Final 2023 special called conference ends with eclipse
During the last day of the last of three special called conferences set to decide disaffiliations, the moon and sun danced across the sky, perfectly illustrating the fleeting nature of darkness in the greater context of God’s kingdom.
Like the brief dimness wrought by the moon’s shadow during the solar eclipse, the difficult season of disaffiliations had finally come to an end at Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City.
Forty-three of 44 churches seeking disaffiliation were ratified and six churches were permanently closed during the October 13-14 conference, bringing the final total of churches remaining in the Oklahoma Conference of the United Methodist Church to 317.
“We are not here to lament the past but we are here to move forward, and I pray that we move forward following in the footsteps of Jesus, regardless of our future. I proclaim to you that I am ready to forgive, even if I am not forgiven,” stated Bishop Nunn. “I’m ready to move on, move on to the mission to which God has called me, the mission of the UMC. And I’m ready to part with some who’ve walked this far in our journey but seek a different future, without malice toward them.”
After disaffiliations and church closures were complete, the delegation moved on to discuss the future of the conference, with a focus on the budget.
The conference passed the 2024 budget, which was intentionally planned for October to account for changes due to disaffiliations. The new budget uses $2 million of the conference stabilization fund to ensure a smooth transition. The budget has changed significantly, with apportionments and mission and ministries totaling $6,485,575. The budget in 2023 was $9,631,602, and the 2022 budget was $11,432,477.
Rev. Derrek Belase, conference director of Connectional Ministry, in his remarks, proposed a new vision for the future of the conference. “There are five strategic foci which will help us as we think about aligning conference resources and stewarding the resources which God has blessed us with.” He described each as a dream. They include a dream of new churches for new people, citing the New Faith Communities and the Dream A Church initiative; a dream of Lighthouse congregations and revitalized churches, offering pastoral care to those affected by disaffiliation; a dream of communities impacting poverty, partnering with the Pan-Methodist Campaign for Children in Poverty, through the Let’s Do This Oklahoma working group, along with Project Transformation; a dream of healthy clergy leading healthy churches, offering resources to improve the health of clergy, working with Wespath; a dream of new leaders for an emerging conference, identifying new clergy leaders and empowering lay leaders to meet the needs of Oklahomans, with campus ministries, youth ministries, and more. “I want to pause here and emphasize that this is not the only time you will hear about the five dreams,” stressed Belase. “We are just taking this opportunity to introduce them to you. We are committed to progressing through these initiatives in the months to come.”
The special offering taken up during the Special Called Conference was collected for Project Transformation. ViaFaith McCullough, executive director of Project Transformation, has benefited from all three levels of participation - as a child, as a college student, and as a member of the conference (church). She is the first in Project Transformation history to have this distinction.
Click here for more about her journey.