Top 5 stories of 2016
The results are in! The five top Dakotas Conference UMC stories of 2016 are listed here in order of votes and views. In case you missed any, click the links to read the stories and view the videos. Thanks for making this great Dakotas Conference even greater in 2016. We're excited to see what the Lord has in store for all of us in 2017.
1. United Methodists Stand with Standing Rock
Sept. 12, 2016 – The camp on the land of the Standing Rock nation was peaceful and hopeful the day after a federal judge issued an opinion rejecting the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's efforts to stop construction of the crude oil pipeline that would run from North Dakota to Illinois.
Watch Standing Rock video here
2. Embrace named fastest growing United Methodist Church
Jan. 25, 2016 – Embrace’s rate of growth over five years is 1437%. This is not a misprint. Adam Weber was appointed as a church planter in 2007, and at the end of 2009 they averaged 137 people in worship. Today, over 4,000 people worship weekly at one of the four campuses or online with Embrace Church.
3. Shoebox gifts bring warm spirit to children (Spirit Lake Ministry)
Each Christmas season, United Methodists from across the Dakotas Conference and beyond bring the gifts of Jesus in a shoebox. Shoebox Christmas gifts are distributed to over 6,000 children across five Native American reservations in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota.
Watch Spirit Lake Shoebox video here
4. Grace Huck a pioneer
March 28, 2016 – The Dakotas Conference is proud to honor Reverend Grace Huck. Reverend Huck is one of the first women to become a full member of an Annual Conference in The United Methodist Church. Huck is a true pioneer who served churches throughout the Dakotas Conference and as a missionary in the Philippines.
5. S'mores and spirit
June 20, 2016 – Highmore, Harrold and Blunt United Methodist Churches in South Dakota started dreaming big about what God might want to be doing in and among the churches to inspire youth and families about Jesus. People began to dream a God-sized dream of sending 20 kids from this tiny little parish to camp - fully funded.
