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Kentucky United Methodists Share in Worship and Business at 2007 Annual Conference

Written: 8/10/2007

The Kentucky Annual Conference met June 10-14 in Louisville, KY under the leadership of Bishop James R. King, Jr.  The focus for this year’s conference was “Never Alone” with an emphasis on small groups and worship.  Bishop Michael Watson from the South Georgia Conference gave the sermon at the service of commissioning and ordination. Bishop King ordained 5 Elders, 1 Deacon, and commissioned 5 persons.  At the Retirement Celebration, 13 pastors were recognized for their years of ministry.  Twenty pastors and seven clergy spouses were honored at a Service of Remembrance. During the clergy session, selected clergy were invited to share what it meant for them to be “Never Alone” in keeping with the conference theme.

Bishop Zothan Mawia of the Methodist Church of Myanmar (formerly Burma) was also a special guest who visited during the Kentucky Annual Conference. During the week, the Kentucky Conference elected delegates for the upcoming General and Jurisdictional Conferences.  The elected clergy delegates for General Conference are Debbie Wallace-Padgett, Maxie Dunham, Tom Grieb, Tom Eblen, Michael Powers, Kenneth Cummings, Jr., and Tom Smith.  The elected laity delegates for General Conference are Christine Harman, Melvin Bowdan, Jr., John Minton, Jr., Carol Ackley, Linda Underwood King, Ed Shytle, and Jayne Squires.  The elected clergy for the upcoming Jurisdictional Conference are Bill T. Arnold, Eliseo Mejia, George Strunk, Julie Hager Love, Rhoda Gillespie Peters, Hunn Choi, and Jean Hawxhurst.  The elected laity delegates for Jurisdictional Conference are Jeanette L. Westerfield, Verna McKinney, Michael B. Watts, John R. Denham, Richard Wilson, Annie Haigler, and Saundra Epley.  The elected clergy alternates for General and Jurisdictional Conferences are David Grout, Charles Brockwell, Jr., and Wayne Bishop.  The elected laity alternates are Marian Helm Smith, Jim Sutton, and Michael Grout.

Pastors and churches were recognized and awards were presented by Bishop King for excellence in various ministries.  Bishop King also presented 49 clergy with a special 5-Star Pastor gold lapel pin for their outstanding ministry during the past year.  Delegates of the Kentucky Annual Conference voted on further study to be presented in the 2008 Conference on a proposal to reduce the number of Kentucky Conference districts from 12 to 10.  Sister Kathleen Flood of Nashville was the guest speaker for the Conference Bible Study, where she led a warm and inspirational message of us all being connected to each other and never being alone. Rev. Vance Ross was the guest preacher and gave a powerful sermon during the Mission and Ministry Celebration. At the Mission and Ministry Celebration, an offering of $57,341.93 was collected for the Methodist Mountain Mission, United Methodist Global AIDS Fund, and for East Africa. 

During business of the Annual Conference, the members of the Kentucky Annual Conference voted to settle a dispute with the former trustees of the Good Samaritan Foundation, Inc. over control of board of trustees and the $25 million in assets of the Foundation.  Under the terms of the settlement, the Conference and the former trustees have named 15 members to a transitional board with the Conference naming all members to the board by 2012.  Two members of the former board will rotate off the board through 2011 and the Conference will name all members in 2012.  The foundation will continue its mission to provide health care, health education, and research ministries for the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Also in other business, members forwarded two petitions to the General Conference, one outlining an appeal process of University Senate decisions and a second concerned with descriptive terminology of pastors and authority in worship.  Cokesbury presented the Kentucky Conference with a check for $18,620.44 that was then used as a donation to the Central Conference.

With an extra day built into Annual Conference this year, the Kentucky Conference offered a free night with a special time for clergy and laity to explore alternative worship and outreach through a “Coffee House.”  This model offered music, coffee, fellowship, and a devotion.  In keeping with a spirit of never being alone, the Kentucky Conference also held a special offering and raised over $3,000 for a new van for Revs. Mike Morrissey and Sherri Tabaka-Morrissey to use in their ministry in Thailand.  The truck will be used to help give transportation to Methodists in Thailand who travel great distances to places of worship.  Also during the conference, various churches and members attending donated a total of $3,085 for the Nothing But Nets campaign.  The Kentucky Annual Conference membership stands at 152,432 for 2006, up 303 from previous year. Worship attendance stands at 60,256.

Kevin D. Evers