Greater NJ Conference Meets in Wildwood (5/19/24)

Budget / Finance (page 57)….

Vasanth Victor (chair of the Council of Finance and Administration) presented a balanced budget for 2025 which has a slightly lower apportionment rate (15.2%) than last year (15.3%).  Despite not raising apportionment rates, the 2025 budget envisions an income almost $600,000 higher than 2024’s budget.  Part of that increased income will result from our affiliation with the Eastern PA Annual Conference.

The total income and expenses are projected to be: $24,021,956 (there will be a $900 surplus).

Vasanth Victor, Council of Finance and Administration

Sexual Abuse / Safe Sanctuary Policies (page 18)….

The first legislation to be considered during the conference was an update to our Sexual Ethics Policy.  It was presented by COSROW (the Conference’s Commission On Status and Role Of Women).  This policy needed refreshing since it hadn’t been updated since 2009.  We quickly ran into a lot of questions about what constitutes “sexual misconduct”.  Many amendments and suggestions attempted to find the correct language, but none of the amendments seemed to answer all of the possible issues.  The discussion consumed most of the morning on Monday, and the rest of the conference was behind schedule. 

At issue were scenarios such as hugging, or accidental touching, or if any romantic relationship between adults is ok if it’s consensual.  At one point a pastor rose and admitted that he and a female parishioner had begun a consensual relationship.  The bishop insisted that any pastor-parishioner romantic relationship was wrong because of the different levels of authority or power. 

We ended up approving the proposed policy after deleting the section which attempted to define “sexual misconduct.”  This matter was referred back to the committee with the mandate to identify all questionable issues and to re-write the section more specifically.

Rev. Gabriel Corbett, Safe Sanctuaries Coord.

Memo of Understanding with EPA Conference (page 36)…

In 2022, after the bishop of the Eastern PA Conference, retired, the NE Jurisdiction Conference assigned Bishop Schol to both our Greater New Jersey Annual Conference (GNJ) and to the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference (EPA).  They directed us to find ways to collaborate.  Seven of the ten Annual Conferences in the Northeast Jurisdiction are now “sharing” their bishop with one other Conference. 

Immediately after Bishop Schol’s reassignment, we began to share resources with EPA and to find ways of maximizing efficiency while keeping the local character of each Conference intact.  Nothing was in writing, so a taskforce was created at last year’s conference to work with EPA counterparts to develop a “Memo of Understanding” which would define the costs and roles of each Conference. 

This Memo of Understanding (MOU) dives into the details of staffing, costs, and ministry management.  It identifies the ministries that we will carry out together and on which Conference will hire/employ staffing for that ministry.  For example, EPA will employ the director of Camp and Retreat Ministries, while GNJ will employ the Connection Ministries Manager (to manage scholarships and grants).  Both Conferences will have a Director of Communications, but EPA will employ the Editorial Manager while GNJ will employ the Video Producer.

In addition to reducing staffing costs, the MOU seeks to improve ministries in all areas by sharing existing resources.  For example, GNJ no longer has a viable Camping Ministry, but EPA’s Camping Ministry is strong.  GNJ can now participate in EPS’s Camping Ministry.  On the other hand, EPA doesn’t have a counterpart to GNJ’s Ignite conference, so EPA will be able to join us in that ministry.

A system sharing costs based on the ratio of congregations in each Conference was devised.  The overall result is that EPA will reimburse GNJ approximately $200,000 this year.  The collaboration will be re-evaluated continuously, and a annual report will be made during each annual conference.

Bishop Schol (During his Episcopal Address)

Connectional Table / Leadership Report… (Juel Nelson)

• Mosaic- Create a “culture of Call” to open the pathways for new clergy leaders. Seminary students are serving local churches.  The Leadership Academy will have a course entitled “Explore Your Call”.

Click this button to learn more about Mosiac Ministries:

Mosiac Ministries

• Leadership Academy- The “Teachable” online platform currently offers 11 online courses (all of which are free and available at any time).   You complete them at your own pace.  An additional 35 courses are in production, some of which will follow a “hybrid” format with Zoom sessions.  The courses involve ethics training, Preaching Institute, Lay Servant Training, Local Pastors Licensing School, Residency in Ministry (for the process of Provisional Elders moving towards ordination).

