Column: What to expect at the 2011 Detroit Annual Conference

• By Jerry Devine, Detroit Conference Director of Connectional Ministries •

“Lord, when was it that we saw you?” (Matthew 25:37 NRSV)

Within just a few days we will welcome one another at our 2011 Detroit Annual Conference session. 

Our theme this year, “When Did We See You, Lord?” is grounded in Jesus’ teachings in the Gospel of Matthew. It is an expression of one of our four denominational foci — ministry with the poor.

To incarnate our theme we intentionally requested practical items for the Adrian area outreach. We offer our gratitude to Adrian First United Methodist Church and Rev. Gary Dawes for coordinating this effort.

Jesus made it very clear in his way of living and teaching that his followers were to be aware of and responsive to the needs of others, and that in doing so we are connecting to Christ himself. See our DAC website, www.detroitconference.org for a list of the items being accepted to help the local food pantry and other denominational initiatives.

The hope of the DAC Program Committee is that when over a thousand United Methodist disciples gather together, life for others will be made better because of our presence. Additional opportunities to be in ministry at annual conference will be to bring Haiti medical supplies, Bishop’s “seat covers” (new undergarments that will be distributed across our conference), and to be prepared for a special Covenant Offering for Haiti and Liberia.

Once again, this year we will live-stream all of the worship services and plenary sessions so that local churches can not only be informed but be a part of the gathering. We have expanded the Ministry Fair table space so there will be an even more creative environment. This year we have arranged for the Fair to be on Friday evening at the same time and location as the Methodist Children’s Home Strawberry Shortcake Social. It will be a festive opportunity to see one another and to see how Christ is working through various ministries.

We have business to care for as well. There are 10 resolutions related to our annual conference and 16 petitions related to the 2012 General Conference.

One of the ten resolutions is the proposed creation of a modified New Church Development Committee.

It is an intentional strengthening of this work of creating new places for new people. How we organize our shared life and structure says a great deal about where our priorities are. Likewise, how we spend our shared funds says the same. This year you will see a reduced and more focused 2012 budget request. 

The Conference Leadership Team portion prioritizes church growth, leadership development and congregational vitality in a diverse demographic.

For those who love details you can peruse the Standing Rules and Structure. While much remains the same each year, this year we will see a streamlined structure for the Board of Global Ministries. The board brought this forward in order to free people up to be directly involved in areas of passion and calling. The desire is to connect people directly to ministry, not simply place them on an agency.

Finally, we will make decisions about leadership. We will see this in the immense work done by the Conference Nominations Committee as they sought to bring appropriate gifts and more diverse voices to many of our conference agencies.

At a time when multiple studies are taking place on the future of our denomination and our methods of recruiting, credentialing and deploying clergy, we will discern and elect four ordained clergy and four laity as our delegates to the 2012 General Conference.

We will elect an additional equal number for the 2012 Jurisdictional Conference. We will celebrate the leadership of those clergy who retire from active service this year, along with celebrating with those who are now to be licensed, commissioned or ordained. Developing principled Christian leaders is yet another of the four foci of the denomination.

We are United Methodists as we gather. May we see Christ in one another.

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Adrian College Chaplain's new book linking the Wesleyan tradition of holy love to social justice hits the shelves

• By RJ Walters, Editor •

In an era of 10-step guides and church management policies that seem to change as often as the Michigan weather, the Rev. Christopher P. Momany, chaplain at Adrian College, believes new movements of the United Methodist Church have a lot to gain from a little “old-school” Wesleyan theology.

His new book "Doing Good: A Grace-Filled Approach to Holiness", released May 1 by Abingdon Press, is a short (80 pages) four-session teaching guide written to help shepherd individuals and small groups in their understanding of John Wesley’s approach to holiness.

“We have holiness churches, holiness traditions, and often holiness is thought of as separation or being separate or set aside or of a pure realm,” he said. “I don’t deny that, but if you look at Jesus as the expression of God’s love, it’s radically participatory, so what I do is I argue for a holiness that is not removed and separate, but involved and affirming.”

