Kansas West Annual Conference
May 24-26, 2006, Salina
Members of the Kansas West Annual Conference met at the Bicentennial Center
under the leadership of Bishop Scott J. Jones. The conference theme was
“Deliberate Discipleship.”
Women who had served the conference as elders were recognized, and the 50th
anniversary of full clergy rights for women was celebrated, with several
conference-produced videos shown throughout the three-day session. An hour-long
celebration of ministries featured the conference’s camping program, the United
Methodist seminary experience and disaster relief for Hurricane Katrina. A
special offering for the Bishops’ Katrina Church Recovery Appeal collected
$8,923.60.
The conference unanimously adopted strategic plans for church revitalization,
planting new churches, ministering with ethnic populations and cultivating
student ministries. The plans were created in response to questions Jones asked
the conference in a special session in January 2005. Lay members received
materials to assist them with interpreting the plans and working with their
congregations to begin implementing the plans at the local church level.
The conference adopted resolutions that:
- Establish a process for helping clergy who
are not meeting effectiveness criteria to become more effective in ministry.
- Encourage local churches and conference
agencies to purchase and use fair trade coffee.
- Encourage each local church to contribute
$300 toward hunger relief annually as part of the One Field, One Round
project.
- Encourage churches to observe Red Ribbon
Week.
- Encourage churches to celebrate their
appointed clergy,
- Set the 2007 budget at $5.7 million.
- Declare September Open House Month in the
conference.
- Declare the conference’s intent to establish
an area communications office with the Kansas East Conference.
The conference received $8,588.05 from the United
Methodist Publishing House and voted unanimously to give the funds to the
Central Conference Pension Initiative.
Bishop Jones ordained two elders and one deacon, accepted two into associate
membership, and commissioned eight for the ministry of elder and one for the
ministry of deacon. One local pastor and six elders retired.
Membership stands at 85,796, down 472 (0.5 percent) from 2004. Worship
attendance stands at 36,346, down 426 (1.2 percent) from 2004.
? Lisa Elliott Diehl |
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