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BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMCONNECTION STAFF

The business of the church is a form of worship. "It is the work of God," Bishop John Schol told the members as they settled into setting the policies and polity of the BWC for the coming year.

Leading Wednesday's agenda was the endorsement of candidates for the episcopacy. The Revs. Rodney Smothers and Laura Easto were endorsed by the BWC's delegation to the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference.

The Revs. Wade Martin, Karin Walker and David Simpson were nominated from the floor.

To be endorsed, a candidate must receive 66 percent of the ballots.

In other actions, the conference nominated 128 new people to serve on conference boards and agencies and adjusted the rules of conference to bring them into alignment with current practices and the Book of Discipline.

The extensive rewrite of the rules, performed by Jen Ihlo of Capitol Hill UMC, was adopted with a few changes, including increasing the number of lay members from local churches.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake brought greetings and thanked The United Methodist Church, which was created blocks from this meeting in 1784. She applauded the BWC for efforts to support The Journey Home, a Baltimore program to make homelessness in the city rare and brief. "You are a force and source of social action and outreach. We see your fingerprints everywhere," the mayor said.

Members also endorsed a report from the Board of Pensions, which will enroll retirees in the new Extend Health program in January 2013.

Currently, the conference pays $2.2 million in retiree health care. The new plan is expected to bring savings to the conference and retirees.

Earlier in the day, it was announced that the Rev. Tim West of Westphalia UMC in Upperco, was awarded the Harry Denman Award for Evangelism.