PUBLISHED BY THE WEST VIRGINIA CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Conference members dance in the center aisle at Wesley Chapel yesterday. photo by AdAM CuNNINGhAM

vol 45 / number 2

Conference took on the air of a revival Friday morning as members, including Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball danced in the aisles.Th e spontaneous celebration took place

during Bishop Th omas J. Bickerton’s sermon “Discover Joy” (see next page), which incorporated the pop hit “Happy”

by Pharell Williams. Th e song became an international hit last year, reaching the number one spot on pop charts in 24 countries, according to Wikipedia.This year’s Conference theme “Dis-

cover Christ” can be seen in the preaching and teaching of the gather-ing yesterday, and in items such as the

Cabinet report which featured nearly 50 churches and ministries who are making a difference in their commu-nities. A “short clip,” or video story about Logan Memorial United Meth-odist Church added to an atmosphere that focused on what we can do as the church.

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2014 ANNUAL CONFERENCE EDITION, JUNE 14

Conference gets happy!

jesus looks at us and sees what we’re becoming — rev. elaine heath #wvumc #wvac14— @kerrfunk“

Discover Joy!

JUNE 14, 2014

Friday business highlights

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By Tom Bone

Visiting Bishop Thomas Bickerton issued a call to joy that ended with dancing in the aisles during Friday’s praise and worship service in Wesley Chapel.Following a rousing round of music by a praise group

and a women’s chorus, Bickerton began by restating an informal theme he has used for 10 years “Lighten up, loosen up and have a little fun.”“We are either so serious and stiff that we miss the spir-

it, or so hung up and possessed of our own ideas that we discount the Spirit when it shows up.”He said that Jesus was speaking to disciples “who are

afraid and don’t know what the future holds.” “It’s only after talking about joy that Jesus begins to talk

about those infamous words, of loving one another ‘as I have loved you.’ You see, only when you discover the joy, will you be able to discover love.”Soon he was paraphrasing Jesus as saying, “It’ll be OK.

There’s a way through.” To underline the point, he quot-ed from Scripture, “I will be with you, even unto the end of the age.”Bickerton acknowledged, “These are serious times.

These are not happy times. We are afraid, fearful, un-certain about what the future holds.” He reassured the worshippers with more of Jesus’ advice: “Do not let your hearts be troubled; neither let the be afraid.”“He spoke them to his disciples,” Bickerton said. “He

meant them for us.”“Today, West Virginia Annual Conference, everybody

in this room has a choice. Are you going to be consumed with fear and uncertainty … or will you remember the words of Jesus himself, and will you let those words bless us, inform us, and strengthen us in the midst of uncer-tain times?” He closed with the hope that “your joy may be com-

plete, so that you can dance the dance of the Lord.”As recorded music filled the chapel, people broke out

into the aisles, prompting Bickerton to exclaim, “I knew you had it in you!”

TOP TWEET

Rule changesClergy instituted a process for election of General and Jurisdictional conference del-egates which allows for nomi-nations to be made and infor-mation, including a personal statement, to be presented pri-or to voting for delegates. This rule is in effect now and nomi-nations can be made through Saturday by filling out the forms in the Narthex. All eli-gible clergy members will re-main on the ballot.Seminarians can now take up

to 66 and 2/3 % of their courses online, provided those courses are not preaching or pastoral care.“Certified lay ministers under

appointment” were added to the conference formula for selecting lay equalization members for an-nual conference.

Other highlightsA resolution that proposed training for clergy so that they could support victims of sexual assault was tabled until today. An earlier effort to refer the reso-lution to the Sexual Ethics team was not supported.Laity address was given by

Rich Shaffer, emphasizing the creation of transformational groups.

The Denman Award for Evan-gelism was presented to lay adult Sam Benson from Crossroads UMC in Waverly WV. He leads a home bible study for people who don’t attend church.The clergy Denman winner

was Beverly Colombo, pastor of Logan Memorial UMC Parkers-burg where worship attendance has increased from 18 to 60-70 in the past two years.Youth Denman winners were

Erin Sears (First UMC, Princ-eton), and Jonathan O’Dell, (St. John’s UMC, Scott Depot).These two young people have been in-strumental in the creation of Radical Disciples of Academy of Appalachia (RDAA).Global AIDS Taskforce report:

$10.00 can save the life of a child by preventing transmission of AIDS from mother to child.Heather Withrow and Andy

Jackson spoke about Camping Ministries at Spring Heights.Allison Shaw from Trinity

UMC, Bluefield and Gabe In-gram, from Trinity UMC, Park-ersburg, gave testimony to the importance of camping minis-tries in their lives.Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball

recognized Mark Flynn (Green-brier District), his wife Judy, El-lis Conley (Mon Valley District) and his wife, Julie, as they leave the Cabinet to serve in local churches.

JUNE 14, 2014

Thoughts on Elaine HeathMOUNTAINcircuit

By Rev. Jacob Steele

A baptism in the Jordan...and a battle in the desert. As Dr. Elaine Heath taught, I thought to myself, “How could some-thing so affirming be followed by some-thing so challenging?” Perhaps you’ve asked similar questions in other mazes or stages of faith. Talk to some people and they’ll tell you

that baptism is supposed to seal and pro-tect you from hardship, not prepare and propel you in response to it. Many like to think of baptism as a key to get them into the kingdom, instead of a call to get them busy building it here. Oftentimes, culturized versions of

Christianity lend the notion that our be-ing churchy somehow absolves us from challenge. Yet, we’re reminded that the Church — at its birth — was baptized into a battle. While that battle isn’t with-out burden, it isn’t without blessing ei-ther. “The desert school of discernment,” said Dr. Heath, “is an emptying process of hungering, thirsting and yearning.” In a consumeristic society, it’s a process

we’ve become passive about. But as those formed and fashioned in the image of Christ, we too are led by the Spirit to let go, to lose self, to hunger and thirst for the things of Christ’s Kingdom...and in the process discover life in some of the most barren places. The desert was a 40 day period of

preparation, whereby God in the flesh was primed and poised for a mission that would dramatically transform the world. Should it be such a surprise that the risen Jesus stayed with his dis-ciples for 40 days before his ascension so that he could prepare his followers for a mission that would once again transform the world? Since the ascen-sion, since that momentous segment in time, Jesus has sought out bodies through which that mission would be made manifest in practical, yet power-ful ways. We should ask ourselves the question, “Is this body willing? If it is, then the desert is a certain destination.

Rev. Dr. Elaine Heath speaks during her teaching time at Annual Conference yesterday. photo by Judy pysell.

Conference cartoon

JUNE 14, 2014

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A photo roundup featuring the communications team and conference page Allie Sears. Great work guys! View more of the team’s photos at flickr.com/wvumc.

Conference life

Wesley in the RainDusty Merrill @dustymerrill

“Even the rain creates beauty.”Allie Sears @a_l_l_i_e_c_a_t

Waiting in WesleyLeisa Lucas

Gathering RoundJudy Pysell