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By Melissa Lauber
UMConnection Staff

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“Don’t just see the light, be the light,” Sandy Ferguson, the director of Connectional Ministries told annual conference members in a report May 30. “Already, United Methodists in our churches are shining, illuminating the world with the love of God.

“In the Baltimore-Washington Conference, United Methodists are focusing on developing leaders, addressing poverty, ending killer diseases around the world and creating new faith communities as they put God’s love in action,” Ferguson said.

During the past year, creating new places for new people has been a focal point of conference leaders. 

“In response to the Great Commission, we are called to make disciples, to reach new people and introduce them to God’s love and grace in Jesus Christ. The best way to reach new people is to start new faith communities,” said the Rev. Andy Lunt, director of the BWC’s new Vibrant Communities ministry. “It’s been quite a while since we’ve been able to start a new faith community in the Baltimore-Washington Conference. But this year God has blessed us with the opportunity to launch not just one, but seven, new faith communities to reach new people with the Gospel.”

Lunt introduced the leaders of the new and diverse faith communities to the conference and called for continuing prayers for their ministries.

The Rev. Dred Scott and the members of J & K Missional Community in the Dundalk area of East Baltimore recognized that Jesus was already present and working in new ways in their community and decided to connect with the Spirit’s leading. This decision led to the birth of a new missional faith community in J&K  auto repair shop.

The Rev. John Wunderlich and the congregation of First Saints UMC in Leonardtown were led by God to plant a new campus in California, Md. Their concern to especially reach families with young children led them to begin meeting in an elementary school in late January.  After less than 6 months, this new faith community, under the leadership of campus pastor Jason Shank,  already averages nearly 100 people in worship — more than half of whom are new believers.

The congregation of Oakdale Emory UMC in Olney, under the leadership of Rev. Kevin Baker, wrestled with their sense that God was calling them to launch a new campus even though they were in the midst of a major building effort at their main location. God has now led them to plant a new campus in western Montgomery County under the leadership of the Rev. David Deans.

In an area of West Baltimore, where the conference recently closed Wesley Memorial UMC, the Rev. William Chaney and his team are preparing to launch Infinite Grace, a new multicultural faith community. Part of their vision includes a community development corporation to serve the needs of those along the 40 West corridor and training to equip laity and seminary students to plant churches.

In West Virginia, the Rev. Rudy Bropleh and members of Asbury UMC of Sheperdstown have felt God leading them to plant Hezekiah’s House,  a new multicultural community in the Ranson, W.Va., area, where many new people are moving in.  

The Rev. Sung Cho is growing a new faith community of Korean and other international young adults in downtown Washington, D.C.  They have been worshipping in a UCC church, but are seeking a home that will provide a base for continued growth in mission and service.

And Dae Sung Park will be leading a team in growing a new Korean congregation in the Ellicott City area, one of the locations in the conference with the fastest growth of Korean communities. Currently, this congregation worships in the facilities of Bethany UMC in Ellicott City.

“It makes no sense for us to come up with our grand plans and then ask God to bless them,” Lunt said. “Instead, we’re seeking to discern where God is already at work and get with what God is doing.”

Bishop Marcus Matthews welcomed the new leaders. “This is a marvelous advancement of God’s Kingdom,” he said. “I praise God for all who have played a part in creating these new faith communities and for the hope they represent for our future.” 

These ministries of new church starts are bolstered by numerous other outreach efforts within the conference, said Ferguson. 

In 2012, she reported, more than 1,078,430 people were served by United Methodists in area community ministries for outreach, justice and mercy; and more than 11,794 United Methodists from this conference went beyond the wall of their churches to serve on mission teams. 

In addition, two new conference staff people have been hired to provide resources for ministries for the poor and to expand and strengthen ministries with young adults.

Ferguson quoted Mahatma Ghandi, who said, “A small body of determined spirit, fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission, can alter the course of history.”

“We’re discovering this everyday within the Baltimore-Washington Conference as people act out their faith in astonishing ways, coming fully alive with the possibilities God presents.”