You’re Invited to the Fourth Global Gathering
Dear Members and Friends of the Wesleyan Covenant Association,
It is my privilege to invite you to the Wesleyan Covenant Association’s Fourth Global Gathering to be held on Saturday, November 9, 2019 at Asbury United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We welcome your attendance at our host site or at one of the many simulcast sites that will be available across the United Methodist connection.
This year’s theme – “Transformed” – is inspired by the Apostle Paul’s great challenge to the early Christians in Rome: “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12.2).
Taking up Paul’s challenge to “be transformed” invites us to identify those core beliefs that are essential to who we are, to clarify how those beliefs shape our daily lives, and to continue learning how we can effectively share them with others so they too might be transformed.
From very early in the church’s history our ancestor’s recited brief, powerful confessions of faith rooted in Scripture. Two of those confessions – the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds – constantly remind us that God the Father is our creator, Christ, the Son of God, is our redeemer, and the Holy Spirit empowers us for faithful living.
These transformative confessions require our constant attention. So at our Fourth Global Gathering we plan to hone in on those great confessions as we reflect on what it means to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. Come prepared to be challenged, re-grounded, and inspired by the great faith we confess. My great hope is that we will all leave the gathering renewed and rededicated to fervently sharing that faith, in word and deed, every day of our lives in this crucial season in the life of the church.
Friends, we find ourselves in the midst of a great transition we cannot completely comprehend. To be sure, it is often an agonizing transition, but I think we all know we must lift our heads, set our sights on things above, and be about the work of preparing for things to come. We are part of building a new future for the people called Methodists. I hope you will join me, and thousands of others, for our critical gathering in Tulsa. Let us be transformed by the renewal of our minds so we are fully prepared for the days ahead.
I look forward to sharing more information about our gathering in the coming weeks and months. For now, please save the date, and more importantly; be in prayer for our time together.
In Christ,
Keith Boyette
President
