Florida United Methodist Review Online

Property insurance rates stay flat in 2003

     Florida Conference churches will be paying the same for property and casualty insurance this year as they did last year and less for automobile insurance, according to Jim Severance, the conference's risk manager.
     One reason for the flat rates is a five-month bid process that began in August. The Florida Conference's Self Insurance Committee asked its current insurance broker, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., and three other brokers to submit quotes, according to Severance.   Full Story

Wellness and health matters

Photo courtesy of Christ Hispanic United Methodist Church

ORLANDO - More than 250 people from southeast Orlando attended the first Health Fair last month at Christ Hispanic United Methodist Church here. The fair featured six bilingual doctors answering health-related questions; lectures on hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, heart disease and nutrition; and breast exams. The church also offered advice on applying for financial assistance.
The fair was an ecumenical event involving Hispanic Pentecostal, Christian and Presbyterian congregations. The health screenings and lectures were provided by Florida Hospital, Orange County Health Department and the Orlando Hispanic Health Initiative.

Henderson school ready for construction

     The first phase of the Bishop Cornelius L. and Dorothye Henderson Secondary School has been designed and is now ready for construction, according to the Rev. David Beers, pastor of Miami's Silver Palm United Methodist Church and director of the Florida Conference's United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM).
     The school will be built in Muxungue, Mozambique, Africa.
     Beers is now communicating with officials in Mozambique to determine what kind of assistance UMVIM can provide. He hopes the teams will take on more relational responsibilities than trying to help with construction. Full Story

Recycled computers helping improve lives

     Fifteen of the computers now housed in St. John's United Methodist Haitian Mission's computer training room were at one time destined for a South Florida landfill. Now, they are helping members of the mission and people in the surrounding community get the skills they need to find better jobs.
     The computer learning ministry is a joint venture between the mission and Christians Reaching Out to Society (C.R.O.S. Ministries), an outreach ministry in West Palm Beach supported by the Florida Conference. The free computer class ministry is now a little more than one year old, but it has already outgrown its space.. Full Story

Church ministries get boost from grants

      Two ministries having a strong impact on rural and impoverished parts of Florida are getting a boost from the General Board of Discipleship.
     United Methodist Cooperative Ministries of Madison, Fla., and Interlachen United Methodist Church both received grant monies from GBOD and plan to expand their ministry efforts as a result. UM Cooperative received $2,285, and the Interlachen church received $2,000.   Full Story

Discipleship ministry changes training focus

      What was once one of the Florida Conference's most popular training events is being scaled down and taken on the road in order to reach more people, according to the Rev. Carol Sue Hutchinson, director of the Florida Conference Council on Ministries' Discipleship Ministry team.
     The Discipleship Weekend training event, which was held annually at the Life Enrichment Center in Leesburg, will this year be held at eight locations throughout the Florida Conference on two Saturdays..   Full Story

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In Brief

Bishop announces mid-year appointments

Opportunities

Seminary offers program for future leaders

Musicians invited to retreat

Parrish Center trains parish nurses

Communications group provides newsletter help

General Board seeks ethnic young adults

Short Bites

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