Prayer room available to General Conference attendees

At the end of a quiet hallway on the upper floor of the Charlotte Convention Center, delegates and visitors find space to pray.

“It is quiet, and it’s sort of away from everybody,” said Amy Steele, dean of the chapel and executive director of program ministries for The Upper Room. “And, yes, it is a walk down the hallway, but that’s a chance to let go, breathe deeply, center and prepare yourself for prayer. It is an escape not just from the external noise, but (also) the internal noise.”

Karen Hayden knows how important such a space can be.

“In 2016, I was a delegate, and I stumbled upon that dedicated space. I went back to it regularly while at General Conference,” said Hayden, a member of the Missouri Conference. A certified spiritual director, she returned this year as one of 42 prayer room volunteers. “It was helpful. Comfortable. I just remember feeling refreshed.”

Read more at this link.

Worship with us!

Join us Sunday for worship at 10:15 a.m. in person or online here. 

Preview Sunday's bulletin here.

Bishops, delegates join rally for Palestine

While pro-Palestinian rallies are happening across the U.S., United Methodists at General Conference had their chance to gather in a peaceful show of support on the evening of April 25.

Sponsored by United Methodist Kairos Response, the rally brought together more than 100 United Methodist delegates and observers — along with at least six bishops — to hear from a variety of speakers and sing hymns in solidarity.

Theresa Basile of United Methodist Kairos Response said she was glad to call attention to Palestinian-related petitions submitted to General Conference.

“It’s hard to get people to do this,” Basile said while gesturing to those who had delayed their dinner plans to listen to speeches. 

Read more at this link.

April 26 wrap-up: Bishop urges delegates to follow God’s lead

Mississippi Conference Bishop Sharma Lewis dropped to one knee and implored delegates to put their trust in God despite the human tendency to be “control freaks,” as the General Conference of The United Methodist Church began its fourth workday.

Speaking during morning worship April 26, Lewis urged delegates to try to discern God’s plans before they settle on their own as United Methodism moves into uncharted territory.

“We have the audacity to think that we accomplished great tasks by ourselves. Some of us even think that we will spend the next week or so making decisions for the future of The United Methodist Church and try to factor God out of the equation,” she said.

Lewis hastened to add that she was not suggesting the delegates refrain from using their intellect, but she encouraged them to leave room for the Holy Spirit in their deliberations as the conference continues through May 3.

Read more at this link.

April 25 wrap-up: Regionalization gets go-ahead, Eurasia leaves

The plenary session on Day 3 of General Conference produced two historic moments: the passage of a constitutional amendment that aims to put The United Methodist Church’s different geographic regions on equal footing and the approval of four Eurasia conferences’ official departure from the denomination.

Bishop Eduard Khegay, episcopal leader of the Eurasia Area, gave a moving farewell speech following the passage of a petition that will enable four Eurasian annual conferences to become autonomous. He expressed gratitude to the denomination, using the phrase for “thank you” in Russian: “Bolshoe spasibo.”

Read more at this link.

Young people share fears, hopes for future church

Young people have likened the current happenings in The United Methodist Church to a divorce with devastating effects on the children, but they asserted there is hope for a bright future.

To thunderous applause, Alejandra Salemi of the Florida Conference said the denomination’s lawmaking assembly is being held “in the midst of what feels like an emotional whirlpool that only something like divorce proceedings can stir up.”

“We’ve tried to call what our church has gone through over the past season many things — a schism, a separation, a split, disaffiliations … and no matter what we call it, it still feels, to me, like a divorce,” she said.

Salemi told delegates attending the postponed 2020 General Conference that the younger generation is feeling the weight of the emotional, mental and spiritual trauma that comes with separation and disaffiliations.

Read more at this link.

April 24 wrap-up: Legislative committee work begins

The second day of General Conference shifted from the celebratory opening worship to getting down to the business of the church, as delegates began working in their legislative committees and electing their chairs.

Leaders presented a sober picture of United Methodist finances, including the need to reduce bishops. At the same time, delegates heard hope for the denomination to pivot from church exits to revitalization.

Against a backdrop of past conflicts and division, both the Episcopal and Young People’s addresses offered hope for the denomination that will go forward from this gathering.

Read more at this link.

Delegates urged to ‘restart’ church with less

United Methodist leaders challenged General Conference delegates to chart a brighter future for the denomination — but to do so with significantly less funds and fewer bishops.

At the first gathering of the policymaking body since a quarter of the denomination’s U.S. churches left, the delegates heard sobering news about the financial state of The United Methodist Church.

