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2015 ANNUAL CONFERENCE EDITION, JUNE 13 VOL 47 / NUMBER 2

Connecting Generations in Ministry

Published by the West Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church

by Krysta Rexrode-Wolfe

At Thursday evening’s worship service the great spectrum of clergy life was on full display. Ordinands and retirees gathered with the congregation around the historic questions. On one end, candidates for membership answered the questions in fresh commitment. On the other end, the congregation celebrated ways the retirees had lived out the questions.

Originally put forth by John Wesley to his appointed clergy, the purpose of the now historic questions was to examine the readiness and faithfulness of candidates. Today, we as a Church return to the questions because we are invested, like Wesley, in affirming, nurturing and encouraging clergy to develop a ministry of grace.

Separately the questions are merely informative, but together they form the fertile soil upon which rich stories of joy, mercy, mission, and love grow. The essence of the evening was perhaps captured best by retiring clergy, Rev. Dr. John Sauvage, who commented that his intent was not to ask what the church could do for him, but what he could do to make church a place the following generation would want to be.

For him, the historic questions provided a working ethic that informed transformative work.

As the service progressed, the historic questions were brought to life in the passing of the mantle. Based on the biblical model of Elijah and Elisha, the retirees gave over the spirit of their work. Retirees standing behind with a total of 574.75 combined years of service, and standing before them a group of candidates poised in the center of hope, the so called historic questions were made new.

The passing of the mantle is a beautiful and powerful image which captures the mutual adoration the retirees have with ordinands; it is the image of wisdom and enthusiasm, of experience and experimentation.

As they were written, the historic questions are meant for new clergy, but they are a call to the whole community—lay, licensed, ordained—to do God’s will with God’s help. May we all endeavor to develop a life that is moving toward perfect love.

Retirees pass the mantle on to the soon to be commissioned & ordained during the retirement service Thurs. night. Photo: JONATHAN NETTLES

MOUNTAINCIRCUITJUNE 13, 2015

Facebook: facebook.com/wvumcTwitter: @wvumcPhotographs: flickr.com/wvumcEnews: wvumc.org/communications

Resident Bishop: Sandra Steiner Ball Editor: Laura Harbert Allen Associate Editor: Adam Cunningham Production: Shawn Withrow, The WVUMC Communications Team

CONNECT WITH US

FRIDAY DAILY REVIEWPresident Pamela Balch welcomed the conference to the campus of WVWC, announcing that the college is one of two colleges in the country that has been awarded $10,000,000 grant.

Conference passed the following resolutions: Updated parsonage standard revisions concerning internet service and moving costs and requested that the Clergy Support team be tasked with evaluating the standards and submitting other revisions if necessary.

The following Petitions for General Conference will be submitted on behalf of the conference:

1. Clarification Regarding Committee on Pastor Parish Relations Committee 2. The addition of anti-bullying language to ¶161 (The Nurturing Community) of The Book of Discipline. 3. The Conference Amended a suggested petition to General Conference to amend the Discipline to not allow family members who live with the pastor to serve as financial secretaries, treasurers or money counters.

Elected Mary Ellen Finegan, Sharletta Green, and Ellis Conley to serve as delegates to the 2016 General Conference in Portland, Oregon.

Jim Berner was elected lay delegate to General Conference 2016.

The Rev. Mary Ellen Finegan takes notes during George Howard’s presentation Friday morning. Finegan was the first clergy member to be elected during this year’s voting. Photo: ADAM CUNNINGHAM

Jim McCune presented the Francis Asbury Award for excellence in campus ministry to Angela Gay Kinkead, who is finishing her time as Dean of the Chapel at WVWC.

Connor Kenaston, a Global Missions Fellow serving in Missouri, shared about the work he has been doing there and his new assignment working in the area of racial justice. Advance number Kenaston, Connor (#3021973).

Rich Shaffer’s lay address told us to “Get Off Our Donkeys.”

