Annual Conference
So this is the week...once again, all of the Indiana United Methodist pastors and a lay representative for each pastor from each church will gather in Indiana to do the work of the UMC in Indiana. Annual Conference is a tradition dating back to our founder, John Wesley, and is the time when business decisions affecting all of us are considered and voted on. Things like budget (which affects and is affected by how much each local church pays to the larger church), committees for the Conference (which is the state of Indiana), mission work, youth work, and so on. It's an extended business meeting.
But it's more than that. It's also a "family reunion." In Wesley's day, long before any of the communication tools we enjoy, Annual Conference might be the only time the entire year you saw your brothers (pastors were all men then) in Christ. It was a chance to catch up, share what God was and is doing, and also address any concerns that had come up it the previous year. Some of the minutes of those early Annual Conferences show the pastors wrestling with what they believe, and how they were going to shape this movement called Methodism.
Annual Conference is also a time of worship. Some of the best singing you'll ever hear this side of eternity happens there. We'll share communion, remember those who have gone to be with Jesus in the past year, and at the end, we'll commission and ordain new pastors for the work of God's kingdom. This year, we will celebrate with a global feel as we get to enjoy a concert from the Africa University Choir.
For me, the business is rather dull. There are other people God has gifted to do that work (and who enjoy it). But the worship and the family reunion are the reasons I go to Annual Conference (that, and I'm expected to be there). Seeing brothers and sisters whom I don't get a chance to see during the year and being able to worship without being responsible for leading the service—those are reasons that Annual Conference, as frustrating as it can be at times, still has the potential to renew my soul.
So I ask you to join in praying for the Annual Conference. We'll be meeting Thursday through Saturday this week, and there are serious things that have to be decided that will impact people's lives (and church budgets). But above all else I ask you to pray that we will hear from God, not just in terms of business but in worship, in fellowship, in everything that happens. It's always my prayer that God will show up, and that we will honor Him in whatever we do. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we don't, but my continued prayer is that even in those "wrong" times, we'll learn better to listen more closely to God.
But it's more than that. It's also a "family reunion." In Wesley's day, long before any of the communication tools we enjoy, Annual Conference might be the only time the entire year you saw your brothers (pastors were all men then) in Christ. It was a chance to catch up, share what God was and is doing, and also address any concerns that had come up it the previous year. Some of the minutes of those early Annual Conferences show the pastors wrestling with what they believe, and how they were going to shape this movement called Methodism.
Annual Conference is also a time of worship. Some of the best singing you'll ever hear this side of eternity happens there. We'll share communion, remember those who have gone to be with Jesus in the past year, and at the end, we'll commission and ordain new pastors for the work of God's kingdom. This year, we will celebrate with a global feel as we get to enjoy a concert from the Africa University Choir.
For me, the business is rather dull. There are other people God has gifted to do that work (and who enjoy it). But the worship and the family reunion are the reasons I go to Annual Conference (that, and I'm expected to be there). Seeing brothers and sisters whom I don't get a chance to see during the year and being able to worship without being responsible for leading the service—those are reasons that Annual Conference, as frustrating as it can be at times, still has the potential to renew my soul.
So I ask you to join in praying for the Annual Conference. We'll be meeting Thursday through Saturday this week, and there are serious things that have to be decided that will impact people's lives (and church budgets). But above all else I ask you to pray that we will hear from God, not just in terms of business but in worship, in fellowship, in everything that happens. It's always my prayer that God will show up, and that we will honor Him in whatever we do. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we don't, but my continued prayer is that even in those "wrong" times, we'll learn better to listen more closely to God.
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