Momany said the book will focus on four key areas: an exploration of the Wesleyan approach to law and grace, a look at how people can match faith with action, tools for Christian educators to use in teaching important Wesleyan doctrine and strategies to express Christianity in ways that attract others to God and the life of the church.

Momany is a strong proponent of getting people to understand their intrinsic worth in God’s kingdom and he said his book is designed to link the Wesleyan tradition of holy love to social justice.

“If I were to come at college students with a lot of management theory and magic keys to growing the church and congregational tips for measuring success and failure and all that stuff, all the people I work with who are already burned out by Christianity would, would either roll their eyes or yawn,” Momany said. “But if I come out and say, ‘This guy Jesus is terrific and look at this ethic and this way of living love because of the way God lived love for us,’ we’re getting a lot of second looks.”

The book is available for purchase through Cokesbury, as well as other online vendors such as Amazon.com.

To order through Cokesbury, visit one of their 60 retail locations, call their customer service center at 800-672-1789, or visit www.cokesbury.com.

Momany said an e-book edition for the Kindle and Nook would be released later this month.

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Student-led parable series a success at Adrian College

• From Adrian College News Services •

Throughout the past spring semester students at Adrian College have had the opportunity to preach the parables of Jesus to their fellow students during weekly services held Wednesdays at noon in Herrick Chapel on campus.

The idea to have a student led series stemmed from conversations with the students of the Religious Life Council. Students signed up for a particular parable that interested or resonated with them and then set a date to preach it. After choosing their parable students would take several weeks to prepare their thoughts on the topic.

“Everyone has taken the task seriously and has “lived” with the parable for several weeks,” said the Rev. Chris Momany, supervisor for this project. “I encouraged the students to talk with me, but I don’t look over anyone’s shoulder with a preconceived expectation. By the time they drop by and talk with me, they have already done some serious praying and studying—often consulting scholarly sources on their topic.”

Throughout Momany’s experiences he has grown to understand and appreciate how difficult it can be to prepare teaching these parables, and has been impressed with the work these students have demonstrated.

“They [the students] have offered some of the best interpretation I have ever heard around these texts,” Momany said. “I don’t think anything I have heard or learned has been deeper or more principled than the work of our student this semester in chapel.”

The series began in January and will conclude this Wednesday with a lesson from AC senior Kyle Bucholz during the noon service in Herrick Chapel.

“I suppose I am most proud of the depth and insight shared by the students,” Reverend Momany said when asked what he was most proud about regarding the student preaching series. “They are all very different people, and they all have different styles. Yet each and every person has reached down and found something we would have missed as a worshipping community had they not been there to show us. Overall, I found it to be profoundly authentic—real in a way that is hard to describe.”

Reverend Momany attended Princeton Seminary, did his doctoral work at Drew University, and then studied at the nationally-selected post-doctoral preaching program with The United Methodist in Nashville, TN.

For more information please contact Momany at cmomany@adrian.edu.

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Adrian College helps save lives, wins coveted trophy

By Ashley Mittelmeier, Adrian College communications office

After six weeks of competition, Adrian College and Michigan State University captured the Gift of Life Campus Challenge trophies. The annual organ donor drive involved 20 colleges and universities from across the state, to see which school could sign up the most people to the Michigan Organ Donor Registry.

Adrian College, in its first year competing, had the greatest ratio of donor registrations to student population, with more than 15 percent registering to become organ, tissue and eye donors. Michigan State University recruited the most donor registrants, with 1,246 donor registrations attributed to the school.

In total, the participating schools inspired 4,283 people to join the Donor Registry, offering hope for a second chance at life to the 3,000 Michigan patients waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, and thousands more who need tissue transplants to regain mobility or vision, and to relieve chronic pain. Each donor has the potential to save up to 8 lives through organ donation, and improve the quality of life for 50 more through tissue and cornea donation.

