Youth, young adult, mission amendments to be considered at special session

The North and South Indiana Conferences of The United Methodist Church have amendments to the Imagine Indiana Design Team proposals approved by both annual conferences this past spring during the annual conference sessions at West Lafayette and Bloomington.

These amendments will come before the special session of the North and South Indiana Conferences scheduled to meet Saturday, Oct. 4 from 1-4 p.m. at the Toyota Blue Ribbon Pavilion on the Indiana State Fairgrounds on East 38th Street in Indianapolis. Both conferences will hear and vote on these amendments.

The North Indiana Conference approved three amendments. These amendments:

Add a chair, to the Conference Leadership Team, charged with the coordination of youth, higher education and campus ministry, and young adult ministries in the Indiana Conference;
Add a designated position be made on the conference leadership team for a youth, young adult ministries person that would be charged to represent youth ministry, young adult ministry and higher education ministry; and
Request each resource center in the Indiana Conference to have at least a part-time staff person charged with coordinating and providing strategic guidance for youth, higher education and campus ministry, and young adult ministries across each two-district area.

Likewise, the South Indiana Conference approved amendments to the Imagine Indiana plan. Amendments dealing with structural change included:

The presidents of the conference youth organization and young adult organization be included on the Conference Leadership Team; and
Youth members and youth leaders from each current conference be appointed to the transition team.

Another motion approved by both North and South Indiana Conferences included a joint resolution prepared by a meeting of both North and South Indiana Conference mission leaders. This resolution was adopted and referred to the transition team.

The resolution asked the essential elements of Indiana's mission mandate include:

Convening a network of mission leaders as a think tank for imagining mission;
Holding core values of diversity and empowerment;
Making bold decisions around missional priorities;
That the new conference be fully engaged in the missional initiatives of the General Church.
That the new conference uses the best of systems analysis in assessing our missional effectiveness, including that which we choose to measure and report to one another.
Continuing commitments to health and welfare institutions, community ministries and Advance Special projects; and
Including a strong program of mission training and education such as Volunteers in Mission.

Both North and South Indiana Conference amendment documents are available online at www.inareaumc.org, click on Special Session of the Indiana United Methodist Conferences.

Last updated on 28 Aug 2008

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