MESSENGER. United Methodist Women Santa Barbara District FAITH HOPE LOVE IN ACTION Vol XXXII No. 17 Fall October 23, 2015

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1 MESSENGER United Methodist Women Santa Barbara District FAITH HOPE LOVE IN ACTION Vol XXXII No. 17 Fall 2015 Mark Your Calendar! Table of Contents Mark Your Calendar 1 Where Do I Find 2 Subscription District President 3 Vice-President 4 Treasurer Annual Meeting & Celebration 5 Registration for Annual Mtg. 6 Quiet Disciple Form 7 Cal-Pac UMW Celebration 8 Candle of Commitment 9 2b 4b 2016 Budget 10 Western Jurisdiction UMW Quadrennial Meeting Leadership Team Social Action 16 Focus Speaker Spiritual Growth Program Resources Mission Study Topics 17a 17b 18a 18b Committee on Nominations 19 Ageing Conference 19b Gifts & Graces Form Membership 22 Mission Today Unit Form Reach Every Mother & Child 25 September 26, 2015, 8:30 am 1:00 pm (Pages 5-7) SB District UMW Annual Meeting & Celebration Camarillo UMC, Camarillo October 23, 2015 D LTE (by Invitation) Holliston UMC, Pasadena October 24, 2015 (Pages 8-9) CAL-PAC UMW Annual Celebration Holliston UMC, Pasadena November 6-7, 2015 District Executive Team Retreat tba December 15, 2015 Reading Program Lists are due to Barbara Williams, Acting Program Resource Coordinator Financial reporting due to Rachel Stones, SB District Treasurer Mission Today Unit Report due to LoWaine Robison, District President (Pages 23-24) January 9, 2016 North District Executive Team Meeting 9:30 a.m., St. Marks UMC, Santa Barbara Brown Bag Lunch, End of Year Reports Due Local Leadership Training (LLT), 2016 January 23 February 6 TBA TBA (For the 1026 LLT, there may be only one training. Please see the CON report on page 19 for explanation.) January 31, 2016 Local Unit Membership Report Due (Page 22) April 22-24, 2016 (Pages 11-13) A Fresh Wind Blowing

2 Where Do I Find UMW Official Website: UMWOnline Website: UMW Facebook Website: UMW Twitter Website: UMW YouTube Website: UMW Flickr Website: Response Magazine: New World Outlook Magazine: California-Pacific Conference United Methodist Church Website: California-Pacific Conference United Methodist Women: themessenger Pacific Waves Published four times a year themessenger and Pacific Waves are newsletters for the Santa Barbara District UMW and the Cal-Pac UMW respectively. Both are free with an subscription. your name, telephone number, church and district to umwmessenger@gmail.com for themessenger and jtowns0530@aol.com for Pacific Waves. Cost for a mailed subscription is $15.00 each. For themessenger make the check payable to Santa Barbara District UMW and send to the District Treasurer: Rachel Stones, P.O. Box 6055, Los Osos, CA For Pacific Waves make the check payable to Cal-Pac UMW and send to the Conference Treasurer: Eutha Hankinson, 9659 Via Torino, Burbank, CA For a mailed subscription please include to following information: Please print all information: Name: Address: City: State Zip+4 Phone: Church: District: Amount Enclosed: $ Check# Date Received by Treasurer: Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 2

