2012 Western Jurisdictional Conference Updates
Check back later for more highlights.
Last Update: Sunday July 22, 10:00 PM
Official Western Jurisdiction News Page
Sunday July 22, 2012: Wrap Up
Outcome of the Appreciative Inquiry: A list from the Appreciative Inquiry process, to be used by Missional Cabinet and Leadership Team.
A Welcome Celebration for Bishop Minerva Carcaño has been set for Sunday afternoon, September 23, 2012 at First UMC of Pasadena. More details will follow. Please save this date if you wish to attend.
Twitter Highlights:
- @Channels_PNWUMC: A secondary wall along with the US/Mexico border. Ironically it holds immigrants in vs. circular migration.
#wjumc http://pic.twitter.com/rD7Bkwga - @rynoo33: Had such a great time at
#wjumc! Thank you#dsac for giving me the opportunity to experience this!#blessed#unitedmethodist#dreamumc - @umjeremy: lots to talk about after Jur.Confs. Tweet chat Mon 9pm eastern!
#dreamumc#umc#nej12#ncj2012#sejumc#wjumc#scj12 Join us! - @Channels_PNWUMC: With Pastor Larry Warren telling me about detention center being built for children who are out of status: "That sucks!"
#wjumc - @singingforjoy: I repeat your turn
#SCJ12 RT@DakotaStaren: So proud to be apart of a Jurisdiction that can call themselves reconciling.#dreamumc#wjumc
Friday July 20, 2012: Evening Plenary
A Statement of Gospel Obedience: Friday evening, the Western Jurisdiction approved the following resolution by an overwhelming majority:
In response to our common belief that God’s grace and love is available to all persons, the Western Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church states our belief that the United Methodist Church is in error on the subject of “homosexuality’s incompatibility with Christian teaching.”
We commend to our bishops, clergy, local churches and ministry settings, the challenge to operate as if the statement in Para. 161F does not exist, creating a church where all people are truly welcome.
The secretary of the Western Jurisdictional Conference will submit this statement of Gospel Obedience to the Jurisdictional College of Bishops, each Annual Conference, and chairpersons of Boards of Ordained Ministry for discussion and implementation.
For more information on this petition, see this article by Patrick Scriven.
Twitter Highlights:
- @krystle_wheeler: "It takes an open door to get an open table" - Preach it
@bishop_elaine !#wjumc - @RevJessRooks: Bishop Elaine "It takes an open door to get to an open table."
#wjumc - @mtnprofet: "John proclaims that God has flung the doors wide open... and they cannot be shut" ~ Bishop Elaine
#wjumc#yacumc - @KellyJoArtist:
#wjumc approves petition that if a bishop is convicted of appointing openly#lgbt person penalty would be 24 hour suspension.#scj12 dances. - @ssmary: Discussing how to help the
#wjumc nominations slate be less white. The nominating committee worked hard, but hadn't the time or resources.
Friday July 20, 2012: Afternoon Plenary
Bishop Melvin Talbert will lead the Western Jurisdiction's College of Bishops in its Strategic Plan for Biblical Obedience.
Twitter Highlights:
- @RevKarenOliveto:
#wjumc College of Bishops reports that#BishopTalbert will be in charge of Strategic Plan for Biblical Obedience for the jurisdiction. - @TheeDelilah: Raised $693 for Imagine No Malaria from the $1 I received from Bishop Carillo. As a jurisdiction, we are capable of amazing things!
#wjumc - @TheeDelilah: Shout out to the Peterson family who gave super generously, and CalPac for giving greatly as an Annual Conference!
#imaginenomalaria#wjumc - @TheeDelilah: If the
#wjumc doesn't send minorities to the General Church committees, not many others will.#umclead - @DakotaStaren: How much mission work do you think you could do with $70,000?
#umc#umcor#wjumc
Friday July 20, 2012: Episcopal + Social Media Updates
Bishop Carcaño now has a introductory page on the Cal-Pac website. Visit it here. Photos from San Diego today are included.
The Conference's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CalPacUMC has been updated with
- a video of the report by the Committee on the Episcopacy, including the announcements
- background and photos of Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño
Twitter highlights:
- @ssmary: Is there really only one young person on the proposed JLT?
#wjumc - @mtnprofet: Working on rules... wishing the spirit of the teleology gods would fall fresh upon us
#wjumc#therulesarekillingme http://pic.twitter.com/pldFRU6r - @johnleek:
@amfatta humbly, (I promise) why should we "love" the absence of any gender or ethnic group in leadership?#wjumc (https://twitter.com/amfatta/status/226368677396754432)
Friday July 20, 2012: Episcopal News + Twitter Highlights
For more information about Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño, see this Update, which was distributed to those on our e-newsletter list only a few minutes ago.
Twitter highlights:
- @CST_News: It's the world in which we live in and the ministry for which we prepare!
@amfatta: I love how the#WJUMC has no white male bishops! - @jtshaver: Welcome Bishop Carcaño to Cal Pac! ...now back to VBS!