The conference cabinet challenged Conference to add 2400 people through professions of faith to church rolls by the end of 2016. The report also highlighted the lead team process at the district and conference level. Through loving, learning, and leading together we will discover, develop, and deploy new leaders.

Three people received the Harry Denman Award for their evangelism ministry: 1. John Britton, from St. Mark’s UMC, Charleston (laity) 2. Kelly Moran, from Duffy Memorial, Moorefield (laity) 3. Youth: Austin Garrett from the Little Kanawha District who participated in the RDAA experience this year.

Tim Bias, General Secretary of the Board of Discipleship (GBOD), Vance Ross, GBOD staff, and Amy Shanholtzer presented the One Matters award to Glen Dale UMC in the Northern District, Rev. John Morrison, pastor, for their work in making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Felica Wooten Williams invited everyone to the Bishop’s Summit on Diversity and Inclusion, October 22-24, 2015 at the Bishop Hodges Center in Huttonsville.

Memorial Service remembered 21 clergy, 10 Spouses and 12 Surviving Spouses who have died since the last Annual Conference.

MOUNTAINCIRCUITJUNE 13, 2015

Jeff Taylor, President of the United Methodist Foundation of West Virginia, Inc., announced that the Board of Trustees elected officers at its May 21 meeting at Tamarack Conference Center in Beckley, West Virginia. Jeffrey A. Porter, of Huntington, West Virginia was elected to serve as Chairperson; and David Ellwood of Wheeling, West Virginia, was elected to serve as Vice-Chairperson.

The Board also re-elected William B. Goode, of Hurricane, West Virginia to serve as Treasurer; Kim Matthews, the Foundation’s Associate Director, to continue to serve as Secretary; and Jeff Taylor to continue to serve as President. Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball continues to serve as the Honorary Chairperson.

The Board of Trustees also elected three new trustees:

• Rev. Lauren Godwin, a clergyperson from Boaz in the Little Kanawha District;

• Rev. Joseph B. Hill, a clergyperson from the Western District; and

• Richard Toothman, a layperson from Fairmont in the Mon Valley District.

Taylor said this new class of trustees brings a variety of gifts to the Foundation’s ministry. “Our Leadership Development Committee works hard to nominate prospective trustees who possess a broad range of gifts and experience to complement the existing Board,” said Taylor. “As usual, they did a great job in bringing these names before the full Board. We look forward to working with them.”

The Board also recognized the service of two retiring trustees: Rev. Brent Sturm and Rev. Gary Shephard. The Board expressed gratitude to J. Franklin “Joe” Long, of Bluefield, Virginia and Hilton Head, South Carolina for his service as Chairperson.

Although his term as Chairperson has expired, Mr. Long will continue to serve on the Board of Trustees and on the Investment Committee.

The United Methodist Foundation of West Virginia, Inc., established in 1974, manages over $90 Million dollars, all for United Methodist causes.

NEW OFFICERS AND TRUSTEES ELECTED

FRANCIS ASBURY AWARD

The Rev. Angela Gay Kinkead receives the Francis Asbury Award, meant to recognize and encourage support of higher education and campus ministries within The United Methodist Church. Photo: JONATHAN NETTLES

DENMAN AWARD

Denman Award Winner Austin Garrett (Left), with Anthony Farr (right). Photo: ANTHONY FARR (via Twitter).

MOUNTAINCIRCUITJUNE 13, 2015

The bottom line of the Good Samaritan parable is to “get off your donkey,” said Conference Lay Leader Rich Shaffer on Friday afternoon.

“The need is great in our own backyard,” he said in his laity address to the Annual Conference. To other lay people in the conference, he said, “If you feel underutilized, call me!”

Mission projects, local soup kitchens, and repairing a neighbor’s fire-damaged house are among needs that Shaffer has recently witnessed or participated in.

“I see God at work across our conference,” he said.

“What we say and do, matters. And sometimes, what we don’t do and don’t say, matters.”

