Dear Annual Conference Friends,
During the Annual Conference, Bishop Hoshibata announced the formation of the Growth & Vitality Implementation Team composed of clergy, laity and Conference staff. The purpose of this team is to help guide implementation of the Initiative for Growth & Vitality and to help support local churches as they begin living into our new Desert Southwest Conference Vision. This team has been working throughout the summer and wishes to share with you the two beginning areas that they have focused on.
- The team read every one of your recorded 2017 Annual Conference Holy Huddle comments and has summarized your input. This summary is available on the Conference website at https://dscumc.org/initiative/. Select the green square titled, Holy Huddle Summary Themes. The summary clearly indicates that there is much work to be done as we all seek to live into our Desert Southwest Conference Vision and to accelerate growth and vitality throughout the Conference.
- The team also concluded that many of you are looking for resources and guidance that could help your church examine new opportunities for courageously loving like Jesus, acting for justice, and uniting in hope and for trustingly sharing with other churches your discoveries of ways that worked (or did not). The team feels that it is important for them to be sure they are working on areas that will be of the most value to you. To this end, the team has created a short survey and would greatly appreciate your help by your taking a few minutes to complete it before Friday, September 1.
The link to the survey is: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DSCImplementationTeam
As a reminder, if you are not sure how to begin using the Vision, we suggest that you review the information in the folder received at Annual Conference, pray over it, introduce it to your church’s leadership team, discern how it can influence the ministry of your church, and determine how your church mission or vision, programs or ministries could better align with the Initiative. Should you need additional copies of the information folder, it is available for downloading at https://dscumc.org/initiative/. Select the green square titled, Initiative for Growth & Vitality.
Although the Implementation Team is just in the formation stage, if you have any questions or would like advice on how to proceed, please contact the team at Initiative@dscumc.org. Thank you in advance for becoming a significant part of defining first steps towards living into our Vision.
With hope and peace,
The Implementation Team:
Rev. Susan Brims, East District Superintendent
Mr. Paul Browning, Desert Foothills UMC
Rev. Rick Casebolt, Mesquite UMC
Rev. Paul Cho, First UMC Tucson and Korean UMF
Rev. Tony Dawson, St. Paul’s UMC Tucson
Rev. John Fairchild, Spirit of Hope UMC
Ms. Dee Hicks, University UMC
Rev. Jennifer Lambert, Red Mountain UMC
Ms. Nanette Lawson, Dayspring UMC
Ms. Laurie Lineberry, Conference Lay Leader
Mr. Jerry McGuire, Desert Spring UMC
Rev. David McPherson, Director of New Faith/Vital Faith
Rev. Beth Rambikur, Director of Connectional Ministries
Ms. Patricia Simon, El Mesias UMC
Rev. Khalif Smith, Trinity UMC Las Vegas
