Pastor Andy attended the 2026 meeting of the Minnesota Annual Conference in St Cloud this week. This year's conference theme was "Serve Joyfully". We heard inspirational messages from our own Bishop Lanette Plambeck, as well as from Bishop Cedric Bridgeforth of the Greater Pacific Northwest Episcopal Area and conference preacher Rev. Genia Garrett. You can find the addresses and sermons on the conference website: www.minnesotaumc.org.
Three people were commissioned as provisional elders and two were ordained as full elders, including our new neighbor, Rev. Allison Schwartz who will serve at Pine Island UMC effective July 1. We even had a baptism!
Pastor Andy and Pastor Bea had an opportunity to catch up and discuss the bright future of Byron UMC as she prepares to step in as your next pastor.
In legislation, the conference passed a resolution to support and endorse the Kairos Palestine II Document "A Moment of Truth: Faith in a Time of Genocide". The full legislative agenda and resources can be found in the annual conference legislation packet on the conference website.