Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe Invites you to our Annual Conference. Greetings! Just a few more months and once again we will be gathering together for the 142nd session of the New Mexico Annual Conference. This will be a great opportunity for us to renew old friendships and make new ones as a church. We will be in the beautiful city of Las Cruces, New Mexico. I know the planning team has worked hard all year long to get us ready for a great conference. Our theme for this year will be “New Places for New People” where we will focus on what it means to make room for reaching young and more diverse populations for the sake of Jesus Christ. We’ve extended an invitation to the Rev. Dr. Jorge Acevedo, Lead pastor at Grace Church, a multi-site United Methodist congregation in Southwest Florida. Dr. Acevedo is also a member of the Commission on a Way Forward. We hope to have a conversation with him on how the work is going with the commission. I apologize to many of you for the postponement of the itinerations scheduled this Spring. The delay enabled me to get a little more rest and healthy in the process. We have scheduled the new dates this fall and anticipate a great time of sharing and listening to where you believe the challenges and opportunities exist for the United Methodist denomination. Leslie and I look forward to being with you again. May God bless and keep you until we meet again! Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe
Greetings from the Annual Conference Planning Team Dear Friends, On behalf of the Annual Conference Planning Team, I look forward to seeing you in Las Cruces for this year’s Annual Conference Session! The theme for this year’s meeting is “New Places for New People” and represents one of our six areas of focus as an Annual Conference. Our hope is that throughout our time together in Las Cruces, we will all be encouraged and inspired to see new possibilities for opening up new spaces in our congregations, in our ministries, and in our communities for new people to come into contact with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our special guest this year will be Jorge Acevedo, who serves as the Lead Pastor of Grace Church in southwest Florida. Grace Church is a creative, multi-site United Methodist congregation that has grown to over 2000 in weekly worship attendance. Jorge is the author of the book Vital: Churches Changing Communities and the World, and is the co-author of Sent: Delivering the Gift of Hope at Christmas (with Jacob Armstrong) and A Grace-Full Life: God’s All-Reaching, Soul-Saving, Character-Shaping, Never-Ending Love (with Wes Olds). Jorge’s passion for authentic Wesleyan spirituality and deep commitment to those at the margins—particularly those in recovery from addictions—is thoroughly contagious and will be a blessing to all who attend this year’s Conference. In addition to preaching at the Ordination Service, Jorge will be leading two early-bird workshops on Tuesday afternoon (on A Grace-Full Life) and will provide some training/learning opportunities during our business sessions on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Speaking of early-bird workshops, our experiment with these learning opportunities last year was so successful that we have tentative plans to offer as many as fourteen workshops on Tuesday afternoon, including “Weird Church” (new and creative faith communities that reach new people) with Beth Ann Estock, “Boomer Spirituality” with Discipleship Ministries’ Craig Kennet Miller (did you know that the fastest growing demographic in our mission field is people over the age of 60?), and ministry with Youth in small-town/rural settings (with our very own Zach Bechtold). Full workshop descriptions are available in the PreConference materials and I hope that our local churches will encourage anyone interested in these workshops to come and learn (and maybe stick around for worship or a business session or two). The Las Cruces Convention Center (our “home base” this year) is a fantastic, modern facility that will serve us well. We will be able to host small group meetings, banquet-style meals, and business all in one place. Perhaps the best feature of all, however, is the long, wide concourse—perfect for gathering around display tables or those serendipitous “hallway conversations” that mean so much when we gather at Conference. One (somewhat) new opportunity this year will be a partnership with Serve: Las Cruces. On Wednesday evening, a number of Las Cruces faith-based organizations will be participating in a community-wide “push” to make a difference in the Las Cruces area through ministry and service. Our Annual Conference members are invited to join that community-wide push and, “give a hand.” After the moving request for prayer from Roswell’s mayor at last year’s Annual Conference session, we felt nudged by the Spirit to find ways to make a difference in the communities where we “land” at Annual Conference. I hope you’ll join us in this work! Our Planning Team has worked faithfully and diligently to develop a time together that will build our connection, inspire us in our ministries, and invite us to see new possibilities for connecting with those beyond our walls. Our scriptural touchstone for our time together is from Isaiah 43, where the prophet invites the faithful to look, to see, to discover that God is doing a “new thing,” causing it to spring up like rivers in the desert. May God cause “new things” to spring up in our journey together as an Annual Conference, and I look forward to seeing you in Cruces! Blessings, Randall, Conference Provost
Guest Preacher/Teacher - Rev. Jorge Acevedo Jorge Acevedo loves Jesus Christ and his Church. Touched by the grace of God at seventeen, he was never the same. Rescued from a life of addictions, his greatest delight is connecting people to Jesus and the Church. Jorge is the Lead Pastor at Grace Church, a multi-site, United Methodist congregation in Southwest Florida with five campuses. This church has grown in its weekend attendance from 400 to over 2600 in the past nineteen years. Grace Church is recognized as having one of the largest and most effective recovery ministries in America.
