Bishop adds to extended Cabinet and Connectional Ministries staffing update
Bishop William H. Willimon announced that he is adding Rev. Lori Carden to the Extended Cabinet. Rev. Carden is the Connectional Ministries Coordinator for Natural Church Development (NCD) and also serves as a consultant to Rev. Bill Gandy in the Mountain Lakes District.
Willimon says, “Recognizing the way that NCD is changing the way we work, the way we evaluate the performance of pastors, and the way we invigorate churches, I wanted Lori working even more closely with the Cabinet. She has really made an impact upon our ministry of equipment and oversight. But then we realized that Lori can best assist the Cabinet by continuing to coordinate NCD and by systematically meeting with DS’s and funneling the insights gained from NCD to the Cabinet,” said Bishop Willimon.
NCD is one of the five Conference Priorities. Adding Rev. Carden’s to the extended Cabinet will allow her experience and knowledge in Natural Church Development to be used in evaluating the healthfulness of churches that the Cabinet is working with as well as connecting those pastors who are engaging the NCD process with the necessary resources to grow their ministry.
Bishop Willimon also announces that the Office of Communication, which had been an extension of Connectional Ministries, will now be a part of the Episcopal Office. He notes that Director of Communication Danette Clifton has already been serving as a part of the Extended Cabinet.
Willimon says, “Communication is one of the most important things I do as a Bishop. Our Communication staff keeps us focused on our mission and priorities through our Conference webpage, emails, Conference Dashboard and other projects. I think this will be a positive boost in our never ending effort to educate and to grow our church.
In other staffing matters related to Connectional Ministries, Rev. Elizabeth Nall, Conference Coordinator of Children’s Ministry and Adult Discipleship will now take on responsibility for working with Youth Ministry as well. Youth and Children’s Ministry will not be based at Sumatanga as originally proposed last fall so that Sumatanga staff may best focus their efforts on other pressing matters related to building a stronger foundation for vital ministry at Sumatanga.
Elizabeth will be working with the existing design teams for all the Youth Ministry events.
Rev. Dale Cohen, Director of Connectional Ministries says, “Youth and Children’s Ministries are two vital areas related to the Conference Priority of Empowering a New Generation and so we are going to work with a consultant to help us clarify the best way for the annual conference to support Children’s and Youth ministry at the local church level. We have had several local churches, including Trussville First UMC, who have offered to help in resourcing Youth Ministry in local churches.”
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