wvac 2016 sunday daily publication

I cannot speak of how others experienced Circles of Grace. I can only share my thoughts and observations.

I entered our predetermined room with anxiety and anticipation. New faces looking at me until one asked, “Are you the leader of our circle? “

I was invited weeks before to consider participating in a new idea of implementing small group gatherings to discuss the issues and opportunities of our church. But, honestly, it is an ancient idea.

It is an appealing one: small groups speaking openly with love and respect, regardless of the subject.

I did not accept the invitation immediately. I meditated. I prayed. I don’t know how God answers others. But for me, God does it in his own time and often through the lips of my wife. Through discussion with her, she was able to clarify the importance of the circles for me.

Soon after, I accepted and made my way from Charleston to Weston for the training necessary to successfully moderate a small group discussion. Much of my nervousness was alleviated when I arrived and saw others that I knew, respected, and loved there who would be leading circles as well. The training was on point and effective.

Leaving Weston that afternoon, I felt peace and assurance about the Circles of Grace idea. I continued to feel that peace until our church began the 2016 General Conference in Portland, Ore.

As I followed General Conference through social media, live streaming, and news outlets, I was fearful our church over human sexuality.

If The General Conference would not support the idea of using small groups to discuss issues, how could the West Virginia Annual Conference do it? These were some of the best and brightest laity and clergy from conferences around the world! My heart fell. My sense of peace abated.

I arrived at Annual Conference late because of my work schedule. As I parked outside of The Parish House at 12:30 p.m. Friday, I opened my car door to the sound of cicadas and bagpipes. I had lunch with other delegates who were worried about how the circles would proceed.

That feeling changed as I made my way to the chapel. Grace fell over me. Being in the presence of so many dedicated people who serve our conference, I found assurance again that all would be well with the circles.

I will not break the covenant of what we said within my circle. However, I will say it was a wonderful experience and was truly a blessing. I sincerely hope that others found this to be true as well. I encourage us to use this type of communication more often.

I started this project filled with anxiety and anticipation but leave filled with love and hope. The participation and sharing within my circle changed me. There is peace in my soul.

Resident Bishop: Sandra Steiner Ball

Editors: Laura Allen

Whitney CherryErin Sears

Front of the House:

Rev. Brad BennettDusty Merrill

Good News TV

Production: Ralston Press

Published by:The West VirginiaConference of theUnited Methodist

Church

MOUNTAINCIRCUITTHE

2016 ANNUAL CONFERENCE EDITION, JUNE 12 VOL 48 / NUMBER 4

Photo: Whitney Cherry

by Les WilkersonCircles of Grace

MOUNTAINCIRCUITJUNE 12, 2016


Friday evening the West Virginia Annual Conference delegates were present for a very powerful and emotional worship service addressing our sinful history in the treatment of our Native American brothers and sisters.

The act of repentance and reconciliation worship service Friday evening recalled the painful memories of how Native Americans were harmed, not only by the United States Government and Army but also the Methodist Church.

Stones received at the 2012 General Conference service of repentance were placed on the altar remembering the United Methodist Church’s call to all Annual Conferences for confession and commitment to acts of repentance and healing with Native American and indigenous peoples.

At the service, we confessed our sins and asked God to forgive us. The purpose of this service was to not only repent but also to initiate reconciliation. As with any sin, it is often difficult to face the truth and results of our actions.

We remembered the atrocities committed against those who were here before us. We recalled the church’s complicity in the genocide of Native Americans outlined the Discovery doctrine, the international law sanctioning the enslavement and massacre of Native Americans in lands “discovered” by our European forebears.

Many Native American lives were lost on the Trail of Tears created by the U.S. government’s doctrine of Manifest Destiny and the forced relocation of Native Americans from their homes, including people living in the West Virginia Annual Conference.

We remembered thousands of Native American women, men, and children killed in senseless acts of slaughter, including the Sand Creek massacre.

Dozens of people in Black Kettle’s band of Cheyenne died in the attack. More than half were women and children. Col. John Chivington, a Methodist minister led the assault.

Native American children went to boarding schools with the explicit goal of eradicating their culture through separation of families. They were forbidden to speak their language(s) or dress in the clothing of their culture.

This was our attempt to “save the man but kill the Indian.”

Sacred sites and tribal lands were destroyed and occupied. Buffalo herds were killed off on purpose by white hunters. Their natural resources were also compromised.

Our actions echo today. Native Americans continue to experience poverty and hopelessness. Drug addiction and alcoholism are prevalent in many Native American communities.

We were reminded that as members of the United Methodist Church, we are called to be ambassadors for Christ. We must seek

Service focuses on healing, reconciling with Native Americansby The Rev. Ken Peters

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Photo: Whitney Cherry cont. page 3


Service focuses on healing, reconciling with Native Americans

to live and interact with Native Americans that honor our common humanity and recognize the dignity and value of tribal culture, language, and life.

We sang hymns, prayed, and read scripture that reminded us that we are to love all people as we love ourselves.

In a very emotional meditation entitled “Mitakuye Oyasin,” which means “All My Relations,” the Rev. Dr. Jay Parkins emphasized that “the wounds are still raw, that the pain remains.” In the prayer of reflection and confession, we asked for God to “strengthen our resolve to open our eyes to contemporary struggles of Native Peoples, and receive the gifts they have to offer.”

We asked God to “help us repent and turn from the past to walk the way of reconciliation with our Native American sisters and brothers.”

Parkins suggested that we begin the reconciliation journey by intentionally looking at the way we celebrate Native American Ministries Sunday.

