Detroit Annual Conference offers youth, young adults a place to explore and connect

• By Ang Hart, Detroit Conference Director of Youth and Young Adults •

“Don’t forget about us!”

Such a declaration might be the cry from youth and young adults in the United Methodist Church as the procedures, schedules and legislative jargon of annual conference start filling bulletins and meetings at local churches.

If a church is still finalizing whom to send as their “at-large laity member” for Detroit Annual Conference, they should consider sending a youth/ young adult. It will encourage them in their ministry to the world and connect them with other passionate young people in the United Methodist Church.
Annual Conference is one of the most exciting events of the year for United Methodists. We all get geared up to see each other, worship together, learn together and discuss important world issues as a body.

This is no different for young people. There are many different activities the young people can participate in that make Annual Conference special for them as well.

Youth who come to Annual Conference are instantly welcomed into the world of the Conference Council on Youth Ministries, or CCYM.

They are asked to come and sit with the other youth, and begin to make new friends.

For young adults it is a bit more scattered at the beginning, but there is a special schedule that they are invited to in order to get to know others, learn a bit more about the system, and be inspired.

For those who know a young adult going to conference, feel free to share this with them so they don’t feel so lost.

The youth stay on the same schedule as everyone else most of the time, but travel as a pack to be close to the adults in charge.

They get to do their own work after the day is done, which includes writing their own report, putting together their table for the ministry fair, and getting together whatever fundraiser they are doing for Youth Service Fund (YSF) or Saving People’s Lives and Spreading Hope (SPLASH).

(For more information on either of these topics, please contact Ang Hart, email below.)

The youth enjoy ice-cream socials and strawberry shortcakes just like everyone else, but with their own added twist of youth and energy.

Conference always ends with the youth getting to have a little fun with the Bishop and two District Superintendents — in front of everybody. It is a must-see part of conference, and the youth love to plan this out.

The young adults have a set schedule for the evenings so that they can be intentional about spending time together.

Wednesday night is the CCYAC’s meeting. The council gets most of its business done there so that the rest of conference is open to spend time with all of the young adults. If a young adult is interested in joining the commission, they are welcome to join them at this meeting.

Thursday the Commission invites all the young adults to dinner at the nearby Applebee’s. This is a time for the youth and young adults to kick back and make memories.

Friday is the Poetry Slam, where anyone is welcome to come bring his or her own work to read, and the Rev Jeff Nelson is the main attraction.

It is a spirit-filled event that is becoming quite a tradition. The location changes every year, but the young adults will pass out flyers to let people know where it will be held.

Saturday, the last night of conference, is just general hangout time, with board games and no shortage of fun.

Youth and young adults stay in the same dorm — as long as their registration form is properly marked.

If you want more information on all of the activities of the young people at Annual Conference, please contact Ang Hart at ahart@detroitconference.org.

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Clergy and lay leaders encouraged to participate in worldwide UMC leadership summit

By United Methodist Communications

United Methodist Church Leadership Summit April 6, 2011 Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the UMC Leadership Summit?

Sponsored by the Council of Bishops in cooperation with the Connectional Table, the Leadership Summit will be a simultaneous, worldwide, and interactive conversation about the role of the annual conference and its leaders in driving adaptive change for the UMC. All conferences, including the Detroit Annual Conference and West Michigan Annual Conference will be participating.

When Will It Be Held?

April 6, 2011 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p. m. Central Daylight Saving Time.

How Will It Take Place?

The summit will be webcast from Nashville, Tennessee with conversation groups organized in each episcopal area. Feedback questions and comments may be sent by email to presenters who will respond to as many as possible during the last hour of the summit. Any individual may participate live on the Internet by logging on to www.umcleadershipsummit.org.

What Will the Format Be?

The first hour will consist of presentations by the Council of Bishops and representatives of the Call to Action Steering Team, followed by an hour of guided conversation among participants in their own locations and then a final hour in which the presenters in Nashville respond to email questions posed by leaders around the world (questions may be sent to Summitquestions@umc.org and comments may be sent to Summitfeedback@umc.org)

Who Should Attend?

Lay and clergy leaders in United Methodist annual conferences around the world.

How Can Someone Participate?

It is preferred that persons gather in groups with a trained facilitator to help guide the conversation during the middle hour of the summit. Each bishop is free to organize as many such sites as needed in their annual conferences. Additionally, any individual may participate by logging on to www.umcleadershipsummit.org. Questions may be sent to Summitquestions@umc.org and comments may be sent to Summitfeedback@umc.org.

What Can Participants Expect?

