News Release, March 22, 2007 The Common Table for Church Vitality met on March 19-20, 2007, at the § Strengthen their relationship with conference boards and agencies, involve board and agency leadership in comprehensive planning for “Let’s Get Growing,” the Common Table’s “Challenge” to the conference, and invite board and agency leaders and connectional ministries staff to a retreat with the Common Table on Sept. 21-22, 2007; § Offer discernment tools, coaching/consulting contracts and resource packets to 52 African-American congregations, led by Ted Smith, pastor@ststephens-umc.org; § Receive the report of a joint task force with the Cabinet on “Professions of Faith,” requiring each church to approve an evangelism plan at their 2007 charge conference, offer resources to train coaches in each district to help churches with no recent professions of faith, and to encourage those attending the 2007 annual conference to note the many resources on evangelism, including an “Evangelism Night” with Michael Slaughter; a presentation by Dr. Lovett Weems; and a two-day “Evangelism Expo.” § Encourage the Board of Communications and the Division of Evangelism of the Board of Discipleship to continue developing web-based evangelism resources at www.vaumc.org, and to affirm the 5 members of the Common Table which are part of the “250 Task Force,” developing a strategy for starting 250 new faith communities in the next 30 years. § Recommend a rule change requiring resolution makers to identify the originating party, recommend that the annual conference set an “order of the day” for beginning work on resolutions on Tuesday, encourage submitters of resolutions and relevant board/agencies to be in Christian conferencing prior to annual conference, and to recommend that proposed resolutions be highlighted at district orientation sessions prior to conference; § Approve 2008 budgets for Common Table expenses, connectional ministries office expenses, and board/agency administrative expenses, which, when added to salaries, benefits, and program expenses, amount to a 3% increase over the 2007 budget; § Ask the Roanoke District to administer financing for the Summer Project for Youth (S.P.Y.) conference mission project in Christiansburg; and § Reviewed elements of the Common Table report to annual conference.
For more information, please contact Robert C. Blinn, Secretary, 276-632-9198, blinnrmb@comcast.net or visit www.vaumc.org under “Resources/Common Table.” |