Puget Sound District Superintendency Team

Bishop Bridgeforth announces appointments to Puget Sound District Superintendency Team to start July of 2026

Bishop Cedrick D. Bridgeforth intends to appoint Rev. Joel Aosved, Rev. Pat Longstroth, and Rev. Joe Kim to a superintendency team overseeing the Puget Sound District beginning July 1, 2026. Rev. Mark Galang will continue to serve as Puget Sound District Superintendent through the next appointment year before ending his tenure in the role.

All three members of the Puget Sound District Superintendency team are expected to continue their current appointments to churches in the district. However, the new appointment will reduce the time allotted to their pastoral duties when it arrives in 2026. Rev. Aosved’s continuing appointment is to the United Church of Ferndale; Rev. Longstroth will continue at Vashon UMC; Rev. Kim will continue at Bothell UMC.

In December, Bishop Bridgeforth announced that he would initiate a new supervision model for the Greater Northwest Area. The superintendency team for the SeaTac District (PNW), the first district to shift into this model, was announced in February. The Crest to Coast Superintendency Team, also expected to begin in 2026, was announced in March.

When sharing the news of these new appointments with their current churches, Bishop Bridgeforth pledged the cabinet’s support and expressed gratitude: “Thank you for being a beacon of light in what seems like some dark days. Thank you for allowing your pastor to explore other expressions of ministry while continuing to serve with you.”

The bishop also encouraged church members to pray as they adapt to and embrace this change, “Pray for your congregation and community as you prepare for opportunities to serve those who need hope and help.”

A third superintendency team announced in the Pacific Northwest Conference

Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth is launching this new model of superintendency to root leadership more deeply in the local church context. In response to feedback that leadership can feel “too distant…from the ministry of our local churches,” the bishop is introducing these two- to three-person superintendency teams instead of a single district superintendent model.

“Whenever possible, we will recruit these superintendents from within the sub-district that they will serve,” Bishop Bridgeforth explained. This approach ensures leaders remain embedded in the mission field they already understand, fostering more relevant and responsive leadership. It is hoped that each superintendent will oversee a subdistrict of no more than 20 churches while working together collaboratively, promoting closer relationships and more intentional support.

Bridgeforth acknowledged the shift from tradition, saying, “I am aware that this is different from how we typically do things,” but stresses that this model enables leaders to serve without leaving behind their pastoral calling. By staying grounded in local ministry, superintendents can lead with greater awareness, empathy, and effectiveness.

Careful planning and early announcements, including this one for a team to start in 2026, aim to support smooth transitions. “We want to avoid unneeded disruption to the local church’s ministry and the pastor’s family life,” the bishop noted, underscoring the commitment to effective leadership and congregational stability.

Anticipation and gratitude expressed by the upcoming Puget Sound Superintendency Team

Continuing the Greater Northwest Area’s movement toward more relational and innovative leadership, Revs. Aosved, Longstroth, and Kim have been appointed as a superintendency team to allow each pastor to remain rooted in their local congregation while expanding their role in equipping and supporting churches across the district and beyond.

This shared approach reflects a deep belief in the wisdom found within communities and the power of connection across congregations.

Rev. Joel Aosved shares his enthusiasm for this more interconnected model:

“This new model of superintendency allows us to continue serving the communities we love while staying grounded in pastoral work. It opens the door to a different kind of support—where one community might hold answers to another’s questions. I look forward to working with Pat and Joe as we foster spaces for collaboration and mutual support as our communities do ministry together.”

Rev. Pat Longstroth highlights how this model aligns with the mission of The United Methodist Church:

“I believe this new collaborative model will help us live into our United Methodist mission to create disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. It can strengthen partnerships with our laity and deepen the connections between our local churches and the communities they serve. I look forward to working with Joel and Joe, and I’m eager to see how the Holy Spirit will move through our superintendency teams.”

Rev. Joe Kim offers a vision of hope and innovation as the team begins this journey:

“I’m excited to lean into the possibilities of something new! By reimagining how we organize ourselves—as local churches and as people called Methodists—we may become more open to the Spirit’s nudging toward collaboration, innovation, and transformation in our communities. I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve alongside Pastor Pat and Pastor Joel and look forward to all that God has in store!”

