Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church

Annual Conference: Wednesday report

June 19, 2009

Twenty-four members addressed the long-debated issue from the floor. They spoke against it, spoke for it, asked questions, and made motions.

But ultimately, direct invoicing passed with a strong majority vote, effectively removing pensions and some health insurance from the apportionment formula and instead letting churches pay these costs directly, The changes will be implemented in January 2011.

On the final day of Annual Conference, church leaders also approved a $15.2 million budget for 2010. They quickly referred a resolution that had been tabled since Monday -- pending the direct invoicing vote -- to the Council on Finance and Administration (CFA). The resolution called for the CFA to base conference finances on tithing -- a practice the CFA reportedly is already considering.

Scroll to the end of this page for daily newspaper PDFs.

The conference raised $166 081 for the convenant mission in south, far surpassing the $125,000 goal. They gave $56,328 to Change for Children, exceeding last year's total by more than $5,000.

The Rev. Boo Hankins and the Rev. Phyllis Hankins were ceremoniously sent forth on a two-year assignment to Yei, Sudan.  Twenty-four local pastors were licensed during the Sending Forth Service, and ministerial appointments were fixed for the 2009-2010 year. Among them, retired Bishop Richard Looney was appointed to Telford UMC in Johnson City District.

Bishop James Swanson delivered a passionate Sending Forth message, noting that the teachings of the Rev. Adam Hamilton "put an 800-pound gorilla on our backs.

"We have to get serious to the point where we are willing to deny ourselves and claim Jesus," Swanson said. "God is calling us to be leaders."

Download PDFs of the Wednesday 6/17/09 newspaper  Page 1 Page 2

Download PDFs of the Tuesday 6/16/09 newspaper: Page 1 Page 2

Download PDFs of the Monday 6/15/09 newspaper: Page 1 Page 2

Download PDFs of the Sunday 6/14/09 newspaper: Page 1 Page 2