Annual Conference: 2014

This week, Pastor Mark and Bobby Totten are attending the 148^th North Georgia Annual Conference in Athens, GA. This is the annual meeting of delegates (all appointed clergy and an equal number of lay delegates) from all over United Methodist Churches in North Georgia. The North Georgia Conference has nearly 1,000 churches located from as far south as Pine Mountain near Callaway Gardens all the up to the Georgia line on Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, TN, and everywhere between east and west in the state. It is estimated that 3,000 delegates and guests will be present for this year’s Conference session.

Annual Conference is a special time. During the Conference, reports are given to inform the delegates of the work of United Methodism in North Georgia, the U.S., and across the globe; next year’s budget will be discussed and voted upon; we will celebrate with those newly ordained as well as those who retire; we will remember in worship the clergy, staff, and leaders who have passed away in the last year; and new clergy appointments will be read for pastors and churches. During this year’s Conference, Pastor Mark and his family will be reappointed to Cokes Chapel, and we look forward to another year in ministry to our community and beyond!

During all of these events, we will engage in something John Wesley (Methodism’s founder) called, Christian conferencing – the act of people gathering in the name of Jesus to discuss the business of the church. Let’s be honest, sometimes things can get a little boring, but all-in-all, it is for the purpose of advancing the Gospel of Jesus Christ! So whether it’s a report being made from the podium to a conversation over a cup of coffee in the hallway, people will gather, meet, pray, worship, and serve for the sake of Jesus Christ!

Each year, our Bishop, B. Michael Watson, decides upon a theme for the Conference to help guide our Christian conferencing. The theme for the 2014 Annual Conference Session is “Together We Make Disciples.” It is wonderful to be a part of The United Methodist Church family. Like many families we decorate our homes with pictures celebrating many ages and stages of our lives. That is why this year’s logo gives a nod to a framed extended family portrait. Look for many different expressions of our North Georgia Conference family during the 2014 annual conference session.

The logo features just a few of the members of our United Methodist family: an older adult holding a newborn baby, a young camper exploring the natural world, a mission worker involved in the community, a student considering higher education, a young person with an adult mentor and an enthusiastic child.

We in the North Georgia Conference are all ages, diverse in a multitude of ways. We have a range of spiritual gifts. Even with all the ways we differ from one another, we celebrate that we are one United Methodist family. So we work together to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World.

The 2014 theme, Together We Make Disciples, is both a statement of ministry emphasis and a reminder that making disciples is a collective work. It begins with the promises we make at baptism and is lived out in the relationships we build as we fulfill those promises and honor our vows. It is the work of individuals and of congregations. It is the work of the whole community of faith deeply committed to the growing of children, youth, and young adults into faithful disciples who are equipped and empowered to share their experiences of God.

Please keep our delegates, and everyone attending this year’s Annual Conference, in your thoughts and prayers. It promises to be a powerful week of business, mission, and ministry, and one where transformation will be the focus! And if you choose to peek in, you can watch all of the sessions online by visiting www.ngumc.org. And who knows, maybe you’ll just see Pastor Mark or Bobby caught on camera!

Ascend

This coming Sunday we will observe Pentecost, which is the annual celebration of GOD sending the Holy Spirit to bring life to the Church. It is a beautiful thing that bringing life to the Church came by the Holy Spirit resting on individuals. This is precisely how GOD chooses to work – He brings His Spirit to people, and as we gather together as individuals to collectively serve, share, and shine, the Church lives!

Jesus began to prepare His disciples for his departure prior to his betrayal, crucifixion, death, and resurrection. They weren’t excited about this, but Jesus told them it was for the best “it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7, NIV) It is the ongoing fulfillment of His promise of the Holy Spirit that brings new life to us as individuals so we can share that with the whole world. Needless to say, this is a big deal and I hope you are making plans to be present as we celebrate Pentecost this year.

The idea of Pentecost is preceded by another significant event in the history of the Church: the Ascension of Jesus. When it was time for Jesus to return to the Father after He walked the earth following His resurrection, He asked for His remaining 11 disciples (Judas Iscariot was already dead) to join Him on the Mount of Olives. It is here that according to Matthew’s Gospel that Jesus gave us the Great Commission: Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28.18-20)

These are important words. Prior to leaving for Heaven and then sending the Holy Spirit, Jesus told the Disciples that they had work to do. Everything that he had taught and modeled in His ministry was to give them the example to share the love of GOD with the whole world! Suffice it to say, these are three very important verses as they teach us:

1. Jesus has all authority in Heaven and on earth: the job of deciding the tough issues isn’t yours and it isn’t mine, but the Lord’s. This provides us freedom to do what he needs us to do.
2. Go and make disciples of all the nations: the hallmark of this is love. Jesus said we will be known as His disciples by how we love others.
3. Jesus is with us…always: when the going gets tough, Jesus is with us. Following Jesus’ commandment to love and share the Good News of salvation, knowing that Jesus is with us in the good days and bad, is critically important!

 So as we consider Jesus’ ascension, there is definite inspiration for us to ascend to a new role as well! Jesus wants us to rise up out of the minute and the mundane to share the big idea of GOD’s love and grace with a world so desperately in need of it! With the Holy Spirit’s help, we can rise from the pain and agony of hopelessness and into a beautiful new existence! We can find the hope to ascend from whatever troubles the world might bring thanks to what Jesus said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16.33)