DEVOTIONAL FROM PASTOR DAVE JUNE 14, 2023

The 2023 session of the Holston Annual Conference was held June 4-7 at the lovely Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. Rev. Dave Graybeal, Allison Maynard, Stephen Hines, and Rachel Dow represented Signal Crest. There was a refreshing and reinvigorating spirit of renewal this year. As District Superintendent Rev. Kim Goddard put it in her report from the Cabinet, there’s a new “D” word we’re focusing on going forward—not disaffiliation, but discipleship.

In her State of the Conference address on Monday morning, our Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett shared that Holston is a strong and robust annual conference. She called us to a renewed focus on developing passionate spiritual leaders who make passionate spiritual disciples of Jesus. A passionate spiritual disciple is someone whose identity is centered in Jesus, whose life is formed and shaped and led by the Holy Spirit, who is continually growing in faith, pursuing their calling in the world, and helping others to become passionate spiritual disciples of Jesus.

Holston Conference Worship
In keeping with this renewed focus on passionate spiritual leadership, Bishop Wallace-Padgett challenged us all in Sunday night’s ordination service to offer Christ to someone else every day. We shared in the sacrament of Holy Communion together on Monday morning and reaffirmed our baptismal covenant on Tuesday morning. Holston Conference pastors Rev. Sarah Slack and

Walter Cross joined our guest preacher Bishop Gregory Palmer from the West Ohio annual conference in leading us in a fresh exploration of our sacramental teaching and practice.

On Monday evening, Bishop Palmer preached on the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and encouraged us to go beyond the quick fixes and seek to address the root causes of the problems that plague our society. At the sending-forth service on Wednesday morning, he preached on the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20). He called out our self-doubt and challenged us to confidently claim God’s call on us all to bear witness to the Gospel in the world.

Retiring Scenic South District Superintendent Rev. Reed Shell preached at the memorial service. Worship and music was led by Rev. Willie Kitchens and Christina Malone, both from the Scenic South District. Chris Blue (the winner of season 12 of The Voice), the Cokesbury UMC (Knoxville) praise band, the Christ UMC (Chattanooga) choir, and the conference choir (in which both

Allison and Dave sang) also helped lead the worship services.

• Signal Crest Connections
  Former senior pastor Rev. Dr. Mark Gooden retired after forty years of pastoral ministry. He will now serve as the Vice President for Development for the Holston Foundation.
• Rev. Jason Gattis, the son-in-law of former senior pastor Rev. Jim Whedbee, received the Denman Award for Evangelism. Jason and Amy are returning to Chattanooga where he follows Mark Gooden as the senior pastor at First Centenary UMC.
• Former senior pastor Rev. Dr. Doug Fairbanks and his wife Carolyn gave the lead gift of $10,000 toward next year’s special conference offering, “New Voices,” which aims to raise $1.5 million in support of the conference camps and college ministries.
• Former associate pastor Rev. Mike Sluder, who currently serves as the conference’s Director of Connectional Ministries, led our celebration of our mission offerings for Liberia and Zimbabwe.
• Rachel Dow represented the conference’s Children’s Ministry team where she shared information on their focus on “cultivating faith.”
• Rev. Charles Maynard quizzed the bishop on Holston Conference history (which she aced!) and previewed next year’s celebration of Holston’s 200 th anniversary.
• As the appointments were fixed at the close of the conference, Rev. Dave Graybeal is grateful to return for his second year as senior pastor, Rev. Bill Thornton for his ninth year as associate, and Rev. Drew Barton for his second year as a commissioned deacon.
• Holston Conference 2023 by the numbers829 registered members attended from 578 churches representing over 117,000 United Methodists in East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and North Georgia
• 3 persons were ordained elder (all 3 were women)
• 5 were commissioned provisional elder and 2 were commissioned provisional deacon
• 4 were licensed as local pastors
• 2 clergy had their orders from other denominations recognized and received
• 26 clergy entered retirement
• The lives and ministries of 24 clergy members and 19 spouses were commemorated 4,778 mission kits for Zimbabwe and Liberia were celebrated (Signal Crest collected 47 buckets)
• $36,616 was collected across the conference for the Ishe Anesu mission in Zimbabwe
• $26,401 was collected for Change for Children grants throughout the conference
• The conference approved a budget of $8.18 million for 2024 (down from $8.74 million for 2023)

Let’s all join together here at Signal Crest to renew our efforts to take up the conference’s call—which is really Christ’s commission—to make passionate spiritual disciples of Jesus Christ who make a definite discernible difference for him in here on Signal Mountain and throughout the world.