our heart | Rev. Junius Dotson
    Junius Dotson, executive secretary for the Discipleship Ministries, announced that he has stage four pancreatic cancer that is inoperable. He plans to work as long as he can and intends to fight the cancer and beat it. Please keep him, his family, Discipleship Ministries staff, and The Upper Room Ministries staff in your prayers.  Read more

Soul Fill-up | Wednesdays 8 a.m. Mountain Time, 9 a.m. Central Time
     Soul Fill-up is a mid-week time for church leaders to slow down. Let us pour into your soul and refill your cup during guided scripture reading, prayer, and meditation led by the spiritual directors of the Higher Ground program. There is nothing to do or prepare—just set this 30-40 minutes aside for yourself and join us! Click here to join, Wednesdays at 9:00 a.m. Central Time, 8:00 a.m. Mountain Time.

2021 Camping season | Register now
    Registration for the 2021 camping season is open at dakcamps.org. All registration and information for the 2021 camping season will be digital. There will be no printed camping brochure. You will also notice adjustments to the cancelation policy, but the incentives for campers and camperships are still in place.

COMING UP

Financial Foundations webinar | February 8, 7 p.m. Central Time
    The topic for this quarterly webinar is, " Assessing your Church’s Financial Health." Most churches don’t really know how well they’re doing, and this tends to fill their leaders with a sense of fear and doubt. After years of working with churches and talking with leaders, we’ve put together some tests to assess your church’s financial health to give you the confidence of knowing. Sheri Meister and Jeff Pospisil will share these assessments with you, as well as give you some next steps depending on your church’s financial health.

Breaking through Gridlock |  Conflict resolution workshop
    Did you miss the first session on January 14? Join us to catch the second sesssion on February 11 Whether you want to change the world in big ways, or just be able to have deeper relationships with people who don’t think like you, conversation is the key. And yet, especially these days, conversations quickly get stuck—entrenched into our own small worldviews, assured we are right in our thinking. Breaking Through Gridlock: The Power of Conversation in a Polarized World, is a four-session workshop, led by Mary Kay Duchene from LeaderWise. All Dakotas Conference clergy are strongly encouraged to attend virtually on February 11, March 11 and April 8, 2021 at 11:00 a.m.—1:30 p.m., Central Time, 10:00 a.m. —12:30 p.m., Mountain Time. Register here

Surprise the World | 2021 Lenten book study
    This Lent (February 17-April 4, 2021), Bishop Haller and Cabinet invite all Dakotas United Methodists to join an all-conference Lenten book study. Beginning on Feb. 10, 2021, each week in the Monday @ Dakotas e-newsletter, we will post a new video introducing these practices, based on Michael Frost’s book Surprise the World: Five Habits of Highly Missional People. We will post a weekly video with a message from our district superintendents lifting up one of the habits of people who surprise the world, based on Michael Frost’s book, Surprise the World!  Bishop Haller will provide encouragement and inspiration for our Lenten journey with a special video for Ash Wednesday. We encourage you to get the book for your own study (Cokesbury.com or Amazon) and form small groups in your church. Videos will be posted here for congregations or individuals to download or view. Small group study guides are posted here so churches can access them at any time. If you are looking for additional resources to supplement these, you can find more here. Are you hosting an online study group and would be willing to invite others? Please send us the information so we can share it with others. Send information to this e-mail. 

2020 Statistics | Due February 28 
     The Statistical Tables  provide meaningful information regarding the health of a local church. These tables are completed annually by February 28th and are reported on our website and in the Journal. Call 605-990-7004 or email statistician@dakotasumc.org if you would like further information. 

Elisha Intership | Apply by March 1, 2021
     Are you a college student interested in vocational ministry?  The Elisha Project is an internship program that allows the opportunity for students to explore, discern their cal, and discuss with mentors and peers, where God is calling them.  Students who have completed at least one year of college, completed the application process, and selected by the Elisha committee will be assigned to a church and mentor.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESOURCES

Ash Wednesday during a pandemic |  Access creative ideas
     Ash Wednesday (which falls on February 17 this year) is the official beginning of the season of Lent. Typically, Christians gather on this day in a service of penitence and reflection during which they impose ashes on each other’s foreheads in the shape of the Cross. As with most services done in the shadow of the pandemic, Ash Wednesday participants will need to adapt to keep safe and avoid spreading the virus. Here are 10 more ideas, that could be adapted, during the pandemic.

DakYouth | 2021 activities
  The Dakotas Conference Council on Youth Ministries is happy to announce in-person events for 2021 including Youth Worker Academy in April 23-25, 2021,  at Storm Mountain; Leadership Training Camp, July 23-30, 2021, at Lake Poinsett; and DakYouth 2021, November 12-14, 2021, at Aberdeen.  Apply to become a member of CCYM, the team that plans and leads all of the DakYouth activiies! Applications are due May 2021. There are three parts to the application.  1) The application can be completed online here. 2) Each application needs to have recommendations for the applicant details here. 3) Recorded video interviews are due by May 31, 2021; details here.

South Dakota Bread for the World encourages support of Senate Bill 104 | access resources 
    South Dakota’s grocery tax is making hungry households hungrier. The tax on even $100 of food could have bought milk and bread or fruits for children. Senate Bill 104 would phase out the state’s portion of the grocery tax in small steps over five years.  Bread for the World—South Dakota urges you to ask state legislators to support SB104. To find them: sdlegislature.gov/Legislators

Both/And with Jason Moore |  3 strategies for hybrid worship
    Jason Moore recently presented a two-hour webinar with more than 100 participants titled, “Both / And: Maximizing Hybrid Worship Experiences for Online and In-Person Audiences.” “Online worship has allowed us to reach people that would have never walked into our church doors,” says Moore. He presented three strategies or approaches to providing worship experiences in-person and online: Pre-Both / And Worship, Real-time Both / And Worship, and Post-Both / And Worship. Here is a little more about each of them. Read a summary or get the link to view the webinar here.