The Western Pennsylvania General & Jurisdictional Conference Delegation gathered on Saturday, August 24 at the United Methodist Conference Center in Cranberry Township to worship, get to know each other better and explore some Guiding Principles under which they will live and work together.
After the Rev. Alyce Weaver Dunn, chair of the delegation, offered a message based on 2 Corinthians 4:7-11 and they shared in the sacrament of Holy Communion, members took time to think deeply about the 10 principles they inherited from previous delegations. They engaged in small group discussion led by members of the 2020 executive team – Rev. Dunn, Vice-Chair Vicki Stahlman, Secretary Rev. Bob Zilhaver, and Treasurer Paul Morelli.
There were three rounds of discussion. Delegates were seated with different people in each round to encourage dialogue with a greater number of people. All of the responses were recorded in each group so that the entire delegation could have access to the broader scope of conversation beyond what they individually experienced.
When the “Guiding Principles” conversation was completed, the Chair invited the delegation to consider communicating about their work with the WPA Conference. The delegation authorized the Executive Committee to write and distribute press releases to the Conference Communications Department after each meeting.
At the August 24 meeting, four sub-committees were convened to begin work on designated tasks: