Officiating bishop: Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr.
The eighth Great Plains Annual Conference session, and its second in a distanced format forced by the coronavirus pandemic, took place May 27-29, followed by an ordination service in person June 12.
“This is another way of meeting together,” Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. said at the opening of the session, from a studio at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas.
Most of the reports typically given during annual conference were presented in recorded videos, followed by debate via Zoom and votes using the V-Voter system. Bishop Saenz; the Rev. Nan Kaye-Skinner, conference secretary; and Jesi Lipp, parliamentarian, participated at a table in the Leawood studio.
Worship services to memorialize pastors and spouses who passed away in the past 12 months, a service of Word and Table, and a celebration of retirees all were pre-recorded and played via Zoom and on the conference website, as well as the conference Facebook page.
At the opening of the annual conference’s business session, Bishop Saenz acknowledged the frustration many people have with technology and asked for patience and grace for those experiencing difficulty.
“We are all digital immigrants in some way or another,” he said.
The resolution acted on by the conference was a vote to continue the Chabadza partnership with the Zimbabwe East Conference.
Four churches, all in Kansas — Canton, Galva, Jamestown and Worden — requested and received approval for disaffiliation with no discussion.
Thirteen churches — 10 in Kansas, three in Nebraska — closed. None were directly caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The conference’s ordination service took place in person June 12 at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe of the Northwest Texas and New Mexico conferences provided the message for ordinands and commissioned pastors.
Other facts and figures:
- Number of people ordained, commissioned or received into associate membership, and average age: 35. Average ages — all provisional, 34; provisional elders, 34; provisional deacons, 35; full deacon, 33; full elders (traditional), 41; full elders (including two transfers from other conferences), 45; associate members, 57.
- Number of clergy retired: 43
Additional statistics reflect the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and churches being closed to in-person worship for most of the appointive year:
- Membership stands at 192,370, down 3.2% from the previous year.
- Worship attendance stands at 160,436 (in person and online), down 55.8%.
- Church school attendance stands at 18,152, down 33.3%.
- Professions or reaffirmations of faith for 2020 — 2,087,down 40.3% from 2019.
- Adults and young adults in small groups for 2020 — 6,058, down 30.7% from 2019.
- Worshippers engaged in mission for 2020 — 37,138, down 41% from 2019.
Was there a push at your conference to elect younger delegates? If so, how many delegates under 35 were elected and what are their names and ages?
No. Abigail Koech, Jesi Lipp, Shayla Jordan, Ally Drummond, Roy Koech and Abraham Ruffcorn are all under 35.
David Burke, content specialist for the Great Plains Conference, provided this report.
The eighth Great Plains Annual Conference session, and its second in a distanced format forced by the coronavirus pandemic, took place May 27-29, followed by an ordination service in person June 12.
“This is another way of meeting together,” Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. said at the opening of the session, from a studio at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas.
Most of the reports typically given during annual conference were presented in recorded videos, followed by debate via Zoom and votes using the V-Voter system. Bishop Saenz; the Rev. Nan Kaye-Skinner, conference secretary; and Jesi Lipp, parliamentarian, participated at a table in the Leawood studio.
Worship services to memorialize pastors and spouses who passed away in the past 12 months, a service of Word and Table, and a celebration of retirees all were pre-recorded and played via Zoom and on the conference website, as well as the conference Facebook page.
At the opening of the annual conference’s business session, Bishop Saenz acknowledged the frustration many people have with technology and asked for patience and grace for those experiencing difficulty.
“We are all digital immigrants in some way or another,” he said.
The resolution acted on by the conference was a vote to continue the Chabadza partnership with the Zimbabwe East Conference.
Four churches, all in Kansas — Canton, Galva, Jamestown and Worden — requested and received approval for disaffiliation with no discussion.
Thirteen churches — 10 in Kansas, three in Nebraska — closed. None were directly caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The conference’s ordination service took place in person June 12 at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe of the Northwest Texas and New Mexico conferences provided the message for ordinands and commissioned pastors.
Other facts and figures:
- Number of people ordained, commissioned or received into associate membership, and average age: 35. Average ages — all provisional, 34; provisional elders, 34; provisional deacons, 35; full deacon, 33; full elders (traditional), 41; full elders (including two transfers from other conferences), 45; associate members, 57.
- Number of clergy retired: 43
Additional statistics reflect the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and churches being closed to in-person worship for most of the appointive year:
- Membership stands at 192,370, down 3.2% from the previous year.
- Worship attendance stands at 160,436 (in person and online), down 55.8%.
- Church school attendance stands at 18,152, down 33.3%.
- Professions or reaffirmations of faith for 2020 — 2,087,down 40.3% from 2019.
- Adults and young adults in small groups for 2020 — 6,058, down 30.7% from 2019.
- Worshippers engaged in mission for 2020 — 37,138, down 41% from 2019.
Was there a push at your conference to elect younger delegates? If so, how many delegates under 35 were elected and what are their names and ages?
No. Abigail Koech, Jesi Lipp, Shayla Jordan, Ally Drummond, Roy Koech and Abraham Ruffcorn are all under 35.
David Burke, content specialist for the Great Plains Conference, provided this report.
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