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The Charlotte District will be hosting a Volunteers In Mission (VIM) Katrina Relief Project over the next two years or more with the goal of raising awareness for the continued need to rebuild the homes and lives of our brothers and sisters on the Mississippi Gulf Coast 4 years after Hurricane Katrina hit the area. The project will recruit congregational volunteer mission teams and endeavor to raise between $100,000 and $120,000 to help continue the construction efforts of the Mississippi United Methodist Conference on Relief beyond 2011.

 The District-wide Katrina Relief Project Task Force has begun planning efforts to assist interested churches in the

Charlotte District with fund raising efforts and to inform the congregations about the needs and opportunities to be in mission with the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In the coming weeks, the Task Force will be contacting the churches in the District and making formal presentations. The plan is to schedule at least 10 volunteer congregational building teams who are willing to go to Camp Hope in Van Cleave Mississippi in the next 6-12 months to help with the rebuilding efforts in that area. The Task Force will also develop an informational package that will assist churches to understand the needs in Mississippi, and to plan their mission trips and fund-raising efforts.

The long-range goal of this VIM project is to spread the congregational VIM participation throughout the District and ultimately grow it on a Conference-wide basis so that the Mississippi UMCOR efforts can continue until Gulf Coast residents in Mississippi who are still displaced from their homes by Hurricane Katrina, are once again in safe housing.

Throughout the fall of 2008, congregational teams throughout the Charlotte District prepared for the sharing segment of Charge Conference by reading, reflecting upon, and developing strategies related to Bishop Robert Schnase‘s highly taut book. This month we shall have a unique opportunity to meet and interact with the au-thor. Let all our church leaders know that on Monday, September 28th, Providence United Methodist Church will host a conference during which Bishop Robert Schnase, author of Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, will introduce the power of Radical Hospitality, Intentional Faith Development, Passionate Worship, Risk-Taking Mission and Service, and Extravagant Generosity. Bishop Schnase will define these innovative practices and demonstrate why they are crucial to creating healthy, thriving houses of faith whose congregations have a richer relationship with Christ.

This conference will take place from 9 am – 4 pm and is open to both clergy and laity. Register by sending your name and email address, along with a $10 fee made payable to PUMC, to:

Carol Shinn, Coordinator of Servant Ministries and The Five Practices Initiative

Providence UMC, 2810 Providence Road, Charlotte, NC 28211, 704-714-9365

This $10 fee includes all teaching materials, refreshments, a copy of Bishop Schnase‘s book Cultivating Fruitfulness: Five Weeks of Prayer and Practice for Congregations, and a contribution to an ongoing Providence UMC hunger initiative.

The deadline to register is September 17, 2009

For more information on Bishop Schnase and Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, visit:

http://www.fivepractices.org

For more information on Providence United Methodist Church, visit: www.ProvidenceUMC.org