• A clear and compelling summary from the Council of Bishops about the future of the UMC and the implications of the COB’s adoption of the Call to Action recommendations

• An opportunity for Holy Conversation with other leaders from their annual conference about how they can best lead toward increasing the number of vital congregations.

• A deeper awareness of how our identity and aspirations as United Methodists shape the ways we worship, learn and work together to fulfill our 21st century mission

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Detroit Conference names Director of New Faith Communities and Congregational Development

• By Paul Thomas, Detroit Conference Director of Communications •

The Rev. Dirk Elliott has been named the Director of New Faith Communities and Congregational Development for the Detroit Conference, it was announced today (Wed., March 23) by the Rev. Dr. Jerome (Jerry) DeVine, Director of Connectional Ministries, and the conference’s Personnel Committee. 

Elliott will officially begin his duties on July 1. 

The Director of New Faith Communities and Congregational Development is a new position and is part of the conference's focus on starting new churches and redeveloping existing congregations. 

The responsibilities of the position include creating partnerships within the conference and ethnic and multicultural communities in the area of new faith communities and the development of existing congregations, and partnering with the New Church Development Committee to train clergy and laity in starting new churches and developing existing ones. 

In addition, the position will be responsible for resourcing districts and existing local churches for forming new churches and congregational development. Funding for the position was included in the 2011 budget that was approved at the last annual conference session.

“It was extremely important to this work that we recruit someone that had significant experience with equipping a strong team for developing new faith communities and strengthening existing congregations,” DeVine said. “We are realigning our conference structure and resources to make this a priority, and are fortunate to have drawn in Dirk Elliott to lead this team. He has a decade of training, application and collaboration in this field, along with substantive pastoral experience. He is a key leader in the jurisdiction and national church developers’ network. We gain access to all of those innovative, entrepreneurial insights as Dirk joins our conference staff.”

Elliott joins the program staff of the Detroit Conference after serving as the Director of Congregational Development, Redevelopment and Evangelism for the East Ohio Conference since 2001. During those 10 years, he established the New Church Start Academy that trained pastors in church planting ministries. He also oversaw the starting of new churches in East Ohio and developed a process for identifying and recruiting church planters. Elliott also developed a coaching program, trainings and programs for the redevelopment of congregations, and coordinated the implementation of the conference's Healthy Church Initiative process of church redevelopment.

As part of his portfolio in East Ohio, Elliott also advised and assisted in developing a conference-wide Urban Plan and conference-wide Hispanic Plan. He also developed and implemented the Path 1-sponsored Lay Missionary Planning Network in the Cleveland, Ohio, area to plant new racial ethnic and multicultural faith communities.

Before his position on the East Ohio Conference staff, Elliott spent five years as the senior pastor at Bellpoint UMC in Delaware, Ohio. He also served appointments at North Lewisburg UMC in North Lewisburg, Ohio from 1991-97 and at Thurman and Vega UMCs in southwest Ohio from 1983-91. 

Elliott is a member of the General Board of Discipleship's Path 1 team, which is responsible for church planting throughout the denomination, and serves on the advisory board for the Bishop Rueben Job Center for Leadership Development. 

He is a Path 1 endorsed mentor coach, an associate certified coach with the International Coach Federation, and is a registered Natural Church Development coach. He also represented the West Ohio Conference as a delegate to the North Central Jurisdictional Conference in 2000 and 2004. 

Elliott is an ordained elder and member of the West Ohio Conference. He received his Masters of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary in 1990 and earned his Bachelor's degree from the University of Rio Grande (Ohio) in 1986.

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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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Addition by Subtraction: Detroit Conference begins process of making itself the 'right size' for 21st century ministry

By RJ Walters, Editor

One era is coming to a close and another is preparing for liftoff in the Detroit Annual Conference.

Michigan Area Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton officially announced on Jan. 12 that the conference will be reduced from seven districts to six on July 1 in an attempt to save money and re-fashion itself for ministry in the 21st century.

Keaton relied heavily on the recommendations of a 16-member Redistricting Task Force he put together after legislation was passed at annual conference on May 22 to reduce the number of districts.

“After consulting with the cabinet according to paragraph 415.4 of the 2008 (United Methodist) Book of Discipline, I have determined the boundaries of the new districts,” he said. “Most of the churches in Detroit East and West Districts will become a part of a Detroit Metropolitan District. Other districts will undergo minor changes, with one exception, namely Ann Arbor."

The new districts are based on slight modifications to the “conservative model” presented to Keaton by the Redistricting Task Force in December.

The other model presented was further reaching in changes to current district boundaries.

Three districts — Ann Arbor, Flint, and Saginaw Bay — will see increases in their number of churches, while the Marquette and Port Huron Districts will see a slight reduction in the number of churches.