3 Dear Sisters in Christ, We have much to celebrate. Mission u was a phenomenal experience. There was worship, laughter, celebration, love, and, most of all, learning. Friday evening kicked off with a bang and that energy continued full steam-ahead through the weekend. The instructors challenged us in our introduction to the study books for the year ahead. Taking Latin America I found that I came away with preconceptions broken, paradigms shifted, and, for me personally, a new understanding of the countries to the south of us. We may have begun as a clump of strangers, but when a clump becomes individuals then we forge the bonds of relationships, and then strangers become sisters. That was true in the classroom setting as we learned more about our Latin American family, and it was true as we interacted with one another in study, interest groups, business meetings and late night chats. The District Gathering Saturday night gave us the opportunity to introduce ourselves and forge bonds in meaningful, silly, and spiritual ways all in a compact time frame. It is with zest that I look forward to our upcoming gatherings this year. Next month at our annual gathering we will be celebrating the history and legacy of the Santa Barbara District and, at the same time, celebrating and working toward the re-alignment into the formation of the North District. As always, we celebrate who we are in mission and purpose as United Methodist Women. In joy and grace, LoWaine Robison, President PHOTOS WANTED! With your help, we are putting together a Power Point presentation for September s Annual Celebration. If you have pictures from local unit and district gatherings of the Santa Barbara District through the years, please submit them. If the photos can be scanned and ed, along with captions identifying the pictures, that would be ideal. Otherwise, call to make arrangements. Deadline: September 15th. umwmessenger@gmail.com Phone: LoWaine at (805) or Jeri at (207) Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 3

4 Dear Sisters in Mission, Ever faithful to our PURPOSE and Vision, we move forward, albeit with mixed emotions, to new beginnings as North District of the California Pacific Conference UMW. Goodbyes are hard but the fond memories can sustain us as we boldly embrace the new faces and promising possibilities. During Registration at our ANNUAL MEETING & BRUNCH, September 26 th, in Camarillo, everyone will have an opportunity to identify their role(s) in the Santa Barbara District. Are you active in UMW? Were you a Local Unit (now Organization) Officer? Were you a Santa Barbara District Officer? We will also recognize those persons who have been members of UMW 50 years or more, including your WSCS and EBW. Now is the time for you to tell me all the great moments and fellow sisters who have served to keep Santa Barbara District UMW on task. Please send your information to me via or snail mail (that s through the U.S. Post Office). OK? OK! During the SPOTLIGHTING portion of the program, we will joyfully share the contributions made by all of you to make Santa Barbara District UMW a vital, viable source of Christian growth and outreach. Come to the ANNUAL MEETING & BRUNCH prepare to share, fellowship and make way for the new!!! Peace, Jeri Roseboro 1354 Trouville Ave Apt. G Grover Beach, CA gfrosebo@colby.edu Greetings to the Santa Barbara District Unit Treasurers: There are just a few reminders for you. Please make all checks payable to Santa Barbara District United Methodist Women (Santa Barbara District UMW), not to the treasurer. Please include a remittance form (form 10 in the United Methodist Women's Handbook) with each remittance. If you are ordering a special recognition pin, include that form along with the remittance form. Please note that my address has changed. My new address is Rachel Stones, P.O. Box 6055, Los Osos, CA My phone number is Cal-Pac Conference has a deadline of September 27th to receive the Candle of Commitment information. Please consider having the information to me a week prior to allow time for processing and transferring your information to Conference. Everyone, please make sure your Local Unit treasurer gets this information. Thank you. Rachel Stones, Treasurer Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 4

5 UNITED METHODIST WOMEN SANTA BARBARA DISTRICT *ANNUAL MEETING AND CELEBRATION* BRUNCH SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, :30 a.m. Registration CAMARILLO UMC 291 Anacapa Drive, Camarillo WELCOMING ALL *Music *Worship *Liturgical Dancers Guest Speaker: DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT Rev. Jim Powell Focus Presentation: Human Trafficking SPOTLIGHTING SANTA BARBARA DISTRICT UMW QUIET DISCIPLES Cost: $12.00 before September 15th $15.00 after September 15th

6 Registration Form Santa Barbara United Methodist Women 2015 Annual Meeting and Celebration Welcoming All Brunch Included September 26, 2015 (8:30 am 1:00 pm) Camarillo UMC 291 Anacapa Drive Camarillo, CA Registration $12.00 in advance; $15.00 after September 15th Please Type or Print Name Please include additional names on reverse side of this form. Each local organization is allowed two voting delegates. Please asterisks the names of the two individuals who will be designated. Registration Deadline is September 15, 2015 Return this registration form and payment of $12.00 per person to: Rachel Stones (808) P.O. Box 6055 Los Osos, CA Make checks payable to: Santa Barbara District United Methodist Women Church: City: President: Total No. Attending: Total Remittance: Check No.: Special dietary restriction: (Vegetarian, Food Allergies, Etc.) Name of Person: Child Care: Yes No Number of Children (Bring food, diapers, toys, etc.) Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 6