  For more info about the Leadership Academy, click these buttons:

Leadership Academy  Current Courses  

• Pathways (Geni Yeske)- This is a training program where a facilitator will help local churches meet vitality goals. The church creates a cross-sectional committee which examines the purpose of the church, sets goals, and establishes a focus group for each goal to explore ways of meeting that goal.  So far, 66 GNJ churches have used Pathways to grow stronger in the Five Marks of Vitality (inspiring worship, reaching and making new disciples, small group ministry, engagement in mission and generous stewardship). 

For more info about Pathways, check out these articles:    Pathways  

Rev. Juel Nelson Reports on Leadership Development

General Conference Report…

The GNJ delegation which attended last month’s General Conference in Charlotte, reported the following key points:

1. Revised the Discipline to remove the “incompatibility clause” (“the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching…”).  Other language was revised which permits Conferences to ordain openly gay/lesbian/trans people and to permit local churches to perform same-sex weddings.  Conferences and Local churches are “Permitted” … not “Required” to perform these ordinations and weddings.  Previously, penalties were imposed, but now they have been removed.  For more on these changes, read Bishop Schol’s letter: General Conference FAQs  

2. The current system of regional Conferences in the USA and “Central Conferences” in other parts of the world is being changed to put non-USA conferences on a more equal footing.
3. Deacons were given the authority to perform sacraments (communion, baptisms, and weddings).  Previously, Deacons had to obtain approval from an Elder.

Carolyn Pendleton, Cape Atlantic District Lay Leader (and delegate to General Conference)

Ordination Message (Bishop Schol)…

During Sunday’s Ordination Service, two people were commissioned as Provisional Elders (one of whom was Rev. Tim Conaway: our DS’s son and pastor of the Glassboro church).  One pastor was ordained as a Deacon, and eight provisional elders were ordained as full Elders.

In his sermon, Bishop Schol presenting a re-ordering of a paradigm that’s popular in culture:  Become, Believe, and then Belong.  To Belong to a circle of friends, or a group, or a church, the culture says that people must first Become like “us”.  In dress, speech, appearance, they must “look like us” before they can be fully accepted.  Once they clean themselves up, they must begin to Believe like “us.”  They can’t Belong to the group until they agree to certain core beliefs.  Once they do that, they can belong to the group.  By Becoming, they can Belong.

But Jesus reverses the paradigm. All of humanity already belongs to God.  All are loved and valued.  The end goal isn’t to belong; we already belong.  Starting with that value, we must move on to understand who God is and to recognize our own sin and need of forgiveness.  You don’t have to “believe like us”, but you need to have a faith in God.  The end goal is to enter a road of “Becoming”.  The goal isn’t to simply Belong to a group (church), but to grow in faith and commitment to God; to Become more and more like Jesus. 

The goal of the church shouldn’t be simply to induce more people to become members and “Belong” to the group.  The goal is to appreciate everyone’s value to God and to allow God to mold that person into the image of Christ.

Bishop Schol Commissions Rev. Tim Conaway as a Provisional Elder

Service of Remembrance Message (Rev. Ronell Howard )…

The Service of Remembrance honors clergy, spouses, and other prominent laity who passed away during the past year.  Each name is read along with a slide showing their name, picture, and birth/death dates, and attendees are encouraged to stand up when the name of a person who had significant importance to them is read.  I was able to rise and acknowledge Revs. Dave Bailey and Bill Sutton. 

During the service, the Rev. Ronell Howard preached a powerful sermon based on the account in Joshua 4 where God held back the waters of the Jordan River so the Israelites could pass into the Promised Land on dry ground.  Before the waters returned to their normal flow, God told the people to gather 12 stones from the middle of the riverbed and to use them to build a memorial.  The monument was to remind the people of God’s faithfulness and powerful miracle which allowed them to enter the Promised Land. Rev. Howard pointed out that the monument was built on the Promised Land side of the river.  God wants us to look ahead, not backwards.  Inspired by departed leaders and God’s faithfulness, we must take up the mantle and move forward.