“We are impressed with the enthusiastic support of college students all across the state,” said Richard Pietroski, Gift of Life Michigan CEO. “In a few short weeks they have educated and motivated thousands of Michigan residents to make a generous commitment to saving lives.”

Students on each campus employed a variety of creative methods to inspire students, faculty, staff, alumni and fans to join the Donor Registry. Students staffed donor registry sign-up tables on campus and at sporting events, stuffed information cards into dormitory mailboxes, handed out flyers in classes, put up posters, published newsletter articles, created videos, sent text messages and used social media like Facebook and Twitter.

The Gift of Life Campus Challenge is the largest college-based organ donor drive in the nation, and has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for its success. In its 8 years the Campus Challenge has resulted in more than 28,000 people adding their names to the Michigan Organ Donor Registry.

Since 2007, Michigan residents who join the Donor Registry have a red heart symbol placed on the front of their driver’s license or state ID card. Those who signed up previously, or who signed the back of their license, are asked to update their donor registration to obtain the red heart donor symbol. Joining the Donor Registry takes less than a minute at www.giftoflifemichigan.org. Residents can also join by calling Gift of Life at 800-482-4881 or visiting any Secretary of State branch office.

Gift of Life Michigan is the state’s federally designated full-service organ recovery organization that acts as the intermediary between donors, physicians and hospital staff.

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Details divulged for 2011 Detroit Annual Conference

The 2011 Detroit Annual Conference will run May 19-22.

By RJ Walters, Editor

With a distinct focus on engaging in ministry with the poor, the 2011 Detroit Annual Conference will strive to answer the question, “When Did We See You, Lord?”

The May 19-22 session at Adrian College will highlight the text of Matthew 25:35-40 to educate attendees on one of the United Methodist Church’s Four Areas of Focus.

As part of this focus area, The United Methodist Church seeks to “promote awareness of poverty and advocacy for change, support adequate funding for antipoverty initiatives at all government levels, and engage local congregations as advocates of justice and economic development.”

Matthew 25:35-40 was an inspiration for annual conference committee members to plan around: “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me … whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (NIV)

As part of engaging in ministry with the poor, attendees are encouraged to participate in a medical supplies collection for Haiti (see www.detroitconference.org for details), which is being coordinated by the conference Board of Global Ministries.

In addition, the Program Committee and Adrian FUMC are partnering to do a collection of food pantry items that will be distributed in Adrian.

Clergy and lay members are asked to bring any of the following items: diapers and wipes for infants through size 6, toilet paper, boxed milk (that does not require refrigeration), canned fruit and cereal.

“We want to be able to say that when the United Methodist Church comes to your community, how is the community different because of that?” said Jerry Devine, Detroit Conference Director of Connectional Ministries. “How does the light of Christ shine because we have been there? Does it matter? It aught to, and I think we can ask that of any one of our churches.”

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Adrian College Chaplain: We Are Seldom Ever Prepared

By Adrian College Chaplain Chris Momany
As published on the General Board of Higher Education & Ministry website

This year I heard the best Advent sermon in more than twenty years of ministry. It was preached by one of my college students, and his message underscored the way we are seldom ready for God’s majestic love.


Joseph and Mary were hardly prepared for the reality given them. Are we any better prepared? If Advent is all about preparation, let’s be honest. We are seldom ready for the wonder of Christmas.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. Preparation can be little more than a way to control our environment.

It is a splendid irony that the best preparation opens our hearts to the possibility that life is not about controlling our fate. I do not say this to excuse purposelessness. I know myself better than that. I am a certifiable control freak most of the time, and I bear a deep anxiety about disorder.

I like the rationale of cause and effect, especially when I possess power over the former. Christmas can seem like a tidal wave – the obligations, family pressures, and cultural demands. Yet the problem has more to do with my desire for control than with the event itself. We are never really prepared for the majesty of God’s love, but grace comes from a realm beyond expectation. That is why we call it Good News.

