Announcements

Order of Worship

The Rev. Edie Gleaves offered the message, “A Well-Watered Garden” based on the Annual Conference scripture – Isaiah 58: 11.

The following clergy and clergy spouses were honored and remembered:

2019-2020
Clergy: Carson Olin Wiggins, Richard Farmer Lewis, Milford Oxendine, Jr., Claude T. Nethercutt, Diane June Yentes, Elwood Larry Myrick, Kenneth Bryan Sexton, Sr., Charles Scott Parsons, Charles Vernon Bryant, George Bruce Skipper, William L. Wolfe, William Gray Sharpe IV, Jerry Addison Jackson, Hector Manuel Millan, Madison Newton Hankal, James Michael Durner, John Wayne Young, John Sidney Paschal, John Earl Richardson Sr., Ramon E. Atkins, Roger Addison Armistead, Hubert Howard Hodgin, Gilbert W. Beeson, Jr., Daniel Thomas Earnhardt, Wallace Hines Kirby
Spouses: Barbara Barnes Davis, Wynell Hoogerland, Janet Wellons Smith, Claudia S. Wilson, Neila Jean Mangum, Joseph Henry Smith,
Elizabeth Jane S. Williams, Kimberly A. Mann-Guthrie, Elgie U. Garner, Dennis Hickey, Colleen Dennis Newman, Grace Stafford, Leatrice Smith Creech, Carol W. Midgett, Luella Eller Ellis, Nancy Pitzer Thomas, Martha P. Brown, James A. Sawyer, Jr., Sylvia J. Teachey, Ruth Ellen Aitken, Carol Brown, Willie Davis Johnson, Sara L. Coile, Sarah Meadows, Lillie H. Horne, Wanda Henry McLaurin, Priscilla McDougald Thompson, Jean Carol Tilley, Erma B. Woodworth.

2020-2021
Clergy: Robert Tappan Osborn, Frank Irwin Lloyd, Jr., Judith Smith Stephens, Wilbur Ivan Jackson, Ernest Ray Porter, Robert Lee Baldridge, Theodore Claborne Garrett, Lewis Hardie Dodson, Roy Keith Nanney, Robert H. Crouch, Colin Patrick Inman, Leonard Thomas Sheppard, Jesse Virgil Bone, Sr., Deborah S. Wilkins, Herbert Charles Davis, Joseph W. Forbes, Charles Howard Hutchinson, David Eugene Bostian, Jr., John L. Stokes III
Spouses: Nancy Jo Simonton McLain, Emma Deana Bass, Jean Kelly Price, Robbie Williams Barrett, Joyce A. McDonald, Maxine Tingle, Eunice Bray Parker, Linda Sue Smith, Frances Bellamy McMillan, Rebecca Edge Bideaux, Edith Mae S. Crowder, Caroline Boyd Stott, Maryella Bruton Cameron, Council Graham, Myra McLawhorn Supplee

Thirty-eight elders and two deacons were ordained for Christian ministry at this year’s Annual Conference.

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ.

A highlight of Annual Conference last week was the ordination of 40 of God’s servants on Friday. They were glorious services. Ten persons were ordained in each of the four services. 

The highlight of the service of ordination is the laying on of hands. “Take thou authority.” These three words resonate in our hearts and minds as we pray for the 40 who were ordained last week. May your ministry abound in peace and in joy as you serve Christ in the years to come. 

Next Creation Care Book Discussion Monday, June 28, 2021 10:30am – 11:50am

Join us for a discussion of Hope Matters: Why Changing the Way We Think Is Critical to Solving the Environmental Crisis by Elin Kelsey

“In the face of extreme eco-anxiety, scholar and award-winning author Elin Kelsey argues that our hopelessness—while an understandable reaction—is hampering our ability to address the very real problems we face. Kelsey offers a powerful solution: hope itself.” Amazon.com 

Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1771647779/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_imm_awdb_M95BYMNJYZT4S7CAGKNP

You must register in advance for this Zoom meeting: 

When: Jun 28, 2021 10:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada) 

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sf–spzMrH9If3yMDK979-96mDf0_T3md 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

As we anticipate gathering at 10 am tomorrow for the 2021 Annual Conference session, here are things that may help you prepare to fully participate in the sessions.

The Lumi platform will open at 9 am so you can log in and make sure your equipment is working. Please do not try to log in before 9 am. Send a message to support@nccumc.org if you have a problem logging in.

You may view a detailed agenda, the Conference Workbook, and the Opening Worship/Memorial Service bulletin on the website or in the conference app.

Laity Executive Session
Did you miss the Laity Executive Session or maybe the last part when it unexpectedly cut off? We apologize for this error. Watch the archive on the AC 2021 page or in the app.

Ordination Services
The ordination services will be livestreamed on Friday, June 18 on live.nccumc.org and in the app. Each ordination service is listed in the detailed agenda and includes start times and those to be ordained in each service. You will also find a consolidated ordination bulletin online.

Bishop Francis Asbury came to Jones County, NC on February 10, 1788.  On his second visit to Jones County, he wrote in his journal January 24, 1791, “Monday 24. I had a most dreary ride to Trenton. Here I met with Lewis Bryan, brother to the late General: – his heart and house are open. After getting some refreshment we went to the chapel, where I preached with great freedom; there were brethren present who came to meet us from a great distance. In the evening, brothers C, and L, and A, held meeting” (Asbury’s Journal). At that time, there was not a Methodist Church in Trenton.

‘Methodists’ in Trenton worshipped in a “Free Church” at the time of this visit. The chapel was located where stands the current Trenton Municipal Cemetery.

There was a Methodist Church outside of Pollocksville, Lee’s Chapel in 1791.  Asbury preached at Lee’s Chapel (Hwy US 17 South) on Tuesday, January 25.  Lee’s Chapel was the first Methodist church in Jones County on September 13, 1790, and was named after Thomas Lee who deeded the land to the church. Asbury would later return to preach at Lee’s Chapel on Tuesday, February 25, 1791.  Asbury was very pleased with the progress of Lee’s Chapel. “There is a very great change for the better since I was here three years ago: they have now built a very decent house for worship.  I was unwell in my body, but happy in my God, and resigned to His will.”

When Bishop Asbury returned to Jones County in 1801, he wrote in his journal about the Hargett family.  “Monday, March 2. We had to march down upon Trenton, sixteen miles.  The appointed meeting had been transferred to Frederick Argate’s (Hargett), occasioned by the death of his venerable mother, the respectable wife of General Frederick Argate (Penelope Miller Hargett who died March 2, 1801) who had been suddenly called away. This lady justly deserved the great and good character she had for forty years preserved, as a wife, a mother, a mistress, and a friend; to relieve the poor, and to solace the afflicted, gave her pleasure and occupation almost uninterrupted.  Thursday week she was at meeting—the following she was a corpse. My subject on this solemn funeral occasion, was I Cor. Xv, 22: ‘As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive.’ First, our union with Adam, and the unhappy consequences. Secondly, our union with Christ, and the happy consequences. We have already ridden eighty miles from Wilmington.”  Penelope Miller Hargett was the great granddaughter of Captain John Jacob Miller who settled in New Bern, NC with Baron Christoph de Graffenried in 1709.

The first appointed Preacher to Trenton came in 1846.  Rev. Henry Gray was appointed to the Trenton Circuit which consisted of Trenton, Oak Grove and Maple Grove.

In Trenton UMC’s history, they have had 59 clergy including their current pastor, Rev. Leonard O Fair.

Rev. Bryan Huffman
Member of NC Historical Society