+(1).png?width=500&height=300)
Dear Provisional and Appointed Elders of the Alabama-West Florida Conference,
You all are amazing. As I look around the Annual Conference, I see your work and the resilience that you embody. The work you do is sometimes difficult. It is sometimes joyful. You experience comfort and provide comfort. You experience grief and help others through grief. You celebrate and celebrate with others.
I’m privileged to stand beside you and to call myself an Elder in Full Connection in the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference. You are valued and loved by those you serve and by the sisters and brothers in this order, those you serve alongside. Receive that. Know that.
As members of the Order of Elders, our opportunity to shape congregations, our Annual Conference, and the United Methodist Church comes through our preaching of the Word, our administration of the Sacraments, our Service to Christ and Christ’s church, and our Ordering of the life of the church. After a season of being reactionary and performing our role in an almost apologetic way, it’s time for us to be reminded of what the bishop who ordained you said as you knelt at ordination: “Take authority as an Elder…”
In order for us to do that well, it’s important for us to take a timeout of every day ministry, come together, and discern what and who we are going to be together. That’s why it is important for each one of us to actively participate in the Halftime Huddles happening around the Annual Conference in late November and early December.
Halftime Huddles are gatherings of Provisional and Full Connection Elders who are under appointment for the purpose of encouragement and team building. The conversations will be helpful and forward focused. The huddles will last several hours. You are encouraged to plan to join one another for informal lunches afterward. If you plan to attend the Blue Lake Halftime Huddle and would like to eat lunch there, you will pay for that in your registration. Sign up for your preferred Halftime Huddle now.
We are fortunate to have a world-class leader in organizational development leading our Halftime Huddles. Dr. John Dew has served as a leader and facilitator in organizational development activities with a wide range of nonprofits, governmental agencies, manufacturing facilities, research laboratories, hospitals, school systems, law enforcement organizations, and service organizations over the past 40 years. He grew up as a preacher’s kid in the United Methodist Church and has participated in lay leadership roles in twelve United Methodist churches in six annual conferences since 1968. John came to Alabama 25 years ago to serve as Director for Continuous Quality Improvement and Strategic Planning at The University of Alabama and went on to become the Senior Vice Chancellor for Administration and Student Services at Troy University. He is retired from Troy University and teaches and leads dissertations in their Ph.D. program in Global Leadership. John earned his Doctorate in Education from the University of Tennessee. Here is a link to his fill bio.
I want to encourage you to do two things. First, reach out to a fellow member of the Order of Elders this week. Check in on her or him. Ask which Halftime Huddle she or he will attend. Second, register for your preferred Halftime Huddle.
This is my prayer for you, for all of us.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
Yours in shared hope and ministry,
Dr. Brian Miller
AWF Order of the Elders Chair