July 14, 2021. Our delegate from Peace, Jean Leatherman, sends this report:
The theme for the 2021 Annual Conference was “Jesus the Waymaker”. We heard many reports and saw many videos of ways that we, in the MN Annual Conference, allowed Jesus to show us the way through this last trying, emotional year. It may feel like churches shut down, but many things were still happening, just in different ways. If you have a couple of minutes, take a look at the video, “Jesus Made a Way”. It shows little snippets of things that happened around our Conference. In our own church we can look back fondly on a virtual Advent Dinner complete with a virtual concert. We can remember Christmas Eve for families in the sanctuary. Easter Parades by car. Halloween in the parking lot. And more. Jesus did make a way for ministry to happen, even in a pandemic.
Much more happens at Conference. Of course, there are worship services, awesome worship services. There is a celebration of ministries, from ordination to retirement and beyond. But the one piece of legislation that we approved, nearly unanimously, was that all congregations join with the national agencies to work to dismantle racism, oppose white supremacy, and advocate for racial justice in whatever way is appropriate for their local area. That sounds like it is kind of wishy-washy, but it allows for congregations to respond in ways that are appropriate in the area in which they live and serve. It does state our supreme intent to rout out racism and support racial justice however we can.
Thanks for electing me to be our church’s representative to Annual Conference. I do enjoy it, and I always come back energized and full of ideas.