Therefore ... Go

By now you have probably read more than enough articles, assessments, blogs, social media posts, and assorted other commentaries on the 2016 General Conference. Many of our delegates from Western North Carolina provided keen insights and helpful information from the floor of the conference. As many others have said it was ten days filled with inspiring worship and encouraging reports of missional outreach, as well as moments of tense emotions and confrontations.

What now – now that Portland is behind us and the next quadrennium is ahead? What does the future look like for Western North Carolina?

The mission remains the same and our core purpose as a conference is unchanged. We are called and sent to “make disciples” by loving God and loving neighbor and introducing others to the good news of God’s grace and mercy. We are witnesses to that amazing love of God in Christ Jesus and are to be engaged in spreading the Gospel in word and deed. As we do that we are in the business of transforming lives, communities, and the world. “Therefore … Go” was not just the theme of this General Conference but is our mandate as baptized followers of Jesus Christ.

Our Book of Discipline affirms that “local churches provide the most significant arena through which disciple-making occurs.” (Paragraph 120) We are committed to providing the resources, the support, and the motivation needed to increase the number of vital congregations fully engaged in God’s mission in the world. Since that will occupy our time and energy for the foreseeable future, not just the next four years, we continue to work toward aligning our resources and our staff around this core purpose.

There was and is much to celebrate as we continue to experience what God is doing in our midst. At General Conference we rejoiced to learn that more than 68 million dollars has been given by United Methodists in our “No More Malaria” campaign. We recognized the need for more leadership in the rapidly growing areas outside the United States and made plans to add 5 new bishops in those Central Conferences in 2020. We created a new provisional conference in Southeast Asia and Mongolia, another sign of the movement of God’s Spirit in the world. In Western North Carolina churches are creatively reaching out into the neighborhoods and communities to make a difference in the lives of people with new school children initiatives, feeding programs, and outreach that addresses those who are hurting, homeless, or hopeless.

The year 2016 marks several significant anniversaries for our denomination and several of these were highlighted at General Conference: the 200^th anniversary of the death of Francis Asbury, the 150^th anniversary of United Methodist Women, the 25^th anniversary of Africa University to name a few. With such a great heritage it is now in our hands, hearts, and spirits to shape the next decades by the power of the Holy Spirit. A part of our history is the record of differences and disagreements in almost every decade, and that was apparent in Portland. However, as Bishop Bruce Ough on behalf of the Council of Bishops wrote to the church in the days following General Conference: “Our differences do not keep us from being the body of Christ. They do not keep us from doing good in the world. They do not keep us from making a difference.”

That is my hope and prayer for all of us across Western North Carolina. Through creative and imaginative projects, through many of our missional networks, through churches moving outside the walls of the building, we are making a difference in the lives of people across our area. The theme of our Annual Conference which convenes in just over two weeks captures the heart of our mission and purpose: “Go … Light Your World.”