Lilly Endowment grants $45,000 to Hoosier United Methodists for Imagine Indiana planning process

28 co-chairs named to discernment groups

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana Area United Methodist Bishop Mike Coyner recently announced that the Indiana Area of The United Methodist Church has received a grant from the Lilly Endowment to help finance a plan to unite the North and South Indiana Conferences of the church into a new Indiana Conference for presentation to the 2007 Annual Conferences for their approval.

Upon receiving the $45,000 grant, Coyner said, "The generous grant from the Lilly Endowment will help cover the expenses of having expert consultants to work with our Imagine Indiana Planning Team. This will bring into our thinking the best thinking from beyond Indiana and beyond the church as we seek to imagine and plan in new ways for an effective United Methodist Church here in Indiana."

Coyner said, "Among those consultants, we are considering theologians, systems analysts and business leaders." He did not name any consultants.

14 discernment groups named

The Imagine Indiana Planning Team, which Coyner named earlier this summer at the direction of both North and South Indiana Conferences, also named two co-chairpersons to each of 14 discernment groups that will assist the Imagine Indiana process. They include: the Rev. Beth Ann Cook, Evansville; Paula Gast, Huntington; Heather Clinger, Highland; the Rev. Scott Cassel, Jasper; Don Spence, Marion; the Rev. Greg McGarvey, Carmel; Jay Love, Indianapolis; the Rev. Jill Wright, Fort Wayne; the Rev. Mark Need, Columbia City; Stan Abell, Indianapolis; Jim Coy, Evansville; the Rev. Kevin Miller, Kokomo; the Rev. Linda Dolby, Mulberry; the Rev. George Purnell, Bloomington; the Rev. Rob Seewald, Akron; the Rev. Doug Witt, Linton; the Rev. Katurah Johnson, Elkhart; the Rev. Cornine Boruff, Noblesville; the Rev. Linda McCoy, Indianapolis; the Rev. David Michael, Huntertown; Alan Bohnstedt, Fort Wayne; the Rev. Karen Powell, Muncie; the Rev. Jack Wolfe, Noblesville; John Shettle, Orestes; Gene Robbins, Frankfort; Kayc Mykrantz, Logansport and Ike Williams, Carmel. One co-chair position is yet to be filled.

Coyner noted that in naming the 28 individuals, all but one asked to co-chair a discernment group said "yes." He said, "That is an indication of the enthusiasm for this process."

The seven-member planning team and the leaders of the 14 discernment groups continued the work of Imagine Indiana Saturday, Aug. 26 at United Methodist-related University of Indianapolis.

For more information about the Imagine Indiana planning process, log on to www.inareaumc.org and click on Imagine Indiana logo.

Last updated on 25 Apr 2008

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