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Dakotas Annual Conference
June 7-10, Watertown, S.D.
Bishop Deborah Lieder Kiesey presided at the Dakotas Annual Conference session. The conference theme “For Such A Time As This” was based on the story of Esther, particularly Esther 4:14, as 643 United Methodists celebrated the 50th anniversary of full clergy rights of women.
Kiesey’s episcopal address challenged conference members to a “Transformation Into God’s Kingdom on Earth” through specific actions in their personal lives, communities of faith, and the annual conference. She called upon church leaders to spend time in prayer every day, be involved in and participate in regular worship, participate in small groups for study, spiritual growth and accountability, tithe, take part in hands-on ministry, read, and work toward a healthier lifestyle.
The conference’s honored guest was the Rev. Grace E. Huck, one of the first women welcomed into full clergy rights in 1956. The Rev. Shelly Matthews, Dakotas clergy serving as associate professor of religion at Furman University in Greenville, SC, was the conference’s featured preacher.
In other business, conference members:
- Adopted a $7.3 million budget, a 3 percent increase over last year’s request.
- Approved fully funding the position of director of the United Methodist Pierre Area Community Ministries, a line item cut in preliminary meetings.
- Celebrated a 181 percent increase in mission giving during the past year; setting a new Dakotas record for mission giving, with participation from 93 percent of conference’s churches in the conference.
- Acknowledged the retirement of long-time bishop’s assistant Naomi Bartle. A report from the committee on the episcopacy suggested that this staff change creates an opportunity for combining offices to provide a more efficient work environment. The bishop’s office is housed in Fargo, N.D. and the conference staff is housed in Mitchell, S.D. A task force will be assigned to this project.
- Ordained seven new clergy, including six elders and one deacon.
- Commissioned two new candidates for ordination.
- Empowered a staff task force to follow-up on research and make the final recommendations for purchasing and implementing a video conferencing system for use across the Dakotas before the opening of the 2007 Annual Conference.
- Created a task force to study the effectiveness of the conference special askings program for specific mission projects in the Dakotas.
- Adopted a resolution affirming laws defending marriage.
- Adopted a resolution rejecting a South Dakota ballot measure against same-sex unions. The adopted resolution cites potential discrimination of elderly people living in same sex households in rural areas, saying: “The full repercussions of the law are not known.”
- Adopted a new formula for sharing healthcare costs with retirees and their spouses. This plan shifts more of the cost to the participants.
Membership stands at 42,133, down 1,003 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 22,401, down 529.
--Michelle Harvey Erpenbach
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