Together, Joel, Joe, and Pat will serve with a shared commitment to nurturing leadership, encouraging connection, and listening deeply for the Spirit’s guidance. Their work continues the Greater Northwest Area’s investment in sustainable, grounded, and collaborative ministry that strengthens churches for faithful witness in a changing world.

Incoming Puget Sound Superintendency Team

Rev. Joel Aosved was a pastor’s kid growing up in the PNW Conference before attending seminary at Boston University. Upon graduating, Joel and his wife Laura moved back to the PNW, serving churches in central Idaho and the Palouse before starting Winds of Grace, a chaplaincy for those living aboard their boats. Feeling called back to parish life, he now serves the United Church of Ferndale. Joel experiences ministry as incarnational and the life of faith as swimming in God’s loving presence. Having launched their three children into the world, Joel and Laura enjoy land life with their cat, Luna, and Lab/Golden retriever, Cedar.

Rev. Pat Longstroth grew up in the Midwest, where she served as an elementary school teacher. Following her call to ministry, she first served in chaplaincy. She later pastored local churches in the Great Plains Annual Conference before transferring to the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference, where she served in urban and rural contexts. Some of her ministry passions include discipleship, spiritual formation, community engagement, anti-racism work, and creation care. She currently serves Vashon UMC. Pat and her husband love the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, where they enjoy taking time out for hiking and nature photography.

Rev. Joe Kim serves as Lead Pastor of Bothell United Methodist Church. He has served in and with communities of faith for almost 20 years in local churches and the non-profit sector, including with the General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church at the United Nations and on Capitol Hill. He believes in the power of story and journeying alongside people as they live into their belovedness. Joe is married to an incredibly talented artist and justice-seeker, Joann; parent to two amazing humans; walking buddy to their dog; and caretaker of their chickens and modest farm (read: garden beds). He enjoys cooking, hiking, kayaking, and playing catch.

Crest to Coast Superintendency Team

Bishop Bridgeforth announces appointments to Crest to Coast District Superintendency Team to start July of 2026

Bishop Cedrick D. Bridgeforth intends to appoint Rev. Katie Ladd and Rev. Bruce Smith to a superintendency team overseeing the Crest to Coast District beginning July 1, 2026. Rev. Kathleen Weber will continue to serve as Crest to Coast District Superintendent through the next appointment year before ending her tenure in the role.

Additionally, Bishop Bridgeforth intends to appoint Rev. Smith as pastor of Camas United Methodist Church in Camas, Washington, and as interim pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Portland, Oregon, beginning July 1, 2025. His appointment to Trinity UMC will be for the next appointment year, after which he will join the superintendency team while continuing as pastor of Camas UMC.

Rev. Ladd will continue to serve in her current appointment to Queen Anne United Methodist Church in Seattle, Washington, where she has pastored since 2011.

In sharing the news of these new appointments with their current churches, Bishop Bridgeforth wrote, “You know the many gifts your pastor brings to every space. Imagine how other congregations and communities will flourish as they experience those gifts.”

Asking them to pray for Revs. Ladd and Smith, the bishop noted, “[t]his model of pastors serving as part-time superintendents to form a team is new and different, but it is a challenge we face together.”

Adopting this new model is one way Bishop Bridgeforth hopes to align conference leadership with a desire raised during the Ministry Priority conversations last year for leadership “closer to the ground.”

Another step toward the goal of announcing superintendency teams in the Oregon-Idaho and Pacific Northwest Conferences

When he first announced the new superintendency model in December, the bishop promised to share the anticipated transitions of the district superintendents across the Oregon-Idaho and Pacific Northwest Conferences. He also expressed his desire to announce superintendency appointments that will be fixed this June and in 2026, as he did.

With this announcement, Bishop Bridgeforth is taking the next step in naming leaders who will move into these roles. This will give those beginning their service in 2026 additional time to prepare and learn from those who will first live into this new model this appointment year. In the coming weeks, he expects to name additional superintendency teams for the other districts where transitions are expected in 2026.

This new model of shared superintendency continues our area’s commitment to innovation in leadership and care for local churches, offering both continuity and creativity in service as we share the good news in a Wesleyan way.

