AC DAILY

Sunday, June 9, 2024

KEARNEY – Led by their predecessors in the ordination process, in a line so long that the introit “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” had to be sung through three times, 13 elders were ordained, and 10 provisional members were commissioned on Sunday morning.

“What a beautiful sight,” Bishop David Wilson said of the processional.

Ordained as elders in full connection were Mandy Loure Barkhaus, Caitlin Bentzinger, Marcee Binder, Wesley Neil Gately-Price, Elizabeth Ellen Graverholt, Cameron Charles Miller, Daniel Adam Reffner, Andrea Lynn Roth, Jenifer C. Schultz, Lauren Baker Thomas, Ho Kyoung Choi, Susan Nkatha Baariu Murithi, Sketer Makena Riungu. Thomas was ordained in the Texas Conference as a courtesy to the Great Plains. Choi, Murithi and Riungu were previously ordained and now recognized by the Great Plains Conference.

Allyson Drummond was ordained as a deacon in full connection.
Commissioned as provisional elders were Mark Fillmore, Jacques Kambol, Kyu Lee, Jed Linder, Jessica Cecile Lovell, Arsene Lumami, Joohyun Moon, Josh Seifert, Edison De-Conti Toe and Yolanda White-Oliver.

Elders and deacons were recognized in full connection: Elmer Armijo, Dennis “Taud” Boatman, Peter Ho Kyoung Choi, Peter Karanja, Nancy Liston, Angela McCarty, Susan Murithi, Sketer Makena Riungu.

Rev. Sarah Marsh, mercy and justice coordinator for the conference, received a standing ovation for her sermon, “Eyes on the Prize.”

“There is nothing more worthy than your sacred call to ordained ministry,” Marsh said. “The prize is knowing God.”

Marsh told the ordinands about the march on Selma, Alabama (where a conference-sponsored immersion trip to see the historic sites took place last year), and how John Lewis and Hosea Williams were unexpectedly called to lead the group.

“They had their eyes on the prize,” she said.

Evie Cannon, daughter of Rev. Emily Spearman Cannon, gave the scripture reading after some prompting from the congregation. Evie was the first child baptized during the inaugural Great Plains Conference in 2014.
 

Apologies given

Echoing a declaration at General Conference and with other annual conferences this year, the Great Plains Conference on Saturday apologized on behalf of the church for the way the denomination has prevented people from being held accountable for sexual misconduct, thus perpetuating harm within local churches and other ministry settings and damaging the United Methodist connection.
 

Churches closed

Six churches were officially discontinued during the Saturday session:
Kansas: Barnes, Lawrence Central, Oswego Mason Chapel, Spring Hill.
Nebraska: Genoa, Valley.
 

Offices closed Monday

To give staff a Sabbath, Bishop Wilson has announced that conference and district offices will be closed on Monday.