Annual Conference Session 2015

The 2015 Great Plains Annual Conference Session was June 10-13, at the Century II Convention Center in Wichita, Kansas. The session featured Minnesota Conference Bishop Bruce Ough and Ms. Stephanie Hixon, executive director of JustPeace. Preachings and teachings focused on unity in the midst of controversy and change. The 2015 conference agenda included voting for delegates to the 2016 General Conference, as well as the usual business of the annual conference session. Guests played a role in teaching attendees the Wesleyan way of being Christians in holy conversations.

Order DVDs from the 2015 Great Plains Annual Conference Session

Daily recaps

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Photos

All photos are coming soon. In the meantime, visit our Facebook page, facebook.com/greatplainsumc, to view some of the photos.

Videos

Additional stories and resources

Report of the Treasurer 2015

Statement from Bishop Jones regarding Petition 7

Workbook

Important Annual Conference Session informational fliers

Lay delegate profiles (all on one PDF)

Clergy delegate profiles (all on one PDF)

More coming soon.

General and Jurisdictional delegations

The Great Plains Annual Conference elected delegates and alternates for the 2016 General and Jurisdictional conferences.

Clergy members elected to the General Conference were:

Rev. Adam Hamilton, United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, Leawood, Kansas
Rev. Amy Lippoldt, Trinity Heights United Methodist Church, Newton, Kansas
Rev. Mark Holland, Trinity Community Church , Kansas City, Kansas
Rev. Zach Anderson, Hanscom Park United Methodist Church, Omaha, Nebraska
Rev. Cheryl Jefferson Bell, United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, Leawood, Kansas
Rev. David Livingston, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Lenexa, Kansas

Clergy members elected to the Jurisdictional Conference were:

Rev. Junius Dotson, Saint Mark United Methodist Church, Wichita, Kansas
Rev. Eduardo Boussan, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln, Nebraska
Rev. Stephanie Ahlschwede, South Gate United Methodist Church, Lincoln, Nebraska
Rev. Nathan Stanton, Great Plains New Church Development coordinator, Wichita, Kansas
Rev. Ashley Prescott Barlow-Thompson, First United Methodist Church, Wichita, Kansas
Rev. Kibum Kim, Parsons District Superintendent

Clergy delegates voted to serve as alternates were:

Rev. Rebecca Hjelle, First United Methodist Church, Blair, Nebraska
Rev. Anne Gatobu, Lincoln New Hope, Lincoln, Nebraska
Rev. Rick Just, Wichita East District Superintendent

The lay delegates elected to the General Conference were:

Courtney Fowler, College Avenue United Methodist Church, Manhattan, Kansas
Oliver Green, Asbury Mt. Olive United Methodist Church, Topeka, Kansas
Shayla Jordan, Aldersgate United Methodist Church, Wichita, Kansas
Dixie Brewster, Milton United Methodist Church, Milton, Kansas
Lisa Maupin, St. Paul United Methodist Church, Lincoln, Nebraska
Wesley Gately, First United Methodist Church, Wamego, Kansas

Lay delegates elected to the Jurisdictional Conference were:

Keith Olsen, of Grant United Methodist Church in Grant, Nebraska
Randall Hodgskinson, First United Methodist, Topeka, Kansas
Esther Hay, First United Methodist Church, Waverly, Nebraska.
Karelle Leeper, Clair Memorial United Methodist Church, Omaha, Nebraska
Bob Aderholt, Kenesaw United Methodist Church, Kenesaw, Nebraska
Sandy Simmons, First United Methodist Church, Leavenworth, Kansas

Lay delegates voted to serve as alternates were:

Carl Nord, Mulvane United Methodist Church, Mulvane, Kansas
Steve Baccus, First United Methodist Church, Minneapolis, Kansas
Shane Hinderliter, At the Well United Methodist Church, Wichita, Kansas

Bishop Bruce Ough

As the resident bishop of the Dakotas-Minnesota Area of The United Methodist Church since 2012, Bishop Ough (pronounced “oh”) is the spiritual leader for United Methodists in the Dakotas and Minnesota conferences. Ough also serves as bishop for 18,500 United Methodists in 336 congregations in Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos. For the next four years Ough is chair of the 59-member Connectional Table, which coordinates The United Methodist Church’s mission, ministry and resources. Bishop Ough has a keen interest in the worldwide nature of the church. A 1973 graduate of North Dakota State University, Bishop Ough received the M.Div. degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 1978.

Stephanie Hixon

Executive director of JustPeace Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation in the UMC, co-author of The Journey: Forgiveness, Restorative Justice and Reconciliation, and trained facilitator in severely conflicted situations, Stephanie Hixon has extensive experience with strategies and processes to assist institutions and communities to foster environments of mutual respect and regard for all people. Stephanie believes local churches can be centers of relational healing and peace building for their members as well as the neighborhoods in which they reside.

As Christians we are called to a life-long journey of practicing forgiveness, justice and reconciliation in our relational lives. Stephanie's study book, published by the Women's Division of the United Methodist Church, takes restorative justice from spiritual concept to tangible, practical life skill.