The Conference Leadership Team will go through the process or renaming the districts in the next few months.

The biggest geographic shift will be seven churches leaving the Detroit West District for the Ann Arbor District.

Detroit Conference Director of Connectional Ministries Jerry Devine sees the fusion of the two

Detroit districts into one as a wonderful opportunity for new growth and partnership.

“I really believe at this time it’s beneficial to bring together Detroit as an entity…because re-thinking and re-birthing Detroit is going to take everybody,” he said. “The church is a part of resurrection — that’s our theology — so as we look at the future of Detroit and its surrounding communities and people, the church needs to come together as one body to really collaborate on a new level.”

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Breaking News: Carey named superintendent for new Detroit Metropolitan Area District

By Paul Thomas, Detroit Conference Director of Communications

Michigan Area Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton has announced that the Rev. Melanie L. Carey, lead pastor at Ypsilanti: First United Methodist Church, has been appointed to serve as a district superintendent in the Detroit Conference. Carey will be assigned to the newly formed district in the Metro Detroit area as of July 1, 2011.

“Melanie combines fruitful pastoral ministry, a wide variety of conference responsibilities done well, and a passion for social justice," Keaton said. "Whenever and whatever she has been asked to do has been done with excellence, enthusiasm and attention to detail, and I am confident that she will bring those same attributes to her work as superintendent for this new district in the Detroit metropolitan area. As a bilingual member of cabinet, she will broaden our collective experience and add to the depth of our discerning conversations.”

Ordained an elder in 1993, Carey has served three churches during her 20-year ministry. Carey led Hudson: First UMC from 1991-93 before being appointed as the associate pastor at Livonia: Newburg UMC, where she served for seven years (1993-2000).

In 2000, Carey was named to her current position at Ypsilanti: First UMC and is currently in her 11th year of ministry to that congregation. Ypsilanti: First UMC is one of the churches in the Detroit Conference that offers Hispanic/Latino ministries, including a weekly Spanish language worship service.

The congregation has also conducted a pair of Kingdom Assignment (kingdomassignment.org) programs, and has been able to grant money to over 20 churches within the conference to lead their own Kingdom Assignment campaigns.

"I am very humbled by this appointment," Carey said. "With this new district, there is an opportunity to create a new identity for The United Methodist Church in the Metro Detroit area. At this particular time in the history of our state, it is very critical that we bring the good news of Christ to the City of Detroit, to the suburbs and to our state. I look forward to the opportunity for us to do this work together."

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Young leaders flourishing in DAC’s Mission Intern Program

Carl Gladstone, a former mission intern.

By RJ Walters, Editor

A quick look at some of the top young leaders in the Michigan Area reveals many of them share a common thread.

It’s not just the crazy hours they are willing to work or the ingenious ministry ideas they come up with — for a lot of them there is a mutual agreement of where they learned to serve.

For the past 12 years the Mission Intern Program of the Detroit Annual Conference has utilized enthusiastic college-age adults to reach the poor and develop leadership qualities that apply to all facets of life. The only trouble, according to Conference Director of Discipleship Rev. Terry Gladstone — who helped construct the program — is that not enough people understand the vitality and importance of it.

As of 2009 four full-time conference missionaries were Mission Intern alumni, two were deacons and plenty more were leading lives focused on serving.

Detroit Conference Director of Youth and Young Adults Ang Hart said the program changed her life, social justice advocate and Newburg UMC Deacon Paul Perez was once an intern, and Gladstone’s son Carl was an intern for three summers before becoming the head of the Young Leaders Initiative, the Motown Mission Project and countless other causes.

The only problem was Carl had to relocate to Dallas, Tex. during the summers to be a mission intern of the General Board of Global Ministries.

That’s when mom stepped in.

“When he got back from (Project Transformation) and was telling me all about it things just clicked,” Terry Gladstone said. “At that point we had a program called the Vocational Intern Program, VIP, but nobody was using it anymore. It was largely because the places that wanted an intern couldn’t afford to pay for half of it, which you had to.”

She saw some money sitting in a fund allocated for VIP and had ideas from her son’s Project Transformation experience — thus the Detroit Conference program was born.

The first year a handful of interns participated in the eight-week long summer internship, earning a stipend for using their summer to engage in ministry with those in need.

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Detroit Conference health insurance rates to raise 10 percent in 2011

By Paul Thomas, Detroit Conference Director of Communications

The Detroit Conference Board of Pension and Health Benefits has informed local churches that the conference's health insurance rates for 2011 have risen by 10 percent over the rates for 2010. The 10 percent increase is below an earlier projection by the CBOPHB that figured a 15 percent increase in the rates.

