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Annual Conferences 2004 Updates
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is a network of laity in the Northern Illinois
Conference of the United Methodist Church.
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ALL ITEMS ARE NEW
or UPDATED unless otherwise noted.
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2004 Annual Conference Reports - UMNS
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Membership stands at 342,106, up 785 over
the previous year. Worship attendance stands at
124,877, down 1,821. Two new congregations were
chartered.
Participation in short term and on-going
groups is at 63,629 up nearly 18,000. Membership
stands at 196,575 down 1,415. Worship attendance is
71,626 down 1,455
Northern Illinois Annual Conference
Membership stands at 114,151 as of the end
of 2003, down 1,812 from the previous year. Worship
attendance stands at 45,606, down 2,093 from 2002.
Membership stands at 102,062, down 2,193 from the
previous year. Worship attendance stands at 35,880,
down 1,566.
Membership stands at
54,446, down 631
from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at
17,647, down 627.
Membership stands at 107,215, down 1,266. Worship
attendance stands at 53,286, down 1,304.
Conference membership stands at 195,537, down 2,201
from the previous year. Worship attendance stands
at 69,470, down 445 from the previous year.
Arkansas
Annual Conference
Membership stands at 139,139, down 924 from the previous
year. Worship attendance stands at 57,246, down 2,807.
Louisiana Annual Conference
Membership stands at 126,846, up 239 from the
previous year. Worship attendance stands at 48,387, down
778 from last year.
Desert Southwest Conference
Desert Southwest
membership stands at 44,778, down 326. Average weekly
worship attendance is 30,854, 8.9% of membership.
(Editor's note - these numbers do not appear to be
correct (% attending 8.9%)
Previously Reported
in NIC VOICE Annual Conference Reports Update #2:
Membership stands at 101,267, down 1,653, Worship
attendance stands at 68,694, down 2,783.
Membership stands at 86,072, down 2,512 from the
previous year. Worship attendance stands at 43,060,
down 749.
Membership stands at 68,422, down 1629.
Average worship attendance is 45,273, down 135.
Membership stands at 157,454, up 553 from
the previous year. Worship attendance stands at
47,500, down 845.
Kansas West Annual Conference
Membership stands at: 87,520,
down 762 from the previous year. Average attendance
stands at: 37,197, down 737 from the previous year.
New Mexico Annual Conference
Membership stands at 40,653, down 1,068 over
the previous year. Worship attendance stands at
17,776, down 227.
Membership stands at 190,472, up 483 from
the previous year. Worship attendance stands at
77,914, up 439.
Membership stands at 242,057, up 237 from
the previous year. Worship attendance stands at
100,123, down 1,029.
Membership in the Peninsula-Delaware
Conference stands at 94,262, down 623 over the
previous year. Average worship attendance stands at
36,006, up 570.
Membership stands at 60,525, down 3,895 from the
previous year. Worship attendance remains steady at
16,318.
Missouri Annual Conference
Membership stands at 176,251, down 1,861 from the
previous year. Worship attendance stands at 84,457,
down 1,232 from the previous year.
As of Jan. 1, Oklahoma Conference membership
stood at 248,364, a decrease of 2,265; worship
attendance for 2003 averaged 62,191, a decrease of
1,160; church school enrollment stood at 85,068, a
decrease of 556; and church school attendance for
the year averaged 33,860, a decrease of 1,009.
During 2003, the conference received 7,013 members.
Of that number, 2,679 were by profession of faith.
Dakotas Annual Conference
Current membership stands at 43,684, down
625 from the previous year. Worship attendance
stands at 23,116, down 244.
New York Annual Conference
Membership
stands at 129,696, up 802 from the previous
year. Worship attendance stands at 34,824, down
6,428.
North Texas Annual Conference
Membership stands at 159.014, down 2,276 from the
previous year. Worship attendance stands at 62,483,
down by 112. According to the statistician’s report,
North Texas Conference churches actually received
11,654 new members (8.2 percent) in 2003 over 2002,
and 4,039 came by profession of faith, more than any
other year of the past decade. Most obvious reason
for the decline in membership – after seven straight
years of growth – was that more than twice as many
names as usual were dropped from church rolls by
Charge Conference action (6,683 compared to 3,265 in
2002).
