Conference celebrates 225th session
“And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
– Acts 2:42-47
With an oven, a little cookie dough, and an open mind, a small church in western Maryland turned a problem into an opportunity.
Last October, the Rev. Melissa Rudolph of Christ-Ballinger Creek UMC in Frederick had to find a way to prevent students from a middle school next door from congregating – and occasionally fighting – in the church parking lot. The principal of the school suggested putting up a “No Loitering” sign that would potentially force students to go straight home.
But Rudolph and her laity had a better idea: Instead of asking the students to stay off of the church property, they saw it as an opportunity to share Christ with area youth in a way that was not threatening or “in-your-face” evangelism.
Their idea? They baked cookies.
What started off as 10 students receiving cookies after school at the church has now swelled to more than 200 12-to-14-year-olds. The popular weekly event is now known as The Wednesday Cookie Connection.
“We asked ourselves what we as a church could do to make the students feel welcomed,” Rudolph said. “Many of the students had never seen the inside of the church before. Now they come to the church to have cookies, play ping-pong, fooz ball and participate in various workshops that are facilitated by our laity.
“We want the students to see our church as a part of their community. We want them to feel welcomed. We did that with chocolate chip cookies,” she said.
Rudolph and the members of Christ-Ballinger Creek are just one of the many churches radically living out the theme of the 225th annual session of the Baltimore-Washington Conference: “Extravagant Grace, Share Your Faith.” It is their Pentecost Mission.
In his state of the church address at the 2009 Annual Conference, Bishop John Schol urged the
conference churches to live a Pentecost experience and to become “an unbound and outbound church.”
“These are unbound, outbound congregations – Pentecost mission churches,” Schol said. “Walking through their doors is an act of courage. Maybe your congregation is on its way or trying to get started to be unbound and outbound. We commit to walk with every church that wants to become a church of 1000 doors, a church that is a verb, a church that is about Monday through Saturday.”
Bishop Schol added that many of the conference churches, like Christ-Ballenger Creek, are already living a Pentecost Mission. He said that 300 churches have already achieved Acts 2 church status, halfway to the conference goal of 600 in 2012.
“I also believe through the power of the Holy Spirit and your giftedness, we will see at least 600 of our congregations grow new disciples, increase worship attendance, engage worshippers in community mission and give 100 percent of their apportionments,” he said. “This will be a sign and wonder of the movement of God throughout the Baltimore-Washington Conference.
“I am also glad we are not working alone on this, but other conferences throughout the connection are committed to the same fruit. Your bishops and general secretaries have agreed that making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world is our number one priority,” he said.
Bishop Schol’s State of the Church was preceded by an opening worship service that included a sermon from the Rev. Robert Allan Hill, dean of Marshall Chapel and the chaplain at Boston University. Hill encouraged conference members to “stand with your people in the face of daily anxiety,” which he defined as “fear seeking a cause.”
Thinking of Hill’s theme, Rudolph realizes that she and the church could have given into anxiety and just kept the students from loitering in the church parking lot. Instead, she chose to lead a church that is unbound and outbound.
“We asked ourselves what we can do as a church to minister to these young people,” Rudolph said. “We try to understand and speak to their struggles. We want them to see church in a new and different way.”
Schol said that as more churches follow a similar model of reaching out to the community in bold and new ways, he is confident that the conference and the denomination can reverse the 40-year trend of declining membership.
“Some wanted to go back to Egypt, while others wanted to melt down the Gospel’s radical call to seek justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God for more palatable golden images of success and prosperity,” Schol said, referring to two differing groups that have
struggled with declining membership.
“But today there are signs that we are entering a Pentecost mission season in which we are Spirit-filled and mission-focused. In this season we will be anchored by tradition and freed to innovate, create and take risks – a time in which the church will be unbound and outbound.”
Amidst the praise and worship celebrations during the three-day session, the conference members voted on various motions and lifted up several milestones:
• As part of an ongoing partnership with the Baltimore-Washington Conference, Bishop Young Tai Park and nine pastors from the South Conference of the Korean Methodist
Church attended this session of annual conference. The Korean Partnership began in 2002, and has gained momentum with cultural exchanges and meetings between conference pastors and laity. Bishop Park, leader of the Nambu (South) Conference, preached at the Service of Remembrance and the Koreans shared their culture at a reception.
• Bishop John R. Schol ordained 12 women and men as Elders and one woman as a Deacon at the Ordination Service. Seven others were commissioned as provisional members.
• The conference recognized 26 retirees, representing 638 years of service.
• Members voted on, and passed by a two-thirds margin, 31 denominational Constitutional Amendments, one of which formalized two churches in Bermuda becoming official members of the Baltimore-Washington Conference. Many of the other amendments addressed the global nature of the church, changing the words “Central Conference” to “Regional Conference.” Amendment 1, which would have changed the constitution to read “we are in ministry to all,” (without regard to race, color, national origin, status or economic condition) did not pass.
• Conference members adopted recommendations from the Task Force on Appointment Policies, Compensation Expectations and Practices that outline policies and requirements for pastoral appointments. The Rev. Vivian McCarthy, chair of the task force, said the goal of the committee and their recommendations is to ensure clarity of conference policies toward building and sustaining healthy congregations and to be clear in compensation and appointment guidelines. It is not, she said, an attempt to target small churches. One of the notable recommendations brought forth by the task force that will help to decide whether a church receives a full-time or part-time pastor is that tithes and offerings must comprise at least 75 percent of the church’s income.
• Members also approved a 2010 conference budget of $17,733,032, which represents an increase of 3 percent over 2009, and adopted a benevolence factor of 19.5 percent.
• During the stewardship report, members heard that as of Jan. 1, 2010, a church’s share of the medical billing for a pastor’s coverage will be identical regardless of the tier level, with single coverage
costing the same as single and spouse or family coverage.
• Members approved a statement on human sexuality, recognizing that “faithful, thoughtful people who have grappled with this issue deeply disagree with one another; yet all seek a faithful witness,” and asking the church to “refrain from judgment regarding homosexual persons.”
• Thirteen conference Advance Specials were adopted for churches and individuals to support with “second-mile giving.” (See page 9)
• The conference explored the idea of “extravagant grace,” with panel discussions featuring the Rev. Jessicah Duckworth of Wesley Theological Seminary who spoke on ministry to young adults; and Erin Hawkins, General Secretary of the Commission on Religion and Race, who talked about building a culture of meaningful inclusiveness.
• Recognizing the participation of the Baltimore-Washington Conference during the inauguration weekend of President Barack Obama, Paul Monteiro – religious liaison in the White House’s Office of Public Liaison – said the new administration appreciates the work done by United Methodists across the country. “We will count on you to be that prophetic voice and deal with the many moral issues facing us today,” he said.
• More than $87,657 was collected in a special offering for the HOPE Fund to benefit ministries in Africa.
• Local pastors met together in their newly formed Fellowship of Local Pastors and Associate Members.
• Marcel Jagne-Shaw, a member of Good Hope Union UMC, was introduced as the representative of the Black College Fund, which the conference supports with its apportionments.
• The proceeds from the sale of the Annapolis District parsonage were designated for the development
of a new faith community and to support Hispanic ministries in the district.
• Conference members honored the lives of 32 clergy and their spouses and 11 lay members during a Service of Remembrance.
• The conference also thanked the Rev. Albert Clipp, who has served as conference secretary since July 2004, and welcomed the Rev. Mary Jo Sims as the new conference secretary.
• Joel Brown was introduced as the interim director of the Stewardship Center and Foundation. William Isberg, the conference chief operating officer, was elected to be the conference treasurer.
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