Anticipation and gratitude expressed by the upcoming Crest to Coast Superintendency Team

As part of the continued evolution of leadership across the Greater Northwest Area and in the Pacific Northwest Conference, Rev. Bruce Smith and Rev. Katie Ladd will serve together in this shared superintendency role. Their appointment reflects a growing movement within the Church toward more collaborative, relational, and contextual models of ministry—ones that mirror the very nature of Christ’s call to community and transformation.

With deep gratitude for the opportunity, Rev. Bruce Smith shares his vision for ministry in this new role:

“I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to serve the Annual Conference as a Superintendent. While the church is continually changing, I am optimistic that the 21st-century church will grow as we continue to participate in God’s transformation of the world. What we shall be has yet to be revealed, but we know we shall be like Christ, whom we follow.”

Rev. Katie Ladd sees this appointment not only as a shift in structure but also a return to the Church’s relational roots:

“Jesus called his disciples into community; he sent them in pairs to serve as community. This new model of superintendency returns us to that deeply relational way of being church. By remaining in a congregation, serving with Bruce, meeting new people, and supporting congregations, we are being called into community where liberation, care, and joy can be found. I’m excited!”

Together, Revs. Ladd and Smith bring complementary gifts and a shared hope for the Church’s future—one rooted in the belief that meaningful connection, faithful service, and openness to transformation can guide the Church into its next faithful chapter.

Incoming Crest to Coast Superintendency Team

Rev. Katie M Ladd is passionate about new/old ways of being church; that is, learning from the wisdom of our spiritual ancestors while innovating for today’s world. She came from the South to the PNW in 1996. A graduate of Randolph-Macon Woman’s College with degrees in biology and religion, she worked in environmental chemistry before receiving her MDiv from Vanderbilt University.

Katie’s passions include interfaith/ecumenical work, public theology, empowering laity, and spiritual formation. She lives in Tacoma with her wife Melissa and her kitty George, and she currently serves Queen Anne UMC and its intentional community, The Well.

Rev. Bruce Smith was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. After graduating from Washington State University in 1992, he attended Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. Graduating in 1996, he served two circuits for the Methodist Church in the United Kingdom.

Bruce has served appointments in the PNW Conference at Davenport Edwall, Longview, Vancouver Mill Plain, Yakima Wesley and Vancouver First. He has served the PNWAC on the Camping Board of Stewards, the 2008 Jurisdictional Conference delegation, the chair of the Order of Elders, the Board of Ordained Ministry and the PNWAC Trustees.

SeaTac Superintendency Team

Bishop Bridgeforth announces appointments to SeaTac District Superintendency Team as new leadership model begins to take shape

Bishop Cedrick D. Bridgeforth intends to appoint Rev. Shalom Agtarap, Rev. Ferdie Llenado, and Rev. Elizabeth Schindler to a superintendency team overseeing the SeaTac District beginning July 1, 2025. In addition to this new appointment, Revs. Agtarap and Llenado will continue to serve their current appointments, Tacoma First United Methodist Church (UMC) and Fairwood Community UMC, respectively.

It was previously announced that Rev. Derek Nakano, the current SeaTac District Superintendent, would receive an appointment to Des Moines UMC in July.

In December, Bishop Bridgeforth announced that he would be initiating a new supervision model for the area beginning with this opening in the SeaTac District, writing, “As superintendents roll off the cabinet, I will appoint two- to three-person superintendency teams with a three- to four-year commitment instead of replacing them with full-time superintendents. These teams will include pastoral leaders who serve part-time in the superintendency role and, most often, part-time in the local church to which they are currently appointed. They will work collaboratively within the district and beyond, with each superintendent overseeing a subdistrict that will not exceed 20 churches.”

This change is one way Bishop Bridgeforth hopes to align conference leadership with a desire raised during the Ministry Priority conversations last year for leadership “closer to the ground.”

“Some of what we heard last summer and fall spoke very clearly that the folks across our area want leadership that is contextual. Churches want leadership closer to them and are asking to be resourced in ways that matter within the local church.”

Revs. Agtarap and Llenado already serve churches within the SeaTac District, and Rev. Schindler lives nearby (currently on Family Leave) and has served several churches in the district; the superintendency team is well rooted in the area and already connected with many of the colleagues they will support in this new ministry role.