#dreamumc#calpac2012#umc#skyvbs#skyvbsiscool!#group#wjumc - @TheeDelilah:
#wjumc bishops are cooler than yours. http://yfrog.com/num78kibj - @DakotaStaren: Welcome Bishop Hoshibata to the Desert Southwest Conference! Bishop Carcano, you will be dearly missed.
#wjumc#umc#dsac12 - @krystle_wheeler: So glad to have Bishop Carcano come to Cal-Pac.
#wjumc - @campindielover: Yay! Bishop Hagiya is the Greater NW Episcopal leader for the 2012-2016 quadrennial!!!
#pnwumc#wjumc - @Preach_It_Joel: RMCUMC has Elaine Assigned as bishop for the next quadrenium
#wjumc glad to have her back!
Friday, July 20, 2012: WJ News + Twitter Highlights
The Committee on Episcopacy has recommended that Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño be assigned to the Los Angeles Episcopal Area, including the California-Pacific Annual Conference. More information to follow. Vote by the Jurisdictional Conference is expected before noon.
Operation Rescue 2010 raised over $2 million, sponsored 25 VIM trips by the end of 2011 and provided over 23,000 UMCOR health kits for Haiti earthquake relief.
Twitter Highlights
- @rynoo33: "God loves us and there is nothing you can do about it!" Bishop Carrillo
#wjumc - @TheeDelilah: I love the
#wjumc worship team. - @Channels_PNWUMC: Humanity is the mission of the church -Bp. Carillio shares the value of the church has the same value yesterday, today, tommorow
#wjumc - @TheeDelilah: Bishop Carillo gave me a dollar! This will remind me that regardless of all my mistakes, my God sees me as valuable.
#wjumc - @ssmary: Okay
#wjumc, here's my proposal to name the new Seattle Episcopal Area: IOWA, because the Wyoming AC went away, & we need the confusion :P @ssmary: Permeable Boundaries: like a western split-rail fence: see and share with our neighbor. What a Western way to think!#wjumc- @RevJoelT:
#wjumc adopts a vision for permeable boundaries, & the renaming to the Alaska united Methodist conference. - @Channels_PNWUMC: The Greater Northwest Episcopal Area = Pacific Northwest + Oregon-Idaho + Alaska Conferences
#wjumc - @umjeremy: Greater Northwest Episcopal Area is 253,251 square miles…not including Alaska. All Texas conferences combined is 268,581 square miles
#wjumc
Photo by Rev. Cynthia Abrams include Bishop Carrillo from the Northwest Conference of Mexico Methodist Church preaching on Friday morning. Second photo by unknown (provided by the Western Jurisdiction) is Bishop Swenson during the Retirement Celebration Thursday evening.
Friday July 20, 2012: WJ News + More Retirement Celebration
More news after 10:00 AM...
The Rocky Mountain Annual Conference, including the Denver area, is part of the Western Jurisdiction. Morning worship begins with prayer for families in Denver and in Aurora, Colorado.
Photos from the Thursday night celebration are on the Western Jurisdiction photo stream here. Many familiar Cal-Pac natives and members are included. How many do you recognize?
Twitter highlights:
- @mtnprofet: "A good friend knows your stories... A best friend has lived them with you..." - Bonnie Chandler Warren about Bishop Swenson
#wjumc - @pnwmarie: Paparazzi invades
#WJUMC#pnwumc#Umc...Now that's dedication,@ScrivTweet! http://pic.twitter.com/i4VKgHXW - @nepalnorma:
#wjumc thank you Cedrick for your testimony to Bishop Swenson with humor, challenge and inspiration - @DakotaStaren: Add your hours to the count and your hearts to the cause, so that we may move forward together- inspired by Bishop Swenson
#dreamumc#wjumc - @revkathycl:
@HollywoodUMC Wonderful retirement celebration for Bishop Swenson tonight. Thanks@PauleyP for her video which was shown tonight!#wjumc
Thursday July 19, 2012: Recaps + Retirement Celebration
The text of this morning's Episcopal Address by Bishop Minerva Carcaño is available here from the Western Jurisdiction.
The Western Jurisdiction celebrated the retirement of Bishop Swenson Thursday night with a number of testimonies. Highlights include:
- 'You are going to spend the rest of your life learning what it means to love and how to love.' said by a professor at Claremont School of Theology to Bishop Swenson as a student.
- Endowed scholarship at Claremont School of Theology established in Bishop Swenson's name.
- Rev. Jan Wiley presented a portrait that will hang in the Pasadena offices of Cal-Pac with previous Bishops. It is not a traditional portrait, but a montage of the Bishop in action.
- @Channels_PNWUMC: Celebrating the Episcopal Ministry of Bishop Mary Ann Swenson
#wjumc#pnwumc#umc pic.twitter.com/AovTlLgK - Speakers include Joann Fukumoto, Mele Maka, Bishop Grant Hagiya, Rev. Cedrick Bridgeforth, Leanne Nakanishi, Bishop Melvin Talbert, Rev. Janet Forbes.
