Is your church ready for the upcoming General Conference?

BY REV. DERREK BELASE

You are probably hearing that the General Conference of the United Methodist Church is coming up very soon. In fact, delegates from around the world will gather in Charlotte, NC from April 23 through May 3.

Your delegation – seven clergy and seven lay people plus alternates – have been preparing by meeting together, worshipping and praying for one another and the work ahead of us and by taking a deep dive into the legislation that will be dealt with in those two weeks.

The question I want you to think about is this: how can your church prepare for the upcoming General Conference?

I’ve included some ideas that you might want to consider.

Read and reflect on “THE WORD,” our weekly email focusing on the Gospel of John. In addition to a weekly devotion on a chapter of the Gospel of John, these Monday emails provide you with a prayer guide to pray for all of our local churches as well as one of the delegates to the General or Jurisdictional Conference and our various extension ministries.

By reading and reflecting on these weekly emails, you are joining United Methodists across Oklahoma doing the same thing. There is spiritual power in our connection. In addition, pastors and church leaders can share those devotions with your church or on your social media pages.

Focus on disciple-making. It is tempting to get so focused on what is happening in Charlotte or the decisions that might be made there that we can say, “Well, we’ll just wait and see what happens.” Don’t do that! Continue your focus on disciple-making and community transformation.

This might be a good time to evaluate your own discipleship system and make changes that will allow you to remain focused on our mission, “To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” We provide many great resources at our website to help you with this.

Keep up to date on news you can trust. The best place to get information on the General Conference and the various petitions is through the United Methodist News Service and through this publication, the weekly edition of The Contact. Our Communication and Council staff will be bringing live updates from the General Conference, but you can find anything you want to know at this website.

Spend some time learning about the General Conference. Pastors, use this opportunity to teach about what the General Conference is and its responsibilities. Maybe that is a one-time course or a longer adult confirmation style course.

It’s always a good time to learn about what it means to be a United Methodist. It is confusing that the General Conference being held in 2024 is actually the “2020 General Conference.” Here is a helpful video and article explaining that. There is also a great instructional video about the General Conference itself.

Talk to a delegate to the General Conference. While those who are attending the General Conference are busy leaders just as you all are, they are more than willing to talk to you about this important meeting. For reference, I’ve included a list (right) of the clergy and lay delegates from Oklahoma who will be representing you:

Rev. Derrek Belase is the Executive Director of Connectional Ministry at the Oklahoma Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Lay Delegates

• Dr. Don Kim, head of delegation
• Barbara Perry
• Kent Fulton
• Kyla Powers
• Courtney Blacksten
• Sharri Hiller
• Chantelle Foster

Clergy Delegates

• Rev. Dr. Joe Harris, co-chair
• Rev. Derrek Belase
• Rev. Dr. Sam Powers
• Rev. Jessica Moffatt
• Rev. Charla Gwartney
• Rev. Valerie Steele
• Rev. Dr. Carol Cook Moore