The Western NC Annual Conference was held June 16-19 at Lake Junaluska in Waynesville, NC.  Clergy and lay delegates from across Western NC gathered to worship, celebrate our ministries and make plans for the coming year.  It was a positive and Inspiring conference.
Someone described an annual conference meeting as a mixture of a revival, a family reunion and a political rally.  It was indeed all three of those.
We celebrated the great ministries that are happening in our conference.  More than 50 people were commissioned or ordained for ministry.  Retirees were recognized and we celebrated the lives of our clergy who faithfully served but now have entered the church triumphant.  We were introduced to new ministries that are being birthed.
The UMC is poised for another year of effective ministry in our conference, nation and around the world.  Our future is a positive one.
We recognized that there are some issues in our denomination about which everyone does not agree.  Our denomination has traditionally held diverse views on some topics.  We have found strength in our diversity.  At the present time, human sexuality has become a topic of dissension for some..
While there have been no changes made to our Book of Discipline, there are some churches who have chosen to disaffiliate. The majority of these churches can be characterized as ‘family’ churches, meaning they are small in membership.  These churches were released with our prayers and blessings for continued ministry.
We have included links on this email to videos from several of the meetings and worship services that took place at Annual Conference.  These links will also be on our website and Facebook page.  You were represented well by Philip Hepler, Prentice Weldon and Elaine Rabon.  Rodney, Lynda and I were honored to represent Memorial as your clergy.  In fact, I was quite proud to share some of the great things that happen here.Thank you for your continued ministry to the Thomasville community and around the world.  Memorial is alive and well and we will continue to provide vital ministries for the transformation of the world.

 I look forward to another fine year of ministry among you.Danny