This weekend I had the chance to go to the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, KS. It was great to spend time with my family, see them win ribbons and spend time with Jeff, Amy and Ricky Slater.

I love the State Fair – Pronto Pups, Domestic Arts building, the midway, Arena shows, livestock, exhibits of all kinds, butter sculpture, etc. Most of all, there is Kansas pride.

This is an event that captures the ethos of Kansas like none other. Have you been to your state fair?

“This unique program is designed for United Methodist congregations in Kansas and is a collaborative effort of the Kansas Health Foundation, United Methodist Church and Kansas Leadership Center.

The objectives of this initiative are:

• Contribute to the revitalization of the United Methodist Church in Kansas
• Enhance commitment to community health
• Develop leadership capacity of church participants

Selected congregations have the opportunity to study leadership competencies and principles that prepare them for active leadership roles in the health of their communities. Congregation teams will participate in seven days of formal training over a seven-month period of time.”

It was a fantastic experience for me and I am looking forward to applying principles and practicing leadership competencies in my role at Resurrection West. I also hope to explore more of the work of the Kansas Leadership Center. I commend them to you.

The United Methodist Church has a mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the World. The annual conferences where I am currently connected have a mission or vision statement:

• Kansas East - The Kansas East Conference’s mission is to connect and empower people and churches in living out the Gospel‘s call to invite, nurture, equip and send forth disciples of Jesus Christ.
• Kansas West – “As we make disciples of Jesus Christ, the Kansas West Conference calls God’s people to invite through radical hospitality, excite for intentional faith-sharing and unite in risk-taking mission for the transformation of the world.” – Kansas West Conference vision adopted May 2008

I believe that it was wise to receive this input before the opportunity to vote up or down on this proposal. The team that is working on considering this transition has a great deal of work still ahead. I was most hopeful about the openness of sharing the responses to the vote. You can find all of the open ended responses online here. I read through some but not all of the comments. For me, the willingness to share these responses is a positive sign. I am confident that the transition team, along with those addressing some of the technical changes will be able to move forward in a way that will bring positive change across the area.

• We took the 5 finger vote in response to the Great Plan for the Great Plains, in which we are considering the possibility of one annual conference across the states of Kansas and Nebraska
• We passed resolutions to close seven United Methodist Churches. This is never easy, but it is necessary.
• The Harry Denman Evangelism Award was awarded to three recipients.
• The Bridges to the Future capital campaign which was undertaken
• Sharing a meal with Jeff and Amy to talk about life and parenting, as they are a month away from a new member of their family.
• Completed election of our general and jurisdictional conference delegation. Laity seem to beat the clergy every year and this is no exception.

Related articles

• Kansas West Annual Conference – Clergy Session #kswumc (andrewconard.com)
• Kansas West Annual Conference – Day 1 #ksw2011 (andrewconard.com)
• Kansas West Annual Conference – Day 2 #ksw2011 (andrewconard.com)

Mark Conard Receives the KAUMRF Award of Merit

The second full day at the Kansas West Annual Conference gathering in Hutchinson, KS was good. Here are some highlights of the day:

• I received 4 votes in the very first clergy ballot for General Conference 2012. This was a pleasant surprise. I had not submitted a profile sheet to be considered. I wonder who voted for me, as I didn’t vote for myself… I did not receive any votes on subsequent ballots.
• I very much appreciate video reporting from various groups. The story is able to be told well and can be used again for various reasons.
• The Commission on Equitable Compensation report generated a good bit of conversation, which I found to be quite interesting. How does the annual conference best address gender inequity in clergy compensation?
• I was proud of my Dad, receiving a Certificate of Merit from the Kansas Area United Methodist Rural Fellowship at their annual banquet. Later in the afternoon, he was elected as the first clergy delegate to General Conference 2012. Congratulations!
• State of the Conference Report is one of my favorite times in Annual Conference. The Lay Leader and the Bishop tell the story of the past year and introduce new initiatives for the year ahead.
• I am very excited for the release of http://vitalsignsumc.org. This is going to be fantastic! Church metrics and sharing stories can be very good.

Related articles

• Kansas West Annual Conference – Clergy Session #kswumc (andrewconard.com)
• Kansas West Annual Conference – Day 1 #ksw2011 (andrewconard.com)

Image via Wikipedia

It was a good first full day of Kansas West Annual Conference. Some of my reflections from the day:

• The Great Plans for the Great Plains conversation about a new annual conference across Kansas and Nebraska continues to be a lively.
• The Kansas State Fairgrounds has provided an excellent venue for meeting. (Although, I still wish that a Pronto Pup stand was open.)
• I enjoy being a teller. This involves passing out and picking up ballots, resolutions and other material to the members of the Annual Conference.
• It is very much a means of grace to gather together in Christian conferencing.
• It was good to hear from The Reverend Cynthia Fierro Harvey the Deputy General Secretary of The United Methodist Committee on Relief.

Related articles

• Kansas West Annual Conference – Clergy Session #kswumc (andrewconard.com)

Image via Wikipedia

Today we are headed to the Kansas West Annual Conference. This year it is being held at the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson, KS. This will be our son’s first trip to Annual Conference. Perhaps more exciting than that, this is where my parents live, so he will get to spend a good deal of time with grandparents.

This evening conference opens with clergy session. It will be good to be with friends and colleagues.

Image by Wonderlane via Flickr

The conversation around the  Call to Action: Reordering the Life of the UMC and the subsequent UMC Leadership Summit, as well as the conversation in Kansas and Nebraska about Great Plans for the Great Plains: A Vision (PDF Link), I have been reflecting on the time that I spent on the spring senior staff retreat at Resurrection in which we read together, Bearing Fruit: Ministry with Real Results.

How do you do evaluate the programs and ministries of your local church? It is part of my life in ministry to always ask the question – How could we improve? A time of reflection, evaluation and planning to improve is important. What I had not considered carefully before was evaluation that lead to an ending. This is not just asking – How could we improve? Instead it is asking the question,  ”Do we need to be doing this any longer?” This could be connected with my earlier post about strategic pruning.

How do you evaluate? Does your evaluation lead to cuts?

Image via Wikipedia

The conversation around the  Call to Action: Reordering the Life of the UMC and the subsequent UMC Leadership Summit, as well as the conversation in Kansas and Nebraska about Great Plans for the Great Plains: A Vision (PDF Link), I have been reflecting on the time that I spent on the spring senior staff retreat at Resurrection in which we read together, Bearing Fruit: Ministry with Real Results.

It is important to attend to seasons of work and rest. I am aware of this across the course of a year. As a pastor, there are seasons of the year when I will work many more hours in a week than others, for example – Easter and Christmas Eve. I have become better at paying attention to these ebbs and flows. What I realized on this retreat is that this is true across the course of a week and a day as well.

In a week, there will be days when work is more and less intense.

In a day, there will be hours when work is more and less intense.

From your experience, have you found this to be true? I would be interested to hear more – yes or no.