232nd Annual Conference session opens today
By Melissa Lauber
The Rev. JW Park, left, superintendent of the Central Maryland District and Dean of the Cabinet, and Bishop Marcus Matthews, episcopal leader of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, celebrate Communion during the Pre-Conference Session April 30 at First UMC in Hyattsville.
Today at 8:30 a.m., Bishop Marcus Matthews will gavel the 232nd session of the Baltimore-Washington Conference to order with the theme, “You Have the Power.”
The theme carries forth one of the foundations of the bishop’s 42 years of ministry – equipping and empowering the saints for the work of the church. It draws on Matthew 28:16-20.
This theme created discussion among the covenant partners of the Baltimore-Washington Conference from around the world. Particularly, they questioned, should “power” be translated as “strength” or “authority”? The conversation deepened the theme’s potential impact.
In Russian, the literal translation is, “In you, there is
The Rev. Remember Masamba reported to Charlie Moore on a recent mission trip, that in Shona, which many of our Zimbabwe partners speak, “You Have the Power” is Une Simba!
Our Puerto Rican partners say, Tienes el Poder!
In the Nambu Conference of the Korean Methodist Church, the Rev. JW Park reports, they say 그 권능, 우리에게, pronounced “Geu Kwon Nueng, Woori Eggae.”
How does your church translate “You Have the Power” into its life-changing ministry?
At this Annual Conference Session, during the next three days, United Methodists from Maryland, Washington, D.C., the panhandle of West Virginia and Bermuda, will bring God’s power to life as we raise funds to build a fitness center at Africa University, honor Bishop Marcus Matthews as he prepares to retire, vote on endorsing a candidate for the episcopacy, learn together in a Bible study led by Bishop Young Jin Cho of Virginia, adopt a budget that funds connectional ministries that transform our communities and the world, worship together, and consecrate and ordain Deacons and Elders for ministry.
Amid this time of holy conferencing, we’ll worship together, claiming the unity of Christ as we seek to live out the vision of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, to “be fully alive in Christ and make a difference in a diverse and ever-changing world.”
At the Pre-Conference Briefing on April 30, when members gathered to hear about a new clergy health care plan and consider the budget and five resolutions coming before the Annual Conference Session, the Rev. Rebecca Iannicelli encouraged those present to claim the power Christ risks giving “to people like you and people like me.”
She confessed being a “little concerned about being entrusted with this kind of power and authority.”
However, she also expressed gratitude for the Book of Discipline, a denominational covenant that enables United Methodists to understand how to use God’s power to help create God’s Kingdom, and for holy conferencing, that allows us to join in sacred relationship with one another.
Healing, miracles and real transformation can happen if we do one thing, said Iannicelli, “and that is to have the mind of Christ as we hold the power, as we make
We have the power. How will we use it?