7 Who Is Your Unit s Quiet Disciple? At our District Annual Meeting and Celebration we honor the women who are presented to the District as the Quiet Disciple from their unit. She is the person who can always be counted on, to help no matter what. Both a Mary and a Martha rolled into one, you find her working in her unit and her church, faithfully and without fanfare. Local Organization: Contact: Mailing Address: City, State & Zip Code: address: Telephone Number: In recognition of exemplary service to our local organization, we wish to nominate the following individual for possible selection as the Santa Barbara District United Methodist Women s Quiet Disciple. Nominees Name: Nominees Mailing Address: City, State & Zip Code: Address: Preferred telephone number: Please accept the following information as a part of our nomination (not to exceed 150 words): Keep this is on the quiet side her name is a surprise until she is honored at the meeting. LoWaine Robison (lowainer@hotmail.com) with the requested information or complete this form and send it to 3074 Channel Drive, Apt. 212, Ventura CA by September 15th. Please try to ensure that she will be with us. Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 7

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9 Our Candle of Commitment represents the cost of our mission work to women, children, and youth to the U.S. and countries around the world. $25.54 will burn the candle for one minute at our Cal-Pac UMW Annual Celebration on October 24, 2015 Gifts can be given by a Local organization or an Individual *In Honor or in Memory of women who are Legacy Builders Person or group Person being honored Indicate in honor Minutes Contribution Amount making contribution or memorialized or in memory of Deadline for inclusion in the Cal-Pac UMW 43rd Annual Celebration 2015 September 27, 2015 Please send form and check to our Santa Barbara District Treasurer Rachel Stones, P.O. Box 6055, Los Osos, CA mamaduck@aol.com (808) Any additional names on a separate piece of paper. Please type or print neatly. Thank you! Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 9

10 2016 Budget North District North 2016 DISTRICT EXPENSE Postage $ Supplies $ Computer Supplies/Maintenance $ Program Resources/ Book Sales $ 1, Telephone $ Dependent Care $ President to Annual Conference $ Travel, Meals, Lodging, Registration $ 5, Retreats, Workshops $ Printing $ Total Officer Expense $ 9, PROGRAMMING Spring Meeting/Retreat $ District Annual Meeting $ 1, District Mission Studies/Retreats/Social $ 1, Local Officer Training $ 1, Child Care $ Quiet Disciple/Fall Meeting $ Unit Development/ Unit Visitation $ Total Programming $ 5, OTHER Newsletter $ Audit $ Special Mission Recognition $ Scholarships* Conference Computer Replacement** Conference Assembly*** Conference Jurisdiction**** Conference Miscellaneous/ Assembly Youth $ Total Other $ 1, BUDGET TOTAL $ 16, INCOME Registrations $ 3, Newsletters $ Interest/Book Sales/Misc. $ 1, Budget Request from Conference $ 12, TOTAL INCOME $ 16, PLEDGE 2016 $ 90, The North District reflects a total of 83 churches coming together from the Santa Barbara District, the Pasadena District and the Los Angeles District. The makeup of the 83 churches are as follows: Santa Barbara = 66% Pasadena = 30% Los Angeles = 4% Another way of looking at this combination is the number of churches coming together to form the North District: Santa Barbara is 100%. (55 of 55) Pasadena is 53% (25 of the 47 will come into the North District) Los Angeles is 6% (3 out of 46 will be joining the North District formation) For the purpose of the budget, you can consider that the North District consists of Santa Barbara and Pasadena. The three churches from the Los Angeles District does not effect the North District budget at all. As always, each district will have only a very small amount of money on January 1, Thank you to Eutha Hankinson, Cal-Pac Conference Treasurer, for all the hours she worked on this project in consultation at the National level and the District levels. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The asterisks under the OTHER category in the budget are identified below: *$ in scholarships for Mission u are held by Conference for each District **$ each year is deposited and held by Conference for Computer replacement/repairs ***$ a year is deposited and held by Conference for the District president to attend Assembly ****$ a year is deposited and held by Conference for the District President to attend Jurisdiction Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 10

