wfn.org | Arkansas annual conferences vote to merge

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

Nov. 25, 2002 News media contact: Linda Green7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn. 
   10- 71BP{543}

NOTE: A head and shoulders photo of Bishop Janice Riggle Huie is available at
http://umns.umc.org/photos/headshots.html online.

By Jane Dennis*

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (UMNS) - Arkansas United Methodists adopted a plan of union
Nov. 23 that will merge the Little Rock and North Arkansas annual conferences
and create a single statewide church body.

The newly formed Arkansas Conference will be officially launched at the
Uniting Conference June 11. The new entity will encompass 737 local churches,
144,000 lay members and 826 clergy, and operate with a first-year budget of
more than $11.5 million.
 
"I am proud of both conferences for making a decision that, in my opinion, is
the right decision at the right time for a better future for the United
Methodist Church in Arkansas," said Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, shortly after
nearly 1,000 voting members of the two conferences approved the plan. The
special called session was held at the Statehouse Convention Center in
Little Rock.  

"The vote of this body will open up a new horizon for ministry in this
state," said Asa Whitaker, North Arkansas Conference lay leader and co-chair
of the transition team that developed the plan. "We have only begun the
journey."

Voting separately during a four-hour special session, Little Rock Conference
members supported the plan of union 294-150 (66 percent), while North
Arkansas Conference members approved it 282-246 (53 percent). A simple
majority was required for passage.

The merger decreases the number of United Methodist annual conferences in the
United States to 63. Last June, the members of the Missouri East and West
annual conferences voted 747-528 to unite, effective Jan. 1. 

"It's like building a building," said the Rev. Jack Wilson, superintendent of
the Little Rock Conference's Arkadelphia District and co-chair of the
transition team. "The hard part, occupying the building, is in front of us.
We now must take full opportunity of what God is calling us to be."

The Little Rock Conference, which covers the southern half of the state, and
the North Arkansas Conference, in the northern half of the state, have
existed separately yet worked cooperatively since the early 1900s. One bishop
has historically served both conferences.

The conferences have considered union at least three times in the past 50
years. Each time, the idea failed to win broad support. In 1998, the two
conferences moved toward greater shared ministry by replacing separate
conference council on ministry staffs with an Arkansas Area ministry team
that serves the entire state. The conferences also share an area newspaper,
foundation, insurance program and treasurer, and work cooperatively in other
areas, including leadership development and pastoral appointment-making by
the bishop's cabinet.

Several factors regarding the health of the conferences weighed on the minds
of voting members. Membership has been declining steadily in both
conferences, dropping from combined totals of 176,000 to 144,000 in the past
25 years. With fewer people entering the ministry, the number of pastors
available to fill pulpits has been in short supply. Each year, more
struggling, small-membership churches have closed their doors. In addition,
rising health insurance costs have burdened the conferences and local
churches.

Opposition to the plan of union came from a group of mostly retired North
Arkansas clergy, who produced a two-page document urging defeat of what they
termed the "flawed" plan. A motion to suspend the rules of order and require
a 60 percent margin for approval rather than a simple majority was defeated.

In the end, voting members backed the plan and signaled agreement with the
Rev. David B. Wilson, senior pastor of Hot Springs First United Methodist
Church and head of the Little Rock Conference delegation to General
Conference. "I believe uniting the conferences will give us a united witness
in the state," he said. "We will speak as one voice, not two. We will speak
as the United Methodists in Arkansas."

The 12-member transition team, consisting of clergy and laity from both
conferences, developed the plan over the past two and a half years. The move
to explore union was proposed by the two conference delegations to the 2000
General Conference and approved later at the 2000 annual conference sessions.
Afterward, the transition team held 24 listening sessions to hear concerns.  

The Uniting Conference will be June 11-14 at Arkansas Tech University in
Russellville. Huie expressed hope that those attending would view the
historic event as "an opportunity to connect more deeply to Christ, one
another and our neighbors in the world."
# # #
*Dennis is editor of the Arkansas United Methodist newspaper.

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United Methodist News Service
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