Mates of Florida Conference United Methodist ministers are invited to the "Changing Times…Changeless Christ" Ministers’ Mates Retreat Nov. 2-4 at the Life Enrichment Center in Leesburg.

Marjorie L. Kimbrough, a minister’s mate, author and educator, is the featured speaker. Her three-part presentation deals with remembering yesterday, celebrating today and anticipating tomorrow. Other activities include a Bible study on Hebrews 13:8, a panel discussion on change experiences, crafts, massages, shopping, bowling and sharing groups.

The cost is $80; financial assistance is available and full scholarships are given to first-time participants with three years or less in ministry service to the Florida Conference. The registration deadline is Oct. 16. For more information, contact Debbie Gaylord at 904-389-2700 or Carolyn Buie at 941-332-0521.

Florida Bishop Cornelius L. Henderson invites Florida Conference pastors, teachers and laity to participate in a 10-day Holy Land Pilgrimage beginning Jan. 3, 2001.

"We need more pastors, teachers and laity who are biblically rooted and spiritually motivated," he said, "and I believe a Holy Land Pilgrimage will have that benefit."

Bishops Lloyd Knox and Woodie White will lead the tour that will visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho and other cities. Contemporary educational activities include Palestinian and Israeli speakers and visits to an Israeli settlement and a Palestinian refugee camp.

The cost, which includes airfare, guided sightseeing, hotels and daily breakfast and dinner, starts at $1,898. For more information, contact the Rev. Harold Hendren at 863-858-9357 or 1-800-929-5327, extension 1590, or hnhendrn@gateway.net. 

The Florida Conference Historical Society is planning for the next four years and looking for new members to help research, preserve and educate others on the history of Methodism in Florida. The plan to build a new conference archives building in Lakeland makes the need for new members more pressing.

Among the ideas being considered by the society are publishing a periodic newsletter and preparing oral histories of the conference and its churches, according to Beverly C. Berry, society president. Ongoing tasks include assisting the Commission on Archives and History to gather, preserve and disseminate materials and facts on the history of Florida Methodism; discovering and preserving historical sites; and supporting local church historians.

Annual membership dues start at $3 for students and $5 for a regular membership. For more information, contact Berry at 352-351-9446.

Faith-based community development strategies and religious leadership supporting effective human services are among the topics of discussion at the Faith-based Community Development symposium Nov. 11 at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.

Workshop leaders include Eric White, executive director of the Darrell Green Youth Life Foundation; Sang Jin Choi, editor and publisher of "Peace Times;" Dr. Ray Rivera, founder of the Latino Pastoral Action Center; and the Rev. Scott Planing, pastor and coordinator of the Mission at the Eastward.

The cost for the one-day program is $30. The registration deadline is Nov. 1. For more information, contact Dr. Harold Recinos at 202-885-8669 or mrec@erols.com. 

The deadline for ordering printed copies of the 2000 Florida Conference Journal is Oct. 5. The printed journals are available to all churches, clergy and laity at a cost of $16 each. To order, send a check made payable to Florida Conference Treasurer to 2000 Annual Journal, P.O. Box 3767, Lakeland, FL 33802. The CD-ROM version of the journal is available for $15 per copy. The journal is also available for download at no cost from the conference’s Web site at http://www.flumc.org/journal2000/