Florida Conference 2005

 

Thanks to John and Jeanette Cole, who along with Pastor Mark, attended this year's Florida Conference in Lakeland (for the 16th time!!) and provided these photos. Hopefully, they will give you a better idea of the conference, the setup and what it's like.

The first is a shot of the conference floor at Lakeland Center Thurs. June 2.  Note the "flames" in the background. They were especially made for conference.

You will also notice a big number "5" sign. There were 9 microphones scattered around the arena where someone would go to address the conference or ask a question. Also note the 2 big screens down front on either side. On them were shown the songs we sang and also focused on whoever was speaking on stage or at a microphone.

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These are some of the banners paraded throughout the hall by churches celebrating a significant founding date this year (50, 100, 150 years).

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A huge room off the main entrance housed about 35 booths manned by various organizations connected to the church, such as the Childrens Home and the Jim Russo prison ministry booths. Also in this room the conference registration was held for the approximately 1,800 that attended. conference5.jpg (67050 bytes)

A close-up of one of the exhibits. Each exhibit contained take-home literature.

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A partial view of the huge Cokesbury Book Store, always a busy place. If you wanted to find an old friend or a former pastor, that was the one place you could usually find them.

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Bishop Timothy Whitaker, resident bishop of the second largest conference in the U.S., gets ready to call the conference back into session after one of his famous "5 minute breaks"..

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   The worship center, located in front of the podium. The large urn in the center contained a fountain, the water from which was used during the evening sessions. conference9.jpg (97925 bytes)

Read John's report to the Church Council

 

2005 ANNUAL CONFERENCE REPORT

 
     This annual conference was no different from any other---there was both good and bad.  Thankfully, the good outweighed the bad.  The theme "One Body, One Spirit" was carried out in this year of transition.  Perhaps the two most referred to words through all the sessions were "connectionalism" and "cluster".  From the use of the old and the new district names co-mingled, to the clustering we experienced Thursday night, we felt the change.
 
     We are entering a new era in Florida Methodism with the change in district boundaries and names.  While the conference decided we belonged in the Gulf Central district (GC), I prefer to call it the "skinny" district, for that it is, stretching from Crystal River on the north to Bradenton on the south.  Our new district superintendant is the Rev. Wayne Curry.  When we broke up for district meetings on Thursday, we got to meet him and ask questions about our new district.
 
     The sad thing this year was the calling "home" of 30 of our retired clergy and 22 pastor's spouses.  In addition 25 pastors retired at this session after giving 626 years of service.  We also voted to close a half dozen churches for various reasons.
 
On the plus side we started 16 new churches in 2005, 6 in 2004 and 10 in 2003.  Of the 2005 starts, the majority of them were Haitian or Hispanic missions which indicates the change in the makeup of our conference.  The overall membership of the Korean, Hispanic and Haitian churches in our conference totaled 10,136 members in 2004.
 
     Our conference treasurer reported that connectional giving---also known as apportionments---was up in 2004 and, so far, in 2005, apportionment money has come in better than ever before.  Usually the budget draws some comments and questions but the $19,241,000 budget sailed through without comment or question.
 
Another plus was the licensing of 29 new local pastors, the commissioning of 2 probationary deacons and 26 probationary elders in an impressive laying on of hands.
 
     It was a well-behaved conference with very little dissension, presided over by a very capable Bishop Whitaker (with one t).  our guest speaker was the bishop of the Virginia conference, Bishop Charlene Kammerer, who was elected while a member of the Florida Conference.  Especially impressive was the communion service and the service of baptismal renewal.
 
     It was a pleasure to serve as your representative.  Thank you for the privilege.
 
John Cole, delegate
Jeanette Cole, alternate