Southwest Texas Annual Conference
Membership stands at 120,428, down 487. Worship
attendance stands at 51,000, down 147.
Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference
Membership stands at 146,813, up 94 from the
previous year. Worship attendance stands at 67,624,
down 83 from the previous year.
Memphis Annual Conference
Although church school enrollment in the
Memphis Conference is up by 970 from the previous
year, membership stands at 89,920, down 1,178 from
the previous year. Worship attendance stands at
36,038, down 493.
North Alabama Annual Conference
Membership stands at 157,862, down 1,408 from the
previous year. Worship attendance stands at 74,066,
up 227.
North Carolina Annual Conference
Membership stands at 234,056, up 1,356 from the
previous year. Worship attendance stands at 89,950,
down 38.
South Georgia Annual Conference
Membership stands at 139,917, down 1,419 from the
previous year. Worship attendance stands at 53,537,
up 145.
Previously Reported in NIC
VOICE Annual Conference Reports Update #1:
Membership stands at
105,351, down 942 from the previous year.
Worship attendance stands at 51,459, down 623
Membership stands at
202,302, down 2,532. Worship attendance was down
3 percent.
Membership stands at
79,895, down 1,566 from the previous year.
Worship attendance stands at 25,027, down 613.
Membership stands at
1,367, up 3 over the previous year. Worship
attendance stands at 747, down 63.
Membership stands at
4,044, down 88 from the previous year. Worship
attendance stands at 2,594, down 28.
Membership stands at
7,774 confessing members, down 112, and 4,985
baptized members (up 144).
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New Press Articles
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Posted on Sun, Jun. 20, 2004
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SHADE TREE THEOLOGY
When a local church shuts down, a
lot of tradition is lost with it
MIKE MACDONALD
Last week, I attended the Annual
Conference of the Western North Carolina Conference of
the United Methodist Church at beautiful Lake Junaluska.
As the name states, this is a
yearly meeting of all pastors and lay representatives of
all the United Methodist churches in the western half of
the Tar Heel State.
The Annual Conference is a
combination of family reunion, revival and business
session. Most of what happens is inspiring, but one item
of business I always find a little depressing.
Each year, we "discontinue"
several churches. This year, we discontinued five
churches. I was especially sad because I was quite
familiar with three of the churches and had even
worshipped in a couple of them.
The resolutions proposing the
changes are all worded fairly similarly. Noting that the
active membership has declined to four or six or eight,
that the church is having a hard time maintaining the
building and meeting costs, and that the members desire
to transfer to other nearby United Methodist churches,
it is recommended that the church be allowed to die.
I lifted my hand in assent to the
motion to discontinue the churches. I do not question
the wisdom and stewardship of closing these churches.
But I do mourn their passing.
I don't apologize for liking
tradition. In a world where too few things are permanent
and where we are expected to reinvent ourselves every
day, I like the stability and continuity of traditions.
<snip>
Whenever a local church shuts
down, a lot of tradition is lost with it. There will be
no more family reunions. No more church homecomings and
revivals. No more baptisms, weddings or funerals. The
death of a church is like the death of a friend. Life
goes on, but it is a diminished world that is left
behind.
Demographic factors usually
underlie the closing of a church. Most church closings
are in rural communities, where a declining population
and increased mobility has made many churches redundant.
Other churches close because the ethnic makeup of the
neighborhood has changed.
Most of the time, churches turn
their back on changing neighborhoods and end up a dying
outpost of a majority-turned-minority ethnic group or
denomination. Even when churches try to reach out to a
changing demographic, they are often unsuccessful.
Yet, demographics do not tell the
whole story. In a rural community with too many
churches, it may be inevitable that some will close. But
which churches die and which live is determined by other
factors. Even in booming areas, some churches will not
grow and will even dwindle.
