About 1600 clergy and lay United Methodist delegates from ...



About 1600 clergy and lay United Methodist delegates from throughout our state gathered June 14-16 in the Lakeland Center for the 165th Florida Annual Conference. Hundreds of additional visitors/guests attended, and another 1500 church people hooked into the Conference by the live web-cast.

This forum incorporated worship experiences into the reporting and voting on the Church's ministries and administration. Voting representatives from St. Mark’s were Pastor Nate and lay delegate Gary Houchens. Pastor Nate and Youth Minister Jess Williams (sitting in on the proceedings) were also Conference servant ministers – ushers.

The SUMMARY just below offers a quick rundown what's happening and how we are doing as a Conference. This SUMMARY along with the more detailed MINISTRIES section below it hopefully will give you a feel for the successes and scope of your support and prayers for our UM Church.

But if you wish a greater sense of the Florida UMC workings, wellness and wholeness, you should read the section on BUSINESS/ADMINISTRATION. Finally, you might like the food for thought under WORSHIP EXPERIENCES and WORKSHOPS. (At the very end of this report are some brief notes about General Conference held in April this year with the worldwide UMC.)

Detailed and summary Conference material is available on-line at the Florida Conference web site at ; then click on “Annual Conference 2012”.

From there the following options are available:

• For detailed reading and all reports, click on “Workbook 2012”.

• For a summary, click on “2012 Lay Member Summary”.

• For more summaries of worship services and Conference actions, click on “NEWS” at the top of the page and select the desired story.

SUMMARY

1. The theme this year was “Being United in Christ”, a call for ecumenism with other Christian communities, and much of our worship experiences heeded this focus.

2. A major Conference function is the annual clergy appointments. Lucky us; we have Pastor Nate for a thirteenth year beginning July 1.

3. Vital Statistics:

• Local Florida UM Church membership was 277,000 in 2011, down 8,000 or 2.8 % from 2010, a much smaller decline than in prior years.

• However, average weekly worship attendance was up 2,000 or 1.4 % to 142,000 in 2011. This reverses a prior year 4.4 % decline.

• The number of churches paying all their apportionments was up from 360 (2010) to 381 (2011). (St. Mark’s paid 100 %.)

4. A total of 23 persons were licensed as local pastors and another 20 were ordained or commissioned to serve as deacons or elders.

5. Six new ministries/churches are to receive 2012 start-up funding, including one campus ministry.

6. Five congregations were discontinued due inability to be financially viable.

7. A memorial service honored clergy and spouses who had passed on to their reward. So remembered was former St. Mark's Pastor Ed Griffith.

8. A 2013 proposed budget of $17.6 million for the Florida Conference was approved, a 1.4% decrease from 2012.

9. The Conference clergy and staff health and pension benefits program is funded with $34 million after a large loss ($6 million) last year due to (a) accounting requirements to make up prior year pension contributions, (b) abnormally high health insurance claims, and (c) declined investment earnings from 2010 rates. Funding is on solid footing for current retirees, but changes to the system are needed for future sustainability.

10. The Conference's insurance (property, casualty, workman's comp.) program remains strong and stable (same as two prior years) for the 700 plus UM churches and ministries. Expect Conference churches to be asked to tell the Conference office how much they wish to insure their property, a percentage of the replacement costs, rather than the 100% replacement now in effect.

11. The Bishop’s Together! capital campaign successfully ended by raising $10 million for the expansion and upgrading of camping and retreat facilities.

12. Coming is inclusivity training for clergy, along with a new anti-harassment and abuse policy for local churches

13. The Conference approved the effort of Strategic Leadership Team to further our Conference vision and goals:

• Becoming disciples more like Jesus;

• Becoming welcoming/hospitable congregations;

• And becoming communities blessed with an outward focus.

