On Saturday July 11th, as some of the most talented soccer players in the world prepared for the quarter finals of the World Cup, leaders from across EPA & GNJ gathered to make some goals of their own. Leaders from the contextual ministry plans gathered with members of the Connectional Table at Doylestown UMC to discern goals around each of the priority areas for the annual conference.
Rev. Sunil Balasundaram, pastor of Doylestown United Methodist Church, warmly greeted everyone who gathered. “It is truly a privilege, as well as a pleasure, to have joint conferences meeting here as part of the connectional table.” Ms. Lenora Thompson, chair of EPA’s connectional table, offered a greeting and opening prayer inspired by Bill Wither’s “Lovely Day,” offering particular thanks and praise for everyone who was willing to sacrifice a summer Saturday to do some goal setting.
Rev. Dawn Taylor-Storm, Executive Director of Connectional Ministries, set the direction for the day. The conferences would break up into tables where each table would focus on setting 1-3 goals for a particular priority area for their annual conference.
Bishop Moore-Koikoi urged those gathered to continue to press forward, even in the midst of their questions, “In Acts, when Jesus was about to leave, the disciples had a lot of questions, but Jesus didn’t have a lot of answers.” She encouraged everyone gathered not to worry about whether the goals identified would be the “right goals” but to trust that when we step out in faith, the Holy Spirit will continue to guide and perfect us along the way.
Rev. Jennifer Cho of St. Andrew’s UMC Spring Lake in GNJ, provided a presentation on SMART goals. She asked those gathered:
“What makes a champion team? Is it that they are good looking, or their coach gives a really good speech? No, they practice the elements of the game… Just as the winning soccer team needs a game plan, so too do our churches need a plan.”
She led those gathered in the process of turning vision to action, first by making SMART goals (goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound) and then by creating key milestones and an action plan that breaks milestones down into the kind of small steps that help people identify concrete action.
After Rev. Cho’s presentation paved the way for the morning’s work, the leaders departed to their respective working spaces, equipped with survey results where members of EPA & GNJ had shared their thoughts on the annual conference priorities the Connectional Table discerned. Each conference had its own workspace and imagined goals for its own priorities.
In GNJ, leaders gathered to make plans around the priorities of:
- Discipleship
- Social Justice
- New and Renewed Expressions of Church
- Youth/Young Adults
- Leadership Development
Following a morning of faithful wrestling, leaders from across conferences gathered to break bread together and share the conversations of the morning over lunch. The gathering space at Doylestown filled with enthusiastic conversation as leaders shared the ideas the morning had sparked.
After lunch, table leaders shared either the goals their table had created, or the conversation they had shared with the larger body to gather the wisdom of the group. Here’s what they shared.
The GNJ youth and young adults table felt a call to listen more deeply to the voices of young people. They created a goal of hosting a listening session at IGNITE and distributing a survey to gather input from at least 100 youth and young adults, with results to be compiled and presented at the 2027 district and annual conference sessions.
The table that focused on new and renewed expressions of church considered ways to increase the number of active participants and establish community connections. They also considered the importance of intentional discipleship pathways and imagined what it would be like to create a training for cooperative ministry.
The Social Justice table identified two goals. The first was that by Dec 2028, 35% of churches will identify one justice issue in their setting and make a justice plan. The team noted that there would need to be an assessment tool for churches to discern their justice issue and that guidelines to connect churches with others in their area of focus would be helpful.
The team also identified that there was an immediate need around the area of immigration. The team set a second goal that by Dec 2026, they would work with ethnic plans to establish a support group for pastors in immigrant communities and allies.
The table of Discipleship noted that the call to create discipleship pathways is rooted in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19–20), where Jesus calls the church to “go and make disciples.” The team set the following goals:
- By June 30, 2027, every GNJ church will intentionally develop a discipleship pathway.
- By June 30, 2028, every GNJ church will intentionally increase participation in that pathway by 10%.
The Leadership Development team discussed the types of resources that truly made a difference in equipping local church leaders. They noted that resources that were grounded in and explained Wesleyan heritage and theology would be particularly helpful. They identified the following goal: by December 2027, identify, develop, and compile a comprehensive list of resources that support the development of new lay leaders and strengthen the skills of current leaders across the districts.
After the time of sharing, Rev. Iraida Porras, Chair of the Connectional Table for GNJ, led the closing worship service featuring communion, and leaders departed to continue dreaming and enjoy the remainder of the beautiful July day.
Perfectly executed plays on the soccer field are rarely the work of a moment, but the outcome of a process of ongoing practice and continuing refinement. The progress that EPA & GNJ made towards goal setting were but the first steps towards the plays that will help the conference take the next right step in each priority area. Some groups are continuing to meet and the Connectional Tables of EPA & GNJ will review and refine the goals when they gather in the fall. In the space between, let us continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will guide the steps of EPA & GNJ as we continue to walk in this new season where priorities and goals are being discerned from the ground up.