The full moon rises over the Organ Mountains.
Annual Conference Schedule Tuesday, May 30th 1:00 pm Early Bird Workshops - CC 3:00 pm Early Bird Workshops - CC 6:00 pm Worship in the Wilderness - Hike to Dripping Springs Wednesday, May 31st 8:30 am Registration - CC 10:00 am Orientation - CC 11:00 am District Meetings - CC 12:30 pm Legacy Luncheon - CC 2:00 pm Opening Worship 3:30 pm Opening Business/State of the Church - CC 5:30 pm Gathering Downtown Plaza
Thursday, 9:00 am 10:30 am 12:00 pm 1:30 pm 4:30 pm 6:00 pm 7:00 pm 8:30 pm
June 1st Executive/Laity Sessions - CC Business - CC Lunch on your own Business Session - CC Faithfulness to God Jorge Acevedo - CC Five Star Ministries Dinner Jazz Vespers - CC Reception
Friday, June 2nd 9:00 am Fruitfulness for God - CC Jorge Acevedo 10:00 am Business - CC 12:00 pm Ord/Comm Celebration Lunch - St Paul’s - All invited - must register 2:00 pm Commissioning/Ordination St Paul’s UMC - Las Cruces 4:00 pm Reception/Going Forth
Early Bird Workshops 1:00 pm Session Weird Church Beth Ann Estock Where are all the young people? Why aren’t they in our churches? In this workshop we will explore several cultural shifts that have significant implications for ministry in the 21st century. If we are willing to embrace the spirit of the early apostles and take some ministry risks, the future of the church looks weird and very exciting! Boomer Spirituality Craig Kennet Miller As boomers move into their second half of life, they will revolutionize what it means to be old. Each day, over 10,000 boomers are retiring and the choices they make are based on the spiritual values of their youth. Churches that desire to connect with the over 78 million boomers will discover they aren’t dead yet -- what they are doing with their money, time, and creative energy impacts us all. Join Craig Kennet Miller, the author of Boomer Spirituality: Seven Values for the Second Half of Life, as he unpacks the spiritual values of boomers and identifies key ways churches can connect with them in new ways. Elder Abuse Nancy Bowen Incidents of elder abuse are on the rise in the US. It is not an area where churches have devoted much time or energy despite many churches having proportionally more elder members. This workshop will define elder abuse, provide some statistics about the extent of the problem, consider some biblical texts in relation to elder abuse, and provide some resources. The church could be on the front lines of addressing this issue since most elders have a previous relationship with a faith community. Come learn about what might be a rewarding new form of ministry. Contemplative Prayer Resuscitation Jon Moore Not as an expert, but as “one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread,” I offer these gifts of God’s grace that have sustained and revived me. In our time together we will experience a number of contemplative prayer practices grounded in Scripture and inspired by the Holy Spirit. 12 Step Groups: Recovery from Alcoholism and Addiction Linda Nash Twelve Step programs often meet in the basements and back rooms of our churches bringing people into relationship with God. Linda, a long-standing member of a 12 Step group will explain how these programs work. This includes philosophy and practice of “Anonymous” programs, structure of meetings, personal testimony, and how churches support these amazing ministries. A Grace-Full Life Jorge Acevedo Grace is God’s all-reaching, never-ending, game-changing love for you and me. A Grace-Full Life seeks to answer the questions: In what ways is God an ever-present God? Why does God want to have a personal relationship with me? How can I fully experience and respond to God’s grace? How can I die well surrounded by God’s grace? Church Insurance Jack Rutledge, VP Client Services for UM Insurance In this workshop, you will learn about what your are paying for which it comes to building insurance, liability insurance, sexual misconduct insurance, and the many other lines of insurance that are part of your coverage. Through your participation in the workshop, you will walk aay with a greater understanding of church insurance and hopefully, have some ideas for reducing risks that you may have at your local church.
