Mission Secretaries' Meeting Minutes

Conference Mission Secretaries – Southeastern Jurisdiction
MINUTES
October 29- November 1, 2008
St. Simon’s Island, Georgia

The Annual Meeting of Southeastern Jurisdiction Conference Mission Secretaries was held at St. Simon’s Island, Georgia from October 29 until November 1, 2008. Denise Walton, South Georgia Secretary was the host and welcomed the group gathered. Attending were: Guy Looney, Michael Collins, Denise Walton, Nancy Eubanks, Paulette West, Denise Honeycutt, Bill Haddock, Bill Daugherty, Lou Ann Staggs, Larry Rankin, Terry Raymond, Ruth Wiertzema, Chris and Martha Stockwell Goering, Lynda Byrd, David Webb, John Nuessle, Ginena Dulley Wills, Una Jones, Fred Price, Rachel Barnett, David Malloy, Icel Rodriquez, Melinda Trotti, and Brett Opalinsky.

The group was again welcomed – by the Chairperson Mike Collins. He introduced our theme as “Inspire, Inform and Interact”. Each one was then asked to briefly introduce themselves with a description of their role in their annual conference or as staff of General Board of Global Ministries.

The opening devotional was given by Denise Honeycutt using “Inspire” as the theme. The chosen scripture was Genesis 21: 1-7. She read briefly from the UMW Prayer Calendar and encouraged the use of these. Denise talked about the importance of laughter in our lives and shared personal stories of fun and laughter from Nigeria, Virginia and Columbia. Our time of reflection was closed with prayer.

Michael Collins introduced John Nuessle – our presenter for this seminar and his new book titled “Faithful Witnesses”. This book will be the source of our sessions with the focus being taught through tradition, reason, scripture and experience. John gave a brief introduction of the seminar and we closed the first session with singing “This Little Light of Mine.”

Thursday morning session was opened with devotional given by Bill Haddock. He used scripture from 1st John with the theme being “Inform” and reminded the group that Jesus Found us – Knew our name and Changed our name. We are to invite others to “come and see” what God has done and to ’’share that” was his closing statement.

The annual business meeting followed with Michael Collins presiding. Introductions were made, minutes of the previous meeting were approved (each member had a copy to read) and the treasurer’s report of $1099.42 was reported in the account.

Michael announced the need to elect new officers for the group and explained the duties of each. Elected were the following:
President – Michael Collins
Vice-president – Paulette West
Secretary-Treasurer – Nancy Eubanks

Denise Honeycutt initiated discussion about “For All The Right Reasons” – the theology of mission study which was developed by SEJ Conference Mission Secretaries several years ago. Denise asked about the possibility of John Nuessle including this with the seminar he is currently leading. John told the group he will be happy to house this and have it available with his study for use. Larry Rankin agreed to e-mail the “Mission Wheel”, which was developed by the Florida Conference, to all the SEJ secretaries.

The group responded with no old business when asked. Una Jones will update the list of names and data of the SEJ group.

Michael Collins asked for new business of the group and conversation began concerning the participation in CONNECT – the gathering in conjunction with UMVIM at Lake Junaluska in June each year. Paulette West explained the schedule and also the changes in SEJ staff as Nick Elliott retires as director. The 2009 schedule is now set for July 2-3 with the theme being “New Faces in Mission”. The UMVIM Board of Directors has decided to be the sole owner of Connect. After some dialogue , it was decided this group needs more discussion about our continued participation. Michael asked for individual recommendations so he can participate on the design team with representative ideas. It was agreed that early in 2009 Mike Collins will set up a blog to share ideas back and forth.

The matter of hosting the annual Fall Meeting was brought before the group. The following invitations with dates were approved:
2009 – October 21-24 – Florida
2010 – October 28-30 – Simpson Wood – Atlanta
2011 - October 19-23 – New York
2012 – October 24-27 – Mississippi

Ruth Wiertzema was confirmed as the SEJ representative to the GBGM Advance Committee for the next 4 years.

