Earlier this week, the United Methodist Foundation for the West Ohio Conference sponsored a timely and inspiring event called The Generosity Summit. Clergy and laity from across the WOC gathered on the southern shore of Lake Erie at Maumee Bay State Park just outside Toledo, Ohio for two days of worship, fellowship, networking, and attending various seminars. The goal of the summit was to encourage and engage the power of generosity in our local churches through stewardship, legacy giving, investments, financial literacy, and other related topics relevant to church leadership in the current environment.

I was honored to present one of the breakout sessions, which focused on addressing and shifting away from the scarcity mindset that is often part of the residue from disaffiliation season. The name of my session was: “From Scarcity to Abundance: Healing Your Church to Move into a Brighter Future”. The emphasis was on recognizing the scars that may exist in a local church from the tension and trauma of that experience in our denomination. We considered ways of claiming God’s grace and its restorative power and moving forward in abundant boldness with confidence and hope.

This was also a chance to use some of my experiences as a District Superintendent during those years and to share some of the wisdom gleaned from the good, the bad, and the ugly of that time. It is good to process the lessons we all learned from it, but more importantly, to not let it linger and frame our sense of identity, strength, and purpose in continuing to answer God’s call upon the Church.

If you believe your leadership or congregation would benefit from participating in such an experience, I am available to come and offer it in the setting you feel would be most beneficial. Please contact the office of the  Foundation for the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference at 615-259-2008 and leave a message for me or Sara Finger. You may also email me directly at david.weatherly@umftwk.org.

Serving you, serving with you,

The Reverend Dr. David Weatherly
President/CEO