Subdistricts will allow for more affinity and collaboration

When discussing this new model of superintendency, Bishop Bridgeforth notes that part-time superintendency is not the same as being a part-time district superintendent. Where District Superintendents have most often been assigned to oversee large districts with lines that can appear arbitrary, the new model will allow for more affinity with traffic flows, people patterns, and cultural connections, helping to determine the subdistricts of approximately 15 local ministries that each superintendent will relate most closely too.

While they will each work closely with their respective subdistrict, the SeaTac Superintendency Team is also being asked to initiate a team-based collaborative model, allowing each member to lead from and bless the whole with their strengths. As they balance the superintendency’s expectations with other responsibilities, they will also lean upon each other to attend to necessary administrative tasks and work with district lay leadership to identify shared opportunities for mission and training.

Early hopes from the SeaTac Superintendency Team

The three appointed leaders—Rev. Shalom Agtarap, Rev. Ferdie Llenado, and Rev. Elizabeth Schindler—bring a rich diversity of gifts and a shared passion for equipping churches to thrive. Together, they will walk alongside clergy and congregations, fostering creative partnerships and building a vision of ministry that is both sustainable and impactful.

Rev. Shalom Agtarap highlights the significance of this appointment as an opportunity to engage in more relational and transformative work:

“As connectional as we are, we rarely get to work as a ‘we’ in day-to-day ministry. This appointment marks an intentional shift toward collaboration, building power in the same community for greater impact and embodying a commitment to eliminating racism. I’m excited to help shape discipleship that makes a meaningful difference in the world.”

Rev. Ferdie Llenado expresses curiosity and hope for what this new model of superintendency can bring:

“I’m eager to see how this new way of leadership can foster fresh energy and vitality in our district and conference. By forming creative intersections between churches and fostering shared ventures, we can discover new ways of being the Church of Jesus. When challenges arise, I believe they will only strengthen our resolve to grow and innovate. I look forward to building strong team chemistry with Elizabeth and Shalom and consider it an honor to serve alongside them.”

Rev. Elizabeth Schindler sees this appointment as a chance to lead with authenticity and embrace new possibilities for the district:

“I’m honored to serve alongside Shalom and Ferdie, knowing that together we can lead with deep relationships, attentiveness to context, and openness to new ways of doing and being church. Though we each bring different gifts and experiences, we share a common love for our local churches and a desire to see them flourish. I hope that as we challenge and learn from one another, we not only serve the district well but also model a more sustainable way of carrying out the work of superintendency.”

This new superintendency team reflects a spirit of collaboration and innovation, seeking to empower congregations and leaders across the SeaTac District. As they step into this new role, they invite the district to join them in embracing fresh possibilities for ministry, deepening relationships, and living into the call to be the Church in transformative ways.

Incoming SeaTac Superintendency Team

Rev. Shalom Agtarap is an ordained Elder who builds community through relational organizing. She is a graduate of Wesley Seminary and is an experienced antiracist facilitator. Her roots are in the church and are watered by many streams as she intentionally cultivates connections across racial and ethnic lines, religious traditions, and socioeconomic backgrounds for the common good. She is a proud pastor’s kid, and she and her spouse are raising three children in Tacoma’s Lincoln District. She has served First UMC of Tacoma for six years, out of which Common Good Tacoma, a grassroots organizing hub and nonprofit, was founded.

Rev. Ferdie Llenado is the Lead Pastor of Fairwood Community UMC. Before coming to Washington, he also served in Alaska, New Jersey, and the Philippines. He earned his Doctor of Missiology degree from Asbury Theological Seminary. He intentionally creates collaborative spaces where mutual discipleship, lay empowerment, and authentic relationships flourish. Ferdie is still learning how to be a dad to three amazing teenagers and an energetic labradoodle. He is the proud husband of a successful CNOR Nurse named Louie. Recently, he started running and, in a slow and steady phase, just completed a 5K.

Rev. Elizabeth Ingram Schindler was born a Southerner but has called the PNW home for almost twenty years. She’s a graduate of Southern Methodist University and Duke Divinity School and will soon earn a master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from Arizona State University. She is passionate about helping people respond to God’s call and building the systems that support ministry. She served local churches for 15 years before taking three years off for rest, discernment, and learning, and she is excited to return to active ministry at this crucial time when the church has such a vital role in tilting the world toward love and justice. She is a proud resident of Issaquah, where she lives with her brilliant spouse, two remarkable teenagers, and an unruly little dog.