After demographics, the largest
factor that determines whether churches thrive or
languish is their stance toward outsiders. Churches
focused inward toward members tend to grow weaker.
Churches focused outward to nonmembers tend to flourish,
in Spirit if not in numbers.
Many churches die because they
cannot tell the difference between traditions that
strengthen and traditions that stifle. Tradition can
simply mean, "what I am used to, what I like, what makes
me comfortable."
I'm not making a simplistic
correlation between size of church and degree of
faithfulness. Demographics do matter. Just because a
church is large, it is not necessarily doing Kingdom
work. A megachurch can be constructed with secular,
un-Christian methods. A small church may be exemplary in
discipleship. "The first shall be last and the last
shall be first" has many applications.
"We reap what we sow" applies to
communities of faith as much as to individuals. When
churches sow self-centeredness, they reap empty hearts
and discouragement. When churches sow service to the
world, they reap full hearts and anticipation.
Mike Macdonald
The Rev. Mike Macdonald is
pastor of Broad Street United Methodist Church
in Mooresville. Reach him at midemac@
adelphia.net.
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THEIR call came clearly
Arizona Republic - Phoenix,AZ,USA
... Rogers and Tomkus were among four new elders - the United
Methodist
term for ... took place at the end of the Desert Southwest Annual
Conference's
yearly meeting. ...
For Todd Rogers of Peoria and
Alicia Tomkus of Mesa, it was like they answered the phone and
God was on the line.
The new United Methodist Church pastors say they entered the
ministry because of a call from God.
"I felt called in high school, but I wanted to be a millionaire
first," said Rogers, 34, who will take over as pastor of Mission
Bell United Methodist Church in Phoenix. He worked in banking
for a short time, found it unfulfilling and found a home in the
church.
"You feel there is nothing else you can do," he said. "I felt
led this way."
Rogers, who is married and has two children, said he always has
been a Methodist and that the denomination "makes the
most sense to me" because it "tends to be more tolerant and more
progressive."
Rogers and Tomkus were among four new elders - the United
Methodist term for clergy members - who were ordained last
weekend to serve in the Phoenix area. The ordinations took place
at the end of the Desert Southwest Annual Conference's yearly
meeting.
METHODIST bishop leaving church
Hampton Roads Daily Press - Newport,VA,USA
The Virginia conference of the United Methodist Church bid its
bishop goodbye
during its meeting in Hampton. HAMPTON -- The Virginia ...
UNITED Methodists make new appointments at conference
SunHerald.com - Biloxi,MS,USA
... Conference is a time when the bishop assigns ministers to new
churches.
Methodists call it "sending forth," something that happens to
Methodist
pastors every ...
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EXCERPTS from The Reconciling Ministries Network Digest
Friday, June 18, 2004
1. Yellowstone Conference Ordains Openly Gay Pastor
2. Links For More on Dakota and Texas Actions
3. North Carolina, New England, New York, and Holston Creativity
5. Six-Year Old RUMOLA Takes Action in Nebraska
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,,,The Reconciling
Ministries Network is much smaller than its conservative UMC
counterpart, the Confessing Movement, whose 1,400 churches
with some 650,000 members see homosexuality as a sin.
But both those movements are dwarfed by the 35,000 UMC
congregations with some 8.3 million members who remain in
the middle of the debate, and who overwhelmingly oppose
schism in their church. |
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South Georgia AC, Daily On-Site Report
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Final Thoughts on Annual Conference 2004
The best thing that can be said about this year's session of
Annual Conference is it's over. I realize I'm too young to be a
cynic, but after attending these droll gatherings for the last
11 years, I've come to expect very little in the way of
inspiration. Whether it's worship or business, everything comes
across as contrived and devoid of any spiritual substance. We
hit an all-time low in clergy session Sunday night with a
version of "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing" that sounded like
a funeral dirge.
Nothing was done to address the problem of the two General
Conference delegates who blatantly violated their ordination
vows by embracing the pro-gay agenda in Pittsburgh. All attempts
to bring up the matter from the floor were artfully swept aside.
