Opening worship for the North Carolina Annual Conference 2026 centered around the year’s theme, Serve Joyfully, with music led by the Haymount UMC praise band.
Bishop Connie Mitchell Shelton opened with a breath prayer — “Creator God, Redeemer Christ, Sustainer Spirit” — before preaching on Galatians 5 and the fruit of the Spirit. She invited those gathered to reflect on joy, noting that “joy is rarely private. Joy gathers. Joy connects. Joy creates belonging.”
Liturgist Lucy Lowry asked God to, “Crucify in us whatever keeps us small. We did not come here only to conduct business, we came because we belong to you and because the world you love is waiting.”
The Bishop led attendees in reciting the new UMC denominational vision statement and emphasized the importance of belonging, drawing on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. “We need to belong, and we need to be loved,” she said, “before we can move further on the hierarchy.”
Bishop Shelton called the church to hold joy and lament together, citing Walter Brueggemann’s warning that when the church stops lamenting, it “becomes numb, adjusted, comfortable, and compliant with the very realities God seeks to redeem.” She spoke of harm done in the name of religion and reminded the body: “Where pain is acknowledged, grace flows through.”
During her sermon, Bishop Shelton continued to emphasize our connectedness. She encouraged attendees to welcome and care for the members who are attending for the first time. “We belong to one another,” she said.
Bishop Shelton drew upon Galatians 5:13-15 and said that it is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?
“Will we be a community shaped by grace and love, or will we be a community shaped by control?” Mentioning the book “The Let Them Theory” by Mel Robbins, Shelton encouraged the body to “notice what upsets you, makes you angry, sends you into defensive mode. What are you protecting, what are you believing about yourself or others, what are you believing about the church?” She said that “Love moves toward people” and noted that The United Methodist Church is strongest when love crosses the street.
Grounding her message in Galatians 5:13–15, she asked, “Will we be a community shaped by grace and love, or shaped by control?” She highlighted First UMC in Mt. Gilead — a congregation of 65 in a town of 1,200 — as a model of joyful, costly service.
Rev. Laure Kavul, who received a scholarship to study at Africa University in Zimbabwe, then introduced the special offering for The Endowment for Theological Education. Only 5% of clergy serving in Africa, Europe, and the Philippines have theological training. After the Miracle Sunday in May, more than $200,000 has been given. Donations can be made online at nccumc.org/ac2026-offerings. Supporting this endowment helps equip leaders with sound training to faithfully share the gospel of Jesus Christ for generations to come.
Worship concluded with Communion and anointing.
Article written by Julie Sutton
Photos by Chris Daniel