July 18, 2008

NCJ Conference approves uniting of Indiana conferences

By Daniel R. Gangler

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – With standing applause, the North Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church gave permission Friday afternoon, July 18, to the North Indiana and South Indiana annual conferences to unite into one new Indiana Conference of The United Methodist Church. Permission came after the two conferences gave a joint presentation on the life of ministry of the Indiana Area. The jurisdictional conference is made up of 12 conferences in a nine-state region.

This spring both conferences approved to unite. The North Indiana Conference members voted affirmatively 730 to 192 (or 79 to 21 percent) on May 30. The South Indiana Conference members voted affirmatively 616 to 185 (or 77 to 23 percent) on June 7.

Indiana Bishop Mike Coyner has called both conferences to attend a special session scheduled to be held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Saturday, Oct. 4. This session will finalize amendments, elect committees and begin plans for the first Indiana Annual Conference session is scheduled to meet at Ball State University at Muncie next June.

This action concludes 62 years of Methodist annual conference sessions at Indiana University in Bloomington and 40 years of United Methodist annual conference sessions at Purdue University in West Lafayette.

Coyner has since appointed a 14-member transition team to implement the design plans for the new Indiana Conference.

Features of the new annual conference, which was two-years in design, will include:

• Forming clergy into covenant groups and all 1,200 congregations into ministry clusters for the support and accountability to the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world;
• Dissolving the current 18 districts across Indiana and establishing five resource centers to support the work of 10 districts; and
• Creating a new conference structure and establishing a new conference center in Indianapolis.

Currently, the North Indiana Conference is based in Marion. The South Indiana Conference is based in Bloomington. The Area office is located in Indianapolis.

The only major amendments to the 50-page unity document, added youth and young adults to the discussion making process of the conference and added more staff in youth and young adult ministries to the five resource centers across the state.

The last such structural change of this magnitude to The United Methodist Church in Indiana came in 1968, when the former Methodist Church and former Evangelical United Brethren Church decided nationally to become The United Methodist Church.

For more information about the new conference, log on to www.inareaumc.org.