3:00 pm Session Weird Church - See 1:00 Session Beth Ann Estock Boomer Spirituality - See 1:00 Session Craig Kennet Miller A Grace-Full Life - See 1:00 Session Jorge Acevedo Rural Youth Ministry Zach Bechtold This workshop is geared for rural churches, small churches, and churches with part-time or volunteer youth ministry workers. In this workshop, we will cover how to work with budgets, how to work together, how to get volunteer help, resources, and how to do impactful youth ministry in the rural or small church context. What’s In It for Me? Rebekah Simon-Peter Consumerism is a hard reality in our culture. But it’s antithetical to the self-sacrificing culture of the church. In this countercultural workshop, learn how to use the “What’s in it for Me?” question to more deeply engage visitors, attender, would-be disciples and long-time members in the life of the church. Church Finance 101 Ruth Tribou Many church members are elected to the finance committee of the local church and really don’t understand why they are there. This class will explain in plain English what to look for in financial reports. You will learn what warning signs to look for in church finances, and how to tell whether your church is healthy financially. In addition, you will learn best practices for church finances. We will cover how to properly account for donations, what are designated and restricted funds and how can they be used, and what a church should avoid if they want to stay on the good side of the IRS. A Coach Approach Linda Nash, Kim Kinsey, Donna Berry Presented by members of the NMAC Coaching Team Coaching is a process, which builds on each person’s skills and beliefs allowing them to set goals, develop plans of action, accelerate forward movement and achieve at the highest levels. Coaching honors that each person is whole, complete, and guided by God. This session will define coaching, provide experiences with deep listening and transformational questions, and how these can be used in your ministry. We will meet you where you are and grow from there. Open to clergy and laity. Work with a Coach at Annual Conference 2017 Experience coaching first hand with a free, one hour session at Annual Conference. Coaching is a process, which builds on each person’s skills and beliefs allowing them to set goals, develop plans of action, accelerate forward movement and achieve at the highest levels. Coaching honors that each person is whole, complete, and guided by God. Your coaching session will include deep listening, transformational questions and support for your chosen next steps. All coaching conversations are confidential. To schedule a coaching session, contact John Hockert, j.hockert@att.net or call John at 505-688-7784.
Visit the Prayer Room in the Convention Center.
Conference Offerings The following offerings will be lifted up during Annual Conference. Camp Scholarships
El Calvario Mission Church School Supply Drive
McGregor-Kajoba Professorship Endowment University of Katanga at Mulungwishi
Spirit, Mind, Heart, Hands & Feet Feet - Hike & Worship at Dripping Springs Hands - Community Worship in Downtown Las Cruces
Heart - Free Health Screenings Mind Early Bird Workshops
Spirit & Heart Ordination & Commissioning
Mind - Jorge Acevedo Teachings
Spirit - St. Paul’s UMC
Heart - El Calvario Mission Church School Supply Drive