Frequently Asked Questions
about the Judith Weidman Racial Ethnic Minority Fellowship
Is the fellowship a job? Yes and no. While the fellowship provides a work situation, the primary purpose is to offer a learning opportunity where a person skilled in communications is mentored by an experienced religion communicator. The fellowship will help the recipient apply existing skills to church communications and learn new ones necessary for leadership in communications with an annual conference in the United States. What kinds of work/learning take place? Because conference communications is, in large part, public relations, few conference communications directors spend their time working in just one media. Rather, a director is responsible for determining effective strategies and utilizing several media and methods in order to effectively communicate with internal (church) audiences and external audiences. Therefore, the fellowship recipient can expect to share and gain experience in most of the following areas: church public relations; newspaper writing, editing and layout; media placement; video use; development of brochures and other written pieces; electronic publishing; news media relations; local church communications training; and leadership of a conference communications office. For more information about communications within annual conferences, explore the Conference Resourcing Team’s website, http://crt.umc.org. Do I have to have proven skills in all those communications areas already? No. Candidates are not expected to be proficient in all the areas in order to apply. This is a learning opportunity where existing abilities are enhanced and applied, and new skills are added. However, demonstration of good writing/journalism skills is important. Will I need to move? Yes. This fellowship requires that you relocate to an Annual Conference selected by United Methodist Communications for the one-year fellowship term. The receiving (or "mentoring") Annual Conference is chosen on the basis of ability to offer a successful mentoring environment to a REM Fellow. No determination is made until after the application deadline about which Annual Conference will host the next REM Fellowship recipient. What is an Annual Conference? The United States has 65 United Methodist Annual Conferences. In its most basic form, an Annual Conference is a geographic area and a coordinating body, usually comprised of between 250 and 1,000 United Methodist local churches. The Annual Conference office where the fellowship recipient and mentor will work together is the "headquarters" for United Methodist churches in that region. For additional information about the organization of The United Methodist Church, visit the Structure and Organization section of UMC.org. And talk to your pastor! What is the process once I apply? The REM Fellowship Selection Committee will meet sometime after April 1, to review all completed applications and to select 3-5 finalists. Members of the selection committee and the mentor will interview finalists in late April or early May. The interview may occur in the hosting Annual Conference. United Methodist Communications will pay for the finalists’ travel to the interview. The fellowship finalists will be notified by telephone. All other applicants will receive written notice of the decision of the committee. What is expected of the recipient? The recipient must be prepared to relocate and to begin the one-year fellowship in the mentoring Annual Conference on August 1. The recipient, the mentor, and United Methodist Communications will cooperatively develop a learning agreement that will guide the learning and tasks for the year. Throughout the year, the recipient will speak on behalf of the fellowship at various communications gatherings and will stay in frequent contact with United Methodist Communications in Nashville, Tennessee. What happens at the end of the fellowship? Following the successful completion of the fellowship, United Methodist Communications and the participating Annual Conference will assist in the search for permanent employment within The United Methodist Church; however, we cannot guarantee employment.
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