Mississippi Conference of The United Methodist Church
TheCircuitRider Monthly Newsletter
Join the Movement! The Pray Mississippi Movement is an initiative to foster the
Pray
MISSISSIPPI
spiritual discipline of prayer across the Mississippi Conference. This prayer movement will permeate all the ways in which the conference works to strengthen and grow the kingdom of God. One of the main Pray Mississippi events coming up that clergy and laity are encouraged to attend will be a prayer tour with Bishop Sharma D. Lewis and Rev. Dr. Terry Tekyl in September. This week-long tour will include seven stops across Mississippi where both Lewis and Tekyl will meet with clergy and laity and teach about prayer from Tekyl’s book, “Chronicles of Prayer: Praying in Jesus Name for 21 Centuries.” For tour details and more information on the Pray Mississippi Movement, visit www.mississippi-umc.org/PrayMississippi.
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ICE Raids, Five Years of UM Generosity Jasmine Haynes, Communications Specialist
Executive Team Charts Future of Conference Disaster Response
Conference disaster response executive team review disaster plan.
Matthew Johnson, Connectional Ministries and Communications Assistant
Last month, the disaster response executive team met at the conference office in Jackson to revamp the Mississippi Conference’s disaster plan. The team’s goal was to develop a disaster plan that would be informational and easy to follow. As disasters increase in frequency and destruction a new plan will allow the Mississippi Conference to be prepared to lead an effective and coordinated recovery effort for brothers and sisters in Christ who have survived disasters. Read More
IN THIS ISSUE:
Episcopacy Updates page 2 | Communications Training page 2 | 2024 AC Wrap Up page 3 | Clergywomen’s Retreat page 3 | Treasurer’s Notes page 3 | Save the Dates page 4 | Cares and Concerns page 4
August 2024
It’s five years later and news cameras have long left the communities across Mississippi that experienced the largest single-state immigration enforcement action in U.S. history. However, the impact of that day lingers on in the families affected by the raids. On August 7, 2019, Immigration and Customs Enforcements agents—more commonly known as ICE—arrested approximately 680 people and left many school children facing a sudden and traumatic separation from their families not knowing when they would see them again. News of the story spread nationally and internationally and where trauma and fear abound, grace and generosity also abound. Click here to read about the closing of a chapter in long-term recovery efforts here in Mississippi.