Annual Conference is always an important time for me. You may doubt what I am about to say but it is the truth. I won’t lie to you about this because I know it’s a sin to bear false witness. I love to be around a bunch of United Methodists. I never tire of it, and that’s the God’s honest truth. I enjoy reconnecting with my ministerial friends—both ordained and unordained. It is great to meet old friends at every turn. Lots of hugging and checking on family goes on. Wallets full of photos of children and grandchildren. It is like a big family reunion each year.

     Another big deal about Annual Conference is that we take care of lots of churchy things. Things like adopting budgets and making policy. Of course, we also report on everything under the Methodist sun. We Methodists are compulsive about this. We accept it because accountability for our discipleship is like a big red birthmark on a prominent part of our churchly anatomy. This big annual meeting is where we ordain and commission people for particular kinds of service in the church. That is always a high moment for us. This year I had the privilege of participating in the ordination of Tommy Conder. I was Tommy’s first District Superintendent. I introduced him to Andrea and later officiated at their wedding. She’s a pastor also. If you think this wasn’t a thrill for me, you just don’t know me.

     Another thing we do each year is approve the candidacy of persons preparing for the ordained ministry. This year was special for our family because our daughter, Susannah, was among those new candidates. She is off in a few weeks to begin her theological education at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. This was a memorable time for us because I retired at this conference after 40 years in the ministry. As one generation steps aside another begins.

     A highlight of Annual Conference is the “fixing” of appointments of pastors to the churches they will serve for the coming year. This year is especially emotional for me. Although I am officially retiring, like many retirees, I am continuing my ministry part-time in my retirement. I am delighted about this because I have been on incapacity leave for the past five years. Because of poor health, I have been unable to serve. However, the past year has been one of great improvement for me. My doctors explain my liveliness simply by pointing heavenward! I am going to join the Reverend Judy White and the staff at Trinity UMC in Kannapolis. I am like a child at Christmas to be able to return to work!

     This year’s Annual Conference was like none other that I have ever experienced. All the above made it especially stirring for me. But the ordination service on Saturday night in Stuart Auditorium was truly extraordinary. Bill Hutchison, Bishop of the Louisiana Conference and a friend from the time he was a pastor in New Mexico, gave a powerful sermon to the ordinands and all the rest of us as well. He fired up the congregation with a call to holiness that brought many in the congregation to their feet in agreement. It was a spiritual challenge that lifted the mood of those present. Our own Bishop Larry Goodpaster discerned the Spirit at work in the moment and invited a response from those feeling the call of God to ministry. As we sang a hymn of invitation and commitment, tears began to flow and so did men and women. They flowed down the aisle to make their intentions known to God, the Conference, Bishop Goodpaster and our District Superintendents. It was a deeply emotional expression of Methodism on the move, an all too infrequent embrace of our historic tradition in modern times. Ah, friends, it made me wish I could start all over again!

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