Conferencing
It is often news to people when they hear that the basic unit of the United Methodist Church is not the local church but the conference. From our origins with John Wesley, we have always believed and structured ourselves to support the notion that we are stronger together as the body of Christ when we are yoked in covenant with other churches and denominations. Wesley was always seeking those alliances and common ground.
On September 28, our North Texas Conference unified with the Central Texas Conference and the Northwest Texas Conference to be become the Horizon Texas Conference – a covenant of over 400 UM churches spanning from east Texas to Amarillo to Waco and Round Rock. Last Sunday, ten of those from our area met at FUMC McKinney for our annual Charge Conference where we worshipped together, shared communion together, and voted together on the work we are doing in our individual churches. Our own Tim Hopson, who is our District Lay Leader, assisted. We voted in a new slate of leadership for each of our churches. We voted to approve 2025 Budgets for several churches (we will do ours in February). We voted to affirm all those who had been baptized and joined our churches and recognized those who had died or been removed from our rolls. All of this occurred under the auspice of our Metro North District Superintendent, Rev. Debra Hobbs Mason, whose District Office is in our building. She in turn represents Bishop Reuben Saenz, Jr., who oversees our Horizon Texas Conference and pastors it for health and growth, just as I do at the local church level. Our collective efforts in our local churches translates to the success of our conference in making disciples for Jesus.
I struck up a conversation with a layperson – Sung Lang – from Fairview Korean UMC on Hwy 5 north of Allen. Cammy and I attended that church a year ago for the memorial of that that church's pastor Kwang-Bae Park. He was a colleague with whom I served for five years on the Board of Ordained Ministry, vetting candidates to become pastors. Kwang-Bae was a husband, father, honorable, generous, faithful … and someone I would never have known without our conferencing – without our connection. Our children and youth know of this experience when they talk about their "camp friends" from Bridgeport. Our conferencing as United Methodists makes this all possible.
I am ever so thankful for FUMC Plano, my local church. But in this season I am also thankful for our United Methodist Church and the conferencing that makes our world bigger, richer, and more effective for Christ's work on earth; thanks be to God
