Western NC Conference, United Methodist Church

Western NC Conference, United Methodist Church Providing resources to help make vital churches in ministry for the transformation of the world.

🇺🇸 Happy Labor Day from the Western North Carolina Conference!Today we pause to give thanks for the work of our hands an...
09/07/2026

🇺🇸 Happy Labor Day from the Western North Carolina Conference!

Today we pause to give thanks for the work of our hands and hearts — and for all whose labor sustains our communities, our churches, and one another. May this day bring rest to those who carry heavy loads. 🙌

Our Conference offices are closed today in observance of the holiday and will reopen Tuesday at 8:00 a.m.

Wishing you a restful day with the people you love. 💙

Some people carry pain that others may never see. 💙Trauma can shape individuals, families, and even our experience of ch...
09/06/2026

Some people carry pain that others may never see. 💙

Trauma can shape individuals, families, and even our experience of church — but faith communities can also be places of compassion, understanding, and renewed hope.

Join Matthews United Methodist Church on Sunday, October 25 at 12:00 p.m. for Recognizing and Resisting Trauma as a Faith Community, a workshop on healing from religious and spiritual abuse with Hannah Sutton-Adams, Ph.D. — chaplain, educator, and researcher in religious trauma and spiritual care. Light refreshments will be served. 🕊️

Offered as part of our ongoing work toward becoming a Healing Centered Church, an initiative of Bishop Carter.

Learn more: https://onrealm.org/matthewsumc/PublicRegistrations/Event?linkString=NzIxMzY5ODQtMGQzMC00NjRjLTkyOGItYjQ4MTAxMWEzZTQ2

🍅 One "yes" changed everything.When 12-year-old Camden came to a yard sale at Messiah UMC in Lincolnton, he noticed the ...
09/06/2026

🍅 One "yes" changed everything.

When 12-year-old Camden came to a yard sale at Messiah UMC in Lincolnton, he noticed the church's empty garden plots and asked if he could plant vegetables there. Church member Janet Reep Morgan said yes — and the long-overgrown "Deeper Down Garden" came back to life.

Camden cleared and tilled the plots himself, and now grows cucumbers, watermelons, tomatoes, zucchini, pumpkins, asparagus and peppers. He mows around them, too — worried the lawn service would "mow over my maters!" 🌱

Messiah UMC isn't his home church, but they've given his family friendship and mentorship. Next year? Onions, berry bushes, and "an apple tree." 🍎

"Worship is taking what you believe, where you feel led, and being the hands and feet of Jesus — whether it is in an overgrown garden, in a patch of wildflowers, or in a sanctuary." — Janet Reep Morgan

Read the full story from Nancy Keziah, Creation Care WNCC 🔗 https://www.wnccumc.org/newsdetail/19971035

🌱 How do we love boldly in a time of climate change?Join a four-week online book study from the Creation Care WNCC Minis...
09/05/2026

🌱 How do we love boldly in a time of climate change?

Join a four-week online book study from the Creation Care WNCC Ministry, led by Rev. Jonathan Brake, as we read Love in a Time of Climate Change by Rev. Sharon Delgado. Grounded in Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience, we'll explore what it means to honor creation and seek justice — with hope, not despair. 🌎

📅 Tuesdays, Sept. 22 & 29 and Oct. 6 & 13
🕚 11:00 AM or 6:30 PM ET — one registration covers both, so you can switch times any week
📖 A few books available for $25 while they last — email [email protected]

Register at the link! 🔗 https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/fhPYj-UyTmimoWCLtZPJcw #/registration

🌱 Our calling is still unfolding.Join pastors, lay leaders, and ministry partners this October for the 2026 Convocation ...
09/05/2026

🌱 Our calling is still unfolding.

Join pastors, lay leaders, and ministry partners this October for the 2026 Convocation & Pastors' School at Duke Divinity School. Through worship, workshops, and inspiring speakers, we'll explore how God is calling the Church to lead, serve, and grow together.

🗓️ October 12–13
📍 Duke Divinity School

Register through
https://www.wnccumc.org/newsdetail/19909659

📚 One of our churches is in The Duke Endowment's 2025 Annual Report!Central United Methodist Church in Albemarle is feat...
09/04/2026

📚 One of our churches is in The Duke Endowment's 2025 Annual Report!

