Throughout the month of January, we are highlighting the work we do together as the Free Methodist Church in Southern California through year-end reports shared by the people who serve us all in the boards and committees of the conference.
About the Board of Administration
The Board of Administration (commonly called the BOA) functions as the standing administrative committee of the conference between Annual Conference seatings. Their focus is to create and manage policy of the entire conference within the limits of the Book of Discipline. As with all Free Methodist Church leadership, the board is composed of an equal number of ministerial and lay (non-ordained) leaders.
2021 Year-End Report
Colleen Hurley-Bates, Chair, Board of Administration
It has been quite a year of change since Annual Conference 2021. For over the past 3 years, our churches have been served by the Superintendent Team of Charles Latchison, Glen Prior, and Fraser Venter. With the FMCSC moving to a single superintendent leadership model at Annual Conference 2022, Superintendent Prior humbly withdrew his name from consideration in support of the conference’s refocused priorities. After prayer and reflection, Superintendent Prior also recognized that it was time for him to initiate an earlier than expected transition out of his role as Superintendent to attend to family needs and to prioritize rest after decades of service to the Conference before transitioning to his next ministry opportunity. At the direction of the Superintendent Team, Bishop Matt Whitehead, and the Board of Administration, Superintendent Prior transitioned from his position on June 30, with our blessing and thanks. Knowing that move would shift the workload for the remaining Superintendents, the board in cooperation with Bishop Matt, appointed Reverend Jon Sato to serve our conference in an interim capacity until Annual Conference 2022. Because Pastor Jon has worked alongside Supt. Glen, it was a logical choice and he is doing a great job as Superintendent.
In conversation with the Bishop and Superintendent team, we identified our first priority this year was for Pastoral health, wholeness, and connection. This has been a difficult couple of years for everyone and we are especially grateful to the leadership in our churches for continuing to find creative ways to share the gospel, engage their congregations, worship in innovative ways, and minister in their communities. What we originally believed could be a couple of months, turned into a quarter, which turned into a year, and has now been almost 2 years. Our leaders across the board have continued to faithfully serve the Lord in their contexts. We are partnering with the Superintendent Team to prioritize them as they are on the front line of our collective ministries in many ways.
You can see a summary of the action items which were voted on since May in this report.
Lastly, we as a board are preparing for the leadership transition at Annual Conference 2022. We ask that you continue to join us in prayer as the Lord leads us into a new framework for the Superintendency. We have and will continue to examine our systems and structures as a Conference, making sure that when the new Superintendent is elected, we are prepared to move forward for God’s glory as we advance His kingdom together.