Rev. Ronell Howard

Fresh Expressions of Faith…

Michael Beck came from a rough background:  He’s a former drug addict, criminal, and inmate.  But God changed him and allowed him to see God without the distorting lens of his own church experience.   He is now the pastor of a Methodist Church in Wildwood, Fla., but he doesn’t view his ministry as being limited to a formal “Inherited church.”  Instead, he has extended his ministry to what he calls an “Incarnational church”.  An “Inherited church” is a place you grew up in; you go to that church because it’s “your” church and it’s become part of your life.  But the flow is reversed in an “Incarnational” church.  Pastor Beck views his ministry as one where he goes out to where the people are. 

Surveys indicate that most people have a positive view of God and spiritual maters, but they hold a negative view of the Church.  An “Incarnational church” is based on interests and needs of people instead of geographic location or history. 

So he holds meetings in places like tattoo parlors, dog parks, and taco stands.  Our mission is to create a space, a community; the Holy Spirit makes disciples.

He handed out a list of “church items” and asked us to identify the ones that are truly essential to create a space where people can meet God.  The list included things like stain glass windows, youth group, Bibles, choirs, crosses…. the things you would expect to see in any “Inherited church.”  But most of the items on the list weren’t needed.  The only essential ones were God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and prayer.  You don’t need a youth group if your meeting in a retirement home.  Meetings in a women’s prison don’t need a Men’s Fellowship Group.  You don’t even have to include a Bible.  Instead, you can teach the Bible’s principles using contemporary stories that people can identify with.  For example, instead of reading the story of the good Samaritan from the Bible, you can tell the story of a person who’s car breaks down on the freeway, and the only person who stops to help is a biker with long hair, tattoos, and a leather jacket. 

For more on “Fresh Expressions of faith, click this button:  Fresh Expressions  

Michael Beck

Service of Passage with Anointing…

On Monday afternoon we recognized the clergy who retired this year.  This included Pastor Jim (Rev. Jim Bolton, our pastor from 2014-2024).  The name of each retiree is called as they enter the stage  And then, the newly ordained elders are called to the stage.  These are the people who were ordained during the service on Sunday evening. 

They come on to the stage in front of the retiring pastors. The retirees anoint the new elders and then pass a stole to them. After that, the newly commissioned Provisional Elders are called to the stage,  and the new elders pass the stole to them.

The conference Lay Leader is called, and he is given the stole.  And finally, the Lay Leader went into the “audience” and gave the stole to the first person in the first row.  We then passed the stole to our neighbor, until everyone in attendance had a chance to carry the stole.

It was meaningful to celebrate Pastor Jim’s service, and also to know that the mantle is passed to all of us.  We’re all in ministry together.

I had a chance to catch up with Pastor Jim after the session.  It was good to see him and to touch base. He’s doing fine, all things considered.  But he said it’s kinda strange getting used to retirement and not having to prepare a sermon every week. 

Larry Bakely (L) with Former PUMC Pastor Jim Bolton (R)

Reading the Appointments…

One of the last things done in the conference was to read the list of new pastor appointments. Every church is represented by a pastor and a lay member, and a special section of seats was laid out with our names on them.  It was all organized by district and then alphabetically by town. For some reason, Delaware Bay was last, and Pitman was last alphabetically. So Mike’s was the last name to be called. The District Superintendent calls each name for his or her district.  We lined up, and as Rev. Conaway called the names of the Delaware Bay appointments we went to the front of the auditorium to receive the appointment letter and to pose for a picture with the bishop.

Pastor Mike (C) with Larry Bakely (L) and Bishop Schol (R)

Bishop Schol’s Retirement…

Bishop John Schol has been the presiding bishop of our Greater New Jersey Annual Conference since 2012, but he is now retiring.  Bishop Schol has led Greater NJ through many challenges such as superstorm Sandy, and Hurricane Ida, and he leaves us with many achievements such as the new Missions Resources Center, Miracles Everywhere, Journey of Hope, Leadership Academy, Mosaic Ministries, Pathway, NextGen, and may others. His tenure has been extremely productive, and he will be greatly missed.

Before our next annual conference, a new bishop will be appointed.  

At the end of our conference, we celebrated Bishop Schol’s ministry.  Each District Superintendent presented the bishop with a basketful of gifts representing each area of the state.  Our District Superintendent, Rev. Glenn Conaway (Delaware Bay) presented the bishop with glassware and other items produced by our region.

Rev. Glenn Conaway presents Bishop Schol with a gift from the Delaware Bay district