Charge Conference

We (our church) had our Charge Conference last night. Rev. Adiel DePano, our (DS) District Superintendent came to preside the meeting. It was a night of good fellowship. We listened to reports and church leaders shared the work of our church. I enjoyed the time but, the turnout was very disappointing especially the Chinese members. I only count four of us excluding the pastor and his wife.

I have the privilege of serving in the Staff Parish Relations Committee. We (SPRC members) met with the (DS) before the Charge Conference. The DS started the meeting with a devotion (none of our previous DS did that, at least none that I know of) and he used the Gospel of Luke 5: 1-7 to encourage us and to remind us that if we are not successful in what we are doing, then we should try something else, just like Jesus asked Simon Peter to go into deeper water, and Peter listened and they caught so much fish that their nets began to break. May be we are Peter and Jesus has been telling us that we need to get into deeper water but we just have not been listening. I think through the Callahan consultation and the addition of Pastor Tom, we are slowly but surely moving in that direction.

I think one of the ingredients in strong and vibrant churches is leadership. I am not easily impressed but I am very impressed with our District Superintendent, Rev. Adiel DePano. I think we need more leaders like him to lead the Methodist churches.

He impressed me last year by telling us to think outside the box and I think that is one of the big reason I personally pushed so hard to get Pastor Tom, who is not a main stream Methodist pastor, to be our permanent Associate Pastor. I think the chances of a pastor from the “outside” helping us think outside the box is far greater than the status quo. We can also do our ministry with a different perspective.

This year he reminded us to try new approaches, go into different areas, and learn from others. Somehow I sensed that he knew exactly what we need in this church and that is actually what Pastor Tom has been telling me. The visions of both men really impressed me. I don’t want to leave out Pastor Richard because he is so understanding and so supportive of our ministry. We cannot do our ministry without a supportive Senior Pastor.

At the conclusion of the Charge Conference, the DS shared a very moving short DVD movie, again encouraging all of us to go outside. The movie was short but it was very touching and I think most of those present will agree with me. I was again impressed.

I would love to hear the DS preach and I sincerely hope that we can invite him to come and share a sermon or two with us. I think that is Pastor Richard’s job! :)