Before the delegates is a proposed denomination-wide budget that would be its lowest in 40 years. It also represents the biggest budget drop in the denomination’s history.

“This is a General Conference that must send clear signals to the local church,” said incoming Council of Bishops President Tracy Malone, “that we are keenly aware that the loss of membership and the decline of sustainability has a direct influence on the amount of funds available to support ministry.”

Read more at this link.

Looking good!

Each Wednesday morning @ 9 AM, faithful servants of the church can be found tending to the St. Paul's UMC campus.

Wednesday with the Wesleys

 You want no direction from me how to employ your time. I thank God for his inspiring you with a resolution of being faithful in improving that important talent committed to your trust... I see nothing in the disposition of your time but what I approve, unless it be that you do no assign enough of it to meditation, which is (I conceive) incomparably the best means to spiritualize our affections, confirm our judgments, and add strength to our pious resolutions of any exercise whatever.

~Susanna Annesley Wesley (letter to son John, March 30, 1734)

April 23 wrap-up: After years of delay, General Conference begins

Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton gives the sermon
 during opening worship

The long-delayed 2020 General Conference began April 23 with another slight delay, this time by the fire marshal. During an inspection before opening worship, it was determined there was a lack of sufficient fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and emergency exit signage in the plenary hall of the Charlotte Convention Center.

Once the issue was resolved, the General Conference, postponed by four years and a few minutes, finally began with United Methodist bishops marching to the altar to the strains of Charles Wesley’s “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.”

Read more at this link.

Reporting from Charlotte

UM News brings you the latest coverage of the most important meeting of The United Methodist Church. With in-depth analysis and a variety of perspectives, UM News is your go-to source of information about the international church body that sets official policy for the denomination.

Find news, commentary, FAQs, resources and more, on the General Conference of The United Methodist Church. Check back regularly for new and updated stories.

Read more at this link.

A Prayer for General Conference

On this day in 1968, The United Methodist Church was formed from a merger between the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. It is fitting that the delayed 2020 UMC General Conference opens today in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A Prayer for General Conference

Almighty God, on the day of Pentecost, Your Holy Spirit descended and gave voice and power to the church birthed by the suffering, death, and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ. 

Hear us as we pray for this part of Your family, The United Methodist Church. Grace the General Conference with Your presence and power. Where there is any dissension, bring unity; any confusion, clarity of mission; any fear, a holy boldness to seek and do Your will. 

Bless and be with the delegates and all who are present, giving them strength of body and purpose, discerning spirits, and open hearts, that by their actions and decisions, the United Methodist movement may be renewed in our commitment to Your mission of “making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” 

We pray this in the name of the Lord of the Church, the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Prayer written by the Rev. Carl Frazie (North Carolina Conference)

General Conference Live Video Stream

Watch live coverage of General Conference, April 23 - May 4, 2024 at this link. Streaming starts Tuesday at 11 AM (MST).

Data-driven discernment

The General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA) has released a video on the proposed 2025-28 denominational budget going before General Conference delegates when they meet April 23-May 3 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The video is part of the finance agency’s Data-Driven Discernment campaign.

Learn more at this link.

This week @ St. Paul's UMC

Monday: Earth Day

9:00 AM, Office Hours

Tuesday: 

UMC General Conference

9:00 AM, Office Hours

7:00 PM, Virtual Trustees meeting

Wednesday:

UMC General Conference

9:00 AM, Office Hours

9:00 AM, Wednesday Weeders 

10:00 AM, Zoom Fellowship

7:30 PM, Choir practice

Thursday:

UMC General Conference

9:00 AM, Office Hours 

Friday:

UMC General Conference

Saturday:   

UMC General Conference

6:00 AM, BBKC Prayer Time

9:00 AM, Yoga class  

Fifth Sunday of Easter

UMC General Conference

8:30 AM, Bells

8:45 AM, Adult class

10:15 AM, Worship 

11:15 AM, Fellowship 

12:30 PM, BBKC 

Scripture lessons for April 28

We bring April to a close next Sunday and look forward to the merry month of May! Our lessons will come from John 15:1-8 and Acts 8:26-39.

