A day of transitions: #PNWAC26 worships, votes, and sends forth
Story by Lynne Onishi | Photos by Patrick Scriven
The second full day of conferencing opened with a morning devotional, starting the day with beautiful music and a moving message given by Rev. Lisa Talbot, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the ordination of women and reminding the congregation of the matriarchs of the faith who have guided us and continue to lead us in our work of ministry.
After the morning devotional, Petition #10 “Reimagining Apportionments” was referred to CFA for further research. The members of the annual conference voted to support both items from the Focus Session 2 Consent Calendar: Petition #12 “Conference Advance Specials” and Petition #14 “Feast of Creation Celebration.” They also voted to support Petition #11, “Prioritizing Deaconesses and Home Missioners,” as substituted. Petition #13 “Solidarity with War-Affected Communities” was supported, as substituted.
With the PNW Board of Pensions and Wespath General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Andy Hendren, the annual conference blessed the retirement of Bruce Galvin and his 51 years of faithful service. Thank you, Bruce!
Before the lunch break, the members participated in a worship service celebrating transitions in ministry life. This celebration of transitions honored those retiring from ministry and those entering into new stages or orders of ministry with a retiree video offering wisdom for those entering new phases of their ministry journey and a symbolic passing of the mantle from one generation of ministry leaders to the next.
After a lunch break, the annual conference members heard from the Board of Ordained Ministry, the Ministry Opportunity Fund, the Laity Address from our conference lay leader, Church and Society, GBGM, and UM Communications. Several laity, clergy, and congregations were recognized with special awards from different agencies. And the annual conference lifted up the ministry of our Deacons, as 2026 marks 30 years since the creation of the order of the Deacon.
After a lively discussion and many questions raised about the Episcopal Residency Recommendation “Resolution to Authorize Conference Trustees to Allow Sale of Conference Property,” the body voted in favor of the resolution. In addition, the annual conference voted to amend the Budget as presented by CFA, after much discussion, thereby requiring a later special session to approve it.
Through a late-development petition, the Annual Conference voted to endorse the “No Hate in Washington State” campaign, with powerful testimonies from the delegates, calling the Church to do no harm and to remain faithful to our baptismal vows of resisting evil, oppression, and injustice.
After a dinner break and a vibrant ministry fair, the evening plenary commenced at 8 PM. The annual conference members voted in support of Spokane Valley UMC to host next year’s session and affirmed the nominations committee’s report. Lay Ministries, the Central Washington Immigrant Justice Network, and the Faith Foundation Northwest presented reports.
Finally, after several ballots, the annual conference completed the election of the following individuals as delegates to the general and jurisdictional conferences in 2028:
- General Conference delegates: Rev. Kathleen Weber (Clergy) and Julia Frisbie (Laity).
- General Conference reserves: Rev. Mele Aho (Clergy) and Patrick Scriven (Laity).
- Jurisdictional Conference delegates: Rev. Joe Kim (Clergy), Rev. Elizabeth Ingram Schindler (Clergy), Rev. Mary Staton-Nurse (Clergy), and Rev. Megan Madsen (Clergy); and Falisha Hola (Laity), Erin Tombaugh (Laity), Andy O’Donnell (Laity), Sophia Agtarap (Laity).
- Jurisdictional Conference reserves: Rev. Justin White (Clergy) and Rev. DJ Del Rosario (Clergy); and Nica Sy (Laity) and Joey Lopez (Laity).
