Summary: Cabinet Meeting November 28-29

The Western North Carolina Conference Extended Cabinet met November 28th to continue aligning the ministries of the annual conference.  Mark King, Conference Treasurer, offered a devotion that served as framework for the cabinet in which he reminded us that God is with us and calls us to community and relationship with one another. In order to strengthen our work and alignment we agreed to invite Spiritual Leadership Inc., to meet with the extended cabinet through the coming year with the expectation that our work will increasingly become focused on disciple making and collaborative ministries for the purpose strengthening our churches.  John Boggs, Conference Director of Vital Discipleship, along with a task force of superintendents, will specifically outline a process to consult with individual congregations at their request and to identify individuals who will work with those congregations.  In addition, the Director Ministerial Services, the Conference Lay Leader, and the Director of Missional Engagement and Connectional Ministries invited the cabinet into a conversation related to emerging ministries as well as a helpful reflection on the Leadership Summit held in Gastonia by lay and clergy leaders. David Snipes, president of our United Methodist Foundation encouraged the cabinet by highlighting a number of ministries and leadership initiatives available this year within the conference, including a program on stewardship in the African- American churches. Michael Rich, Director of Communications, offered a hopeful presentation on how the districts and conference can be better linked in our communications efforts by integrating a number of communications issues and thereby helping each district as well as the conference. The district superintendents began their meeting on the 29th by sharing and praying over the  pastoral care concerns of our clergy, clergy families, and congregations.  In preparation for consultations with clergy and congregations much time was shared on affirming our desire to hear where God is seen and praised in our churches, communities, families, and our calling.  We continued to affirm our interest in the mission of the church which is the very reason we were licensed and ordained.  We noted the broad number of appointment issues that need to be reflected upon in order to prepare for those appointments to be made this coming Spring. The cabinet celebrated how churches across our annual conference are honoring their covenant set by our sisters and brothers with our Missional giving.  This was reflected by noting that every district witnessed an increase Missional giving as compared to this time last year.