Seasons like Advent and Christmas make me ponder many things about our church. At the risk of speaking heresy, I question our increasing obsession with models of ministry that worship power and control. Many of these approaches are borrowed from the business world. There is nothing wrong with being intentional about mission, but in an attempt to remain “relevant” we risk swapping the inheritance of grace for a mess of pottage.

Especially dangerous is the conditional nature of many popular “leadership” models. There are always strings attached to the relationships involved. These approaches portray the church’s challenge as a matter of offering better services in an increasingly efficient manner. This may inspire some, but do we really need to be more like the cable company or other self-interested commercial ventures? 

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Liberation through exploration at Adrian College

By RJ Walters, Editor

More than 250 students are involved in regular spiritual activities at Adrian College — some with traditional United Methodist backgrounds and others far from that.

Take junior literature major Meela Zecevic for example. Her father was “like Muslim and Catholic” when she was growing up, while her mother was “like Muslim and Christian” before they moved to Germany and became Jehova’s Witnesses.

Adrian junior Meela Zecevic.

Now she said she guesses the family considers themselves “some form of Christian” living in the United States and Zecevic said Adrian College has been the perfect place to explore her spirituality and purpose in life.

Recently she was honored to give a speech relating to the Biblical story of Daniel and the lion’s den at a Wednesday chapel service.

Chaplain Chris Momany said students have been leading chapel for about a year now and it gives them a chance to relate with fellow students on a whole new level.

“At first I had to re-read it and then for a little while I was kind of irritated at Daniel,” Zecevic said. “So I didn’t want to bad-mouth Daniel or whatever, so I put it aside for a while and like a week before I started writing about it and I decided to talk to everybody about how the story relates to us all when times are tough and that pretty much if you believe in yourself enough you’ll get a lot of things done that you need to get done.”

She said “being on the other side” was empowering and she’d love to do more public speaking.

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Intellectually proud, doctrinally sound: Adrian College weaves together academics and theology

By RJ Walters, Editor

If a bridge was ever constructed in Southeast Michigan with the purpose of bringing together scholars and theologians, Adrian College would seem to be a fitting home for such a landmark.

Campus Chaplain Chris Momany is not only an ordained deacon and elder of the United Methodist Church, he is a history buff, social justice advocate, author, teacher and firm believer that sometimes simpler is better for the church.

And if you’ve never heard of Asa Mahan — spend five minutes in a room with Momany and you’ll quickly realize that one of the founding fathers of Adrian College in the late 1850s is alive and relevant on campus today thanks to Momany’s affection for his theoretic and principles.

Mahan was a vigorous proponent of emancipation — not surprising considering Adrian College was part of the Underground Railroad and still today is a major proponent of ending human trafficking — and Momany especially likes his writing’s about Christian perfection and holiness.

Not For Sale human-trafficking awareness group.

“It’s a joke around here that I’m always going to work his name into something, the students say,” Momany said. “He was just a phenomenal guy around the Wesleyan tradition of Christian perfection. He was big on radical perfection, or holiness…”

Posters and fliers litter campus denoting a new “Intrinsic Worth” campaign that students have spearheaded and Momany believes Mahan’s interpretations of what it means to be a socially active Christian are germane for the 21st century.

The worship team seems to agree, often donning T-shirts with Mahan’s likeness on them, affirming their desire to be involved in people’s lives through Christian love.

“The real core value is that he is interpreted holiness as love, which is a Wesleyan idea,” Momany said. “Mahan did that and then you say, OK, how do you interpret love? And he basically said love is an affirmation of the intrinsic worth of people.”

Marrying his in-depth “church knowledge” with his more academic side, Momany has written a book titled Doing Good: A Grace-filled Approach to Holiness, set to come out through the Abingdon Press sometime between March and May 2011. He said it is a relatively short four-session study guide for churches and leaders to use as they explore what the true definition of holiness is and what it should look like in the church.

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Adrian College announces Fall chapel series: A new look at old Bible stories

By Ashley Mittelmeier / Adrian College

Adrian College presents its 2010 Fall Chapel Series Old School Stories All Grown Up on Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010. This series will acknowledge the challenge when familiar Bible stories open new questions.

