Delivered by Amy Higgins on July 2, 2023

Scripture: Matthew 10:40-42

My first trip to Lake Junaluska as an adult was for the Gathering of the Laity celebration the year before I became a Lay Delegate to Annual Conference eight years ago. I had not been to Lake Junaluska since I was a child so, nearly three decades later Mom and I walked back into the auditorium for the first worship service of the weekend. We found a seat and sat there a few minutes before we began to get a little chill. I looked up and directly above us were ceiling fans going as hard as they could. So I looked around the ceiling to find spaces between the fans where we could sit. We moved to seat more toward the front and as I pushed my seat down, I happened to lean forward and saw over the back of the seat in front of me. To my amazement, I saw my grandfather’s name on the little metal plate on the armrest. And when moved again to sit in his seat, I saw that the seat next to it bore the name of his father, who had also been a minister.

I have sat in those seats many times over the years. And it is always an honor not just to sit in those particular seats but, to be in that historic auditorium doing the work of the church. With the vote on disaffiliating churches completed at the called virtual conference in May, the primary business of the in person Annual Conference meeting was about moving the Church forward. New Lay Delegates to the General Conference next year needed to be elected to replace three delegates who had stepped down. I am pleased to say, all three were of varying ages from young adult to retired and all were persons of color which, provides us with a delegation that is more representative of our Annual Conference. 

Saturday I had the privilege and pleasure to attend the Rural Ministry Advocates breakfast at a church in Maggie Valley. And when I say pleasure, I mean I ate very well. But I was not just fed, I was equipped. And that is what I appreciate about our annual conference and the United Methodist denomination. I learned more about rural ministry advocacy and resources. I met the contact for the NC Rural Center who, luckily, is based in Lexington, and also learned that a friend and colleague will be heading up the re-establishment of the Town and Country ministry for the annual conference. I left with my belly and my head full.

With the breakfast in Maggie Valley, the business session was already well under way by the time I could get back to the lake and into the auditorium. I missed the passing of the Conference budget for 2024 but, I can tell you the budget was reduced by roughly six percent and part of the monies paid by disaffiliating churches have been set aside to ensure the apportionment percentage for remaining churches will not increase. 

The business of the afternoon saw several petitions presented. All passed; some by great margins, others were very close. The Conference will ask, but not require, congregations to form Creation Care teams to look at ways they can be more environmentally friendly and the Conference will work to create and provide resources to assist churches with this. In a related matter, a fossil fuel screener will be added to all future investments by the Annual Conference however, no existing investments in fossil fuels will be divested. The number of weeks of paid paternal leave for the birth or adoption of a child will be increased and the Conference will provide congregations with financial assistance to pay interim pastors if needed. These were the easy petitions.

The remaining petitions pertained to the current climate within the denomination. Leading with Integrity was a petition that was approved at the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference in the fall and so our Annual Conference was to take up this petition specific to our conference. The petition asks those who may be in a leadership position who know they will leave the United Methodist Church, to recuse themselves from leadership. It does not kick anyone out, it does not exclude differences. It merely asks that if you know you will leave and have not yet done so, please step down so that those who are committed to staying can move into those roles. Another petition related to the effects of disaffiliation regarded voting within local congregations. As some churches experienced inactive members being contacted to cast votes at church conferences only to have them disappear again, a petition was presented to allow administrative boards to set guidelines such as attendance, tithing, and participation as qualifiers for voting. There was opposition for many reasons, most notably that it recalled the days of the poll tax. I did not vote for this petition as I felt that it could unfairly punish those unable to meet tithing or attendance minimums and if there was already an abuse of power in a church to sway a vote, this would only be another tool to assist in that effort. Two wrongs do not make a right. It passed by a narrow margin. The other petitions related to ministry with the LGBTQ community and the Conference working to create tools to assist congregations with ministry to our brothers and sisters in this community as well as other marginalized groups. I know that is a lot about the business of Annual Conference but, it is part of who we are and necessary work to becoming who God calls us to be.

Of course, it is not all business and there were several worship services. Opening worship asked us to consider two questions which will carry us forward both personally and as a church. As I looked at sharing this with you, there’s an entire sermon in that and I have already talked that long and am still not done. There was a Bible Study which, was a presentation on the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. It too is its own message but, I will say I appreciated how they were described as two wings of a bird. I had the holy privilege to stand on your behalf as a Lighthouse Congregation and make the commitment in the reading of the liturgy that “as long as we are in the world, we will be the Light of the World”. And in this commitment, we affirm that we are called to care for all and to be a resting place, a safe haven from the storm and that we will not bring that storm inside.

And it has been a year of storms for many. Personally, I want to thank you for the time away. It was a much needed time of rest and renewal. The break brought some much needed alone time as well as opportunities to see friends I had not seen in a while. And attending the Celebration of Life service this year was especially poignant for me. My mother’s cousin who was a retired pastor, passed away several months ago. I was unable to attend his service as I had a funeral at Clear Springs at the same time, so to stand for him as he was remembered at Annual Conference was very special. In that same service, I stood for the pastor who had been a dear friend of my grandfather and had been the one to tell him my dad had passed away. He was also the pastor who confirmed me. I stood and remembered not only what he means to my family but, also as a part of my home church that may only ever exist in my heart. There were many special moments and even the peace of just being on the lake made up for bouncing around the auditorium throughout the weekend because others had beaten me to my grandfather’s seat. 

However, when it mattered most to me, I was able to sit in my grandfather’s seat- for closing worship on Sunday. I may have shared before that my dad and my grandfather passed the week of Father’s Day. And the anniversary of my grandfather’s passing will typically fall during Annual Conference. This year, it was also on Father’s Day. Our closing worship was very special and was, of course, made even more so by where I was sitting. (which really is the best seat in the house)

In his message, the Bishop reminded us the mission is to seek and connect to God’s purpose which is to love our neighbor. As the Bishop stated that we become holy by loving our neighbor, I recalled his words last year that we do not make ourselves holy by separating ourselves from what we think is unholy. Jesus sums up the whole law in the command to love our neighbor. He says nothing about separation as the way to eternal life. This year, the Bishop went further by saying, “My neighbor invites me into the sacred and if I can be stripped of my preferences and prejudices, I can more clearly reflect the nature and character of God.” This is Grace, Connection, and Holiness. And this is the welcome Jesus spoke of which we not only receive but, are called to give.

At the end of the service, the Bishop fixed appointments for the coming year. This was the second year I have risen from my grandfather’s seat to have the Bishop fix my appointment and I still do not have the words to describe it. And this year it was followed by anointing for those who needed healing or for those called to bring healing after the storms of this last year. For me, it was both. As I stood in line, the choir sang Cornerstone. Already emotional, I began to cry thinking of how I had sung that song with the choir at my home church. I reached the front and received my anointing from our new District Superintendent. I returned to my seat and stilled myself, taking it all in and listening to the words of the song. It was no longer about the church I thought I lost, but the church I have. It exists in my memory, on the lakeshore and in the Stuart Auditorium. It is here with you whether we are in this room, your living room, or at the Mexican restaurant. That, I know, is the church that is in me. And in you. And from that, there can be no separation.