July 10, 2006

Bishop names planning team to conceive plan for new conference

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Area Bishop Michael J. Coyner has named a seven-member planning team to conceive a plan for a new annual conference in Indiana for United Methodists. Five of the seven team members met Friday, July 7 for their first day-long meeting.

This is the task force that the North and South Indiana United Methodist Conferences asked Coyner to name to prepare a plan for union and the forming a new conference. Their plan will be brought to the 2007 sessions of both Indiana North and Indiana South United Methodist Annual Conferences for ratification and, if approved, implementation.

The task forced has been named the Imagine Indiana Planning Team.

Members of the team are:  Dr. Carolyn Johnson (a lay woman of West Lafayette), the Rev. Dr. Cindy Reynolds (superintendent of the Warsaw District), Mark Eutsler (layman of Linden), the Rev. Dr. Adolf Hansen (retired clergy of McCordsville), the Rev. Marie Lang (a Deacon of Greenwood), the Rev. Joseph Johnson II (an Elder of Lawrence), and the Rev. Shalimar Holderly (a commissioned minister from Nine Mile). The Rev. David V.W. Owen, the new executive assistant to Bishop Coyner, will provide staff support to the team.

Coyner expressed his pleasure with the diverse nature of the planning team:  "We have two people of color, the former president of the General Board of Global Ministries Women's Division, one retired seminary professor, two young clergy, the executive director of the South Indiana United Methodist Foundation, a business man who serves on the (Indianapolis) Metro Ministries Board who lives in a small town and a pastor of a small membership church.

"Given our desire to have a small team of seven people, I believe that they are diverse, able to think outside of our typical structures and very representative of Indiana United Methodism. In addition, of course, the many other people who will serve on the various sub-groups will represent virtually every aspect of our church."

Coyner explained, "The name 'Imagine Indiana Planning Team' has been selected to indicate that we are first seeking to understand what kind of Indiana is being dreamed by God -- what type of culture, values, justice and society God is trying to create in Indiana. And then we are called to imagine how The United Methodist Church can best be a part of this work of God."

He said, "This is not about merging existing structures, it is about imagining what a new conference would be in order for United Methodists in Indiana to be a part of the God movement which is already happening."

Coyner indicated that the response of people interested in helping with the Imagine Indiana process has been overwhelming. More than 180 people have responded by e-mail and completed questionnaires about their interest in serving to plan for the new conference. From that group, Coyner named a planning team of seven, who in turn will help name as many as 12 sub-groups to work on the various aspects of planning a new conference. Perhaps the largest sub-groups will be the prayer support group and the feedback group that will be chaired by the two conferences' Lay Leaders, Ike Williams of Indianapolis and Kayc Mykrantz of Logansport.

At its first meeting, the Imagine Indiana Planning Team began to set the parameters for its work. The team intends to provide regular updates through the Indiana Area United Methodist Web site. All are invited to contact the planning team by logging on to www.inareaumc.org and clicking on the "Imagine Indiana" logo. In addition to regular updates of its work, the planning team intends to post questions on the Web site and to seek responses from United Methodists in Indiana.

"Our goal is to be transparent, inclusive and electronic in our work," said one member of the planning committee.

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