Thursday July 19, 2012: WJ News Afternoon Plenary
During the afternoon, the Western Jurisdictional Conference delegates faced difficult issues relating to immigration and indigenous populations. Quotable moments include:
- "Trying to unravel historical trauma--how do we do that? Through our young people." -Shirley Montoya.
- "About half of 225 Native communities in Alaska lack pastoral leadership to preach, administer sacraments, lead funerals or officiate at marriages." -Inupiak elder
- Bishop Elaine Stanovsky performed the difficult task of relating the story of Colonel John Chivington, a Methodist pastor, who led a troop of 700 soldiers to slaughter 200 innocent native people in the massacre of Sand Creek.
Thursday July 19, 2012: WJ News
Cal-Pac's UMW President and Conference Co-Secretary Leanne Nakanishi has been elected the 2012-2016 Conference Secretary of the Western Jurisdiction. Congratulations.
From the Opening Worship this morning: "There is always a cost to discipleship; otherwise, it's just mere respectability." ~ Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Radar
Twitter highlights:
- @RevTrudyD: If you want to be inspired by strong, beautiful, faithful women...look at the women of the West #
wjumc - @pnwmarie: 15yo Rachel convenes Appreciative Inquiry group, asking "what areas do u see life-giving possibility?" ?
#WJUMC? ?#pnwumc? pic.twitter.com/wAxnyvDL - @cnumc: "The border is an aberration...but it's also my community."
#wjumc - @Channels_PNWUMC: Extending Hospitality: John Fanestil, Bp. Eduardo Carillo, Saul Montiel, and Christian Ramierez present immigrant stories.
#wjumc
Thursday, July 19, 2012: Morning Episcopal Address + WJ News
Bishop Minerva Carcaño gave the Episcopal Address from the College of Bishops. She began, "We, the College, are of one mind. The Church is not living up to its responsibility to be open to all... we hope the Church will one day live up to its logo of Open Heart, Open Minds, and Open Doors."
Twitter highlights:
- @Rev Marianne: WJ No More Malaria goal: $2 mill in 2 years! ?#yacumc? #
#wjumc? #umc - @ds7rivers: Thanks to all those tweeting the action. It's a real gift to those of us not there. But it foils my plan for getting lots done today ?#wjumc
- @ssmary: "we covenant before God and you that we will challenge statements and actions that denigrate or exclude...any person" ?#wjumc
YouTube and Imagine No Malaria ... and our thanks to Southern California's Pauley Perrette
Thursday, July 19, 2012: Additional Information from Wednesday evening
Bishop Swenson's sermon notes from the Memorial~Communion Service are now available online here.
For more photos of this beautiful worship service, visit the Western Jurisdiction's photo albums on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/wjumc/photos. The choir pictured here is the Tongan Fellowship Choir of San Diego. (Photos believed to be by Patrick Scriven, PNWAC)
Wednesday July 18, 2012: Highlights
The Memorial Service was tonight.
- from @DakotaStaren: "Best service I've ever attended #
wjumc" - from @Channels_PNWUMC: a photo of Bishop Swenson from the pews
- from @Channels_PNWUMC: a photo of Bishop Sano, speaking about Bishop Melvin Wheatley
- from @Channels_PNWUMC: a photo of Bishop Minerva Carcaño, speaking about Bishop Ed Paup
- from @Channels_PNWUMC: a photo of Bishop Warner Brown, speaking about Bishop William Dew
- Bishop Mary Ann Swenson preaches "Bringing Justice to Victory"
- "The culture rooted in the individual is a culture that breeds injustice."
- ".... is America dedicated to equality or liberty?"
- "'Methodism cares not just for the soul of the individual but the character of the whole world'" ... quoted from First UMC Evanston by Bishop Mary Ann Swenson
Twitter highlights:
- @RevKarenOliveto: Is it wrong to #covet thy neighbor's pulpit? I love the ?#JohnWesley? pulpit at 1st ?#
umc? ?#SanDiego?. ?#WJUMC - @mtnprofet: Opening worship for the Western Jurisdiction gathering in San Diego.... ?#wjumc? ?#yacumc? ?#umc? pic.twitter.com/5U8XKEnO
Other Resources:
- Jurisdictional Election blog, featuring election information from the Jurisdictional Conferences: http://elections.umc.org
- Western Jurisdiction blog entry by Christina Dillabough: http://elections.umc.org/wj-2012-who-what-where/
- Twitter hashtag: #wjumc (NOTE: If you try #wj2012 you will read many, many race results from track & field events)
July 13, 2012: News, Information and Social Media
The Western Jurisdiction has provided the following sources for information and news about the Western Jurisdictional Conference, to be held in San Diego from July 18, 2012 - July 21, 2012:
- Western Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church website at http://westernjurisdictionumc.org
- Western Jurisdictional Conference web page (including agenda)
- FaceBook page of the Western Jurisdction at http://www.facebook.com/wjumc
- Twitter feed and conversation at hashtag #wjumc
This page will be updated with links and news stories as it is possible.