11 Hilton Salt Lake City Center Hotel Rocky Mountain Conference and the Utah Western Colorado District are excited that Salt Lake City was chosen as the location for our Quadrennial Meeting. People have been asking, Why Salt Lake? How is a location chosen? First, the Jurisdiction Team prays researches and gathers information.and talks. We discovered that we had not had a Quadrennial Meeting in this conference for a long time, and we do like to move about from conference to conference. Then, we looked at airports which are hubs, which most of our people can fly into directly, with less cost. Then we looked at altitude, and Denver was crossed off the list because of altitude. Salt Lake City looked very promising. The next step was to take the Leadership Team to Salt Lake City for a site visit. We found the city to have good public transit, and the airport not too far from downtown. We checked out four hotels and found the Hilton Salt Lake City Center Hotel would work very well for our meetings, with the entire second floor dedicated to our activities. Room rates are reasonable, the hotel is very accessible, and you will see that it is a green hotel. Of course the main reason you ll want to come to Salt Lake is for our Quadrennial Meeting! The Leadership Team has been energized by our theme of A Fresh Wind Blowing as we look at scripture and the ways that the wind of the Holy Spirit moves and leads us. We have been working on speakers, tours, worship, workshops, and, of course, the whole process of elections for Directors for National Office. But beyond the meeting, there is much to do in Salt Lake. UMCOR West Depot is there, and some may want to come for the week before or after our meeting to work at the Depot. We ll be offering tours of the Depot as well. Salt Lake is also the home of Crossroads Urban Center, one of our National Mission Institutions. And then. I could mention that the hotel is only a couple of blocks away from the big City Creek Center shopping mall. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir practices on Thursday evening, and there is no admission charge to listen to them. For those who like genealogy, the Family History Center, located downtown, is the largest of its kind in the world. Volunteer at UMCOR West Depot in Salt Lake City! Contact Brain Diggs, Director of UMCOR West, at bdiggs@umcor.org or to reserve a week or a few days to work at the Depot before or after the Quadrennial meeting. Make your plans soon, as there is a limit on how many can work at one time. Tell Brian that you will be at UMW Quadrennial Meeting as he has reserved spaces for us. Read more about UMCOR at There s a zoo, a planetarium, a water park, pioneer museums, a natural history museum, an arboretum, and so much more. If you want to get out of the city, Utah has five stunningly beautiful National Parks, ten National Monuments and Recreation Areas, and 2,200 miles of Scenic Byways. The Olympic Winter Games were held in Utah ten years ago and the Utah Olympic Park is not far from Salt Lake City. Utah is home to five distinct American Indian cultures, and is also the center of Mormon Heritage. So, put this on your calendar! Salt Lake City, April 22-24, We always look forward to a great time as we come together as United Methodist Women! by Margaret Hotze, President, Western Jurisdiction Leadership Team Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 11

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13 Registration will be done online only. If you don't use a computer ask someone to assist you in registering. You might ask for permission from your own church to use the church's address to receive confirmation information. Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 13

14 Santa Barbara District Leadership Team 2015 President LoWaine Robison (805) Channel Drive #212, Ventura, CA Vice President Jeri Roseboro (207) Trouville Avenue Apt. G, Grover Beach, CA Secretary Sheryl Meadows (818) Sylvia Ave. Reseda, CA Treasurer Rachel Stones (808) P.O. Box 6055, Los Osos, CA Program Resources Coordinator * Carolyn Berry (805) Village #33, Camarillo, CA laurenceeberry@yahoo.com (*Barbara Williams, Acting PR Coordinator) Communications Coordinator Open Spiritual Growth Coordinator Maria Reyna (818) Pacoima, CA (Mailing address: 6850 Van Nuys Blvd. Suite 214, Van Nuys, Ca 91405) maria_la_reyna@rocketmail.com Mission Education Coordinator Meleane Malakai (818) Telfair Avenue, Pacoima, CA ULUAV112464@yahoo.com Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 14

