|
Memphis Annual Conference Report
June 4-7, 2006, Paducah, Ky.
In an emotion-filled worship service on the evening of June 5, the clergywomen of the Memphis Conference filled the stage of the Luther F. Carson Four Rivers Center for the Performing Arts in Paducah.
As Amy Martin sang “The Women Are Gathering,” clergywomen, in order of their ordination, joined their sisters in a shoulder-to-shoulder demonstration of the scope of women in ministry. Bolstering the evening’s celebration of 50 years of full clergy rights for women was a book, Stories of the Sisters, which featured the personal journeys to ordination by Memphis Conference women. Every delegate to annual conference received a copy.
The conference preacher was the Rev. Deborah McLeod, superintendent of the South East District of the Florida Conference. Bible study leader was Cheryl Walker, director of African-American Ministries for the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. Bishop Dick Wills presided over the event.
Conference actions included passage of three resolutions:
- A call for youth leadership on the boards and committees of local churches over and above the number of youth suggested by the
Book of Discipline.
- A call for members of the United Methodist Church to prayerfully reflect on whether agencies of the church should continue membership in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.
- A request to adopt the dissolution of the Office of Pastoral Formation.
Action items included:
- A change in the standing rules of the conference that mandates up to 20 minutes of debate and Christian conferencing before the call of the previous question may be entertained by the chair.
- Approval of the use of $300,000 from the Conference Trustees Fund to renovate the building of the Murray State University Wesley Foundation.
- A change of the name of the Group Insurance Commission to the Clergy Wellness Commission to reflect a new emphasis on a healthy lifestyle.
- Creation of an Advisory Committee on New Church Development that would nurture and identify new church start pastors, train them, identify ways in which new churches can be started and consult with district superintendents on where new churches are needed.
The proposed 2006-2007 budget of $9.2 million was increased by conference action. The report from the Pensions Committee, which asked for $300,000 more than the conference council on finance and administration approved, was accepted, adding $300,000 to the bottom line. A motion from the floor requesting an addition of $5,400 to the Program Ministries budget to underwrite a grant for the Memphis Interfaith Association was also approved, increasing the budget to $9.55 million, reflecting a total increase of 1.75 percent over the previous year.
Conference offerings were taken for the Bishops’ Katrina Church Recovery Appeal and for an orphan feeding program in Kamina, a town in the North Katanga Conference of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A total of $20,539.09 was received for the Bishops’ Appeal and $14,576.30 for Kamina.
Five men were commissioned as probationary members, four men and women were ordained as elders, and orders from another denomination were recognized for one elder. Seven Memphis Conference pastors entered the retired relationship. Membership stands at 88,123, down 700 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 35,001, down 576. Church school attendance stands at 20989, up 129.
-- Cathy Farmer
|
