A Charge Conference normally meets annually to approve a budget and to elect officers for the next year.
The Charge Conference is an important part of our denominational structure, which we refer to as connectionalism. Learn more about this.
Charge Conference 2001
The 2001 Charge Conference for Mebane UMC was held, Sunday, November 11, 2001 at 4:00 PM with the Rev. Rodney Hamm presiding. Rodney was accompanied by Phyllis who is both his wife and his secretary. The Mebane Charge Conference was the second of the day for the Hamms.
After Mr. Hamm called the meeting to order he opened with a prayer and spoke on a text from Matthew's Gospel. It was the story that descibes Jesus walking out on the water to his disciples and how Peter walks out on the water to meet him. Rodney said that he would rename this story to "Peter Walks on the Water!" It isn't all that unusual for us to imagine that Jesus walked on the water, but that Peter walked on the water is quite an event.
All but three of the voting members of Charge Conference were in attendance and several others came to observe the events. Pastor Swartz read the names of all those who had died since the last Charge Conference and offered a prayer to bless the memories people had of them. "These people were parents and grandparents. They were children and aunts and uncles -- and they made a difference in the lives of people they knew."
The business of the conference began with the Report on Lay Leadership. The report included a slate of officers for 2002. A number of signicant changes were noted. Changes that effect the makeup of the Ministry Resource Council include Carl Herman as Lay Leader; Chip Foushee as Finance Chair; Tina Hackney as Recording Secretary; Dick Hill as Staff-Parish Relations Chair; Pam Saunders as Discipleship Facilitator; Rena Isley as Nurture Facilatator; Nancy Graves as Communications Facilitator; and, Ron Wilson as President of the UM Men. [See the entire list here.]
Ronnie Sanford gave the report on Pastoral Compensation and Ron Wilson made the Finance Committee Report. (Copies of the 2002 budgets will be made available in the foyer).
Jane Johnson gave a composite report of the Laity. She highlighted the many different aspects of the life of the congregation in worship, study, missions, and in nurturing ministries. While she gave her report, Pastor Swartz displayed photographs of our congregational life using the overhead projector. [See Jane's report here.]
Kitty Hupman gave the report of the Trustees. She mentioned many of the expenses related to an aging facility such as ours. She also spoke of several projects being sponsored by the Trustees at this time. She expressed her gratitude to the United Methodist Men for supporting the work of the Trustees by giving the proceeds of their recent Brunswick Stew sale to them for use in building improvements.
The last report of the evening was Pastor Swartz's State of the Church address. He spoke in optimistic terms of the changes that he has observed since he was appointed here 22 months ago. He spoke of the increase in attendance; the increase in giving; and how much easier it has been to find people willing to accept leadership responsibilities.
After the Conference was adjourned, people gathered in the hallway outside the sanctuary to enjoy refreshments and share comments on the meeting.
Copyright © 2001
Mebane United Methodist Church
200 S Fourth Street
Mebane, NC 27302
(919) 563-4301