Central United Methodist Church in Albemarle is featured for its Book Buddies Literacy Camp — four weeks each summer helping rising first-graders build reading skills in small groups. New evaluation data shows camp students gaining one to two months of additional learning compared to peers who didn't attend.

"You really can focus on the kids that have gaps." — Rev. Caitlin McAlhany Herlocker, site director

Congratulations to the whole Central UMC team. This is what it looks like when a congregation opens its doors to its neighborhood. 🙌

Read the full story: https://2025-annualreport.dukeendowment.org/grantee-features/rural-church

💜 No clergyperson should have to choose between paying down debt and taking care of their family.That's why the United M...
09/04/2026

💜 No clergyperson should have to choose between paying down debt and taking care of their family.

That's why the United Methodist Foundation of Western North Carolina and its partners created the Clergy Debt Reduction Loan Program. Since 2016, the program has processed more than $6.1 million in collective debt.

📉 And that 1.5% interest rate is hard to beat:

Clergy Debt Reduction Loan — 1.5%
Federal student loans — 6.52%–8.07%
Average credit card — 19.56%

🗓️ Apply by Oct. 5, 2026. The Foundation will notify you about approval and terms by Oct. 22.

Ready for a little more breathing room? Apply below 👇
https://www.umfwnc.org/individuals/clergy-debt-reduction-loan-program/

🌡️ DANGER: Heat wave ahead.Extreme heat is one of the deadliest weather threats we face — and high temperatures are head...
09/03/2026

🌡️ DANGER: Heat wave ahead.

Extreme heat is one of the deadliest weather threats we face — and high temperatures are headed our way over the next few days. It's a risk to our own health, and an even greater one for our neighbors: older adults, young children, people who work outdoors, and anyone without reliable air conditioning.

So what can our churches do?

☀️ Check on the neighbors most at risk
💧 Share cold water and a cool place to rest
📋 Know the warning signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke
🏛️ Consider opening your building as a cooling location

WNCC Disaster Ministries has practical guidance for before and during high heat days — including risks to watch for and guidelines for churches serving as cooling locations.

🔗 wnccumc.org/disaster-respond

🌍 Faith, Methodist history, and migration — where do they meet?Join us for a conversation with Dr. Philip Wingeier-Rayo,...
09/03/2026

🌍 Faith, Methodist history, and migration — where do they meet?

Join us for a conversation with Dr. Philip Wingeier-Rayo, Executive Director of Education at GBHEM and a leading scholar of World Christianity and Methodist heritage. He's taught at Pfeiffer, Perkins, Austin Presbyterian, and Wesley — and he has WNCC roots: his wife, the Rev. Diana Wingeier-Rayo, serves Hinshaw UMC in Greensboro.

📅 Sunday, September 13 at 3 p.m.
💻 On Zoom

Gather your small group, Sunday school class, or church family for a watch party — or join from wherever you are. This one's not to be missed. ✨

🔗 Learn more & get Zoom link: https://www.wnccumc.org/newsdetail/19972755

✈️ A phone call in an airport terminal changed how Rev. Dr. Sam Burleson thinks about the future of the church.At this y...
09/02/2026

✈️ A phone call in an airport terminal changed how Rev. Dr. Sam Burleson thinks about the future of the church.

At this year's School of Congregational Development, he spent four days wrestling with the landscape ahead of us: AI, cultural disruption, shifting economies — and the question of how the church is called to care in a world becoming increasingly artificial and downloadable.

Then, waiting on his flight home, he got a call from a staff member trying to reach her incarcerated brother in Houston. The pastor sitting beside him said, "I think I know someone there." Within twenty-four hours, one relationship opened another, and someone showed up. 🙌

💬 "Technology will change. Economies will change… But we are not entering this future empty-handed. We are connected and we are stronger in our connection."

🔗 Read the full reflection: https://www.wnccumc.org/newsdetail/connection-in-the-age-of-ai-reflections-from-school-of-congregational-development-2026-19975874

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13924 Professional Center Drive, Ste 200
Huntersville, NC
28078

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 4:30pm

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