Dear Friends in Christ Jesus:
Thank you for a wonderful Annual Confernece. It was wonderful to share June 6-9 with you. Our time together was filled with meaningful worship, celebration of mission, some strategic planning work, election and deployment of leadership and so much more. I was heartened by your willingness to take a few risks. Throughout the July issue of The CUrrent you will find some excellent reports. Don't forget to make good use of our conference website to catch up on the worshipful work of Annual Conference 2012.
In 2003, Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone, joined with Lewis Feldstein and Don Cohen to produce another book entitled, Better Together: Restoring the American Community. In this book, the authors tell stories of and describe the ways that diverse people in widely divergent locations are working together to reweave the fabric of community through renewed civic engagement. It is a good piece of work that helps us see what's possible. But the theme that is continually driven home is that we are indeed "better together." Isolation and individualism undermine our better aspirations and potential. They are self-defeating. It is true in both church and society.
That is the way I feel about Annual Conference. Christian conversation, connection, mission engagement globally and locally. We are better, stronger, wiser, more effective together. I look forward to what we can and will by God's grace do together.