According to a letter sent to clergy in the active group health insurance plan, staff-parish relations committee chairpersons, and selected conference agencies, the Rev. Don Emmert, conference benefits officer, stated that the increase is due primarily to the high rate of medical claims experienced by the group health plan in 2010. 

"While no one is satisfied and everyone struggles with these high costs, our recent conference claims trend has slowed enough to reduce the 2011 increase by a third," Emmert said.

Emmert also stated in the letter that the conference plan has experienced a cumulative increase of 26 percent over the last four years. That is less than the national average, which is 35-38 percent.

In addition to the increase in health insurance rates for 2011, Emmert reported that 63 percent of the eligible participants enrolled in the Virgin HealthMiles program. Those who have who have reached level 3 in the program, and either participated in the ProCheck for Health Screening at annual conference or had a physical during the year will earn financial credit for their salary-paying unit in December. 

Emmert said that a mailing will be sent in November to each participant along with a confirmation form that must be completed and returned in order to receive the credit.

Please visit www.detroitconference.org/benefits to view the 2011 health insurance rates, as well as information on how to enroll in the Virgin HealthMiles program. Those with questions my contact Emmert by phone at 810-233-5500 or by e-mail at demmert@detroitconference.org.

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Out of the city and into their hearts: Urban Methodist Youth Camp takes off in second go-round

Paddles boats and canoeing were first-time favorites for many campers.

By RJ Walters, Editor

“I came here because I was bored.”

“I came here because my momma said I need to do something other than play football.”

“I came here to learn the ways of God.”

These real statements by real middle-school youth from Metro Detroit demonstrate the need for the Urban Methodist Youth Camp at Judson Collins Campground in Onsted.

In its second year of summer programming it is providing crucial tools to strengthen faith, life skills, fitness and community for a group of energetic, moldable youth often left out in the church camping world.

If growth is an ample measuring stick for the success of a program then the urban camp isn’t just a phase, it’s a soon-to-be craze.

After having 118 high school and middle school youth pack the camp in 2009, camp leaders decided to break it into two weeks of fun and instruction in 2010.

The first week of August brought in 88 high school students and the following week was filled with the voices and laughter of 96 middle school students.

“They really, really look forward to it and they need it,” said Audrey Mangum, the camp’s program administrator. “Some don’t know what to expect — some have never been away from their parents and families.”

It does the body good
While campfires and marshmallows have their place, Urban Youth Camp is far from a traditional camping experience.

The Counselor vs. Campers basketball game was a hit.

One of its foundations is its athletic offerings, which range from basketball and volleyball to archery, cheerleading and ultimate Frisbee.

Prior to camp each participant chooses one offering to spend an “intensive” two hours developing skills and participating in each morning.

This year the camp also offered Latino dance and drums, and drama, for people who are more artistically driven.

Every afternoon also offers time for capture the flag competition, scavenger hunts, crafts, an array of tours and more.

This year some of the high school students even had the opportunity to do an overnight canoe trip that took them across several lakes to the nearby Lutheran campground.

“Canoeing is something a lot of urban kids have never experience before,” said Judson Collins Director Sarah Ratz. “Last week this girl was crying and didn’t want to go, but we put her in the lifeguard boat and at the end she said she was glad she got to do it. It’s really awesome to see people overcome fears here.”

Cliff Stallings, the Judson Collins’ dean for 43 years strong and the chairman of the Urban Methodist Youth Camp Council, said the purpose of all of the activities is to help the kids bond.

Digging deeper
Those connections only begin with the fun.

The theme this year is “Transformation,” and Rev. Carter Grimmett (People’s UMC) was the pastoral leader/speaker for the high school camp and Rev. Dr. Darryl Totty (Conant Avenue UMC) was in charge of the spiritual growth of the middle school students.

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Bishop's Column: A few scattering thoughts

By Michigan Area Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton

Kudos to everybody involved in the Detroit and West Michigan sessions of Annual Conference. Both of them were full of spiritual vitality, food, fun and fellowship, inspiring testimonies and hard work.

New this year, both sessions were live streamed. People in South America, Africa and Europe picked up our proceedings.

Friday morning worship, May 21, 2010, a number of people in the Detroit Conference celebrated their baptisms with pithy testimonies and symbolic water. (For video of that service click HERE) One of the baptized recalled his baptism by immersion in cold lake water at the top of the morning.

Most were baptized in church although another witness noted that she was baptized in the pastor’s office.

Tinged with emotion, another person recalled being baptized, the death of his mother six years later and the church supporting the family as a result.

