From the Sr. Pastor

 

I’m asking the Lord for wisdom.  Perhaps I should share the entire Serenity Prayer with you, “Have you ever prayed this prayer?  I highly recommend it.

Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
& supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
 ~ Reinhold Niebuhr

One of the reasons for this prayer is an upcoming vote on April 5.  Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton has called a special conference session for both the Det. Annual Conference & the W. MI Conference of the UMC.  (We are part of the Det. Annual Conference.)  The purpose of this conference session will be to vote on the creation of a new annual conference called the Great Lakes Conference.

 

Annual conference is the basic body of the UMC.  It is the primary link in the church’s connectional structure.  Each annual conference (63 annual conferences in the U.S.) meets at least once a year.  Delegates to the conference vote on the ordination of clergy, on all constitutional amendments, & the election of clergy & lay delegates to general & jurisdictional conferences & on all other matters not delegated to the general conference.  An annual conference determines its own outreach, spiritual & educational programs along with the budgets to support them.  An annual conference is composed of clergy & laity elected by each church within the conference boundaries.  Rev. Carolyn Wik, Roger Young, Leon Doolin, & I are our members to annual conference.

 

Presently the Detroit Annual Conference consists of the following area: the entire Upper Peninsula & the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula.  Currently there are 455 churches in the Detroit Annual Conference.  If the new merger is approved the new Great Lakes Conference will consist of the entire state of Michigan & have 876 churches.  The district boundaries will be changed, going from 7 districts in the Detroit Conference to 11 districts in the new Great Lakes Conference. 

 

If the new conference is approved the implications will be far-reaching in terms of the way the conference does business in the state of Michigan.  The question is will the merger create a better situation?  Weighing the risks & benefits is not an exact science.  I suppose no one knows the answer to that question.  Our Bishop reminds us that neither do pastors know when a wedding is performed if the couple will stay together but the ceremony happens.  Like the Bishop I too am trusting that God will speak through our conferencing. 

 

Please hold this matter in prayer.

Praying for wisdom

Jeff