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West Ohio Annual Conference
June 11-14, Lakeside, Ohio
Members of the West Ohio Annual Conference gathered from 14 districts and left for eight, as the session met at historic Lakeside-on-Lake Erie. With the theme, “In the Potter’s Hands,” the conference marked both its practical and symbolic reshaping as it seeks to realize a vision of “every congregation to become a healthy-growing, spiritually vital risk-taking center for making and equipping disciples of Jesus Christ for the purpose of transforming the world.”
The symbolic reshaping took place at the session’s final worship service, as the superintendent and a lay member of each of the 14 districts recalled the district’s ministry and handed a lump of clay to the Rev. Joyce Fry, assistant to Bishop Bruce R. Ough, who kneaded the clay into a single mass. After the clay was divided into eight parts, Mark Nafziger, the Sauder Village resident potter, created eight new pots, working as Houston Area Bishop Janice Riggle Huie preached.
“Transformation begins when the potter takes that lump of clay and molds it and shapes it into a vessel. That’s not the end of transformation on that pot,” she said. “It’s barely the beginning, because then that pot goes into the fire. Transformation is not quick, and it’s not easy, and it’s not without the pain of heat.”
Practical reshaping — realignment — has been underway for a year, as a 17-member Conference Transition Team (CTT) and eight District Transition Teams (DTTs) worked to plan, name and organize eight new districts. With the district realignment, the conference will also inaugurate a cluster ministry model to encourage ministry development, reaching out to neighboring churches, and developing common programs.
Worship and preaching highlighted the session. At the opening Memorial and Holy Communion Service, the conference remembered 37 clergy members and 29 spouses. In answer to his question, “Why did God shape me like this?” Bishop Bruce R. Ough told worshipers, “The master potter intends for us to be molded by God’s tender mercy, fired by God’s extravagant love, to become vessels that yearn for God, vessels that hold God, and vessels that carry God into the world.”
Eurasia Area Bishop Hans Vaxby accompanied a delegation of pastors and church members from the Russia United Methodist Volga District , a West Ohio Covenant Mission Partner. “Today,” Bishop Vaxby said, “Russia is a mission field as tough as any of the secularized societies in the world. But this is not about building the United Methodist Church in Russia . . . it’s about giving hope to the people, by giving Jesus Christ to the people.” Thirty percent of West Ohio’s $129,800 Miracle Offering is designated for the Volga District, with the remainder to be sent to the Katrina Church Recovery Appeal.
Bishop Ough commissioned 26 probationary members, five on the deacon track and 21 on the elder track, as retired Bishop Judith Craig reminded listeners that Christians are “co-missioners,” making Jesus Christ attractive to others as they work, not in isolation, but with others dependent on the generous help of God.
Clergy women moved through the aisles of the 2,800-seat Hoover Auditorium, singing “The Women Must Be Gathering,” as the conference’s celebration of 50 years of full connection for women began. Sisters in Song, an ensemble of West Ohio clergywomen, provided vocal music for the service, and the Rev. J. Jeanetté Cooper Dicks preached.
In legislative actions, the conference:
- Established a partnership with the churches in southeast Asia, working in the countries of Cambodia, Laos, and South Vietnam;
- Adopted “The Implementation Plan of the Hispanic/Latino Ministries in the West Ohio Conference;
- Defeated a proposal to meet in Columbus every fourth year; and
- Adopted a process for the election of General and Jurisdictional Conference delegates.
Leaders of the conference’s “Strength For Today, Bright Hope For Tomorrow Initiative” announced gifts and pledges totaling $20.5 million. The conference adopted a 2007 apportioned budget of $18,988,024, unchanged for the third year.
Ordinations included one associate member, five deacons in full connection, and 20 elders in full connection. The retirement class numbered 41 clergy.
Membership stands at 230,500, down 6,807 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 122,691, down 1,115. Church school attendance stands at 42,181, down 4,630.
— Tom Slack |
