Hugh's News & Commentary

It was my privilege to preside over the quadrennial conference session of the Great Plains Conference this past Friday and Saturday, October 22-23. The conference was hosted by the Christian Heritage Church in Amarillo, Texas, and began with the Global Outreach Service on Friday evening. The Conference goal for 2010 is $10,000.00. Pledges were taken from churches and individuals toward that amount to be paid by the end of the year. There were 150 people present for the evening service and it was a powerful time of Praise/Worship. I enjoyed preaching to the congregation which included Bishop Chris Thompson and his wife, Betty. Bishop Thompson had been invited by Bishop Burd to speak on behalf of EVUSA for the GO Offering service.

The business session began at 9 a. m. on Saturday and was attended by 74 registered delegates and 26 visitors. It convened with a welcome to the attendees by Bishop Burd who followed with prayer. He then introduced me as the Presiding Officer. I had asked Bishop Chris Thompson to bring the devotional and he did so in a grand fashion. The Decorum Committee Report was read and followed by the State of the Conference Report from Bishop Burd and the financial report from Craig Lawless, Conference Secretary/Treasurer.

The Resolutions Committee Report was the proposed new structure that had previously been approved by the Council of Bishops. Bishop Burd spent a considerable amount of time having meetings throughout the conference during the last few weeks to explain the new structure and to answer questions concerning it.

There was some opposition to the proposal from several older ministers and the report was debated for about 45 minutes with strong statements on both sides of the issue, but still done with Christian courtesy. A motion was offered to postpone the vote and have a special called conference next year to reconsider it at that time. However, that motion lost on a voice vote with only a handful of "Yea" votes and a loud chorus of "Nay" votes. The conference then returned to consideration of the new structure and shortly afterwards, called for the question. The new structure was overwhelmingly approved on a voice vote with just a small number of “Nay” votes. It is important to note that when the dust settled, all of those who voted in opposition were in good spirits and some had already come to Gary and expressed their personal support for him and the conference. He felt really good about it when the day was over and so did I.

The new structure called for nominations from a Nomination Committee. The Committee only had two nominees and one of those had withdrawn his name. Therefore, the only name submitted was that of Gary Burd. This required a ballot vote to set aside the statue of limitations since Gary had already served 16 years. He got the statue ballot by a 66 to 2 margin.

The new structure then called for the nominee to submit a slate of officers. The slate submitted to the delegates was:

Bishop--Gary Burd

Assistant Superintendent–Enrique Venegas

Secretary/Treasurer--Craig Lawless

A ballot vote to set aside the statue of limitations was then required for Craig Lawless since he had served 11 years in that office. He won the statue ballot by a 70 to 2 margin. His was declared a valid candidate for the office. The entire slate was then submitted to the delegation which elected the slate by acclamation.

It is significant to note that Enrique Venegas has been with the conference for 11 years and is the first Hispanic Assistant Superintendent in the history of the Great Plains Conference. This was viewed as a great validation and affirmation for the significant Hispanic constituency in the conference.

Christian Heritage Church served a delicious, Mexican lunch from 1-2pm. Afterwards, the conference reconvened for the Ordination Service. During the service, 9 were ordained, 1 transfer ordination was recognized, and 6 were granted a Local Church Minister’s Certificate. The Ordination Service was followed by an Installation Service for the new leadership and the conference concluded with the reading of the Memoirs Committee Report and prayer.

It was very refreshing and highly edifying to be a part of such a racially diverse and spiritually dynamic conference setting. God has favored the Great Plains Conference was a significant number of young couples in ministry and with great racial diversity. Ten new churches were recognized from the past quadrennium and several church plants are presently underway. The people are committed to the leadership of the conference and the leadership has a renewed vision for the future based upon the new structure that has been put in place. It is the perfect combination for a significant leap in the growth of the Great Plains Conference. Join me in praying for Bishop Burd and the conference as they maximize this moment of divine favor which has been extended to them!