In this video, Bishop Ward talks with Gary Locklear, Conference Lay Leader & Delegate to General Conference, about the 2016 General Conference.
Watch and read our stories of ministry within the NC Conference on our General Conference 2016 page.
Bishop: Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ.
“Therefore Go.” This is the theme of the 2016 General Conference, and the first couple of words of the mission statement of The United Methodist Church from Matthew 28, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.”
Gary Locklear is the Lay Leader of the North Carolina Annual Conference. He’s a commissioned missionary of The United Methodist Church, serving as a church and community worker in Robeson County. He is also one of the leaders of our clergy and lay delegation to the General Conference and has recently been in Portland. Thank you Gary for your leadership.
Gary: Yes, it’s an exciting year any time we gather for General Conference. The preparation, and all the work involved in that, brings people together and together, we’re all excited, yet a bit anxious about General Conference. So, we look forward to being in Portland for the 2016 General Conference.
Bishop: We hope you have been reading “Therefore Go,” the weekly messages relative to General Conference. We have been sending these in hopes of celebrating together all the good things that are happening through United Methodist ministry in the North Carolina Conference and around the world.
Together, we are in mission, and at General Conference, we will have the opportunity to affirm again the focus areas of our life together: the developing of leaders for every place of mission and ministry, planting new communities of faith – new churches/new groups of people, ministry with the poor and global health.
Gary: Also, we are in a season of prayer in the North Carolina Conference. Prayer for the general church, prayer for the conferences, prayer for our bishops, and certainly prayer for our delegations. And, to remind of us of this prayer, General Conference will be giving this cross and flame with a mountain sheep so that we’re reminded of daily prayer for all those that are connected with our General Conference and those who will be serving at our General Conference as well. So, this is an important time for all of us, that we should pray and pray unceasingly for the General Conference that is before us.
Bishop: We are God’s flock. We serve the Good Shepherd and we give thanks for all our life together. Thank you for your prayers and your anticipation as we move toward General Conference, through General Conference, and beyond General Conference, to serving in the places where we find ourselves with renewed energy and commitment, full of the Holy Spirit.