Looking Forward

A message from Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth previewing changes in the superintendency and the GNW Cabinet in 2025 and beyond

Greetings to you this Advent season!

I’m writing to you today on a subject that may feel off-topic, given the holiday festivities we are all participating in this month. Still, the work ahead requires me to provide an update to prepare for announcements and decisions you should begin seeing in January. I value sharing this information with you as I take seriously my commitment to being transparent about big decisions whenever appropriate and possible.

When I was assigned as your episcopal leader, I was blessed to inherit a largely formed leadership team from my predecessor, Bishop Elaine Stanovsky. This has served us well as I have endeavored to learn more about you and my role as your bishop. This team—our cabinet—has been a blessing, but no good thing lasts forever.

Over the next few years, and particularly over the next 18 months, many of these excellent leaders will be completing their terms of service, transitioning into retirement or other ministry opportunities. As they do, I hope to incorporate some of what we have learned together as we consider how best to adapt to the needs of today and tomorrow without increasing the financial burden local churches carry.

In January, I expect to announce the anticipated transitions of the district superintendents across the Oregon-Idaho and Pacific Northwest Conferences. As I do this, I plan to announce superintendency appointments that will be fixed this June, as well as in 2026 and perhaps beyond.

I am aware that this is different from how we typically do things. As I explain the new model of superintendency that we are exploring, I hope it becomes clear why it is essential to announce as many of these new superintendents as possible.

One thing we learned during our ministry priority conversations is that there is a perception, and sometimes a reality, that our connectional work is too distant at times from the ministry of our local churches. While there are different ways to address this challenge, we have settled on a model to experiment with for at least the next few years.

As superintendents roll off the cabinet, I will appoint two- to three-person superintendency teams with a three- to four-year commitment instead of replacing them with full-time superintendents. These teams will include pastoral leaders who serve halftime in the superintendency role and, most often, halftime in the local church to which they are currently appointed. They will work collaboratively within the district and beyond, with each superintendent overseeing a subdistrict that will not exceed 20 churches.

We will experiment with this superintendency team model to respond to a desire for leadership closer to the ground. Whenever possible, we will recruit these superintendents from within the sub-district that they will serve, allowing them to keep one foot in the current mission field that they already know. In addition to the benefits this may provide to the superintendency, it also allows leaders to say yes to this way of service without stepping entirely away from what they feel they have been most directly called to.

As we adapt to this new model, we will work closely with involved local churches to ensure these transitions work smoothly. With the superintendent working half-time in the local church, there should be an opportunity to add additional pastoral support when that pastor previously served full-time. We want to avoid unneeded disruption to the local church’s ministry and the pastor’s family life as we explore this new way of working. Announcing these transitions early will allow us to do this work well, providing ample opportunities for preparation and onboarding for the new superintendents.

While our understanding of what a district superintendent does can be somewhat rigid, we know that it has taken many different forms over the years. For example, in Great Britain, a circuit superintendent is expected to have pastoral responsibility for at least one local church in that circuit. While part-time superintendency is less common in the U.S., it is happening in some places, and we are already reaching out to learn what works well and what needs additional care.

Some of you may know that finding district superintendents isn’t easy. This challenge grows when your bishop has only been with you for 18 months and with an episcopal area as large as the Greater Northwest. To assist in finding possible candidates, I invited 37 leaders from across the area—roughly 1/3 elders, 1/3 other pastoral leaders, and 1/3 laity— to offer up the names of two elders in full connection who could serve in this role. I shared that I was looking for individuals who were faithful yet humble disciples of Jesus, with better-than-average administrative gifts, committed to developing lay leadership, capable of engaging conflict well, collaborative with a proven record of growing something (discipleship systems, membership, small group, etc.). I named it vital that they were not stuck in the past but committed to the church of today and the future we will create together.

I know that may sound like a daunting list, but seeing the gifts and graces that people have named in others has been amazing. Some names showed up several times, others only once or twice. I have invited many of these individuals to deeper conversations about the superintendency, where we hope to learn from each other what is working, what is needed, and whether they are interested in exploring the possibility further.

We will share more about these changes with the superintendency in January.

Beyond the expected transitions above, I want to share some additional changes to the cabinet’s composition.

