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General Conference Delegation

The Rev. Leonard E. Fairley Endorsed as Episcopal Nominee

June 18, 2016

General Conference Delegation

The NCC delegation announced Friday that the nominee for the office of bishop is the Rev. Leonard E. Fairley. Annual Conference members stood to endorse Fairley as nominee for the office of Bishop in the Southeastern Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church. Election of bishops takes place during the SE Jurisdictional Conference this summer at Lake Junaluska.

In his acceptance, Fairley shared,

“There are no words to even begin to let you know the sense of great humility and honor that is coursing through my spirit right now. The closest I words I can come to are the words that Bishop Palmer used last night, ‘What is it that you have that you have not received?’”

“You are my family. You are the hands that have made miracles work in my life and in the life across this annual conference. I know that there are many difficult days ahead and many obstacles that we must face, but I just have the audacity to believe that the best years of the church are not behind it. It is in front of us. I have the audacity to believe this: in the words of my wife, Priscilla, ‘If we can just see the possibilities and live the promise, because even a miracle needs a hand.’ You have no idea of the miracles God has worked in my life, and this is one of them.”

“Again, I am honored and blessed beyond measure to know of a generous God whose grace is so abundant that he would give his life for somebody like me and then afford me this honor and this privilege. ….. This is a time that God’s will shall be done.”

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Annual Conference 2016, Episcopal Nominee, Leonard Fairley

Generous Saints

June 16, 2016

Leonard Memorial ServiceThe opening worship All Saints Celebration celebrated the generous examples of giving and service offered by the clergy and the spouses of clergy who have transitioned to be with the great cloud of witnesses. We are reminded of their selfless dedication and service.

In his sermon, the Reverend Leonard Fairley, District Superintendent of the Capital District, talked of how he learned generosity from his grandmother, Gladys, and from his mother. As a child, he recalled watching his grandmother’s hands as she made “Grandma Biscuits” appear.

“This lady would take what she had prepared for her family, and she would invite anybody within earshot, anybody within the neighborhood, anybody who just happened to be at our house. She would invite them to the table,” he shared.

Fairley’s mother and grandmother made bread and after the bread was made to feed their family, it was also used to bless others in the community. He reminded those gathered of how they took what little they had that was blessed, and it was used as blessing to others.

His sermon emphasized those who have gone to join the great cloud of witnesses in heaven including pastors who shepherded their congregations. “Today, we gather and we remember those who have taught us about generosity. Hands that have remembered us in prayer. Hands that have wiped tears from our eyes. Hands that have lifted us up when we have fallen. Hands that have embraced us during the passing of the peace when we have come to the table of the Lord.”

Fairley’s sermon, entitled Generous Saints, was grounded in the scriptures from John 6:1-13 where Jesus fed the multitude with five loaves and two fish. He reminded those gathered that the problem that day was not from a true lack of food nor was it a lack of witnesses to share and give to one’s neighbors. On the hillside where Jesus questioned Phillip about being able to feed the multitude, Fairley said the problem was our own scarcity mentality holding us back from giving. The miracle of the fish and loaves is one of God’s generous abundance.

“Surely, if God could take the meager lunch of a small boy and feed 5,000 people, certainly God can take what we release from our hands, no matter how small and no matter how insignificant and bless the world.”

The desire to give and give generously is all about being a blessing to others. Reverend Fairley stated the following, “What we put in Jesus’ hands never returns void.”

He shared the story of his neighbor, Fred, who had the uncanny knack of appearing when Fairley’s mother had baked fresh bread. After his brother, Calvin, took one biscuit and gave it to Fred, and his sister Sheila called out to their mother to tell on him. Fred ran and hid under the porch, and the children all listened to his mother’s footsteps draw near. Sheila told what Calvin had done, and his mother asked where Fred was. Coming out from under the porch, Fred had crumbs on his mouth. The blessing and the lesson of that day was that Fairley’s mother invited Fred to the table, saying, “Come on, and sit down and eat with us.”

“You see, Jesus does not cause a miracle just to spring up out of nowhere,” said Fairley. “Jesus uses ordinary people who are unafraid to put into the hands of Jesus Christ all that they have and all that they are, and Jesus uses the gifts in each of us to cause miracles to break out all around us. God uses ordinary people.”

The generosity of those ordinary people is an example to all. “If there is anything that characterizes a saint, it is this: saints are extravagant givers who have this habit of sharing from a place of God’s abundance,” said Fairley. “There can be no blessing with closed hands.”

“If we are in doubt that God is a generous God, then all we need to do is come to the table,” that God can take what little each has and make it great. “As we remember those who have gone on to be with the Lord,” Fairley said, “I want you to reach deep into yourselves and ask yourself, ‘What has the person that I remembered today taught me about living a generous life?’”

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Capital District, Leonard Fairley, Memorial Service, Opening Worship

Opening Worship & Communion

June 16, 2016

Jesse and Doris BrunsonWith a clergy processional, the 2016 North Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church began with the All Saints Celebration and Memorial Service. Candles covered the altar and set an atmosphere of holiness and reverence.

“As you are seated, look to your left and to your right and there you see the saints of God,” said Bishop Hope Morgan Ward as she greeted the congregation. “As we gather at this table, we celebrate the holy feast, giving thanks for the feast in heaven.”

The names of the saints were read in a solemn tone and a bell was tolled as congregants stood to remember their loved ones. The Reverend Leonard Fairley, Capital District Superintendent, offered the sermon message reminding all of the importance of the example set by the saints who have passed on.

With the parable of the feeding of the multitudes in John 6: 1-13, Fairley emphasized the generosity of a boy who used all that he had to meet the needs of others. He asked, “What would happen if as generous saints, we trusted what we have into the hands of Jesus Christ?”

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Leonard Fairley, Opening Worship

Recent Updates

  • 2016 Annual Conference Survey
  • Saddlebags are online
  • Blessed by Women Clergy for 60 Years and Counting
  • Annual Conference 2017 – Weekend Edition
  • Ordering of Ministry Worship Celebration
  • Bishop Ward Sets 2016-2017 Appointments
  • Friday Evening Worship and Celebration
  • Friday Afternoon Business Session
  • Celebrating 20 Years of the Call of the Deacon
  • The Rev. Leonard E. Fairley Endorsed as Episcopal Nominee
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