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Convention
marked by passion, transformation business decisions and warm fellowship
(written by Myra Holmes, for more information on this
event go to www.usmb.org)
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| Organizers of the 2006 biennial
U.S. Conference convention promised a “mountaintop experience.”
Delegates and guests who met July 28-30 in Boone, NC, found that
promise fulfilled in a convention marked by passion, transformational
business decisions and warm fellowship.
The mountaintop setting in the Blue Ridge
Mountains didn’t hurt. But the setting was more than a beautiful
backdrop; it was both historic and inspiring. “Being in North Carolina
provided enthusiasm, excitement and expectancy that gave a positive
lift,” says USC Chair Steve Prieb in an interview after the
convention. |
Delegates were
warmly welcomed by the North Carolina District Conference who hosted a
national event for the first time in district history. |
| The convention was hosted by a cluster of six,
primarily African-American MB churches with over 100 years of history in
North Carolina: Boone MB Church in Boone, Darby MB Church in Ferguson,
Bushtown MB, Laytown MB and West End, all in Lenoir, and Beechbottom in
Newland. The North Carolina
District Conference also includes a newer, Slavic congregation in Matthews,
NC. The larger U.S. MB family had never gathered in North
Carolina—until now. A total of 278 registrants, including 157 delegates
representing all five USC districts, met in Boone. For many it was their
first visit to the district and many traveled a great distance for the
event. These delegates and registered guests were joined by members of the
local MB churches for evening worship sessions, filling the sanctuary of the
Boone United Methodist Church, where sessions were held.
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North Carolina mass
district choir |
NCDC moderator Terry Hunt calls the gathering
“historic” in a post-convention interview, important both for the
local churches and for relationships within the larger conference. He
admits that these small churches—the largest has only about 75
members—at first felt inadequate to host an event of this magnitude,
but accomplishing a big task with God’s help was “a shot in the arm.”
Also encouraging for the local church members was the opportunity to
interact with the larger MB family and to get a sense of the “big
picture” of the conference, says Hunt. |
| The convention was hosted by a cluster of six,
primarily African-American MB churches with over 100 years of history in
North Carolina: Boone MB Church in Boone, Darby MB Church in Ferguson,
Bushtown MB, Laytown MB and West End, all in Lenoir, and Beechbottom in
Newland. The North Carolina
District Conference also includes a newer, Slavic congregation in Matthews,
NC. The larger U.S. MB family had never gathered in North
Carolina—until now. A total of 278 registrants, including 157 delegates
representing all five USC districts, met in Boone. For many it was their
first visit to the district and many traveled a great distance for the
event. These delegates and registered guests were joined by members of the
local MB churches for evening worship sessions, filling the sanctuary of the
Boone United Methodist Church, where sessions were held.
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| Hunt says the transfer symbolically moves the
district from a sense of being “stepchildren” to a sense of full
ownership. “It takes us to another level,” he says. The significance
of the move was not lost on delegates, who erupted in a spontaneous
standing ovation as USC executive director Chuck Buller presented Hunt
with a plaque commemorating the transfer. |
Terry Hunt and Steve
Prieb listen as Chuck Buller reads the plaque commemorating the
transfer of property deeds to the North Carolina District conference. |
| That sense of unity and partnership was evident in
informal ways throughout the convention. Evident as delegates of mixed race,
likely strangers before the convention, huddled in spontaneous prayer and as
a member of the NCDC gospel choir demonstrated to white delegates how to
move to the rhythm of the lively worship music. Evident as delegates from a
Hispanic congregation in California enjoyed the noon meal, provided by
members of the North Carolina churches, with delegates from rural Kansas.
Passion emerged as the unofficial theme of the
convention during the opening worship service Friday evening. A mass choir
from the local churches, led by Morris Hatton, pastor of Laytown MB Church,
led the energetic, gospel-style music. Delegates responded eagerly by
standing, raising their hands or clapping.
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While introducing speaker Terry Hunt, Buller
encouraged delegates to keep the passion flowing by responding
verbally throughout Hunt’s message: “Say, ‘Come on now,’” he prodded.
And they did.
Hunt challenged delegates to allow the passion
of this mountaintop experience continue as they “boldly go where no
man has gone before.” |
Pastor Terry Hunt
delivered the opening convention address Friday evening. |
| “We need some excitement in what we do for the Lord,”
Hunt said. He referred to the early history of the NCDC churches, a time
when racially and culturally diverse people worked together—to educate
African-American orphans in an era of racial segregation, for example—and
challenged those in attendance to allow passionate unity to guide their
service for God. “God, if you’ll ignite us, we’re willing to serve
you,” he prayed in closing.
In a convention themed “Transformed by mountaintop
experiences,” the extent of transformation that delegates will carry down
from the mountain remains to be seen. Buller points to organizational
transformations from new bylaws and a positive convention experience and to
relational transformation with the NCDC churches, but says spiritual
transformation is up to God. “We certainly believe that when people meet God
in fresh ways, it’s part of their transformation,” says Buller.—Myra Holmes
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