Midweek Moment

This past week I spent in Lakeland at our Annual Conference gathering. This is always a great time for me for several reasons. I get to see those colleagues and friends that I only see this one time a year. Over the last two years, as our Bishop has reorganized Annual Conference, I get to hear from other churches and ministries about how the power of the Holy Spirit has moved through our Annual Conference. Then in this most recent gathering, the service of Licensing, Commissioning, and Ordination took on new meaning for me due to my role on the District Committee on Ordained Ministry. I got to celebrate with those candidates I have walked with on their ministry journeys as they reached, or got one step closer, to full connection through ordination.

It is such an awesome time at Annual Conference because you can see the power of our connection at work. As we live out our faith here at Druid Hills UMC, sometimes the trees can get a bit thick. We can get so consumed with what we are doing and how things are growing; we can lose sight of how much God is doing all over our great Conference and this time of gathering helps to remind me of God’s power and allows me to see the Holy Spirit at work.

Last week, I was privileged to sit with people and hear how through struggles, through prayer and perseverance they were experiencing the same movement of the Holy Spirit that we are experiencing here. To hear those stories was an awesome confirmation of our connection with one another and together we can accomplish some pretty incredible things for the Kingdom of God.

I love this church and I love the United Methodist Church. So folks, I want to ask you to join me in praying for our denomination over the coming years. We are facing some serious issues as General Conference nears in 2016. We have people that are searching for God, for God’s grace, and God’s divine leadership as we forge ahead into the future. The best way I know to experience God is through the discipline of prayer; so please join me in praying for our church and its leaders as we grow and walk with one another, together in the United Methodist Church.

Have a great week and I will see you Sunday,