Connectionalism: Perspective from Susan Hunt
Written: 5/28/2010
(Susan Hunt) As we gear up for the 2010 AWF Annual Conference session, I am reminded of the beauty of the connectional system that is the United Methodist Church. We join together and work together and learn together because as many we are stronger than we would be on our own. We share resources, celebrate together, mourn together, Holy Conference together, and grow the Kingdom of God together. Each congregation is not on its own, or left to its own devices to figure out how to be the Church. As it is written in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12: “Two are better than one…”
This newsletter has many articles that demonstrate our connectional system. We are responding together, both in the conference and with the General Church, to the disaster in Haiti. The United Methodist Committee on Relief has received over $33 million from United Methodists all over the world – a total that has much more collective power than our individual donations alone. Our own conference has donated close to $500,000 of that! See the included articles in the newsletter about how you can get involved with our response in that country.
We join together as churches along the Gulf Coast prepare for the potential disaster of the oil spill. So far, as I write this, the oil has not reached our shores. Yet the tourism and fishing industries already have been affected. We can work together for support and aid in this time of uncertainty and worry. We are already working with UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) to help pastors and church leaders respond to the anxiety and other implications this disaster are already causing.
Our neighboring conferences have suffered from recent disasters, including Tennessee and Mississippi. They are asking for our help through the connectional system to respond to their disasters from flooding and tornados.
We also now have a new feature on our conference website that will help churches find and share mission opportunities. This is a feature that has long been needed, and can be a great resource.
Finally, we learn together through conferences. There are several upcoming Mission conferences that will be an excellent way for your church to learn more, including Catapult, held in Mobile in September. Explore those to strengthen your own church’s Mission ministry.
I encourage you to find a way to join in the connectional system – find help and offer your own help to others! We can do so much more together than alone for the sake of Jesus Christ.
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