I remain humbled by the privilege of serving as your General Superintendent. Thank you, once again, for entrusting me with this responsibility. I continuously ask for the Lord’s leading and your counsel as we seek to transform lives, churches and communities through the hope and holiness of Jesus Christ.
I write to share the General Conference 2020 theme, “Unleashed,” and invite you to begin to “pray the date.” We will gather in St. Louis, Missouri, May 31 through June 3, for the 14th General Conference of The Wesleyan Church. Your prayers are requested now because, as we all know, without the Holy Spirit’s presence and prompting, our collective governance work will be futile.
The theme, “Unleashed,” represents the journey we have been on since General Conference 2016.
You may recall that the General Conference theme was “Made New.” Immediately after the conference, I invited you to pray for 50 days in order that we, as directed in Ephesians 5:16, “Make the Most” of every opportunity.
Your response was overwhelming! It was your united prayer that led to our strategic focus seeking to have a transforming presence through discipleship and church multiplication.
We celebrate every time a disciple makes a disciple and a church multiplies itself until The Wesleyan Church has a transforming presence in every ZIP code.
Our sisters and brothers in Canada are targeting communities pinpointed by Tim Horton locations (just kidding, sort of) and our sisters and brothers around the world have various ways of designating the communities they seek to reach. For example, in Sierra Leone, they think in terms of 100+ chiefdoms.
We are truly in this work together!
Informing and inspiring each other has guided our communications focus the last two years and will lead us into General Conference 2020.
In 2017, discipleship was emphasized. In 2018, church multiplication was emphasized, and we also began elevating concerns about the growing Gospel Gap. We are losing ground in reaching the five billion souls worldwide (number increasing daily) who cannot yet make an informed decision about Jesus Christ. You, once again, responded to an invitation to pray for The Wesleyan Church to become a movement which requires a Kingdom Force.
Kingdom Force is the communication emphasis up to General Conference 2020, where and when we will celebrate The Wesleyan Church “Unleashed” so that all can be Made New!
We are standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before us serving God through The Wesleyan Church, and before that the Pilgrim Holiness Church and the Wesleyan Methodist Church. Ours is a heritage of great faith, fervent prayers and focused ministry.
Would you add General Conference 2020 to your prayers, as you daily walk and serve in the power of the Holy Spirit?
We have good, eternal work to do together and your prayers matter.
