Spiritually Speaking – July 2018
In Mission from Anywhere to Everywhere”
“Calling it ‘a gathering of people of faith,” South Carolina Resident Bishop L. Jonathan Holston kicked off the 2018 session of Annual Conference with a powerful opening worship service entitled “Built for God’s Purpose” on Sunday, June 3, 2018.
“It doesn’t matter what part of South Carolina you are from, whether you are from Wallace or Buckhead. When we allow God’s Holy Spirit to find its way into our lives, what a time, what a time, what a time!”
“My friends, even though we may not think alike, we love alike. All we are is messengers, errand-runners of Jesus. And it started when God said, ‘Light up the darkness.’”
By the time Annual Conference ended on June 6, United Methodists had tackled a host of business including passage of a $17 million budget, voting on resolutions, packing 10,000 health kits for disaster victims, collecting more than $33,000 for other ministries, and even attempting to break a Guinness World Record.
Here are some of the highlights:
• South Carolina United Methodists approved a $17 million budget for 2019. The final budget is a 0.4% increase over the 2018 budget.
• The Conference passed 3 of its 4 resolutions and referred a fourth to the S.C. General Conference Delegation for 2019:
(1) amended and passed the Resolution in Support of Just and Inclusive (based on merit) Policy for Lay Volunteers and Lay Staff in Local Church Ministry.
(2) amended and passed the Resolution to Ensure Every Child in State Care Receives Best Possible Care.
(3) passed without amendment the Resolution Designating Old Bethel UMC-Charleston as a United Methodist Historic Site.
(4) referred to the S.C. Delegation who are attending the Special Called General Conference in St. Louis February 2019—the Resolution Affirming Current Language in the Book of Discipline Regarding Human Sexuality.
• The body re-voted on Constitutional Amendment I, on gender justice, which was approved by the 2016 General Conference but has to be ratified by 2/3 of all UMC annual conferences before inclusion in the Book of Discipline.
• Twenty-nine clergy were commissioned or ordained during a service preached by Bishop Mildred Hines, resident bishop of the South Atlantic Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the first and only female bishop in the AMEZ.
• A memorial service preached by Dr. B. McIver Alexander, Jr. remembered the lives of 52 clergy, spouses and others who have died in the last year.
• The conference celebrated the ministry of 37 men and women who retired this year. These retirees included the Reverends Paul Harmon and John Hipp, both District Superintendents, and The Reverend David Anderson, conference benefits officer.
• Also celebrated was the 50th anniversary of the formation of The United Methodist Church. The UMC was created April 23, 1968, when The Evangelical United Brethren Church and The Methodist Church, one predominantly African American and the other Caucasian—united. Representatives from the AME Zion, AME, and Christian Methodist Episcopal churches, as well as The United Methodist Church, were present in what Conference Secretary Ken
Nelson called “a time of historical significance.”
• The body approved 5 new changes to standing rules, including a change on voting for resolutions from the last day to the second full day and a change to help simplify voting and ensure that there will be no situations where a “no” petition vote means “yes” and vice versa.
• The Conference Board of Pension and Health Benefits released a health plan for 2019 that—thanks to strong investment earnings—reflects no increase in premiums for clergy and laity, even though premium costs will rise.
• The Conference celebrated the many ways S. C. United Methodists engage in missions and global health, packing 10,000 health kits, attempting to break a Guinness World Record for the number of people to pass through a hula hoop without breaking the human chain, and lifting up global health and other critical missions the S. C. Conference engages in, including Salkehatchie Summer Service and United Methodist Volunteers in Mission.
• The body collected more than $33,000 in offerings:
(1) $12,240.79 for Strength for Service
(2) $13,127.25 for S.C. Conference Seminary Students Scholarship Fund
(3) $7,863.09 for Global Health Advance.
• The Conference honored the important work of churches that were formally closed during 2018.
• The Bishop fixed the appointments of approximately 700 clergy serving churches across South Carolina, including The Reverend Henry A. Altman and his family who are returning to Main Street United Methodist Church.
• Six different mission projects from S.C. churches exhibited their program during a Hands-On Mission Expo presented by conference laity. These projects include a beds ministry, plan ministry, hygiene kits, dresses for girls, wheelchair ramp ministry, and disaster response.
• Next year Annual Conference will be held again in Greenville at the TD Center June 2-6, 2019. Because of the need to elect delegates to the 2020 General and Jurisdictional Conferences, it will be a 5-day conference. The event will return to Florence for three years beginning in 2020.