Amazingly, this report triggered responses from the young men and women about their not being represented on the leadership team and looked upon in some cases as “different” from the norm. This vocal but polite reaction caused a stir in the proceedings, whereupon those under 35 years (including our Jess Williams) were called to the dais to be affirmed by the leadership.

14. Here is a sampling of mission activities reported at the Conference:

• A covenant relationship with 22 missionaries in Asia, Africa, Central America, The Caribbean, South America, and the U.S. (Not counting St. Mark's additional mission relationships in Africa.)

• Broader covenant relationships with the Cuban Conference, the East Angola Conference, and the Haiti Methodist Church.

• Serving 360 youngsters at our Florida Methodist Children's Home.

• Expanding the free/reduced price meals for poor children in our schools to offering meals during summer school break.

• Sending to foreign countries 110 UM Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) teams for short term local church projects.

15. The Conference nominated pastor Debbie McLeod, Mandarin UMC, Jacksonville, to become bishop.

16. This was the 11th and final Conference for retiring Bishop Whitaker. His replacement will be named in July by the 2012 Southeast (SE) Jurisdictional Conference.

17. This was one of the easier Annual Conferences. Only one resolution was offered and it passed after a little negotiation on the wording of its rationale. The worship experiences were good and music was great.

Hope this summary inspires you to delve below into a bit more detail and explanations of the Conference business/administration and ministry reports and the worship experiences, at least in those areas of interest to you.

MINISTRIES

Clergy Appointments. “Ministry” covers a broad range of church functions. At the top of your ministry list might be the appointments of clergy, especially for St. Mark’s. Beginning July 1 we have Pastor Nate for a thirteenth year.

Strategic Leadership Team. This team, authorized in 2010 to clarify our Conference vision, had the task this past year to assign our focus and realign our resources and energy to assure reaching our purpose and goals. (My comment: To me the team's results and presentation this year seemed different – perhaps due to the jargon, yet represented more of the same in the way of goals and actions. Deja vu all over again. Having spent time in the business world on such exercises as this, perhaps I'm over-sensitive to it.)

As reported this year, the mission outcomes going forward to meet the desired Purpose and Vision are in four areas, with the last identified as needed to enable the first three. Specific actions were detailed for each of these goals:

• Disciples who are becoming more like Jesus.

• Congregations where all people are welcome.

• Communities being blessed with Kingdom impact.

• Conference structures centered on fulfilling our mission.

The report was not without delegate's comments, especially about dealing with hospitality – feeling welcome. One youth from the floor talked about acceptance of someone different in appearance and dress. Another comment addressed starting a mission/church in poor areas, that is, the financial burdens to sustain a disadvantaged congregation after the initial Conference investment.

The Leadership Team's presentation expressed concern about the generational gap within the Church: the median age in the U.S. is 35, but 59 in the Methodist Church. (I'm not sure that the populations are equally defined – like what age defines a UMC member, but the point was made.) This statistic (?) was coupled with the claim that more Methodists die than are accepted by profession of faith. (I don't know how these numbers reflect baptisms of the young/youth.)

After the presentation a young man challenged the Strategic Leadership Team to look in the mirror and assess their age as opposed to those whom they are trying to attract. This discussion from the floor spotlighted the need to come to grips with the population of young men and women that our Church needs to attract and involve, especially those out of school or college and don't fit into a niche in the church. With these last comments the team asked that all the attendees under age 35 come to the podium so that the Conference could affirm their value to the present as well as the future Church. Jess Williams was one of those!

The team leaders noted these inputs from the floor and vowed to integrate them into their deliberations and actions. Nonetheless, the voting delegates approved the Strategic Leadership Team's report without dissent.

The Conference and District leadership teams and their participants also were approved for the new Church year. Pastor Nate's role is on the Atlantic Central District Clergy Housing Committee.

Religion and Race Committee. Based on the 2011 vote on anti-racism measures, the Conference (a) has moved forward with clergy training on being racially and culturally inclusive, (b) is developing a new anti-harassment and abuse policy for local churches, and (c) is working on ways to foster and ease cross-racial and cross-cultural appointments. This year the Conference has 61 cross cultural appointments.