He urged us to honor that Sunday. But, we should find ways to connect with Native Americans in every community we serve. We should accept the truth of our sins, repent of them, and welcome Native Americans into the local

church. We should celebrate the uniqueness of our Native American sisters and brothers.

Ellesa High and her new friends presented a native musical interlude during the offertory. Members in the congregation began to slowly rise; there was a sense that we were all of one body. We tied black ribbons to each other’s wrists and prayed, “This ribbon represents our repentance for the sins committed against Native Peoples here and throughout the world. I tie it on your wrist as a reminder of our repentance and our call to be reconcilers for Christ.”

May we not too quickly remove the ribbon from our wrists.

After singing “Amazing Grace,” Ellesa said that “this may be the most spiritual place in West Virginia and perhaps in the United States of America.” It truly felt like it was. After the service, we were given evergreen saplings to plant at our local churches as a reminder of our repentance and the continued need for reconciliation with our Native American sisters and brothers.

Let us pray:

As we watch the evergreens grow each year may we find ourselves growing ever closer to the Native Peoples so that one day we will no longer need to call them our Native American sisters and brothers but simply our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Amen..

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A Native American Blanket graces the front pew railing in Wesley Chapel.Photo: Whitney Cherry.

The Rev. Dr. Jay Parkins sings during the Friday evening service of repentance and reconciliation. Photo: Whitney Cherry.




An Ordination Reflectionby Krysta Rexrode Wolfe

On Ash Wednesday a young woman named Olivia helped me confer the ashes. I was struck when I saw her repeat the words “from dust you came and to dust you shall return” to her father. He had to bend down so she could bless him and remind him of his mortality.

I cried to see the life of the word incarnate in this image of grace. Olivia was granted authority to proclaim truth to the same people who had taught it to her. I think this is what it means to be ordained, at least in part.

On Sunday the Bishop will lay hands on me. The Holy Spirit, we believe, will say ‘yes’ to the church’s invocation, and be poured upon me. I will be granted the charge of the Word, Order, Sacrament and Service in my place of appointment. I will be granted authority to live out my baptismal covenant in apostolic leadership—preaching and teaching, comforting and challenging, loving and shepherding the very same people who taught me to do so.

In a moment, the culmination of ten year’s work is solidified and all those truths and prophecies, those lessons and scars given to me by my community are transformed into tools for congregational ministry.

The same village which raised me will now look to me as an elder.

The sacredness of the exchange is not lost on me. I will kneel in one condition and rise in another. I am humbled and full of thanks for the faith, the people, and the experiences which brought me to this point. However, sacred moments are not without their challenges. In my joy, I am also aware that had I arrived at this moment sixty-one years ago I would have been turned away. The birthday card my grandmother sent me today would not have been addressed to “Rev. Krysta Rexrode Wolfe”. The United Methodist Church has been ordaining women for a mere sixty-year blip in our long history.

Such a painful fact reminds me I am ordained not only to care for the church and its rich heritage but to lead by example in offering the justice and compassion of Christ, even if that means confronting difficulty in the church I promise to uphold. With God’s help and the Spirit’s blessing, I look forward to the yoke placed upon me—a symbol of servanthood and peacemaking, justice seeking and table turning.

There are some in my class whose journeys toward ordination have taken nearly twenty years. When I listen to their testimonies, to their struggles, to their profound insight I know without suspicion I am in a privileged place as a minister.

We are invited into the most intimate moments in people’s lives—weddings, funerals, baptisms, and hospital bedsides—and we can only strive to be worthy of such an invitation. I pray today and Sunday and every day after for the love of God to strengthen and guide us all as we return to our places of ministry, with confidence that we have been led out in joy and will be led back with peace.

Part of Thursday evening’s worship service is the “passing of the mantle,” from retireesto those being commissioned and ordained during conference. Photo: Whitney Cherry.

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Denman Award Winner

The Conference Cartoonby Tom Bone III

Rev. James “Jim” Zinn accepts the Harry Denman Evangelism Award Saturday evening in Wesley Chapel. Mike Hinkle was the laity winner.

Photo: Laura Allen

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We’re Hot On


The Rev. Joe Hill awaits his ice cream (and chocolate sauce) shower. He agreed to allow Bishop Steiner Ball to pour ice cream and sauce over his head if CCYM raised at least $1,000 for the Youth Service Fund. Photo: Whitney Cherry

Celebrated the retirement of cabinet members,Rev. Dr. Ken Krimmel and Rev. Dr. Ed Grant.

The bishop welcomed youth delegates to come forwardto pray over the whole cabinet

Approved the nomination report, the cabinetproperty report, and trustees report

Introduced new Conference communications team, Whitney Cherry and the Rev. Deborah Coble; Church

and Community Worker, Amy Purdom; and the Bishop’s spouse, the Rev. Barry Ball

General Conference delegation gave their second report

Approved a budget of $12,278,989

Tabled resolution 2016-15 A Response to the Bishops’ “A Way Forward”

Celebrated the 20 years of Deacons in full connection and prayed for all those who were suffering illness and broken

Celebrated the ministries of the Covenant Council, including the Conference Council on Youth Ministries (CCYM), Spring Heights, United Methodist Foundation of West Virginia,

and the Academy of Spiritual Formation

The One Matters award was presented to Hambleton United Methodist Church in Hambleton, WV, and Forrest Burdette

Memorial United Methodist Church in Hurricane, WV

Francis Asbury Award was presented to Rev. Debra Dague

Pages distributed the appointment list

Bishop Steiner Ball and a panel that includes General Conference delegation members and the

Rev. Dr. Vance Ross, answered questions that came from this session’s Circles of Grace

Announced Annual Conference dates for 2017: June 8-11

Business Session Highlights

wvac 2016 sunday daily publication

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