One courageous young pastor who spoke to the issue was subjected
to boos and catcalls from several of his chronologically senior
but spiritually far more juvenile colleagues.
The most hurtful moment of a very hurtful conference came when
the Nominations Committee refused to amend its slate of officers
and committee assignments for the upcoming quadrennium. The
committee denied some fifty active clergy members the
opportunity to use their gifts and graces in the service of the
annual conference. The pain brought on by this decision was
further deepened when the committee justified it with an
explanation which can only begin to be described with such words
as hubris, arrogance, and recalcitrance.
The only saving grace was Mike Ricker's excellent Bible study on
stewardship. The same was true last year when Eddie Fox was the
teacher. I guess there's always some redeeming value to an
annual conference session, and what better instrument to bring
that redemption than the very Word of God.
With this year's session thus concluded, those of us with better
things to do can now get on with doing those better things.
After all, the local church is the place where the rubber meets
the road. Where the Word of God is faithfully preached and the
sacraments duly administered, there the vision is cast and the
seeds of genuine revival are sown. So, let us leave the hurt,
pain, and frustration of these last four days at the foot of the
cross, and pray for healing, forgiveness, and strength as we
enter a new year of ministry; and let us invest the passion and
the fire which the events of the last few weeks have stirred up
in us into a new resolve to seek the lost that they may find
redemption and to wake the dead from their slumber of sin with
the sweet melody of life that is the Gospel.
Let us take to heart the words of the Apostle Paul: "forgetting
what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I
press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God
in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13b-14). For when we persevere
in faith, relying on Christ and the power of his resurrection,
we will, in the end, in spite of every hurt and disappointment,
discover the marvelous truth of the last words of our founder
John Wesley, "The best of all is, God is with us!"
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NAPERVILLE -- A noted Methodist author told fellow
members of his denomination that in his estimation, the Northern
Illinois Conference of the Methodist Church is headed to extinction.
At last year's annual meeting, the topic du jour
was legitimizing homosexuality. The discussion about local churches
proclaiming "homosexual orientation (no less or more than heterosexual
orientation) can be compatible with Christian teaching . . . and tell it
to our children” in Sunday school, as a proposed resolution put it.
This year, the meeting attendees will discuss a
statement of noted author Dr. Lyle Schaller, who attends
Wheatland-Salem Methodist Church in Naperville.
Read More
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Reconciling
Kansas
KANSAS EAST OPPOSES GENERAL CONFERENCE ANTI-GAY STANCE
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Within a month after
the General Conference toughened its stance against gay
Christians, the annual meeting of the Kansas East conference
opposed the ambiguities of the church's current statements
and resolved to study the theologies at play in the current
disputes about sexuality -- a petition the conference
submitted but which General Conference rejected in
Pittsburgh.
After revision in committee, the following petition passed
51-27, then passed the entire conference 206-199.
WHEREAS, the General Conference of the United Methodist
Church continues to declare Homosexuality a sin and as being
"incompatible with Christian teaching" while simultaneously
declaring that practicing Homosexuals can be received into
our churches by baptism and vows of membership; and
WHEREAS, the United Methodist public media promotion slogan
"Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors" does not reflect the
Church's purpose and/or objectives as characterized by the
Church's pronouncement that Homosexuality is incompatible
with Christian teaching; and
WHEREAS, the newly added clause by General Conference to
¶161G of the Social Principles stating we "will seek to live
together in Christian community" presents confusion as to
how an individual can become a Christian and live in
Christian community if their sexual orientation is
incompatible with Christian teaching; and
WHEREAS, all of those living in Christian community are
called to be ministers of Jesus Christ, some as laypersons,
some as Lay Pastors, some as ordained Deacons and Elders;
and
WHEREAS, the United Methodist Church prohibits the call of
practicing Homosexuals to ordained ministry; and
WHEREAS, the Church limits the call of ordained ministry
only to self-identified heterosexuals;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that:
1. the Kansas East Annual Conference indicate its
disagreement with the ambiguities contained in the language
of the Discipline used to describe homosexuality as
"incompatible with Christian teaching";
2. the Kansas East Annual Conference structures a study over
the next quadrennium that will seek to clarify the language
in the Discipline to describe homosexuality in terms that
are more unanimously considered theologically compatible
with United Methodist tradition,
3. the Kansas East Annual Conference send a copy of this
resolution to the secretary of the 2004 General Conference
as a record of our disagreement with the revised statement
on homosexuality. |
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From
Kansas
Reconciling Web Site (scroll down to read article):
ANNUAL
CONFERENCE LIFTS NEBRASKA RUMs
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Nearly 150 participants
gathered on a workday to don rainbow stoles and gear, moving to the
edges of the Cornhusker Hotel Ballroom when Nebraska's delegates
moved to the stage for their report on General Conference 2004 last
May in Pittsburgh.