15 Santa Barbara District Leadership Team 2015 (continued) Membership Coordinator Grace Leighton (818) Samra Drive, West Hills, CA Social Action Coordinator Amybeth Lake (818) (cell) Parthenia Street, #332; Canoga Park, CA Chairperson, Committee on Nominations Donna Wood (805) Gemini Avenue, Lompoc, CA Members, Committee on Nominations Rochelle Johnson (818) Whitaker Avenue, Northridge, CA Veda Ward (818) Campo Road, Woodland Hills, CA Barbara Williams (805) Village #25, Camarillo, CA Appointed Position Ð Spanish Language Group Coordinator: Open Appointed Position Ð Korean Language Group Coordinator: Open Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 15

16 Social Action Making a difference "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40) Update on Immigration "No Estan Solos" At the end of June, a 5-day retreat for Migrant Children was held at Camp Colby. Thirty-three young strangers, unaccompanied minors who had reached California from as far away as Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, went home knowing that they are not alone. The core of the retreat was the healing community, even as the young people, one as young as nine years old, shared their traumatic stories of the violence they experienced in their home countries and in their travels north, and being reunited with parents they had not seen in years. Three Welcome Centers have been opened. They are at North Hills Hispanic Mission, St. John's Methodist in Watts and Claremont UMC. On July 25th, Family Fairs were held at North Hills and in Claremont. A Backpack Giveaway is scheduled for August 8th at St. John's. These events are designed to reach out to the community and connect families with local services. The refugee children are given a duffel bag (or a backpack) filled with school supplies and other items. The cost of this program is being partially underwritten by a grant of $350,000 from UMCOR. You can volunteer or donate by contacting the You Are Not Alone Program, P.O. Box 6006, Pasadena, CA A list of needed supplies is available online at or by contacting Blanca Alcantara Hershey, Migrant Children's Program Coordinator - balcantara_hershey@calpacumc.org ( ). Detention Centers Thousands of Central American families claiming asylum in the U.S. have been detained. On July 23rd, a district court judge ruled that three of these detention centers, two in Texas and one in Pennsylvania, have violated standards set forth in Flores v. Meese. The basic requirement is that the facilities be licensed to care for dependent children. The government has until August 3rd to demonstrate that it has a 90 day plan to fix these facilities. The best plan would be to release the families on bond to their families. To learn more about United Methodist Women's Campaign to End Family Detention, please read the attachments which follow this article. Also, I am available to speak to your circle about this issue and lead a discussion. Vol XXXII No. 17 (Continued next page) themessenger Fall 2015 Page 16

