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At its January 15^th meeting, the Conference Leadership Team put the finishing touches on a structure designed to implement the three priorities named in our vision and purpose statement:

1.    To engage, equip and empower local churches to be in ministry in the neighborhood.

2.    To encourage and develop lay and clergy leadership.

3.    To build relationships with our neighbors, particularly the disenfranchised. 

We can benefit from adopting some of the best practices, programs and plans developed by our former conferences.   Not everything needs to be developed from scratch.   The bottomline isn't if something is new or old, but effective in helping us achieve what God is asking of us.

Last Saturday (12/11) the Conference Leadership Team met at the Cicero Conference Center.   The agenda included discussion on how to effectively structure our program ministries, establish our advocacy ministries (status and role of women, religion and race, Native American ministries chief among them) and provide funds for new ministry ventures.

I've had the pleasure this week during the Bishop's District Days of sharing some reflections on how our new conference is taking shape.  Today I was at the Jonesville UMC in Clifton Park. Yesterday I was at the Saratoga Springs UMC.  Both days were great.  I appreciate the good conversation and the chance to meet new folks

In my last post, I said the proposed 2011 budget contains funding for both fixed AND flexible expenditures. I want to say a bit more about this later category, in particular the budget lines identified as "Book of Discipline Mandated Ministry Areas - Start Up Fund" and "Emerging Ministries."