Ordination in West Michigan Annual Conference provided an unexpected joy and blessing also.

Severe illness prevented Jennifer Jue’s elderly mother from attending her ordination as an elder June 6, 2010. She would have like to fly in to Grand Rapids from California, but instead, Jennifer’s mother watched via live feed.

She recognized her daughter among others, heard her name called, and witnessed the laying on of hands seated thousands of miles away.

The live streaming blessed and thrilled the mother, the daughter and countless others. Both conferences did an excellent job of “equipping…local churches for ministry…by providing a connection for ministry beyond the local church.” (Paragraph 601, 2008 United Methodist Book of Discipline))

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Joining hands on the front-line: The benefits of cooperative ministry and why it's not so hard to start

By RJ Walters, Editor

“…the more we get together the happier we’ll be.”

Kids sing it, and intrinsically most people realize it — but it seems like churches could always put that famous verse into action more effectively.

At the 2008 General Conference of the United Methodist Church cooperative ministries were a hot topic, with various resolutions passed to encourage the growth of cooperative parishes, projects and ministry initiatives. But applauding what has been accomplished through co-ops and convincing churches to initiate discussions about them has proven to be two very different things.

According to the 2009 Conference Journals, the Detroit Conference is home to five official cooperative parishes, while the West Michigan Conference has none officially recognized.

In a time of economic turmoil and diminishing membership numbers, more churches could benefit from looking at creating united fronts with the resources around them, and some Michigan Area UMC leaders are glad to vouch for the benefits of cooperative ministry.

“We do need to do a lot more of it,” said Detroit East District Superintendent Duane Miller, who is overseeing the development of a new cooperative parish startup in Oakland County. “A cooperative doesn’t force anything on anybody, it gives them an opportunity to explore things.”

A single match can start a fire

There’s no complicated jargon or overarching boundaries to hold churches back from considering the possibility of forming or joining a co-op.

Rev. George Covintree of Berkley First UMC simply sent out a letter to nine area churches to get the ball rolling for the Southeast Oakland Cooperative, which is still in its infancy, and the Eastside Cooperative Parish was born out of the prayers and dreams of a small group of pastors from the city and suburbs.

Miller was part of an official cooperative parish earlier in his ministry career, and he believes the best way to get people on board is to have church leaders reach out on a personal level.

“I’m in a position where I can sow the seed, but often the minute I call a meeting there’s resistance because ‘the District Superintendent is telling us what to do,’” he said. “I’ve been able to sit in on all these meetings, and I do contribute, but I don’t speak a whole lot…but their own initiatives and concerns are moving them forward rapidly.”

Covintree, who was part of the now-defunct Pontiac United Methodist Association co-op in the mid-90s, said a good place to start is to identify churches of similar size with similar needs, because then there can be a sympathetic, symbiotic approach going forward.

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Drawing others near to the Lord: Trio honored for work as evangelists

By RJ Walters, Editor

Three UMC members — one youth, one lay member and one clergy member — were awarded Harry Denman Evangelism Awards at the 2010 Detroit Annual Conference.
Denman was the founder of the Foundation for Evangelism, and each annual conference of the UMC has given out awards for “unusual and outstanding efforts for the work on Christian Evangelism” in his honor since 1981.
For more information on the award and foundation check out www.foundationforevangelism.org.

Youth Award, Elise Gotham, Albion College
Gotham will be a junior next year, striving to earn her degree in political science and Albion College chaplain Dan McQuown said she sets herself apart on campus by continually doing the Lord’s work.
“Elise has shared the Gospel abundantly in her young life, as part of the Albion College chaplain team and Christian community, her service in Haiti and Appalachia, and in Albion, and in reaching out to United Methodist high school (students),” he said. “Most importantly Elise has asked the hard questions. To the atheists she has asked, ‘Can you see God’s hand at work in your story?’ and to acquaintances, ‘Do you need to live a lifestyle that hurts you in order to have fun?’”

Lay Member Award, Lee Donley, Oxford UMC
Oxford UMC Rev. Doug McMunn said Donley has a heart for helping people of all ages, especially males —from fifth-grade students who he works with to making home visitations to elderly people.

“For four years I have watched Lee Donley, with a heart that is bigger than his chest, self driven to make one more disciple for Jesus Christ every day of his life,” McMunn said. “His true passion is to make disciples of men, citing research as he often does, that shows that when a married woman goes to church 37 percent of the time she brings her whole family with her, but when a married man goes to church 90 percent of the time he brings his whole family with him.”

Clergy Member Award, Mark Zender, Pastor Willow UMC
Zender has gone from a life filled with alcoholism to one of leading people toward God’s plan for their life in just over a decade.
After doing some church shopping 11 years ago, he finally ended up at the UMC of Garden City where his wife was attending.

