• By RJ Walters, Editor •
The energized spirits of roughly 1,000 visiting disciples of the United Methodist Church joined together in worship and holy conferencing to create a presence that was not to be tamed at the first-ever Miracle Saturday at the 2011 West Michigan Annual Conference.
Seats in the upper deck were occupied by smiling, curious souls who had only heard about a “gathering called annual conference” and the electricity in Van Noord Arena was visibly greater than usual on June 4.
Powerful messages on prioritizing ministry with the poor at local churches were delivered by the Rev. Rudy Rasmus of St. John’s UMC in Houston and the Rev. Thomas Kemper, the General Secretary of the General Board of Global Ministries.
Combined with nearly 50 different workshops for participants to engage in, Miracle Saturday was the kind of event that brought relative newcomers to annual conference into the fray, providing them with a fresh perspective of what it means to be part of a connected body of believers.
“Miracle Saturday provided a unique and necessary coming together and unity at the end of a long and sometimes contentious four days of debate,” said Don Defoe, a member of the United Methodist Church of the Dunes who was an annual conference voting member for the first time. “My wife Barb, was among those who participated and it was a nice opportunity for her to experience annual conference. I can't think of any measure by which it would not be judged a complete success.”
He said Rasmus’ message really drove home the importance of constantly finding new ways to work with the poor rather than trying to just throw services at them.
Rasmus explained how his church has grown from nine to more than 9,000 since 1992 by shedding light on how God used his own struggles as an African American student in an all-white school district to minister to others.
“By sharing some of the intimate details of his own, as well as his family's personal struggles and experiences, he related to each and every one of us at multiple levels,” Defoe said. “He showed us how reaching out to others has the power to heal and calm us through the power of Jesus Christ and his endless and undying love for humankind.”
Defoe’s experience at Miracle Saturday was not uncommon.
Sally Ammerman, a member of the First United Methodist Church of Albion since 1975, said her first trip to annual conference was memorable for a number of reasons.
She said she had a great time making new friends at the daily meals and she especially enjoyed re-connecting with people she has met from all over the West Michigan Conference over the years.
“It was good to see more people,” she said. “I was surprised to see so many pastors who I had been taught by in churches over the years and it was great to know they are still so involved with the church.”
She praised the zest of the keynote speakers and she admitted the worship music was one of her favorite components of conference.
Defoe said events like Miracle Day re-affirm his decision to join the United Methodist Church five years ago, after growing up in and eventually becoming an ordained Deacon and Elder in the Presbyterian church.
“Despite the long hours, hard work and controversy, annual conference was filled with amazing spiritual highs, and vivid examples of what our church is doing to make the world a better place and to claim and reclaim souls for Jesus Christ,” he said. “As we drove back to Grand Haven from annual conference on Saturday evening, I said to my wife, I now know even more than before, why we became Methodists and why we love the church.”
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