(Over 2000 people representing over 1000 United Methodist churches in Mississippi gathered for Annual Conference in Jackson June 10 – 12. The following is a report from the Christ Church lay members who represented our congregation.)

• THEME: The 2011 theme “Arise! Shine! Go!” emphasized the United Methodist mission, “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world”.
• INSPIRATIONAL WORSHIP AND BIBLE STUDIES: One of the worship leaders was Jorge Acevedo, a United Methodist pastor from Florida. He said that “as disciples of Jesus Christ, we should model what it means to love your neighbor. We walk in Wesleyan tradition by engaging in relationship evangelism”.
• MINISTRY REPORTS: It was great to hear about all the work done and lives changed by ministries supported by our apportioned mission shares and our volunteerism. We heard reports from representatives of community centers, camps, colleges, campus ministry, and youth ministry. These included the Methodist Children’s Home, Bethlehem Center, Good Shepherd Center, Wesley House, Baddour Center, Choctaw Mission, United Methodist Hour and others. We also heard from the Mississippi Conference Disaster Response. The disaster relief through this program has been outstanding and has helped so many. It is heart warming to know that our Church makes a difference in so many lives through our apportioned mission shares.
• BUDGET: We adopted a shared missional budget for 2012 very similar to 2011, so our mission shares (apportionments) for Christ Church for 2012 will be similar, also.
• ORDERING OF MINISTRY WORSHIP SERVICE: We thanked those retiring from active ministry and welcomed those completing seminary and those newly licensed for pastoral ministry
• REAPPOINTMENT OF OUR CLERGY: David Brownlee, John Paul Clark, Vicki Landrum and Chuck Meador were reassigned (reappointed) to Christ Church for another year.
• ELECTION OF LAY AND CLERGY DELEGATES TO THE GENERAL AND JURISDICTIONAL CONFERENCE FOR 2012: Since the General Conference meets only every four years and is the policy making body of the United Methodist Church, it is important to have good representation. We feel we elected a solid slate of delegates that uphold the Bible and the United Methodist Book of Discipline. A list of these delegates can be found on the conference website www.mississippi-umc.org. One of our former pastors, Rev. Ricky James, was elected as a clergy delegate.
• RESOLUTIONS: We acted on 31 resolutions to petition the General Church on matters ranging from doctrine to affiliation with other institutions. The resolutions that passed, we feel, represent the feelings of the majority of the members of our Church. You may view all the resolutions and our actions on the conference website.
• PROCESS: We observed that our denomination is democratically managed. We are not under the control of a handful of people as is often the perception.

WANT MORE INFORMATION? Please contact any of your lay members of the Annual Conference for additional information. Thanks for allowing us to represent you in this important endeavor.

Bill Clement, Don Meiners, Jack Simpson,
Carter Haines, and Bennie Daniels