Many questions are raised with standard interpretations of texts, only to discover later in life that there are discrepancies or troubling implications among these stories. College students are especially sensitive to this dynamic.

Writer/thinker Paul Ricoeur suggested that we might pass through three perspectives of understanding: a first naivete, when we do not question texts, a critique (and perhaps crisis) posture, when we face intellectual challenges to the text, and a second naivete, when we might receive new meaning and depth within the tradition.

College students often inherit a first naivete, and scholars sometimes act as if critique marks the end of exploration. What if intellectual exploration expressed both savvy awareness of the text and warm embrace of the faith?

This worship series was designed by the students of the Adrian College Religious Life Council. Each semester this student-led body ponders a theme for weekly worship life and designs a series.

Our students are at their best when they dont import off the shelf or pre-packaged program, said Dr. Chris Momany, chaplain at Adrian College. They engage the sacred writings on their own terms and ask their own questions. Its really amazing to learn from them.

The chapel series will be held on Wednesdays at noon in the Adrian College Herrick Chapel throughout the fall semester. The services are ecumenical (open to all) and about 45-minutes long. They feature contemporary music, prayer, and a brief meditation on the biblical text. Guests from the community are most welcome.

For more information, please contact Dr. Chris Momany at 517-265-5161 ext. 4211 or via e-mail at cmomany@adrian.edu. 

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Adrian College opens government relations office

By Ashley Mittelmeier / Adrian College

Adrian College is excited to announce that the newly founded office of government relations is open. The College has spent the past few months establishing this important department to campus.

The Adrian College Office of Government Relations focuses on collaboration efforts with the senators, congressmen and representatives on a local, regional and national level. Through this office, the College seeks opportunities to foster economic development, and to uplift the community, county, and region in an environmentally sustainable manner.

It is essential for higher education institutions to have a great working relationship with the local, state and federal government in order to see continued growth in academic programming, said Adrian College Executive Vice President, Rick Creehan.

Creehan commented that the government has an invested interest in educating today's students for tomorrows jobs.

Adrian College has been very fortunate over the past five years as our government officials have recognized the quality education at Adrian and have offered grant assistance in the sciences, he said.

Government Relations has become an integral part of the strategic plan at Adrian College.

The College is a nonpartisan institution and as an IRS designated 501(c)(3) organization, does not endorse any political party. The office seeks to expand existing relationships with all levels of government and to identify strategic funding opportunities.

In addition, the office serves as a resource for members of various elected offices and their staffs for information about the College on a variety of issues, ranging from higher education funding to the environment and sustainability. When appropriate, the office strives to create opportunities for dialogue between college administrators and government officials and legislators on issues and polices that may directly affect Adrian College and the community at large.

Katie Frye Hammond has been named the director of government and foundation relations. Hammond, along with Executive Vice President Rick Creehan, will run the office of government relations, enhancing the communication between Adrian College and government officials.

I am very appreciative of the confidence President Docking has placed in Katie and myself to serve and represent Adrian College in this capacity, said Creehan. Katie is extremely knowledgeable of the appropriations process in both Lansing and Washington, D.C.

Hammond joined the Adrian College team as director of corporate and foundation relations in September 2008. Through her leadership, the College has received several grants to support various academic areas including the recent gifts toward Downs Hall and the Operation Education program. She embodies a commitment to academic excellence with an overall interest in the successful education of young people.

Through her diligence and hard work, the College has received over one million dollars in grants, commented Creehan.

For more information, please contact Katie Frye Hammond in the office of government relations at 517-264-3910 or via e-mail at khammond@adrian.edu.

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Historians to Study Adrian College’s Antislavery Tradition

By Ashley Mittelmeier, Adrian College

The antislavery witness of Adrian College will highlight a major conference organized by the North Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church held on campus, July 5-8.