17 Focus Speaker At our annual meeting, we will have a Mission Focus speaker, Diane Amato, Program Director, who is from "Journey Out" (formerly Mary Magdalene Project ) an organization which fights for the freedom and survival of those who have been destroyed by sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploration in Los Angeles. According to a recent publication from youthlaw.org, the Los Angeles metropolitan area is among the top three High Intensity Child Prostitution areas in the nation as identified by the FBI. As stated in the Social Principles, "to be sold by someone else for sexual purposes is a form of slavery, and we denounce such business and support the abused and their right to freedom." Your sister, Amybeth Lake Social Action Coordinator From the Desk of Spiritual Growth First and foremost, let us give thanks to God that all of us made it back safely to our loved ones from Mission u. It was nice to see old friends and make new ones. It was my pleasure to help my Cal-Pac Conference Mission Coordinator for Spiritual Growth, Maxine Wheeler, put together and contribute items to our Meditation Room. What a beautiful room for contemplation, fellowship, prayer and reflection. It was beautiful to see our Prayer Wall with requests for prayers. I added a prayer for my sister who is fighting her third battle of cancer. The Meditation Room Prayer Wall reminded me of my Praise Wall I have at home. My Praise Wall is wall mounted above my bed head frame with spiritual/religious items such as crosses, scripture plaques, candles and statues. I can come to reflect and to talk to Jesus when I center my thoughts on my wall. Do you have a special area where you can talk to Jesus? Let me know how you relax and talk to Jesus. I also had the honor of assisting the other district spiritual growth coordinators with communion on Sunday. The altar this year was festive with tropical fruits and sarapes by the Hispanic Group. Weren't the folkorico dancers awesome? I even took part in the showing of the many uses of the traditional rebozo (shawl). The class I took was " Latin America: People and Faith" in Spanish and my instructor was Miguel Mairena. Awesome class. Miguel is from Nicaragua and along with his wife, Nan McCurdy, have been missionaries empowering the women in Nicaragua to have basic human rights, property rights, promotion of gender rights and educating in the personal health and the prevention of violence. My Interest Group was Domestic Violence and was headed by Maria Reyes, our Spanish Language Coordinator. She handed out a poem that was insightful and which started the class into a full blown discussion. We, as a group, vowed to help and counsel our fellow sisters who we see in trouble. In closing may Jesus bestow many blessings on all of my sisters in Christ. Be always prepared with the word of the Good News and spread that knowledge to every woman or man you meet. BLESSINGS, Maria Reyna maria_la_reyna@rocketmail.com Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 17

18 Program Resources Report Hi. I am Barbara Williams. Carolyn Berry has asked me to substitute for her for the remainder of the year as Program Resources Coordinator for the District. Carolyn s cancer has returned and she is home now with friends and family and a home health care person. She welcomes your prayers and cards but is not able to see many visitors or talk much on the phone. At the Annual Meeting on September 26 th, we will have a display of the 2016 books from the Reading Program for your purchase or review. I hope you are encouraging your members to read books from the Reading Program. There are always so many really good books from which to choose. We all gain so much knowledge from these books and they can lead to program ideas for your units and fellowships. Please contact me if you have any questions and I will try to answer them, or at least try to find an answer from someone who knows. I also welcome any ideas for encouraging reading, for starting a reading group, or a book review of one of our wonderful books. The Program Book is available at Barbara Williams blw261@gmail.com Spiritual Growth: The Pursuit of Happiness Geographic: Latin America Issue Study: The Church and People with Disabilities Youth: Children: Latin America Latin America 2016 Spiritual Growth: The Bible and Human Sexuality Geographic: Latin America Issue Study: Climate Justice Youth: Children: Climate Justice Climate Justice Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 18

19 COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS REPORT We are in the process of creating the new North District for the UMW beginning January 1, Julie Asuncion, Chair of the Committee on Nominations for the Cal-Pac Annual Conference Leadership Team of the UMW met with the Santa Barbara CON at Mission u. She had previously met with the Pasadena and Los Angeles District CON. First, the basic information. The new North District shall consist of the following: 55 churches from the former Santa Barbara District all of us 25 churches from the Pasadena District 3 churches from Los Angeles We now have a spread sheet which shows the present officers of these districts who will be coming into the North District, and those who would normally be continuing on in those positions. Julie is very concerned that the members of all the Committees of Nomination (CON) are involved, and no one feels left out of the discussions. In the new team, they are proposing that we have two Vice-Presidents and two Membership Chairs and an expanded CON. The two officers will then be able to be in charge of one of the two LLT s (Local Leadership Training) each year. After discussing possible candidates for these positions, our CON members will be meeting with Julie and the Pasadena CON to make some final decisions about the leadership team nominations. She is suggesting that Pasadena provide the second Vice President and additional members of the CON. With the first meeting, is was decided that the Santa Barbara District CON will be responsible with finding a new person for Membership, two more members for CON, and Communications. These positions can be filled from either district. No prior report on the Slate of Officers is needed for September s Annual Celebration as no voting will take place. The Slate will be presented at the Celebration in September, and there will be an opportunity for nominations from the floor. The pending officers are to be trained Friday, October 24th, at D LTE before the Cal-Pac UMW Conference Gathering on October 25th. Voting on the new Slate of Officers will place at LLT in January. Because the voting will be taking place at LLT, it is quite likely there will be only LLT in More information on that in September. Only the new nominees need to be voted on as others will just be continuing their terms. Hope that is clear enough--it does get confusing! - Donna Wood, Chairperson, and Rochelle Johnson, Veda Ward, Barbara Williams The 6th International Conference on Ageing and Spirituality will be held in Los Angeles for the first time ever October 4-7. The title is "Paradox and Promise in the Pilgrimage of Ageing". There is a website for additional information. Even though this is not a UMC or UMW conference, it might be a good platform to share what UMW does for its aging women, as well as those in the community. Field trip? Anyway, our team members in the greater LA area might want to carpool. My house has to spare bedrooms for anyone who wants to stay over from farther away. - Veda Ward Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 19

