2019 California-Pacific Annual Conference

June 13-15, in Redlands, California

Songs of praise and celebration ushered in the Spirit of God and enlivened the hearts of some 1,200 United Methodists gathered at the University of Redlands in Redlands, California, for the 35th Annual Session of the California-Pacific Conference of The United Methodist Church.

The theme was “I See a New Church” (#ISEEANEWCHURCH), focusing on the many ways we as a church are in a wilderness and are being led by God out of it. From the pre-conference activities within smaller groups to the many plenary sessions as an entire body, there were glimpses of a brighter future because of God’s leadership of our California-Pacific Conference and God’s work of nurturing leaders from within our conference.

In Resident Bishop Grant J. Hagiya’s address, the theme scripture came to life as Bishop Hagiya kneeled before all in the plenary space to inspire a Spirit of Repentance. With that, Bishop Hagiya shared a vision of a United Methodist Church that is “global in mission and contextual in governance,” a vision that comes from Bishop Hagiya’s conviction that the California-Pacific Conference’s example of staying with one another within our diversity is one that can lead the denomination into a bright future. Bishop Hagiya’s assignment for all churches was for each church’s vision of a new church to be reported at each church’s charge conference, which would all then be sent to the conference to be shared at Annual Conference 2020.

The worship services and other activities throughout the conference were truly holy moments. The memorial service recognized In Memoriam four bishops, two bishop’s spouses, 29 clergypersons, and 11 clergy spouses. Another service celebrated 14 clergypersons representing 425.25 years of service. One of the services was led by clergy and laity of the LGBTQIA+ communities and another was led by our young people. The guest preacher for the Commissioning and Ordination Service was Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey of the Louisiana Conference of The United Methodist Church. In that service, five were clergy commissioned and five clergy were ordained into full connection.

And, this year, there were specially organized conversations around the matter of the Church and human sexuality. All such times were reminders of how God’s leadership which had led us to this moment began many years ago even though we might not have understood God’s grace at work at the time.

There were also many tangible demonstrations of the California-Pacific Conference commitment to a brighter future. A Conference Apportionment Budget of $11,551,327 (a 4% decrease from 2019) was passed for 2020 with absolutely no questions asked. Also passed were 10 recommendations, 21 resolutions, and seven recommendations for rules changes.

The Special Offerings were collected for three specific causes:

• Filipino Caucus Mission – $4,334.30 – A program of the California-Pacific Conference Filipino Caucus, 2019 represents the 10th year that a mission team has been sent to the Philippines.

• Cal-Pac Internship – $3,884.20 – partnering with local churches and outreach ministries to pilot an internship program for 19- to 25-year-olds to serve in full-time, paid leadership roles for eight to 10 weeks during the summer.

• Native Hawaiian Scholarship – $2,072.44 – a collaboration of interfaith groups of churches, temples, a synagogue and the Pacific Justice and Reconciliation Center in Hawaii for training, education, health wellness, cultural awareness and a field of study including teaching and learning.

A slate of delegates to both General and Jurisdictional Conference were elected.

The General Conference delegation is: Rev. Dr. Cedrick Bridgeforth (First Clergy), Monalisa Tu’itahi (First Lay), Rev. Allison Mark, Mark Stephenson, Rev. Sandra Olewinem and Mele Maka.

The Jurisdictional Conference delegation will include the General Conference delegation as well as Rev. Molly Vetter, JoAnn Fukumoto, Rev. Dr. Tom Choi, Rachel Rhodes-Wickett Gipson, Rev. John Farley, Erich Schmitt, Rev. Frank Wulf, Jason Takagi, Rev. Darin Arntson, Claire Williams, Rev. Richard Bentley, Dione Taylor, Rev. Patricia Farris, Mele Faiva Blagojevich, Rev. Judy Chung, Stuart Ahn.

The reserve delegates are: Rev. Sam B. Kim, Phil Valdes, Rev. Eugene Han, Andrew Esposo, Rev. Tonya Harris, Liz Roark, Rev. Mandy McDow, Katharine Henry.

Finally, a celebration of four clergypersons and four laypersons took place during the Bishop’s Awards, a special time to recognize those who have displayed exemplary service to the California-Pacific Conference of The United Methodist Church.

The location for the 36th Annual Session of the California-Pacific Conference will once again be the University of Redlands and the preliminary dates of the session are June 18-20, 2020.