PUBLISHED BY THE WEST VIRGINIA CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

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Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton (Western Pennsylvania Area) preaches n Wesley Chapel, where he was ordained in 1985. PHOTO BY ADAM CUNNINGHAM

VOL 45 / NUMBER 1

By Laura Allen

Bishop Th omas J. Bickerton returned to the place of his ordination yesterday to remind members and guests of the West Virginia Annual Conference that rela-tionships matter. Before beginning his sermon during

yesterday’s opening worship service, the bishop recalled his relationship with the West Virginia Annual Conference.“Th ere is a place among the hills where

people love the Lord, and I know it fi rst hand,” he said.West Virginia is the place where Bishop

Bickerton’s relationship with Christ be-gan. A woman in Samaria two millen-nia ago discovered new life - and a new relationship - when Jesus sat down and struck up a conversation with her as she drew water from a well.“Th is is highly unusual because there is a

habit, a routine, an attitude that has been practiced repeatedly which has become a norm – there is a bitter feud between the Jews and the Samaritans,” said the bishop.But Jesus the non-conformist had a dif-

Break habits, discover relationship

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2014 ANNUAL CONFERENCE EDITION, JUNE 13

WOULD WESLEY HAVE SPENT ALL HIS TIME WITH CONVERTS WHO KNEW THE LINGO? OR WOULD HE BREAK ALL THE RULES? WHAT ABOUT JESUS? #WVAC14— @AGREED“

Today at Conference8:30 a.m.

9:45 a.m.

12:30 - 2 p.m.

2 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

3:45 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

If you see a young person walking around, taking photos with their smart phone, thank them! We are very fortunate to have four annual conference pages working with the communications team this year. They are doing fantastic work! Sarah Cartwright (@sarah_marie4796) took this great montage during Communion at opening worship yesterday. Thanks to Jensen Hoover, Allie Sears and Lauren Shanholtzer whose photos you will likely see this week! PHOTO BY SARAH CARTWRIGHT.

JUNE 13, 2014

Taking Communion

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Worship with Bishop Th omas J. Bickerton, preacher

Business Session I HighlightsGreetings from West Virginia WesleyanResolutionsBoard of PensionsCabinet Address

Lunch

Dr. Elaine Heath “Our story, God’s story”

Break

Business II (Highlights)Laity AddressHarry Denman AwardNominations

Dinner Break

Retirement Celebration and Worship

Ice Cream Social aft er worship!

TOP TWEET

KEEP UP WITH US:FACEBOOK: FACEBOOK.COM/WVUMCTWITTER: @WVUMCPHOTOGRAPHS: FLICKR.COM/WVUMCENEWS: WVUMC.ORG/COMMUNICATIONS

JUNE 13, 2014

ferent vision - a way of compassion and love. “I believe this story repre-sents one of the greatest challenges on the Chris-tian journey,” said the bishop. “Th e challenge to love people like he did.”He cited Webster’s Dic-

tionary, which defi nes a Christian as “one who professes faith in Jesus Christ,” and someone who “treats people in a kind and generous way.”Th e bishop shared several

examples of how we might recreate the choice Jesus made with the woman at the well in modern times.In one example, A busi-

nessman was approached by a family that was down on their luck. Th e bishop outlined two choices as possible responses. In the fi rst one, made out of a sense of love and com-passion, the businessman helped the family with their bills and made sure food showed up on their porch every few weeks.Th e other choice was one

of judgement and cyni-cism. Th e businessman refused to help the family and complained to his sec-retary that he was being taken advantage of.Th e bishop noted that

our choices depend on the presence of Christ within us. “Th ere is no venue, no opportunity, no place, no encounter with an individual where our Christian faith should not be on display,” he said.“Discover a relation-ship with Jesus and you will discover a relation-ship with the world.”

The annual bicycle ride to Conference, the We Care 150, raised $6,810 so far. The money will fund clean water projects in Africa through the United Methodist Commit-tee On Relief. In recent years

the ride has raised money for Imagine No Malaria, and re-lief after the 2011 earthquake in Japan.You can contribute directly

to the ride by making checks out to “Conference Treasur-

er” and writing We Care 150 in the memo line. Send do-nations to We Care 150, P.O. Box 2469, Charleston, WV 25329. View video of the ride on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/wvumc.

WeCare raises nearly $7kPHOTO COURTESY OF MIKE BAILEY

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Mobilize!Is your congregation ready to begin a journey of spiritual leadership development? Is your church ready to develop a discipleship pathway that will help you be more eff ective in making disciples of Jesus Christ? Th en the Lay Mobili-zation Institute may be just the thing for your leadership team.Join the Congregational De-

velopment Team at New Mar-tinsville UMC on Saturday, October 25, 2015 for a day long retreat to learn about the LMI process. Th is process is be-gin used by the Bishop’s Lead Team, District Lead teams, and numerous ministry teams

across the conference. New Martinsville has been leading their congregation using this process for a number of years and has agreed to serve as our host site so that congregations can see how this could work for them. Begin recruiting a team of

5-12 people who will attend this informative retreat. Reg-istration is $25.00 per person that will cover materials that each team member will re-ceive. Find out more by going to http://laymobilization.seed-bed.com or by contacting Amy Shanholtzer at ashanholtzer@wvumc.org or 304.476.2279.

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Conference cartoon

Counted!

“Anyone who lives by the Gospel and allows Christ’s light to shine through them and tries to help others do the same, becomes counted, numbered with the saints. Saints are indeed the ones who the light shines through.”— Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball, preaching during the Memorial Service last night. PHOTO BY ADAM

CUNNINGHAM.