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Beneath banners of area bridges that spelled out the word “LOVE,” lay and clergy members of 640 churches came together for worship, learning, fellowship and holy conferencing at the 230th session of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, May 29-31 at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore.

Bridge to a Global Church

For the first time in many years, a United Methodist missionary was commissioned at the annual session. Bishop Marcus Matthews, the area’s presiding episcopal leader, commissioned Richmond Williams, who worked on the staff of Bel Air UMC, to serve as a Baltimore-Washington Conference-supported missionary in Zimbabwe.

This focus on “the world as our parish” surfaced in many other parts of the conference. During worship and Bible study sessions, the choir from the United Methodist-sponsored Africa University in Zimbabwe performed; Dr. James H. Salley, the Associate Vice-Chancellor for Institutional Advancement for  Africa University, led the Bible study on the story of the Good Samaritan; members celebrated raising $1,960,562  in gifts and pledges for the BWC’s  $2.1 million Imagine No Malaria Initiative; and a task force, which will report to the 2015 annual conference, was created to study a campaign to raise funds for Africa University.

In addition, Bishop Ryang Soo Han and his wife, along with eight other pastors from the Korea Methodist Church South Conference, visited as part of a cultural exchange in the BWC’s partnership with the South Conference; and it was announced that a new conference staff position, Global Initiatives Coordinator, was created. The Rev. David Simpson has been appointed to this ministry.

Called to Do a New Thing

Closer to home, conference members broke new ground when they suspended the rules that called for debate and participated in “circles of grace,” using holy conferencing in small groups to explore five resolutions on human sexuality. 

Results of the voting on the five resolutions:

• Eliminating discrimination in West Virginia-- 806 in favor and 49 opposed.

• Stop clergy trials – 519 in favor and 334 opposed.

• Agree to disagree – 549 in favor and 304 opposed.

• Inclusive conference – 548 in favor and 304 opposed.

• Removing discriminatory language from the Book of Discipline – 511 in favor and 344 opposed.

Bishop Matthews praised the conference members for “staying open to the Holy Spirit” as they talked, listened and prayed together in a spirit of discernment.

During the opening worship service, the bishop honored those bridge-builders on whose shoulders church leaders now stand and called on the 1,500 clergy and lay members “to build bridges for those who will come after us -- bridges of understanding, bridges of hope, for others to experience for themselves some measure of God’s deep and abiding grace.”

Continuing to build this bridge requires us to do a new thing, the bishop said. “Whenever Jesus truly shows up in our lives, the territory of God’s Kingdom becomes enlarged; our human consciousness becomes expanded; and all of our former narrow and limited ways of thinking are put to the test.”

The bishop celebrated those engaged in ministries in their churches and communities. “One of the premises of our covenant with God is that the minute we make ourselves fully available to God, God can then do some amazing and miraculous things with us,” he said.

Honoring Ministry

At the conclusion of the conference, Matthews, along with Bishops Violet Fisher, Joseph H. Yeakel and Kenneth Carter, laid hands on and prayed for eight Elders and one Deacon who were ordained as clergy members in The United Methodist Church and nine provisional Elders and one provisional Deacon who were commissioned.

Carter preached at the ordination service and at the Memorial Service, which honored the saints of the church who had died in the previous year. Included in those whose lives were celebrated was Lois Yeakel, the wife of Bishop Yeakel.

In other observances, the ministries of 32 retirees, representing 772 years of service, were celebrated and the new appointments of 116 pastors were noted.

The 192 years of ministry of Calvary UMC in Churchville were also lifted up in prayer and a candle was lit on the altar as members voted to discontinue the church under paragraph 213 in the Book of Discipline.

Funding Ministry

For the second year in a row, conference members unanimously adopted a budget with no debate or amendments. The $17.3 million budget represents a 3.1 percent increase in spending on mission and ministry.

Members also voted to increase the minimum salary for full-time clergy to $40,760 and raised the housing allowance to $19,866.

The Rev. Ann LaPrade, chair of the Council on Finance and Administration, led the conference in a celebration of paying 100 percent of General Church apportionments. It is one of only 27 conferences to do so.

Engaging in Holy Conferencing

During the session, 15 resolutions were considered. Those dealing with clarifying conference rules all passed, as did resolutions on the minimum wage, working toward a living wage and studying the denomination’s policies and practices with mentally ill clergy.

Opting for additional study, members affirmed the dangers of fossil fuels but postponed a response to companies using them. A task force will be formed to explore the potential impact of divestment. A resolutions on three corporations that benefit from the Israel/Palestine conflict was deferred indefinitely.

Five resolutions on human sexuality were discussed in small groups and voted on by paper ballot. These resolutions: ask that the BWC be an inclusive conference; call for the church to agree to disagree on polity affecting LGBT people; encourage the banning of clergy trials for same-gender weddings; encourage removing discriminatory language from the Book of Discipline; and speak out against laws discriminating against gays and lesbians in West Virginia.

Two questions of law were requested of Bishop Matthews on whether the suspension of rules, which did not allow for the making of amendments to the resolutions on human sexuality was legal, and if the resolution on “Agree to Disagree on Issues Pertaining to Gender and Sexual Minorities” was in compliance with the Book of Discipline and Judicial Council Decisions 1111, 1115, 1120 and 1218.

During the three-day session, conference members heard from several distinguished guests including Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake; the Rev. Susan Henry-Crowe, General Secretary of the denomination’s Board of Church and Society; the Rev. Jeffrey S. Allen,  Executive Director of the West Virginia Council of Churches; the Rev. Albert Mosley, president of Gammon Theological Seminary; the Rev. Robert Martin, dean of Wesley Theological Seminary; Historic Black College Fund student Nicole Pleasant; and the Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, the Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Maryland.

In Other Actions

• Members of the Baltimore-Washington Conference also:
• Accepted an award for contributing the highest amount of funding for missionary support in the Northeastern Jurisdiction.
• Heard reports from the eight superintendents that highlighted ministries in their districts.
• Saw a dramatic presentation by students from Connexions, a performing arts school in Baltimore, one of the many schools now partnering with area United Methodist churches.
• Heard from Conference Lay Leader Delores Martin.