The Creation Care Task Force. This team proposed a resolution for Conference support and encouragement of local congregations to participate in initiatives aimed at environmental stewardship. Some delegates objected to the resolution, saying Christians should focus more on missions specifically set forth by Jesus in the Bible, such as making disciples. After debate and elimination of some resolution rationale, delegates adopted the resolution.

Nomination for Bishop. Delegates endorsed by vote/applause the candidacy of Debbie McLeod (Mandarin UMC, Jacksonville) for bishop in the Southeastern Jurisdiction (SEJ). A decision will be made next month at the SEJ Conference in Lake Junaluska, N.C.

New Church Starts. Six new ministries are projected for 2012, including an Orlando multicultural ministry and one church in our Atlantic Central District. About $1.1 million is allocated for the new starts in 2013.

Church Closures. An unfortunate element of the Conference is the business of church closure or discontinuance due inability to be financially viable. The delegates voted to discontinue seven congregations due to financial struggles and declining membership and attendance: Grapevine Community UMC, Port St. Lucie; First UMC, Deltona; Taft Livingston Memorial UMC, Orlando; Good Shepherd UMC, Lake Placid; and Christ UMC, Lakeland. The Conference approved all discontinuances.

Connectional Ministry. Below are snippets of reports on aspects of our UM connectional system:

• Camps and Retreats Ministries have benefited from major facility improvements last year, and more upgrades are on the way. This past year has seen the largest number of Methodist campers ever, over 4,000 at each of four camp sites.

• Higher Education and Campus Ministries reported serving more students on more campuses than any other time in our history, and the number being served continues expanding. The FSU Wesley Foundation, reaching over 600 students, is one of the largest and most vibrant in all the UMC.

• Methodists United in Prayer (formerly Cuba/Florida Covenant) benefited from the U.S. lifting of the travel restrictions in 2011 and the Cuban government issuing limited religious visas. (Our church took advantage when our Cuban sister church sent this past spring its Pastor Alexis and his wife Diana to visit and take part in St. Mark's community.)

• Haiti/Florida Covenant information is offered below in the section on WORSHIP EXPERIENCES, closing worship service.

• East Angola/Florida Conference Partnership received a boost with a gift of over $30,000 from Conference churches for the Churches of East Angola.

• The worldwide literacy mission Alfalit was the other beneficiary of this year's Conference Offering, receiving $14,000. Miami-based Alfalit is a non-profit created 50 years ago with the aid of the UM Women.

• The UM Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) – a program for short term local church volunteer projects – sent 110 teams to foreign countries, plus 15 teams to support the General Board of Global Missions, to places affected by disaster and in need of spiritual and health care and overall well being. They're looking for few good volunteers!

• The Children's Coalition continues working with the state/public and other organizations to wipe out childhood hunger. The major focus has been to expand the free/reduced price meals for poor school children to now offering meals during summer school break. Heeded the petition circulated last year during our Conference, the Florida's Governor's office transferred the children school lunch program from the Dept. of Education to the Dept. of Agriculture to enable the year-round availability of a meals program. The Florida Dept. of Agriculture has been an enthusiastic partner.

• The Conference expanded its summer intern program for young people to serve 10 weeks in local mission endeavors. A $2,000 stipend was awarded to each of the 30 participants in 2011. The Master's Workshop of Melbourne (supported by St. Mark's) was blessed with their help last summer.

BUSINESS/ADMINISTRATION OF THE CHURCH

Like Church Ministry programs, Church Business/Administration covers a myriad of topics, including church statistics, budgets and finances, insurance, and real property.

Vital Statistics.

• Local Florida UM Church membership was 277,000 in 2011, down 8,000 or 2.8 percent from 2010, a much smaller decline than in prior years.

