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CALL to the
51st ANNUAL MEETING of the
KANSAS-OKLAHOMA CONFERENCE
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
November 9-11, 2012
To: LAY DELEGATES from CHURCHES,
ALL AUTHORIZED MINISTERS of the CONFERENCE,
ALL CONFERENCE COUNCIL MEMBERS,
PRESIDENTS of ASSOCIATIONS,
MEMBERS OF CHURCHES in the CONFERENCE, and
WIDER CHURCH PARTNERS
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
This is your Call to the 51st Annual Meeting of the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference of the United Church of Christ to be held at the Doubletree by Hilton at the Wichita Airport on November 9-11, 2012.
Your Annual Meeting Planning Committee has been diligently working to plan an event that is positive, relevant, and faith-filled. Please note on the enclosed schedule that the meeting will begin at 1pm on Friday, November 9 and end after worship on Sunday, November 11. During our business sessions we will follow the pattern of “worshipful work” where aspects of worship are woven in to the business plenary sessions. We hope this way of doing business reminds us that our work is an act of praise and thanksgiving to God.
The theme of the annual meeting will be “TRANSFORMED BY GOD’S ABUNDANCE”. We are excited to announce that Rev. J. Bennett Guess, UCC Executive Minister for Local Church Ministries will be our keynote speaker. Ben has served in the national setting of the United Church of Christ in a variety of roles for eleven years and was elected to his current role in 2011. He is a journalist, activist, pastor, and leader. Ben’s knowledge and love of the church, his experience as a pastor of a vibrant, renewing church, his commitment to justice, and his service in the national setting will come through in an engaging and inspirational way during his time with us.
The Annual Meeting is an opportunity for the church scattered to be the church gathered. Members of all the churches are invited to attend along with the designated delegates. The following paragraphs from our Bylaws define who the delegates are:
Definition of Voting Delegates: All ordained, licensed and commissioned ministers of the United Church of Christ in good standing in an association of the Conference; ordained ministers holding standing in other denominations and granted dual standing while serving churches of the Conference; members of the Conference Council and all such other persons as the By-laws shall provide, shall each hold voting membership. Each local church having standing in an Association in the geographical boundaries of the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference shall be entitled to two voting lay delegates and each such church having a membership of more than 200 shall be entitled to an additional voting lay delegate for each additional 200 members or fraction thereof. No delegate or official representative at the meetings of the Conference shall be entitled to more than one vote. The control of the Conference shall reside in its voting members and may be exercised directly at any annual or other meeting of the Conference, or through and by a Conference Council elected by the Conference between meetings of the Conference. (Bylaws, Article 1, Section 1).
Selection of Delegates: All delegates from each local church shall be elected or appointed by such church, following its procedures, for a term of one year or until the selection of successors, unless otherwise provided by the church; provided that the term of a delegate shall cease upon removal from the membership of the local church which that delegate represents, or upon removal from the boundaries of the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference, beyond the adjoining states. Local churches are urged to select delegates, over the course of several years if necessary, who will be representative of that local church’s total confirmed membership in terms of age, gender, race and ethnic origin, in order that the Conference Annual Meeting may embody the wholeness of the Church. (Bylaws, Article 1, Section 2).
Registration Forms should be completed by each delegate and visitor who attends the Annual Meeting. Registration forms and payment must be in the conference office by September 14 otherwise a $25 late registration fee applies.
As you look through the materials you can see that we are anticipating a spirit-filled time together of imagination, hope and praise. Come prayerfully, thoughtfully, and enthusiastically to seek God’s wisdom for our common mission as the United Church of Christ in Oklahoma and Kansas.
