wfn.org | New Jersey annual conferences vote to merge

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

June 15, 1998	Contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
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By United Methodist News Service

After three years of planning, the two United Methodist conferences in
New Jersey have decided to merge.

Bishop Alfred Johnson, who leads the 152, 479 United Methodists in the
New Jersey Area, announced June 11 that the 1,368 delegates attending
the conferences' annual sessions voted to form a new episcopal area. The
Northern New Jersey annual session was held June 4-6, and the Southern
New Jersey session was held June 8-11.

The proposed New Jersey Annual Conference will comprise more than 600
United Methodist churches in New Jersey; Orange, Rockland and Sullivan
counties in New York; and Pike County in Pennsylvania.

Having one annual conference will enable area leadership to better equip
and train members in local churches to make disciples for Jesus Christ,
according to Johnson. Pooling finances and talents will put the
leadership in a much better position to accomplish the task, he said.

 "It is essential that whatever structure emerges, training and
equipping members to make disciples and transform society for Jesus
Christ must be done in a different way and in various geographical
districts close to local churches," he said.

". . .We are an area rich in ethnic and cultural diversity and strong
faith," he said. "The road ahead will lead us to a larger witness to the
way of life Christians embrace and fill us with new ways to effectively
tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love. We praise God for
speaking to these two United Methodist families in this way."

Before a new conference can be created, a petition must go to the
Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference, which meets in July 2000, for a
vote. Before Sept. 1,  Johnson will appoint a transition committee to
develop recommendations for creating the new conference.

Some three years of planning, discussion and discernment by members of
both conferences led to this merger decision. In 1995, the  Southern New
Jersey Conference's jurisdictional delegation voted to study a proactive
approach to merge the two conferences. Bishop Neil Irons, former head of
the New Jersey Area, led both organizations in creating a Merger Study
Committee. In June 1996, the conferences voted to request that the
committee bring a plan of merger to the 1998 annual meetings.

Despite losing 43,539 members from 1977 to 1997, both conferences have
experienced an overall increase in worship attendance, Johnson said.

"If the Holy Spirit continues to move among us in the way we have
experienced at these two annual conferences, we are confident that we
will experience new growth in church attendance, membership and
participation in United Methodist ministry," he said. "We also expect to
significantly touch the people in the state of New Jersey and in those
areas of Pennsylvania and New York . . . as well as significantly touch
and transform people in the world through our witness and ministries."

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
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