Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church

     Hardinsburg United Methodist Church is part of the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.  Annual Conference has a double meaning.  One is that it is the organization that oversees the ministry and mission of the church.  Bishops, District Superintendents, Conference staff and committees of the conference administer the affairs of the conference, appoint pastors, credential clergy and manage the camps and institutions of the church.  The other is that it is an annual meeting of lay and clergy delegates from the local churches of the Annual Conference. 

     This year our Annual Conference will meet in Owensboro at Kentucky Wesleyan College June 9-11.  Sheila Eakin is our lay delegate, and I am your clergy delegate. Hope Overflowing is the theme for Annual Conference 2025.  It’s based on Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

     These are the anticipated events and actions of this year’s Annual Conference.

1. Vote on Constitutional Amendments.

A Constitutional Amendment is any legislation that proposes a change to Part I of our Book of Discipline (Paragraphs 1-59), otherwise known as the Constitution. 

Constitutional Amendments must first acquire a 2/3 majority vote of the General Conference. When it passes at General Conference, it goes to every annual conference worldwide for ratification. The amendment is adopted if at least 2/3 of all the voting members of the annual conferences in United Methodism approve it.

 Each member of the Annual Conference will have the opportunity to vote “yes” or “no” to each amendment. These amendments cannot be debated or changed by the Annual Conference.

The first and most involved amendment is Regionalization. It involves restructuring the current configuration of The United Methodist Church.

Regionalization allows for the United States and each Central Conference (areas outside of the United States) to become a regional conference. Each regional conference would have the authority to adapt parts (not all) of the Book of Discipline for the missional effectiveness of that region. Each regional conference would continue to consist of multiple annual conferences–as we currently are structured.   (For more information on Regionalization go to kyumc.org)

 

2. Reduction of Districts.

Currently the Kentucky Conference has nine districts. The recommendation, to be voted upon at the 2025 session of the Annual Conference, is to reduce the number of districts to four.  This proposal would place Hardinsburg in the newly formed WEST District.

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3. The Sale of the Conference Office in Crestwood, KY.

The Conference Board of Trustees is recommending the sale of the conference office building and Episcopal residence. The conference office and Episcopal residence are both located in Crestwood. These sales are the result of downsizing of conference staff and the sharing of a bishop with The Tennessee/Western Kentucky Conference.

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4. The Memorial Worship Service remembering clergy and spouses who have died since the last session of Annual Conference.

 

5. The Ordination Worship Service where we will ordain and commission our new clergy.  On Monday evening at Settle Memorial UMC, our new pastor, Tess Welch, will be commissioned on the Elder track. 

 

6. Reading of the Appointments. At the end of Annual Conference for more than 200 years, the Bishop reads the appointments setting the clergy appointments for the following year.  It is anticipated that Tess Welch will be announced as pastor at Hardinsburg/Talbert Chapel.

 

     Since 1980, I have found my seat at Annual Conference and celebrated with Methodist clergy and laity from all over Kentucky.  Remembering the servants of the Lord who have gone on to glory, joyfully receiving new clergy into the family of the ordained and proudly acknowledging the great accomplishments of the churches of the Kentucky Annual Conference.

 

Your Servant,

Keith