The Upper New York Annual Conference keeps hope alive.
Members of the Upper New York Annual Conference gathered virtually for the 13th session from Oct.6-8. This session was originally scheduled to be held in-person in the spring of 2022 but was postponed and moved to a virtual format due to COVID-19 concerns.
Upper New York Area Resident Bishop presided and led the Conference around the theme, “It is Well — Keeping Hope Alive.”
The Rev. Kim Reisman, executive director of World Methodist Evangelism, served as conference teacher and led a study session on an embrace as a metaphor for evangelism and God’s way of reaching out to people.
“The steps of an embrace are opening your arms and waiting, sometimes for a very long time, then closing your arms around the person and then we open our arms again.”
Reisman gave reflection questions that pertained to each step of the embrace.
Click here to view the study session in full.
The dean of cabinet, the conference lay leader and others presented the leadership report that focused on the mission, vision and purpose of the Upper New York Conference and how the L3 model (Loving, Learning, Leading) is being used to reach the conference goal of at least 50% of Upper New York congregations being vital.
Click here to read more about the full report.
As part of the leadership report, a panel of five laity and clergy discussed how the L3 model helped them in their work on leadership teams and local congregations
Click here to view the leadership report panel.
The following recommendations were addressed through holy conferencing:
The Board of Pensions and Health Benefits team presented two recommendations, both were supported and the full report was adopted by the conference. Click here for details.
Five recommendations were presented as part of the equitable compensation report; all were supported. The entire report on equitable compensation was adopted by the conference. Click here for details.
The board of trustees presented resolutions for church closures, church disaffiliations, and an update on the lawsuits brought against the conference under the Child Victims Act.
Fifteen churches were closed due to significant decline in members for the past several years. The churches closed were Bombay United Methodist Church, Buffalo: South Park United Methodist Church, Cayuga United Methodist Church, Celoron United Methodist Church, Cohocton United Methodist Church, Fernwood United Methodist Church, Greig United Methodist Church, Hinsdale United Methodist Church, Machias United Methodist Church, Manchester: Church of the Living Stones United Methodist Church, Moira Park United Methodist Church, North Sanford United Methodist Church, Ouaquaga United Methodist Church, Steamburg United Methodist Church and Syracuse Hope Korean United Methodist Church.
These eight churches were approved for disaffiliation: Alexander United Methodist Church, Ava: Hilltop United Methodist Church, Cherry Creek United Methodist Church, County Line United Methodist Church, Great Valley United Methodist Church, Hannibal United Methodist Church, South Corinth United Methodist Church and Wesley United Methodist Church.
There will be two upcoming special sessions related to church disaffiliation in 2023, to be held on March 25 and Oct. 14.
The full board of trustees report was adopted. Click here for details.
There were six petitions presented at the Conference as follows:
UNYAC2022.1 — Encouragement of Voting by all Citizens, supported.
UNYAC2022.2 — Candidacy Interviews (amended three times), supported
UNYAC2022.3 — Defending the rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Operation Act, supported
UNYAC2022.4 — A Call to Sisters and Brothers leaving the United Methodist Church, supported
UNYAC2022.5 — Creation of a Buffalo 10 Scholarship, supported
UNYUMC-2022.6 — Endorsement of Candidates for Episcopacy; this was supported. After four rounds of voting, the Rev. Wendy Deichman received the Upper New York Annual Conference’s endorsement for as an episcopal candidate.
Click here for details.
At the end of plenary on Friday, Bishop Webb celebrated Steve Hustedt’s years of service as director of communications for the Upper New York Conference. Earlier this year, Hustedt left this role to become the lead communicator for the College of Science at Purdue University.
Friday night ended with the Memorial Service where friends and families, both in-person and watching via livestream, remembered and celebrated the lives of the 27 UNY clergy, 24 UNY clergy spouses, and lay persons who have passed away since the last annual conference. Click here for the full article.
Saturday was a day of celebration when many more individuals were recognized. This included retirees, licensed local pastors, individuals who completed the Course of Study, certified lay ministers and more.
Bishop Webb also thanked the cabinet for all their work throughout the year. He later thanked the Upper New York communications team, GNTV and all those who work behind the scenes to make annual conference happen. Finally, Bishop Webb thanked the episcopal office staff, Mary Bradley and the Rev. Bill Gottschalk-Fielding.
“When ever I make a mistake, that is entirely me,” Bishop Webb said. “Whenever I do something right, it’s all them.”
Click here to learn more about who was recognized
Then, as Bishop Webb was preparing to move towards closing the 2022 session of annual conference, the Rev. Gottschalk-Fielding interrupted, saying “You are forgetting someone who needs to be thanked,” as the cabinet and other joined him at the microphone.
Bishop Webb was then surprised with a video prepared by the Upper New York communications team celebrating his 10 years of service in Upper New York. Click here to watch the video.
The annual conference ended with the service of commissioning and ordination; Bishop Webb was the preacher.
There was one person commissioned for the work of elder:
- Se Gye Shin
There were seven individuals ordained for the work of elder:
- Natalie Bowerman
- Bryant Clark
- Christine Depestre
- Linda Haight
- Melissa Killenberger McCarthy
- Hector Rivera
- Lisa Taylor
The average age of the ordinands is 52.
Click here to view the service of commissioning and ordination
Bullet-point daily notes, news stories and videos from annual conference can be found here.
The number of retired clergy this year was 27.
Membership stands at 129,206 down 4% from 2020.
Worship attendance stands at 25,839, down 5% from 2020.
Church school attendance stands at 6,147, down 13% from 2020.
There were 739 professions or reaffirmations of faith in 2021, up 45% from 2020.
The number of adults and young adults in small groups for 2021 was 11,219, down 12% from 2020.
The number of worshippers engaged in mission in 2021 was 12,339, up less than 1% from 2020.
—Shannon Hodson, writer and editor for the Upper New York Conference