NYAC Celebrating Native American Ministries Sunday, April 19

Dear clergy members and leaders of the NYAC,

Native American Ministries Sunday, one of six special Sundays in The United Methodist Church, will be celebrated on April 19.

Observed on the third Sunday of Easter, this special Sunday celebrates the gifts, contributions and ministries offered by and with Native Americans to our church and society. It was first celebrated in 1989 as Native American Awareness Sunday.

United Methodists are encouraged to celebrate Native American Ministries Sunday in consultation with representatives of the Native American community in their region. Such a service should respect the traditions of the native peoples, and may be a service of repentance and reconciliation between indigenous and immigrant peoples.

Here are a few facts about observing this Sunday:

• There are 149 Native American UM churches, including the Onondaga Nation UMC just south of Syracuse, N.Y.
• There are 21,365 Native American members of United Methodist churches, including 134 in the NYAC
• Fifty percent of the special offering received stays in the annual conference
• Twenty-five percent goes toward scholarships for Native Americans to attend United Methodist schools and other approved schools of theology
• Twenty-five percent goes to expand the number of target churches in the Native American Urban Initiative

An abundance of resources for this Sunday can be found at www.umcgiving.org/ministry-articles/native-american-ministries-sunday.

More resources can be found here:

Music
http://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/Global-Praise-/Music-Resources-Catalog/Singing-the-Sacred 

Bible Study
http://www.umwmissionresources.org/products/
giving-our-hearts-away-adult-study

Worship Services
http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/a-native-american-celebration-of-holy-communion

http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship/lectionary-calendar/third-sunday-of-easter3

http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/21st-century-worship-resources-for-native-american-ministries-sunday1

Bulletin Inserts
Click here for inserts that you may print (in color or black and white) and use in your bulletins on Sunday, April 19.

Or you can contact one of the members of the conference Committee on Native American Ministries (CoNAM) listed below for ways to support this ministry in your church:

Myrna and Walter Clinton: By phone at 203-934-1316, or email, walterandmyrna38@gmail.com.
Elaine Winward: By phone at 914-669-5264, or email, ewinward@optonline.net. Elaine is a member of Jesse Lee Memorial UMC in Ridgefield, Conn. Her husband, Dan Winward, is half Mohawk, and has cousins who are active in the Onondaga Nation in Nedrow, N.Y.

The CoNAM will be holding its annual meeting on October 8-10 at the Edith Macy Conference Center in Briarcliff Manor, N. Y. All those interested in Native American ministries and issues are encouraged to attend.

Church offerings should be sent by mail to the NYAC via with your other church remittances.

Make checks payable to “NYAC” and mail to:
New York Annual Conference
Attn:  Fran Collins
20 Soundview Ave
White Plains, NY 10606

Online donations can be made at www.umcgiving.org.

Thanks for your commitment to these efforts.

Committee on Native American Ministries
Myrna and Walter Clinton, Elaine and Dan Winward, Carol and Doug Osgood