Historians and archivists from nine states of the denomination will gather around the theme, “The Methodist Anti-Slavery Connection.” The conference will also celebrate 200 years of Methodism in Michigan. While a church event, the gathering has been coordinated by Adrian College graduates Diana Spitnale Miller ’67 and Marilyn Munsell McNitt ’73.  

Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton will lead opening worship on Monday, July 5, and Tuesday will feature a bus tour of southeastern Michigan Underground Railroad sites. Speakers include Ms. Kimberley Davis of the Underground Railroad Research Center, Dr. William K. Quick, Detroit Annual Conference archivist Matthew May, and Adrian College Chaplain Chris Momany.

Dr. Momany will speak to Adrian College’s antislavery tradition during the organization’s annual dinner and program, Wednesday, July 7 at 7:30 P.M. at the First United Methodist Church of Adrian.

 “Church folk are looking to Adrian College for historical perspective and contemporary leadership,” said Momany. “They will probe some time-tested themes while here and learn about the contemporary anti-trafficking movement.  History will meet the future at this convocation.”

Those interested in attending are invited to contact Marilyn McNitt at 734-971-7045 or via mail at 3400 LaSalle Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48108.

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WEB EXCLUSIVE: Celebrating the young adult spirit at Michigan's Methodist colleges this spring

By RJ Walters, Editor

While there are only two Methodist colleges in Michigan, it is always exciting this time of year to celebrate another class of graduates from Adrian College and Albion College and consider what young minds are up to.

While The Reporter will occasionally provide some stories from the college's respective campus chaplains, there are other media outlets doing a nice job of showcasing the colorful triumphant spirit this time of year at the southern Michigan schools.

Adrian College recently added a new wrinkle to pits playbook by having highly-lauded, much-celebrated Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo as its commencement speaker last weekend.

Instead of bragging about his Final Four runs, which are seemingly the expectation now, he humbly announced how appreciative he was to have the chance to speak at such a wonderful college.

“No matter what you choose to be, shoot for the moon. Don’t be afraid to dream big. Most people are,” Izzo said, according to a well-written article by the Adrian Daily Telegram.

He revealed his 10 building blocks for success: communication, teamwork, leadership, passion, listening, self-motivation, handling adversity, choices, accountability and knowing right from wrong.

Izzo's speech is worth reading about in more detail, and a variety of sources are there to give various perspectives on the event, although my money is on the hometown paper in this case.

• Izzo tells Adrian College grads to 'Dream Big' by the Adrian Daily Telegram 
• Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, to Adrian grads: Reach high by the Detroit Free Press

While he gave students hope to achieve future dreams, Albion College is preparing for its commencement this weekend with a look back at some of its most successful graduates the past 10 years. Success is in the eye of the beholder and certain world views do tend to overemphasize material success, but the Albion College media team has put together a list of hardworking, inspiring grads nonetheless.

The 'Top 10 in 10' have done everything from start businesses to research advancements in medicine, to becoming great teachers and working with nonprofits, or playing music for a living.

For a rundown of the 10 recipients to be honored Saturday click here.

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Detroit Conference Annual Conference: The who, why and how (to register)

By Paul Thomas, Communications Director Detroit Conference

Registration materials for the Detroit Annual Conference available HERE

“Wherever the water flows … life will flourish … life abounds!" will be the theme for the 43rd session of the Detroit Annual Conference, the conference Program Committee announced recently.

The 2010 annual conference session will take place Thursday-Sunday, May 20-23, on the campus of Adrian College in Adrian, Mich.

The conference Program Committee also announced that the Rev. Dr. Lovett H. Weems, Jr. will be the featured speaker during the conference. Weems is the Distinguished Professor of Church Leadership and Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.

He is also the author of Take the Next Step: Leading Lasting Change in the Church; Leadership in the Wesleyan Spirit; Church Leadership: Vision, Team, Culture, and Integrity; and John Wesley’s Message Today. In addition, Weems is the editor of the online newsletter, Leading Ideas, available free at www.churchleadership.com.

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