The theme was “Pruning for Clarity,” and the event was led by Bishop Carlo A. Rapanut.
The keynote speaker was the Rev. Blair Thompson, who also led table discussions on the theme.
“What if we dedicate these next two and a quarter-years as a season of growth in the New Mexico Conference, where we will reexplore our rootedness in Christ so that we may grow for the sake of the world?” Rapanut said. “Where we will reexplore our rootedness in Christ so that we may grow for the sake of the world.
“And so, starting this year, there will be three movements. It will be a three-act play, if you will, rooted in John 15 and Jesus as our one true vine. The three movements are, first, pruning for clarity. Second year, we’re shaping. So, after you prune and all of those new growths appears, we will be shaping for renewal so that by the third year, we will talk about what it means to flourish in the world.
“We will spend time with each one of these themes at annual conference and then live into them in local faith communities and in our personal walks with Jesus throughout the year. So, my question is, are you with me?”
Bishop Grant Hagiya added, “Now, I must point out … that the ministry is not all fun and games. It is the most challenging and demanding of professions you could possibly choose. For you are called to do these very things: to act with love and compassion first and always. It is the giving up, the sacrifice of your own comforts and securities so that others may live. It is this life of service and love over self-serving luxury. That’s the counter-cultural message that we bear in our souls and the whole world needs this message because they live by the opposite value.
“We all know this. There’s a price to be paid in ministry. There are sacrifices that must be made, and it’s only after the long hard day’s work of giving and giving, which we all try to do, that the real questions emerge for us. ‘Do I have to, Lord?’”
- Main actions enacted by the conference: a vote to sell the conference office building.
- New initiatives: The Pruning for Clarity three-year project.
- Number of churches that closed because they are no longer sustainable: One, Ojo Amarillo United Methodist Church.
- Budget: 2027, $1.4 million, compared to 2026, $1.5 million.
- Resolutions:
- Prayerfully encourage churches to submit a name for the Conference Green Team;
- Insert “co-provosts” wherever “provost” is included;
- Change the district supervisor compensation formula;
- Sell the Conference office building;
- Increase pastor moving expenses from $1500 to $3000.
No elections for General Conference delegates were held.
- Number of people ordained, commissioned or received into associate membership, and average age: 2 commissioned, average age 46.
- Clergy retired: 1 retirement.
- Membership: 12,896.
- Worship attendance: 4,273.
- Church school attendance: 1,941.
- Professions or reaffirmations of faith for 2025: 95.
- Adults and young adults in small groups for 2025: 2,813.
- Worshippers engaged in mission for 2025: 2,121.