Close X
  • Our Focus
  • Home
  • About
  • Ministries
  • Missions
  • Events
  • News
  • Resources
  • X

    Translate

    Close

    United Methodists of Upper New YorkLiving the Gospel. Being God's Love.


    news article

    Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball to speak at the UNY Annual Conference Service of Commissioning and Ordination

    April 5, 2019 / By Shannon Hodson / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

    At this year’s session of the Upper New York Annual Conference, to be held June 5-8 at the Oncenter in Syracuse, Bishop Sandra Steiner Ball, the Resident Bishop of the West Virginia Conference, will be the speaker for the Service of Commissioning and Ordination. This service will take place Saturday June 8 at 2 p.m.

    Upper New York Area Resident Bishop, Mark J. Webb, feels blessed that Bishop Steiner Ball accepted his invitation to speak. He said, “I am blessed to call Bishop Steiner Ball a sister in Christ, trusted colleague and friend. Her deep commitment to Christ and the Church is evident in her leadership in West Virginia and across the church. Bishop Steiner Ball has dedicated her years of ministry to the equipping of others and inviting them to live out God’s call upon their lives. We will be blessed by her presence and her message as the preacher of our ordination service.  

    Bishop Steiner Ball’s sermon title will be, “An Extraordinary, Challenging Journey.” She will zero in on the message found in Mark 4:35-41. This is the passage that recounts the parable of Jesus asking his first disciples to join him on a boat during a storm at sea. The disciples answered his call and Jesus miraculously stilled the storm.

    The stilling of the storm can be read on different levels—one is that Jesus has the power of miracles (as this parable introduces several other miracles performed in the book of Mark). This parable can also be looked at through the lens of discipleship or answering Jesus’s call—this interpretation fits perfectly with Upper New York Area Resident Bishop Mark J’ Webb’s theme for this year’s Annual Conference, Together in Prayer: Moving Beyond our Comfort Zones.

    Bishop Steiner Ball said, “The life of ministry invites us to crossings that move us beyond our Comfort Zones. Yes, there will be excitement! Yes, there will be storms! Yes, there will be fears and wrestling! Yes, you can expect the unexpected! The Good News is that we are never alone! Christ invites us to and is with us on the journey.”

    TAGGED / Annual Conference 2019


    With more than 100,000 members, United Methodists of Upper New York comprises of more than 675 local churches and New Faith Communities in 12 districts, covering 48,000 square miles in 49 of the 62 counties in New York state. Our vision is to “live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to be God’s love with our neighbors in all places."