The Great Plains Conference celebrated its first 10 years and looked toward the future during its annual conference session, June 6-9 at Younes Center North in Kearney, Nebraska.
Birthday cake was served during the first break, and 10 milestone events in the conference’s first decade were recalled in video stories throughout the first three days.
The scriptural theme of this year’s annual conference was Ephesians 4:1-6, which in some translations includes the verse “I want you to get out there and walk — better yet, run! — on the road God called you to travel.”
“We have done great work together as an annual conference this year; we have been on some several turbulent journeys, and God has seen us through all of this,” Bishop David Wilson said in his opening sermon. “There will be more, but as we stick together, using the various roads throughout our lives, we can do it together.”
The conference approved changing the number of districts from 17 to 10. That number had already been in place for several years, as all but one district superintendent had been serving multiple districts.
The cabinet is set to approve the first district lines for the Great Plains Conference, after a decade of inherited district names and borders from the heritage conferences in Nebraska and Kansas.
The new districts, effective July 1:
Nebraska: Central, Eastern, Southeast, Western
Kansas: East Central, North Central, Northeast, South Central, Southeast, Western
In one ballot, the conference selected five laity to fill vacancies in the South Central Jurisdiction delegation: Mary Brooks, Liz Collins, Ben Jones, Jim Oliver and Char Pyle.
Minimum salary for clergy was increased by 3%:
- Full elders and deacons — $51,540
- Provisional deacons and elders — $48,747
- Associate members — $45,953
- Licensed local pastors — $43,160
After varying amounts of discussion, several resolutions were passed:
- A “Core Beliefs and Doctrines” resolution, reiterating the United Methodist commitment to core values of Christian faith while battling against misinformation campaigns.
- A “naming review,” calling for thoughtful examination of names associated with Great Plains Conference entities.
- A call for the conference and its mercy and justice team to urge Nebraska lawmakers to make drinkable water at the Santee Sioux Nation Reservation in northeast Nebraska a priority. The conference raised money during this week to provide a shipment of water to the reservation, which has been without clean water since 2019.
Ten elders were ordained on the last day of the conference, the first Sunday morning service in the history of the Great Plains. Also, for the first time, all ordained clergy processed in front of the ordinands, which took three renditions of “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” to complete.
Ten people were commissioned this year. Nine are “traditional” provisional members. One is starting the transfer process from the Korean Methodist Church. This year all are being commissioned as provisional elders. Their average age is 42.
Rev. Sarah Marsh, mercy and justice coordinator for the conference, received a standing ovation for her sermon, “Eyes on the Prize,” during the ordination service Sunday morning.
“There is nothing more worthy than your sacred call to ordained ministry,” Marsh said. “The prize is knowing God.”
Marsh told the ordinands about the march on Selma, Alabama, where a conference-sponsored immersion trip to see the historic civil rights movement sites took place last year, and how John Lewis and Hosea Williams were unexpectedly called to lead the group.
“They had their eyes on the prize,” she said.
Evie Cannon, daughter of Rev. Emily Spearman Cannon, gave the scripture reading after some prompting from the congregation. Evie was the first child baptized during the inaugural Great Plains Conference in 2014.
More details
Did the gathering have a theme or slogan, and if so, what was it? “Ready for the Journey”
Did the conference take any action related to the recent General Conference? A report from delegates.
Did your conference approve redistricting or redrawing of conference lines? Yes. Approved the first district lines in the conference, after inheriting 17 previous districts from legacy conferences. New boundary lines reflect post-disaffiliation reality, with the number of district superintendents already cut from 17 to 10.
Did the conference approve any churches leaving the conference (and if so, please list each church)? No.
Number of churches that closed because no longer sustainable: Six churches were officially discontinued during the Saturday session:
Kansas: Barnes, Lawrence Central, Oswego Mason Chapel, Spring Hill.
Nebraska: Genoa, Valley.
Did your conference adopt a reaffiliation policy? No.
Any special annual conference set: No.
What budget did the conference pass and how did it change from last year? The conference passed the 2025 budget of $15.17 million, a decrease of 1.41% from the current budget of $15.39 million.
Did your conference take any action related to upcoming jurisdictional or central conference gatherings? No.
Number of people ordained, commissioned or received into associate membership, and average age: There are 10 people being commissioned this year. Nine are “traditional” provisional members. One is starting the transfer process from the Korean Methodist Church. This year all are being commissioned as provisional elders. Average age is 42.
Number of clergy retired: 35
- Membership stands at 147,674, down 23,888 from the previous year.
- Worship attendance stands at 127,768, down 899.
- Church school attendance stands at 112,248, down 2,221.
- Professions or reaffirmations of faith for 2023: 2,230, down 390 from 2022.
- Adults and young adults in small groups for 2023: 26,990, down 2,752 from 2022.
- Worshippers engaged in mission for 2023: 34,212, down 1,866 from 2022.
— David Burke, content specialist for the Great Plains Conference.