• However, average weekly worship attendance Conference-wide was up 2,000 or 1.4 percent to 142,000 in 2011. (This is a turn around from the prior year 4.4 percent decline.)

• Contrary to the lingering recession, the number of churches paying all their apportionments (about half of the congregations) was up from 360 (2010) to 381 (2011). (St. Mark’s paid 100 %.) The percentage paid by all churches in the Conference in 2011 was 81.4% compared to 78.6% in 2010.

• Major milestones of a few UM congregations were recognized; one was an 175th anniversary, older than this Conference. Another seven had their 125th and eight, their 100th anniversary.

Conference Budget for 2013. A budget of $17.6 million was approved for the new year. That is a 1.4% decrease from our 2012 budget.

Equitable Compensation. The Conference delegates approved the minimum annual salary recommendations for 2013, the highest minimum being $40,100 for a full connection pastor. The Conference helps fulfill the recommended salaries for financially struggling congregations.

Conference Fund Raising Appeals. Four conference-wide appeals were approved for next year: (1) General Conference Advance Specials (UMCOR, World Communion Sunday, One Great Hour of Sharing, etc.); (2) Florida’s UM Children’s Home Fifth Sunday Appeal; (3) Camping Sunday; and (4) the Bishop’s Conference Capital Commission through the UM Foundation.

Pension and Health Benefits. The trust for the pension and health insurance plans lost more than $6 million in 2011. New rules requiring increased contributions and more significantly to make up prior year pension contributions account for most of the losses. But abnormally larger health insurance claims are responsible for $2.3 million of the loss. Plus, earnings declined from 2010. However, the trust remains on strong financial footing with a year end balance of over $34 M.

The retirement program is funded and sustainable for the current clergy retirees without having to increase apportionments. However, the finance people are concerned that this fund's returns are not sufficient for the long term. They will be looking at revising the current system (defined benefit?) or changing to a defined contribution plan (like a 401k) for the new retirees.

With these necessary changes for the out years, the overall assessment is that the Conference pension and benefits program is on a healthy footing. The Treasurer's report on the Conference benefits package was approved by the delegates.

Insurance: Property, Casualty, and Workman's Compensation. The Conference's insurance program remains strong and stable for the over 700 UM churches and ministries. The cost of our insurance for 2012 is the same as for the two prior years, and insurance expenses continue to decline as they have for 5 years. Our Treasurer stated that some churches do not pay their share of the premiums, and he noted that it's typically not the small congregations withholding their allocations. (St. Mark's is up to date.)

Conference attendees were advised that changes to future individual church property insurance plans will need to be contemplated in the months ahead because of escalating costs. Property insurance currently covers 100% replacement costs; this policy going into the future may not be viable for keeping reasonable insurance rates. Churches will be required to tell the Conference how much to insure their property, that is, a percentage of the replacement costs.

The Conference delegates accepted the report on Ministry Protection.

Trustees and Real Property. The Bishop’s Together! (for kids and camps) capital campaign ended by successfully raising $10 million without tapping into apportionments from our churches. About a third of these funds allowed expansion and upgrading of the camping and retreat facilities at Barnett Lodge at Warren Willis Camp, plus it set up endowments for camping scholarships. The Conference delegates accepted the full Trustee's report.

UM Foundation: The Conference set aside time for a meeting of the UM Foundation, a longtime organization providing financing at favorable terms to Florida UM congregations and programs, commonly for new construction or major repairs to church facilities. In 2011 the UM Foundation provided over $100 million in loans to 147 Florida churches at a 4% interest rate.

Next Annual Conferences: The Annual Conferences for 2013 and 2014 will return to the Lakeland Center, Lakeland, Florida. The dates are set.

WORSHIP EXPERIENCES

This Annual Conference worship theme was “Transforming the World by Being United in Christ” and this focus was evident with the lineup of guest speakers and their messages (see below). Each session advanced the idea that we could be a stronger Christ witness to the world through ecumenism with other Christian denominations, just as the UMC is stronger because of its connectional system.