He said he found the men of the church to be friendly and inspiring and being able to partake in communion was extremely satisfying.
Mark Spaw, who will become the Ann Arbor DS on July 1, commented on the awesome spiritual journey Zender has been on ever since.
“Gradually Mark has opened his life to God’s gift and he graciously continues to be one who shares what he has received,” Spaw said on behalf of Jerry Smith, who was Zender’s pastor at Garden City, but unable to be present. “Mark has the gift of relating to people in all stages and stations of life and his experiences have deepened, not destroyed his faith and he continues to share what God’s love has done in his life to help lead others to Him.”

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What does an Acts 2 church look like in 2010? Bishop Keaton explores the issue

If you'd like to see the full video of Bishop Jonathan Keaton preaching at the 2010 DAC click here. 

By RJ Walters, Editor

With his usual zest and animated spirit, Bishop Jonathan Keaton officially opened the Detroit Annual Conference by encouraging the 2010 church to look a little bit more like the 1st Century church described in Acts 2.

As it says in Acts 2:46-47 (NIV): “Every day they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, breaking bread from house to house, sharing their food with glad and humble hearts, praising God and having the good will of all the people.”

“The crowds shown in Acts 2 are looked at as the ideal church by some, focused on communion, prayer, teaching, helping others and all the things that should be important,” Keaton said. “But sometimes we focus so much on things like homosexuality, immigration and things that divide us.”

Keaton made note that nowhere in Acts 2 does it talk about denominational divide, Jews and gentiles being separate, or longtime believers distinguishing themselves from new ones.

What it does reflect though, he said, is Christian community flourishes through personal and social holiness — something that was exemplified by the late Sam Dixon (UMCOR head) and late Clint Rabb (Rev. and missionary), as well as mission worker Jim Gulley when they were trapped under the Hotel Montana following the devastating Haiti earthquake in January. Keaton talked about the faith they showed by referencing reports that they sang hymns together, repeatedly tried to lift the spirits of those around them and never gave up despite the grave circumstances.

“What happened to Sam Dixon and Clint Rabb and Jim Gulley was social and spiritual,” he said. “People like them showed that it’s not just about making disciples in the United Methodist Church, it’s about transforming the world.”

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LIVE FROM DAC 2010: The tale of the numbers

The sweating, disciple making, community building, story telling and debating of the 2010 Detroit Annual Conference is officially over.

The youth of the conference proved to be more than alive, the many different perspectives present converged to make some tough, but necessary decisions for the DAC, and the United Methodist Church proved to be grounded in connectionalism more than ever.

The next issue of The Michigan Area Reporter is set to ship by May 28 and it will be chalked full of stories and pictures from annual conference.

For now, head over to the Detroit Conference website for links to all of the videos, blogs and pictures of conference.

To give you a glimpse of what went on for four days here are some of the most important numbers coming out of conference and what they mean.

By RJ Walters, Editor

229,000,000 – The approximate number of steps that have been taking by eligible participants in the Virgin HealthMiles walking program. Check out www.virginhealthmiles.com/DAC for more information.

$9,737,237 — The adopted 2011 budget for the DAC, a slight decrease from the 2010 budget. $2,425,000 of that is for pensions.

$981,000 — The amount the conference gave to The Advance, a UMC ministry support program, in 2009. Adam Neal of The Advance provided the DAC with an award, recognizing it as the highest giver to missionary support of all the annual conferences in the North Central Jurisdiction for 2009.

94,679 — The total membership of the conference, down 2.24 percent from a year ago.

$79,000 — The total amount raised for various ministries during the annual conference.

$43,032 — Raised during the covenant offering for Haiti and Liberia

12,000 — Number of UMCOR health kits the conference put together in response to the Haiti earthquake during Lent.

8,812 — Pairs of underwear collected for underprivileged youth as part of the “Bishop's Seat Cover Project.”

13 – The age of the young participant at Annual Conference. Jacob Stone of Essexville: St. Luke’s UMC, moved adjournment for lunch on Sunday afternoon.

6 — The number of districts the DAC will have by July 1, 2011, one less than it has right now. It is the first reduction in nearly four decades.

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LIVE FROM DAC 2010: The day seven became six

By RJ Walters, Editor

For the first time in nearly four decades the Detroit Conference will be made up of less than seven districts.

The number of districts will be reduced from seven to six no later than July 1, 2011 thanks to legislation passed May 22 at the Detroit Annual Conference.

Laity and clergy members voted down amendments asking that the number of districts be reduced from seven to “six or five” or “five”.

