PUBLISHED BY THE WEST VIRGINIA CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

photo by AdAm CuNNiNGhAm

vol 45 / nUMber 3

By Laura Allen

“Lord, give me your eyes for just one sec-ond, Give me your eyes to I can see/every-thing that I keep missing/give me your love for humanity. Give me your arms for the brokenhearted/the ones that are far beyond my reach/give me your heart for the ones forgotten/give me your eyes so I can see.” — Brandon Heath: “Give Me Your Eyes”

In a passionate address that was at times emotional, Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball chal-lenged the West Virginia Conference to discover the strength God has given them to go out into the world and do something.Using the grasshopper as an example of

a small but powerful creature, the bishop said that the tiny insect is one of the most

successful species on the planet, partially because they have fi ve eyes, giving them panoramic vision. “Th is is the kind of vision God wishes for

us - not a physical vision, but a spiritual one,” she said. “It’s our ability to see the wide horizon that that can take us beyond the gi-ants that threaten to block our way.” Th e bishop cautioned the conference

about staying stuck in the low ground where fear and selfi shness could keep us from seeing what is ahead. In order to move ahead, we can’t be afraid to jump.“To be able to see with God’s eyes is the

beginning of what it takes to truly discover and be part of a Christ led spiritual breath of fresh air,” she said.Th e bishop based her address to confer-

ence on a scripture that has inspired her

since childhood: “...Th ose who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. Th ey shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint,” (Isaiah chapter 40, verse 31). “God wants to renew our strength, to

make us able,” she said. “I hear Isaiah telling us to look around at the big world. Behind it is a creator who has the expansive power of life that can make a grasshopper soar like an eagle.”She outlined a series of next steps for

conference, districts, congregations and individuals (clergy and laity). Matthew West’s song and video “Do Something” ended the address. “Amen! Let’s go out and do something, church.” It was a fi t-ting benediction to an address that in-spired the Conference.

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2014 ANNUAL CONFERENCE EDITION, JUNE 15

Take the wide view

Good news of JesUs is better than a phone plan! #wvac14— @roycealyden“

“Welcome to the jungle”

JUNE 15, 2014

Saturday business highlights

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By Rev. Jacob Steele

Never until today (or at least until after Saturday morn-ing worship) did I liken the parish to a state park---places that are procured and protected; where the daily preoccupation seems to revolve around preservation. “Caution.” “Go Slow.” “Strictly Prohibited.” “Posted.” “Private Property.”Travel to a state park, pay enough attention and the

aforementioned signs will serve as an outward expres-sion of an inward aim: Preservation.Don’t misunderstand me. There is something to be said

about preservation. As a connected body, tradition of-ten informs who we are. While tradition must not be sacrificed upon the altar of improvement and progress, it shouldn’t be held hostage as an impediment to it either. It is easy for complacency and a fear of the unknown to keep people of faith fixed on keeping peace instead of making it.That’s why the combined messages of Clif Adkins and

Matthew Johnson were so important. Their message took to task pastors who are content to be park rangers and challenged the church to leave the reservation and walk out into the wilderness. That means we sacrifice security, which is difficult because we often strive to preserve it.Reflect on your faith and consider how much safety dom-

inates your prayer life. How often do our prayers sound something like this: “Oh God, watch over us, protect us, build a hedge around us and keep us...safe.” Assurance of the Spirit’s presence should bring comfort and solace; there’s nothing wrong with feeling secure and sustained. But what if God wants something more than a relation-

ship that revolves around safety? What if God really wants a relationship defined by intimacy? All of us say and even pray that we want to know God on a deeper level. But what if the kind of intimacy God desires only comes at the expense of our security? Would it still be our prayer? If it is, then we cannot be afraid of the frontier.Oh, there will be attempts to keep us within certain con-

fines: “Caution.” “Keep Out.” “Private Property.” “Posted.” “No Trespassing.” Clif and Matthew’s morning messages urged us to disregard those signs and journey into the jungle. The jungle is risky, edgy, challenging and transforming...but so is the Gospel. And when we’re bold enough to depart from the safety of the park, it’s amazing what we can do and discover in the process.

TOP TWEET

The conference increased mini-mum salaries as recommended by the equitable compensation commission by $500 in each cat-egory. These are minimum sala-ries required for full-time clergy in various categories and not a general salary increase for clergy.The Conference recognized Rev.