20 GIFTS & GRACES Talent Bank Information Form on Prospective Leadership (to be completed by prospective leader) Each year the District team needs willing people to step up and assume leadership roles. One way to be an open, growing community of leaders is to ask YOU about your talents and willingness to lead on a District level. This Talent Bank Information Form gives you a chance to help the Nominations Committee know who you are and what your interests would be. Please share this form with others so they can be aware of opportunities available. Please type or print neatly Date Name Address City, State, Zip Telephone: Home Cell Work Local Church District Member: Yes / No The following information is requested, because we seek to be diverse in selecting candidates whenever there are choices, Age: (20 s, 30 s, 40 s, etc.) Languages Spoken Racial/Ethnic Group Employed: Yes / No Full-time Part-time Retired Professional skills, job experiences Offices held in United Methodist Women Offices Dates of Service Local (Office / dates of service) District (Office / dates of service) Conference (Office / dates of service) Additional experience on the local, district, conference or general church level (other than United Methodist Women) or in the community: Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 20

21 Special Talents or Skills Areas of Special Interest and/or Concern secretarial creativity administration computer community building newsletters nominations retreats spiritual life workshops global issues music social issues acctg./bookkeeping recruiting members communication children program planning recording minutes public policy public relations inclusiveness/pluralism publicity youth Other (please list) Which office (s) on the District Team would you most like, given the opportunity to serve? (Please number 1, 2, 3, etc. for preferences, #1 being the top choice.) President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer Social Action Spiritual Growth Communications Membership Program Resources Communication Nominations Young Women Mission Educ. Korean Language Spanish Language Why are you interested in this position and what qualifications do you feel you have for your office(s) of choice? Would you be able to use your gifts and talents to uphold and strengthen United Methodist Women through the PURPOSE of the organization? Is it possible for you to be away from home or employment? Yes / No Full Day Weekend Extended time I am sorry, but I am unable to accept an office this year. Please keep my name on file and contact me in year. I am sorry, but I am unable to accept an office this year. For special projects I would be wiling to assist in the area of Please give any other information you feel is pertinent: Return to Nomination Chair: Donna Wood, 119 Gemini Avenue, Lompoc, CA (805) donnawood2@verizon.net Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 21

22 Blessings and greetings to my UMW sisters in Christ. It hard to believe that summer is coming to an end, and kids are going back to school next week. I pray you all had a wonderful summer. I was so glad to attend part of Mission u, I took the Happiness class. UMW Presidents, please remember that local unit membership numbers will be due in Jan. The new form will be in the next themessenger. Below is the 2014 form and provides you with the information that will be requested. In closing I leave you with this thought. My chains are gone I have been set free My God, my savior has Ransomed me And like a flood His mercy rains Unending love, Amazing grace Love and blessing to all, Grace Leighton, Membership Coordinator jleigh2128@aol.com Vol XXXII No. 17 themessenger Fall 2015 Page 22

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26 The MESSENGER Santa Barbara District United Methodist Women 3074 Channel Dr. #212, Ventura CA PURPOSE The organized unit of United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose PURPOSE is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ, to develop a creative, supportive fellowship, and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church.