The reduction of one district superintendent and all associated expenses will save the district approximately $210,000 in the first year, according to Council on Finance and Administration (CFA) chairperson Carol Johns.

Johns said the CFA analyzed a significant amount of data and had lengthy discussions to determine it was in the best interest of the DAC.

Conference church membership has fallen from 186,851 in 1970 to 94,679 in 2009, but the number of districts has remained unchanged and the number of clergy has actually risen.

“We believe the time has come to right-size our conference,” Johns said when presenting the resolution. “Our present setup was created to fit the needs of the conference in 1970.”

Bishop Jonathan Keaton will have the final say on how the districts are re-drawn to accommodate the change.

Rev. Jack Harnish of Birmingham FUMC prompted the discussion about the possibility of amending the resolution to state that the conference be to “six or five” districts, in hopes of providing more room for creativity in the future.

“Twenty-five years ago there was a plan to go from seven to six and while that exact plan probably wouldn’t work today, I believe we should give leadership and the Bishop some freedom and flexibility as they consider the reorganization of the districts,” he said. “We have all kinds of technology, from video to various ways of communicating that makes it much different than 1970.”

Several other people spoke in favor of the amendment, but Rev. Charles Boayue of Second Grace UMC thought the current superintendents should be afforded more time to work with their congregations that “have many needs right now.”

“How much more work can we expect them to do on top of what they already do and do we then have to redefine their jobs,” he said. “I do like the spirit of the amendment, in being more effective with our resources and money, but not the actual amendment.”

John Hart of the FUMC of Troy was on the other side of the spectrum, offering up the idea that the language simply be changed to read “five districts.”

“I want a number that’s proactive,” he said. “Let’s have the opportunity to implement some new ideas and this conference.”

When asked, Johns admitted the CFA had not researched or discussed the implications of reducing the number of districts to five.

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LIVE FROM DAC 2010: Roundup of the first evening of legislative actions

By RJ Walters, Editor

The fireworks of legislation at the 2010 Detroit Annual Conference got underway Friday evening — but it was only a preview of much work that is left to be done.

Five consent calendar items — legislative items that were deemed acceptable to be voted on as a package (from Thursday's legislative sessions) instead of through individual discussion —passed to get the ball rolling.

The resolutions that passed were R# 1 on pension benefit rates and Annual Conference apportionment recommendations, R# 12 on the CROP Walk, R# 13 dealing with the One Great Hour of Sharing, R# 15 which states the Heifer Project should include Liberia, and R# 17 which set the 2011 minimum base compensation schedule.

The one item pulled from the consent calendar Friday, was R #8, the much-discussed resolution proposing the reduction of the number of DAC Districts from seven to six.

A resolution to have the item discussed on the floor tomorrow was passed when VIM Haiti Team Leader Don Gotham said he "would like to remove it from the consent calendar due to the significant change in the life of the body it would signify."

Passing after some discussion on the floor was R# 2, dealing with improving education and reducing poverty in Michigan, and R# 3, which is for high speed internet in all churches.

Prior to R# 2 passing amendments were made to it, getting rid of the wording that said, "It shall be resolved that funding for such projects shall come from reducing the FY 2011 Defense Budget by at least $100 billion," and "our federal income taxes would fund the efforts."

Currently the resolution is unfunded.

For more information on the resolutions left to be voted on click here.

To watch tomorrow's morning plenary session live, where these debates will continue, please click here.  

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LIVE FROM DAC 2010: Small feet filling big wells

By RJ Walters, Editor

Bishop Jonathan Keaton expected to receive plenty of welcome greetings during the 2010 Detroit Annual Conference, but a check for $8,168.70 from a 12-year old?

Only Kelly Erickson of Plymouth FUMC could have imagined that.

The middle-school student presented Keaton with a check that will provide enough money to build three clean drinking wells for 9,000 people in Liberia through The Advance’s Water For Life project.

Erickson said she saw an advertisement speaking of the hardships Liberians were forced to endure just to get clean water, and she decided to pitch the idea to her local church.

One year, and what she said was a 78-hour time investment later, Erickson achieved her goal.

“Sixty-eight percent of Liberians rely on rivers, ponds, swamps and unfiltered wells to get their water,” she said. “This situation is worse during the dry season.”
Liberia has been devastated by more than 14 years of civil war, thus basic necessities are not always easy to come by.

Plymouth FUMC matched the first $3,000 the project sowed and Erickson said local businesses, schools and organizations made her vision a reality.

The project’s slogan was, “Can you help build a well one dollar at a time?” and her father created a website (www.wellsinafrica.ericksonflute.com). The duo also produced silicon wristbands to pass out to supporters.

