Are we willing to make God’s love known to all?

“And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:40)

On this beautiful day in Charlotte, the General Conference began today with worship. As Bishop Oliveto challenged us to consider that “every single one of us has someone that we don’t see” as she reflected on Jesus’ words recorded in Matthew 25. And then she posed this question: “Are you willing to make God’s love known to all we meet?” It was a rich and meaningful time of worship where Deaconesses and Home Missioners were consecrated for their ministries throughout the world.

Shortly after, we dove into the work for today. The work is too vast for a detailed report, but here are some highlights from the plenary sessions:

·       A report from the United Methodist Women in Faith

·       A report from Africa University

·       A report from the Global Board of Higher Education and Ministry

·       We also had thorough discussion of legislation that will impact the number of African bishops. In the end, legislation was passed to increase the number of bishops in Africa from 13 to 15 bishops to reflect the growing number of United Methodists in the continent of Africa.

It was quite a day. Thank you all for the cards that you gave to me. I have been enjoying reading a few cards each day. They have been such an encouragement to me!