I am making the director of the Circle of Indigenous Ministries, currently filled by Rev. Dr. Allen Buck, a cabinet-level position. This will help us to center the Truth-Telling Project that Rev. Buck has recently launched while also advancing our work with native people and tribes with tangible signs of engagement, repentance, and reparations.

In June, we had the opportunity to celebrate the ministry of Kristina Gonzalez, who will be retiring at the end of 2024. The work that she has been shepherding for us—equity training and innovation projects—must continue. We plan to split this work up with someone focused on continuing our work related to equity and intercultural competency. A second temporary and part-time position will focus on new ministries, directly supporting the three conference boards funding congregational development work. It is rare to find someone gifted in both of these ministry areas, and this shift returns us to what existed for years before Kristina stepped into her role as executive director two years ago.

Finally, this week, we are announcing the hiring of a new staff person who will work in pensions and human resources as part of a shared services model for the Greater Northwest Area. This emerging collaboration between the administrative offices of all three conferences will allow for more expertise and better service while utilizing existing staff funding streams. Each conference will have an opportunity to learn more about this new model when they meet in June.

As I have been encouraging you, we need to try new things to be responsive to our changing world, especially to the changes that impact how we relate to one another. We won’t get everything right the first time, but that will provide us with an opportunity to learn and adapt. While we can’t guarantee success in many of the things we might try, we can choose to be an organization that responds with curiosity and grace.

Be Well & Be Merry,

Bishop Cedrick D. Bridgeforth
Greater Northwest Episcopal Area

The morning after…

Nov. 6, 2024 – On this morning after a contentious election cycle, GNW Area Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth shares this reminder of the people we are called to be in community.

Transcript

Hello all. I know for some this morning is hard, and it should be.

For some, there’s opportunities to revel and celebrate the elections in the United States. Our job, our call, our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. And in our disciple-making, and in our understanding of what it is to be disciples of Jesus Christ, that has and always will include caring for the immigrant, the stranger, the widow, those who sojourn with us, those we know and those we do not. We lead with love. We extend grace and practice acts of mercy, one with another.

This day is unlike a day that we’ve seen before, but it’s one that calls for us to dig deep in our spirituality, to rely on our Wesleyan heritage and to trust in and care for one another.

I want you to know that as your bishop, I am praying with each and every one of you. Your political persuasion does not matter to me. What matters is your commitment to Christ, your willingness to care for one another, your quest to be well and to follow the words of the text that says to “go and do likewise.”

Those cannot just be words on a page for us in this season and in those to come. We have to make the teachings of Christ center in our lives. We have to care for those who are most vulnerable in our midst. We have to get outside of our church walls and get to know our neighbors and our neighborhoods, speak truth to power, and never let go of this unending love that God extends to us.

May we share that love with one another. May we seek out those who are now very, very afraid. Offer prayer, offer food, offer shelter, support asylum, and continue to call for an end, a ceasefire to all wars in this land and in those around the world.

We’ll continue to be in conversation and in dialogue with one another as we continue to understand discipleship and live as disciples of Jesus Christ in this age so that there is an age to come.

God bless you, and let us continue being disciples of Jesus Christ and making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. This is not the time to rest. And I ask you, do not grow weary in well doing.

Amen.

Bishop Bridgeforth previews next ‘Setting Ministry Priorities’ Conversation focused on exploring the purpose of our ministry

Conversations about mission, ministry, possible collaboration, and funding continue this week. All United Methodists in the GNW are encouraged to participate.

Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth invites all laity and clergy across the Greater Northwest (GNW) Area to a series of discussions to uncover each conference’s ministry priorities and staffing needs and our openness to more collaboration. In a new video,Bishop Cedrick previews the next conversations taking place this week.

Upcoming Conversation 5 will delve into our ‘Why,’ helping us to discuss the rationale that defines our purpose and drives our ministry so that there is always room for all to live as Jesus lived. This session will draw on resources from Rev. Dr. Lovett H. Weems Jr., a retired Methodist educator and theologian, and Simon Sinek, an author and inspirational speaker on business leadership.