Shaffer presented Bishop Steiner Ball with a T-shirt like he was wearing, reading, “Get off your donkey.” He announced that the rest of the shirts he had printed were on sale for a $20 donation to The House of the Carpenter. At the start of Friday’s supper break, he had only a handful of shirts left.

GET OFF YOUR DONKEY by Tom Bone III

THE CONFERENCE CARTOONby Tom Bone III

Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball breaks and blesses the bread before communion Thursday.

MOUNTAINCIRCUITJUNE 13, 2015

We are the 97% by Laura Allen

Native Americans have lived in this part of Appalachia for millennia.

“Some of the oldest Native American sites in the U.S. are here,” said Ellie High, who chairs the commission on Native American Ministries (CONAM) for the West Virginia Conference.

The commission was established this year in response to the formal act of repentance initiated by The United Methodist Church during the 2012 General Conference.

High said one excavated site near Morgantown, in southern Pennsylvania, is 12-14,000 years old, and that there are several others of similar age around the state.

“Native peoples have been here for thousands of years, but we don’t hear much about it,” she said. “People always thought that tribes just passed through or were never here, but it’s not true.”

High said she heard an archaeologist say that Native Americans account for 97% of the historical human presence in the region; European-Americans account for only 3 percent.

“Why don’t we hear more about the 97%,” she said.

That’s why High said that CONAM’s work is important. “What do we have to give to, to share with, other cultures,” she said. “And what could we learn from them if we had a better relationship?” High is a member of the Lower Eastern Ohio Mekoce Shawnee, a non-federally-recognized tribe. She teaches American Indian literature, film, and creative writing.

Dr. High is an award-winning writer whose work includes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, as well as scholarly articles and chapters. Recently, she completed “Native America: A State-by-State Historical Encyclopedia,” which focuses on the indigenous history and cultures of West Virginia.

A carved wooden statue of a Native woman looks over the Commis-sion on Native American Ministries table during Thursday’s Ministry in the Rockefeller Gym. Photo: LAURA ALLEN

These Cherokee stickball sticks were made in North Carolina by a tribal elder. Photo: LAURA ALLEN

During the ministry fair Thursday at Rockefeller Gym, Ellie High answered questions and shared resources from CONAM’s table.

A kaleidoscope of indigenous art and image, the table included a carved wooden statue of a Native woman, a series of portraits of Guatemalan indigenous women, and a Mohawk cornhusk male doll. The doll’s felt breechcloth and turkey feather head dress were an authentic representation of typical eastern woodland Native clothing.

High also showed me a pair of stickball sticks, made by a Cherokee tribal elder in North Carolina. “Stickball is somewhat like lacrosse, but uses two sticks,” she said.

Versions of Native American stickball are extremely physical. Lacrosse players wear masks and pads. In a typical Cherokee stickball game, men often only wear a pair of shorts.

Spectrum of Ministryby Laura Allen

MOUNTAINCIRCUITJUNE 13, 2015

With camera ready, Judy Pysell hands a copy of the Mountain Circuit to the Rev. Barbara Rogerson during the ministry fair Thursday afternoon. Photo: ADAM CUNNINGHAM

Communicating in Rural Greenbrier County

Judy Pysell loves photography.

So much that she gets up at 6 in the morning to upload photos to the Conference Flickr feed. It’s part of her role as the communications coordinator for the Greenbrier District.

“That’s when the Internet is fast enough for me to get the work done quickly,” she said. Judy only has access to satellite internet - which is slower than the broadband service available in larger West Virginia towns.

She also loves photography and first discovered it when her father, a US Army Corp of Engineers cartographer, worked with aerial photographs to make maps. She got a camera as a gift about 6 years ago. “It’s like my right hand,” she said.

Laura Allen and I are inspired by Judi’s dedication to her work and love of photography.

And her photos are just great.

by Adam Cunningham

CONFERENCE IN 140 CHARACTERS