Today in Methodist history

Are you a witness of the religion of love? Are you a lover of God and all [people]? Does your heart glow with gratitude to the Giver of every good and perfect gift .... Is your soul warm with benevolence to all [hu]mankind? ... Do you "love, not in word" only, "but in deed and in truth?" Do you persevere in the "work of faith, and the labour of Love?" Do you "walk in love, as Christ also loved us, and gave himself for us?" Do you, as you have time, "do good unto all ..." and in as high a degree as you are able? Whosoever thus "doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Whosoever thou art, whose heart is herein as my heart, give me thine hand! Come, and let us magnify the Lord together, and labour to promote his kingdom upon earth! Let us join hearts and hands in this blessed work, in striving to bring glory to God in the highest, by establishing peace and good-will among [people], to the uttermost of our power!

~John Wesley (Sermon 132, 'On the Laying the Foundation of the New Chapel")

Guide to prayer for General Conference

The theme of this General Conference is “ . . . and know that I am God.” To prepare you for the journey, Upper Room offers a devotional guide as a path to enrich your knowledge of God.

The content of this guide is written by persons from all over the world who have found God’s presence in ordinary moments in their lives. Their experiences offer us new perspectives on how God is at work in the world. We hope that this devotional guide will lead you into a calm, open mindset as delegates gather to do the work of the church. Let us remember it is not about our agendas but about what God and the Holy Spirit can do in and through us for the betterment of the whole church at this General Conference.

No matter where we come from, prayer can connect all of us in our shared United Methodist mission of doing no harm, doing good, and staying in love with God (General Rules of The UMC). Regardless of our language, physical stance, or the manner in which we pray, we raise our voices in hopeful prayers of unity, mission, and ministry through Jesus Christ for our church.

Download the prayer guide at this link.

— Excerpts from the "Welcome" by Kim Simpson, Chair of the Commission on the General Conference

April 21 @ St. Paul's UMC: Prayers

Joys:

+    Bren Smith gives thanks for her friend, Molly, being with her this week.          

+   Angela Baker is thankful for the continued healing of George in rehab.

+ Suzanne Polacek gives thanks for Terri H.'s recovery from surgery and for Terri being able to join the bells this morning.

+    Carol, Diane McKnight's sister, is thankful to share in the great-aunt duties as she supports Ariel's surgery recovery.

+    Joey Vander Vorste gives thanks for Jim's sister, Sharon, being with us today.

+   We celebrate this week's birthday: Mawce Glancy, Sandra Jordan, & Christina Pulaski

+ We give thanks for those participating today: Amy Abshire (liturgist), Belinda Alkula (videographer), Louise Cook (piano), Tim Cook (class), Scott & Rebecca Glancy (fellowship), Etta Levitt (Zoom usher), Kathy Lloyd (Zoom host), Suzanne Polacek (bells), & Jim Vander Vorste (greeter).

Concerns:

+   Pastor Charles asks for prayers for the work of The United Methodist Church General Conference which begins on Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina (April 23 - May 3).       

+   Sandra Jordan lifts the families of her friends, Roberta and Sarah, who recently died.

+   Myrle Myers asks for prayers for Jerry C. as he continues to recover in the hospital.  

+   We pray for peace in a world where violence is too often the first resort.

April 21 @ St. Paul's UMC: Announcements

+The United Methodist Church General Conference (April 23 - May 3) begins this week on Tuesday. Please be in prayer for the work of the delegates, volunteers, vendors, and observers at this momentous gathering. The live stream of General Conference will be available at this link.

+Ladies Lunch Bunch -- Thursday, May 2, at 11:45 a.m., at the Old Santa Fe Mexican Grille in Louisville. R.S.V.P. by May 1 to Kathy Lloyd.

+It isn't too early to be thinking about the Women's Summer Book Club. Contact Judy or Belinda if you are interested in participating.

April 21 @ St. Paul's UMC: Worship

Early light on Sunday

Bells warm up before worship

Fourth Sunday of Easter

(link to today's worship)

Today’s Meditation Verse: “This Jesus is the stone you builders rejected; He has become the cornerstone!” —Acts 4:11

Welcome...Pastor Charles

Prelude...Louise Cook / “Just as I Am” by William Bradbury

*Call to Worship (Psalm 23, 1 John 3:16-24)...Amy Abshire

Day by day, God leads us: To the deep, deep pools of peace, to the green, lush lawns of grace. Day by day, Jesus calls us: To pour out ourselves in service, to anoint the stranger with hope. Day by day, the Holy Spirit shows us: The community we could be, the family we are called to become.

