I wish I could give you a play by play of our Annual Conference this year, but I missed most of it.  One of the best things about conference is seeing people you haven't seen in a year or more and hear what God is doing in their lives.  The parts I was actually able to attend were great though.  Bishop Looney spoke at the Commissioning service.  One of the more memorable moments of his sermon was when he told about his early days in ministry.  He thought he was working at least 70 hours a week, but when he actually recorded his activities for a week he found out that he was only working 50.  The moral was that an unorganized life can make us think we are working harder than we actually are.  A few people I haven't seen in a while were being commissioned and so that was exciting.  I know they will all be faithful in their ministries.  

The theme for the week was taken from a book entitled 'Three Simple Rules'.  Which are:  Do no harm, Do good, and Stay in love with God.  At the final service Bishop Swanson spoke on 'Staying in love with God.'  He made the point over and over that we cannot just flip a switch and be in love with God instantaneously, but that staying in love with God requires us to be diligent in the practices that put us in God's presence:  prayer, fasting, study, etc.  And when we do those things doing no harm and doing good come more naturally.  

At the end of the service there was a special presentation of the Hope of Africa Children's choir.  These kids were between the ages of 5 and 12 and live in Southern Sudan.  Some of their stories were heartbreaking.  Most did not have a living father and their mothers were very poor.  They sang some awesome songs and you could see the joy radiating off of their faces.  

Also, Boo and Phyllis Hankins were presented as those chosen to go to the Sudan for 2 years to over see the construction of another school and be a mentor to the pastors there.  This was probably my favorite moment in conference.  Boo was my pastor at Elizabethton while I was a youth pastor there.  It was great to see these two people give up so  much to go help the people of Sudan rebuild their church, community, and lives.   

Posted In: church leadership

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