Conversation #5 will take place on the following dates/times (each approximately 75 min.):

Oregon-Idaho Conference on August 7 at 6 p.m. PT
Alaska Conference on August 7 at 6:30 p.m. AKT
Pacific Northwest Conference on August 8 at 6 p.m. PT

Learn more and register for these and future online conversations at https://gnw-reg.brtapp.com/ministrypriorities

Attendees are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the following resources before attending:

All United Methodists in the GNW Area are encouraged to participate. Consider inviting every member of your congregation and ministry to attend this session or one of the future opportunities. Each conversation in this open process will build upon the previous ones; you can attend as many as you like.

We will begin sharing some of the ideas and data points that emerged from the previous sessions sometime next week. Recordings of Conversations 5, 6, and 7 will also be made available after they occur.

These conversations will inform each annual conference when members meet in a special session later this year to approve a 2025 budget for their conference that moves us closer toward aligning our funding with our ministry, staffing, programmatic, and budget priorities.

With General Conference over, our work begins now

A pastoral message from Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth

Bishop Cedrick D. Bridgeforth offers an informative and inspiring message for United Methodists in the Greater Northwest, highlighting several legislative accomplishments of a historic General Conference. His message connects the work of the delegates to the upcoming annual conference season, changes to the episcopacy in the jurisdiction, and our ongoing ministry in the Greater Northwest Area.

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A pastoral letter from Bishop Cedrick on the eve of the scheduled execution in Idaho of Thomas E. Creech

*Thomas Creech is a prisoner at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution outside of Boise and is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Wednesday, February 28, 2024 at 10 a.m., local time.*

Thomas Eugene Creech is a child of God who was created in the image and likeness of God.

Life is a gift and blessing from our Creator. Life is not ours to take nor end. Even as the state determines it has the power to end a life, that does not mean it has the right, nor does that make it right. We have power and how much more powerful is life and love than damnation and death?

I have not met or spoken with Mr. Creech, but I have a bishop colleague who has met and engaged him in conversation. This bishop shared with me the humility and humanity he witnessed and felt in the presence of Mr. Creech. I imagine when one is aware that their life rests in the hands of a system that finds it easiest and more just to kill than extend clemency, humility is all that’s left alongside despair.

Mr. Creech’s execution is scheduled for 10 a.m. Mountain Standard Time tomorrow. I invite you all to be in prayer with me as we lament this action being taken by the State of Idaho. If you feel called, in an act of solidarity with other churches, please do ring your church bells at 10 a.m. MST to offer a physical manifestation of our collective grief.

May we work to end the death penalty, express humility, extend mercy, and expect grace in the face of the loveless acts that we now await and expect. God created each of us in God’s own image and likeness. We are all made of the same sinew and possibility as Mr. Thomas Eugene Creech.

Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth
resident bishop, GNW Episcopal Area

Pastoral Letter: Peace is our work, everywhere

Many people say, “We can’t find goodness anywhere.
The light of your face has left us, Lord!”
But you have filled my heart with more joy
than when their wheat and wine are everywhere!
I will lie down and fall asleep in peace
because you alone, Lord, let me live in safety.

Psalm 4:6-8, CEB

My family still resides in and around Decatur, Alabama. If you search Decatur, Alabama, you will learn that before the conflict in Palestine-Israel escalated to all-out war, Steve Perkins, a 39-year-old African-American man, was shot by several Decatur Police officers. Steve’s death on the front lawn of his home invoked outrage across the city and has sparked protests, rallies, memorials, and other calls for justice and peace. I did not know Steve, but I know Steve’s plight. I know what it means to be confronted with violence and live with the threat of death every time I leave my home. With Steve’s death, we add to the litany of unarmed Black men who died at the hands of state-sanctioned violence. I wonder if even being home is as safe as I tell myself it should be.

My heart aches for Steve’s family. It breaks for families in Israel and Gaza already suffering injury and loss. And it will break again for the Palestinians, Israelis and others who will be caught in the crossfire as war rages across the area. With people being held captive by colonialist borders and nationalist policies, there is limited personal and communal agency. With powers from far away dictating strategies and funding war efforts, colonization.

Our high aspiration for peace must always come through acts of justice and insurance of equity. We cannot expect peace if injustice and inequities are commonplace. Our pursuit of peace must begin before we hear gunfire or see bombed-out buildings. That work starts in our homes, neighborhoods, community gathering spaces, and churches as we call out and work against all manner of injustice and inequity – especially when we are not the ones directly affected. That’s one way we walk in solidarity with those who are unseen, forgotten, mistreated, or dehumanized.

