Rev. Christian Coon is Named Director of Congregational Development
Bishop Dan Schwerin has appointed Rev. Christian Coon as Northern Illinois Conference Director of Congregational Development, effective July 1. Rev. Coon will…
I was born and raised in Methodism and constantly heard the words “connection” and “connectionalism.” I didn’t understand what it meant at first, but when I started to get involved in the life and mission of the church, I realized that we are a connectional church, a church that works together to support one another, share resources and carry out our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. This is a historic core value of our denomination, yet one of the hardest to define.
The United Methodist Book of Discipline ¶608 calls the director of connectional ministries to work with the bishop, cabinet, and elected conference leaders to fulfill four primary responsibilities:
To live out our connectionalism means that every local church is linked to each other and an interconnected network of organizations that join in mission and ministry, allowing us to accomplish far more than any one local church or person could alone.
Through these interactive relationships and connections, we strongly prove that we can do so much more together than we can alone.
The United Methodist Church is connectional. Your congregation can live out this connectionalism when you join your efforts with others to carry out our shared mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Bishop Dan Schwerin has appointed Rev. Christian Coon as Northern Illinois Conference Director of Congregational Development, effective July 1. Rev. Coon will…
Without debate, General Conference removed the UMC’s ban on the ordination of clergy who are “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” —a prohibition that dates to 1984.
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