Music was exceptional (even I could understand the lyrics and keep time) from the memorial service vocalists, to the worship leader, to the organist (with the demeanor of Russian President Vladimir Putin), to the UM Children's Home Choir, to the young dancers from Riviera UMC, St. Petersburg.

Our Conference keynote speaker, Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, is the recently retired head of the National Council of Churches of Christ and a longtime church leader on the international stage. Bishop Whitaker said he invited Kinnamon to speak because he “is probably the most knowledgeable and the most respected voice for ecumenism in the United States.”

“Christian unity is not an option,” Kinnamon said. “It is a gift to be received and expressed. … Everyone who has communion with Jesus Christ has communion with everyone else who has communion with Jesus Christ. ….Unity is central to God’s plan of salvation”.

Dr. Kinnamon gently chided and challenged us Methodists on several fronts:

• Include ourselves in the programs of other Christian denominations.

• Make working with other denominations a key item in our Annual Conference program.

• Share resources with other faiths in recruiting disciples; don't act as competitors in the scramble for new members.

• Look at how seriously we have taken the 2009 full communion agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. What have we done together?

• Look at whether the Florida Council of Churches is an integral part of our Conference actions.

• Rethink UMCOR's resolve to go it alone in its relief efforts.

In his sermon for the communion service, Bishop John White (African Methodist Episcopal – AME) called us to mission, service and witness to transforming the world. Shouting, raising the roof in the African-American preacher tradition (my label), Bishop White pointed the finger at societal, cultural, materialistic, and economic ills. But as laity “super agents” we can take on the “Mission Possible” tasks and overcome the world's obstacles of children and school systems in crisis, investments in prisons rather than education, divorce, high unemployment, and foreclosures.

The Friday morning worship guest speaker was The Rev. Russell Meyer, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, with whom we have a full communion relationship. He is the current Executive Director of Florida Council of Churches. His emphasis was the need to speak up in a united voice for the poor. Much attention of the Florida Council of Churches was on the political spectrum of meeting the needs of our state for helping those who cannot fend for themselves. He listed recent multi-denominational campaigns that pushed for fair wages for Florida farm workers, a stop to racial profiling in assessing potential criminal activity, and more attention to the needs of the poor by lawmakers in Tallahassee.

A Service of Remembrance was held Friday, taking time out from Church business to remember individually those who once labored at similar chores at the Annual Conference. Twenty-two clergy, eighteen spouses and one diaconal minister who died in the past year were honored at this 2012 Service. Our own Pastor Ed Griffith was among those remembered, with wife Cathy and daughter-in-law Kathy in attendance at this memorial time.

The memorial service included scripture readings, stirring vocals (Wow!), a reading of the names, bell tolling and a poignant sermon on the faithfulness of God delivered by Rev. Newton Williams, senior pastor of Ebeneezer UMC in Jacksonville. Williams explained that his participation in the service was “ironic” and difficult because his wife of 39 years was one of those listed in the program.

The Friday afternoon ceremony honoring retiring clergy (29) provided one of the more poignant moments. Around a central worship table/altar, a retiree wrapped a stole around one of the newly ordained ministers, relaying the UM symbol to a new generation – like Prophet Elijah passing his mantle on to Elisha. Yes, We Are Yet Alive!

Fittingly at the end of the day and after the remembrances and the retirement ceremonies, we had the ordination, commissioning, and licensing service. This starting point for new ministries was honored by the guest speaker Bishop Edward Benoway of the Florida-Bahamas Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was a joy to witness and be part of 44 new servants of God stepping onto the pathway of ministry. A total of 23 persons were licensed as local pastors and another 20 were ordained or commissioned to serve as deacons or elders. One clergy from another denomination was recognized as a new UM pastor. A positive trend is the larger number of new clergy under the age of 35.