Another way to work for peace in the land is to acknowledge our privilege, dismantle racism, rebut nationalism, and not shy away from calling out discriminatory acts against others. We may feel like the Greater Northwest has its own problems and that those problems are nowhere near as dire as what we are witnessing in Palestine-Israel or Decatur, Alabama, but that is not true.

War anywhere in the world is a sign that everyone has work to do. The only way we bury our heads in the sand is to deny the interconnected nature of life and our globalized economic and war-making alliances. Others may be firing guns and dropping bombs in Palestine-Israel, Ukraine, Sudan, or Alabama. Still, our country’s failure to have difficult conversations, resolve conflict and honor diverse viewpoints keeps us on the brink of war and economic collapse. When we are silent, apathetic, or too busy to bother with it, peace moves farther into the distance. If peace moves away, so does justice and equity.

Amid all that you are facing, holding, and trying to move forward, I pray the weight of these presenting conflicts will not slow or stop you from living as peaceably and boldly as you can. I pray that we will center equity and justice in all the spaces and places of your life to pursue peace constantly, calling attention to the injustice of war-making and anti-peace policies and actions – at home and abroad.

As Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” May these words serve as a daily reminder that today’s war on the other side of the globe impacts and is informed by how we live on this side. Let us not grow weary. Instead, let us continue with hope and in pursuit of peace in every place so that we can fall asleep and live lives in peace.

Peace in Palestine-Israel!
Justice for Steve!
Equity for All!
Amen!

Cedrick D. Bridgeforth
Resident Bishop, Greater Northwest Episcopal Area

The Council of Bishop’s released a statement condemning the violence in the Middle East that you can read here.

M.I.L.E. – 2023 Annual Conference Sermons

M.I.L.E. – 2023 Annual Conference Sermons by Cedrick D. Bridgeforth

Throughout the 2023 Annual Conference season across the Greater Northwest Area, Bishop Cedrick D. Bridgeforth offered a series of messages to provide direction to the area.

How do we travel a M.I.L.E. in the Greater Northwest Area?

In his first year as episcopal leader of the Greater Northwest Area of The United Methodist Church, Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth is encouraging congregations and ministry settings to go the M.I.L.E. this year and focus on Jesus’ call in the story of the Good Samaritan to “Go and Do Likewise.”

At his installation service in Juneau, Alaska, in May, Bridgeforth gave an overview of the theme and the meaning behind each step of the M.I.L.E. At each subsequent Annual Conference gathering – and in closing GNW worship – Bridgeforth offered in-depth explanation and inspiration for how we might all join him on this journey.
Watch on Vimeo, or click here to download.
Transcript available here.

M: Ministry that Matters. Preached at Alaska Annual Conference opening session on June 3.

Ministry that Matters is about how churches and ministry settings can go outside of themselves to turn from the mirror and look out the window to be part of their communities. Specifically, Bridgeforth preached about the need to be engaged in the work of houselessness and health in our communities.
Watch on Vimeo, or click here to download.

I: Itineration and location. Preached at the OR-ID Conference opening session on June 8.

Bishop Cedrick encouraged churches to be window people, not mirror people, and spoke about Itineration [and Location] as it relates to clergy who are called to lead and the ministry settings in which they serve. In his sermon, he asked people to think about how we might address inequities in the itineration system within The United Methodist Church to best suit the pastor, church and community in which they are all serving.
Watch on Vimeo, or click here to download.
Transcript available.

L: Lay Ministry Enhancement. Preached at the PNW Conference opening session June 13.

At the opening of the PNW Conference, Bishop Bridgeforth preached about the importance of lay ministry enhancement as the church changes shape. Laity are already a critical resource in our congregations and ministry settings, but there is a need to equip and empower laity to be a more active voice in our churches and communities we serve.
Watch on Vimeo, or click here to download.
Transcript available.

E: Eliminating Racism. Preached at the GNW Area closing session on June 15.

As people of faith, we need to renew our efforts to eliminate the racism that is pervasive not only in society, but within our congregations, ministry settings and the institution of the church in general. During this sermon at the close of Annual Conference season, Bridgeforth laid out plans for resources to be developed to engage churches and ministry settings in meaningful discussions and evaluate practices that lead to institutional racism and societal harm.
Watch on Vimeo, or click here to download.
Transcript available.