It was my privilege to be the delegate to 2017 North Carolina Annual Conference. This meeting happens every year and is required to deal with the church business. There are lots of times of worship, celebration and fellowship.
Here are the highlights:
There were 5 Constitutional Amendments made at the 2016 General Conference in Portland, OR. Each Annual Conference then has to vote for the amendments to be added to the Book of Discipline. We won’t find out til later this year on the status of the amendments. The amendments can be seen on the Conference Website: Click here for info.
The other business was the discussion and voting on Resolutions. There were 5. The original three can be seen on the Conference Website: Click here for info. The other 2 were submitted late. One by St. Luke UMC in Sanford asking NC Legislature to not centralize NC Depts of Social Services. The other was submitted by Whiteville UMC and asking for solidarity in NC districts. All 5 resolutions were approved, some with more amendments than others.
This might sound like a boring way to spend a weekend. But it is uplifting to watch the body of Christ work together.
There were other reports also reviewed. Overall, the North Carolina Conference is alive and well.
We had periods of fun and learning. Friday night the children of New Bern UMC gifted us with a play on Zaccheus and Bartimaus. it was very well done. On Saturday we had a play on the book Blood Done Signed My Name, which is about Rev. Vernon Tyson and the race issues in Oxford, NC in 1970. A very thought provoking evening.
We were privileged to have some great educators lead sessions. First, Dr. Greg Jones, Duke Divinity, led several sessions centered around the theme of the conference. Then we had Thomas Kempner, General Secretary of the General Board of Global Ministries from Atlanta, GA.
If you get a chance to go, take it. It shows how great work can be done when we work together.