Some delegates also wore rainbow stoles in solidarity; from the
stage, one delegate publicly thanked the Silent Witness during the
report -- cardboard silhouettes symbolizing GLBT people condemned
and rejected by the church. Volunteers came from Grand Island,
Fremont, North Platte, Omaha, and Lincoln's United Methodist
congregations: Christ, St Paul, Trinity, First, Calvary, Grace and
Cornerstone.
Before the conference, Nebraska RUMs spent two weeks sewing 200
rainbow stoles, selling them at the MFSA Banquet and Annual
Conference, along with baked goods at several display tables. The
stoles and literature initiated many conversations, and helped
express the sadness and disappointment about the General
Conference's decisions. Stoles were being worn everywhere.
Annual Conference also included a Diversity Service with Michael
Gordon of Omaha First, who talked about the pain of being a gay man
in the denomination and the redeeming acceptance and love he feels
in belonging to a Reconciling Congregation.
More than 200 Nebraskans signed RUMOLA's "Response to the Legal
Action at General Conference" explaining its actions, to be
submitted this summer to the conference's newspaper, the Nebraska
Messenger.
"While we appreciate the faithful witness of our delegation, we are
saddened by much of what was enacted by General Conference 2004.
Many of the decisions made in Pittsburgh have exacerbated the
spiritual violence done to us in the name of our faith by our
church. At the same time we experienced the redeeming grace of God
and the presence of the Living Christ in the faithful witness of
much of what happened. We are grateful to the Nebraska Conference
for offering petitions to remove the language in our Discipline that
names homosexual persons as incompatible with Christian teaching and
excludes from and denies ministry to LGBT persons. We appreciate the
support of many in our delegation and those who participated in the
Reconciling Ministries Network's 'Watermarked: Witness of
Assurance.'
"Increasingly we feel the sting of religious bigotry in the
decisions made by General Conference. The refusal to even
acknowledge that faithful Christians disagree on the issue of
whether homosexuality is a sin and the expansion of the list of
chargeable offenses against pastors is a direct attack on all who
believe in full participation in the life of the church by all
persons regardless of sexual orientation.
"We agree with the members of the Cal-Pac Conference delegation who
said in a letter to their conference, 'We are discouraged that, in
this time of war, disease, poverty and alienation, our Church is
focusing inwardly and using its extraordinary resources to control
and marginalize members of the Body, rather than reaching out and
releasing the resources of the church for disciple-making
ministries.'
"To our LGBT sisters and brothers and their families we say, 'We are
sorry. The language inserted into our Discipline does not reflect
the unconditional love of Jesus Christ as we have experienced it.
Our church needs you in order to be made whole in Christ. Please do
not give up on us. God is not finished with us. Someday our church
will be a safe place for you to develop your faith.
"We commit to do everything within the legal limits imposed by
General Conference to embody the unconditional love of Jesus Christ.
We will strive to surround one another with a community of love and
forgiveness. We will still be here when General Conference convenes
in
2008. We believe that the Holy Spirit is on the move. Who are we to
get in God's way?"
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