The 191st session of the Liberia Annual Conference was held in Buchanan City, Grand Bassa County. The Rev. Julia Garber, from the Grand Bassa District, served as the opening speaker; the Rev. J. Albert Barchue, memorial night speaker; the Rev. Julie A. Lewis, Asbury United Methodist Church, served as the conference speaker; and the Rev. Amos George McCarthy from the Great Plains Annual Conference in the U.S. served as the Bible study leader.
Bishop Samuel J. Quire Jr., Resident Bishop of the United Methodist Church in Liberia, urged members of the Liberia Annual Conference to think United Methodist, love United Methodist and build United Methodist. “Disarm your hearts of pains, bitterness, and stop the fight in the United Methodist Church,” Quire warned. He pointed out that the founder of The United Methodist Church, John Wesley encouraged members to do good, do no harm and stay in love with God.
In his episcopal address, he called on members of the conference to remain prayerful and ask for God’s intervention as they discuss and find common ground before the General Conference. He pointed out that the Way Forward Committee’s report will be discussed, and recommendations therein acted upon as part of the preparation for the 2024 General Conference. “The church continues to conduct its affairs freely consistent with our belief, practice, and tradition,” he emphasized.
Quire assured United Methodists that God’s prevenient grace has been present with them and preserving them. “God’s redeeming grace is also present with us, saving us day by day and helping us to meet the challenges that characterized the ministries of the Liberia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in Liberia,” he concluded.
Bishop Quire called on United Methodists to stop the fight and look up to God. “For the past five decades the United Methodist denomination has been embroiled in debates over human sexuality,” he asserted. He pointed out that The United Methodist Church has been a pillar of the history of Liberia, but it is now on the brink of destruction because of the confusion over human sexuality, adding, “the people called United Methodists should be one and should stop the fight because the fight is not man's fight but God's.”
Delivering the Closing Sermon and speaking on the theme and text; “…And Know That I am God” from Psalm 46: 1-11, Bishop Quire narrated how God has been good to Liberia ranging from the 14 years of civil war, the deadly Ebola virus, and the COVID-19 pandemic from which God saved our nation. “It is His divine interventions that brought sanity to Liberia,” Bishop Quire added. He noted that Liberians are too quick to forget and when God intervenes in their situations, they turned right back to their sins.
Adding to the national discourse, Bishop Quire calls on politicians to also stop the infighting amongst themselves for jobs. “Pray for the government to encourage investors that will come to provide gainful employment opportunities for all Liberians,” he emphasized. He concluded that agitation against the new government by some Liberians was not in the best interest of the country.
As part of its closing activities, the 191st Annual Session of the Liberia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church adopted a nine counts general resolution legitimizing the decisions of the conference. The nine counts general resolution indicated that the church waives its accounts receivables that are five years and older or seek legal means to remove them from the church records. The resolution states “that in order to present a more realistic and attainable financial picture of the conference, it is hereby resolved that the conference writes off aged items in account receivables that are five years and beyond; or alternatively, these account receivables should be turned over to the Chancellor for litigation and recovery.”
Led by the Board of Ordained Ministry, the Annual Conference voted 36 persons into the clergy order; two persons in the category of elders in full connection, six persons were commissioned while 23 persons were ordained in the associate order. Five pastors retired from active duties in the church, while one clergyperson who transferred from Harbel Community Church was received and became a member of the elders in full connection.
A total of 1,275 United Methodists from across Liberia and abroad participated in the 191st Annual Session. Among them were 849 males and 426 females. Unlike previous years, the presence of women at the Annual Conference was 33% of the total attendees. The membership of the church in Liberia has not change in any significant way. Therefore 300,000 is still the official number for the membership of the church.
E. Julu Swen, editor and publisher, West African Writers