A look ahead at #PNWAC25
Members and guests of the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference will meet online and in person at Bothell United Methodist Church in Bothell, WA, from June 26 to 28 for its 152nd regular session. Focus Sessions were held earlier in June to discuss and consider legislation that will be before members this year. A report of their work and video recordings are available for review.
From almost anywhere, you can watch much of our Annual Conference Session live on the PNWAC website at https://pnwumc.org/ac2025! Please review the Annual Conference Schedule for an overview of the sessions and to learn what will be livestreamed. You can also view conference materials, including legislative updates and worship materials, on the Downloads page.
As they do their work, lay and clergy members will explore our theme, “Blessed and Broken.” The story of the feeding of the 5,000, as found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 9, verses 12-17, is our grounding scripture. Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth wrote in his call letter, “This year, we will talk about being blessed and broken as an act of multiplication, not depletion, and how it relates to our Wesleyan principles of doing no harm, doing good and staying in love with God.”
Some expected highlights
This year’s annual conference sessions will open on Thursday, June 26, at 10 a.m. with Opening Worship and an inspirational sermon by Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth on our theme’s text. The bishop released his episcopal address online last month, with written and audio versions available. The bishop took this opportunity to provide a thorough overview of efforts underway in response to the PNW and GNW Ministry Priorities that were affirmed last year, shifts in our structure and staffing in response to those conversations, and updates on our continuing journey along the M.I.L.E. together.
After an abbreviated opening plenary, the first afternoon will see clergy and laity separating for clergy and lay sessions. The laity will also be able to attend one of three educational courses while pastoral leaders gather in prayer and fellowship.
Throughout the conference, members will receive updates and reports from boards, agencies, and area-level ministries. This will include updates on Greater Northwest Area-level initiatives, including a report on the work of the Circle of Indigenous Ministries by Rev. Dr. Allen Buck, and our equity work with a report from Rev. Lisa Talbott, who is transitioning into her role as Assistant to the Bishop for Equity and Intercultural Competency. On Friday at 6 p.m., a ministry fair will also be held—this tradition returned last year after a hiatus spurred by the pandemic.
Members will also hear a Laity Address from PNW Conference Lay Leader Falisha Hola during the conference. Hola, a young adult active in the conference since offering her leadership to the Conference Council on Youth Ministries, was elected to this new role last year.
The body will also consider 15 recommendations submitted during the spring. Among the petitions are several annual clergy compensation and pension-related actions, a request for more budget transparency and another seeking to change how conference trustees manage closed church properties. Another petition calls for forming an LGBTQIA+ Ministries Team, as the Disability Ministries Committee requests two changes to complement their vision for their work. Finally, members will consider two petitions seeking to advance the conference’s work and witness around creation care.
Beyond the usual petitions members consider each year, Revs. Shalom Agtarap and Austin Adkinson will present on the four UMC Constitutional Amendments that full clergy and lay members will be asked to ratify. Passed by the General Conference last year, the successful ratification of these amendments will help shape our denomination’s future. Their final adoption isn’t a sure thing, as some amendments passed by the General Conference recently failed ratification. Every vote matters.
The body is anticipated to finish its plenary time on Friday afternoon by celebrating ministerial appointments and assignments. If time is needed, members may hold an extra session on Friday evening.
Moving through the days with worship
Throughout the weekend, members and guests will be blessed with several opportunities to pray and worship together beyond the Opening Worship. Rev. Elizabeth Ingram Schindler, incoming SeaTac District Superintendency Team member, will offer the message during a Memorial Service on Thursday evening, during which we will remember significant passings over the past year.
On Friday morning, Cascadia and Crater Lake District (OR-ID) Superintendent Rev. Wendy Woodworth will join the body to offer a devotion. Later that morning, members will celebrate the retirement of pastoral leaders with Rev. Megan Madsen, pastor of Covenant UMC in Spokane, WA, offering the message.
The Annual Conference will conclude with a Service of the Ordering of Ministry at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. Rev. Janelle Kurtz, pastor of Cedar Cross UMC in Mill Creek, Washington, will preach. More information about our four conference preachers can be found here.
Members and guests will invite the Spirit to join them in blessing new leaders and sending all out to be blessed and broken to do all the good we can in all the ways we can, wherever we can.
