Living Unafraid

by Edith Guffey, Conference Minister

In a few short weeks, you will gather virtually in a specially called meeting to elect a new Conference Minister; the candidate is Rev. Lorraine Ceniceros. I am asked two questions these days. The first is if I know Lorraine, and the second is “what do you think of the Search Committee’s choice?” I can answer the first question easily: I don’t know Lorraine, and the answer to the second question is this: it really doesn’t matter what I think! We are not a church where the predecessor “blesses” the successor.

But since you asked; here is what I think. The Conference Council elected an incredibly capable and gifted Search Committee whose membership reflected the composition of our churches and from what I hear was a stellar group of candidates. The Search Committee talked honestly with each other, prayed, discerned and came to an agreement that Lorraine is the candidate that fits the needs of KO. And Lorraine feels called to the position. And that, my friends, is what matters. That is the process that mattered for me when I was called to serve here. It is the same process that matters for our local congregations. We trust the work of our committed Search Committee members and we trust that the spirit worked among them. I am grateful for the ministry and hard work of the Search Committee. I trust the process, and as many of you have experienced the same process, locally, I am sure you join me in thanking the Search Committee for their work and leadership.

A transition in leadership can often feel like a time of uncertainty, and it feels appropriate that I should share with you the theme for our upcoming Annual Meeting. The theme is UNAFRAID. The Planning Committee selected the theme for Annual meeting more in an effort to encourage us to think about what it means to be UNAFRAID as leaders, and as the church. How do we use our individual and/or collective voices in our communities? What do we choose to talk about even within our own faith churches and what do we avoid? Are we “unafraid” as leaders in our community? When do we speak out and why and when do we hold back? What does it mean to be Unafraid to lead?

While this time of transition was not the primary reason for the selection of this theme, it occurs to me that there is some relevance to this particular time in the corporate life of the Conference. Everyone faces change differently. And quite frankly, there’s been a lot of change in the eighteen months. I understand the longing for something familiar: even if the familiar wasn’t great, we always knew what to expect. Now, even how the Conference is electing this new Conference Minister is different: a called virtual meeting; we’ve never done this before! The desire for the comfort of something, anything like we used to do it can be strong.

Friends, I encourage you to recognize and grieve the loss of the familiar. That’s real, that’s understandable. But also, be UNAFRAID to embrace the possibilities that change offers. I hope you are UNAFRAID to dive in and celebrate when you have never done it this way before because that means you are open to new possibilities, and it’s okay for us to be in uncharted waters!

So, let us be UNAFRAID to welcome and embrace what is to come even as you let go and say goodbye to the past.

Registration for Annual meeting will open August 11th, 2021.