Bishop's Day On The Palisades District

Ridgewood UMC hosted this year's Bishop's Day on the Palisades District on Monday, October 3, 2011. Clergy gathered in the morning for worship, Communion, and the Call To Action/Vital Congregations presentation by Bishop Devadhar and Rev. Dr. Rich Hendrickson. Clergy brought up many great questions about the movement. One great question revolved around the actual numerical values to be provided in categories such as attendance. A clergy member brought up an excellent point in asking for clarification about what counts as weekly church attendance: just the people physically in the pews or those that get tapes/CDs/DVDs of the services? These people are still staying connected to the church and worshipping but they might not be physically able to get to the church each week. These questions and others are the important reason for the Bishop's Days. It gives clergy (and laity) the opportunity to raise questions and have their voice heard. Sometimes answers aren't immediately available but they don't go unheard. Any question without an immediate response is forwarded to the appropriate party who can look into the question and provide an answer.
 
The evening Laity Gathering continued the great conversation from the morning. Rev. Dr. Rich Hendrickson presented key points from the book, "Bearing Fruit" by Lovett Weems and Thomas M. Berlin. One point that really stuck out was that just because your church is busy, doesn't mean your church is fruitful. We need to look at our packed calendars and really evaluate if those events mean something to the community we are serving or are they there just because they've always been there?

Special thanks to District Superintendent Rev. Wayne Plumstead, Conference Lay Leader Rosa Williams, District Lay Leader Vinette Bishop, Rev. Victor Peterson and all of the volunteers at Ridgewood UMC and the Palisades District for the incredibly warm and generous hospitality. 
 
For more information on the "Call To Action" and "Vital Congregations" movement of The United Methodist Church, visit www.umvitalcongregations.org. 
 
To view the Bishop's Day presentation, click here.