Bishop Robert Schnase discussed the work of the Conference for his sixth year by lifting up where the Conference has been and where it needs to go.
"We spent the first few years focusing on sorting out our vision and our values,” said Bishop Schnase. "We understood that the mission of the Conference is to lead congregations to lead people to Christ. This means that the work of the annual conference is to strengthen the local congregations so they can effectively lead people to Christ:”
All work at every level should be Christ -centered, derived from and leading to Christ. The work must be fruitful in order to show that a difference is actually being made. Ministry that produces little will not serve the Church. Accountability to each other and to Christ is essential to insure the work is done and done well.
Each congregation should strive for excellence in all they do and never settle for less. By collaborating, pastor to pastors, congregation to congregation, congregation to conference, congregations can insure that excellence is achieved.
"We expect of congregations the five signs of fruitful congregations: Passionate Worship, Radical Hospitality, Intentional Learning, Risk Taking Ministry and Service, and Extravagant Giving," said Bishop Schnase. "We use that language as a common language to give us connection and strengthen our work." There are core practices that are essential to make any work done in the Conference possible: Congregational Excellence and Pastoral Excellence. These two are literally at the core of all the work the Conference will be doing.
Congregational Excellence involves starting new congregations and strengthening the ministries of existing congregations. Pastoral Excellence involves the recruitment of clergy, further training our clergy to be the best leaders as well as giving pastors the tools for better self-care. The Bishop stressed that these two core practices cannot be ignored or nothing will work.
“We currently have 340 participants in Pastoral Leadership Development alone,” said Bishop Schnase. There are nine new starts across the state that have resulted in 1,200 new worshippers. While some are doing better than others, it is clear that the Conference must persevere in creating new starts. In 2010 there is expected five more starts. “This is the future of our church in MO. We can only grow by expanding through new starts.”
Bishop Schnase closed by relating the story of Wesley and the beginning of conferencing. It is the conversations, not the business that was most important. “My hope and prayer is that we always set God before us and that we give ourselves in prayer to strengthen ourselves to grow the Church of Jesus Christ.”
