NASHVILLE, Tenn.––Thousands of United Methodist Men from around the world are planning to attend the 11th National Gathering of United Methodist Men.
The General Commission on UM Men has launched a website that provides information about the July 12-14, 2013, event at Belmont University in Nashville. The website (www.ummgathering.org) will also provide an easy way for men to register for the 3-day gathering.
“There will be great music, inspired preaching, wonder-filled worship, humble service, on-target workshops, fantastic fellowship, and time of personal and corporate prayer,” says Gil Hanke, top staff executive of United Methodist Men.
Speakers
Held once every four years, speakers include the Rev. Shane Bishop, pastor of rapidly growing Christ United Methodist Church in Fairview Heights, Ill.; Don Davis, former defensive player for the Super Bowl winning New England Patriots; Mississippi Area Bishop James Swanson, president of the General Commission on United Methodist Men; and David Delk, president of Man in the Mirror.
Friday afternoon, participants can receive additional training in men’s ministry or scouting ministry, and Bishop will speak at the first gathering on Friday evening after a John Wesley Fellows dinner.
Service projects
Davis will speak on Saturday morning, followed by three on-campus service projects where men will build hand-crank carts for people in African nations who cannot walk, pack 400,000 plastic bags of dehydrated food for emergency situations, and sack produce for homeless shelters and food pantries in the Nashville area.
Seminars and music
Saturday afternoon, men may participate in 2 of 18 seminars, and that evening the assembly will gather to hear the mass man’s choir and a speech by Bishop Swanson. To complete the jammed-packed day, Phil Stacey, a finalist in the American Idol television show, will perform a concert. “From the Inside Out,” the theme of the 3-day gathering, comes from one of Stacey’s hit songs. The song asks Christ to change us from the inside out.
For the 8th consecutive national gathering Richard Alegria, former president of the Rio Grande Conference United Methodist Men, will serve as organist, and his son Andrew will be the choir director.
The event will conclude Sunday with Communion and a sermon by Delk.
“You will leave on Sunday blessed, inspired and equipped,” said Hanke.
Deadlines and costs
Men who register before March 15 will pay only $239 for the three-day event, including two dinners and a lunch. Prices increase to $350 after March 15. Lodging costs vary from on-campus housing to neighboring hotels.
For additional information and to register for the event, visit: www.ummgathering.org.