THE
MOUNTAINCIRCUIT 2014 ANNUAL CONFERENCE EDITION, JUNE 13 PUBLISHED BY THE WEST VIRGINIA CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
VOL 45 / NUMBER 1
Break habits, discover relationship By Laura Allen
Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton (Western Pennsylvania Area) preaches n Wesley Chapel, where he was
Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton returned to the place of his ordination yesterday to remind members and guests of the West Virginia Annual Conference that relationships matter. Before beginning his sermon during yesterday’s opening worship service, the bishop recalled his relationship with the West Virginia Annual Conference. “There is a place among the hills where people love the Lord, and I know it first hand,” he said. West Virginia is the place where Bishop Bickerton’s relationship with Christ began. A woman in Samaria two millennia 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. “This 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-
ordained in 1985.
SEE BISHOP PAGE 3
PHOTO BY ADAM CUNNINGHAM