I greet you in the name and with the love of Jesus Christ!
Since mid-March I have been inviting clergy and lay leadership to imagine how to do ministry creatively in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Well, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. When it looked as if we were going to have to postpone our June 2020 Annual Conference gathering, I began to imagine what a postponed annual conference would look like. I invited our Conference Sessions team and other leaders to think creatively with me. And I believe we came up with a very good plan for a one-day in-person gathering on October 3, 2020.
However, because of the ongoing nature of this pandemic, it has become evident that we are not going to be able to gather in person on October 3rd as we had planned. So we have had to be even more creative.
We, like many of you, looked across the connection to see how other annual conferences are meeting the challenges of the pandemic. Almost every other annual conference has or will be having a virtual meeting in order to vote on the essential business of their annual conference. Some might be expecting me to say that is what we are going to do also.
Have I told you lately what a joy it is to serve an annual conference as unique as Western Pennsylvania? Here is our unique joy: Our Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference corporation bylaws specifically state that all votes of the annual conference corporation must be in person. I asked our sessions team, co-chancellors and Conference Secretary to be creative and explore all options. And they did. There is just no reasonable way around this in-person provision for voting.
Therefore, we will not be voting on any business matters on October 3rd. We will, however, meet virtually on October 3rd for fellowship and to celebrate and provide information about the kingdom-building ministries of the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. I am excited about sharing the State of the Church with you on that day. I am also excited about giving you the opportunity to hear from and ask questions of conference leaders.
Do not worry! We will provide you with all of the information you need to connect virtually with your WPA family. We are going to ask pastors to work with their lay member(s) to annual conference in order to find locations with adequate internet service so all can participate in the virtual gathering.
I know that many of you will have practical and theoretical questions about the fact that we will not be able to vote on matters as an annual conference. So let me answer some of those questions now.
- We have asked all of our current conference leaders to stay in place for the next year. And with rare exception, they are all willing to do so. We will fill any leadership vacancies, as we always have when vacancies arise in between annual conference sessions, through the work of the Connectional Leadership Table (CLT).
- The CLT is also empowered to make budgetary decisions between annual conference sessions. So the leaders you have already elected will continue to make decisions on your behalf.
- You will be able to ask questions about our budget and leadership structure on October 3rd.
- If you have any questions that need immediate answers, like how to cancel your hotel reservation, just call the Conference Center and we will help you with that.
Our Conference Sessions, Arrangements, and Worship teams have been working extraordinarily hard over the last year. They have shown tremendous flexibility and creativity in managing the ever-evolving COVID-19 landscape. I am extremely grateful to them and to our Rules Committee, co-chancellors and Conference Secretary. I want to specifically name Rev. Alan Morrison, Rebecca Brammell, Amy Benz, Rev. John Wilson and Rev. Amy Wagner. Please mention them and lift the leadership teams they represent the next time you talk with God.
I also want to encourage all of us to continue to pause daily at 1900 hours or 7 p.m. in order to pray and entreat God to release the world from COVID -19; to comfort those who have lost loved ones; and to heal those who are ill. Rev. Renee Mikell and Rev. Chris Kindle will soon release another prayer resource to help us focus our prayers regarding the virus. Please look for and utilize that resource when it becomes available.
Some of you will worry about how we will manage without taking votes at an annual conference session this year. After all, we have never done it this way before. Your feelings of anxiety and concern are appropriate and will help us to make sure we act in ways that bring God glory. But in your anxiety, please do not yield to the temptation of becoming negative or inferring intentions or motivations that are not there. In your anxiety and concern, search even more diligently for God. Stretch your hand even further to grasp onto the hand of God. God has got this! And if we cooperate with God, God will make even this work out for our good and for the good of God’s kingdom.
If you need some convincing, think about all of the unexpected good God has done through your ministry during this season of COVID-19. If you need more convincing, re-read the May InFocus magazine where I shared a few of the many creative, new things God has been doing during this pandemic through the people of WPAUMC. Because we have never been here before God can take us to where we have never been before. And sometimes that’s a good thing.
God bless you! See you on October 3rd!
