And are we yet alive and see each other’s face! –Charles Wesley
Next week, from June 7th-10th, almost 1000 United Methodist lay and clergy persons from Connecticut and New York will gather for the 218th Session of the New York Annual Conference. One of the highlights each year is the opportunity to hear from guest preachers and presenters from near and far. In this second and last message about preparations for Annual Conference, I want to focus on some of these special guests. If you missed the first installment, you can find it here.
 |
Rev. Jay Williams, PhD.
Due to a recent illness, Father Boyle, the guest speaker for Annual Conference 2017, will be unable to attend. Filling in for the Service of Remembrance on Thursday morning and the Commissioning Service Friday night will be the Rev. Jay Williams of Union UMC in Boston, MA. Read Rev. Williams full biography here.
|
 |
Laity Session
The speaker of the 2017 Laity Session will be Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe, the General Secretary of the General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church.Her topic will be Discipleship and the UM Social Principles: Healthcare, Immigration and Peacebuilding.
|
 |
Telling Your Story
Last year the Commission on Archives (CAH) shared the stories of historical figures in our Conference. This year, they want to hear YOUR story!
CAH will be recording video stories with an interviewer and a storyteller in conversation with each other. Learn more and sign up.
|
Workshops
Clergy and laity have seven workshops to choose from this year.
- Christian Discipleship and the Black Lives Matter Movement - Ben McBride
- Creating New Spaces for New Faces - David Gilmore
- Developing Meaningful Men’s Ministries in Your Local Church - Gil Hanke
- Preaching in Contentious and Uncertain Times - Gennifer Brooks
- Small Groups in the Wesleyan Way - Scott Hughes
- 21st Century Disciple Making - Jeff Campbell
- Unmasking Ableism: Opening Our Churches and Our Ministries to All - Evy McDonald and Michael Barry
For details on the workshops, click here. Guests are welcome at any session of annual conference. Simply go to the Hospitality Table to check in and receive a name tag.
 |
Health Kits Challenge
Health kits are collected at annual conference from Wednesday to Thursday evening.In 2016 NYAC churches delivered 4,198 health kits to annual conference.
Last year there were 45 federally declared disasters, 35,530 disasters requiring state emergency response and an additional 12,248 local disaster events. There is even more need for health kits in 2017. Please accept the challenge to deliver more health kits in 2017.
|
Join the Conference Choir
All are invited to join the conference choir! Practice begins at 8:45 on Saturday, June 10th.
For information about additional rehearsals or questions, please contact Raymond Trapp, Director of Music or Ian Wharton, Coordinator, at music.worshipnyac@gmail.com
Your contributions make a difference!
Matt Curry, Director of Connectional Ministries
From the desk of