—Rev. Thom Shuman, posted on Lectionary Liturgies

*Hymn...“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” (UMH #155)

Psalm 23...Amy Abshire

The Lord Jesus is my Soul Shepherd who meets all my needs and makes me smile. He gets me to stop working and to relax with Him in His Father’s loving arms; He takes me into a quiet place to be still and know that He is God and I am loved; He heals and rejuvenates my whole being with His grace from the inside out. He holds my hand at the crossroads and walks me onto the path of life.

Even though I go through dark and difficult times, I don’t fear anything bad because You are with me. You discipline me in love and converse patiently with me to bring out the best in me; You prepare a celebration to bless and honor me right in front of my enemies.

You anoint me with Your Spirit to minister to others out of the overflow of Your love to me. I can count on Your generous favor and tender mercy coming to me wherever I go. I will live in the presence of Christ as His beloved in all things and at all times!

—Bill & Kristi Gaultiere, posted on Soul Shepherding

Epistle Lesson: 1 John 3:16-24...Amy Abshire

Bell Anthem...“Lord Be Glorified,” arranged by Michael Helman

Community prayer requests, concerns, and celebrations

Pastoral Prayer / The Lord’s Prayer...Pastor Charles

Gospel Lesson: John 10:11-18...Pastor Charles

This is the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

Sermon...Pastor Charles / “It’s not that baaaad”

*Hymn...“A Charge to Keep I Have” (UMH #413)

*Words for the Journey...Pastor Charles

Postlude...Louise Cook / “On Eagle’s Wings,” arranged by Douglas Wagner

Are you ready for worship?

Join us Sunday for worship at 10:15 a.m. in person or online here. 

Preview Sunday's bulletin here. 

The bell choir will provide special music.

News about General Conference

The General Conference of The United Methodist Church is meeting, April 23 through May 3, 2024, in Charlotte, NC.

Stay up to date with the latest news, decisions and celebrations from this global gathering.  

Visit this link for more.

No-shows a problem for General Conference

United Methodist officials are acknowledging a struggle to get delegates from Africa and other non-U.S. parts of the church to General Conference, the crucial legislative assembly that convenes April 23 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Commission on the General Conference reported in a press release on April 18 that 269 delegates — representing 73% of the allotted delegates from Africa, the Philippines, Europe and Eurasia — are confirmed. But the commission said 39 such delegates — 11% —  will not be attending and no replacements will be available.

Others’ prospects for arrival remain uncertain.

The commission said that 62 delegates from central conferences “could potentially be seated,” which would mean 89% participation from those areas. But the commission said 46 such delegates “have not communicated their status.”

Read more at this link.

So what? Sew What!

 

Myrle Myers was today's host for the April gathering of Sew What. We had such a good time with lots of laughter and even some fabric projects being worked on.

General Conference: The United Methodist Church’s homosexuality debate

The General Conference delegates who meet this month will be charting the future of an international denomination that already looks very different than it did eight years ago when the last regular session General Conference met. In a video, Heather Hahn gives an overview of The United Methodist Church’s homosexuality debate and how the denomination got here.

Read more at this link.

Bishops urged to prepare for seismic shift

Just days before the opening of the COVID-delayed General Conference, Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton told his fellow bishops that he sees the possibility for big changes coming out of The United Methodist Church’s top policymaking body.

Those potential changes include what many General Conference lay and clergy delegates have taken to calling “the three R’s.” Those are regionalization, the Revised Social Principles and removal of the denomination’s longtime restrictive language against LGBTQ people — including the end of the 52-year-old statement that “the practice of homosexuality …. is incompatible with Christian teaching.”

In his final address as Council of Bishops president, Bickerton said if any of these changes receives approval, or any combination of them, “this will represent one of those seismic shifts in who we are as a denomination.”

He called on episcopal and other church leaders to use “this seismic shift” to further the denomination’s mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

“If we can, we stand a very good chance of being able to see the next expression of United Methodism beginning to emerge,” Bickerton said to a pre-General Conference meeting that brought together about 95 active and retired bishops from around the world.

“Needless to say, this is a moment in time when we will not only see some of the dust settle, but we’ll also see new dust storms arise,” he said.

Read more at this link.

General Conference: Fossil fuels divestment debate returns

Should United Methodist institutions divest of fossil fuel company stocks as a matter of Christian principle? Or is the faithful path to remain engaged and lean on companies to do more about global warming?

The church’s divestment vs. engagement debate is not new but will be revived — with vigor — at the General Conference beginning April 23 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Some delegates know where they stand, including Karen McElfish, a retired pediatrician from the Virginia Conference. She’s strong for divestment.

