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I appeal to you, therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer.
-- Romans 12:1, 9-12
As the Restructuring Task Force continues its work within the Baltimore-Washington Conference, you are invited to attend one of the Listening Sessions that will be held over the next several weeks. This is the second phase of a collaborative process that was introduced in September. The first phase was a conference-wide survey, which more than 1,140 of you completed. Now, we turn to Listening Sessions, which will enable you to be in direct conversation with members of the Task Force. By attending one of six at-large sessions, you will have the opportunity to help discern how the Conference positions itself for greater vitality and effectiveness. Your input, ideas and creativity are important to this work. Please make every effort to attend a session. The Task Force will also meet with specific ministry teams such as the Board of Ordained Ministry, Discipleship Council, Youth and Young Adults, and the Connectional Table. See a video from Bishop Easterling on restructuring.
As we prepare for those meetings, we also have a request.
Since 2016, we have focused on a unifying concept: We Are One. Those three words, which served as our foundational theme for holy conferencing, were the basis of a conference-wide Bible study and became a common refrain in our ministry, still form the basis of our skilled servant work. There is power in moving together and being of one accord. Therefore, as we continue the deep listening, dialogue and discernment necessary to prepare a recommendation on restructuring for our 2024 annual conference, we want to incorporate a call for prayer into the process. As our founder John Wesley taught, “Prayer is the grand means of drawing near to God.” While it is important that we hear from and listen to one another in this work, it is also critically important that we hear from God through the Holy Spirit. Further, we believe that praying together as a conference will enhance our ability to really listen to one another. See Bishop Easterling’s New Year’s Message on Forging A New Path. Therefore, please incorporate this process into your daily prayers, and we ask that we join at 12:01 p.m. every Wednesday for common prayer. Thank you for your participation.
The Task Force looks forward to seeing and hearing from you. May the God of all hope and love be with us as we strive to serve the present age.
The listening sessions are as follows:
January 18 - Two At Large Sessions
BWC Mission Center
10711 East Market Place, Fulton, MD
1 – 3 p.m.
7 – 9 p.m.
January 27 - Under 35 Youth and Young Adult Session
Emmanuel United Methodist Church
10755 Scaggsville Rd., Laurel, MD
1 – 3 p.m.
January 30 - At Large Session
Towson United Methodist Church
509 Hampton Lane, Towson, MD
7 – 9 p.m.
January 31 - At Large Session
Epworth United Methodist Church
9008 Rosemont Drive, Gaithersburg, MD
7 – 9 p.m.
February 6 - At Large Session
Otterbein United Methodist Church
108 E. Franklin St., Hagerstown, MD
7 – 9 p.m.
February 7 - At Large Session
St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church
14900 Annapolis Rd., Bowie, MD
7 – 9 p.m.
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