Ruth Wiertzema asked for time for a personal item. She made an appeal for Covenant Agreements to be made with the Missionary Pastors at Red Bird Conference. She had a brief discussion of the rationale for this request and had hand-outs for the group.

Following a brief break, John Nuessle began the study of the book Faithful Witnesses as he introduced the outline to be used and presented the initial overview of the theology of mission as in the book.

Following lunch, Una Jones of Global Ministries New York office brought an update on matters relating to Conference Secretaries. The name to be used is still an ongoing matter being discussed. Each jurisdiction is having dialogue about this and hopefully a concensus will be forthcoming. She also brought news from the GBGM Board meeting with new leadership named for the four focus areas. They are:
Church Growth – Jorge Dominques
Poverty – Rachel Simeon
Leadership – Edith Gleaves
Global Health – Sam Dixon

Una continued with discussion of the Women’s Division Study for 2009-2010 being Sudan. She then gave a brief Job Description of Conference Mission Secretaries – Primary Functions as follows:

1. Interpret to the local annual conference the programs, emphases, plans and policies of Global Ministries. Participate in CSGM Fellowship and attend CONNECT. Make plans to attend Quad Training Event in Jacksonville, FL. from January 29 – February 1, 2009. The manual is being renewed for presentation at that time.

2. Work closely with Advance Staff.

3. Know the role within the Annual Conference including structure, paid vs volunteer position, Priorities and Focus areas. Order and use Guidelines for Mission 2009-2012.

Una reminded the group of two upcoming events in 2010 – the Centennial Celebration in Edinborough, Scotland which will be the first week in June, and the Women’s Assembly in May of that year.

David Malloy of the Advance Office of Global Ministries spoke of the work of the Annual Conference in that area and also gave details of responsibilities of new staff members.

Rachel Barnett, also of the Advance Office talked about covenants with missionaries and new developments in that program. There are different types of covenants available for congregations as well as for individuals. A covenant may be $500 or more – and covenants may be established on line.

A session of questions and answers followed with Una Jones, David Malloy and Rachel Barnett taking these and providing answers. Other staff persons present were also involved.

Following this session Michael Collins dismissed the group for free time until the morning session on Friday , October 31st.

Paulette West opened the Friday session with a devotional as her theme was “Interact”. She used Micah 6:8 for reference and gave several personal illustrations and referenced books for use by the group. The closing question was “What does God require of me?”

John Nuessle and Denise Honeycutt had a dialogue concerning the training for Faithful Witness – involving teams of persons for a 2-3 day retreat. The ideal would be 20 persons per training session. The idea of an exploratory training is being discussed in Virginia.

Chris and Martha Stockwell- Goering explained the role and purpose of Missionary Interpreters in Residence – a position they have held for the past 2+ years and which ends in March, 2009. They feel this is a resource that is not understood and is under-utilized by the conferences in the jurisdiction.

Fred Price – GBGM staff affiliated with Mission Personnel- thanked the group for using the Advance and also for helping tell the story through missionary itineration. He gave statistics and introduced the group to the web-site in order that missionaries may know itineration assignments prior to coming to the US.

Lynda Byrd introduced David Webb of the Office of Development at Global Ministries. He talked of the history of this office and introduced the three major emphases –
1. Mission Advocacy
2. Gift Cultivation
3. Church Partnerships
David and Lynda had nice Advance Bags for all present.

Following a brief break, John Nuessle continued with Essay 12 from Faithful Witnesses with a delightful story about “chicken seeds”. This led into a time of personal sharing by many in the group. Following lunch we were free for the afternoon until supper.

Friday night session was led by John Nuessle, using chapter 14 of Faithful Witnesses. The topic was “functional connectionalism” and an impromptu drama was presented to emphasize this.

The gathering began on Saturday morning with discussion time and the need for better communication with missionary candidates was addressed . John Nuessle and others from GBGM agreed there had been some break-down in this arena and they would look into this. The conference closed then with devotional and communion service. During this dialogue we were reminded to “Pick up our tent pegs” and be prepared to go when and wherever needed.

Respectfully submitted

Nancy Eubanks
Secretary