The Saturday morning closing worship service, with guest speaker Rev./President (of Haiti Methodist Church) Gesner Paul, included a warm speech thanking our Church and promising a two-way street of actions and growing trust and love between our Church families. President Paul identified needs of Haiti, still devastated following the 2010 earthquake. One possible project is a reforestation, to replace the trees that were wiped out to make charcoal, the only fuel for many earthquake (and hurricane) victims.

The time concluded with Bishop Whitaker and President Paul signing the new covenant that had been updated from the 2006 document; an impetus for the new covenant was to enable a structure to speed Haiti's recovery efforts. Co-members of the covenant include a Michigan task force and the East Kansas UMC Conference.

This closing time was combined with a farewell to Bishop Whitaker (after 11 years) and his wife Melba. He wanted his farewell to be worshipful but not long and boring. The Conference succeeded on both counts. Standing, we heeded his farewell message, and he expressed assurance the new bishop, he or she, would have the gifts that fit well with us. In lieu of a farewell gift, the bishop requested that donations be made to Justice for Our Neighbors (JFON), a Methodist program that advocates for immigrants. A huge $10,000 check was put in the Bishop's hands, symbolizing what had been collected to date for his farewell “gift”.

The humorous end was a pre-recorded video in which a senior pastor portrayed the Bishop Whitaker as having plans to follow in the steps of his favorite rock star, Van Morrison. In it (a “Saturday Night Live” – SNL – takeoff) the impersonator sang and danced to “Three in One,” with lyrics referring to the Holy Trinity put to the tune of Morrison’s “Brown-eyed Girl.” It was a hoot and can be found on-line at ; then click on “Annual Conference 2012”; then click on “Bishop Whitaker Farewell Video". If you read this far, you deserve something light.

CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS (I attended one Wednesday afternoon on Connecting in Mission to the Community.)

The workshop was a look at how our Church interacts as a community of faith with our community at large and neighborhood. We were asked to rank our church's ministry on the following scale or stages:

• Oblivious to neighborhood/community needs.

• Aware of need and of God's call to help.

• Make gestures of mission – small and temporary.

• Developing of transforming relationships.

• Systematic change to our church and community and individuals.

Based on the definitions the leaders offered, I would suggest that our church has some programs and individuals who tend to or fit into the last two stages. One of the vital signs of a growing congregation is its involvement beyond the walls of the church building. Our personal growth requires stretching beyond the comfort of our congregations.

The workshop stressed knowing the demographics of our locale, praying for the community, knowing other people in the congregation, having a presence in places outside the congregation, and being ready to answer for/explain our faith.

At least this (above) is my understanding of what the workshop leaders were saying. My favorite idea from it: Rather than “believing in Christ”, our mantra should be “be-living in Christ's way”.

NOTES ABOUT GENERAL CONFERENCE

I was disappointed in not receiving a rundown of the quadrennial worldwide UMC General Conference held in April 2012 in Tampa, Fla. However, comments from the podium at our Annual Conference indicated not much changed in the Church's status and operation, minimalist to the point that the 2008 Discipline for the UMC simply could be replicated to make the new 2012 Discipline.

The information here was not received at our Annual Conference and is provided only after some folks expressed interest: After years of effort a major proposal at the General Conference to reorganize and consolidate the Church's international framework was shot down as the Church's Judicial Council declared it unconstitutional. Its problems seem to involve unclear roles, responsibilities, and delegations of authority among the Council of Bishops, the General Conference legislature, and the proposed new agencies. A team of lawyers would be needed to unravel the issues. Reworked proposals at the General Conference to change the organization weren't successful and were tabled with indefinite plans for future consideration. Info on this and other proposals such as adding a presiding bishop to the top-ranked Church's Council of Bishops can be found by an on-line search for “General Conference 2012 UMC”.

In short, the actions of (or lack of) the April General Conference had almost no impact on the conduct of our Fla. Annual Conference.

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