Our 2010 session of the Western North Carolina Conference ended on an inspiring note this past Sunday morning, and sent all of us back to our communities on a mission. Once again, it was a joy for me to be a part of this conference, and I learned more this year. We tried to put the agenda together in such a way that we would be engaged in worshipful work, acknowledging our dependence on God and our mission of serving Christ in this present age. The business that we conducted was surrounded with worship services and with prayers and hymns. Recognizing the impact of the economy on our churches and on our lives, we had decided last year to eliminate one day from had been our tradition and norm, which challenged us to get the business completed. I want to express my gratitude to those members of the Annual Conference, both lay and clergy, who attended and participated in the sessions. Decisions were made that impact all of our churches across this area, and we pray that those decisions were made with keen discernment. As is the case with any such deliberations and voting bodies, not everyone is pleased or satisfied with every decision, and as always some of our colleagues left with disappointment. My prayer is that we stay focused on the mission and our individual commitments to Christ and our role in achieving the mission of following Jesus, making disciples, and transforming the world. I am grateful for all those who stayed through to the end, endured the heat of the auditorium, and navigated the traffic. The Worship Planning Team did another fine job in coordinating the eight services of worship with music and themes they had been working on over the last year. There was, once again, a variety of worship services and styles of music reflecting the reality of who we are as United Methodists across Western North Carolina. We were blessed with the preaching of Bishop Janice Huie, and those from our conference, Dr. Peter Graves and Dr. Earl Wilson. In the coming weeks, the work will start again as Kyle Thompson, Chair of the Committee, and the team members focus on 2011. I cannot say enough about or offer sufficient words of appreciation for Kim Ingram, who serves as our Conference Secretary. She invests long hours in preparation for the conference, and then works during every hour of the conference with grace and a smile. What she does is a monumental task, and our conference proceeds in good order thanks to her work. She is following in the footsteps of some others who have served in this office so well; she is picking right up where they left off. Thanks, also, to her assistants who also work hard to record and preserve the proceedings. As you know by now, the Annual Conference members voted to remain at Lake Junaluska, and we are already working on the 2011 session. First, let me announce and confirm that the dates for the 2011 Annual Conference will be June 8-12. We will be adding back at least one of the days we missed this year, but will need to do so because next year is an election year for General and Jurisdictional Conferences. Second, let me assure you that I learned some things this year about who we are and what we do (or expect) at Annual Conference. We will be incorporating some of those into our planning for next year. And, third, I am in the process of assessing the actions of our sessions last week, and am even more committed to leading and guiding our conference to stay focused on the mission.
