February 2023 Connection

“This Is One Boring Article”

In the book of Acts, chapter 6, we discover what might be considered the first church committee. It was a team of 7 who were charged with making sure that the widows who were part of the early Christian community were cared for and not forgotten or neglected in the midst of all the great work of ministry. In other words, it was a committee that was created for the purpose of not neglecting what really does
matter…caring for others!
 
Fast forward about 2000 years, and we’ve expanded the idea of church committees, just a bit [insert church committee joke here]. As a United Methodist Church, we are part of a conference that, in our case, encompasses the entire state of Michigan. Our conference – the Michigan Conference of The UMC – is made up of somewhere in the ballpark of 800-900 churches. Currently, those 800+ churches are organized into 9 geographical “districts.” Grand Blanc UMC is part of the East Wind District.
 
A while ago, the Conference began a process to explore how we could move from 9 districts to 7 districts by July of 2023. As that date approaches, we’ve been given an update, and so I wanted to share that update with you. The conference is, in fact, moving from 9 districts to 7 districts. Grand Blanc UMC will still be part of the East Winds District, along with many others, and we’re even welcoming some new
churches to the district! Oh, and I’ll still be serving as your pastor here at GBUMC.
 
Knowing that our current district superintendent, Rev. John Hice, had planned to retire, we assumed we’d be assigned a new district superintendent, and that has happened, too. Effective July 1, 2023, our district superintendent will be Rev. Dr. Margie Crawford. I look forward to Dr. Crawford’s leadership, and I am sure that you’ll enjoy getting to know her as we have the opportunity.
 
Now, I know that this might not be the most exciting newsletter article that you’ve ever read. In fact, I know it’s not! But I wanted to share all of the above with you in order to share this important piece of information.
 
By and large, this change has minimal impact on Grand Blanc UMC. And the minimal impact that it does have is all good and helpful! Grand Blanc UMC will still be in the business of making and nurturing disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We will still be seeking ways to create new spaces for new faces. We will still be connecting with our community, serving as Christ first served us, and loving our neighbors.
 
You see, the first church committee that we discovered all the way back in the Book of Acts was put together to make sure that certain things were taken care of in order to make sure ministry could still be fruitful. The same is true here. Our relationship with our Annual Conference and our district provides us with meaningful and helpful connections and relationships, as well as certain ministry resources. What that kind of organization does, in essence, is it allows us to be the hands and feet of mission and
ministry in our own backyards. And so, as disciple-makers and disciples ourselves, we keep serving, loving, and being the church!
 
Amen?
Pastor Brian
 
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