“Our call as people of faith, I think, is to be stewards of God’s beautiful creation. And to support financially the use of fossil fuels runs counter to that,” McElfish said.

But the Rev. Matt Miofsky, a Missouri Conference delegate, sides with Wespath, the denomination’s pension and benefits agency, in believing it’s better to stay at the table and push fossil fuel companies toward positive change.

“I want our investments to align with our UMC values, including care for the environment,” said Miofsky, a Wespath board member. “The question is how we best accomplish it. Wespath is a leader in sustainable investing and I support their strategy of engagement over divestment.”

Read more at this link.

Native American UMs share their art and faith with General Conference

Lay pastor and nurse Diana LaRocque created more than one thousand beaded pins to share with participants at the United Methodist General Conference, a partnership with United Women in Faith to include the pins in the conference’s registration bags. LaRocque was from the Choctaw Nation, one of the many diverse nations of the Native American people who are praying for and with The United Methodist Church through their artistry during this upcoming General Conference. LaRocque passed away in July 2020.

More than 6,000 beaded pins poured in from United Methodist artists like LaRocque and Native American partners from all over the country in the leadup to the scheduled 2020 gathering. Every box that arrived to the United Women in Faith National Office is chockful of beautiful beadwork. The pins serve as a reminder of the big-heartedness and deep worth of Native Americans to the larger United Methodist family. 

The pins have been safely waiting in Corporate Secretary Susan Moberg’s office, collected by her predecessor Vidette Mixon, who retired in 2020.

United Methodist Women member Glenna Brayton, a Choctaw tribal member from Oklahoma now living in Colorado, invited nearby Navajo artists from the Utah/Western Colorado District Committee on Native American Ministries to contribute to the work on the pins. Thousands were loomed from people all over the region. Each pin is unique.

Read more at this link.

Wednesday with the Wesleys

If, after having renounced all, we do not watch incessantly, and beseech God to accompany our vigilance with His, we shall be again entangled and overcome.

As the most dangerous winds may enter at little openings, so the devil never enters more dangerously than by little unobserved incidents, which seem to be nothing, yet insensibly open the heart to great temptations. 'It is good to renew ourselves, from time to time, by closely examining the state of our souls, as if we had never done it before; for nothing tends more to the full assurance of faith, than to keep ourselves by this means in humility, and the exercise of all good works.

'To continual watchfulness and prayer ought to be added continual employment. For grace flies a vacuum as well as nature; and the devil fills whatever God does not fill. 'There is no faithfulness like that which ought to be between a guide of souls and the person directed by him. They ought continually to regard each other in God, and closely to examine themselves, whether all their thoughts are pure, and all their words directed with Christian discretion. Other affairs are only the things of men; but these are peculiarly the things of God.

~ John Wesley (A Plain Account of Christian Perfection)

A beginner's guide to General Conference

Enlarge the picture to read the information

The United Methodist Church has no pope.

But it does have a General Conference — the only body that can set official policy and speak for the international denomination.

General Conference brings together lay and clergy delegates from four continents whose decisions will affect how millions of United Methodists do church for years to come.

Think of the two-week gathering as a combination of a United Nations General Assembly, a U.S. congressional session, and a time of rousing Christian worship.

The coming General Conference, now scheduled for April 23-May 3 in Charlotte, North Carolina, comes at a particularly momentous time.

General Conference typically gathers every four years. But because of the COVID pandemic, the assembly could not meet in 2020. That means the last regular session was in May 2016 — nearly eight years ago.

In the interim, the denomination has seen a quarter of its U.S. churches depart under a disaffiliation policy that began in 2019 and expired at the end of 2023.

What comes next for the international denomination will be largely up to General Conference itself.

Read more at this link.

This week @ St. Paul's UMC

 Monday: 

9:00 AM, Office Hours

Tuesday:

9:00 AM, Office Hours

Wednesday:

9:00 AM, Office Hours

9:00 AM, Wednesday Weeders 

10:00 AM, Zoom Fellowship

7:30 PM, Choir practice

Thursday:

9:00 AM, Office Hours 

Friday:

10:00 AM, Sew What @ Myrle Myers

Saturday:   

6:00 AM, BBKC Prayer Time

9:00 AM, Yoga class  

Fourth Sunday of Easter

8:30 AM, Bells

8:45 AM, Adult class

10:15 AM, Worship 

11:15 AM, Fellowship 

12:30 PM, BBKC

4:30 PM, Pastor Charles @ Fraiser Meadows