| Annual conference celebrates chartering of two churches by John ColemanUMConnection Staff The ballroom at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C., erupted into a triumphant celebration during the evening of June 14, with singing, shouting, gleeful reminiscence and a pair of processions and pronouncements, as the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference presented certificates of charter to two new churches. For one, the journey to this milestone had taken three years; for the other, only 11 months. Both have benefited from extensive conference support. From nothing, this church began because of your leadership and dedication, Bishop Felton Edwin May told th e Rev. Cynthia Belt, as members of her young congregation, New Beginnings UMC in Severn, sat behind her on the stage. You heard the voices of children and young people, went where they were, spoke the language they spoke and interpreted the Gospel so that they could hear it. The 170-member congregation, which emerged from an after-school program for young girls three years ago, worships in a school and tries to offer compassion and hope to its community, where children and adults find little respite from poverty, illiteracy, drug abuse and violence. This is an exciting time to be alive, said Belt. I thank the Baltimore-Washington Conference for its commitment to be in ministry where the church does not usually go. Members of Covenant Point UMC in Waldorf followed the New Beginnings members to the stage, as the Rev. Rodney Smothers, pastor, accepted their charter. From out o f chaos, God has given birth to a new church, announced Bishop May, alluding to the difficult closing of the former Gibbons-Resurrection UMC in 2002, prior to the launching of Covenant Point last July. Most of the new churchs 180 members joined on profession of faith and thus, had never held membership in any church. Eleven months ago, we did not exist, Smothers told conference members before recounting in detail the support he and Covenant Point had received from individuals, other churches and the conference. Today, not only are we being chartered, but we have a new consecrated facility, all because of you. It takes new congregations years to accomplish what we have done together in a short time. Many in the roomful of celebrants were already on their feet, some in tears, when Bishop Forrest Stith, retired, led them in singing a rousing rendition of the hymn Marching to Zion. After the stage cleared, the conference viewed two short videos about the newly chartered churches. The two churches are among 13 conference-supported new church starts and new faith communities highlighted in the Board of Congregational Life report presented June 13. The board sited these new initiatives as the best venues for attracting new and younger members to The United Methodist Church. | 
Login/Register to leave comment