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By Melissa Lauber
UMConnection Staff

The Baltimore-Washington Conference?s 222nd session will be one day shorter than previous years in a continuing effort to address the concerns and needs of congregations. Participants had asked that the conference session be three days instead of four days in order to be good stewards of the time and financial resources of congregations and delegates.

The annual gathering of lay and clergy representatives from the conference?s 694 churches, will be held May 25-27, 2006 at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore. Reorganizing the focus of the event will allow the business of the conference to be completed on Saturday, rather than Sunday, a stewardship measure that is expected to save local churches one-third of the costs they normally expend on this meeting, said the Rev. Bruce Jones, chairman of the conference arrangements committee.

'Any change that frees people for ministry and enables them to be actively engaged in the Discipleship Adventure is a good one,' said the Rev. Wayne DeHart, conference director of Human Resources and Human Life. 'Our rationale is that we?ll be spending more time in ministry and less time in meetings. ? We want to send people home energized, ready to do God?s work.'

This year?s annual conference session, whose theme is 'Connecting Through Christ,' will include a state of the church report by Bishop John R. Schol, Bible studies and worship, a celebration of clergywomen, and reports and dialogues on discipleship, leadership, communications, stewardship, and moving forward in discipleship.

Ordination will be held Saturday, May 27, at 2:30 p.m. The memorial service, to celebrate the lives and ministry of those who have died during the past year, will be held Friday, May 26, at 1:30 p.m.

Buses, which transport hundreds of members to annual conference, will drop people off at the site by 10 a.m. Thursday, May 25, and pick them up at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 27.

Registration for the annual conference session will begin online Feb. 1 and by mail Feb. 15. Room reservations this year will be made by individuals directly with the hotel.

Planners expect the hotel to be sold out and that some participants will be housed in another nearby Marriott Hotel located a few blocks from the conference hotel. This will be an added incentive for people to register early, Jones said.

A pre-conference booklet, which outlines all the business coming before the conference, is being prepared. Those who are submitting reports are expected to have their information to the conference secretary before Feb. 15.

Preconference briefings will be held throughout the conference on April 29.