2019 Upper New York Conference

June 5-8, in Syracuse, New York

The 10th session of the Upper New York Annual Conference convened June 5-8 at the Oncenter in Syracuse, New York. Upper New York Area Resident Bishop Mark J. Webb presided. 

The time began with opening worship centered around this year’s annual conference theme, “Together in Prayer, Moving Beyond our Comfort Zones." 

“We need a fresh word! We need to be reminded of who we are and whose we are … we need to be reminded that amid this season, God is doing a new thing,” said Webb during opening worship.

Webb then shared his vision for a new kind of unity in the United Methodist Church. Click here for a full article, including a video of the entire service and a transcript of his message.  

Following opening worship, the conference moved into the clergy and laity sessions. Information about the laity session is available here. 

Later, members of the Upper New York Annual Conference moved into their first full plenary session. After a bit of confusion about the voting devices, both clergy and laity would take their first ballot. Balloting continued throughout annual conference with the following delegates being elected to General and Jurisdictional Conference.

The clergy delegates, in order elected for General Conference are:
The Rev. Bill Mudge
The Rev. Dr. Stephen Cady II
The Rev. Beckie Sweet
The Rev. Carmen Perry 
The Rev. Rachel Morse

The lay delegates, in order elected for General Conference:
Carmen Vianese (head of the delegation)
J.J. Warren
Ian Urriola
Marthalyn Sweet
Sam Smith

The clergy delegates, in order elected for Jurisdictional Conference are:
The Rev. Dr. Michelle Bogue-Trost
The Rev. Carlos Rosa-Laguer
The Rev. Martha Swords-Horrell
The Rev. Drew Sperry
The Rev. Rebecca Laird

The lay delegates, in order elected for Jurisdictional Conference are:
Samuel Mudge
Drew Griffin
Rachel John
Linda Barczykowski
Melysa Acevedo

The clergy reserve delegates are:
The Rev. Bill Allen
The Rev. Harold Wheat

The lay reserve delegates are:
Dan Fuller
Rachel Giso

The members of the annual conference also spent their time voting on a variety of petitions and resolutions. Click here for a full list of voting results for petitions and resolutions.

The annual conference was treated to two sessions of learning with Study Leader the Rev. Dr. Vance Ross, pastor of the historic Central United Methodist Church in Atlanta and also dean of the Chapel of Spiritual Life at Emory University. Both sessions explored prayer. 

“Let’s have the courage, the audacity and the unmitigated love to dream God’s dream, praying in the closet and not being scared of our comfort zone being pushed,” Rev. Ross said.

A full article of his first time of learning is available here.

A full article of his second time of learning is available here.

A lectio divina prayer experience lead by the Conference Leadership Team (learn more)

Imagine No Racism workshops (learn more)

The 2019 Upper New York Annual Conference concluded with the service of commissioning and ordination. Seven individuals were commissioned as elders; three individuals were ordained as deacons and five individuals were ordained as elders. A full article about the service is available here. 

For in-depth daily notes and the Daily Wrap videos, recapping the events of each day of annual conference, visit the main page here.

Membership stands at 150,120, down 1% from the previous year. 

Worship attendance stands at 39,005, down 4%. 

Church school attendance stands at 10,452, up .4%. 

There were 110 professions or reaffirmations of faith for 2018, down 18% from 2017.

There were 16, 840 adults and young adults in small groups for 2018, down 2% from 2017.

There were 12,370 worshippers engaged in mission, up 24% from 2017.

-- Stephen J. Hustedt, Upper New York Conference director of communications