Message from Members of the North Georgia Conference Delegation

The 2020 General Conference taking place in 2024 is upon us. In a few weeks, delegates from North Georgia will gather with other delegates from around the world in Charlotte, North Carolina to pray, worship, sing, as well as deliberate, debate, discern, and vote on legislation that will impact the life of The United Methodist Church. 

While many important matters will come before the General Conference, I believe there is none more important than Worldwide Regionalization. I believe this not only because it rightly de-centers the church in the United States that exists as part of a global church, but it is an attempt to reflect a "centering of Christ" and root ourselves in the sacredness of each human being. While it is tempting to speak of Worldwide Regionalization exclusively in terms of power shifting and power sharing, I support it because I believe that Worldwide Regionalization moves us more closely toward the kind of 'growing up' that the writer was pointing to in Ephesians 3:13 when he spoke of the maturing of the people of God.

Consistent with this view, I believe Worldwide Regionalization represents an important developmental stage in the life of a church that seeks to live into the "unity of the faith and of the full knowledge of God."  As such, I appeal to you for prayer as delegates prepare to attend to this important business of the church, and that when our time together is finished we will not only be a more global church, but a more faithful church.

Please take a moment to read the message from members of your delegation to General Conference.
Byron Thomas,
Head of Delegation (Clergy)  
 

Message from the North Georgia Conference Delegation

Members of the North Georgia Delegation have been in prayerful discernment as we prepare for General Conference in Charlotte. We recognize the gravity and importance of the decisions to be made together as delegates of The United Methodist Church. Collectively, we appeal to our United Methodist siblings, delegates, members, and faithful supporters of our worldwide connection. We invite all who will join us in a hopeful future for our denomination to pray for the leaders, staff, and volunteers who are diligently preparing to receive the thousands of delegates and guests arriving in North Carolina next month. We request that everyone hold them with grace, patience, and love as they navigate the responsibilities of offering God's love to all who gather for Holy Conferencing.
 
As we prepare to travel to Charlotte in a few weeks, we are leaning into our "Distinctive Wesleyan Emphases" - our belief in grace, justification, assurance, and sanctification, and the ways Wesley combined them for a powerful and distinctive emphases for living the full Christian life. (Italics from the Book of Discipline) With this doctrinal heritage as our foundation, we believe that the grace that pervades our entire understanding of the Christian life, along with the mission of The United Methodist Church are the guiding values and principles for those who were working together to discern the direction of the Worldwide Regionalization legislation. This legislation is offered to the General Conference by the Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters, the Connectional Table, and the leaders of the Christmas Covenant. 
 
Therefore, we the undersigned members of the North Georgia delegation, put our full support and endorsement behind this legislation and we urge members, delegates, and annual conferences of The United Methodist Church to also support the legislation, including the constitutional amendments that will come before General Conference. We believe that this legislation moves us closer to a more authentic, equitable, and gracious relationship with one another in our global connection and our hope for a more faithful United Methodist Church. We invite other delegations to prayerfully join us in communicating their support for this legislation. We welcome dialogue and engagement with any delegations interested in discussing our support for Regionalization.  
 
We trust that the Holy Spirit will guide all of us in discerning what is best for the future of our United Methodist Church.

Sincerely,

The following members of the North Georgia Delegation:

LAITY
Nathaniel Abrams
Randy Brown
Elizabeth Corrie
Maxine Easom
Rachel Fullerton
Lee Highsmith
Jay Horton
Amy King
Tonya Murphy

CLERGY
Joya Abrams
David Allen Grady
Catherine Boothe Olson
James Cantrell
Nora Colmenares
Dana Everhart
Karen Kagiyama
Shannon Karafanda
Millie Kim
Beth LaRocca-Pitts
Eric Lee
Yvette Massey
P. Alice Rogers
Dalton Rushing
Phil Schroeder
Blair Setnor
Jasmine Smothers
Carolyn Stephens
Jessica Terrell
Byron Thomas
Amy Valdez Barker
Terry Walton
Will Zant