| Transformation is key to faith of conference delegates Nine clergy and nine lay people will represent the Baltimore-Washington Conference at the 2004 General Conference when it meets in Pittsburgh next spring to establish the policies and priorities of The United Methodist Church for the next four years. In this issue, the UMConnection continues its short profiles of these delegates. Timothy Warner  Four years ago, Tim Warner was a devout Baptist and a consultant in the pharmaceutical industry. But in 1999, the Lord opened a door to ministry in The United Methodist Church at the Baltimore-Washington Conference. Walking through it transformed his life.
Transformation has been one of the key themes of his work as an associate council director with the least, the last and the lost at the conferences Saving Stations and Shalom Zones and in Zimbabwe. Warner is convinced that the local church is where the action is, where people encounter God and lives are changed. Last summer, he completed seminary and was appointed part-time to St. Marks UMC in Boyd. But despite serving a church, he will be representing the laity when he serves for his first time as a delegate to General Conference. I will always be a lay person at heart, he said. Lay people are freer to simply do what God asks them to do. We are a lay-driven church. Warner hopes the General Conference embraces the potential of the local church as a place for transformation and that the church builds upon its prophetic ministry and focus on social holiness. The major focus needs to be on Jesus, not the church as an organization, he said. When he is not in ministry, Warner coaches basketball, although not as much as hed like. Having more free time after graduating seminary, hes now considering picking up his bass fiddle again. One of his passions is jazz. Another, he proclaims, is Jesus. We need, Warner concluded about life and General Conference, to stay on the Jesus agenda. Rev. Marcus Matthews  Serving as a pastor for 31 years has led Washington West District superintendent, the Rev. Marcus Matthews, to value the transforming power of God and the potential of United Methodists who are willing to think outside of the box.
Matthews, who will be attending next years General Conference for the fifth time as a delegate from the Baltimore-Washington Conference, believes the church is facing significant challenges in not letting a declining budget shape its ministry. The budget is one of the things that drives General Conference, he said. All the reports I see are not encouraging. But Im hoping we dont let the budget drive the program of the church. As a model, Matthews would recommend that the denomination look to the Baltimore-Washington Conference, which, he said, understands that if you have ministry, dollars follow. The more you engage people in ministry and mission and more excited they can become about giving. He is also concerned that the denomination needs to come to grips with what it means to be a global church. We talk about being a global church, he said. But that means reprioritizing things. It also means making room at the table for all people, and allowing those in the central conferences to have a voice in the decision making. Matthews has recently done some re-prioritizing of his own. Last year his brother died. It was a shocker, he said. But it awoke him to discovering what is important to him. Hes now spending more time with his family and friends. His death made me appreciate life in a different way, Matthews said. Life can be short. You need to really appreciate the things you say you value. | 
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