Barry Steiner Ball, husband of the bishop, and presented him with a tomato plant and gift.The House of the Carpenter

is celebrating 50 years of min-istry on Wheeling Island. HOC is starting three new ministries: a relatives as parents program, a mentoring program and an ur-ban renewal program to provide affordable housing for those in need.Two Girl Scout troops received

the Bishop’s Award for Girl Scouting created last year. Two scouts, Emily Harrell and Cory L. Reimert, were awarded the Good Samaritan Award for their exemplary service to others.Jeff Taylor, Director of the UM

Foundation, celebrated 40 years of the foundation’s ministry with the voice of the late Bishop Frederick Wertz.Passed the following resolu-

tions:• After consultation among the

makers of the resolution, the amendments presented Friday and the Sexual Ethics Team, a resolution supporting training for clergy to enable them to be supportive of victims of sexual assault.• Authorized “20/20: Vision-

ing an AIDS-Free World,” a campaign challenging individu-als and congregations to raise $150,000 for The United Meth-odist Global AIDS Fund by 2016.• Endorsed a resolution en-

dorsing voting values for the General andJurisdictional Con-ference Delegates, calling for a diverse and inclusive delegation.• Approved a budget of

$12,027,139.• 41 names of lay members

were put into nomination for the 2016 General and Jurisdic-tional balloting. Clergy nomina-tions were also made, according to the rule change made Friday.Date of Annual Conference

2015: June 11- 14 at WVWC.Preacher: Bishop Debra Wal-

lace-Padgett, bishop of the North Alabama Conference, Southeast-ern Jurisdiction. Teacher will be George Howard, Deputy General Secretary for Mission and Evan-gelism of the General Board of Global Ministries.

JUNE 15, 2014

Young adults take risk, grow framily

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By Rev. Krysta Rexrode Wolfe

The Young Adult Minis-try team created a diverse, collaborative worship ex-perience yesterday morn-ing that harnessed the gifts of young people in ministry across the An-nual Conference. Speaking for the music

team made up of members from Life United Method-ist Church, Fairmont and Suncrest United Methodist, Morgantown, Jeremy Bat-ten proclaimed, “Powerful things happen when we unite.” Batten’s words rang true in the message brought by Clif Adkins, United Methodist Temple, Beckley; and Matthew Johnson, Ig-nite, Morgantown. Adkins encouraged the

congregation to be peace-makers. “If you are going to be peacemakers you have to place yourself in conflict,” he said. “In my experience, conflict is the point when people are willing to let the Holy Spirit take over.” For him, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is a call to Chris-tians not to be “park rang-ers”, but “trailblazers” in the jungles of modern life. Adkins referred to John

Wesley’s struggle with the jungles of his time, before concluding, “It is not a safe thing to follow Christ, so it is my prayer that your churches not be state parks but jungle training grounds.” Johnson’s words echoed

the call to build relation-ships in adaptive ways.

“If we want to share the gospel we have to ask this question: what does good news look like to the people we want to reach?” After working with young people in Morgantown, Johnson believes the good news is about connection. Johnson cited Sprint’s

popular “framily plan” campaign saying, “Folk want to feel connected; we see it all over TV in shows like ‘How I Met Your Mother’, ‘Friends’ and the Sprint commercials—people who aren’t related become family to each other.” He continued, “The good news is better than a phone plan. Jesus didn’t call his disciples ‘business associates’. They were fam-ily. They lived life together.” Johnson concluded that

creating family in living communities is under-mined by the church’s re-cent talk about schism. “When we talk about split-

The Rev. Clif Adkins preaches during Saturday morning worship. photo by dusty merrill

Conference cartoon

ting we lose credibility to young people; we lose credibility in a world that needs gospel.” Johnson ended his sermon by challenging the congregation to live in a way

that models community. “Help those who feel disconnected feel like they matter, like they are loved, like they have hope so that they are free to join God’s family.”

JUNE 15, 2014

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A collection of our favorite youth photos on Instagram

Conference life

@jensenhoover_15A collection of photos from around Conference. Check out those cleaning buckets!

@carol.i.ne“With my boyfriend #johnwesley #wvumc #wvac14”

@smarie4796Rev. Rich Hogg after Lauren Shanholtzer smeared ice cream on his face. (He returned the favor.)

@erin_sears“So excited to read this book after hearing Elaine Heath speak this morning! #wvac14”