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Our United Methodist Priorities 2009-2012

At the October 18 Conference Leaders Convocation in Frankfort, the Kentucky Conference directors spoke about our United Methodist priorities. Dr. Thomas Eblen (New Church and Congregational Development), Rev. Julie Hager Love (Connectional Ministries), Dr. Thomas Smith (Ministerial Services), and Mr. Michael Watts (Administrative Services) shared the UMC’s four areas of focus and how we are living these areas of focus in our conference. What follows is the script from the October 18 presentation.

Tom Eblen:
Hey, Julie! Do you know what 4 plus 14,000,000 equals?

Julie Love.:
That’s easy, Tom – it is 14 million and four!

T.E.:
No, it equals 1.

J.L.:
But Tom, that doesn’t make sense.

T.E.:
Sure it does – 4 areas of focus plus 14 million United Methodists equals 1 transformed world.

Tom Smith:
Throughout our connection a movement has been set in motion to reinvigorate The United Methodist Church. It started as a conversation, led by the Council of Bishops, and spread to the Table of General Secretaries, the Connectional Table, annual conferences and local congregations. It has become a movement to sharpen our mission and direct all critical aspects of our ministry together as a church rooted in the Wesleyan tradition.

T.E.:
The movement has led to the creation of four “areas of focus.” The Council of Bishops, the Connectional Table, the Table of General Secretaries, and the general agencies are calling for the church to apply churchwide resources to bring these areas of focus to life in a wide range of ministries—not just for the next four years and beyond, but for the sake of the Gospel.

J.L.:
Countless ministries related to the four areas of focus take place every day in the local church and the annual conference and through such channels as Volunteers in Mission, the Youth Service Fund, loans and scholarships, UMCOR, the Upper Room, The United Methodist Publishing House and the General Board of Pensions and Health Benefits.

Michael Watts:
These four areas of focus areas provide unprecedented opportunities for us to work in partnership and to benefit from our individual strengths and areas of expertise. Indeed, this transformation will go beyond the next four years!

T.S.:
The denomination in the United States faces a crisis in clergy and lay leadership. Our leadership must expand and grow with the demands and expectations of the world. The church must recruit young people for ministry and provide them with the skills necessary to be effective in this new time of opportunity. That includes women and people of color the world over. Similarly, we must offer leadership training for lay people who are in ministry in countless ways.

By 2012, the General Church will –

T.E.:
Engage United Methodist colleges, universities and seminaries as key partners in educating leaders around the world.

T.S.:
Increase by one-fourth the number of candidates for ordained ministry who are younger than 35.

M.W.:
Train 500 lay and clergy teams across the church on the foundational understanding of Christian discipleship, worship, stewardship and evangelism in order to develop a congregational plan for making disciples of Jesus Christ.

T.E.:
The United States alone has more than 180 million unchurched people, making it the third-largest mission field in the English-speaking world and the fifth-largest globally. The Path 1 team, composed of many partners across the church is focused on re-evangelizing the United States by creating a national strategy to train and equip church planters to start new congregations. In addition, existing congregations that are ready to be renewed into vital vibrant churches will be energized with a passion for living out the Good News.

By 2012, the General Church will –

T.S.:
Recruit, train and provide resources for 1,000 new church planters to start 650 churches in partnership with annual conferences in the United States, targeting 50 percent of those churches to be racial/ethnic congregations.

T.E.:
Ensure new church planters and new congregations succeed by training and equipping lay and clergy leaders with an exceptional online library of best-practice resources on how to plant and grow vital congregations.

J.L.:
Provide more than 10,000 congregations with vital evangelism, stewardship and worship resources for congregations engaged in revitalization efforts.

M.W.:
Revitalize congregations by training 100 participants online in connectional giving.

In our Conference we are living out this focus by…

J.L.:
Exploring the demographics of the Commonwealth to determine the next places to plant new churches.

T.S.:
We have launched a multi-ethnic ministry at Lexington United Methodist Church Serving All Nations with Korean, Hispanic, Anglo, and Indian participants.

M.W.:
New congregations receive financial assistance so that they can develop into vital congregations led by effective leaders and filled with faithful disciples.

T.E.:
We are intentionally recruiting clergy to be assessed and resourced as church planters in our Conference.

J.L.:
Ministry with the poor will mobilize United Methodists to reduce poverty and embrace the poor as valued members of the family of faith. Strategies include Bible study and prayer, confrontation with poverty’s root causes, health care, housing, employment, micro-loans, services to economic migrants and public policy advocacy on a global scale. Projects will explore the effectiveness of a range of ministry forms.

By 2012, the General Church will –

T.S.:
Equip United Methodists to understand the connection between greed, over-consumption and poverty and to take personal, congregational and community–wide actions to share more equitably in God's abundance.

M.W.:
Train a generation of graduates from United Methodist colleges and theological schools to address issues of poverty.

J.L.:
Equip the order of permanent deacon to address the causes and effects of poverty.

T.E.:
Establish a communications network with satellite centers in Africa, Asia and Europe to support ministry with the poor and develop multimedia strategies.

In our Conference we are living out this focus by…

M.W.:
Having local churches partner with elementary schools in urban and rural low-income areas to provide tutoring and mentoring.

J.L.:
Our Justice Team is working to provide avenues for our churches to be involved in advocating for immigrants in our Commonwealth.

T.E.:
We continue our partnership with the East Africa Annual Conference and a Volunteer in Mission Team is leaving for Uganda on November 6th.

T.S.:
Our Annual Conference and many of our churches support small farmers by purchasing coffee, tea and chocolate through UMCOR’s Equal Exchange.

M.W.:
The United Methodist Church has played a significant role in educating others about diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria and treating and preventing their devastating effects. Already 700,000 bed nets have been distributed to families in Africa and the denomination is poised to launch a new global health initiative aimed at creating better health conditions for people around the world. This area of focus will mobilize United Methodists to action, strengthen health-care infrastructure and advocate for health policies and global approaches that promote health for all.

By 2012, the General Church will –

J.L.:
Deploy 53 new missionaries for global health, along with other medical missionaries, to Africa, Asia and Latin America.

T.E.:
Educate the people of The United Methodist Church on global health issues through mailings, presentations and conference meetings.

M.W.:
Enlist health champions and parish nurses in each annual conference to advocate for the denomination's efforts to improve global health.

T.S.:
Be a recognized leader in global health issues.

In our Conference we are living out this focus by…

T.E.:
Continuing to increase the number of Volunteer in Mission Teams from Kentucky, including many with medical components.

M.W.:
The 2008 Winter Blitz offering went to Nothing But Nets to stamp out malaria in the African Continent. Our offering at the service of Episcopal Celebration later today will also go to Nothing But Nets.

T.S.:
In 2007, we gave a portion of the Annual Conference mission offering to support the Global AIDS initiative.

J.L.:
Our Kentucky United Methodist Homes for Children and Youth provide a substance abuse ministry for residents, churches and the community.

T.S.:
Over the next quadrennium, The United Methodist Church will plant congregations, train leaders, inspire young adults, recruit missionaries, nurture disciples, encourage giving, communicate in new ways, address poverty and save lives.

J.L.:
As you depart today, you leave as the elected leaders of the Kentucky Annual Conference. As leaders in the ministry known as Methodism in Kentucky, we accept the challenge of fulfilling the goals of the four areas of focus.

M.W.:
Our prayer is that God will not grant us the tasks equal to our gifts, but to give us the gifts equal to our tasks. As in the days of Abraham and Isaac, our trust is that the Lord will provide.