Re-districting Task Force begins work for Detroit Conference

By Paul Thomas, Detroit Conference Director of Communications

The Redistricting Task Force met recently, with the group choosing a working model to begin formulating a six-district plan for the Detroit Conference.

The conference is reducing a district to comply with action taken by the 2010 annual conference session, which instructed the resident bishop, Michigan Area Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton, to determine the boundaries of the new districts, and for the Conference Leadership Team to name them by no later than July 1, 2011.

Although not instructed to do so, Keaton named a task force to assist him in the reduction effort. After the task force was convened in late June, the task force's leadership presented two models for the group to spend the summer praying and discerning over. From those two models, a third emerged at the meeting and it was unanimously adopted by the group as a starting point to create the new districts.

"It was a movement of the Holy Spirit that brought us to the model that was adopted by the entire task force," said Paul Thomas, the task force's chairperson. "As we spent time discussing the two models that had been distributed, it became clear that there were two pressing issues that needed to be cared for in whatever model we chose. The first was dealing with the Metro Detroit area, and the second was addressing the geography of the northern part of the conference, including the U.P. In the end, the model the group chose to begin to work with addresses both issues. While the rationale for introducing the legislation at annual conference was to reduce districts in order to save money, the task force is seeing this reduction as an opportunity to create more dynamic and fruitful ministry."

Details of the working model were not made public. The model will be fully developed in advance of the task force's next meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 12. The task force expects to finalize the model at its next meeting, and make the model public after consulting with Bishop Keaton and the appointive cabinet.

The task force is set to complete its work and make its recommendations to Bishop Keaton and the appointive cabinet by January 2011.

The task force also underwent a few changes in membership over the summer to achieve a greater degree of diversity.

For a complete list of the 16 members providing input on the task force check out the Detroit Conference website at www.detroitconference.org.

Posted in: Bishop Keaton,Detroit Conference,Paul Thomas,Redistricting Task Force