Press Release                       July 6, 2006                                Robert C. Blinn, Secretary

 

The Common Table for Church Vitality of the Virginia Annual Conference met on Wednesday, July 5, 2006, at the United Methodist Center in Glen Allen, Virginia.  The Common Table was joined by members of the Connectional Ministries staff and chairpersons of conference program boards and agencies.  The group worshiped together in the Chapel at the beginning and at the conclusion of the meeting.

The Common Table evaluated the data from over 350 cards received at Annual Conference, and began the process of formulating a specific action plan to reach consensus on a 5-year focus for the Annual Conference. 

With the active participation of board and agency leadership and members of the staff, the Common Table approved recommendations granting increased flexibility in program planning and funding for 2008 programs. 

The Common Table received the referral of 12 proposed resolutions from the recent session of Annual Conference.  The motion approved by the Annual Conference referring theresolutions was as follows: “for consideration of opportunities to learn, pray and act as appropriate under the guidance of our Common Table leadership, inviting local churches for participation.”   The Common Table recognized that the United Methodist Book of Discipline and the Virginia Annual Conference Rules limit voting on resolutions to the members of the Annual Conference at the official session.  

A task force was named to begin the planning process for involving local church members in learning, prayer, and Christian conferencing on the issues represented in the resolutions.   The task force consists of the following members of the Common Table:  Rev. Mark Ogren, Mr. Larry Burian, Rev. Timothy Tate, Ms. Bernadette Mabanglo, Rev. Ileana Rosas, and Mr. James Branscome.

The next meeting of the Common Table will be September 22-23, 2006, in Glen Allen.  Comments and questions are welcome via email to CommonTable@vaumc.org.  For further information, contact Robert C. Blinn, Secretary, 276-632-9198, or blinnrmb@adelphia.net.