Western Jurisdictional Conference
2024-07-10 - 2024-07-13 | WA
Dates for the 2024 Western Jurisdictional Conference were announced at the end of the previous session. The Greater Northwest Area will host the conference, with more details to be announced at a later date.

Congregational Equity Cohort
2024-07-19 09:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Fairwood United Methodist Church, 15255 SE Fairwood Blvd., Renton, WA, 98058, United States
The date for one of six in-person Equity Cohort gatherings for Congregational Leaders within the Oregon-Idaho and Pacific Northwest Annual Conferences.

Webinar: Pledge Campaign Best Practices
2024-09-18 18:30 - 19:30 | https://greaternw.org/event/webinar-pledge-campaign-best-practices/
What do successful pledge campaigns have in common? Cesie Delve Scheuermann of Inspiring Generosity and Julia Frisbie of Faith Foundation Northwest will team up to teach an interactive class rich with real-world examples from our own episcopal area. Whether you’re preparing for your first pledge campaign or your thirtieth, Cesie and Julia invite you to bring your own stories and questions to the discussion. Attendees will receive a free e-book that contains five different appeal letter templates.
Click here to register for this webinar.

Western Jurisdiction Webinar: Understanding the Constitutional Amendments
2025-05-19 18:30 - 20:00 | WA
At the General Conference 2020/2024 meeting, four pieces of legislation passed that would change the denomination’s constitution. In order for these changes to go into effect, the legislation must be ratified by the collective votes of annual and central conferences of the UMC. Throughout 2025, all central and annual conferences will be asked to vote on these important topics at their Annual Conference meetings.
The four pieces for ratification are:

Ballot #1: Regionalization: Changing the structure of the UMC to create equity across the worldwide church.
Ballot #2: Expand inclusiveness in church membership, especially as it relates to gender and ability.
Ballot #3: Stand against racism and colonialism.
Ballot #4: Clarify local pastor status regarding who can vote for clergy delegates.

Understanding these amendments is crucial as we move forward together, as each will impact how we operate as a global church. The Western Jurisdiction has prepared information on each to help you cast your vote. Lay and clergy members of the annual conference are invited to learn more and prepare for this critical vote by joining us on May 19 at 5:30 p.m. AKDT, 6:30 pm PDT, 7:30 MDT, for an information webinar where you can learn more from your ratification conference teams, and ask any questions you may have.
Sign up now

Greater Northwest 5 Day Academy
2026-04-21 - 2026-04-26 | Archbishop Brunett Retreat Center at the Palisades, 4700 Southwest Dash Point Road, Federal Way, WA, 98023, United States
Registration is now open for the
Greater Northwest 5 Day Academy for Spiritual Formation
April 21-26, 2026
We’re taught to fear and flee darkness and dark times. But the gifts of God’s presence await when we learn to face and befriend the dark. We invite you to step away from the demands of daily life to enter into this enriching and transformative week of spiritual exploration.
The daily rhythm includes morning and evening prayer, worship with Eucharist, morning and afternoon study led by faculty, reflection time, silence, community sharing, listening circles, and free time.
Click here to register for this retreat.
Early Bird Registration $1030 through 1/15/26 | Full Price Registration $1130 after 1/15/26
Registration fee includes tuition, private room & bath and all meals at the beautiful Archibishop Brunett Retreat Center overlooking Puget Sound in Federal Way, WA.
Scholarships are available. Contact Karen Fisher, registrar for information.
We’re grateful to have received a generous donation toward the retreat center costs, and invite you to consider contributing to the Greater Northwest Academy for Spiritual Formation, or to sponsor a participant.
To contribute contact Winona Forme, treasurer.
THEMES & FACULTY
DESCENT FOR THE SAKE OF ASCENT
“In Jewish mystical tradition we ‘fall’ precisely in order to spur our spiritual rise,” writes presenter Rachel Barenblat, whose vocations include poet, rabbi, spiritual director, and parent. Co-founder of Bayit, a Jewish spiritual innovation incubator, she has blogged as the Velveteen Rabbi since 2003. She holds in MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars, and is author of several volumes of poetry, among them Crossing the Sea and Texts to the Holy. She teaches at the intersection of creative life and spiritual life. She serves Congregation Beth Israel of the Berkshires, and lives in western Massachusetts with her son.
EMBRACING HOPELESSNESS: LAMENT, CRITIQUE, & ESPERANZA
Presenter Juan Carlos Huertas is committed to practices that move communities to liberation through shared wisdom, communal leadership, and contextual action. Juan Carlos is a follower of Jesus, husband, father, spiritual director, and Minister of Proclamation and Practice of Justice at First-Plymouth CongregationalChurch in Lincoln, NE. He holds a Master of Divinity from Emory University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Louisiana College in Pineville, LA where he majored in Religion and minored in Spanish—his first language growing up in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
For those who hunger for deep spiritual experience. The Academy for Spiritual Formation creates transformative space for people to be in communion with God, self, others, and creation for the sake of the world. The daily rhythm includes morning and evening prayer, worship with Eucharist, morning and afternoon study led by faculty, reflection time, silence, community sharing, listening circles, and free time.
OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM
Cathy Warner, Retreat Leader, Laity, Episcopal Diocese of Olympia
Carolyn Bowers, Worship, Clergy, Pacific Northwest UMC
Karen Fisher, Registrar, Clergy, Pacific Northwest UMC
Karen Nelson, Hospitality, Clergy, Oregon-Idaho UMC
Anne Schlesinger, Listening Circles, Clergy, California/Nevada UMC
