UMAC 23 IS Salt and Light!

by Deborah Coble | Jul 19, 2023

Greetings UMAC!

We can’t wait to be back together again Oct. 22-25 at the Charleston Marriott, in Charleston, South Carolina. This will be the first time we have gathered the UMAC family since 2019 and I don’t know about you, but I am ready and excited to see all of you!

Get ready for an incredible and fruitful time together! The UMAC leadership teams have been busy planning and preparing for an amazing event, and we can’t wait to share it with you. You will want to be part of this must-attend event, as it caters to all levels of church communication in the United Methodist Church, from local churches to annual conferences, agencies and partner communication.

The theme of UMAC23 is Salt and Light. We will have an opportunity to examine how our words, videos, emails and social media postings can bring salt and light to God’s kingdom. More specifically, we will explore ways to strengthen our communication in a time when communicating the future of the church is so incredibly important.

A staple for any UMAC Annual Meeting is the annual Awards Banquet and we look forward to honoring some of the best communication efforts of the past year. We want to remind all of you that award submissions are currently open. Don’t miss your chance to submit – the deadline is September 1st.

In addition to our annual awards gala, we’ll have a number of speakers tackling issues that are challenging all communicators today, from dealing with misinformation and disinformation to harnessing and embracing artificial intelligence. It’s also incredibly important to reimagine how we shape our United Methodist narrative for the years to come.

Our amazing speakers include Sabrina Joy Stevens, Eric Seiberling, James Lee, Rev. Matt Rawle and Dan Krause.

South Carolina Bishop L. Jonathan Holston and Council of Bishops President Thomas J. Bickerton will preach during morning worship, so prepare to be uplifted, encouraged, inspired and informed.

In partnership with United Methodist Communications, this year’s UMAC gathering also will include a special General Conference orientation. You’ll hear from members of Commission on General Conference, UM News staff, agency top executives and others about everything you need to know leading up to the legislative assembly in 2024.