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:
- VIDEO: A summary of “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek
- ARTICLE: “So That: Two Powerful Words” by Rev. Dr. Lovett Weems
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.