Erickson’s presentation, as well as that of 17-year old Jessica Arnold of Waterford UMC, who continues to collect money for a Liberian school, overjoyed Keaton.

“If God can touch two young women with ideas, one 12, one 17, what else do I need to say? It’s in the spirit, it’s in the flesh…and I just got a check for $8,000 — that’s not too bad,” he said.

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LIVE FROM DAC 2010: What the Transcontinental Railroad and our five senses can teach us about church leadership

Many stories will be flowing out of the 2010 Detroit Annual Conference for the next issue of the Reporter — here is just one example. Also, check out the right column for a video from the opening worship session Thursday. 

By RJ Walters, Editor

The building of the Transcontinental Railroad and an evaluation of the five senses of the human body might seem like peculiar discussion points to start off the 2010 Detroit Annual Conference. But one of the nation’s leading Methodist scholars used history and basic anatomy to remind laity members how every person can be a leader and a follower — often within the same day — to accentuate the strengths of Christ’s church around the world.

Dr. Lovett H. Weems, Jr., a distinguished Professor of Church Leadership and Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. inspired lay members by focusing on the concept of “multiple leadership” in a session at Adrian College Thursday morning.

Weems argued that instead of people wasting time trying to figure out what type of leaders they are or churches debating who should have specific leadership roles, congregations should look at members and ask, ‘What can they do?’, especially when it comes to youth and young adults.

“There can never be too many leaders,” he said. “People think if they have a pie and more people come to share the pie, they will get a smaller piece. But power is expandable so the more pie other people have, the more pie you have.”

Drawing on the teachings of 1Corinthians 12:14-20, which refers to the ‘many parts of one body,’ Weems said people have five senses to help them experience things, but often times one takes over and dominates while the others take a break.

He also referred to the book Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869 by Stephen Ambrose, to help laity understand that great achievements often take the hard work of many, even if only a few people get the deserved credit.

After writing the book, Ambrose admitted it was difficult to decide whom to focus on, because everyone from Abraham Lincoln to congressmen to engineers to laborers had an incredible impact on the revolutionary project.

Weems said in the end Ambrose decided to write about all of them because “without each one doing their part the Transcontinental Railroad would have never happened.”

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Let the water flow, but also let the video stream!

By RJ Walters, Editor

For the first time ever the Detroit Conference Annual Conference is showcasing live video streaming all weekend long. The much esteemed Lovett H.Weems can be seen teaching, Bishop Keaton will be preaching and the inner-judiciary actions of the conference are live for the first time.

Later today look for an update from the first day of conference, including a story on Weems comparison of the building of the Transcontinental Railroad to that of looking for leaders and understanding leadership in the local church.

But for now, please join us at Adrian College by simply click right HERE.

And check back later for the video archive from day one.

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Mission-based resolutions of Detroit Annual Conference look to increase global involvement

By RJ Walters, Editor

Among the resolutions being voted on at the Detroit Annual Conference, four of them could widely be considered mission-based initiatives.

There is a motion to encourage every single church in the conference to participate in the CROP Walk at some point during the next year.

CROP Walk is a fund-raising and hunger-education event that supports self-development, assists with emergency needs and helps to address the root causes of poverty and hunger.

Rev. Margie R. Crawford, the Chair of the Detroit Annual Conference Hunger/UMCOR Committee says the conference needs to make a renewed commitment to fighting hunger.

Last year CROP Walks contributed over $4 million to U.S. food pantries alone.

Another motion offered by Crawford is that the conference should set a goal for a minimum offering of $1.75 per member for the 2010-11 One Great Hour of Sharing Offering.

The special offering helps with the administrative costs of UMCOR, which has garnered nationally attention recently for its work in Haiti.

Rev Eric A. Stone and Dr. Floyd Stevens, members of a VIM team that went to Liberia in December 2009, have proposed a resolution to add Liberia as a recipient country for the conference’s involvement with the Heifer project.

Heifer International provides gifts of livestock and plants, as well as education in sustainable agriculture, to financially-disadvantaged families around the world.

Some churches have recently talked about boycotting Heifer International to focus more on UMCOR and UMC missions, but Stone and Stevens said there are numerous opportunities in Liberia considering the conference’s relationship with the Liberia Annual Conference.

George Jonté, the Peace with Justice and Bread for the World Chairperson, is asking for a resolution to be passed that a total of 21 churches, at least three per district, become covenant partners with the hunger-fighting organization Bread for the World.

The average covenant church gives upwards of $500 a year to worldwide resources to end hunger and they also commit themselves to further educating their congregation about food needs around the world, while offering support and prayers.

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