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By Jackie Campbell

The guest preacher, Bishop William Willimon of North Alabama, reinforced the need to light some fires, noting that while the early Methodists went where people were, “at some point our church decided to content itself with what it was and it stopped going to the people. Churches are where the people used to be and…at some point we decided to love our building more than our people.”

 

Pastors began to provide a sort of “fire insurance”, he said, by spending more time caring for those inside the church than moving them out into the world and creating sparks. Warning against continuing the trend, Bishop Willimon said, “If there’s one thing worse than an uncontained fire, it’s an unnoticed death.”

 

Preaching at the ordination service in a message entitled “Pyromaniacs”, Bishop Willimon provided another warning. Noting that the average United Methodist is 59 years old, the 62-year-old bishop said, “Woe to our church if we limit our ministry to the spiritual lives of people over 50. Woe unto us if we make ministry more cool and calm and collected than Jesus means it to be.”

 

Acknowledging fears and reports of clergy burnout, he pointed out that Jesus made a lasting impact in just three years of ministry. “Energy for ministry becomes a self-renewing resource,” he said. “You are so lucky to be serving a living God. A false God will never shock you. Jesus lives to shock…to raise the dead…to set stuff on fire.”

 

In Bible study sessions, the Rev. Lisa Grant, director of connectional ministries, tied the story of Elijah to

issues of igniting a passionate connection with God and burnout.

“I don’t ignite or sustain anything. God does,” she said. “But I cannot sit here passively. God invites and I have the opportunity to actively respond.”

 

God speaks, she said, through Scripture, prayer, nature, stories, history, and relationships. Listening is important to our spiritual journey, she explained, pointing out that God listens to us, God initiates conversation, and our hearing is critical to establishing the relationship with God and others.

 

Grant also warned about the danger of burnout if Christians don’t take time to listen and build relationships with God. “It’s about God who is passionate for us and wants to ignite and sustain a passion in us,” she said.

 

In business sessions, Conference members approved a partnership with the UM Church in Zimbabwe, with an initial focus on global health issues. Bishop Bickerton, who leads the denomination’s global health initiative, said the Partnership will build on efforts to combat malaria through the Nothing But Nets campaign and will extend relationships established through The Nyadire Connection (TNC). Launched by churches in the Pittsburgh District and supported by several Western PA congregations, schools and other organizations, the Connection provides resources and works with those ministering to people in and around The Nyadire UM Mission. One focus of TNC and the new partnership is to strengthen the network of rural clinics in the region served by Nyadire.

 

During the Conference, youth delegates and pages pledged 3,134 hours of prayer for Africa in honor of Bishop Bickerton. Offerings and donations given during the Conference to the Global Health Initiative totaled more than $21,000.

 

The Rev. Morais Quissico, who heads the Africa Office at the General Board of Global Ministries, preached on Mission Night. He described difficult conditions in Africa, and told Conference members that he lost two brothers to malaria.

 Wondering “how some people can sleep at night, while other people, even in America, go hungry,” he said, “It’s not a problem of money.”

He explained: “I want you as my sisters and brothers and friends to understand what is happening beyond your own world because the mission is Jesus Christ’s. This is not about whether you like somebody or not. This is about you and your faith relationship with Jesus Christ.”

 

Mission Night presentations highlighted the work of several Conference mission groups whose leaders appeared on video: They included: Volunteers in Mission Coordinator Diane Miller; the Revs. John Flower of the Russia Initiative; Joe Stains of the East German Partnership; David Stains of the Encounter with Christ in Latin America; Chris Kindle of the Nicaragua and Paraguay partnerships; Larry Homitsky of the Korean Central Conference Partnership and Nancy DeNardo representing groups ministering in Uganda and the Sudan.

 

Among legislation approved by the Conference was a call for human immigration reform and efforts to welcome the sojourner; a call for death penalty reform and a moratorium on executions in Pennsylvania; improvements in standards for clergy housing (Click here for the approved Living and Working Conditions of a Pastor.); and Conference rule changes including procedures for electing delegates to General and Jurisdictional conferences. 

 

Also approved was a mission share budget for 2010 of $9.95 million, down from the current $10 million budget. The total budget for funding ministry for 2010 is $23.58 million, including endowment income and other funds.

 

Conference members also voted on 32 amendments to the United Methodist Church's constitution. Ballots were tallied and forwarded to the Council of Bishops to be counted along with individual votes from all voting members throughout the church.  The amendments, already passed by the General Conference, must be approved by 2/3 of all members casting ballots to go into effect.  The results and vote totals on each amendment will be announced in the Fall by the Council of Bishop. For a tally of the votes cast in Western PA, click here.

 

In his episcopal address to Conference members, Bishop Bickerton cited statistics to emphasize the need to get out of the church and take action to make new disciples. He pointed out some bright spots, saying some churches and districts are growing, and explained opportunities for engaging in ministry through the church’s four areas of focus and a fifth in Western PA – addressing the root causes of racism. Click here to download the Bishop's Powerpoint presentation.

The Cabinet Report also noted positive signs in each of the 10 districts and concluded with a message written and sung by Washington District Superintendent Eric Park in a piece entitled “The One in the Margins”. The words of the chorus are:

 

 

Conference Lay Leader Harry Barbus posed a question to the conference, “What are you afraid of?

“People, our churches are not growing and it is our fault,” he said. “We the people in the churches are not doing what we are called to do. We are chosen by God. We did not choose Him, He chose us to be His disciples and go into the world to make disciples of all people. God didn’t say we should only go to people like us who we are comfortable around. God did not say just the people that have money. God said all people, the downtrodden, the jobless, those struggling, the homeless. We should not be afraid to go places that we may not normally go because the Holy Spirit will give us the power and words to address those we are approaching.

 

Several awards were presented during the Conference to those who are sharing the Good News in significant ways. (See related stories.) One was the Francis Asbury Award from the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, which was presented to the Rev. Eric Detar, assistant pastor at Grace UMC in Indiana, PA, for his work in fostering ministry with students at Indiana University of PA.

At the annual conference, 11 new elders were ordained and another was received from the Korean Methodist Church. The Conference also received 21 provisional members and one associate member. The ministry of 29 retiring clergy--14 elders; 3 associates and 12 local pastors—was recognized.  Twenty new Certified Lay Ministers also were recognized. 

 

Though the session theme was centered on igniting a passionate connection with Christ, fire and passion for earthly creatures also was evident at the conclusion of Friday’s Mission Night.  An order went out for 80 pizzas, popcorn was provided by the UM Federal Credit Union, and Bishop Bickerton led several hundred Conference members who remained in the plenary room to cheer the Pittsburgh Penguins to victory in the deciding game of the National Hockey League Stanley Cup championships.