Dear Clergy and Lay Members to Annual Conference:
This year’s Annual Conference theme is Alive Together at the Table. I’ve been asking myself: how can we bring people to the table, listen to one another, learn from one another, and love one another – even when we cannot physically be together?
You represent more than 100,000 laity and more than 500 churches, and I want to listen and learn from you. One way I would like to do this is through a survey.
This survey gives me a chance to ask questions and hear from each person coming to conference: how are you doing as we wind up a year of global pandemic, how you are feeling, what’s on your mind, and what would you like to see on my mind and on the minds of our annual conference leadership.
Part of the survey focuses on General Conference. While the postponed General Conference is more than a year away, I want you to be informed about where we are as an Annual Conference and as a denomination. I realize everyone comes into the conversation at a different place. Included within the survey is a 10-minute video that gives an overview of General Conference and discusses one of the plans that will be before delegates. You will then be asked to answer a few questions and provide input.
This survey will allow me to take a pulse of the Annual Conference. It gives your voice a way to be heard and helps inform me and our various leadership teams as we move forward.
The survey will take you about 15-20 minutes to complete. This is the first of two opportunities for you to respond and offer feedback. A second set of questions will come after the Annual Conference session in June.
I am thankful for you and your participation in this survey, and I am thankful for the ways we are Alive Together at the Table.
R. Lawson Bryan
