Special Called Conference Ushers Change
The Oklahoma Annual Conference held a Special Called Conference October 20 and 21. The gathering’s theme was Rekindle the Gifts of God: Love, Power, and Self-Discipline.
Bishop James Nunn officiated the conference, which approved a report from the Conference Board of Trustees regarding church disaffiliations. They also approved a report from the Conference Board of Pension and Health Benefits regarding retiree benefits and approved the Council on Finance and Administration recommendations regarding the 2023 conference budget. The conference adopted a resolution to update its Safe Sanctuaries policies.
Twenty-nine churches disaffiliated during the conference: Ardmore First, Bethany St. Marks, Boise City St. Paul’s, Broken Arrow Abiding Harvest, Enid Willowview, Fairview in Slapout, Fargo, Gould, Granite, Guymon Victory Memorial, Heavener Faithbridge, Hodgen, Hollis, Hooker, Kenton, Leonard, Lone Wolf, Mannsville, Nardin, OKC St. Andrews, Paoli, Pathway (Davis First), Pocola, Redland, Tulsa Asbury, Tulsa First, Tulsa St. James, Tyrone, and Whitebead.
Bishop James Nunn said of the most important commandments and the great commission (Matthew 22:37-39 and Matthew 28:19-20), “These two critical paragraphs are key to United Methodism, and I urge each of you to study these, to study them in your classes, individually and corporately, and talk about these things because they are what we’re about. It’s time to shift the discussion to our mission and to build upon our faith.”
He further stated, “The unity that is called for today will be the same in sprit as in historic Methodism, but it will be different because it’s not 1860 anymore. We’re in the process of discovering what unity in the present age looks like. We don’t know for sure. Things are changing; they will continue to change.”
Nunn warned those in attendance, “Unity will not be established by fear, misinformation, or distortion. The unity of the spirit is something we cannot create. We cannot attain it; it is the very work of God. Our task is to ask for it by faith, striving after the unity that is knit together by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
“Unity will not be established by fear, misinformation, or distortion. The unity of the spirit is something we cannot create. We cannot attain it; it is the very work of God. Our task is to ask for it by faith, striving after the unity that is knit together by the power of the Holy Spirit,” he concluded.