Pastor's Midweek Message

October 14, 2026

Beloved,

Next Tuesday night will be an important night for us: it’s our 2026 Charge Conference.

If you’re new to us, or to Methodism, then let me explain. The “charge conference” is the principal business meeting of the church. We’re required to have one annually, which we usually hold in the fall. Its roots trace back to the earliest days of the Methodist movement in 18th century England, when the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, would hold annual “conferences” with all his preachers and select laity. These meetings had two purposes. The first was to share how the Holy Spirit had been working. In these days before email and social media, and when even the mail took days or weeks to get anywhere in England, this was the easiest and best way for everyone to come together and share how God was working in their local contexts. People would talk about the ministries they had started, the people who were coming to Christ, and share best practices and tips for doing things.

The second purpose was the more formal, business-y side of the meeting. Wesley would have faced various questions or controversies over the previous year, and so would spend some time teaching what was correct doctrine and what should be avoided. He would then quiz those who were going out to be preachers, to make sure they were ready for the task and would preach consistent with Methodist teaching.

In our day, we do a little variation on the theme. We’ll meet next Tuesday night at Chester UMC at 7pm with a dozen other churches in our corner of the Living Waters District. We’ll spend the first half-hour on the “Holy Spirit” work, where the churches will hear more about “The United Methodist Churches of Chester” and how we, Chester, and Trinity are working together in ministry. We’re being held up as an example for others to consider, which means God is really doing a thing here. 

The last 20 minutes or so are our “business” portion of the meeting. This will be important for us because only the charge conference can do two things: fix the pastor’s salary for next year, and elect leaders for the church. This year we are electing the next three members of the Leadership Board, to join others whose terms continue into the future. Our Board nominees this year are:

• Class of 2027: Kyle McTernan (youth representative)

• Class of 2029 (3-year term): Kathy Mitchell (member at large) and Ditty Mooney (United Women in Faith representative)

Among Board members, Jessica Mathis is to be reelected as Lay Leader, Kathy Mitchell is to be elected Lay Member to Annual Conference (and Ann Coker is to be elected as her Alternate), and Jim Winn is to be reelected as Treasurer. Not elected this year, but projected for the Class of 2030 to start in 2028, would be David Ford and Katie Sloan; the youth will replace their own representative next year. Finally, Gary Starr is proposed for joining the Nominations Committee for a three-year term ending in 2029. 

Voting members of a charge conference, by our church’s Book of Discipline, are members of the church council and clergy, but all are welcome to come and hear how a charge conference goes, to hear the stories shared, and to see how we govern ourselves. And then to go out, ready to take on whatever God is inviting us into for 2027.

So let’s go.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Eric