September! There are so many things to love about this time of year- the worst of the heat is likely over, but it’s still lovely at the beach. The first cool morning when you want a sweater is likely just ahead. Pumpkin spice everything is available. You might even see some fall colors beginning! The other thing fall brings for us is Charge Conference Season. (I can hear your stadium cheer from here!)
It helps me to think of this season as a season of worshipful work. The real work is done in your local churches in all the accountability meetings you have to prepare for the charge conference. Resist the urge to copy and paste last year’s work; take time to help your laity and leaders know the aspects of our connectional work and that we are accountable to one another. If there are some aspects of the accountability reports that seem at first glance not to apply to your context, perhaps that is in itself a place of sensitive and thoughtful reflection. Is there something happening in your context that gives you hope? What has allowed you to see God’s work in the lives of your people? Has your church’s faithfulness impacted your community? Tell that story! As you prepare for the Charge Conference, you, as the pastoral leader, help set the positive tone for the worshipful work that goes before and that surrounds the meeting itself.
This year, we are holding Charge Conferences in clusters. (If you have a situation requiring a different setting, please get in touch with Heidi NOW.) This is so we can be mindful of the shared work and worship we do as a connectional church. I look forward to being with you in these settings as a time of celebration and accountability. You can find the materials for the Charge Conference here: https://nccumc.org/cc2024/. Our theme comes from Isaiah 43:1-3a, 18-19. “See, I am doing a new thing!” Perhaps that theme can inform how you tell your church’s story this year.
I look forward to this season!
Grace and Peace,
Claire